Seems only yesterday...

Yes, I cliched, 'cause it does seem like she was just in diapers non-stop. The Toddleator is almost potty learned---almost. It seems that she's experimenting with control today, and while playing with the water in the sink as I cleaned up the dinner dishes, she lost some "control". Accidents will happen, though. It doesn't pay to be squeamish in this profession. Usually when she's so into what she's doing, completely distracted, that she forgets to go to the potty. So long as I am calm about the whole process, she will be, too. I have to remember that though she shows a lot of potential for learning the potty very quickly---on the easy days---she is only 2. Which means her attention span lasts only minutes if I'm lucky, she's ultra-tenacious, and might appear stone deaf the way she's capable of ignoring me. Lately she's started yelling, "NO! GO!" (as in, GO away from where you are) "STOP!", and today she screamed at me in frustration. Most of the time my response is to ask, "Are you mad at mommy for...(disallowing somesuch)? Show me how mad you are! Stomp your feet, flail around...my goodness, you ARE mad. Well, mommy can't let you do that because..." If she's screaming, usually she acts like she might let me pick her up, but then flails and hits/kicks at me when I do try. Today it seemed she just wanted me to watch her antics..."ok, if you need some time to calm down, or scream or cry, please do it in your room, Little One." When she's calm again, I talk about how she must have been feeling, or theorize why she was so upset, and then reaffirm my unconditional love for her. I am not perfect, I have been known to lose my sh*t. Then when I'm calm, I lovingly reassure her, explain why I got so upset and that it was bad behavior for mommy, and apologize. (But I retain the tenet; "Don't be sorry, just be different." I'm better everyday.) It is utterly amazing, usually Fiona will give me a kiss, or a hug by way of making up. I really think that we don't give these new tiny humans enough credit in their understanding of the world.
In the last couple of weeks she's been prone to wake up real early (4-5am) some mornings and trot, yes, TROT, around the apartment. I blame Porter-kitty for going into her room immediately upon hearing her stir, she sees him and figures, "HEY, catty is awake, I can be too!" I stumble to her room, mumble something about her going back to her bed. She might start screeching and crying...and I'll tell you what, that is absolutely the worst noise to hear first thing in the morning before pee, before coffee, before even that first deep breath. I had to explain to her that if the sun isn't up, it's not time to get up, it's still sleeping time. That may back fire on me later---I've really got to get her a clock, we'll continue working on her numbers. We'll work on not venturing out until the little hand hits the 7 at the earliest.

In other news, we are moving 2 weeks from now, to a suburb of Denver. A house, quiet, in situ laundry, mature neighborhood. I'm tempted to explore making a business of packing & moving for other people...I've had enough practice, I bet there are people out there that may appreciate someone else's expertise to move their personal goods from house to house...I wonder if that's lucrative?