Cows, Cows, and More Cows

So will this cow thing with Isabella ever end? That poor thing is plagued by cows every day of her life. This whole thing started several months ago when she got scared of a cow sound at the Olive Branch Chick-Fil-A. Now she freaks out around cows and the "moo" sound. We did go to the zoo several days ago, and I had her walk up to a real cow. I talked her through the encounter, assuring her that they are not scary at all. She repeated that. But then we got to the car and she kept telling me how scary the cows were. Then she found a small red spot on her leg and claimed that the cow at the zoo bit her. She pulled up her capris for two days everywhere we went to show people her cow bite marks! It was hysterical.

She has a See N Say toy that has farm animals, and now we've had to remove it from her room because that cow was going to "get her." Yesterday we went to the new playground they built at Central Park (which is not a toddler-friendly playground), and guess what? They had a picture of a cow at the top of the only slide that was safe for toddlers. I was able to talk her through sliding a few times before she absolutely refused to go back on the slide. She talked about the cow on the slide for about 30 minutes after we left.

Anyway, besides cow phobia, not too much is going on with Isabella. Her current phobia is obviously cows, and her current passion is ballet. She is dying to get into Abby's dance class at the Little Gym. She throws major tantrums when we let Abby go in, and she just stands at the glass door and watches with want in her little eyes. We've even gone so far as to let her have Abby's tap shoes when she's done so that Isabella can tap in the lobby. We tried to get them to take her, but they won't until she's 3. So we've promised her she can dance on June 13th. Now she'll tell you that she's going to dance when she turns "free" on "June firteenth." She has no clue when June 13th is, but she's waiting anxiously for her time to twirl and tap. I haven't decided if I'm sending her there or to Stars in Motion this summer, but she's going somewhere. We're probably going to do Stars in Motion this fall because the owner actually teaches lessons during preschool once a week. That would be so ideal for us. Both girls could take, and I wouldn't have to make two extra trips during the week to dance lessons with all the kids in tow.

Isabella is still the center of my prayer life many nights. Her behavior has gotten so difficult that I really think I'm going to lose my mind most days. Matt and I have conversation after conversation about how to address her rebellion. She can truly be the most loving, cuddly bug in this house...but she can be the most demanding, mean, trying child too. We are going through a phase where she tells me "NO" in a very defiant way about everything from going potty to getting dressed to wearing a certain pair of shoes. She screams "no" at me at the top of her lungs. We've spanked, taken away priviliges, used time out, and rewarded good choices with candy....with no real solutions in sight. I know this is a marathon, but it is a very long marathon. She's also really rough with Ali Kate, and that's can't be tolerated. So I spend a very large portion of each day trying to discipline and teach her. It's exhausting. I pray that one day my teaching will sink in with her.

Oh my goodness....I almost forgot to mention her current obsession with shoes! Isabella got these yellow polka dot flip flops from Little Lambs and Ivy on a whim about a month ago. I wanted to get her some really cute flip flops, but they were sold out of her size. The ones we bought were the only ones in the entire store left in her size. She immediately fell in love with them, so I had to get them. Luckily, I had a $20 off coupon which made these shoes free (at least that's how I justified the purchase). Anyway, for days she wouldn't wear another shoe at all. We wore them to church with brown and pink. Now that's a fashion statement. We wore them with pants, capris, you name it. It's just one of those things that's not worth the battle. I believe parents should choose their battles wisely, and this was just not worth the struggle. No harm (other than people thinking I can't coordinate clothing and shoes) was done at all. I have now at least gotten her to wear her white sandals, but she yanks them off the minute we get home so that she can put on her yellow flip flops. When she's not in those, she's in some oversized dress-up shoe that belongs to Abby. I can't remember the last time she wore a non-dress-up shoe to the gym. She always makes a fashion statement there.