The Parent Trap

I'm catching up the blog with photos from my first Mother's Day and Pumpkins latest big event...her fat lip. (Aunt Kellwee hopefully won't go apaplectic upon hearing about this.)

Pumpkin celebrated her 21-month-old birthday this week and tomorrow we will also celebrate the eight month anniversary of her adoption. Indeed, time is whizzing by faster than we realize. She is growing physically, mentally and emotionally each and every day and thankfully I'm home to enjoy the ride.

This week we toured a Montessori Academy to consider Pumpkin's placement. My business is beginning to pick back up and we would like to place Pumpkin in an environment where she is educated, not just put in a play setting for eight hours a day. This is a hard decision to make not just financially, but emotionally. Mama is to some degree not quite ready to have someone else teach her baby or be there for the milestones, not to mention the paranoia of making sure her caregivers are God-like in their morality. At one point during the tour, I asked the guide if their staff were put through police background checks and, thankfully, they were.

Yesterday, Pumpkin had a bad, bad day. While she awoke in her usual good spirit, during lunch she caught her earring on a pillow and Mama had to headlock her to separate her, the earring and the pillow. This resulted in a major tear fest, most likely due to being scared as there was no injury to her ear or earring, so wouldn't you know it, Pumpkin got a Popsicle for lunch. Then, after making it through that mishap, she slipped while taking her bath and bumped her mouth resulting in cuts on the outside and inside of her bottom lip. Okay, bloody lips are not in "What to Expect During the Toddler Years" and I wasn't prepared. I told DH that Pumpkin has been with us for eight months and she's fallen down steps, gotten a goose egg on her forehead and now a bloody lip! (And to think I thought her Mongolian Spots were going to be hard to explain!!!)

Well, parental guilt is a wonderful thing for Pumpkin. Today we went to Wally World for bananas and walked out with a Sesame Street alphabet toy, an inflatable swimming pool and a six pack of bubbles! Similarly, when I took her to her first ballet she ended up losing one of her newly pierced earrings so I had to take her the next day and get another one put in. That resulted in a stop at nearby Kay B Toys and the purchase of a spinning/light up airplane and a fish game she'd seen the week before with Daddy. Also on hand was a frozen coke for afterwards! I am reminded of my little sister telling me once how she took her son to Toys R Us for a guilt gift after she reprimanded him. Little did I know at the time how I, too, would be sucked into retail therapy for toddlers!

Pumpkin is no worse for the wear, however. She is eating, playing and her usual ornery self today. Mama, too has recovered for now; at least, until the next injury. This Motherhood stuff takes a lot of backbone I tell ya and I'm not just referring to the strength to carry them around. They didn't teach that in New Parent Class!