Andrea’s Weblog

What do you get when you add:
a two year old + a new sibling + a nasty cold + steroids

You get grumpzilla. Grumpzilla has been living with us the last week or more and has been challenging her parents at any chance she gets. I’ve been furiously trying to read up on how to handle these huge mood swings and then keep Frank in the loop on how to deal with different situations. Definitely a challenge! [I've gotten a boost from Adventures in Gentle Discipline.]

Grumpzilla is the queen of contradictions, so you never know how to please her. For example, “are you done with your dinner?” “Yes!” “OK, I’ll take your plate away.” “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” [collapses on floor]

She’s also started throwing things. I blame this on the steroids she’s been on for croup. The side effects on the label warn of increased hunger and moodiness. Although they don’t mention increased aggression, you have to wonder if grumpzilla is gaining some super-toddler strength. Luckily the medicine was only for four days, and I’m hoping it will take away some of grumpzilla’s strength.

Grumpzilla has also been having at least one potty training accident a day. I’ve read that regression is normal and expected when a new sibling is born, but didn’t think it would effect Elizabeth since she was basically only down to one accident a week. So far she’s had accidents on two couches. Ugh! Did I miss the class in parenting 101 where they teach you how to get pee out of couch? And what do you do when you’re nursing a baby when this happens and nobody else is around? She’s also taken to peeing when she gets angry about something, so we’ll be in the heat of battle and a puddle will appear on the floor. You can imagine what fun we’ve been having around here.

On the other hand, Elena is a very calm, quiet baby. She sleeps A LOT and is pretty low maintenance. She nurses when she wants, sleeps when she wants and seems quite content hanging out in her Moby wrap. Elizabeth is also wonderful and fun to hang out with (most of the time). She spends a lot of time playing with her dolls–giving birth to them and caring for them. It’s fun to see what her imagination cooks up.

So, we’re just taking things one day at a time here and hoping that things fall back into place in a few weeks.