Update On Our Little Tyrant

Some things are better: She has slept in her big girl bed every night since the beginning of April, and even better, almost always sleeps through the night! Every night, she still asks, "Stay?" It's just part of the routine, though; she doesn't expect me to say yes. She is always up before 6:00, and she cannot fathom getting up without waking Gabrian up enthusiastically. He is really short on sleep.

Some things aren't much better. She still freaks if I walk away from her. I try to be specific. "I am going to turn the sprinklers on. I will be right back." "I am going downstairs to get some laundry. I'll be back in just a minute." If I walk toward the exit door, the bathroom door, the stairs, she starts crying, "Mama! Mama!" and running trying to grab my hand. She does not need anything to entertain her, but is happiest sitting by (on) me if I'm sitting or following me if I'm up. (OK, there is some great entertainment if one of the boys tries to get close to me. Then she can shriek and smack at them.) The only place she's willing to let me walk away is at daycare, where for some reason, separation is no problem. Truly, this behavior has a great chance of shortening her life! (She's been home 16 months.)

Potty training is going nowhere. We've spent hours sitting on the potty, which she is excited to do, but she cannot relax enough to let one drop out. She does have great bladder control. She can sit on the potty for 20 minutes doing nothing and pee within 30 seconds of getting her pull-up back on.

She has to visit the dentist -- I can see decay between front teeth on top and bottom and more decay on the outside of top central incisor. We've not had this with any of our other children. Gotta wonder if it's her (and her biological mother's) background, nutrition, or even her ethnicity. Her teeth actually get better care than any of her brothers, but she has cavities at only 2?! Dr. Bennett recommended a good pediatric dentist, and I have heard his name mentioned positively before. I'll make an appointment today. :(

Her favorite routine is VIP. The VIP is the special child for the day at daycare. The "lucky" child gets to wear a hideous hat made of construction paper, get a large picture of him/her hung up in the circle time area, and everyone gets to sing, "Ari is the VIP, VIP, VIP" to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb. She loves it. Every day, it's the first thing she asks when we get to daycare - who is the VIP? The teacher takes her to the calendar and shows her whose day it is and how many more days until it's Ari's turn. Every day when I pick her up, the first post-greeting thing she says is telling me who was VIP. She is absolutely as excited when it's Gabrian's turn as when it's hers.

OK, this post was interrupted by Gabrian calling, "Mo-om! Need a little help!" This means time to wipe his bottom (oh, joy!). I got up, said, "I'm going to go help GeGe. I'll be right back," and headed toward the bathroom. And Ari is shrieking.