Pantless in America

Monkey is developing an attitude about what clothing is allowed upon her person. She has VERY strong opinions about her shoes, shirts, socks and pants.

Matter of fact, she has strong opinions about MY clothing, too - this morning she cried grievously when I declined to wear my Sock Monkey t-shirt under my suit. (Full disclosure - if the sock monkey had been sufficiently covered I would have worn it, just to make her happy...). And yes, I have a sock monkey tshirt by Paul Frank - what, you don't?

I've written about her obsession with her feet...how she screams as if I am branding her feet with hot irons when I try to put her converse hightops on? How she LURVES the ever-so-slightly-tacky hot-pink and silver lame sneakers she picked out? And how she likes to take her socks off and inspect for toe lint? Yeah, I've mentioned that before.

What is new, however, is her thing with her pants. Lately, she's taken to...taking them off. I am choosing to think of this as a good thing - it is one of the signs that tells us she's moving towards potty training. It is an indication of her maturity and ability to take care of herself. Yadda, yadda. Unfortunately, it also means that sometimes, things get interesting.

Like this past Sunday. M put Monkey down for a nap, and she wasn't tired ONE BIT. She'd napped for 35 minutes in the car, when we drove back from brunch in Brooklyn with our friend Kaster. So when he put her down to continue her nap, she declined. And cried in her crib for a good 30 minutes. She cried and muttered and yelled "HI!" and "HELLO!", which are her code-words for get my ass out of this crib now! (That's how she summons us in the morning when she wakes - pretty funny).

I was out for a run, so M finally broke down and went to see what Monkey was up to....and discovered her in her crib, sans pants. Also sans diaper! And.....bien sur mes amies, she'd peed all over her crib. Nice. By the time I got back, Monkey was in clean clothing and the crib was remade, so I missed this insanity. (M is such a rock star dad!)

But then, when I put her down for nap attempt #2? And listened to her cry, talk to her stuffed animals, and yell "HI!" and "HELLO!" for another 30 minutes? I went back into her room and discovered her crying "PANTS!" repeatedly. Why? Because she had taken them off, flung them to the floor, and now she wanted them back. I had to struggle not to giggle...she looked so forlorn, crying for her beloved pants!

At least I'm not the only one with an insane toddler obsessed with her pants...check out my friend Renee's blog for a great laugh! Apparently there is a wave of pantless toddlers sweeping the nation...so far it's hit the East Coast and the Midwest....Mountain States and West Coast? Watch out, you're next for the Pantless in American brigade of insane toddlers!