I Got It!

There are so many things my daughter sees and hears that I'm not even aware of. Her language skills are developing so fast I can't even begin to keep up with all of the things she says now. Every now and again she says something that just makes me stop and laugh. I used to wonder where she even learned it from, and then I slowly realized that they are all things that I say without even being aware of it. It started as far back as when she first started saying 'no'. She had this very definitive short way of saying it, where everyone knew that she clearly meant it and there was no changing her mind. It was so funny to hear that out of this cute little face, and we wondered where it came from. Then one day I walked into my bosses office and he asked me a quick question, to which I replied, without any hesitation, a quick, very definite, no. And then it hit me….she learned it from me. I've tried watching everything that I say in front of her, and sadly it's just impossible to catch everything. Luckily for me, she hasn't really picked up anything bad. Most of them are actually rather cute and I thought I'd share some of them.


One of the silliest to me is that I noticed that her yes and no had become okay and nope. For example, she will say "Drink?" I'll say "You need a drink?" and she replies "okay!" She'll randomly say cupcake, and I'll repeat it to make sure that's what she said and she quickly says okay, and then of course I feel obligated to get her one. Oh, the power of suggestion, of course she knows how to use it before the age of two! On the other hand if we now ask her to do something or eat something that she doesn't want she replies with "nope" and that's that. I recognized the nope right away as something that I say, but the okay took a little bit longer. One night my husband was going into the kitchen to get a drink and asked if I wanted ice cream and as soon as I said "Okay!" I knew where she got it from.

Walking through Target one day, we saw a big purple ball that she just had to have. I got it out of the big tall cage and let her carry it around. It was almost as big as she was, and her little arms could barely fit around it, yet she insisted on walking through the store with it. Every once in a while she would drop it and it would start to roll away. The first time it happened she yelled "uh oh" and started to run after it yelling "I got it, I got it, I got it!" until she did, in fact, get it. I heard people around me laughing and all I could do was shake my head and chuckle. Later that week she was reaching for a cup that I knew she was going to spill. I quickly picked it up and said, "Here, I got it," and that's when I realized that I do say it quite often.


She has also learned the use of the word maybe. We were watching one of her favorite shows, Bubble Guppies, one morning right after she woke up. It was about fossils and dinosaurs. They were digging and found a bone that they thought might be a dinosaur bone. My daughter sat up right away and said "dinosaur bone?" I asked, "Do you think they found a dinosaur bone?" and she said "Maybe!" I couldn't help but laugh, and it just makes you realize that they understand way more than we think they do. Just yesterday we were getting our coats on to leave and I asked her if we were going to the park and she said "I think so!" I guess it's only a matter of time before I realize how frequently I say that as well J

The Day I Didn’t Get Anything Done

I must start by saying that I hate cleaning. I love a clean house, but I actually hate cleaning. I think part of it comes from the way I was raised. My mom worked full time and my dad had his own business and worked all the time. Therefore, Saturday's were reserved for cleaning. My mom and I cleaned from top to bottom, while my dad was working. I wasn't allowed to have friends over or go outside until it was done, and it seemed to take forever! Until 2 months ago, I worked full time and I was able to afford the luxury of paying someone to clean once a week. As soon as I was laid off I let her go, as it was an expense we couldn't afford, and if I was home every day, I felt that it was my job to keep the house clean.

My mother in law babysat for us when I was working, and she graciously agreed to babysit once a week for me so that I could have time to clean the house from top to bottom without distractions, little fingers in the way, or additional messes being made simultaneously. Things were going rather well, despite the fact that I absolutely hated every minute of the cleaning, which I somehow managed to drag out long enough to take all day. Then one week my mother in law had a medical emergency and couldn't babysit. So I had to clean the house with a 2 year old around. I made out a plan the night before with my husband. After the little one went to bed we went around and straightened and picked everything up, did dishes and ran the dishwasher. The next day I was going to try to keep her messes to a minimum, do the bathrooms and kitchen while she napped and then when my husband came home I was going to vacuum and mop the floors while he kept her out of the way.

Well despite the child's best efforts I was actually was able to accomplish what I set out to do. I cleaned 3 bathrooms, dusted, emptied the dishwasher, did any remaining dishes, cleaned the kitchen counters, the stove, sink, and table, all the while keeping her toys and play areas contained and the messes minimized. I was so proud of myself and I actually started to think that I could do this often without having to involve my mother in law. I was totally exhausted and I sat down for a little bit before my husband got home. I figured once he got settled, I would hand over the child responsibilities and do the floors. I heard my husband come in and put his stuff down and he walked into the room. He then asked what still had to be done tonight, as he knew that I would need help getting things finished. I was all excited to tell him how much I had accomplished, and I started by saying, "we have to vacuum and mop…" when he cut me off and said, "So you didn't get anything done today?"

 And then I lost it.

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.