i.am.so.tired....!!!!!!!

let me introduce you to a little monster. her name is violet, but her dad has nicknamed her "violence." yes, she is cute as can be and yes, she waves to strangers and deceives them with her big, dorky smile....but she is trouble. trust me.

  

today i woke up so beyond tired. olivia usually sleeps in till 8am, at least. violet, however, is awake for SURE by 7:15...and this is after waking up multiple times during the night. a couple nights ago she finally started going down at her usual 8 and not waking up until 4, but last night that was spoiled by the fact that she also woke up at 3:30 and 5:30. this is UNACCEPTABLE!!! i don't understand how people with a 3 year old that wake up are still sane. if that is you, you are amazing. i couldn't handle it. i couldn't take it this morning. all the middle of the night activity for the past 9 months has been catching up to me, so you better believe that at 9am, i put violet down for a morning nap (which she of course tried to refuse), put olivia in my bed with me, gave her my iphone to watch pinky dinky doo, and i shut my eyes. of course i couldn't fall asleep...always happens...but luckily olivia is an iphone whiz and took it upon herself to restart pinky dinky doo (i need to download more than one episode) and watch it again. so i got a whole 50 minutes of half-sleep. i did feel a little better though. after that, i pulled it together and loaded up for a few errands. we're home now and they are taking a nap but of course i'm too awake now. this is my chronic problem. when i am overly tired, the only time i feel like i can effectively catch up on sleep is if i lay down shortly after i wake up. if i get up, get ready, do some errands, etc...forget it. i'm up. and then by nighttime, i have long forgotten how tired i am and stay up until 11 or later watching tv. UFGHpadfjskl...as i type this violet is yapping in her crib. of course olivia (my angel sleeper) is out cold. 

i KNOW i need to let violet cry it out. all night long. and i'm planning on it. i just have to set up shop for her in the office or playroom since they are sharing a room. poor olivia would probably sleep right through it (she is like adam- a bomb could go off and they wouldn't wake up), but i'll do her the favor of removing the terror from her room for a few nights. it might have to be tonight. i should go set up right now. 

anyway, aside from the fact that violet thinks she is invincible and doesn't need sleep, she is also just crazy in general. i think it might be due in part to the fact that i was a more responsible parent with olivia, so now the comparison is not accurate. for example, i would keep the bathroom door shut. then you never have to find your child playing in the toilet. violet is all over the place all the time, usually causing some kind of trouble. but adam and i both laugh about how you can't even stay mad at her, because as soon as you pick her up she stops her fake crying and gives you a funny face or acts like she is telling you something really serious. she is obsessed with olivia and never leaves her alone. when she wakes up from a nap, she scans the room for olivia asap as if she's saying, "ok! i'm here! what did i miss?!!?" the other day they were both going down for a nap and olivia was talking to herself and kind of hyper before she fell asleep, which violet thought was sooo funny. then olivia's voice cuts off because she's fallen asleep and i look in their roomt o see violet jumping in her crib yelling over to olivia like she's saying "noo!! don't give up! just never go to sleep and she'll get us up!" so bad. 

ok, enough babbling. long story long: violet is a crazytown, USA resident and is giving me a major run for my money. but luckily she is funny and cute and our favorite bad bad baby, so we love her anyway! she still only has 2 teeth, has recently started standing alone w/o furniture and has started saying a lot things. obviously just kind of copying sounds at this point, but it's pretty funny. earlier today i was telling her to "stop!" (shocker), to which she replied, "DOP!" she also says "ohhhhnonononononoooooohhhhnonono" in one big run-on word usually when she is mad or wants out of her crib. she says baby appropriately and is obsessed with hers. i need to get her a new one for christmas because this one is about done. it has been through many near death experiences, including, but not limited to, being dropped on her head in every store in town and getting tangled up in the stroller wheel. poor baby. i'll have to try and get it on video....she loves to find it and say "bay.....beeee."

 she also says "go! go!" a lot when she is crawling around  and "ha!" (with a wave) when she's in front of the mirror or prompted by someone...so maybe she is figuring out what those things mean!

baby loves her baby

ok, all done! we'll consider this a journal entry for our little vi vi. here are a few shots (in no particular order) of her for fun...toodles.

spaghetti head

a rare moment...asleep in the car. not a bad pic for being taken on my phone, huh?

 mad face after a nap

 shopping at nordstrom rack....trying on accessories, of course!

 sunny day at the park

 soo mad at me because i wouldn't give her any more yogurt!

and still mad at me even after i gave her more!

 hanging with mom in the car...

 dragging her baby out of the playroom. love that little weird half smile.

 she totally thought she hit the jackpot. don't worry- it was empty. 

 so happy i am 2 for 2 on kids that looove the beach.

hanging out in her room one morning

 trying out the cinderella dress up. she is sooo child #2. olivia only wanted to wear dress up shoes, so i put V in the costume. that's always how it is. "olivia doesn't want it? give it to violet. olivia doesn't like that? give it to violet. olivia won't do it? make violet do it." so funny/sad!

church trunk or treat!

being a dork in her highchair

 stopping by papa joel and gigi's to trick or treat!

she got a can of tomato paste out of the pantry the other day and was trying to chew on it. weirdo.

**note- i started this post yesterday and then last night violet slept 8:45-6:45, and that's with no crying!! waahooo! she also took a great morning nap but of course now, olivia is zonked out and violet is playing around underneath the table where i am sitting. awake.