I believe every toddler is a charm to their parents and as much as some parents talk about how naughty and mischievous their toddlers can be, we all know it's developmental and temperament. Ww and I know Eliza better than the back of our hands, we know generally what to expect of her when she wants something, what she likes and dislikes etc even though some things change. Once Ww commented that isn't it freaky that our parents knows us so well too?
Having stopped work already and taking care of Eliza quite full time now, without Ww for this 5 weeks is really great to some point. I mean i have time for myself when she goes to school in the morning, I have time to be with her for the rest of the day. A lot of bonding time which i miss out when I have been working. We talk a lot too and I love listening to her 'stories' and comments and phrases and things that she say, even though i would say i don't understand it 20% of the time.
There are battles, needless to say.
Morning 'battles' to get her to go toilet, brush teeth and change into her school uniform on a school day. This i have learnt to get her to wake up early enough and to talk to her about it the night before so she has a good idea abt what we are doing the next morning. So I frequently do these reminders to cue her in on what we are doing or where we are going ahead of time, to have her 有心里准备 or to excite her about what's coming up.
The other battle is to get her to eat her proper meals. It is not all that bad as i may describe it to be. I believe there are worse cases and Eliza in actual fact does eat quite well...as long as i don't force her to eat stuff she doesn't eat like eggs, fish, spicy food, certain vegs. I tell her that if she doesn't at least her her main meal there's no snacks or 'eat something' food later. I really don't want her to be chanting for snacks cos she hasn't had her proper lunch/dinner. So really, there are days that we leave her to enjoy her rice/noodles only meal. And when i do prepare a meal, i ensure that there's one food item she likes in the menu. Or i "hide" the food like eggs in the fried rice. Still, she loves her fruits and cereal which i'm glad about..and her gummy indulgence is limited to one each time she requests it.
The other battle is the 'upset' battle. When she wants yet don't want. We have gotten over some minor ones like how she loves to open her bottle cap and if i am too fast and open it for her, she's super upset about it and it can't be undone. Nowadays she can allow me to redo some things so that she can do it. Doesn't have to be first. Though, today because she has taken so long to come for her bath, even after several reminders, i told her i will bathe first (normally i'll bathe her and then bathe after that). She was probably too engrossed with her colouring even though she said yes. Just as i was finishing up, she came into the bathroom, upset that i have bathed. And then she didn't want to budge to bathe nor let me out of the bathroom. Obviously, a 'battle' ensued because i wasn't gonna wait in the bathroom forever nor let her off without bathing. So even though she eventually relented, she somehow cried through her bath...with all the requests to have tissue (not the hanky i use to bathe her) to wipe her tears, requests not to use soap, requests not to wash hair, requests to drink water (?!?!)... oh well that's my lil girl. She also wanted a hug after drying up which comforted her a bit. I was quite frustrated so I had quite a stern look on my face which didn't help comfort her generally. Eventually when we got to the room to calm down and hug, she sobbingly said sorry that she made me so angry. Awwiee..my heart melted to hear her say that, to which i kissed her and told her that it's ok and that i love her. (on hindsight i should have said that her apologies are accepted...ah finally found the word)
My lil affectionate girl. :)
She did it again last night, she somehow woke up in the middle of the night to give me a goodnight hug and goodnight kiss. Sweet. :) She did it before. That night I came home late and somewhere in the middle of the night, groggily in my sleep, she woke me up and asked to hug me and kiss me...soooo super sweet.
In the first week that Ww left to Canberra to start his school, she wasn't too expressive about missing him. and would retort that she doesn't miss him, mainly because she doesn't see him. This week she has been expressing that she's missing daddy and would comment that she wants to talk to him. At one point, she got a little upset during bedtime cos she wanted daddy and when i told her she can still see his photos, she said that's not the 'real' live daddy. Talking to him on the phone helps. Plus she'll always include him in her prayers: "pray for daddy not sick in australia" at least for the past 3 days already!
Sweetie pie :)
On my actual birthday date, i bought a small...yes really tiny cake to celebrate with her which she was super happy about. She loves celebrating birthdays, as most kids do. That morning when i told her about what we were gonna do after school, she told me she will make a present for me, "do you want 'xx (sorry i can't remember what tt animal was)' or ladybird?'. wwweeee i wanna hug her so tight!
It's not hard to love her at all, really. And i really thank God for an angel like her. It has been a joy to parent her and to watch her grow. I thank God for this season before her little sister arrives, to get to know her better and to spend time with her. I love our bedtime talking sessions with her when we reflect about the day and she tells me her stories (for now it's always the 'short short man' story). I love to hear her chirpy voice and her bright smile when she wakes up in the morning to tell me the sun is up, or that she wants milk, or that she's gonna come up to my bed and has left me enough space for me, or just a good morning.
