Wiggly Piglet’s Playpen

Last night, Mckayla didn’t want to cooperate when I told her it’s time for her bath. She wanted to read her books instead and told me she already took a bath. I had to dragged the bathroom to undress her while the water was running. While undressing her, I smelled something funny and asked if she had pooped. She nodded her head. I asked why she didn’t tell me she had pooped earlier. She said, “I forgot”. I think she was too busy watching “Ni Hao Kai Lan” and didn’t want to get pulled away from the TV.

We spent the entire day on Saturday moving Mckayla’s room. First, we had to cleared out some of Jackie’s stuff to make room for Mckayla. That room had the lowest bed (less painful when Mckayla falls off) and no bathroom attached. We didn’t realize how much stuff Jackie had accumulated until we started packing. We didn’t want Makayla to break any of Jackie’s computer equipments, pictures, books, and lots lots of other stuff. So we had to put away everything that was in the room into boxes. Then, we packed away one section of Jackie’s clothes to make room for Mckayla’s clothes. My gosh! Jackie had so much clothes. We were exhausted by the time Mckayla took her nap and we weren’t even done yet. We all took a nice long nap for a break. Mckayla climbed out the crib and ended up in the big bed again. After we got up, Ted took Mckayla swimming at JCC. They met up with David and Caden. While they were gone, I continued to sort and clean Mckayla clothes and toys. Two hours later, I was fianlly done moving all the essentials for Mckayla. We were going to meet up with David, Stephanie, Caden, and Aaron for dinner, but had ask for rain check because I was too tired to change and go out. A quick and relaxing dinner at home was all we wanted. Mckayla was very happy when we showed her her new room with the big bed, but it took Ted almost an hour and half to put her to sleep last night. And she woke up crying twice over night. It’ll be at least few more days until she’s adjusted to her new room.

After our lunch today, we hung out in Mckayla’s room to read before her nap. We were laying on the big bed together as we read. I was so tired and fell asleep without knowing it until I heard Mckayla asking for milk next to my ear. I got up and got her the milk she requested. After I changed her diaper and settled her in the crib, Mckayla asked me to stay with her. I told her that Mommy is busy and have to wash dishes. I left the room and closed the door behind me. I went in the kitchen and turned on the monitor as I washed the dishes and cleaned up the table. I picked up the monitor and was planning to take it back to my room for a nap myself. I turned on the screen to check on her, then I realized she was missing from the crib. I looked closely again and didn’t see her. So, I went in her room to check. When I walked in the room, I found Mckayla sound asleep on the big bed with her stuffed animals around her and she was nicely tucked in with the blanket. I was shocked because I didn”t hear any noise through the monitor as she made the move but was glad she didn’t fall onto the floor. When she finally woke up from her nap, I asked Mckayla why she was sleeping in the big bed. She told me she climbed out and she sleeps in big bed now. We picked up bed rails from the store earlier this evening and will move her to the big bed tomorrow. And we’re also hoping she’d stay in her crib, for at least one more night.

This morning, I found Mckayla without her pajamas again in her crib. She was laying in the crib with just the onesie. As we got ready to leave, I told her we’re having a busy morning. She told me, Mckayla “help”. We got to the farmer’s market first and picked up a few fruits and vegetables. And Mckayla did her grazing as usual at the fruit stands. Then, I told her as were driving to the doctor’s office that she’s going to get her shot. She immediately told me she wants Dora stickers. We got to the pedi injection clinic and was relieved to see no one there. As we were settling in the injection room, the nurse told me she’s going to cry because the shot stings more. I undressed Mckayla’s bottom quickly and held her on my lap. As we waited for the shot, she told me she wanted Dora sticker again. The nurse asked me to translate what she said, then apologized that they only had Hannah Montana stickers. I told her not to worry, she’d be happy as long she gets a sticker. Mckayla let out one cry as the nurse gave her the injection, but she stopped immediately when the nurse handed her the sticker. She had a big smile on her face again. We drove across the street to look for a costume. As we were browsing around, Mckayla pointed out the Elmo treat basket, the bumble bee costume, the strawberry hat. Then, I heard her calling out, “Panda”, “Panda”. And there it was, the panda costume that she wanted. If was the last one there and the right size. As we drove her, she held her costume in her arm until we got home. I think she’s very happy with her choice.

Mckayla woke up on Sunday morning crying. We didn’t know why she was so upset. When I went in her room, she was half dressed again. This time, she had successfully unzipped her pajamas. It was almost completely off except for her feet. Her diaper was still intact because she couldn’t undress the onesie that was underneath the pajamas. She finally stopped crying after we told her we were going to pick out pumpkins and ride trains During our drive there, she was complaining for the most of the trip until we got to the pumpkin field. She cheered up immediately when she saw the train. We got there just as they opened and there was no line to buy tickets or any of the activities. Ted rode on the train with her, then we walked over to the pony area. It was her first pony ride and she enjoyed it very much and wanted to go back for more. Then, we walked over to the pumpkin area to wait for Bonnie/Stuart/Logan and Sophia/Fritz/Erin. It was getting crowded when everyone arrived and took a little while to get their tickets. We got on the train again with a short wait. Mckayla was cheerfully pointing out the scarecrows and the cow train to me. Then, we went to the carousels. Mckayla enjoyed it very much and asked for more as we were leaving. The place was getting very packed and we were all getting hungry. So we left to grab some yummy Vietnamese broken rice for lunch. Then, headed home for a nice nap for everyone.
After Mckayla got up from her nap, she was cranky again. We had to change her quickly because we were running late for Julie’s birthday dinner. As expected, we were the last one there when we arrived at the restaurant. Mckayla was not on her best behavior and asked for Kai Lan on my phone. We gave in to keep her quiet, but hoping that was the only and last time she got to watch TV while eating. Mckayla was pretty hungry since she didn’t eat much for lunch. I offered her some bread but she didn’t want them. Instead, she ate the shaved parmesan cheese with the spoon. Then, she enjoyed some calamari, lots of pasta and salmon. We were all stuffed from the huge portion of appetizers, salads, pasta, and entrees. Then, it was desert time. Mckayla said “happy birthday” as she saw the waiter brought up the dessert with the candles. She clapped and said “yay” when the happy birthday song was over. I offered Mckayla a little bit of ice cream. She rejected it at first, then licked my spoon when she saw me eating the ice cream. She realized how yummy it was and asked for more. She took many tiny tiny bites and that was all she needed to get on her sugar high. I took Mckayla outside while Ted was finishing up the bill. She started dancing to the music and twirling in circles. She was giggling and telling me “dance!” “dance!” (in English). After we got home, she still had lots of energy to burn. She was running around the house while we cleaned up. By nine o’clock, she was finally calmed down and went down for a restful night of sleep.

As I opened the door when I got home from work yesterday, I heard Mckayla playing Nanny in the kitchen. Then, I heard Nanny asking Mckayla, “is that Mama?”. After a short pause, Mckayla responded, “probably… not!”. I heard her running to the garage, then her little face peeking throught the laundry room. Then, she yelled out, “MaMa’s home! PoPo (her Nanny) go home!”. She ran to me and gave me a big welcome home hug.

Mckayla was playing with the closet door as I was changing yesterday. She told me she’s going to hide behind the door. I told her Mommy would cry if I can’t find her. Then, she said she’s going to hide from Daddy. I told her that Daddy would cry if he can’t find Mckayla. Then, she went into the closet and told me Mckayla is going to hide. Before she shut the door, she said “Mommy and Daddy cry together”.

Yesterday was Ted’s birthday. All he wanted was to stay home and watch his football to celebrate. Ted brought Mckayla to our room when she woke up in the morning. While laying in bed, I told Mckayla to say “Happy Birthday” to Daddy. She looked at Ted and wished him happy bithday with a big hug. Then, she turned around and asked me, “Where’s the cake?”. I have no clue where she got that from, associating birthdays and cake.
I brought home a cake on my way home from Thuy/Thai’s baby shower. When I came home, I noticed Mckayla’s cheeks were red. I touched her forehead and it was a bit warm. So I took out the thermometer to check her temperature. While I was checking her temperature, Mckayla told me “head hurt”. I wondered why she didn’t mention a word before I checked her temeprature. Her temperature was 100F, so I gave her a dose of Tylenol and a big cup of water. At dinner time, she was very cranky and had no interest in food at all. She took a few bites of the vegetable and said she was full. She rejected her favorite garlic rice and sausages. Then, she asked for some orange juice. Her Nanny usually squeezes orange juice for her when she’s sick. So I had to make some for her and good thing I just picked up a ten pound bag of oranges at the farmer’s market on Friday. She drank her juice while we were finishing up our dinner. Then, all the sudden, I heard her gagging. Before I was able to take her out of her seat, she had vomited all over herself, her booster seat (good thing we had a towel underneath the chair), and me. She started crying and told me she’s dirty and needs to take a bath. Ted took her to the bathroom while I cleaned up the mess on the dining table. Finally, an hour later, we were all nicedly clean up and ready for the brithday cake. Mckayla was very excited when she saw the cake, kept pointing at the blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. After singing the birthday song, she blew out the candles with Ted. I gave her a small slice of the cake with lots of fruits on it. But she wasn’t too happy about it. She kept pointing at the big cake and saying she wants blueberries. I gave her a piece of the blueberries from her plate but she turned her head away and told me to eat it. Then, she continued to ask for the blueberries on the big cake. Ted picked up a piece of blueberry and gave it to her. She picked it up, examined it from every angle, then popped it in her mouth. I gave her another piece of strawberry with just tiny amount of icing on it, she rejected it and told me to eat it. That’s when we realized she wanted berries only, but not the cake. We had to wipe off all the icing and cake from the berries for her. She checked each of them closely to make sure there’s no icing or cake on it before popping them in her mouth. I guess she’s getting a bowl of fruits as her birthday cake in a few weeks.

Mckayla and Ted got to spend the entire day bonding while I was in class. After they got up and had their breakfast, they went to the local pumpkin patch. Checked out farm aniamls (pig, goat, rabbit, cow, pony) and picked out two pumpkins. Then, they went to the park to burn off more energy. After an hour of playing in the sand box, swing, and slides, they went to lunch. According to Ted, Mckayla ate everything he ordere. Of course, it was fish and chip + shrimp + scallop – everything was fried. After a big lunch, it was time to go home to clean up for nap. Mckayla was highly energized after lunch again and wasn’t ready for nap until 2:30. After Ted dropped Mckayla off in her room, he heard Mckayla giggling through the monitor. He turned on the screen and realized Mckayla had stripped off all her clothes again. He went in the room to check on her, she was laying in bed completely naked without diaper! He got her dressed again (with onesie this time so she couldn’t undress herself) and finally she fell asleep. Ted’s “tire Mckayla out” strategy had worked, she didn’t wake up until shortly after six. Another three hour nap.