Waiting for Mae

We are waiting for Mae to wake up, Libby and I.  Mae is prone to rage, and on Friday when we had to wake her for school it took quite a long time to rouse her and when she finally woke she screamed and SOBBED all.the.way.to.school and did not stop until she threw herself into her teacher's arms.  She loves Tasha and sometimes when Mae is mad at Mom, Tasha is the only person who can comfort her.

Mae calls me Mom.
Libby calls me Mama.

No one taught Mae how to have rage.  But she has it.  Sometimes she gets very, very, very angry and she makes little fists and SHAKES in such an alarming way that you just stare at her in disbelief and then back away very slowly whispering "everything is fine" but over your shoulder hissing "possessed baby...possessed baby!"

This is not a "terrible 2s" thing, since she's actually been doing this since she was an infant.  It's not often.  I think I only witnessed a couple of times when she was an infant, and Mike had a couple times as well.  Turning 2 has increased the frequency, though, and when she goes for her 2-year-old checkup I think we must at least mention it to the doctor.

Ah, her checkup.  As has happened nearly every time before, I scheduled a doctor appointment and now Mike has to work in Vancouver all day that day.  Unfortunately I chose an appointment time to work around Mike's schedule, but that is SO disruptive to my own day that I will either have to reschedule the appointment or attempt to find what they call "emergency" child care, which is through a sitter website and is not as organized or convenient as it is advertised.

Mae can be adorably polite.  She says pweeze and fank you and you're welcome, and I didn't teach her any of it, unlike Libby who was very resistant to learn Please and had to suffer through a difficult lesson to get it right.  Last night I gave Mae a chocolate chip cookie.  Later I heard her padding around in her nightie looking for me, and so I go to find her and she says, "a-nuvva coo-KEY?" and how could anyone say no to that.  Especially when I made the cookies miniature so they are only 2 bites.  I give her another cookie and she immediately says "fanks".

Both Libby and Mae are great sisters to each other.  If Mae has a tantrum, Libby is extremely tolerant and will bring Mae comfort items, like her blanket, or some milk, or a muffin.  And then Libby will stroke Mae's hair or face and whisper "everything is fine". 

If Mae has 2 crackers, she will immediately give one to Libby.  She gives hugs and kisses and brings Libby's blanket to her too.  She also knows that being nice means to stroke someone's face very gently.

We are still waiting for Mae to wake up.  To amuse herself, Libby has busted open a box of my childhood toys.  She's pulled out several easter bunnies, 2 baby dolls, a teddy bear, a Raggedy Ann.  A Russian doll marked "Made in USSR" on the bottom.  Handfuls of Mardi Gras beads that my aunt sent me from New Orleans. 

I am glad Libby opened the box because I just found something I was afraid I had lost in the last couple of months. 

Libby has decided that the Russian doll is her favorite of my vintage toys. 

Although she really does like stuffed animals and is also carrying around something that looks a lot like the velveteen rabbit.  Libby's favorite stuffed animal of her own is one who goes by the name of "medium Piglet".  That is because it is Piglet and she has 3 Piglets.

Big Piglet was a gift from Grandma before Libby was even born.  Tiny Piglet was cut off of the mobile that came with Libby's bassinet.  It's a miracle that Tiny Piglet has not gotten lost.  Medium Piglet was bought by me, along with a similar-sized Pooh Bear.  I assumed that Mae would want the Piglet and Libby would want the Pooh Bear, but it turned out the other way around.  And Medium Piglet is now Libby's current favorite.

But now she is asking me to help her with the Russian dolls, so we are going to go play while waiting for Mae.