"Last time, mummy"
I heard myself in her these days. She'll repeat to me what i've said to her, in relevant conversations, even if it's something i said a day ago. This evening she was arranging her Legos on the cover and after pouring it out on the floor she wanted to do it again. I was telling her that it's time to keep her Legos as it's bedtime. She nonchalantly told me "Last time, mummy". I was a little surprised by her request but let her play it one last time before keeping it away.
"What is this, mm?"
Really, until i hear her say some things i really don't know that I have said it to her....even on a daily basis. Sometimes when i catch myself saying it, i would feel a little embarrassed. Actually, some phrases are quite harmless...more silly and funny to hear her say it anyway.
The best one was on one of the weekends when her cousins were at our place and she took her flashcard, showed it to her youngest cousin (word facing him and picture facing her), and she asked him "What is this, hmm??" the "hmm?" is those high pitched tone which when Ww and I saw it played right in front of us we wanted to laugh ourselves silly. After that i realized she does that very often to her Elmos and stuffed toys too..she'll ask them if they want to sleep or whether they want to eat etc etc. Plus it will end with a "hmm?"
geez...i do that all the time with her...know you know why.
"Eliza so happy"
This says it all. She'll announce to us that she's happy...when we're going out, after we had a good time out, while we're playing tickle and making the bed, while daddy's carrying her to fly and she laughs her heart out, while she's singing heartily (i think she sings like half of her awake time) etc.
It's really nice to her that from her. Makes mummy happy too :)
Her fav play - helping me make the bed...or more like mess the bed. She'll tell me "Lingling go to sleep. Lingling wake up le". Sometimes we'll play rolling around and hiding under the covers. Nowadays she's really good at helping me smoothing the ends and making the quilt cover neat.
On Sleeping
I always feel Eliza can sleep herself longer but somehow on average she gets 10hr nights and less (esp during those late nights + early mornings), and 1-2hr naps. It varies quite a bit. But somehow, the bedtime has felt easier these days. For now, after brushing teeth, bedtime diapers, and prayers, it's goodnight and off to sleep. I've skipped the reading before bed somehow cos she's very good at extending the reading time and it ends up becomes a tool for her not to sleep + a crying spat if it doesn't end off well. I try reading at other times of the day then, or if i have time, before her bedtime milk / brushing teeth.
Anyway, nowadays i've told her that she doesn't need me to pat her but i'll sing or hum a song while i read some stuff. If she starts standing up or scratching the bed netting or whatever, i'll stop singing and ignore her. Normally she'll realize i'm not singing and start ranting that she wants me to sing, which will only happen when she's lying down trying to sleep. So i'll hum & read, while she tangtang and tries to sleep. It's less a struggle and she settles to sleep faster.
Though i realized she always have to keep her eyes open until they're so tired she has to close it, and sometimes takes forever (exaggerated obviously..but it feels like it). I have to remind her to close her eyes so that she can sleep...gee..once she closes her eyes voluntarily, she's off to dreamland in seconds.
On night scratching
I wonder if after months of pondering over, rationalizing, ignoring the issue, resigning myself to the sad fate of waking up to Eliza's night frustrated scratching; I might have realized something that could ease or eliminate her itching. I'm not sure if it's the way she's going off to sleep (I tell her "mummy's not gonna scratch for you. you know how to scratch on your own" + "mummy don't need to patpat you to sleep. Eliza's a big girl now."), or if it's the bathing. Eliza's has, since 1yr plus, been afraid of the shower because somehow she always opens her eyes when water goes over her face or she breathes in water, she has always bathed in her bathtub. The problem with the bathtub is that after all that soaping, i'm still rinsing her with the same soap and prob the same dirt (not that she's that dirty anyway, but still). Recently, i've used another batch of clean water to rinse her hair and her body before she gets dried. I wonder if that eased the night scratching.
I didn't tell my mil that but today's bedtime she was scratching and scratching, just now she woke up and whined cos she was itchy (though, i just waited and listened, and eventually she rolled back to sleep). Maybe it was the bathwater.
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