Oli-Diva

Ahh, I love the smell of waffles in the morning. I have about 15 minutes before Olivia wakes up and I am making waffles and blogging. Rachael Ray's Gingerbread Waffles if you must know....I am a bit bored of PLAIN old waffles and gingerbread has molasses in it, which happens to be good for you. My latest and greatest focus is getting my DD to eat. I refuse to raise a picky eater, on the one hand, but I also refuse to get those bad mommy looks from my pediatrician because my daughter is 10th percentile weight. So far it has been a struggle to figure out what she will eat. So far it's Trader Joe's freeze dried mango, hot dogs and broccoli. But there is no stead fast rule. What works one day doesn't mean it will work the next. There was a whole two days where all she wanted was bananas and now she just likes to point out that there are bananas and not eat them. (sigh)
Every day is like a big "What you think you know to be true is wrong". Especially when it comes to toddlers in general and Olivia in particular. For example, did you know that a toddler can become attached to a piece of clothing they happen to be wearing and refuse to take it off? Me neither! That is Olivia's new "thing". Lately it's been this fleece jacket and her shoes. I told this to a friend yesterday and she explained to me that it's Olivia's attempt at asserting control. For example, her son had a "thing" about having cheese for breakfast. I suppose I should be glad that her attempts at control are over clothes, but I just have to wonder what this attachment to clothes and shoes is going to develop into when she is a teenager. Am I raising a fashion diva? This will be entertaining. I am trying to take a stand and not let her have too much control (like the shoes eventually have to come off), but I also want to pick my battles. An affinity toward clothes is not high on my danger danger list and she IS a girl.
This morning's activity is "Tornado Toddlers" at my local gym. The general theme to group toddler activities seems to be a guitar, things to bang on and colored kerchiefs to throw around in the air. Olivia seems to enjoy it and is starting to participate a little in the activities. Mostly she likes to applaud at the end. So, of course, that puts a smile on my face.
With all of these activities, I thought I was being super-mom. But, there is always someone out there to prove you wrong. My friend, for example, who O and I joined her and her little girl at the zoo last week, knows about all of the activities to do with toddlers. She's a member of all of the "Cool" places to go like the zoo, children's museum, arboretum, she knew that the Museum of Science and Industry was free and took her tot to it. Now my Tornado Toddlers thing doesn't sound so super-mom-y. There's another thing about finding out what you think you know is wrong... there's always going to be someone who you thing does it better and makes you feel like a hack. There's the mom who manages to raise well behaved children and keeps her house clean and well decorated...like an adult lives there. These are things I will strive for, but I won't beat myself up about it. I think I am doing an okay job and Olivia seems to be happy... for now. Good thing I have some time before she's a teenager.