Taming the Wild Whiner

I've given up, and forgiven myself. From now on, I'm just going to blog when I have time - which, apparently, isn't weekly. Work's been really busy, with 2 night committments this past week, and once Payson's asleep we have all this other stuff to do besides blog, like pay bills and make lunch. Go figure! It's hard being a grown up.

At least I get to eat ice cream and drink wine, which is what I'm doing right now as I blog on a Friday night at 9:20 p.m. Yep, life does change after you have a kid! Actually, I just finished the wine and I've moved on to the ice cream.

So - the title of this blog: "Taming the Wild Whiner." Payson likes to wine, to ME. And sometimes to Matt, but mostly to me. I think it's payback for how much I whined growing up, but boy I hope it stops soon. Payson talks a lot, and has an incredible vocabulary for a 17 month old. Yet, she still loves to whine and point when she wants something. We've been reduced to saying sternly, "Payson, use your WORDS!" to which she usually responds by both signing and saying, "Please?" I wonder if she knows what we mean when we say "Use your WORDS!" Does she think she should be doing something with an object called a word? So I also usually ask her to say or tell me what she wants. Who knows what's effective?

Saturday was filled with whining and wasn't our best day. Jami and Braydon came over in the morning and while Braydon was taking his morning nap (oh, I remember those days) we all played outside - Payson crashed and burned forehead first on the paved driveway. Oops. Can you see her forehead? The scratch is actually self-inflicted from her fingernails that seem to grow about 1 inch a week and then she scratches herself while sleeping. Typically she cuts herself near her left tear duct and has been doing so since birth. But there's also a red road rash to the right of the scratch. Thank goodness for all that hair.

Payson, Jami, & Braydon (10.5 months and already outweighs Payson!)

We all took a walk on the Mountain Divison Trail near our house.

Payson tried to ice her boo boo. This ice pack got hot after about 5 minutes!

View of the Presumpscot River from the trestle. I love the chartruce color of the popping leaves!

Matt was doing some side work on Saturday and Payson and I were looking forward to attending my friend Christine's daughter's, Delaney, 4th birthday party. However, as I said, Saturday wasn't our best day, especially after the nap, from which Payson woke early and cranky. So we didn't end up making it to the party, which was a big disappointment.

Sunday was better - Matt took Payson for the morning and I entrenched myself in washing and organizing her spring and summer clothes. Man, it is quite a lot of work keeping up with her clothes! And then I took a great bike ride. In the afternoon I broke out the sidewalk chalk, which was a huge hit and tons of fun.

Besides whining these days, Payson really is quite a charmer. She's full of energy the minute she wakes up and doesn't stop moving until she sleeps. She talks a LOT, and sings and dances in her own way. She has been entertaining us lately by copying our motions and intonations. We had her saying "salsa" the other night in all sorts of ways which was extremely funny. Tonight we had her saying "strong" and putting her arms up to make muscles, which was so cute. She takes direction and knows how to help with simple tasks, like feeding Zoe every morning and evening and putting her shoes back in her closet - from the kitchen, without being told where to put them (just by asking her to put her shoes away, and she knows where they go, which is pretty amazing to us!). She shows empathy by being upset when she hears other kids crying, which is also amazing..

Here's a picture that embodies Payson's wild spirit - crazy hair, on the go, big ol' smile.

Is it safe to talk on your cell while riding your zebra?

Payson's sleeping pattern has really changed the past 2 weeks, too. She used to nurse to sleep at 7:30 every night, very consistently. During the last 2 weeks, however, she has been staying up later and we're not sure why - perhaps the sunlight? Last week it took her forever to nurse to sleep - a couple times it was around 9 p.m. before she fell asleep. But this week she seems to have turned a "nursing corner" and is no longer nursing until she falls asleep, which is really exciting for me as I never knew how I'd end this trend. Instead, she nurses for awhile and then sits up, so I stand up and "bounce" her. Last night she actually pointed to her crib before she was asleep - and did this again in the middle of the night when she awoke! I was so excited. So I put her in and rubbed her belly and off she went. I am hoping this is a good trend that will lead to her falling asleep without aid... eventually.

Her later bedtime has translated to shorter naps (darn!) but later waking in the morning (yay!). So this week I went for a bike ride at 5:45, which was great! I'm looking forward to doing more morning workouts - it's nice to fit it in before I head to work in the morning. I also got out for a run on Tuesday; I've been pretty good lately about meeting my exercising goal of 2 times a week during my 4 day work week, and then get out a bunch on the weekend, too.

We have a PACKED Memorial Day weekend ahead of us, with some fun and some more work-oriented activities planned. I hope to get some great pictures! I hope everyone has a great, relaxing weekend.