Hallie most definitely gives me a run for my money. As she gets older I’m finding it harder and harder to keep up with her and mischeviousness! I’m beginning to recognize patterns in behavior. For example, after Hallie makes a mess shes comes and tells me (for that I am grateful) however as I spend the next 15 minutes cleaning up after her, she’s on to destructing something else, which equates to a never ending mess/cleaning up party. I’ve expressed previously her fascination with the diaper, which I’ve yet to understand. But I do know I spend a lot of time cleaning up after her through this process. The other day I was in tears after the third incident within 2 hours where I found her “diaper contents” in places they didn’t belong. The first two times, although upset, I think I handled the situation pretty well. It was the third time that pushed me over the edge, because it was by far the worst one of the day. She had been in timeout in her crib for the last incident, I changed her diaper in between and put her in timeout. I then hear the dread phrase, “messy baby, poopy” I walked in and instantly had tears in my eyes. By the time I gathered myself together she had been sitting in it for over 15 minutes, and as I walked in she gave me the biggest smile ever. And this is what she looked like: (Her face was the cleanest part of her crib unfortunately !) Needless to say, the day was not one of my finest. However, I can forgive and forget, after of course learning a few lessons. 1) Hallie has more bowel movements than any normal child could possibly have, which I’m sure is due to the surgery. 2) As my mom puts it, “Hallie is a budding artist” 3) After all the things we’ve tried, Duct tape might be our saving grace!!

The next morning I woke up ready to have a good day. I get ready first thing, then make my way to the bedroom to clean up and make the bed. Hallie is suspiciously quiet, so I make my way to the living three minutes later, and this is what I found:I found her with my mascara and it was everywhere: her hair, face, couch, carpet, and clothing. You could tell she thought she was putting it on like mom, but doing it while jumping on a pogo stick, simply a mess. And of course I had to laugh because compared to the previous day this day was starting off pretty well!