my little swimmer, housewarming party, dinner with friends

friday i worked from home because it was going to be quiet in the office and i had to pick up azalea early from daycare to take her to her appointment. i wrote about the appointment on saturday, if you missed it. friday evening we met our friends laura and evie (19 months) at the wading pool by our house.

playing in the sand while we wait

i was so excited to take azalea again...but let's just say things didn't go quite as planned. it's becoming very apparent that i have bred a little thrill-seeker (which is the total opposite of me!). she looooves the wading pool, but she doesn't want my assistance at all. i'm all for letting her experience life and not hovering, but the water is too deep for her to go off on her own. all she wanted to do was dive/crawl in the water, but her head ends up under water. she refused to hold the side of the pool or my hands, and god forbid i pick her up. i even let her go under quickly once or twice to see if she would be deterred by getting water up her nose and coughing (both of which happened), but 2 seconds later, she was at it again. after about 10 minutes of me trying to keep her from drowning herself, i was ready to be done. i took her out and she proceeded to throw a huge tantrum. i felt terrible! i wanted to be able to explain to her why she couldn't "swim" on her own. but she doesn't understand. i guess we better get a floaty for her to use (at least until she gets a little taller/more steady on her feet). i'm amazed daily by how many things she does understand, but it's situations like this that remind me we have a long road of learning ahead. :)
speaking of learning, i let her feed herself yogurt on saturday morning and this was the result (note the yogurt as hair gel). i couldn't stop laughing. a quick bath followed!

saturday thatcher and i decided to take an impromptu trip to ikea. we called my parents to see if they would like to watch azalea for us and they said yes. she doesn't last too long in that store, so we were thankful they could take her. i mentioned to thatcher that what i would really like for my birthday (which is tomorrow) is curtains for our living room. we've lived in our house for 5 years and only have shades on our windows. i've always wanted curtains, but never felt like i could justify the cost. he agreed to get them (i think he was thankful that he didn't have to come up with anything on his own. ha!) and we found some dark brown panels that should work perfectly. 
we didn't like any of the rods they had at ikea, so i found some i liked better at target. the panels are a little long, so they will probably require some hemming before we can hang them. i'll be sure to post before and after pictures when the time comes. you know you are old when you are this excited about curtains :) saturday evening we went to a house warming party for a family that thatcher knows (he went to college with the guy). i don't really know them, but it was fun to see their house and meet some of their friends.

sunday we pretty much hung out at home and got ready to have friends over for dinner. becky, jeromy, linnea (10 months) and sarah all came over for fajitas. we had fun watching the girls play and chatting with all of them.

toys toys toys!

i have to confess, this weekend was very hard on the toddler parenting front. azalea is really testing our patience these days. she acts fine when we are out and about or have people over, but when it's just our family at home she's constantly whining, fussing, and throwing tantrums about anything and everything. distraction helps, but not 5 minutes later she will be freaking out about something else. i know this is normal (right?), but i'm having a hard time dealing with it. at one point yesterday afternoon, i got totally overwhelmed and broke down crying. so thatcher had to deal with 2 crying girls. nice. he is soooo much more patient with her than i am. i really admire that about him. i love azalea more than anything in the world. i try so hard to be patient and thankful that i have a healthy, normal daughter, but oh. my. goodness. she is so irrational yet strong-willed. haha. i felt so guilty later about my inability to cope and running off into the bathroom instead of just calmly being there for her. i gave her extra hugs and kisses tonight to make up for it. i know we will have many many of these days in the years to come. i have to just take more deep breaths and remember that i am the mom and it's my job to keep calm and handle her when it doesn't seem possible. 

Comments

Kelly said…
Sounds like a fun weekend :-) Loved imagining little A trying to swim!! HOW funny! We need new curtains too, so I know how it is to have them on your "list"!!
Sarah said…
I can totally relate on the temper tantrum front. Aubrey was a nightmare on Saturday as well. Micah and I were so frustrated by constantly hearing cry, whine, scream (repeat x 1 billion) all day on saturday...I feel your pain!
Missy said…
Cam seems determined to drown himself as well. And just so you know I've tried a life jacket and that ended up being an even bigger tantrum. He didn't like it at all. Maybe I'll have to see about arm floaties or something, but I'm not sure if they are for kids this young. We'll have to take them to the splash pad together. They can't really drown there. =)

Also you're not the only one who doesn't handle the tantrums that well. Sometimes I'm fine with them and sometimes they ruin my whole day. I will say ignoring them gets easier so they become easier to deal with. Cause even at 23 months they are still in full swing for us. I did find that 15-20 months were the hardest as Cam's communication wasn't the best. Then at about 20 months he understood more and could tell us what he wanted and it got easier. But it's getting harder again as he has more ideas now about what he wants to do and get's angry when you don't let him do it.
Becky said…
Sound like a fun weekend (minus tantrums and attempted drownings). I'm not looking forward to the stress of raising a child! I have a feeling that I will have many breakdowns in my future :) Happy Birthday tomorrow if I don't make it to your blog!
Happy early Birthday! A impromptu trip to Ikea sounds wonderful right now! Last time I went their whole market place was empty, it was so disappointing since that is half the fun!
Anonymous said…
The picture of Azalea feeding herself is priceless! I still haven't even tried to let Rosemary hold her own spoon....I really need to get on that, especially if that cuteness/messy cuteness follows!
Rosemary is a fiesty girl, too. She seems alot like Azalea. She is a daredevil (which she didn't get from me!) and her tantrums are pretty bad. I know it is overwhelming sometimes, and God Bless our Husbands for being there! I try to tell myself that the whining and screaming are just this season of life, and someday I will miss this, all of this. That always helps me when I am having a rough day with her. You are such a great Mom and taking a break in another room is just fine. Sometimes when Rosemary is having a tantrum I sit her down and walk away to another room and tell her she needs to "think about her life" lol. This age has so much cuteness, and so much moodiness! :)

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