Monkey Poop

My 21 month old daughter adores animals of all sorts, from elephants to tarantulas. She even squatted down and said "Hi Bug!" to a stink bug in our living room one day. Needless to say we were very excited to plan her first trip to the zoo. We talked about the animals she might see on our way there, and she was so excited when we finally got there that she ran right through the gate before we even had a chance to pay! She loved each of the exhibits, and several weeks later she's still talking about it. We saw prairie dogs and otters that made her giggle because they swam over her head. We went through a cave with bats, reptiles, spiders and even dinosaur bones that she was scared of, despite loving dinosaurs. They had a farm animal exhibit with cows, chickens and roosters, an owl, a pig, sheep, and goats. It was amusing that she started saying 'cow' before we even saw one, apparently she already recognizes the smell of manure. She not only got to pet each of the goats, but she had to hug them as well of course. They had polar bears and an arctic fox (which she initially thought was a 'cute baby bear' before we corrected her) and tons of birds, the typical giraffe and penguins, a rhino, zebra and elephants, lions, leopards and such and of course the monkeys and chimps.

So it just so happens that as we approach the chimpanzee section, which is outdoors, they were just setting up to feed them. My husband had our daughter on his shoulders and went right up to the window…..as a chimp decided to poop…..and eat it! So the whole crowd starts saying "ewwww" and I, not so smartly, ask what happened. My husband hollers over to me that the monkey pooped. Well we also got to see the chimps eat apples and oranges and drink juice, and they were swinging from tree to tree, and one hit the window and scared people. My daughter will tell you all of this, but of course only after she tells you that the monkey pooped. Did you go to the zoo? Monkey poop. What did you see at the zoo? Money poop. What did the monkey's at the zoo do? Poop. It's also the answer now at home. Did you poopy? Monkey poop. Did the cat poop? Monkey poop. Sometimes she will even mention it randomly. Monkey poop has now become the go to answer for everything. Yay. I wonder how long this will last……

The Times She Makes My Heart Melt

My daughter has definitely hit the terrible two's. At the ripe old age of 21 months, she knows exactly how to push my buttons, and has to test everything we say and do. This is exactly where the name of my blog came from, I used to joke that her first sentence was going to be "you drive me crazy". Just last week I thought she was going to make me lose it. She started taking off her clothes and diaper, colored on the wall, ran off in a store in the mall, and started jumping off of the sofa, among other random acts of defiance typical of a 2 year old. At some point each day I worry that I'm going to end up in a mental hospital. And then somehow, just when I think I can't take it anymore, in one little instant, all of those thoughts, and the stress and frustration just disappear from one little act. Sometimes it's the random times that she runs up, most of the time while I'm cooking on the hot stove that she knows not to be near, and she hugs my leg and says "love you", or the look of excitement on her face when I walk in her room to get her in the morning, but tonight it was when she said thank you for making her nose better LOL.

She's been a little sneezy and congested the past few days. She's acting fine, has no fever, no runny nose or coughing, but just a few extra sneezes and a little bit of stuffiness. We are starting to think that it might just be some allergies. Yesterday before she went to bed we decided to use some nose drops just to help her nose so she could breathe better to sleep. She fought us and got mad when we did it, and we told her we had to, in order to make her nose better. Well right after we finished she said "nose better?" and seemed much happier. Tonight while chasing a naked baby around to finish putting her pajamas on, she looked up at me and said "nose better?" I asked "do you need me to make your nose better?" to which she replied "okay!" Once I started though, she again had a fit and fought me. I finally got the drops in, let her go, and she instantly ran across the room. She suddenly stopped, looked back at me and said "nose better!" She ran back to me, yelled "thank you!" and gave me a big hug….and that's when my heart melted.