potty training, take 2

I am calling today the first official day of potty training for Buddy.  I bought him some big boy underwear earlier this summer, and within 5 minutes he had peed in them.  Tried another pair, that one didn't last long, either.  So I decided that neither of us was ready, in spite of the fact that in November he asked to go potty at rest stops on our way to and from our house hunting trips.  I wasn't ready for potty training in the midst of packing to move then.  I am sure it's gross and lazy to some, but he has worn diapers his whole life, so why rush it?


But he has been waking up dry, sitting on the potty willingly with increased frequency for even longer than that, and he's going to preschool in less than a month and is supposed to be potty trained by then.  Yesterday he asked to wear his Thomas the Train underwear.  He has been keeping his pull ups dry longer the last week or so, so I told him that he can wear them if he is ready to be a big boy and keep them dry.  "Ok. I a big boy."

8:30 am.... after breakfast pull up was wet because I didn't set him on the potty when we awoke. Bad Mama.  Whatever... decided since we were waiting on the gutter guy (who never showed up) today was as good as any to try to be consistent.  So, every 30 minutes to an hour after that point, he sat on the potty.  He even told me he needed to go once, and his pants were still dry.  The only times we changed his underwear were 1) when he decided he wanted to wear James instead of Thomas 2) when I put him in his swim diaper for the pool, just in case and 3) when we got back from the pool.  Oh and 4, I put him in another pull up for night time because I am lazy and mornings are rough.  I think I might follow a friend's advice and buy a toy he really wants, and tell him if he can keep doing such a good job he can have it before his birthday.

As previously mentioned in social media, I hereby declare day 1 of potty training a huge success.  Way to go little Buddy!!!

summer fun

We are really enjoying our new home and neighborhood this summer. When we lived near Nashville, we paid HOA fees and got nothing but rules.  No amenities of any kind, they couldn't even help get street lights turned on on our street after the developer went bankrupt.  I digress, this is about my kids.

Last Fall and Winter, we looked at around 50 houses in the quest for our new home.  The one we bought is huge, if I have not mentioned that fact already.  Not a mansion, I suppose, but huge.  I would not want any larger unless I could afford housekeeping help.  It has everything we had on our wish list, and then some.  I really cannot believe how blessed we are.  Even with the issues we've encountered, well... those could have happened anywhere.  There's room for guests, so come visit. (Please call first.) :)

One of the aspects we're enjoying the most is our neighborhood pool.  Hannah is meeting some of the other kids who she may pass in the hallways at school, I am meeting other Moms, and it's just plain fun until it's time to pack up and leave and the kids protest.

I intended on putting the kids in swimming lessons, but did not do it.  So Hannah has been swimming with arm floaties all summer.  Brandon typically swims with floaties on his arms and a tube raft around his waist.  He has no fear.  The first time there without Daddy, B jumped right in before I got the floaties on.  (We put them on at home or in the parking lot now.) Hannah, for the most part, has been unreceptive to me wanting to teach her to swim.  (No surprise there, she doesn't usually want me to teach her to read or write, either.)

About a week or so ago, she watched a video of her cousin swimming.  A couple of days ago, she met a 2nd grade girl at the pool, who was swimming without flotation help.  Tonight, she declared that she would swim without floaties.

And she did.  She pulled her goggles over her eyes, held her nose, closed her mouth, and completely immersed herself under the water.  She swam to me or to the wall or steps several times, 6-10 feet.

it's hot, mom!

I am so proud of her.  When we returned home, she said she wants a swimming lesson on how to swim with her head out of the water tomorrow.

The pics are from a previous day, I did not have my camera with me tonight.

she is so ready

Kindergarten registration and open house were this afternoon.  We toured the school, including a classroom and submitted our registration packet (minus the health record form because I don't have an up to date one- that'll be taken care of before August).

Bear is ready to start now.  She misses her friends from Pre-K in Georgia.  She picked a flower (weed) on the way in, and almost immediately found a girl to introduce herself to and give it to, telling the child her full name (first, middle last).  It was precious.

The school is BIG.  It's a Primary school, so it only has grades K-2, but it has 15 Kindergarten classes!  I had heard it was big, but did not realize HOW big until I learned that.  In spite of the size, I love 3 things about it already.  1) No big 5th grade bullies or giants accidentally running her down in the hall.  Now, I am sure there are a lot of helpful 5th graders, too, but yes, the limited age range sounds fine with me, especially with as many students as they have. 2) They DO rotate electives.  Music, Art, PE.... it seems that the arts are being cut from so many school systems, to hear that those things are in their curriculum is great.   3) Kindergarten is a shorter day.  They will get out at 1:00 pm.  That's how it was when I was a kid, and since Bear is not used to going every single day, plus it will have been several months since she went to school outside the home at all, well, that's fine with me.  Leaves more time if we ever settle on activities for her to take on outside of school.

I was reassured by the fact that 3 other kids we met were older 5's and one would already be 6 when they begin.  Unless I home schooled, it's not like I had the choice of when she would start due to her birthday, but  I also still didn't want her to be a lot older than a majority of the kids.  Of course, in a group that size, she is bound to have others her age, but I am a worrier, and that's just how it is. :)

I didn't take a picture of her at the school yet.  I figured I'll save that for the first day of school in August.

The big 5!!!

My girl is growing up!  This time 5 years ago, I was in the hospital, pretty medicated and wondering when the real labor was going to hit.  We had scheduled an induction to make sure Daddy would be able to be there thanks to a new job requirement that would begin a few short days after her estimated due date.
In some ways it feels like yesterday that my baby girl was born, in others ways, it feels like she has been part of my life forever.  I love that.

My girl is whimsical.  She loves all things Princess-related. (It's a good thing, too, because her friends really spoiled her with dress up costumes, tiaras and wands as party gifts!) She also has a bit of a dark side, as impersonating all the Disney villains is great fun for her.  However, the scary scenes in Beauty and the Beast do still frighten her, and I am not along to sing along with Gaston or his cohorts because they are mean.

We celebrated over the weekend with a gymnastics party.  Grandma and Papa, several of her classmates and local friends came, as well as Kelly, Juliana and Catey from TN:

On her actual birthday, we went out for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant:

Here are some flashbacks from birthdays past:

FOUR!!!!

THREE!!!

TWO!!

ONE!

a few long awaited words

As he climbed out of the bathtub and into the towel in my arms tonight, Buddy exclaimed the sweetest words to a mommy's ears.  "I ya you Mommy, I ya you! Muah!" he planted a wet kiss on my face.  "I love you too, B." "I ya you too, Mommy!"

This is the first time he has told me he loves me first, at least verbally. 

Let Pre-K begin!

Even though Bear has been asking when she would start school for at least a month, when it came time to going this morning, she had a harder time than I expected.  "I don't want to be away from you!" she exclaimed.  Those are words that can break this Mom's heart.  I tried telling her about the schedule she would have, "But I don't know those things."  "That's the point, you are going to learn, and you're going to make new friends, and have a lot of fun."  I took some pictures by our door before we headed out, since I did not know if I would have time to snap some in the drop-off area.  I love the progression in her expressions and poses:

Not feelin' this, Mom.

I'm smiling because I have to.  Sort of.

I might be sweet now.

Ok, I'm ready to have a fun day at Pre-K!

Now I'm just being sweet and sassy. :)

By the time she got to school, she was ready to go.  She even chose to let me just drop her off at the drop-off point versus walking her into the classroom.  I knew Buddy might want to stay if we went inside, so we opted for the big-girl plan.

One last hug from Mom

Heading in for her first day of Pre-Kindergarten!

As soon as I got back in the car, Buddy looked at her empty seat and asked for Sissy.  He's asked for her a couple of times since then,  but mostly seems to like trying to body slam me as I type this. :)
****
Bear says she had a good day, but she doesn't want to tell me about it. (Is that a sign she's growing up, or what?!) They painted hand prints and she was chosen to be the line leader.  However, she was disappointed that she had to play with blocks and puzzles instead of ponies.  That's my girl.

Sister Bear's First Day of School

Tomorrow is Bear's 1st day of Pre K.  Her late October birthday means she can't go to Kindergarten in a public school until she is almost 6.  And my feeble attempts to try to establish an educational system in our home have resulted in sheer frustration for both of us.  I'm not saying I don't try to teach her things or will not keep trying.  That comes with parenthood.  (In case you doubted.) 

Tomorrow she starts Pre K part time, and both of us are excited.  We went to Open House in her classroom today.  She found her name on the wall chart, met her teachers and some of her classmates.  She can't wait to begin!

Finding her name on the wall

A hug from Ms. Julie

NO CAVITIES!!!!

Little Miss had her first dental appointment today.  Yes, I realize all the expert parenting sites and her doctors suggested that she go when she was 2, then 3, etc. Whatever. We brush her teeth, and with the trouble she gives me doing that, it wasn't going to happen any sooner.

This was the right time.  She charmed her dental assistant/dental hygienist/dentist.  I had her go first because it had been so long since my last cleaning and I've had some TMJ issues and sensitivity, I thought it was smarter for her not to see mommy wince before her turn.  Not only did she do great, having the x-rays done while I was still filling out paperwork in the lobby, cooperating fully, talking when her mouth wasn't full of tools, etc., when it was my turn, she peered into my face from the opposite side of the hygienist, stroking my hair, and exclaiming how cool my teeth looked.  She didn't even mind the splatter.  Oh, and she let me hold her My Little Pony who came along.

No cavities for my big girl.  The x-ray computer processor broke down in between us, so I have to go back for my x-rays... but Mommy didn't have visible cavities either.  Considering my last cleaning was oh, 5+ years ago before I knew for sure I was expecting my baby girl, I am quite relieved.

Letting go of the little things

I never thought I'd be one to get sentimental about hair.
That was before my daughter had beautiful (albeit crazy) curls.
Brushing/styling her hair is typically a challenge, to say the least.

So when she asked to get her hair cut shorter, like a girl we saw at the park, I rejoiced.  I knew the risks... her hair has been straightening out in the back for a while now.  But the benefits outweighed them, or so I thought.

And then we went to the salon.  Both kids were very well behaved.  I even considered having them cut Buddy's hair, but opted to wait a bit longer.  Bear insisted that she wanted it "Shoulder length."  It is, in the back, well-almost. 

As you can see.. the sides and front still curl.  But the back curls are almost gone.  Just a few waves.
Bye-bye baby curls.  Mommy's not going to miss the tangles , but I do miss the good hair-day cuteness already.

I do like it short, and more importantly, so does little miss who's always loved her "mermaid" and "princess" (longer) hair. But in this case, I can't just say "oh, well, it will grow back."  And that makes me a little sad.

(not-so) accidental milestone

Buddy was bathing and a familiar expression crossed his face.  I really did not want to have to bleach the tub and all its toys again... so I grabbed the padded potty seat, scooped him up, and set him on there.  We've had false alarms where nothing has transpired before.... this time was not a false alarm.  I think he liked the praise he received for using the potty, because he kept climbing out and wanting to sit on the potty seat again. 

The funny thing was that I pulled Bear's training potty out of storage today.  It makes a good step stool and the two of them have been fighting over the Dora step stool ever since Buddy has become obsessed with brushing his teeth.  Looks like it might be mutipurposed.

standing!

Buddy has been trying to pull himself up on furniture for at least the past week. I set him down to play in the living room yesterday morning, and a couple of minutes later, I returned to find this:
It wasn't a fluke, either. I found him standing in his crib after naptime. Daddy lowered the mattress to the bottom setting before bedtime. Yes, our boy has mastered standing on his own two feet... with support from objects.

watch out, world, here comes our little man!

He's mastered the army crawl... He slides on his belly, gets wherever he needs to go... I can't wait til he figures out that he'll go faster with he tummy off the ground. Ok, yes I can....

5 months

Okay, so I'm not keeping up with this thing as well as I used to. It's hard to believe that we've entered the 5th month of having two kids! Sister and brother love each other... their faces light up upon sight of the other. It's the sweetest thing to observe, and I hope that even when they go through phases of sibling rivalry, etc., they will always be best friends. Brandon is so used to his sister's hugs that when he met our friend's 2-month-old, he leaned right over to give him a hug. And when they laid on the floor next to eachother, they held hands. SOOO sweet!!!

Not sure about the weight gain, but some 6-9 month clothes are fitting in addition to the 3-6. (Some of the sleeves are too short on those.)

we've started solids: rice cereal, oatmeal, and pears so far. He loves them, and will grab the spoon and shove it all the way back to his throat until he gags if we don't hold him back. He also loves to reach for our foods and drinks, no matter what they are. I let him taste some brown rice at Pei Wei yesterday, he loved that, too.

He rolls over from back to tummy occasionally, plays well in his exersaucer with a pillow under his feet... his legs are a tad short to touch steadily, and I don't want to crunch him you-know-where. He seems to enjoy tummy time more and more, spits up less most of the time, and my friend who is a physical therapist said she thinks he's about a month ahead in strength because he sits up so well, even though he does face plant every once in a while. I think there is something to the theory that boys are naturally stronger than girls. He is also beginning to pick up objects

Last night, he slept in his crib in the room he and Hannah share all night!!! That is a milestone. A big one. (He's beens leeping in the travel-lite crib in our room, even though it has about 1 inch left of length in it.) I haven't even replaced the batteries on the mobile yet, but he fell asleep quite well and stayed down until 7:30 a.m. Sissy slept all night, too. :)

Happy New Year

We took Buddy in the Saturday after Christmas and he got his first antibiotic prescription. Since he was sick, we abstained from the 4-month vaccinations. He seems pretty well recovered, but Bear still has a cough and runny nose... yet her bloodwork came back just fine last Saturday.

At his doctor's visit, Brandon weighed in at around 13 pounds, so he's holding pretty steady for now. But the way he's been eating the past couple of days, I think we'll be introducing him to solids soon. Big Sis's still around 33 pounds, too, in spite of her uncle's claim that she feels heavier. It's all in the physics, she's just shorter and squattier than her cousin who she's almost caught up to in weight. It could be all those curls. ;)

Anyway, Brandon has been rolling from tummy to back for quite a while now. Tonight, he rolled from his back to his tummy! :) He's also starting to scoot a little bit at a time, though tummy time still frustates him if he gets too much of it. Sometimes he scoots in circles, other times a couple of inches forward. When Bear heard me get excited about her brother's first big roll, she exclaimed, "Good job, Brandon! We're so proud of you!"

fun times

I made brownies a couple of nights ago. This picture was taken at least 30 minutes after the bath began, after I had tossed in a washcloth and asked Bear to clean her nose. She obviously needed help.

Brandon's big-boy-bumbo seat.
I used some gift money for this splurge... and I want to send a pic to Great Gramma to show her what her gift money went toward. This pic was taken tonight, when Buddy was a bit cranky. Earlier, he had a huge smile on his face as though he was proud to sit up like a big boy.

12 weeks

11/12/2008

12 weeks- 11/18:

chillin' with sis

Our little Buddy's growing up on us. Fortunately, this means he sleeps a 6, 7 or sometimes even 8-hour stretch most nights. He's spitting up less, which is also a welcome change. Big Sis has figured out how to pick him up by herself, which is semi-frightening. I'm glad she loves her brother, but she doesn't quite understand just how careful she needs to be. Perhaps she's grooming him to be a wrestler some day (in school, not "pro"). She'd better watch out, some day he'll be bigger than she. He smiles a lot, but catching one on camera is not always easy. Oh, and he's beginning to outgrow his Newborn and some of his 0-3 month sized clothes, so today I put him in a 3-6 month sleep n' play outfit just to see. It's a bit big, but no worse than the 0-3 month ones were when he came home from the hospital! He also intentionally reaches for some of his toys (especially on the activity mat), and grabs onto them. Some things, like his snugglies, make it to his mouth. (He also pulls Sissy's hair when she invades his personal space).

Sometimes he doesn't mind to be loved on with Bear hugs... at least, at first....