Adventures in potty training

When I was pregnant with M I was nervous about everything! I would worry about if I didn't feel her move enough or if she was moving too much. Then she was born and everything was right in the world.

When I was pregnant with L I felt like I had a handle on it and I tried not to worry so much. Maybe that was my problem!! :) Don't get me wrong, when she was born, everything was right in our little world, just as she filled in her little spot in our family to make it whole. But L, well she is my handful of a child! She came to shake things up!

Obviously, children are different. They have different cries, different laughs, different personalities. M was, no muss, no fuss. L is Ms. Mussy Fussy! (Said with all of my love of course!) With M at daycare at 13 months they changed from 2 naps a day to one long one and she handled it, no problem! L, I'm just trying to make her morning and afternoon naps a little later and right now it seems like I'm torturing both of us! :) As for potty training, M started around 18 months and was pretty much done around 2!

Because of this I decided I should look into "early" potty training as I know L will be anything but easy. I was surprised to find out I was behind the eight ball! At least as far as cultures in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe are concerned. They start "elimination communication" with infants! It's really very fascinating and IF we ever have another baby I might consider it. But for now, "early" potty training will have to be what I try with L.

So some of the articles I've read say to let baby run around diaper free for a while to see if you can tell what signals they might give before peeing or pooping. I already know what L does before she poops as she gets into a baby version of the yoga "downward dog" except on her knees. So I was looking for pee cues.

My experiment started yesterday because it was a day M is at preschool so I don't have to entertain her while L is diaper free. After L's morning nap I took off her diaper and put her on the potty.

Nothing.

So I just let her play without her diaper. I just had to run downstairs to get the vacuum because I didn't want her little bare rump covered in dog hair. I was downstairs 10 seconds at most and came up to a little puddle. Well, mommy's mistake... So I sprayed carpet cleaner, blotted it up, put a chair over the area (after I cleaned her up of course) and vacuumed as quickly as I could. She was sitting so good while I vacuumed that when she moved I saw the little wet spot. Ok, accident number two. Cleaned L, cleaned carpet. This was about 20 minutes after the first. I finished vacuuming with no additional accidents.

Now it was lunch time I walked in the kitchen and took the food out of the fridge to warm and L followed me with her water bottle in hand. The next thing I know she dropped her water bottle and she fell over. Why did she fall over? She had peed all over the floor (biggest of the three) and slipped in it. I swear I didn't even hear the little tinkle! So I picked her up, cleaned her off and then the kitchen floor. All of the accidents happened within 40 minutes.

So our first day was a learning experience. I'm going to try the put her on the potty every 20-30 minute approach and see if we fare better. Today I actually got one pee to happen on the toilet! I'd say that's progress! I don't expect her to be potty trained in a short amount of time but I feel like the more of a routine we make it now, the easier it will be down the road.

Wish me luck!! :)

A beautiful day

Today was a beautiful day! Last night was the Super blood moon lunar eclipse. M and I sat on our back lawn watching the eclipse and talking about the heavens making for such a great night. This morning started with a cuddle with both my girls on my lap reading a book. 

After breakfast, Nama joined us for tea and crumpets (actually maple and brown sugar muffins we made yesterday). We always love when we get to see Nama. 

This was later followed by L's first movie at the theater (M's 3rd). We went to see Hotel Transylvania 2. 

I was nervous taking L to the theater with it being loud and dark. But she did surprisingly awesome! She was so excited watching the big screen. She danced to music on the previews, giggled and pointed when she saw a dog and cuddled Nama and sissy M for the first 20 minutes or so while she munched on her snack. I also thought she said 'mama' at one point. 

When she finished her snack she decided to sit with me. That's when she was done watching the movie and decided she wanted to climb! Luckily we had the whole row of chairs to my right and she was happy traversing them for maybe another 20 minutes or so. Even quietly looking up at the rows of seats behind us and waving to people she could see in the dim light. Then she wanted bigger things to climb... Like the wall at the end of the aisle. She grabbed onto that thing and was trying to hoist herself up except I was holding onto her. She let out a loud scream in protest. I could no longer keep her happy romping over the seats. So I decided not to try to keep her there when she wanted to roam. She and I left the movie early but I was glad she did pretty good and seemed to have fun. 

I kept prodding her to say 'mama' and she kind of seemed to be testing me by stringing 'mamamama' together and when I would turn to her she'd smile coyly. 

Later, after picking up a somewhat grumpy M from Nama's house and returning home, I was playing peek-a-boo with L while changing her diaper and I said 'where's mama?' And when I uncovered my eyes she said 'hi mama!' With a big smile!

The evening ended with my pre bedtime snuggle time with M. As usual, M was stalling a bit by chatting and she said 'my eyes are sparkly, right mama?' Something I tell her often. 

'Yes they are'

'How did they get like that?'

'That's just the way they are love'

'Maybe when God was making me the Angels came and put sparkles in my eyes.'

'I think that's exactly how it happened lovey '

I almost cried. 

What a perfect way to end such a beautiful day. 

Another day

I love days like this. It makes me feel so grateful that I have the opportunity to stay home with my little loves. The reason I have that opportunity? My husband. Though this year has been tough on us we're getting better at talking about things and trying to work together :)... (sometimes not trying as hard as we should) but it is because he is working so hard that I am able to stay home.

Today we had breakfast and saw daddy off to work. We listened to some music, did some laundry and  had our morning snack while the little one napped and we played Legos :)

After morning nap, we headed to the library. I packed us a lunch and a blanket. We had a lovely picnic on the lawn. The weather was perfect, not too hot and nice in the shade. M ran up and down the hill while L and I finished munching.

I love going to the library! I always have. Books are like magic, and I get excited to pick interesting and fun books for the girls. Even though I don't always get a lot of time to look because M wants to play on one of the computers and L just gets a kick out of crawling away from me around the next bookcase. But it's still fun. Today we ended up with 6 books. I try to get at least one book that shows a different culture or group so that M will see that others live differently. Last time that book was Mama Panya's Pancakes by Mary and Rich Chamberlain. It shows the life of a mother and son in a Kenyan village. I really liked it because it included a recipe for the pancakes as well as some Kiswahili words.

We got home and I read one of the books to the girls and put L down for her nap. M and I pretended we were on an adventure to seek out the magic crowns of Arendelle (Frozen of course) before it was time for her to have quiet time.

Now I took the chance to write a quick blog before it's time to play again. :)

Today is also the two year anniversary of Diana's death. It's  hard to believe it's been two years. It seems like it was so recent. I know Marc misses his mom every single day, I would feel the same if it were my mom. I pray she's watching over us all and giving us little inspirations each day. I know she would love to play pretend with the girls. It would make her smile.