Woodstock at (almost) 2

Woodstock hit the 23-month mark on Sunday. Which means two things: a) I must figure out ASAP what on earth we're going to give her for her birthday and b) Pebbles is arriving SOON!

I don't blog often about Woodstock - her antics are, like any first-born child, typically trophy and giggle worthy (after all, the starry eyed first-time parent hasn't worn off yet), but no one else needs to agree (or labor painfully through my ruminations on how delightful she is).

But there are some things just too good to pass up:

• Recently, Woodstock has taken to vanishing for periods of time. For all of 5 minutes, I was concerned - how does one lose a toddler in one's not-terribly-big house?! I wandered into her room - no Woodstock. It was the last room I checked, so I said, "Woodstock? Where are you?" And a little voice from underneath the crib (which has a bedskirt, so one cannot immediately see under it), "Hiding mama!" As to what she was doing under there? Well, most times she is sneaking a hit on the binky (banned at all times of the day other than bedtime). Sometimes she is hiding with contraband (lately something she swiped from Grover). Sometimes she is simply hiding from bedtime or anything else she doesn't want to do. The good thing is, she always lets us know where she is - she hasn't quite figured out that "Hiding" means not admitting to it.
• On Sunday afternoon after her nap, Woodstock called to me, "Mama. Come in here." I followed her into Grover's room/toy room/guest room. She pointed at a spot on the floor and said, "Sit here mama. Project." Miss Jan has "project" bags - bags that contain a puzzle or alphabet letters or other such things - Woodstock loves them and now "project" is code word for "puzzle" at our house. She set me up with one of her puzzles, then grabbed my scripture bag and her (large) purse and her plastic keys, & hoisted all of them over her shoulder (leaving her to walk a little tipped to one side) and said, "Bye bye mama. Got to go." She got as far as the front door before she had to come back to check on my puzzle progress.
• On Saturday, I set up the bassinet in our bedroom and got out all the newborn diapering supplies for the bassinet changing table. Woodstock "helped" me put all the diapers in the drawer. Unfortunately, she figured out how to open the drawer - and newborn diapers are just so cute she can't keep her hands out of them. This morning I was dressing in my closet (she had shut me in). I hear her little voice on the other side of the door, "Mama, yie down (lie down). Yie down mama, change your butt." (Heaven bless Himself for teaching her the phrase "change your butt" - just what I want my daughter to be saying). I came out. She was convinced she was going to put the newborn diaper on my rear end. I was convinced if I lie down, there was no getting off the floor in my condition. She was not happy about that in the slightest.
• While camping, my mom kept Woodstock and my niece happily occupied by giving them baby wipes and letting them "clean" - the side of the truck, the camper windows, the table, etc. Woodstock found this delightful. Since then, she has demanded to wash the windows at least once a day. Of course a dry tissue is not acceptable. It must be a "wipey" like the ones Grammy gave her. I am hoping Grammy wants to wash the insides of my dining room windows when she comes up over Labor Day - since, after all, the whole cleaning toddler thing was her idea.

There are days I feel so bad lately because I barely have the energy or strength to pick her up, there is no room on my lap to cuddle and rock her before bed (necessitating that she now sit in her bed for me to sing to her), and her diet has gone way downhill since she discovered all of the wonderful things Grover eats (none of which are healthy). I figure that's why God made toddlers indestructible - so they can survive the late stages of their mother's pregnancy.

Bless her little heart, Woodstock seems to be taking it all in stride - so far. After all, she's not quite 2 yet.