On Tuesday night Clarissa was up every hour until finally at 3:30 am Abe figured out a way to get her to sleep longer. He told me we should let her cry it out, and after a period of time which I shall not document here, he went in, soothed her, and off to sleep she drifted…just in time for us to get up and do Insanity!
Just kidding. We skipped it.
I took her in to the doctor again when she woke up. This time the doctor said it looked like she was starting to get an ear infection, and even though this doctor is usually against anti-biotics, she said that with a baby, we should probably err on the side of treatment. I could not agree more.
Other than that we had a pretty low key day. I eliminated carbs and dairy from my diet, alongside the sugar I kicked to the curb January 1. I would eliminate food altogether for the next two weeks before Mexico if I didn’t have to chase four kids! All the research says fasting is the way to go, right??!!
Since nothing much happened Wednesday, I am going to record some of Ammon’s cute sayings and doings because Abe has been asking me to for weeks.
- Opposites. Ever since he learned to talk (and I’m defining “talk” pretty loosely here), Ammon has talked in opposites. For example, when he says “you’re welcome” he actually means, “thank you.” When he says “baby seat” he actually means he wants to sit at a grown-up seat. When he says “black” he means “white,” and visa versa. For the longest time he said “uh-uh” to every.single.question even when he probably meant to say, “uh-huh!”. And when he screams, “LIKE IT!!!!”, what he’s really trying to say is that he doesn’t like it and wants one of his sisters to stop singing/talking/looking at him.
- Repeating. This is what put the kibosh on my potty-training dreams. Right now Ammon repeats whatever you say as if he totally understands and is agreeing to what you’re explaining, even when he actually has no idea what you’re talking about and doesn’t agree at all. E.g.: “Ammon, do you want to stop playing here at the park and go home?'” Ammon: “Stop. Park. Go. Home.” Or “Ammon, do you see the pretty bird?” Ammon: “Pretty. bird.” Blank stare ahead. Can you imagine what potty training would be like? I can: “Ammon, do you need to go potty?” Ammon: “Need. go. potty.” And off we would go running to and from the potty all day long, world without end, amen. We need to make a little more progress in the life-comprehension stage before we attempt such a feat as potty training.
- Nicknames. Ammon has given everyone a nickname, except for Abe and me. The nicknames are sticking. Mary is Mare, Lydia is Lyddie, Clarissa is Kessa, and Nana is (sometimes) Nina.
- Food. When Ammon has a tantrum, I soothe him by reciting what he will eat at his next snack or meal. I am not joking. It works every time. He will literally stop screaming so that he can sputter, “toast, egg, water, meatball” in between hyperventilations. After about four food items we are usually in the clear and the tantrum is over.
- Joy. Ammon so far is the most exuberant child I have ever birthed. [The exception might be Lydia at age 6. Up until this year she was a little bit of an emotional train wreck, but this year she is so happy it is almost problematic. Her happiness expresses itself in joyful shouts, stomps, and loudness all around. We are, nevertheless, very relieved to see she has turned this emotional corner.) Ammon’s default mode is joy, and most of the time (when he is not melting down over some two-year-old problem) his eyes literally sparkle with mischief, humor, and glee. He wants to do everything and try everything–especially when it comes to food! We can’t bring a food to the table without Ammon demanding some of it, even if he has some already on his plate. I guess he’s suspicious that we are withholding the good stuff, and he wants to make sure nothing yummy escapes his plate. When he’s not scaring me to death, Ammon makes me happy all day long. I love every inch of him, from his wide, fat feet to his sparkly hair. He is my pudgy little piece of joy.