Ready or not, we have a toddler!
It literally happened overnight, at some point this last month since Ivy turned one. She has become an independent little tyke, grabbing at everything in sight, wanting to feed herself, and throwing tantrums when we have to say no or take something away that she shouldn't be playing with. It's amusing though because she is rapidly figuring out cause and effect relationships - she drops her fork, and says "uh-oh"; she bangs her bongo drums, and claps her hands and shakes her booty to the music. And the best of all, when she looks up and grins showing off her six little teeth.
I briefly mentioned above wanting to feed herself - that's an understatement actually. She has pretty much gone on food strike when she is at home. To be fair, she eats really well at daycare...I really can't compete with Persian home cooking, though she never complained before. Once she hit one year, we decided she could eat with the other kids at daycare, since she was already supplementing everything we sent with her with their food anyway. So now my kid eats like a queen - soup, chicken with pasta, vegetables, fruit, yogurt...I wish I ate that good! But then she comes home and refuses to eat dinner. Or breakfast or lunch on weekends...though eventually she realizes she's hungry and will nibble at whatever I put on the tray as I long as I walk away and leave her to her own devices. Like the other morning, after not eating for almost 3 days, she tried pouring the yogurt from the little container straight into her mouth. Classic. Clearly, she has a mind of her own!
I briefly mentioned above wanting to feed herself - that's an understatement actually. She has pretty much gone on food strike when she is at home. To be fair, she eats really well at daycare...I really can't compete with Persian home cooking, though she never complained before. Once she hit one year, we decided she could eat with the other kids at daycare, since she was already supplementing everything we sent with her with their food anyway. So now my kid eats like a queen - soup, chicken with pasta, vegetables, fruit, yogurt...I wish I ate that good! But then she comes home and refuses to eat dinner. Or breakfast or lunch on weekends...though eventually she realizes she's hungry and will nibble at whatever I put on the tray as I long as I walk away and leave her to her own devices. Like the other morning, after not eating for almost 3 days, she tried pouring the yogurt from the little container straight into her mouth. Classic. Clearly, she has a mind of her own!
And, in other Silverstein family news, we are moving into a house! Since the good ol' American dream of home ownership is pretty much as far out of reach as it can get, we were extraordinarily lucky to find what we found. We got a crazy good deal for not that much more than what we pay per month for our tiny 2 bedroom now, and by cutting a few corners (bye bye DirecTV) we'll be able to make it work. It's the bottom floor of an adorable duplex, three bedrooms - complete with a washer/dryer (the other American dream!) AND a backyard! We're so excited that Ivy will be able to live in a place that feels like a home...especially since she outgrew the limited space in our apartment the minute she became mobile. The people upstairs have 2 kids, one of whom is a 6 month old, so there are even built in friends! The neighborhood is great - beautiful treelined streets, several friends nearby, walking distance to almost as many places as we have now. We're so excited! Time to start packing...
