Walking wiggler

All kids go through it eventually. It's the dreaded diaper fight phase. For my toddler, she fought diaper changes from about 9 months to 18 months (at which point we started trying to potty train, mostly unsuccessfully). I'm just holding my breath hoping my baby doesn't start too soon.

     She already kinda is, but not too vigorously. She squirms a bit when we lay her down on the changing tab

le, but mostly because she has so much to explore that she does NOT want to be put in a prostrate position for any length of time. Even for a quick refresh of the soggy diaper, which I would assume is a pleasant thing to have changed. 

     Perhaps some of her disinterest in diaper changes is due to the fact that she has now discovered how to walk. Yes, folks. My 10 month old has taken those first steps and now is overjoyed at her now found talent. She gets so extraordinarily excited when she takes 2 or 3 steps and lunges at the side of the couch. We get a victory dance each and every time.

     And we cheer like it's the Super Bowl. Because really, how can you not cheer for someone so cute and so incredibly proud? It's exciting even if it means my chasing skills are going to need some sharpening and the diaper gymnastics are going to step up to a new level of difficulty. It's all worth it to see her gigantic smile and watch her victory dance.

Snow suit fun

We got snow a few weeks ago. It was awesome! We were so excited, we even went out after dinner one night to go sledding in the dark, just in case something changed and the snow was gone by morning. Thankfully it wasn't.

     Of course, this experience with snow gave us the reality check that we are very ill prepared for snow. Just like the rest of the South that was crippled with a couple of inches of white stuff, we had very little of the necessary items to handle going out in the snow.  We have 3 full sized surfboards taking up space in our garage, but when it comes to gloves or snow boots, we are significantly lacking. Nothing waterproof for long exposure to wet snow.

     Yet we have wonderful neighbors. And those wonderful neighbors are from up north where they get snow often. So shortly after breakfast, they came by bearing snow suits for both girls. Amazing! And I have to say that the pink snowsuit looks absolutely adorable when it completely enveloped her.

     And she loved the snow. She didn't even seem to care when her little fingers turned red and cold (don't worry, we cared), she just wanted to keep playing. So cute!

     I will say though, that changing a diaper when a baby is wearing a snowsuit is not an easy task. You pretty much have to take the suit completely off of them in order to access the diaper. I guess it's a good thing they don't make snow suits like that for older potty-training children or they might not make it to the bathroom in time.

Great Job, Mommy!

I don't know how many people remember doing this, but if you are a parent, I'm assuming that you at one time or another cheered as your child used the potty. It's pretty much a given. There was a while there where we cheered for our toddler every time she used the potty instead of her diaper, and sometimes she even got a treat.

     Yes, we were those parents. We offered pieces of chocolate coins, chocolate covered pomegranates, candy corns, pretty much whatever small sized sweet we had on hand. And she got a sweet and a big cheer from both of us every time she even so much as tinkled into the toilet. And all of that cheering lead to a rather comical result.

     Because to our toddler the cheering section was a routine part of the whole potty going process, she assumed that everyone got a treat and cheers when they used the toilet. She had no reason not to think that. So if she ever happened in on me or my husband using the bathroom, she would whoop and holler, "Great job, Mommy!" when we finished. And then would insist that we got a sweet for going potty. It was rather adorable... 

     Alas, those days are over. Now she uses the toilet so often that the treats have gone by the wayside, as have the cheering sections. Although I'm hoping that my little potty cheerleader will resurface when it's time to start cheering for her little sister.

So much for date night

Sorry everyone, I haven't been very good about posting lately and had to use some older topics to fill in. Primarily this was because of the stomach bug. Yes, we all came down with the stomach bug. At the same time. On Valentine's Day.

The calm before the storm

Ugh.

     And not to bore you (or rather gross you out) with all the nasty details, I can say that being sick to your stomach is awful. But there's worse - being sick to your stomach and also having to deal with nasty diapers of someone else who is also not feeling well. It's torture.

     Not to mention, it smells wretched. Thankfully my husband was feeling slightly better than I was, so he handled a lot of it for me. I owe him big time. Plus, when the smell got really unbearable, he had the thoughtfulness to light some scented candles. It didn't take long for the candles (with an actually burning flame) to diffuse the stench and make it so I didn't have to hold my breath around the house.

     Like I said, I owe him. And in fact, we both deserve a make-up Valentine's Date Night sometime soon.

It's Pink, and it Sings

I don't remember what my training potty looked like as a girl. That's probably because potty training happens in those years before you develop strong memories, so it's all a bit blurry when I think that far back. But despite not having memories of my first potty, I kinda expected that they hadn't changed much in roughly 30 years. I now know that is not the case.

     I didn't do an exhaustive search for a potty when the time came. She was about 18 months old, and as she had expressed some interest in the bathroom and what goes on in there, I figured it was time to set up a little potty that was her size. So out I went to Target. Sure, they had some selection, but I wasn't expecting that every single potty they offered had batteries and would make some sort of noise! I think one of them was programmable so it said your child's name. Huh.... not quite what I was thinking.

     So, now we are the proud owners of a pink and white princess potty. It doubles as a step stool when the lid is down, and yes, it makes noise. In fact, when any amount of liquid makes contact with the bowl of the potty, it plays a trumpet song and then cheers. It's positive and rewarding and not at all creepy. Ok, perhaps a little bit creepy. But that's just me - my daughter loves it and I often find that when she doesn't have to pee, she has flipped it over and found the button you can press to get the music and cheering to trigger without using the potty. Apparently whoever designed it knew that children would love it. Never mind the creeped out parents.

Thar she blows!

I realize that on a blog all about potty training and diaper fun, this title might be a little concerning. But in actuality, I'm going to talk about baths more than diapers in this post. And the title comes from a new toy that I think is genius.

     For Christmas, somebody got the girls a new submarine for the bathtub. Now I apologize, because in the fun that my girls (aka my toddler) have in opening gifts, I'm not entirely sure if this was from my MIL or the girls' great grandmother. Either one, THANK YOU! It is a somewhat simple looking toy. A submarine that sports a handle so the girls can play with it and submerge it all over the bathtub.

     It also has an amazing trick. Notice the long flat opening at the front? Yes, well what the packaging didn't mention is that this is the best toy ever for helping to wash hair. Since my daughters share the hatred of dipping their heads back in the water, or letting me pour cups full of water over their heads, this has really come in handy over the past few weeks.

     Where I used to have to coerce them into lying back and washing out the shampoo, now I just have to say, "close your eyes, here comes the submarine!" Then with the ease of the handle, I scoop out a good amount of water and pour it out the front. Because of the shape of the hole, the water covers their heads and does a great job of washing away the suds very quickly. The baby only needs one submarine full (she doesn't have a lot of hair yet), and my toddler gets 2 or 3 if she moves around too much. 

     Overall, it's more fun and easier to manage. So now when an impromptu bath is needed (with those fun diaper troubles), or even just playtime in the tub, Mommy is no longer the badguy. I'm just the submarine captain.

Choose your own adventure

The most successful trick I found for potty training was letting my child choose for herself. Over the summer, when we weren't going anywhere too often (other than the pool), and would mostly play in the backyard close to home, I would let her choose whether she wanted a diaper or panties. I was never one to let her roam bare bottomed around the backyard, although I've heard mixed results on that trick. Instead, every morning, I'd hold up a diaper and a pair of cotton panties, and would let her pick.

     In the beginning I think it was the novelty of cotton panties that won out. Then eventually it was the comfort, free feeling, and the fact that she was keeping them dry. Because boy did she hate when they got wet! Which was exactly my hope - by letting her have the power and freedom to make the choice, coupled with her desire to stay dry, she was potty training herself and happy about it. Yay!

     It was a long process, but because it was relatively passive, I didn't notice the time going by. It wasn't until she started preschool and the booklet said, "please keep your child in a diaper until they have gone 3 days without an accident." Because I couldn't remember if we'd had an accident or not, I put her in a diaper that first day. But when I went to pick her up and her diaper was dry, and her teachers were applauding her initiative of going to the bathroom, I switched her to panties again. 

     For a couple of days I still gave her the choice, but eventually I stopped offering a diaper and just offered panties instead. By then she didn't notice and happily puts on panties every morning. It was about the only thing that I can say I've done successfully when it comes to potty training. And unfortunately I haven't yet figured out the secret to my success in order to duplicate it on other matters. Maybe someday.

Watch out for the Juice

One of the most tightly held secrets of parenting is the excruciating length that potty training takes. I don't know why, but I was under the distinct impression that potty training was a few months at the most. And for the parents out there who had toddlers go from zero to potty trained in a day or a week, I'm horribly jealous. In my experience, most potty training experiences last more on the order of a year or more. That's an ENTIRE YEAR of spending numerous hours sitting on the floor of the bathroom encouraging your child to poo or pee, and even more time spent staring into toilet bowls.

     It's amazing. I really can't believe how in the dark I was about all of it. Even with a girl who expressed interest in the potty around a year and a half. I was convinced that I'd have a precocious 2 year old who was completely potty trained. Unfortunately that was not the case.  We had ups and downs, and by the time she was 26 months, I decided to try the intensive potty training day that some had suggested.

     For those considering this attempt, I will give you a word of warning. Watch out for the juice. The way I approached it, we hunkered down at the house with cartoons and juice boxes with a plan to stay home and sit on the potty every 15 minutes. I let her drink as much juice as she wanted - this was a big deal as she normally gets a juice - water mixture that is about 30% juice to 70% water. So having unlimited access to the real stuff was a big treat.

     Unfortunately it was also a big shock to her system. She was not used to having that much concentrated sugar, so by 11am all of those juice boxes had given her the runs. So much for our potty training day...

Food in, Food out

It never fails - just as we sit down for a meal, somebody has to use the bathroom or needs a new diaper. And this seems especially true for dinnertime.

     Recently we went out to dinner at a local pizza place that we love - the Mellow Mushroom. We've discovered that this is an amazing restaurant for children. Well, for us too. But for kids there are so many things to look at (colorful walls, things hanging from the ceiling, pizza makers in full view, televisions, etc) plus it is a bit on the loud side, so any screeches a baby or toddler can make only really affect the people in the table immediately adjacent to you. So in all, it's a pretty kid friendly place. And it serves beer, so us parents enjoy the experience as well.

     So on this occasion we had just been seated at our table when my toddler stated loudly that she had to use the bathroom. Off we went. After a successful trip to the potty, we returned to the table. Of course, it seemed that every few minutes throughout the entire meal, she wanted to make another trip to the bathroom. I think we must have taken her at least 5 times in the 60 minutes we were there. Oh how I love toddler bladders and their seemingly endless capacity (or lack thereof depending on how you look at it).

     And not to be left out, the baby also decided that it was a good time to fill her diaper. Only once mind you, but it added an extra trip into all the fun we were already doing, wearing a path from our table to the restrooms. I guess there's just no sitting down for a parent, even when you are at a restaurant. Oh well, at least there weren't any accidents and everyone had a fun time. Just next time I'll try to limit how much my toddler drinks before we leave the house.

Play-uh-oh

My baby is at that age. The age where absolutely everything, without discrimination, goes into the mouth. I know it's a phase that she'll grow out of, but this time around it's a much trickier situation to handle. With an older sister who is 3, there are definitely small parts around. Toys come with so many pieces these days, it's not easy to keep track of them all and make sure they stay above where the baby can reach them.

     Also, my baby is a sneaky one. Yes, I've found her crawling through the kitchen, over to the cabinets, where she leans down, and reaches under the cabinet to get at whatever is under there that I don't clean. No, I'm sorry; I'm a delinquent mother who doesn't scrub underneath my cabinets. My baby has found me out.

     Now for the most part, we do ok. My toddler is rather possessive, which usually is frustrating, but for this works well. She screams and grabs anytime the baby tries to go for anything that she has deemed her own. So for those situations where I'm not watching as close as I should, or the baby is just faster than any of us expect her to be (this is all the time), my toddler is the 2nd round of defense. And not much gets past a toddler.

     Except for play-doh. How is it that a fresh tub of play-doh plus all the rollers and cutters and squeezers to keep it all in one place and highly entertaining, can still fail? I am the play-doh nazi and I try to pick up every tiny speck of it before the baby can find it, but I still fail. Yes, I have found hot pink play-doh in my baby's diaper... oh well, at least she isn't Gluten-Free. And afterall, if they didn't expect kids to eat it, why do the mention on the packaging that it contains wheat?

Up, Up, and Away

Baby got to fly the Dreamliner

Since we live in Huntsville, AL and the majority of our family is split between Oregon and Southern California, my girls are seasoned travelers already. My toddler took her first flight at about 5 months old, and my baby flew to California this past Halloween, around 6 months old.

     I've flown with all 3 of us, all 4 of us, and just my toddler and I (when she was all ages), so I have seen quite a few scenarios on airplanes. Here are a few tips from me to anyone traveling with a baby or child...

     All ages are different. Some babies will sleep through the whole plane ride, while others will want to watch what's going on and will fall asleep on landing (yes, this has happened to me). So, bring toys, books, magnetic doodle boards are a hit, and for our toddler the ipad is a saving grace.

     For babies, it's easiest to put them in footie pajamas or something equally as easy to take on and off while also keeping them warm. It's tough to predict whether you'll have a warm flight or a cold one, so it's safer to assume for cold. Also, airports and airplanes aren't exactly the cleanest places, so bare feet is not recommended, even for those not walking yet.

     I take a million diapers with me. My logic is that I pack enough for the unlikely (and unwanted) event that we're stuck somewhere overnight. Usually that means 10 - 12 diapers somewhere in our carry-on and an equal amount of wipes. Thankfully I've never needed them, but the peace of mind just knowing we have them is priceless.

Yes, this is how we fly

     Change diapers on layovers and prior to boarding when possible. When you're stuck on an airplane, changing a diaper can be very tricky in those tight bathrooms (even the newer ones that have fold down changing tables). I've even taken my little changing pad and done a diaper and clothing change on the floor of the galley where the flight attendants hang out merely for space reasons. Thankfully they didn't care too much.

     Pack plastic bags. You know the ones - you get 15 of them at the grocery store when you go buy 5 items? Those. Stick them away in the diaper bag for times when you need to dispose of a stinky diaper and there isn't a trashcan nearby, or when you have wet soiled clothes that you don't want touching anything else you're carrying. In fact, I try to stow a couple of these permanently in the diaper bag in case the same situation comes up around town. It's really helpful.

My seasoned travelers on an airport train

     Take a blanket or 2. One for wrapping the little one or cushioning a head that wants to nap in an airplane seat, and another to lay on the floor of the airport for the roller/crawler/baby that you're tired of holding onto in a seat. By having 2, you don't have to think about where the 2nd one has been before you wrap your child in it. And I'm not even a germ-a-phobe...

     Baby food and sippy cups and bottles of milk are NOT restricted through security. Bring them, and bring them full. You will probably have to separate them from your carry-on and perhaps open them for inspection, but

     That's all I can think of now, but I'll update everyone if I remember some other key travel tip. I know it can be stressful planning for a plane ride, and feeling prepared is huge. Oh, and ask the flight attendants for help - unlike the TSA officials, they are more than happy to hold your baby and to lend and extra set of hands. Good luck!