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?

Follow your imagination, wherever it may lead

I know it's been almost a month since I posted. I guess that since school is out, I forgot that I still was supposed to be blogging. Whoops. Sorry folks.

Anyways, I wanted to share this little story from last night. My preschooler was playing with duplos (that she calls "playgos") before bed as her "one last thing." And she built herself a little car; complete with a person riding on it. So off the car goes around the livingroom furniture on an adventure. And in her sing-songy voice, my daughter is singing, "they are going on an adventure! They are going through the tunnel, off to get ice cream! They are going to get ice cream because she went poopoo in the potty!"

And I think to myself, "is it a good thing or a bad thing that our potty bribes have made it into her imagination play?" Followed by, "now when is she going to follow the good example of her imaginary friends?"


If only, if only.

School's out for Summer!

Today is the last day of preschool before summer. Although as a child I always thought that the last day of school was such an exciting event, I find that I am definitely a parent now. The last day of school is a little bit terrifying. It means I will have both children with me for any errands, grocery store trips, doctor appointments, etc. It means every single day of the week with questions like, "Mom, where are we going today? What are we doing? Can I watch more TV?" as I scramble to come up with activities and also try to find 5 minutes peace (do you remember that book from our childhood? I finally get it now).

     And most of this week I had my grandmother here. I love my grandmother and it was a really huge treat to have her come visit and spend some time with the girls. But, having her here meant that my last week of school was dedicated to her and not to trying to accomplish an entire summer worth of errands and to-dos in a matter of days. 

     Alas, that means that the summer will actually have errands and grocery store runs and whatnot with both my kids in tow. Which already has me thinking, "how do mothers with more than 2 handle it?"

     It also has me very open and willing to start a rotating playgroup with any and all of my other preschooler moms.

Toilet seat

So, today this happened...

My baby was wandering the house, as normal, as I was getting things ready to head out the door. My grandmother is in town, so we were heading out to the toy store. So I was going through the exit routine, which includes going to the bathroom, packing the diaper bag, getting a bottle ready, etc... anyways, after a few moments I noticed that my baby wasn't underfoot - in fact, at that second I heard her cry out in a "I'm kinda stuck, or bored, or kinda want some attention" way. I want make certain that you understand this was NOT a cry of distress or pain.

     And off I went to investigate. Apparently I had lost her back at the bathroom stop on the exit routine. While I had continued on, she had stopped to investigate - normally this means the toilet paper roll. This time though, it meant the actual toilet.

     I found her sitting in the toilet - and I mean IN the toilet. She had climbed inside the toilet and was perched, kinda of squatting with her socks and shoes in the water in the bowl with her hands on the seat and her head peering out from under the lid (granted the lid was more like on her shoulders than the top of her head).

She has never done something like this before. NEVER even close!

     I was in such shock and heard that split second inner chastisement of "bad mommy!" so I quickly pulled the sopping wet child out of the toilet. Then I realized that I really should have taken a photo first. Because as soon as that inner voice was quiet, the laughter began. Absolutely hilarious. So this is a post-toilet seat adventure shot, and I promise that if there is a next time, I'll be sure to snap a quick photo before rescuing the adventurer from her watery predicament.

And thank goodness the toilet was clean!

All she wants to do is walk

My beautiful and adorable 1yr old is now a squirming screaming walker. She's been walking for a while now, but it's gotten to the point where she really doesn't want to do much else. She certainly doesn't want to sit still in my lap or on a changing table.

     I knew this day would come, and she was older than my first daughter was when it started. But man is it frustrating. It makes the diaper changes a fight that's no fun for anyone, and makes car rides and plane trips a bit more tricky. Thankfully we don't have any of those planned for a few months anyway.

     So now that summer is coming, we're going to be spending a huge amount of time outside walking wherever we can until mom (me) gets too hot and demands that we all go inside or to the pool. And until then, I apologize if you are within earshot when I refuse to let her walk around and she screams. 

Diapers over Ice Cream?

Sometimes the logic of a preschooler surpasses adult understanding. No, I am wrong - it seems almost ALWAYS the logic of a preschooler is beyond the comprehension of an adult or parent. Take this for an example...

     We have a running bribe (let's call it what it is, people) that if my preschooler goes poopoo in the potty, then we will all get in the car and head over to the ice cream shop for an ice cream cone. Seems like a pretty awesome incentive to me! However, she doesn't seem very swayed by it.

     In fact, as she was handing me a diaper last night, I reminded her that she could instead choose the potty over the diaper and we could all go get ice cream. She cocked her head to the side as if considering this proposition, and then stated, "nope, I don't like ice cream that much."

     Huh? She LOVES ice cream! I can't believe that the security blanket that is a diaper is so much stronger than having an ice cream cone complete with sprinkles on a warm spring evening. huh? I just don't get it.

In one end and out the other

I think my 1yr old just swallowed a plastic cap. The tiny ones that come on the applesauce pouches - I'm sure you know the ones. Now I'm not entirely positive that she swallowed it, but I can't seem to locate it anywhere else, and seeing as how she loves to put EVERYTHING in her mouth, I'm going to assume she did.

     Perhaps you'll think I'm a bad parent, but as she's not expressing any sort of distress, and it doesn't have pointy edges, I'm going to wait and see if we get a surprise in her diaper here in a few hours/days. Yes, I will admit this is definitely a Mommy Fail event. I'll just try to remind myself that it could have been worse, and we'll hope for the best.

Bye bye bribes

So we've given up on the bribe method with my preschooler. She obviously could care less whether we hold out ice cream or Frozen or stickers as incentives to going #2 in the potty. It just doesn't seem to matter. She looks at me and says, "well, next time I'll use the potty, but I want a diaper now." Doh!

     And since we've been tired of waiting on ice cream, we went Saturday night. Yum. Ha. Then Sunday morning the Easter Bunny brought Frozen on DVD for my daughter. She was very excited - a little confused because she knew she hadn't earned it by going poopoo in the potty, but still excited. And we've watched it at least 5 times in the last 3 days.

     At some point it'll work. And I don't know yet if any of our attempts at different methods will help or hurt or have any affect whatsoever on the timing of when it'll happen. I'm just confident that I know zero adults or even teens who use diapers out of choice, so there is a day coming up sometime in the future where I won't be handed a diaper... at least from her. And about that time I'm sure we'll be starting the whole process over again with her little sister. 

Oh joy.

Free and clear in the rear

Now that the weather is FINALLY warming up, we get to spend a lot more time in the backyard. My baby even got a slide for her birthday, so there's fun for everyone. And it reminded me that it was about this time last year where we were starting the potty training fun with my preschooler and the backyard was a big part of that.

     I've heard a lot of people tout this method, although it only worked so-so for me. Essentially you strip your child down to their birthday suit (at least from the waist down) and let them play around outside. The idea is that without diaper and clothing to separate them from their bodily functions, they will notice when they have to go and it will clue them into what's going on a bit more.

     For my daughter this only kinda worked. The few times we let her run around outside without anything on, she would either go hide in the bushes or squat down near some plants and go right there. And usually it wasn't pee-pee. So then I had to get the hose out and wash everything away, otherwise worrying that we'd get into the mess later on. Thankfully she doesn't like to get messy so was not at all interested in investigating it.

     I think the idea behind this method is sound. However, for me and my daughter it was just as effective to put her in cloth panties and let her feel when they got wet. She doesn't like to be wet or messy, so that was much more incentive for her to run to the potty or tell me before she had an accident. But, I do see where this method, used at the right time, could make some headway. Good luck!

Laugh it off

A friend of mine just relayed this story, and I thought it was hilarious - in an awful sort of way, so I had to write it here.

     It seems that having a younger sister does funny things to 3-yr old girls. At first it's great - they have a real life baby doll. They love helping mommy and enjoy the big sister gifts that come rolling in. ... And then the baby starts moving around. Once baby begins to crawl, walk along furniture, or even venture out on their own 2 legs, the fun seems to end for big sister. 

     A 3-yr old doesn't understand that her little baby sister will grow up to be a best friend she can always count on and will always be there. All she sees is someone who is grabbing her toys and getting a lot of her attention from mommy and daddy and anyone else around. So the jealousy sets in.

     Sometimes it isn't too bad. But it seems that once baby is mobile, the 3-yr old goes through some regressive behavior (see: my preschooler still pooping in a diaper) and starts acting out a LOT more. It's no fun for anyone... perhaps that's the point.

     Anyways, my friend has 2 girls about the same age as mine, so she's in the same fun adventure at the same time. And her preschooler has started acting out big time. Her most recent escapade involved a potty accident and quiet time.

     Apparently her preschooler was having her daily quiet time, and was happily playing in her bedroom. Unfortunately after about 45 minutes, mom came in to find that her darling preschooler had had a potty accident. And I'm not just talking about wet panties. No, there was poo. Everywhere.

     It seems that not only did her preschooler get poo everywhere, but she then proceeded to smear said potty accident around her room. On her bed, on the floor, on her books... on herself... everywhere. Uh oh! 

Needless to say, I laughed mostly out of relief that I haven't experienced this kind of behavior. yet. And because if you don't laugh, I imagine you might cry. Being a mom stinks sometimes, and this is one of those times where it probably stinks to high heaven. 

So you laugh. And grab a very large jug of bleach.

Side tracked by birthday

Sorry about being MIA last week. My little baby turned 1 and we made a big deal about it, primarily for my preschooler's sake. The older one isn't entirely comprehending that it wasn't her birthday, but we hoped that by having a party and cupcakes and presents for her little sister, and having her part of the process, she would understand that everyone gets birthdays and it isn't always about you.

     I'm not sure any of it has sunk in. Especially since the attendees at the party were all my preschooler's friends, and unfortunately any gift given to a 1yr old is also fun in the eyes of a 3yr old. But at least we worked on it some and by next year hopefully it'll be a little more obvious.

Doing the dance

Ok, can I just say that sometimes the "I have to go potty" dance is pretty hilarious. It seems to take different forms for different kids, and even evolves as they do. Currently my preschooler has a funny one.

     She first uses both hands to grab at her pants between her legs. Then she proceeds to hop from one foot to the other, but in a very exaggerated way. She bends her legs at the knee, and raises the opposite leg in the air almost a foot off the ground. Then dances to the other one. It's hilarious!

     And thankfully most of the time she starts the dance with enough buffer that I'm able to help her find a bathroom before we have a problem. I know, I'm lucky. I don't think all kids are as into giving advanced notice. Even today she cut it close and had to sprint inside to make it to the potty. It was kinda cute though, we heard a "phew! I made it!" from the bathroom. Adorable!

Gloomy day

It's a rainy, gloomy day outside, and things have been going slightly off routine all day (yes, it's only 2:30pm and I will say all day already). Now those who know me probably know that I like to have a schedule. I am perfectly fine with last minute changes to the schedule provided that I am appropriately prepared for them. And today each minor change is throwing me off my game.

     Which reminded me of the fact that my toddler-now-preschooler has fallen off her game as well. I recently posted about all the amazing progress we'd made trying to eliminate diapers completely. Unfortunately that phase was very short-lived - I didn't even get to eat all of the cupcakes I made. And now we're back to her asking for a diaper when she needs to go #2. BUMMER!

Sadly today's post doesn't have a happy solution or an ending to the problem. It's just an update to say that although it's a Friday, it's a "1 step forward, 2 steps back" kind of day. At least this weekend should hopefully give us all a chance to reset and recharge. 

Independent Streak

My toddler is growing up. In reality I should probably stop calling her a toddler and start calling her a preschooler, because it has been quite a while since she's done anything close to toddle around. She runs, jumps, skips, climbs rocks, and at the moment any piece of furniture she can reach. And lately she has also taken on a bit of an independent streak.

     The most common form of this current exertion of wills is in the fashion category. She has decided to start picking out her own clothes and putting them on herself. It used to be that I could select 2 or 3 outfits and let her choose which she felt like wearing, but lately that hasn't been enough control for her. So now she runs into her closet and pulls out clothes she wants to wear, and then has to put them on all by herself.

     For the most part she is successful. Occasionally she needs help finding an arm hole or getting both legs in the right spot, but often she gets the clothes on all by herself. However, they aren't always in a manner that you or I would wear our clothes.

     It seems that a good percentage of the time that she dresses herself, the clothes are either inside-out, or backwards. With T-shirts it rarely matters whether they are front ways or backwards, although sometimes she runs around with a giant frog on her back or tags flapping in the wind and seams visible to all. With pants though, it's a bit trickier to wear them backwards.

     She has realized that jeans are much more difficult to put on oneself (especially when one is just learning how to dress oneself), so she's taken to wearing cotton pants whenever possible. And there are lots of clothing options for children out there in cotton. Some have cute designs, or even words on the backside, like "cutie." Well, you can just imagine how comical it looks to see a little 3 year old wearing "cutie" red cotton pants on backwards.