Vacation - from Amelia's perspective

Buckled up on the airplane

An early morning, outside breakfast (Grand Tetons)

I found a stick!

A really big "cow"... (bison in Yellowstone)

Daddy broke the wheel!

MELTDOWN!

Pretty blue water

All this water is stinky! (Yellowstone thermal features)

Yay! An ice cream break!!!

A "tweet tweet" up in the tree (bald eagle, Yellowstone)

And a "doggie" too! (Coyote, also in Yellowstone)

Off to the ranch for a horsey ride

The horsey ride was very short...

We even saw a "cow!" (Moose & baby in Grand Tetons, near Jenny Lake)

Finally, relaxation in the rooftop heated pool (Teton Village)

A restful vacation? Not quite.

We've been away for a week on a family vacation. We began our adventure in 90+ degree, hot and humid weather. Then traveled to cool, breezy, and picturesque Wyoming. We saw the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone National Park, and a ranch near Big Sky, Montana. Photos to come... once my bruises and sore muscles are healed.

We have never let Amelia's existence hamper our travel plans. She went with us on a mega family vacation to Europe last year. She's been to Maine with us as well. I've always said that the memories of having her with us far outweigh the challenges she brings.

Not sure I still believe that. Now she is two. Now she refuses to put on her shoes. She screams about wearing a jacket. Throws tantrums in restaurants (because green beans are apparently impossible to find on menus out west). We spent entirely too much money on only a few restaurant meals, and 90% of the time she ruined our experience. Steve and I ate separately, one wrestling an irate child while the other scarfed down their expensive meal. We opted for car picnics and pizza places as much as possible. And I may not go out to eat, even back in the 'burbs, anytime soon.

The challenges are definitely greater now. But still... the trip would not have been the same without our little sassy one. She made most of our memories really special. I do not regret this trip together - and we will certainly travel again. But maybe next time we'll think twice about pushing a physically tiring itinerary like this one.

I'm thinking a cruise.
Lounge chairs and ocean breezes. And child care facilities.

Researching Amelia

Steve and I knew we loved the name Amelia long before we actually had an Amelia.

When Steve pulled off his sweet and elaborate marriage proposal, we were on Amelia Island in sunny Florida. And my paternal grandmother, whom I was only able to know until I was about 6 years old, was also an Amelia. The name also qualified as one that would be unique enough, but not so unique that we had to endure comments from others.

We quibbled over boy names for a long time once I was pregnant. To this day, we still do not have a boy name we can agree upon. So it was quite a relief when the ultrasound tech said those magic words, "it's a girl!". Immediately, she went from an unknown little bean to our Amelia.

I know I looked up the meaning of her name back then, but today I felt like looking at it again. Baby Center's "Baby Names Finder" provides some fun information about names.

Here are some fun facts about the oh-so-fabulous name AMELIA:

Latin origin.

It means "industrious" (definitely true for my Amelia!).

In 1881, Amelia was at it's peak. There were 2,377 babies per million given this name.

Around 1904, probably close to when my grandma Amelia had been born, the name was on the decline. It hit a low in 1969, with only 263 babies per million given the name Amelia.

Now the name is on the rise again. In 2008, Amelia's birth year, Amelia was ranked #68 in popularity for baby girl names. In 20090, that rose even higher to #55.

Currently 2,311 babies per million are named Amelia.

And of course, the most famous Amelia was Ms. Amelia Earhart. Born July 24, 1897, she lived 40 exciting, "rough and tumble" years before disappearing on a flight in 1937. She was an aviation pioneer, and quite a spunky lady.

Mommy is taking over

One of my friends said of their parenting recently,

"We let the 'leash' out longer & longer, until we realize we have to pull it back in again. We let it out, pull it in, let it out, pull it in."

This is very true for us as well. We want to let Amelia become her own person, assert her independence, and gain confidence in her abilities. We don't want to hover and choke her with our own rules and ways of doing things. So we "let the leash out", so to speak. We allow her more and more freedoms and observe how she's doing.

Lately, it has become time to pull that leash back in again.

If it won't hurt her, let her be. It is not worth the fight.
Thus far, I have been a firm believer and consistent follower of this self-written philosophy. Amelia is two years old. If she is not about to bleed and she isn't walking too fine a line between safety and the ER, she really isn't pulled back. Several parents have told me how surprising it is that a first-time mom like me can let her go so much. I just want her to become the confident kid she deserves to be.

However, now is the time to pull on that leash a bit. She is starting to test her boundaries too much. She's become bossy and, dare I say it, a little manipulative. So now I have a new tactic - I refer to it as, tough luck, kid. Mommy is back in charge.

Amelia will not hold my hand in the parking lot at Chick-Fil-A? OK - I tell her we're getting back in the car and not having lunch. She refuses to put on shoes to play outside? Fine - I tell her I'm going outside to play all by myself. She doesn't want the particular episode of Little Einstein's I turned on for her? Great - I'll turn the TV off instead. And if she wants to cry about it? I'm much better at ignoring it these days. I used to try to talk to her and explain why, but now I give my reason ONCE and only once.

It is amazing how my new tough love works. After a week of doing this consistently, she totally understands. Would I ever really not feed her lunch? Or play outside while leaving her in the house? No. Of course not. But so far, the threat alone is working it's magic. Is it mean? I certainly hope not. Amelia still gets plenty of freedoms, but I am slowly metamorphosing from the bullied victim of a two-year old into a much more effective mommy of a slightly less bossy child.

I just hope she never calls my bluff.

That will be another post. Another day. Hopefully a long, long time from now.

Searching for something...

Amelia knows what "no" means. She tells her stuffed animals "no" all the time. She tells them to listen. And she puts them in timeout. But somehow, when "no" comes out of my mouth, it seems not to translate in her world. She just looks at me. And grins. And keeps doing whatever she is doing. Timeout for Amelia means kicking, crying, and definitely NOT staying still in one place. Amelia's animals seem to grasp the timeout concept.

She's been quite a bully this week. I understand that she is two. I understand that she has no desire to be quiet and relax just because Mommy is completely and utterly burned out. But wow, sometimes I just want to pull my hair out. Or run away and hide in a cave. All alone. For about a week.

Or...

I can try really, really hard to focus on the highlights of my day. I can push aside the um, disagreements I had with my spunky little one and instead remember what she (and I) did RIGHT this week.

Why is it so hard to remember the good moments? I suppose exhaustion and exasperation take a toll after a while. But it is never all bad.

Amelia told me she wanted to give me a "big hug" - and she did.

I gave her a different breakfast than usual one morning, and she said "Mmmm, mmmm. Looks good!". (That one cracked me up.)

She put on her shoes all by herself two days in a row.

She cleaned up all her plastic fruits & veggies and her picture flash cards in the same evening.

I created an art project (glue stick and fake feathers!) and we completed it together.

We shared a pretzel an looked at bunnies in the mall.


And now she just took her diaper off... and she's throwing a tantrum because she doesn't want Daddy to put it back on her. Sigh... breathe.... and go back for more migraine medicine.

Has a mommy ever gone insane from terrible twos? I fear I may be the first.

Swimsuit shopping

Amelia and I are spending several hours a week in swimwear this summer. HOTlanta is miserable these days. The weekend is expected to be a humid and sizzling 94 degrees. The pool is the only outdoor activity I can really handle for much longer than 45 seconds. So I went out in search of new swimsuits for my girl today. She only has one that fits comfortably. The other suit is simply adorable, but not worth the tugging, whining, and struggle I have to endure to get it on her body. One-piece swimsuits do not fit her well at all. She is too tall and her torso too long. So, off to the stores we went, in search of a two-piece swimsuit that makes Amelia (and her parents) happy and comfortable.

Shopping for toddler swimwear seems like a simple task. Until you see the selections. I'm sure itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, yellow polka dot bikinis can be adorable on 2-year-olds, but I simply cannot bring myself to dress my girl in one of those. Not yet, anyway. How do you stuff a Dora the Explorer swim diaper in some of those bikini bottoms, anyway? Maybe the scantily-clad toddlers don't wear swim diapers? Where are the simple tankinis with modest tops and full-coverage bottoms? They are certainly not easy to find.

I didn't find exactly what I had in mind, but I think I found two suits that will work. Now, unless she grows too much before our late summer beach trip, my little swimmer will be set for the rest of pool season.

Swimsuit shopping for myself? That is another (scary!) story.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for this cute little princess.

That face melts me every time.