I'm not exactly sure how this started, but Clio is all about being naked -- or naked except for a diaper -- these days. It's not that she disrobes; she just wants to stay naked or undressed or partially dressed once she gets that way. A key part of the experience for her is shouting "I'm a naked baby!" or (if we're attempting to put clothes on her) "I want to be a naked baby!" Of course, we have no one but ourselves to blame for this; for a long time, Alastair and I have been in the idiotic habit of gleefully yelling out "naked babies!" when we get the girls into the bath. That kind of humor is very funny to toddlers. And to us, apparently. And, well, shucks, naked babies are just so durn cute!
Let me interject to say that, in case you're wondering, no, there will not be a birthday suit photo of Clio accompanying this post. As cute as it would be, I wouldn't feel right doing it. Not just because there are sickos out there, but because it seems like an invasion of her privacy. Unlike the rest of this blog. Ahem. Um...er...Moving on!
So, the naked baby thing will be increasingly less of a problem as the weather starts to warm up. Fine with me if she wants to walk around the house in nothing but a diaper. (Until potty training is achieved, I must insist on the diaper.) But Clio is a stubborn little thing, and there may be some battles ahead if she wants, say, to go to the playground or the library naked. Already, we've had to deal with some serious resistance in the mornings and during diaper changes when she wants to be a naked baby and it's just too cold for that sort of thing. A few times, we've compromised at half-naked. Shirt and no pants, or vice versa.
But the other night, Clio had her first all-out Naked Baby tantrum. It was at approximately 3:30 am, and she was suddenly wide awake, wanting to (among other things) go downstairs, read a book with mommy, come into our bed with us, eat waffles, have more water, go outside in the yard and "go in the little house," watch Curious George, etc. She hadn't reached tantrum stage yet, just a lot of loud, whiny insisting. I noticed that her diaper was feeling pretty soggy, so changed her, hoping it was simply discomfort that had woken her up, and that maybe the activity of being changed would satisfy her need to do something outside the crib. Alas, she kept yelling her demands the whole time, more and more loudly (waking up Elsa, of course, who joined in the yelling with her own set of wants and needs), and when I tried to put Clio's pajama pants back on, she went into all-out tantrum mode.
"No! No! NO!! I want to be a naked baby! I want to be a naked baby! I want to be a naked BAAAAAAABeeeEEEEEeeee!!!"
It was cold. Too cold to be a naked baby. So what did I do? I tried out my modified Toddler-ese -- the Happiest Toddler method, lite. I said, "You want to be a naked baby! You want to be a naked baby! But you'll be so cold, Clio! If you're a naked baby, you'll be SO cold and sad! I don't want you to be cold." And by God, wouldn't you know -- she stopped crying and screaming, looked at me, slightly confused, and then started saying, "Naked baby be so cold!" as she let me put her pajamas back on her. It was like a freakin' miracle.
Of course, it still took another ten minutes to try to get her to lie down in her crib, and she woke up again an hour later and pitched another fit. But when it comes to parenting toddlers, one must cling to small victories! Screaming 3:30 am naked baby successfully thwarted! Huzzah!
