Changing Things Up

For about three months now AK has had a boo-boo on her nose. It started out as a scratch and stayed as a scratch. As soon as it would start to heal, the little *&%^@! peanut would pick at it again, reopening the wound.

The whole process physically pained me. I really wanted to just shake the heck out of her or tie her down to make her stop. Of course, it doesn't help to know that when she is a teenager with a scar on her nose she will blame us.

Between the liquid bandage and bandages on her nose, we finally got her to stop prying off the scab - most of the time. I recently discovered that the only time she would still futz with it was between the time I put her to bed and the time she actually fell asleep. For some reason, picking her boo-boo brought her comfort.

The Hoos shared my frustration and last week decided that we needed to do SOMETHING.

He proposed moving her to a bed. Logical, right?

If you recall we moved LP into a bed before she was 2 to make room for AK. Since we don't have the same time constraints, I had already decided that we should keep AK in the crib as long as possible. Mostly because I didn't really want two little girls creeping me out by giving me the evil eye at my bedside in the middle of the night.

And then, on Friday night, I found myself (with LP's "help") dragging the mattress off of the trundle bed in LP's room onto the floor in AK's room. Amazingly, she followed her same bedtime routine as usual and let me leave the room a little before 9.

"Hmm...not too bad," I thought to myself smugly....

Until I was woken up with cries of "Mommy! Mommy!" on Saturday morning at 5:50. On the bright side, she didn't leave her bed until the Hoos went into settle her down.

It was still the weekend so Saturday I gave it another shot. She again went down around 9 and this time I was able to leave while she was still awake, telling her the bedtime white lie, "I'm just going to put on my pajamas." Again, she didn't leave her room or call out after I left.

And Sunday morning was the best morning ever. And way better than LP's second or third morning in a bed.

1. The entire family slept through the night.
2. The first child out of bed was LP at 8:20.
3. LP let her room and pitter-pattered into her sister's room.
4. The next thing we heard was LP asking, "Mommy? Daddy? Can [AK] and I go downstairs by ourselves?" {Could you hear the 'Hell, yes!' at your house?}

This morning was pretty good too. We are going to give it some time and keep the crib in AK's room for a while (and be prepared to put the baby gate up at her bedroom door if need be), but I am mentally rearranging AK's bedroom furniture.

Oh, and speaking of changing, if you don't count the weekends, AK is rocking toilet training. Every day last week she wore the same clothes all day! I think she just likes to pee in her undies when I am around.

Little Stinker

Apparently I need to learn better diaper changing manners. So, I will commit the proper etiquette to writing in the blog to remind myself over and over.

When changing a poop diaper, so it somewhere private. As LP says, "No one needs to see that."

So true. My bad. Apologies to all impacted. At least it was well after lunch?

Polite Conversation

This morning I was responsible for getting the girls ready and off to school. I know it is always a struggle for the Hoos to wrangle them and get them out the door. It took me forever today, so I do sympathize.

After LP FINALLY finished her bagel at about 8:50, I managed to get both girls into the upstairs bathroom to brush their teeth and get LP to do her "morning pee" (have I mentioned that we have had NO accidents in the weeks since she decided to give up PullUps? Such a rockstar). AK immediately walked over to the toilet, picked up the potty ring and perched it on top of the toilet seat.

Well, LP doesn't use a potty ring, so I took this as a sign that Miss AK wanted a turn. Of course, LP insisted that she had to go first, "Because I have to go really, really bad!" So, while LP peed, AK brushed her teeth. Then AK had a turn. She sat there with a big smile and LP and I listened closely for the tell-tale "tinkle tinkle."

We weren't disappointed.

We clapped, we cheered, LP called out, "We have to call and tell Daddy!" I let her know we would call the Hoos from the car on the way to school (once we finally got into the car).

I handed LP the cellphone as I drove the mile to day care. I wasn't sure if the Hoos had made it into the office yet, so I kept asking her if it was still ringing or if she had reached his voicemail, when all of a sudden she started talking, "My little sister peed on the potty."

Apparently LP had gotten the Hoos' new secretary on the phone. Quite the introduction. Fortunately, Pat is a grandmother, so she found the whole thing funny, at least once she understood who was calling and for what.

When the Hoos arrived to the office he received a hand-written note: [LP] called re: [AK] peed on the potty.

One More PullUp

For the last couple of weeks LP has been waking up dry. Yes, despite the fat that she has been toilet trained - without barely an accident - since last December, she continues to wear pullups to bed, so waking up dry is a big deal. Several times over the last few months I have tried to accelerate the wearing of underwear to bed with not so great results. Instead, I just go out and buy more pullups.

Tuesday morning LP once again woke up dry and told the Hoos, "Daddy, just two more pullups!" despite the fact that she actually had a huge stack of them in her special princess pullup box. Yesterday she woke up dry again and she insisted on calling me at work to tell me, "Mommy, just one for pullup!" she yelled from the back seat of the car into his cell phone. We have no idea how or why she set this deadline, but heck yeah, I am all for reducing my diaper bill.

Now if only we can convince her to pee as soon as she wakes up. The Hoos has been struggling to get her to take a "morning pee" for months. Especially since she refuses at home and then as soon as they walk into day care she insists on using the bathrooms there.

Tonight should be interesting. I am hopeful that her track record for dryness has boosted her confidence and bladder capacity and life (and sleep) should be uninterrupted.

Wake Up and Make Up

Recently we have been trying to convince LP that it is time to stop sleeping in pullups. She is completely toilet trained during the day and very rarely has an accident. For hygiene and a host of other reasons it is time.

While she didn't sleep in underwear last night we did tell her to try not to pee in them and to come and wake mommy up if she has to pee in the middle of the night.

Fast forward to 7:40 this morning.

tap, tap, tap. "Mommy, I have to pee."

While I certainly don't want to get up before 8 on a weekend, it is better than be awakened at 3 with "Mommy! I peed myself!"

And later...

Me: What's on your face?

LP: I don't know.

Me: How did it get there?

LP: I put it there.

Me: Probably not a good idea to put something on your face if you don't know what it is.

LP: Yeah.

It didn't come out so well in the picture, but LP's mouth is ringed in grey eye shadow. I don't even wear eye shadow, let alone grey eye shadow...

Unbelieveable

AK idolizes her big sister. So, when LP sits on the toilet in our upstairs bathroom, AK will pull the potty up next to it and settle herself down. On occasion I will remove AK's diaper to give her the full experience. Not that she ever actually peed in the potty. Well, once she did pee next to it, does that count?

The other day she kept trying to take the potty ring and put it on top of the little potty (we have every toilet training tool you can imagine thanks to the trial and error method of toilet training we employed).

Last night as I was getting the bath ready for the girls, AK was once again nosing around the toilet. Since I already had her naked, I put the potty ring on the toilet and set her atop. She was very excited and looked like a little princess on her throne. And then I heard a plop! And a tinkle!

I called out in excitement to the Hoos and he and LP came running in. LP was exclaiming, "That is so, so great!" and clapping. AK was also grinning and clapping like crazy. She was so excited she didn't want to get off the toilet.

After things settled down the Hoos mused, "You know what that means? It means you were cutting it close. We would have had another poop in the tub."

Really? Because I thought it meant that there was the possibility that my almost 15-month old might, by some miracle, start using the toilet more regularly. But likely I am delusional. And I can't imagine they make underwear that small anyway.

Between the first time LP used the potty and her becoming fully toilet trained, it was 11 months. If AK is anywhere close we still have a long road of kowtowing at the feet of Procter and Gamble's Pampers...but a mom can hope, can't she?

Big Mouth

If you are a parent, try to think back to when your child was an infant. Recall, if you will, how you desperately awaited his or her first word. Leap ahead two or five or ten years and think about how your child will soon be wielding the power of words against you.

Yesterday, LP's teacher was telling me about how LP didn't flush after peeing on the potty. When Miss Keica asked LP why she didn't flush, LP told her that she was waiting for someone else to pee on top of her pee, "like we do at home."

OMG. Miss Keica told me this and I was mortified.

First of all, I only do this when I have to pee at the same time as LP. Usually I say I have to pee, I walk into the bathroom; LP is right on my heels, telling me she has to pee and that she has to go first. I let her go while telling her not to flush so we don't waste water. And THEN SHE FLUSHES. Ignoring me! And yet, there she goes, sharing this with Miss Keica as if it is a common practice. To add insult to injury our quarterly water usage has doubled since LP was potty trained. Not saying it is just because of her toilet use but still...

Another LP conversation from yesterday:

Scene: LP and AK are laughing, playing and whooping it up in the living room, I am in the kitchen. LP comes running in.

LP: Mommy, I don't feel good.
Me (skeptical): What's wrong?
LP: My ears hurt.
Me (still skeptical): Okay, let me see.
LP kneels down next to me and I pretend to look in her ears and pull on the lobe watching to see if she flinches. Nothing.
Me: What does it feel like?
LP: Umm...it feels like...summer.

Potty Party Pics

Here are some pics, thanks to the multi-talented dad JM, from the fabulous Potty Party.

The Feminine Mystique

Now that LP is potty trained, all sorts of questions are raised. More probing questions than "Where is the bathroom in Trader Joes? Stop and Shop? Target?"

From the Hoos, "Hey Aim? Is LP doing something wrong? Why does pee always end up on the backs of her thighs and tush when she pees?"

As if the male laser pointer was a precision instrument!

Following Her Lead

You know, being a follower is so underrated.

For instance, I learned too late in the game that you can not really lead a child to potty training.
I think the Hoos and I put in too much effort trying to get LP to use the toilet. We probably wasted a lot of energy cajoling her to sit her cute little tush on the pot. Because, all of a sudden, on December 19th, she just did it. She stopped whining, complaining and squirming and just stopped using diapers. Yesterday we had the potty party with some of her friends to celebrate and a good time was had by all. She still wears pull-ups at night, but I am not going to worry about that. We talk to her about staying dray over night, but beyond that, I am finally just going to follow her lead.

I also followed my friend Amy's lead last night. One of the mom's that attended the party, her kids are the same age as AK and LP. In fact, we consider her little boy AK's boyfriend. She told me that the night before she just stopped feeding Boyfriend at night. Instead of worrying about him waking up his sister, they put her in their room and let Boyfriend cry it out.

With a new found resolve, I did the same thing last night (except LP has her own room and I just didn't worry about AK waking her up). When AK woke up at 3:30 instead of being thankful we made it that long and just feeding her, I went in, put the paci in her mouth and ignored her pleading look and bobbing head as I scurried back out of her room. After less than 5 minutes her faint cries stopped. She made some sounds a few other times during the night after that, but since they stopped after less than 5 minutes, I didn't even have to get out of bed.

I didn't even mind when she called for me at 7. I (thanks to my engorged girls) was more than happy to feed her and play with her. And so far today her schedule has been great. She took a short nap in the grocery store and has been cheery and happy and cute the rest of the time.

This type-A girl might start taking the back seat more often...

So Much Pressure

Now that I have more then two people reading my blog - thanks Mom and Dad! - I feel an obligation to attempt to post every day.

Therefore, because some of you love me so much that you check back at ctworkingmom.blogspot.com several times a day - again, thanks, Mom and Dad! - all of you have to suffer through not-so-interesting posts.

Here goes:

Food Bites. Yesterday I learned that AK loves peas and is an expert at picking them up in her little fists and squeezing them into her mouth. The day before I also determined that LP is not the only member of the family that absolutely loves Magic Pop rice cakes. If you haven't had them, they are awesome; larger, lighter, sweeter versions of those dense styrofoam hockey pucks that were all the rage in the 80s. They are great for infants because they literally melt in your mouth.

Potty Time. I spent part of last night free-handing a drawing of a toilet onto a large piece of cardboard. The Hoos will be cutting a hole in it and it will be a star attraction at our upcoming potty party to celebrate LP's potty-training success. She is still a superstar, wearing diapers only to sleep, and we are very proud of her. I love not having to carry around multiple sizes of diapers during the day so much that we will start training AK tomorrow.

Your Turn. Dudes, you all make me feel guilty for not posting daily, and yet when I offer up enticing prizes for posting a comment, only Di and Lori respond (love you girls! gifts will be forthcoming). I know that I have other readers lurking out there - and not just the ones that stumble here looking for the translation of Les Zombies Et Les Loup-Garous (the zombies and the werewolves if you must know). In fact, almost 30 of you actually have me on your feeds. I feel super cool, but would feel so much cooler if I knew WHO YOU WERE.

Rewarding Success

The Hoos and I have a theory that LP was totally able to be potty trained for quite some time, but she just held out until we sweetened the pot enough (no pun intended). Here is the evolution:

1. Marshmallow
2. Marshmallow + chocolate
3. Marshmallow + chocolate + sticker for potty chart
4. Marshmallow + chocolate + sticker for potty chart + sticker for her
5. Marshmallow + chocolate + stickers + party with her friends & cupcakes

About a month after offering #5 she decided (cue Howie Mandel) to take the deal. Fortunately, she didn't really expect to get everything. And, even better, at this point it has become so routine that she only occasionally asks for a treat. Of course, plans for the "potty party" are in the works. Any ideas for non-offensive party games (no 'pin the poop in the potty', thank you very much) appreciated.


Speaking of treats, my good friend Kiki bought LP a little present, recognizing her for her accomplishment. LP was over the moon about it and can't wait to hang it up in her bedroom. Which, as you can see, is a better place for it than in my bathroom.

Huh.

Earlier this evening the Hoos pointed out to me that this potty training thing might well be one of the last major milestones for our little LP for a while. Now that she has the potential to be completely potty trained she will be so much more than our little toddler. She will be a "big girl".


A big girl who until Friday refused to go near the potty. As of an hour ago, she not only tells us when she has to go, she does into the bathroom herself and closes the door, only calling out to tell me what she has accomplished. Wow.


My big girl trying to ride her first Chanukah present of the holiday - a new tricycle from her Saba and Savta.

My Imaginary World

Today in my imaginary world, I played in the snow with LP. The same LP that peed on the toilet FOUR TIMES AND POOPED ON IT ONCE. In this made-up, mind-boggling world, between yesterday and today, there were 9 successful trips to the toilet, only one accident (during nap time), and lots of candy rewards.

A Hypo

Let's say, hypothetically, that I was home with the girls today due to inclement weather and we baked cranberry-walnut biscotti and Chanukah cookies that LP decorated. And, again, hypothetically, LP PEED ON THE POTTY THREE TIMES AND POOPED ONCE.

Even if, in this hypothetical situation, I was stuck in the house due to the aforementioned weather it would still be a kick-ass day, no?

First Time For Everything

On Friday I got an automated call from the girls' pediatrician reminding me about an appointment for LP today (Monday) at 9am. I stared at the phone in disbelief. Why would LP have an appointment? She was 2.5, I didn't think she had another appointment until her three year...It didn't make sense to me and I did not remember making the appointment. I called the Hoos and asked if he had made a follow up appointment when he brought LP in for her black eyes (from getting kicked in the head by the teacher a few weeks ago). He said no.

When I called the pediatrician's office for details they told me it was her 2.5 year check-up. Alrighty then...

Turns out I made the appointment on May 30, two days before AK arrived, at LP's two year check up. This is the first time I have ever forgotten an appointment I made for LP or AK.Hopefully we can just chalk this up to pregnancy brain.

In other firsts...

1. AK SLEPT FROM 8:30PM UNTIL 6:30AM LAST NIGHT!!
2. I am home alone with LP today for the first time since having AK. AK is at day care. I am happy to have time with my big girl, but am definitely missing my baby.
3. LP wore undies all morning on Saturday (and today). Even to run errands. She stayed dry. I think she must be a camel, since she never peed on the potty, despite pretending to try. I put pull-ups on for her 1pm nap and she woke up with it soaked. At least we know she has bladder control.

A Retrospective

Six weeks ago I finally finished compiling all of my blog entries for 2007 into a Blog Book, a project I thought I could start and finish during my maternity leave. I printed a couple of copies and had them cut and spiral bound at my local FedEx Office (the location formerly known as Kinkos). It ended up being a grand total of 218 5x7 pages. And it seemed to take damn near forever to put together. Mostly because on a blog you see the most current entry first, so I had to do a lot of copying and pasting to get them into the correct order. Regardless, I am quite happy with how it came out. If you want more info or want to me to email you a pdf of the final, let me know.

The most interesting thing about doing this was rereading postings from months ago. It was also weird to realize that my little AK wasn't mentioned at all last year - until about mid-November when I let on that I was pregnant. There is not one single picture of her cute little mug in the entire 2007 book - not even an ultrasound. Without the blog I wouldn't even have remembered life without her.

I am now working on my 2008 collection. And yesterday I realized that the first time LP peed on the potty was January 7, 2008. 11 months later and she still pretty much refuses to use the potty at home. Yesterday she peed in her underwear twice, or as she proudly tells people, "I peed on myself two times."

Let's Get This Potty Started

On Friday I had parent-teacher conferences for both girls.

AK is cute and starting to move a lot; that was basically her whole report.

Since LP is almost two and a half the teachers have a bit more to say about her. She is a great kid that is good about using her words and being independent when she wants to.

For example, when they get back from gym the first thing all the kids have to do is put their shoes and socks back on. At home, LP insists on doing this herself. At school she calls out "Help me!" I asked Miss Shauna why she thought this was. Turns out lunch is served after gym. The faster you get yourself together, the faster you can eat. Did I mention that she is wasting away? No? Well, she isn't.

As for using her words, I guess instead of asking another kid if she can play with the toy that they have, she just takes it. They want her to ask, "Are you done? No? Well, can I play with it when you are done?" Good luck with that folks!

She continues to do pretty well with potty training at school. At home she could care less. This weekend we created a potty chart and bought special stickers she could win when she used the potty. She was excited about it for all of two minutes. Then she realized that she could get free stickers - Savta (my mother-in-law) brought her a pack of stickers Friday night and Saturday she accompanied me to the bank and they gave her stickers. Sunday, the Hoos upped the ante and told her she could get her own ice cream cone Saturday night if she used the potty twice. She sat on the potty twice and I read her a million stories on the potty, but no ice cream was earned. At this point we will just wait until she is ready. Oh well.

Here is my big girl playing in the leaves. Notice that her black eyes are almost gone.

Party Pooper

Yesterday was our youngest nephew's 5th birthday party. Two things LP loves most in the world are her cousins and parties. This was heaven for her. The highlight for most of the kids was the HUGE bounce house obstacle course set up in the gym of the local community center. My kid really just loved running around the gym - and, for some odd reason, to the door. She couldn't open the door, but she sure liked running over to it.

Anyway, her fabulous Aunt Denise and Cousin M were kind enough to take LP through the bounce house and up a steep ladder and down an enormous and very slippery slide. Aside from the fact that there is no way in hell my stiff pregnant butt could have gone through the bouncing obstacle course, they had to put up with 15 five-year-olds flinging themselves about the inside of the house at the same time. Not my idea of heaven, that is for sure.

This exhausting exercise was followed by cake. One of LP's favorite food groups. While other kids were distracted by activity and ran away after eating only a smidge of cake, LP devoured hers and practically licked the crumbs off of the plate. That is my girl!

Later in the day we met up with LP's cousins and my in-laws again for dinner. LP was having a grand old time playing in the downstairs playroom while her two male cousins played simultaneously and oblivious to her existence (except when she bugged them). Suddenly I hear, "Mommy! Pee!" I go downstairs to see my little angel without pants on, her onesie open and no diaper in sight.

First of all, I had no idea she knew how to unsnap a onesie. I guess that won't be a problem when we get serious about potty training. Second of all, I found the diaper soon enough. It had a nice little poop in it and was placed nicely, poop side up, in the garbage can next to the toilet. LP was only calling me to ask me to put her up on the toilet so she could complete her act and pretend to pee. (This is quite common, after removing her clothing, I have to perch her on the potty and wait five seconds until she yells "all done!" and then put a new diaper on her.) Perhaps now is the time to start getting serious about potty training, eh?

Whose Idea?

First, a shout out to my little LP who peed on the potty last night for the first time in forever. And she didn't just pee on the potty, she stood up in the living room, announced "Pee! Potty", removed her shoes, pants, and diaper, and ran into the bathroom. It was fantastic. Of course the first thing she shouted when she was done was "MISHIES!" because she knows that marshmallows are her special post-potty treat.

Okay, now is the part where I accept responsibility for the LP bed debacle. It is all my fault. I am the one that introduced LP to the faux big girl bed. To be fair, and make me feel a little less bad, the Hoos thought it was a good idea at the time too.

Last night LP went to sleep around 9:30 in the "bed". The good news, she slept through the night (not that it mattered much to me, I was awake with heartburn and the night sweats - yeehaw!); the bad news - she woke up around 6:15.

I tried really really hard to be quiet when I got up around 6:30 to get ready for work so as not to encourage her moving about, but apparently the shower is too noisy. When I left the house a little after 7 LP was sitting on the bed next to her sleeping Daddy trying to open new packages of undershirts and shoving everything under the Hoos' nose. He was thrilled.

He was even more psyched when I called from the car 15 minutes later to let him know that there was a dead mouse on our back patio. The bright side? At least someone (or rather some thing) had a worse morning than the Hoos.