anecdotes from toddlerland

there are some moments that just cannot be fully explained. that only the parents of toddlers (present or past) can understand. last night we had one of those moments. to preface a bit, we were all in the kitchen after a long day of no-napping for isa. it was almost time for bed and we were all just trying to make it through the last half hour of the day without a tantrum. sylvi was in the sling and isa was milling around getting ready for a bath, when she came upon an ultrasound picture on the fridge. phil explained that this was a picture of sylvi when she was in mommy's belly. we explained that isa used to be there too and we had similar pictures of her as well. at this point, i jokingly told phil under my breath that some days i think isa would love nothing more than to crawl back into the womb-- a sentiment i have heard spoken by many toddler mothers in the throws of seperation anxiety, countless fits, or general clinginess. well folks, the rest was history, as isa proceeded to throw one monstrous fit over the fact that she couldn't actually crawl back in my belly.

i kid you not. she was distraught over this fact and cried and screamed and clawed at the pouch sling (holding one bewildered sylvi) for a solid ten minutes. all the while crying, "i wanna cwral back in da woom! i wanna be in mommy's belly!" repeat ad naseum. being that i was wearing her sister in the sling, which could be easily confused in a toddler mind as being 'in my belly' we thought maybe she just wanted to get in the sling herself. so we tried, as daunting as it was, to get isa comfortably in the sling. but no dice, she could not be convinced. there was no substituting. she wanted to be back in the womb and that was that. obviously this could not be arranged so we rode out the tantrum with as many hugs and snuggles as we could and made note to never ever mention such a thing again.