Hello, 21 Months!

Well, as Tay enters her 21st month of life, we just couldn't be happier. Yes, it's true that she has just taken one more step toward the "terrible twos," but really, how terrible could it be with a smile that stretches from ear to ear, hugs and kisses, and her sweet "YOU!" (it's how she says "I love YOU!")

As in a previous post, she has become a bit unruly at times, but I still consider us very lucky parents to have such an easy toddler to raise. She very very rarely has meltdowns, and they are usually at home...and usually they can be mitigated so that they are minimal and I don't even have to bribe her...most of the time. The best thing is, the greatest bribe of all is reading her a story - she'll stop any meltdown to read a story. Or do a dance. Or a sip of water or milk. Or a piece of cheese. Pretty much anything will calm her down when she gets spun up about something and can't stop the emotional eruption. I just have to take a deep breath and understand that a toddler's life is tough; she just has to let it out sometimes to relax. The best part of any meltdown, though, is after she's done with it (or as she's winding down), she wants to be held and she just kisses and loves on you for letting her get it out of her system.

I've realized that her attitude after the meltdown is hugely impacted by my attitude during and after her meltdown. If I'm tense and irritated (as I normally am when it gets to this point), she will wind down angry and resort to some method of retaliation (like trying to him me or throwing something). If I'm calm and help talk her down from her worked up state (which I am trying to consciously do when faced with this situation), she'll want me to hold her as she calms down and return to the sweet little angel that she generally is.

As of late, we have been struggling with her bedtime because she no longer wants to go to bed at night. She wants to stay up and run around and she gets progressively more and more cranky until she cries herself to sleep. I hate that! So, all the various "toddler sleep" articles I'm reading are telling me that her lack of sleep is what is causing her crankiness and that I should put her to bed earlier and earlier. What they fail to mention is that trying to put her down is what's causing my crankiness...which is what is probably causing her crankiness because she wants to keep playing and I am stopping her! Aiya...

Anyhow, we started walking down this very slippery slope by her going to bed later (9-9:30-10) and in turn, waking up later (7-7:30-8), making me late for work! Then she'd nap later in the afternoon (2-4 instead of noon-2 as usual), which would then again push back her bedtime! Ugh...so after about a week of this progressive downhill sleepless state, I said enough! I started waking her up earlier; first 6:30, then 6, then 5:30. Then, I told Beth, no more sleeping past 3pm. I still bathe her around 7:30-8pm, but now she resists and doesn't fall asleep until around 9 or 9:30, when she used to fall asleep between 8 and 8:30. Well, last night, I bathed her at 7, read a few books together, and laid down with her to sing some songs. I know I should be more strict about her silly reasons for getting out of bed, but when she tells me she needs a drink of water and I am unprepared, how can I not get her water? Then last night, she sat up and said, "Umma, apple peas." I actually didn't understand it the first time she said it, so I said, "what?" She repeated, "Apple. Apple. Nana? Apple." It's like she was trying to help me understand her by relating it to a banana! Surely she doesn't understand already that an apple and a banana are both fruits, but I got what she was saying immediately after she said "Nana." Amazing. But I digress...back to the bedtime. After singing and singing and her singing along with me for a while, she became quiet and I assume she fell asleep because I fell asleep, too! When I opened my eyes to check the time, it was 2AM!!! I quietly "leaped" out of bed and went to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer (so it wouldn't get that weird smell in the morning from sitting in the washer still damp), set my alarm for the morning, took my contacts out and went back to bed. Phew...it's a good thing I didn't have anything in the oven!

In other news, I enrolled Tay in a Twinkle Ballet class (ballet for tots) this winter...just so she would have something fun to do with some other little kids her age (other than storytelling hour at the library and playgroup). The girl loves to dance and groove to any music, so I figured, she'd probably enjoy this, at least for a little bit. I wanted to find a toddler tumbling class, but couldn't seem to find one, so I settled for ballet. I'm not much of a dancer, nor have a I had any aspirations to be one, so it's an awkward setting for me, but Tay's got the dancing bug in her, so I had to give her an opportunity. Anyhow, last week was her first class, and the age group was from 20 months to 30 months. She was just about to turn 21 months, so I figured it would be a good class for her. Well, it turned out she was the only one in the class...sad. Well, the teacher asked if we wouldn't mind joining the 31 month to 48 month group. I wasn't so sure how Tay would handle being in a class with kids so much older than her, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try, so this week (today), we went to the older class.

Let me tell you...it was WONDERFUL! She is by far the youngest in the class, but she's not much littler than the rest of them. And surprisingly enough, she follows along in the class wonderfully! I just wish I could get better pictures! The classroom is a bit tight with the moms and all the kids. She looks just nauseatingly sweet with her little hands above her head in that delicate ballet pose and see the picture where she's stretching! You have to admit, it's darn cute. Tay enjoyed herself so much, and I had so much fun myself watching her follow along and taking a second or two to look back at me and giggle! She was amazed at the older girls and would watch so intently and try to do the movements herself! I didn't have her outfit (the teacher picked it up for me because they were to be ordered through a Korean online site), so she's not in a tutu yet, but next time, she will be in full dress. :)

There's no class next week because the teacher has a performance, and the following two weeks, we will be in the States, so it looks like ballet will be on hold until January 2010! At least we know, she enjoys it and it was a good investment!

I can't believe we are already approaching 2010! So much on our minds as a family...

What is next?

Santa Claus!

This weekend, Santa visited the post exchange for photo ops (and to pick up some last minute gift items that his Elves didn't have time to produce), so we took Tay to see if we could get a photo. Were we in for a surprise!

If you remember, Tay's Easter Bunny event and last year's Santa event, they did not go over very well at all. As soon as she saw the giant bunny hop off the loud fire truck with its lights and sirens on, she had a complete meltdown with screaming and crying to get away from the bunny. Last year, she was quite content staying at least 50 yards away from the live Santa, but was somewhat comfortable with the statues of Santa as long as one of us were holding her.

This year, she actually met the Santa before he was in costume (albeit briefly), and then the next time we saw him, he had the fluffy white beard and beautiful red costume...so she was quite taken. :) As we stood in line waiting for him, she had a very serious look on her face, so I was concerned that this year might be a bust as well, but when it was our turn, I sat her on his lap, he gave her a little candy cane, and she just stared at his face...and then turned to look at me and just giggled. She looked back at his face and gave a little "point" to his beard and looked at me again and giggled! She thought his beard was just the silliest thing...she couldn't help laughing at him, which in turn made Santa laugh all the more...so they just sat there giggling at each other while Jeff took some pictures. Beautiful. :) I'll be sure to post some on here as soon as I get them off the camera.

Two more weeks before we're home!

Thanksgiving Trip to PI, Once Again

Our family went to Cebu, Philippines, again for Thanksgiving this year.  This is Tay's second Thanksgiving spent at Plantation Bay Resort, and as before, it was an all-around wonderful and relaxing trip.  Last Thanksgiving, we spent it with another family, the Lees, but this year, it was just the three of us.  Now that Tay is just around the corner from turning two, this trip was quite filled with adventure, and in her familiar surroundings, she was quite at home.  Even many of the staff at the resort recognized her; it was a pleasant reunion of sorts.  :)

 

We arrived late (around 2am) on the 22nd and got settled into our one-bedroom suite on the resort.  The next morning, we awoke to the warm sun shining through our window shades...what a wonderful way to wake up.  :)  We sauntered to breakfast at Kilimanjaro Cafe (as we did every morning during previous visits) and had a filling breakfast with delicious Pan de Sal (rolls) and sweet sweet mango.  This was the first trip that Tay actually started enjoying mangos...she never really cared for them before, but I think the taste is growing on her. 

 

Shortly following breakfast, we covered ourselves in sunscreen and made our way to the pool where we spent the rest of the morning until lunch time, which we ordered to the room before nap time.  After nap time, we were back in the water for many more hours of splashing around until the daylight grew dim and we headed to dinner.  This was pretty much our routine throughout the week we spent there, but we did venture off the resort for a trip to a Timex store and dinner at Cowrie Cove (located on Shangri La resort).  The dinner at Cowrie Cove was delicious and the grounds were beautiful (what we could see of it); since it was dark when we went, we talked about coming back to see the grounds during daytime, but we never did make another trip out because we wanted to enjoy as much time as we could with Tay in the water and sun. 

 

For four of the mornings, though, I went and did my skills and dives for my Open Water scuba certification.  Yes, I passed all of them without any troubles and got my certification, but I did have a casualty.  After the third open water dive, there were a lot of waves, so I lost my contact out of my left eye.  I also said hello to many tiny, invisible jelly fish...which my hands, face, and top of my ear didn't appreciate, but I think I'm immune to them now.  Also, during my mask removal skills training, I went under to remove my mask and replace it, but instead of removing just my mask, I also removed my regulator...why, I have no idea.  I think I might have been a little more nervous than I thought I was.  Anyhow, I just calmly replaced my regulator and proceeded to replace my mask, so all was well...my instructor just got a good chuckle.  The coolest things I did get to see on the dives were a small black & white striped sea snake, two lion fish and two stone fish...and of course many many little nemo's and dori's...:)

 

Anyhow, while I was gone during the dives (about 2 hours each), Tay got to spend a lot of time with Appa, which both enjoyed a great deal.  Tay totally was a daddy's girl the entire trip (almost to the point where I felt like I got my feelings hurt), but it really was sweet to see the two of them just loving on each other, kissing, and cuddling...I have a lot of pictures of it, too.  Jeff is the "fun" parent...Tay always wants him to take her down the slides and go splashing around with her.  I am the "sleep" parent, who makes sure her general needs are met.  Eh, I guess I can live with that...

 

This trip, we also went to the Char-B-Q they held on Galapagos beach and the Hawaiian Luau.  The Char-B-Q was pretty good; the scallops were absolutely delcious and so was the lamb, although they ran out pretty quickly.  Tay particularly enjoyed the grilled corn on the cob.  The show at the Hawaiian Luau was very impressive, but it started raining shortly after the show began, so we didn't stay for too long.  The food was ok, but not too impressive.  We did enjoy the curried shrimp, though...and the almond jello.  Tay mostly enjoyed the noodles and rice as well as the chicken stirfry. 

 

Before we left on our trip, I picked up a couple new books to take with us (as I was getting pretty tired of reading the same books over and over).  While we were in Cebu, we probably read those "couple" of books about a thousand times, so by the end of the week, Tay was reading them along with me as I read them to her.  It's so cute how she now finishes my sentences to each page and even adds the inflections I add to make the book more interesting.  She seems to be picking up the concept of "opposites" as well; like, up and down and wet and dry...big and little.

 

Now that we're back in Korea, she'll point at a large truck and say, "Wow!  Beeeg tuk" and then when a small car passes, she'll say, "leel cah" as she uses her thumb and forefinger to show "little."  She's no longer my little baby anymore...she's a full-grown toddler with a mind and opinions of her own.  Tay's always been an affection and loving child, but now, she's very decisively loving and sweet when she wants to be, and if she's upset with you, she'll even give you the cold shoulder or the pout.  But funny thing is, she'll give you the pout and then realize that she's pouting and giggle a little because that little lip protruding always makes us laugh (so she, in turn, also laughs). 

 

My, my...in a little over a week, Tay turns 21 months old.  It truly is amazing how quickly time flies.  Some days I wish I could rewind time to enjoy her younger days again, but more and more, I am so glad that she is who she is today!  I look forward to who she will be a month from now, a year from now...10 years from now...30 years from now...