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Esmé's Mommy here...

Forgive the randomness of this post. I'm still working through a gastrointestinal bug that makes it difficult to concentrate on any one thought too long! I'll turn on the numbering to make it seem a little more organized...

1. Doctor in the House.
Esmé's doctor training during "D" school has been well worth it!
"Do you want juice, Mommy? I'll get you some juice, 'kay?" And she fetches the juice that has been sitting on the table since lunchtime.
"I'll get you some milk, 'kay?" And she brings in her bottle of soy milk. (Bottles aren't in use much, just for traumatic occasions such as Mommy being sick.) But she realizes there's a dilemma. "I'll get you a cup for the milk, 'kay? Be right back. Put milk in cup." But she comes back without it - all the glasses in the house are dirty at the moment.
"Here, eat this." Her leftover peanut butter and jam sandwich, which is all I could manage to put together for her supper. I tell her no. It looks disgusting. But she insists, so I nibble on a small crumb from the edge.
"Your knee owie? Let me put bandage on." She heads to the closet where the bandaids are. "Help me get bandage!" No, I tell her. My knee isn't the owie part. A bandaid won't make it better. So she comes back. "I'm going to kiss it, 'kay?" And my knee sure feels better after that kiss!
Inspection time. She sits on the bed next to me. "Ear! Eyebrow! Nose! Chin! Forehead!" Yep, all the parts are there. I must be 'kay.
I put the thermometer in my mouth. "I hold it for you, 'kay?" I make sure it stays in there long enough, then let her take it out. "Ninety-seven!" (Somebody was paying attention when Pappa took his underarm temperature last week.) It was 100.3, but close enough...
"You cold, Mommy? I'm going to fetch blankie for you, 'kay?" Now I'm not cold anymore. "I'm going to get under blankie, too, 'kay?"
2. Where It Began.
Esmé came down sick last Thursday. Diarrhea and an underarm temp of 101. Fortunately she was better within a day. Such a sweet little sickling. It hit me hard on Monday, and it's taking me a lot longer to kick it.
3. Potty Training.
We've kind of left this topic in the dark after the initial effort, haven't we? Let me start by telling you my favorite resource during this trying time was Mommy I Have to Go Potty! A Parent’s Guide to Toilet Training by Jan Faull. Everything I was reading seemed to either state that a kid would figure it out on their own in their own time, or that if I was a good mother, the training would be a piece of cake and should have been done long ago. This book just seemed most balanced and didn't make me feel like a cruel or inadequate mom.
Here's what happened. After 11 days of very little success (unless you count success as wanting to wear big girl panties all the time and sitting on the potty for hours without actually going in it), we had a breakthrough last Friday.
Up til then, we just had a kiddie seat on top of the regular toilet. Finally I succumbed and bought a little pink potty chair, and Esmé fell in love with it. She actually WENT in it right away! And had no accidents for three days.
I hesitate to say she's trained yet, as she had an accident yesterday and today decided to wear pullups most of the day, but at least I know she CAN use the potty when she's motivated.
And she wet the bed during her nap yesterday. She's been dry during naps, so rather than mess with pullups before her nap, we'd started just putting a doubled towel under her. But it wasn't enough. So I had the joy of washing the sheets and sprinkling cornstarch and trying to figure out how to get the cornstarch OFF the mattress all while being deathly sick, which makes everything seem much more difficult than it should be.
4. Flat Tires and Vending Machines.
Last Tuesday we got a flat tire (nail puncture) on the way to tumbling class. I must say that's a way to see the best in people - all the folks who offer to help with changing the tire...
So we spent some unplanned time sitting in Les Schwab waiting for the tire to be repaired. And Esmé had finished all the snacks I brought along, and it was getting close to lunch time, and there really isn't much to do in a tire store. Those are my excuses, and I'm sticking with them.
So I gave her a quarter to use in the little candy vending machines there. I tried to direct her to the Mike & Ike candies - not because then she'd have some to share with me. No, that would be selfish. I figured that way she'd get a variety of flavors to choose from...
But no. She insisted on the Sour Ball machine. She stuck her quarter in, I helped her turn it, and out came a PURPLE ball! Oh NO!
She stuck it in her mouth for a few seconds, and then dragged me back to the machine. "I want YELLOW one!"
I tried in vain to explain that you can't pick what flavor you want out of the vending machine. "You have to take what you get; sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. But you can't guarantee what flavor you're gonna get. So even if I gave you a dozen more quarters, you still might not get a yellow one!"
"It's just like having kids. You can't pick and choose the kid you're going to get. Fortunately, I got very blessed and got exactly the kid I would have picked. The perfect kid for me."
Unfortunately, the profound analogy was lost on her, and she had a crying fit until she finally dozed off for a little nap.
5. Reading?
I guess you couldn't call it that, yet. But it was fun to see Esmé recognize a few written words last week. "Esmé" is of course at the top of the list - she's had that one downpat for a while. And the latest words? "OK", "mamma," and "pappa."
6. Thanks.
I was pleasantly surprised to find an honorable mention in Scribbit's June Write Away contest. I've been feeling rather uninspired and tired in blogging lately, so that was a nice boost. Thanks, Michelle at Scribbit and judge Michelle at Bleeding Espresso...
7. Book Recommendations.
I broke my self-imposed book buying moratorium last week! There are two books I was wishing I could just keep permanently checked out of the library, so I succumbed and bought them. Used on Amazon.com wasn't too expensive.
So if you're looking for books with theme ideas for your toddlers, do yourself a favor and check these out of the library to try out! I love how they take a song or book and come up with a well-rounded set of activities to go with it. The books are: Story S-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r-s by Shirley C. Raines and Robert J. Canady, and Where is Thumbkin? by Pam Schiller and Thomas Moore.
Another book I love is How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esmé Raji Codell. (Our claim to fame, by the way, is that the author left a comment on our blog about how nice it was to meet another Esmé!) Some great ideas and lots of great booklists for different themes and topics.
Two other good books along the same lines of the last one: Raising Bookworms: Getting Kids Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment by Emma Walton Hamilton and Under the Chinaberry Tree: Books and Inspirations for Mindful Parenting by Ann Ruethling & Patti Pitcher.
I was also looking forward to The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. Sadly, I attempted to read it Monday while I was feeling deathly sick and incapable of concentrating on anything for very long. So I doubt I will ever be able to pick it up again without remembering those terrible sick feelings.
What I would really like at this moment is some light-hearted easy reading material. But Esmé's sick episode on Thursday prevented me from stopping by the library, so I've got nothing...
8. Why We Love Summer.
We went strawberry picking last week. Twice! Well, I should say I picked, and Esmé dumped berries out of my bucket. She doesn't like berries at all, no matter how hard I coax her to try them. I hoped seeing them in the field would make them more attractive, but it didn't work.
Given the berry dumping, we got about 12 pounds. Now, these are the delectable little ones that are so ripe they melt in the mouth. Yummmm. (Except when you're sick...)
So here are some photos to show why we love summer. Enjoy!