time out

so yesterday was elenora's first official time out on the step stool. it was time for us to go to her room to read stories before her nap, but she started playing in the living room and must have had some idea of something she wanted to do, because i scooped her up and she started howling. i carried her to her bedroom but she just started screaming. so i took her over to her step stool (which is in a boring corner of the kitchen) and put her on the stool and said something like "when you're done screaming i will give you my attention, so let me know when you're done." then i started putting dishes away. she howled for about 20 more seconds and then was silent and i looked at her and said "are you done screaming now?" and she said "yeah." so i had her say "i'm sorry for screaming mommy" and then that was that.

i'm glad she knows that screaming won't accomplish anything.

last night i dropped ella off with momby at gordon college, then came home and j. and i went to dinner at the windward grille. this morning i slept in until 9:46 am. when i awoke i said to j. "i haven't slept this late in my whole life!" because i can't remember the last time i just slept in like that. we had a chill morning and went out to breakfast and swung by the farmers' market for some corn.

elenora was home when we got back and she'd gone to build-a-bear with "mam-aw" and got a lovely little bear named "Niki." she was so adorable with Niki when she came inside. she took her around the apartment and showed her our home. "here are books, Niki. here is a book, Niki. here are some books." then she took Niki into the bathroom and let her sit on the potty.

ella has gone on the potty probably 4-5 times a week lately. once she went twice in one day! momby got ella a new little potty that sits on the floor. ella calls it her "special potty from mam-aw."

after ella's nap this afternoon, j. and i walked her down to the little park and we climbed around on the playground and went to the little houses they have there. elenora likes to pretend she's cooking or washing dishes. she said things like "i have to wash the dishes! i have to make a little dinner. is it dinner time? i will scramble an egg for my dinner. i have to close the door 'cause it is open."

it was so beautiful outside today. sunny and crisp and breezy. i hope next saturday is just like this for elenora's birthday party.

i booked a vacation yesterday. j. and i are going to go away for a weekend to the finger lakes of NY. i am super excited. elenora will stay with momby, and j. and i will get to explore a really beautiful area of the country. i want to do this while we can--while we have only one child and that child is old enough to be left with "grandma" for a couple days. once we have another child that won't happen again for a long time.

when we got back from the park tonight, elenora cooked in her little kitchen while i made our dinner. she helped me husk the corn, which makes both of us so happy. i love that she is old enough to help me in the kitchen with various things, and that she enjoys pretending to cook, too. i give her closed containers of spices and bags of dried pasta or oatmeal to pretend with. she had Niki in the kitchen tonight, and was pretending she was cooking for Niki. she kept saying things like "do you want some of this, Niki? would you like some cinnamon?"

i had to give elenora another time out at bath time, though. she was on her little potty and something made her fuss, i forget what, and so i picked her up and put her in the tub. she must have been upset that she didn't get to actually pee on her potty, because she started to howl. then i think she just let herself go with the whole screaming thing to see what would happen. i washed her hair quickly and ignored her. then i picked her up and wrapped a towel around her and said "i think you need to go have a time out on the step stool." and she agreed. so we went to the step stool, and as soon as i put her on that she was silent. i said "when you are done with your temper we will go put a diaper on." and she was silent, so i said "are you done?" and she said "yeah." so i had her apologize and say she wasn't going to scream again. and then we went and got ready for bed. she is so good about snapping out of those random, rare tantrums. and she likes to discuss it later. she'll say "ella was screaming." and i'll say "yes, you were screaming." and she'll say "i had to sit on the time out step stool." and i'll say "does it help you to calm down when you have a time out on the step stool?" and she says "yeah."

so, okay. it works. thank you super nanny.