We Don't Need No Stinkin' Milestones
One week ago, Thalia was a baby. A little creature whose only purpose in life was to make people smile, make them laugh, maybe wave on cue.
In one week, things have changed. And changed drastically.
The turning point was dinner last week at a trendy Santa Monica establishment called Sushi Roku, which is Japanese for place where many surgically enhanced blondes eat overpriced spicy tuna rolls. Our little we-can-take-her-anywhere daughter, our what-a-good-flyer-she-is-you -hardly-notice-her-on-the-plane girl, our I-know-you-wish-yours-was-as-perfect-but-can't-win-'em-all offspring learned to shriek.
Shriek.
Hello, attractive table of LA actors with very white teeth, do you like the sound of my daughter's shriek during your seared ahi appetizer? Because if you missed it, she'd be delighted to repeat it, only exponentially louder.
Ah, there it is. Enjoy your sake. Try the enoki tempura, it's fabulous.
One week ago, Thalia was a girl to be looked at. Now she's a girl to be watched. She goes into drawers and takes whatever was in the drawer out of the drawer. She takes whatever was in the diaper bag out of the diaper bag. She takes whatever was in the trashcan out of the trashcan. And then bangs on the trashcan. And then, when we're not looking, probably puts the entire thing into her mouth.
And while one would generally be thrilled to walk into a hotel room with a real live Jacuzzi tub up three tiled steps right next to the bed, a couple with an 11 month-old who's just learned to climb steps is only slightly less thrilled.
Thank you, twenty (20) in-laws. Thank you for being here this week and helping me tame the toddler that has inhabited the shell of my infant daughter.
Or wait, maybe it's just temporary? Tell me it's just temporary. Judging from the number of churches down in North Carolina, I'm sure I could find an exorcist.
posted by Mom101 at 10:41 AM
65 Comments:
Sorry to burst your bubble but she has only begun her demon-like ways. Soon she will progress into a Britney-loving, eyeball-rolling girl-demon who you will love without abandon.
Isn't this fun? Thalia will continually test your limits of 'whatever', go-with-the-flow, progressive ideals you may have had in your head. But think of it this way: you will never run out of stories and plot lines. The trick it to never, never, never take it personally!
Besides, I think she was really telling you to bring her home!
It's temporary that she's a little curious & doing a little lung-testing. Next, she'll be more curious & do different kinds of lung-testing.. Oh yes. The fun begins!
She's a "look-at-me I'm entertaining you as I explore and test my vocal styles." Did you hear that? Did you see that? Oh yes Thalia, you're a Big Girl now!
Just remind yourself in public that the odds of running into the same surgically enhanced blondes are rare. Do they even have the capacity to form thought anyway?
Honeymoon's over, baby. Welcome to toddlerhood.
Now, DON'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF HER! AHHHH!
I remember the first time this happened to us in a Mexican restaraunt. I think I went grey overnight. Like Bonnie Rait.
I feel your pain. My little cute baby is crawling now and on the war path too- much to the dismay of my beautiful books that are consistently being pulled off and put back on the shelves.
she is getting so big! LOL.. that's funny.. kids shriek. it happens.
Lol.
What a great post! You captured the change from baby to little girl/gray hair supplier so well!
I could tell you it's just temporary... but I don't like to lie.
My daughter was fine. The official son was the one who climbed onto the kitchen counter, hid under the bathroom sink, and ate bugs when we went on picnics.
He was a good flyer though.
Have fun.
Cheers
I love the picture. Do you say to her, So Big? Welcome to the world of toddlers. Aren't they fun? Keep taking her to places though. She will eventually learn to eat without shieking. Most of them only do it for awhile, it's like they just realize they have a voice and are determined to put it to good use.
You were at Sushi Roku? We go there a lot. Was that your shrieking kid....hmmm, maybe it was mine. :)
I love the picture. Do you say to her, So Big? Welcome to the world of toddlers. Aren't they fun? Keep taking her to places though. She will eventually learn to eat without shieking. Most of them only do it for awhile, it's like they just realize they have a voice and are determined to put it to good use.
You were at Sushi Roku? We go there a lot. Was that your shrieking kid....hmmm, maybe it was mine. :)
Bwaaahahhahaha!
You too! Welcome to the club! Al-A-Shriekers.
The shrieking persists until it turns into whining. Sorry to disappoint.
My son STILL likes to shriek. He'll be 4 in a few days!
And if you find a good exorcist, pass them on to me!
There's no turning back now! Just wait until she can say "No Momma!" That's truly fun! But on the up side, not long after she will say "You look pretty, Momma!" That's why we keep them instead of trying to sell them on EBay when they turn 13.
BTW, I thought you lived in LA, based on my comment to the last post. Still NYC puts several states between you and the in-laws.
if you find that toddler-exhuming exorcist, please email me. as a woman with about half of the contents of her kitchen currently strewn about the entire lower portion of her house, I don't ask for this.
I. Beg.
It's all part of the long slow march to independence.
Having fun yet?
You'll wake up tomorrow and she'll be trying to sneak money out of your wallet.
Mine does that now and she's 2.
Beware. And nothing wrong with a good exorcism. They love those down my way. That and dancing with snakes while speaking in tongues.
Good times.
Oh lordie. Wait until she's 12, with a body to stop traffic and a smart ass attitude. :) It gets *so* much more fun...
But when you're faced with that cuteness...? Doesn't a little shrieking and trash-can play seem a small price?
No?
(Gawd. I was so hoping that the cute would forever blunt the rough edges of childhood...)
I should email you the Toddler Rules. It's a nice primer for ages 1 through 3.
Love this...we need a playdate...I know Sushi Roku well...wouldn't dare take my little ones there...haha
She's so cute! She looks like she's thinking that she knows just how cute she is!
After having two boys, I am amazed at how much more higher pitched Kaitlyn's screeching is. Must be a girl thing.
Yeah, it's temporary. Atleast until the next "exciting" phase begins.
Just when you get control over this, it'll be on to newer and bigger things for the very cute Thalia.
Hey Mom-101... Good to see you over at "my place." My kids are older and one thing I realized is that phases seem much, much, much longer when you are going through them than they actually are. So, maybe this shrieking phase will only last a few weeks or months. It will feel like years until years have gone by like a blink of the eye, then you'll hardly remember them.
She is such a cutie, surely it will be a short phase. . . maybe invest in some ear plugs, just in case!
Oh, it's not that long. Just eighteen years.
KIDDING!
Actually, from the long view over here (one's twelve and the other's seven), that shrieking thing is relatively quick. Buck up, little camper; you'll make it to the top.
:)
Are you sure that Janice Joplyn didn't move in when you weren't looking??
I wish I could be the barer of glad tidings, but the most encouraging thing I can say about the shrieking is I don't remember it being as annoying as listening to TWO toddlers shrieking at each other.
Wow. Be lucky you got 11 months of quiet out of her. Hailey was an angel baby until 10 months. Now she's the most explororific (my own word), independent nutjob out there. Thank goodness she's so adorable.
I'm feelin ya right now. Our little one just turned into the reincarnation of Sybil this past week.
I'll be brutally honest - it doesn't get any easier from here on out. She will never again be the little girl that just sits there and people look at. She will demand to be heard and will take pleasure in exploring everything with no regard for danger or your wishes.
But there's an upside, too. She'll soon start expressing herself in new ways, and there's nothing like your toddler showing you how much she loves you. She'll drive you to drink, but she'll melt your heart, too. It's a big rollercoaster now, but it really is fun.
Welcome to the world of the toddler. Quiet dinners where you and the hubby can talk without having food thrown on the floor or shrieking? Not any more!!! Grocery store trips that are just as productive as pre-baby trips? Nope. Not with a toddler running through the store with you!
But, now she will start to talk and express ideas and opinions and wow...its just soo amazing!
Just wait until she discovers how much fun water play in the toilet is!
Forget the exorcist. Go Pentecostal and maybe someone can speak in tongues WITH her. (You thought community college and / or Iraq were taboo - what would the Jewish community say to Thalia at the Pentecostal Church!)
The next time she decides to let out a huge shriek -IMAGINE- that she is in a board room with a lot of highly paid exec's and is speaking her mind without intimidation...or that she's 16 in a car with a boy and has decided to shriek NO without intimidation...As long as she remembers not to bite that hand that feeds her meaning ma & pa we should all celebrate the strength in Thalia's shreik!!! So next time get the sushi to go and picnic in Central Park! GIRL POWER
I went out to sushi once with my son who is 11 mos. The key is to go to a sushi joint with REALLY loud music. You won't be able to carry on a conversation during dinner that well, but you also won't have to worry about the shrieking. And they will shriek at some point. Guaranteed.
Temporary. Yes. But it gets replaced with even more fabulous milestones not to be missed by the surgically enhanced blondes eating sushi.
In her defense, Sushi can be a little shriek-worthy at times...
hehe it is totally temporary!!! It gets better and then suddenly you can reason with them!!!
Oh, the memories you're invoking. The trash can. That kept me up at night. That and the little bits of wood from our firewood basket.
These moments of exploration, while stressful because WHAT'S GOING TO BE EXPLORED NEXT!?!?!? are also little windows into their world, while they are learning this one for the first time. It's fascinating to watch.
The shrieking is temporary. Our little one only did it for a week. By that age, he knew what "no no" meant and boy did we say "no no" after the shrieks. Enough with the shrieks! But it is temporary. And didn't take long to get over either. But mine's a boy. I've heard girls like the shrieking a lot longer.
Perhaps being surrounded by blonde bombshells eating sushi enticed her...she yelled out loud what many of the adults were thinking! :0
You can't be serious? Shrieking?
There go our trips to the local sushi spot with Hugo. We'd better start going daily until he turns 11 months.
The shrieking cracks me up. Is it joyful shrieking or texas chain saw massacre shrieking? Maybe it's time for Thalia to take a crack at show-biz.
Have you lost any weight-- I mean sanity-- from chasing her about and keeping her from killing herself? Because I lost a little of both when my daughter was that age. Oh mercy.
I feel your pain. That's all I'm saying...
It aint over lady. It's called the terrible twos. Nobody ever tells you they really start around age one and a half.
Just keep her out of the wasabi or you'll hear real shrieking!
Oh my ... it gets better and then it gets worse. It's all a part of the rollercoaster ride.
ha!!! you need to equip yourself with a babyleash. STAT!! ;-)
She looks so much like you!
Oh, the shriek is my favorite. It's one of the only ways my son communicates and people just looooove us! :)
Don't worry, as she starts to talk, she's stop shrieking. Sometimes.
Try this (it worked with my perfect, don't you wish she was yours daughter): Everytime she shrieks, respond with a whisper. She'll be so intrigued with with whisper, she'll want to do it herself!!
UM no. This stage won't pass. :) Put on your running shoes, darlin'.
Nothing more to add here, except that I have been there (still there with a 2 1/2 yr. old) and I can honestly say that I believe if there were an Olympic sport of shreiking, the girls would DEFINITELY win!
Oh man, I can relate. Justice has done his share of yelling. He yells to hear his own voice for fun a lot. I look at my husband and say "Yep, we are those parents, you know the ones where we used to say, 'Why can't they control their child." Oh well, that is just to be expected.
Why is it that the girl babies bound into toddlerhood so much quicker than they should? You think you have another month or two before you have to deal with the tantrums and then - Wham! They're toddlers without the benefit of the damn toddling. WTF?
Wow, I wouldn't even attempt Sushi Roku with my baby and I live here! That place is not meant for children, brunettes or anyone over 30. And that goes double for the hosts.
Oh, but look at that darling girl!
Your baby is growing up. SNIFF SNIFF!
ohh man I wrote a post on that in my blog awhile ago it was about changlings LOL I so feel your pain!!!
We have a similar model -- the toddler who will sit in the car for an extended road trip without so much as a peep, then when you get into a restaurant or public place she will shriek, throw things, etc.
And with respect to this week's vacation, we have grandparents, and aunt and uncle, and a BABYSITTER who we are paying to help us avoid all the pitfalls in the beach house (think swimming pool, no baby gates or locks, fragile objects) and still J and I end up chasing her all day. Do you think you could lend me a couple of your in-laws?
You know that thing about the terrible twos? don't let 'em fool ya, hon - they last anywhere from before one to way past three. Sorry. :-) (DD's still going strong - at 18; DS lasted til about a year or so ago. He's 12 1/2 now. >snicker< )
:-)
I was at Sushi Roku last week. I would have welcomed the sound of Thalia's screams over the vapid conversation taking place at the table next to me, one which caused even my seven-year old to exclaim, "What a bunch of airheads." (And whatta ya know - they were surgically enhanced blondes.)
This is the begining of a new shift in your relationship. Sure, becomes more difficult and challenging, but she learns to communicate and you get to watch your little girl's brain develop every single day, how she learns new things, new words, new hand motions, how to relate to others, what she likes and doesn't like.
My Okapis just took a big developmental step in the past week and are creating stories off the top of their heads. Seeing your children grow and develop as people...I...I can't quite explain it...There is nothing like it in the world..It is like no feeling I could possibly describe. You are going to love it SO MUCH (despite all of the crap that comes along with it)! And I can't wait to hear about it on your site.
It would appear that our children are at roughly the same stage of development.
Trash-can digging? Check!
Cabinet/drawer/diaper bag emptying? Check!
Shrieking? Check!
This actually makes me feel a bit better about your excellent luck with the perfect in-laws. Noooo, I'm not bitter!
Gina
P.S. And if that is indeed the way it works, my kids, in the future, are going to be PERFECT.
Post a Comment
<< Home