Yesterday Ed got Rose dressed and ready to go hiking with the family up to Donut Falls. When I get Rose dressed, I typically put her in one of her three pairs of pink shoes, since they seem to go with everything in her closet. But Ed put her in the green squeaky shoes we bought her at Jenny's Place on Shamian Island. Squeaky shoes are a Chinese thing-- some adoptive parents buy them in every size. I bought a tiny red pair in traditional Chinese fabric, but Rose outgrew them by the time she learned to walk. I had sort of forgotten about this green pair.
When Rose stood up and started to run away after she had been shod, she got an enormous grin on her face. Over the last two weeks, she's transformed from a kid who mostly crawled, to one who NEVER, EVER, EVER stops moving. So we were treated all day yesterday to SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, all over the house. On one hand, it was nice because I knew where she was, but on the other hand, that is a whole lot of squeaking.
As much as I'm delighted to have Rose as part of our family, I always find this age to be a little exhausting. This weekend, Rose colored on our floor, put pen all over our leather ottoman, decided that bashing the mirror with metal rods was way more fun than just beating it with her hands, drank most of one of my diet Cokes, got herself stuck on top of things at least a dozen times, figured out how to remove cabinet locks, tried to eat cleanser and dishwasher soap from that cabinet, tornadoed through several loads of folded laundry, consumed a whole avocado we were going to eat for dinner, and kept me up in the night both nights, one of which ended with both of us sleeping on my closet floor. I also ran a marathon this weekend, which has limited both my ability to chase and my patience.
I'm tired. I'm allowed to say that, right?
Sometimes I feel like I'm not, because I chose this. I chose my other kids too, but for some reason, choosing Rose feels more intentional. I'm not sure if that even makes any sense. I did choose her, and every day, I'm glad for that choice, but some days I really want to take a nap. But first, Rose needs to lose the squeaky shoes, at least for an hour or two.
2 comments:
Squeaky shoes are so fun--for about fifteen minutes :) We had a pair for my oldest that we got from a family friend who used to pass on clothes from Japan (there were some other great items we got from her, like a shirt that said "Joy Ride to Nowhere").
It's OK to complain--toddlers are exhausting, no matter how much you love them and want them.
That does sound exhausting Shelah! I am feeling a little run down by my little baby tyrant screaming at me whenever he gets put down. I keep telling myself, "only three more years and then it gets easier." ;)
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