Thursday, September 17, 2009

Mommy confessions

My daughter is over a year old and I've never put her in an overnight diaper. I change her diaper 3-5 times a night because she wakes up requesting it and I've never even thought of using overnight diapers.
Why? I think the idea of letting her stew in her pee seems wrong. Now I know it's not really stewing but I suppose I feel like if she wakes up for a diaper change, I should change it.
Well today, I ordered some overnight diapers. They should arrive tomorrow. It's not that I think she should stew but the simple fact that she has now opted to pull and tag at her tabs while she is sleeping and needs a diaper change. It's also the fact that she likes to flip over like a flap jack while I'm changing her diaper. She moves alot during the day so I've mastered the vertical diaper change but at night, she's moving around because she just wants to get back to sleep.
With the overnight diapers, I've also come to the conclusion I've passed that 1 year mommy mark. I know technically I passed it a few months back but I'm now at that point where baby books and magazines have come to their conclusion. Sure I can find a book on specific toddler related issues but for the most part, I'm winging it now.
Questions are now looming in my head:
Should I buy new shoes in the next level (crawling, walking, running etc) now?
Should I try to reinforce using the fork for eating and not just stabbing at the plate?
Should I try to switch her from the 6 ounce bottle of breastmilk to a cup of breastmilk? She will drink water from her canteen and a cup but she prefers to drink breastmilk on tap or via a bottle
How many shoes do I need to buy for her?
Should I try to introduce more 'crunchy' foods even though she only has 4 teeth?
It's also discipline time and trying to teach her patience. Teaching a toddler patience is like trying to flip a frog onto a lilypad.
I've started trying to teach TG to calmly wait for me to finish my meal before I set her down from her chair. I want her to learn patience and consideration. Right now, when she wants to do something else, she immediately gives me the sign for 'up' and then says 'up'. In other words, "Lift me up. I would like to do something else now." or as Bill McNeal would say, "This displease me." Fast forward to 3:12
Actually, watching my toddler brings out alot of Bill McNealisms. Toddlers are naturally centric and what made Bill hilarious was his own centric tendencies.
I digress.
My little girl is now starting to display traits, personalities and preferences. She's more vocal and opinionated. She's no longer a baby but a becoming a person right before my eyes.