Impending Toddler-dom?

Yesterday was, well...challenging. It made me think how close were are to "toddler-dom" and the onset of tantrums and strong wills. Here's my saga...

David was off for an overnight trip to Yakima, so I decided that we would have a "Mommy and Morgan" adventure! Great intentions, but I knew things weren't going well when Morgan staged a huge protest regarding her morning nap. She finally slept for about 45 minutes, not great, but not terrible either.

Once she was up, we set off for downtown Spokane. I had not taken her down there for a while and thought the new scenery would be nice. And it was...we wandered around the mall and checked out the main library. Then it was time for a bottle, so we headed to Starbucks for a treat for Mommy (thanks Ali!) and a bottle for Morgan. All was well and good there. Next we got some details on the children's museum. We'll save that one for when Daddy can come along.

Next we headed for Riverfront Park. We love this park. It is right downtown and borders the Spokane River with a great view of the waterfalls. There is a huge carousel and a playground. We first went past the carousel to a play area that has a huge red Radio Flyer wagon. It is so big that there are stairs to climb up and a slide to get down (the handle, of course). Then I noticed there were some ducks wandering around. Morgan has never seen real ducks before and they were quacking just like her ducky book and bathtub. We went a little closer and I knelt down by her stroller. To my surprise, one of the ducks charged right up to me. As I stood up and it came closer and it actually bit my leg! Morgan was right there and I maneuvered rather quickly to get her out of the way. Mind you, there are several people standing around watching this. Apparently these ducks are fed frequently and expect food when someone comes close. I was told this a little too late. I was kind of pissed that no one warned me. One of them could have bit Morgan since she was right at eye level with them! We vacated the area pretty quickly as I didn't want Morgan to recall and "duck fears" she may have had in the past.

Next I decided the playground and some swings might be a great idea. It was!!! Well, mostly. I put Morgan in a swing and she laughed herself silly, having a great time as I pushed her and tickled her! Eventually it was time to get back home for lunch and a nap. Unfortunately every time I tried to take Morgan out of the swing she started to cry. I put her back a few times, hoping she'd get bored and be ready to leave. No...she was all smiles in the swing, but cried every time I tried to take her out. This girl just loves her swings! Finally I had to get her home and in the stroller she went. She cried and whined her way back to the car. At home we had some lunch and I put her in bed for her nap. If I thought she protested that morning...itwas nothing compared to this. She did her usual put-her-in-the-crib-she-poops-and-won't-go-to-sleep routine. I changed her diaper and put her back in her crib. As soon as she realized she was going back in she starting crying that cry that makes me cry too. So sad. After another 15 minutes of watching her standing at the crib rail in the video monitor I decided there was going to be no napping and I went in to get her. When I walked in I discovered she'd dropped her Wubby (pacifier) on the floor in front of the crib and she was gnawing so vehemently on the cloth crib rail cover...get this...it was bloody. Yikes! My poor baby! She'd chewed on it so hard that she'd rubbed her gums raw and was bleeding! So out of the crib she came and into the wash went the crib rail cover. The rest of the afternoon/evening was loooong....and I wasn't too sorry when it was bedtime. Sigh.

I think we've got a kid with a strong will here. It is showing up more and more each day. I love that she is asserting her opinion, but yesterday was hard! As I'm writing this, my little girl is sleeping peacefully in her crib for this morning's nap. We're doing better so far. Let's hope today will be a better day than yesterday.