Laney the Mischevious

If you had asked me a year and a half ago, I would have told you my Mia was our difficult child. She was always busy, always moving, always contradicting us and often running away from me to avoid leaving wherever we were (park, school, friends' houses).

Well, I was wrong. Mia is not sneaky. Sneakiness adds a whole other dimension to trouble making that I didn't know about except from first-hand experiences which of course, were not viewed from the same perspective. (You see, I was the sneaky child in my family growing up.)

These past 6 months, Laney has really pushed the envelope in the Sly, Cunning, and downright Messy categories. But this past week, in one single day, she made newsworthy strides in pushing Mommy to the limit.

In the morning, things were moving slowly. I finally got Laney upstairs to get her dressed for the day. After making hers and Mia's beds, I put out two dresses for her to choose from and went in my own room to make my bed. When I went in to check on her, she had smeared pink lipstick EVERYWHERE. Similar to the Desitin Incident, it was literally EVERYWHERE. On the air conditioner, her bedspread, the beds, the floor, and the glider. Not having the patience to grab the camera, I just got angry, grabbed wipes and got her to help me wipe off the wood surfaces and the air conditioner. I took the cushions off the glider and googled "lipstick stains". I put on a movie downstairs in the living room and got started on the stain removal process.

OK, THEN. While I was slaving away at the cushions, muttering frustration under my breath, Laney leans over the couch and spits a white goopy spit ball into my hand. Having seen this before, I knew what it meant. Laney had pulled the stuffing out of the couch cushions and was chewing on the stuffing. Oh joy. Well at least I could put most of it back in and fluff up the pillows without much trouble.

So, after fixing the couch and getting about half of the stain out, we had some semblance of a regular day - running errands, eating lunch, and attempting a quiet time for Laney which was again unsuccessful for the 4th day in a row.

After quiet time, Mia and Laney were playing together in the living room and I hear a small choking sound, followed by Mia screaming "MOMMY! MOMMY! Laney ate a Penny!" Of course I hurried in - Laney was OK, breathing but with tears in her eyes, and Mia described the situation. Evidently, Laney put a penny in her mouth, choked on it, managed to get it out and somehow swallowed it. All in about 3 seconds. The after-hours doctor on call told us that although pennies are no longer poisonous, if it didn't manage to find its way out in 2 days we would have to get Laney an x-ray to make sure it wasn't causing issues in her digestive tract. So, yep, we had to become poop archaeologists for awhile. Thankfully it came out the next afternoon and we avoided a trip to the hospital and any subsequent medical procedures.

But PHEW! What a DAY!

She's turning 3 in less than 2 weeks - it will all end then, right?