Miss Chevious Moments Episode 3

Monday
This morning was beautiful so we spent all morning outside. Eden hadn't been out there for 30 minutes before she had doused herself with sand and dirt. In her hair, in her shoes, who knows where else...she was dirty. I just looked at her and sighed as I watched her sprinkling more sand on her arm and then tossing a handful in her sister's direction. I remember putting sand in my hair when I was about Hope's age. I thought it tickled when it would slide down my scalp. I guess payback is only fair, so I just let her do it. That certainty that they will be clean and smell lovely again is what I love most about our night time routine, even if Miss Chevious only stays clean while she's sleeping.

The girls watched a movie while I made lunch and that is when this happened.

This one is really daddy's fault for leaving his newspaper in such an obvious place for it to meet it's demise. Okay, so it is just as much my fault because I looked at that paper several times making a mental note to move it cause of Miss Chevious, but I kept getting sidetracked. Miss Chevious showed her mercy and the paper remains in tact. You are welcome, daddy.

Eden decided to wash the couch with her macaroni and cheese so mommy decided to wash the cushion covers. No pic of that, but the memory is still vivid.

Then there was lots of tormenting big sister by taking her stuffed animals and running around the house with them (smiling behind her pacifier all the while) while Hope screamed through tears of objection. Yesterday, they had some moments where they got along so well. They would hug each other while they went down the slide and giggle and smile. I tried to soak up as much as possible because I knew it wouldn't last long. I drew on those memories of yesterday for peace and reassurance amidst the screaming and yelling of quibbling siblings today.

Tuesday

Today we met Ben for lunch. Why would I take Ben away from the peace of his work to the stressful environment created by Miss Chevious in a lunch atmosphere? That is a good question and one I ask myself every time we meet him for lunch. I always say to myself, "Poor Ben has been working hard all day and now is being hounded and harassed by this little monkey and then has to go back to work for the rest of the day. I won't do this to him again." But I miss my Bennie Boo and can't help but want to go see him in the middle of the day. I should just suck it up, spare him and let him work in peace until he is forced to come home. :) Anyway...she actually didn't do too bad this time out. She only squirmed and bruised a few of my ribs while we were standing in line, held on to the glass partition between the line and the cooks with a death grip that only daddy could break and then tried to steal Hope's food. After a while of eating what she could snatch from Hope she decided she wanted my drink, but it was laced with caffeine so I wouldn't share. Mean, I know, but the last thing anyone wants is Miss Chevious hyped up on caffeine. She settled for her sippy cup, but grabbed an empty water cup and went to work making her "special juice." This is what Noah calls it when Miss Chevious drinks from her sippy cup and spits it into another container. She did it somewhat discreetly and gracefully though, so I was grateful there wasn't juice spraying all over the surrounding patrons. Her chin rested on the edge of the cup and a steady stream of juice poured from her little puckered lips into the water cup. She reminded me of one of those little statue fountains of the little kids peeing or something. Hey, if a statue of a kid peeing can be a considered a cute fountain why not one of a kid spitting into a cup?

Wednesday

This morning when I looked in little Miss Monkey Pants' closet I was hesitant to dress her in the super cute outfit from Grandma Verla. The shirt is white and this is Miss Chevious we are talking about, but I had waited a long time to dress her in this outfit and it is finally warm enough too so I put it on her anyway. The morning went surprisingly well with no dirties on her clean white shirt, but then came lunch time. I've been trying to get the girls interested in some healthy smoothies and so far Hope refuses to try them and Eden loves them. Today I made a peach raspberry smoothie. I guess Eden didn't like today's flavor cause this is what she did with it.

Raspberries on her cute new outfit!!! I am happy to say that I only had to treat the stain and wash it twice for the stain to come out, but it is out. The outfit lives for another day. Miss Chevious does pretty well with big kid cups (like the one you see on the couch behind her) when there is something in it that she actually likes. Who am I kidding? I bring these moments on myself. You're probably thinking I'm an idiot for giving a two year old an open cup on the couch. I am thinking the same thing and wonder why I continue to do these things?

Here she is having a snack in her second outfit of the day. She loves olives and calls them "tacos" cause we usually eat them when we have tacos. I gave her several in a cup and she sat on the floor to munch.

She found a colored pencil, speared the olives and used it as an eating utensil. I guess putting them on her fingertips is no longer fun.

Thursday
Fast forward through the usual tormenting of big sister and other messes to dinner time. Miss Chevious and Hope sat briefly at the table eating corn when Hope decided she was done. Eden looked at the plate that Hope now left unguarded and went for it. Not only did she steal her corn, but she used her chair to climb up on the table so she could eat the corn like a dog. Precious little thing.

She must not be as seasoned as Hope in eating her food like a dog because after a couple of bites she gave up and resumed eating...like a human.

Friday

I had a headache all Thursday night that lasted until I woke Saturday morning, so when Miss Chevious fought me on getting dressed I just rolled with it and let her stay in her pajamas. I wish I could've done the same with her messy diaper when she fought me on that, but given her history of playing with poop and the inevitable rash that follows diapers that aren't changed regularly I felt I had no choice but to call on my super mommy powers and change her diaper through flailing arms and her squirming body. Diaper changed, but not without a big swipe of the baby powder by Miss Chevious.

While I was cleaning the bathroom she found her potty and dragged it into the kitchen where she stuffed a bunch of toys and paper in it.

At least she isn't scared of it. The more comfortable she is with it the more likely she will be to use it. Right?
Lastly, she was having a snack at the table (shocking that she was sitting at the table, isn't it?) when she decided to turn the yogurt cup upside down, try to empty it on the table and then smear it around with her hands.

Saturday
First thing this morning, Eden grabbed Hope's cup and Hope freaked out even though it was already empty. As I was trying to explain to Hope that she needed to use words to express her feelings instead of crying and whining Eden examines the cup and considers giving it back. Finally Hope asks for it back (such a novel idea) and Eden obliges...but not before slowly and deliberately spitting in it. She didn't even spit juice or milk, it was just plain old disgusting spit. I was so shocked and confused at what had just happened I am sure I stood there staring at her with my mouth hanging open for a good 30 seconds. Why did she feel the need to do that and where in the world did the idea come from????
This evening she got her first goose egg. Hope was spinning her around in the entry way trying to get her to stay inside so Hope could sneak out and see what daddy was doing in the yard. Suddenly I hear a smack and the french door vibrate...then Hope: "Are you okay, Eden?"....Crying. Hope hid behind a chair because she thought we were going to be mad at her. I didn't see  Eden's head right away cause she was looking down, but she hugged me tight when I picked her up. It was after Ben had convinced Hope to tell him about it that we knew to look at her head. There it was. I can't believe I didn't notice it first thing. It was huge and pink/blue/purple with a harsh line down the middle of it which was obviously from the edge of the door. Eden hasn't had many major owies, thank goodness, so I was relieved to see that she got over it somewhat quickly. Hope remained very concerned though and kept asking her if she was alright. While they were undressing for their bath Hope asked, "Are you sure the water isn't going to hurt her owie?" Hope has always seemed to think that getting ANY owie wet is going to make it hurt. Anyway, I was very touched by her concern for her sister because usually it seems like she can't wait to get away from her.
***So I've made a decision about the new Miss Chevious Moments episodes. I will no longer be documenting on a daily basis, as a lot of these moments occur several times daily. Instead of being a diversion of troubles, trying to document on a daily basis seems to be causing more stress. So away with it! Instead, I will do my best to capture the big Miss Chevious Moments and hopefully I will have enough to make a few posts a month. I know family enjoys these posts, but there is so much stress that I can't do anything about that if I have a choice to rid my life of SOME stress, albeit not a huge conductor of stress, I should try to eliminate it, right? Right.***