Back to school

Yay! It's back to school time! I know, I've officially become a mom when I'm excited about the kiddos going to preschool vs being sad that the summer is ending. And around here it starts so dang early! School officially started the FIRST week in AUGUST people. That's so early!

     But this year, I was ready and waiting. Well, scratch the ready part if you're thinking that means I had shoes lined up and clean new clothes and backpacks. I had to run out that first day and get some things I didn't realized we had grown out of, but now we're all ready. And mentally I was ready a week ago.

     And this year my newly minted toddler is going to school one day a week, too. Yes, most people call it "Mommy's Morning Out" because it's only 4 hours once a week, but whatever you call it, I call it golden. Mostly it'll be full of dr check ups for Baby-on-the-way, but even those will be a lot less stressful without kids in tow. And since I didn't have anything scheduled this week, I got to spur-of-the-moment meet my husband for lunch, and we actually got to pay attention to eachother. Wow.

     For those of you who don't have kids, or don't remember, that's a major wow moment. Most of our time is spent getting food on the table, cleaning up the table (and floor) after food, putting away toys, getting jammies on, brushing teeth and hair, picking up toys (did I say that already?) and then falling into bed exhausted at 9pm since we know that we'll be woken up sometime between 5 and 6am if not earlier to start it all again.

     And therefore, I'm excited to have a few hours during the week where my brain can focus on something other than the child tugging at my legs and perhaps I can do something that makes me feel like an adult vs a mom. Just for a few minutes, anyway.

It's time to call it

Hi y'all,
     Well, I've been quiet on purpose for the last almost 2-weeks. And that's because I have big happy news, but didn't want to jinx it by announcing too early. But now that we are approaching the 2-week mark, I'm going to risk it.

     We haven't changed a poopy pull-up in almost 2 weeks!!! WOOHOO!! This is big stuff, people. BIG. And unfortunately I don't exactly know how it happened. We had been struggling as we always do, with the back and forth arguments about not using a pull-up and trying to use the potty instead. And then on a seemingly random Thursday, she just said, "ok, I'm going to use the potty." And this time she didn't follow it up an hour later with a dirty pull-up. It was amazing.

     And needless to say, we've had a fair share of ice cream, chocolate, and toys over the last 2 weeks. But now that it's gone on this long, I have to say that I can't imagine going back. Now we just have to deal with learning to wipe well. Oh the wiping... the WIPING!!! It seems she so much in a hurry to announce her great accomplishment that she runs out of the bathroom without wiping, and we've been dealing a bit with the aftermath. 

     But even that is better than the pull-ups. So once again, WOOHOO!!

Throwback Thursday begets Frustrated Friday

Typically I'd describe myself as someone who can "live in the moment" most of the time. To me this means that I can sit in a situation, take a mental step back, and appreciate the good things about what is going on. And if nothing else, appreciate that the moment will perhaps become a funny story years from now. 

     Example: yesterday my preschooler finally pooped in the potty on her own terms. And then refused to flush it until Daddy could come home and see her amazing accomplishment. Oh the joy.

     But I don't know anyone who can do this 100% of the time. And it seems I'm having some trouble today. And all because a friend posted some photos from several years ago that got me reminiscing. The photos are of me and 3 other friends, all goofing around and posing in the beautiful Santa Barbara mountains. This was before kids for me, even before my wedding. So thinking back on those days now, the first thought that comes to mind is, "wow, how carefree was my life!" 

     I'm sure my 2009 self didn't think that way. I was planning a wedding, dealing with a job that had a fair share of stress involved, and all the normal drama that is a 20-something life. It was just so different than my life today. And normally I don't miss it - I'm so happy and fortunate with so much in my life, I rarely think back longingly to kid-less days. But it's just one of those Fridays.

     Perhaps it's that I'm pregnant and dealing with the fun emotional roller coaster that is pregnancy hormones. Or perhaps it's that instead of getting some of those projects around the house accomplished each day (think folding laundry, picking up toys, cleaning bathrooms, cleaning anything really) I am taking a nap if I can find a time when both girls are resting. Or it could be that my preschooler is becoming more demanding in her wants ("that was fun, mom. But what is the NEXT art project we are going to do together?" every 10 minutes) and that my baby is actually now a toddler and has the mindset of, "why talk when I can just screech and get attention?"

So my life is full. And I love seeing the smiling faces of my daughters or delighting with them when they learn a new skill (my toddler just figured out how to say "please" yesterday, although it comes out more of a "piss") or when they make the connections that show they are taking everything in and learning all the freaking time. It's priceless. But doesn't everybody have days where they kinda wish they could put their current life on hold, and go back in time for a single day and live their old life with their current knowledge and experience? Wouldn't we appreciate things so much more knowing what we do now about life?

No magic here

So the Magic Pull-up doesn't seem to be a successful next step for our preschooler. She sees right through our attempts, and the fact that she can wear a pull-up still doesn't matter. She is still very very concerned about the concept of her poop falling into the toilet.

     This makes me sad. I know so many other mothers who haven't had this issue, so I had to resort to googling on the interwebs for ideas. And unfortunately the advice is pretty similar to all potty-training advice: just wait it out. Yes, I realize that rarely does a kindergartner go to school with a pull-up on. This doesn't reassure me that much folks. I'm still knee-deep in diapers!

     But, we've had to ease off the Magic Pull-up for our sanity's sake this weekend. Perhaps I really do need to start having her watch as I attempt to flush the contents of her pull-up (vs just wrapping it up and putting it in the diaper pail). Maybe she'll clue in... perhaps before she turns 4? One can only hope.

Step one: Cut a hole in the ....

Ok, we've tried something new. Since everyone I talk to swears that potty training USUALLY finishes by around 3.5yrs old, I'm starting to get desperate. Plus, we have a new baby on the way and there's NO WAY I'm going to be doing triple duty on diapers. And finally, it seems absurd that she's completely and entirely potty trained except for going poop. And even then, she now puts the pull-up on herself, sits on the potty to do the deed, and climbs up on the changing table on her own. It seems illogical to keep this going much longer.

     So today I attempted the "magic pull-up." As soon as she told me she was going to get a pull-up, I told her today was a special day. I then took shears and cut a hole in the bottom of the pull up as shown here. And I kept telling her this was a "magic pull-up" for her to use. She immediately saw through my guise and asked, "is my poo-poo going to go in the potty? NO!!!!!"

     Now I don't understand one bit of why it is terrifying to her that poop goes in the potty. But boy did she school me in the fact that this is a horrific thing. She sat on that potty for all of 5 seconds before she hopped off and told me she didn't want to use the magic pull-up anymore. We then got out the bribes - "you can watch the iPad in the bathroom while you sit on the potty, but only if you are wearing the Magic Pull-up." Nope, that just elicited a fit about how she couldn't watch the iPad in a normal pull-up.

     Then we had to have a fit on the kitchen floor for a while. At which point I decided that perhaps I had made this first hole a little too big. I was very intent on making sure everything fell through to the potty, that I may have been a little over eager in my hole making. So I tried again. Still too big.... but finally, after the 3rd pull-up being mutilated with a hole in the bottom, she finally agreed to put it on and sit on the potty - of course only if the iPad could be there too.

     And the final result was - partial success. Some fell into the potty, while some got stuck. But I could shake it into the potty with her watching, so perhaps that helped. It also proved to her (although probably not  for the last time) that it doesn't hurt, and really doesn't feel any different when it stays in the pull-up or doesn't. Let's hope this is making progress, people.

When nightmares come true

So about 2 weeks ago, we traveled from Alabama (well, we flew from Nashville, technically) to San Diego, California for a wedding. It was a great, albeit short and very busy, trip. My preschooler was the flower girl, and did an amazing job - as you can see in the photo below.

     The whole trip was fun for everyone, although the girls didn't nap much, and we were all very worn out by the end. But Sunday came, the wedding was over, and we piled back on the airplane to head home. That's when disaster struck. 

     Yup... it was a parent's worst nightmare. Here we were, in our 3 seats next to each other, on an incredibly packed flight of people, and our preschooler says the dreaded words, "my tummy hurts!" Thankfully a flight attendant overheard her and handed us a trash bag as a precaution. Now most parents will know that an upset tummy can be caused by many things, and doesn't mean iminent danger. Unfortunately this time it did.

     No sooner had the cabin doors closed and the plane begun to pull away from the gate, when she vomited. Thankfully the vomit made it all into the trash bag. Unfortunately there was danger at both ends going on, and we weren't as prepared for that. So not only did the people next to us have to experience the sounds of a preschooler throwing up, and the smells, but they were also treated to the smells of soiled pants. And since she is normally so proactive about potty time, she was in regular clothes (and of course I didn't follow my own advice and hadn't packed her a spare set of shorts. oh no!)

     My husband turned to me - who was busily holding my breath from the stench and trying to entertain a very squirmy 15mo old, and said in a very calm voice, "I'm pretty sure I've had nightmares about this. I don't even know where to begin." Yes, it was awful.

     Well, once we had finished take-off and the pressure in the cabin eased a bit, he was able to clean her up, grab another trash bag from the helpful crew (who jumped up as soon as they could to help us), and pack away all of the foul smelling items. But, like I said above, I had forgotten a spare set of clothes for her, and there was no way she was going to fit in the romper I'd packed for the baby. Thankfully I did have extra pull-ups on hand, so she had to just sit tight in a T-shirt and pull-up until we made it to baggage claim.

     And bless the flight attendant who recognized horrified parents attempting to make the situation as manageable as possible for everyone involved (or not involved) and offered us free drinks. My husband thoroughly appreciated his whiskey & coke. You have no idea how much he deserved it.

All by myself

As I seem to start every post these days, it's been a while. Summertime means outdoor fun, pool time, and not a lot of time to sit in front of a computer.

It also means my girls are growing. My baby has graduated to toddler status, and my preschooler seems to be growing like a weed. Unfortunately, we're still up to our elbows in diapers.

I really thought that once we hit 3, the final vestiges of potty training would figure themselves out. However it doesn't seem to be happening that way. We still get handed a pull-up anytime she has to poop.

Well, until recently anyway. There's been a new twist, and I can't decide if it's a good thing or not. My preschooler has twice now taken the entire process into her own hands. She has gone and gotten the pull-up on her own, put it on herself, done her business, and even climbed up onto the changing table by herself.

But then she took it one step further. She's attempted to change her dirty pull-up without telling me or my husband. So twice now he's walked in on her trying to figure out how to wipe herself.

It's not been pretty, folks. Comical yes, clean no. So again, I ask you - is this a step in the right direction or are we traveling along a messy tangent and not really going anywhere?