Back to diapers...

We're scrapping potty training. At least for awhile. We've been at it for months now, and Ella just isn't getting it. She doesn't care if she pees or poops and wears it. It doesn't matter if she's in a diaper, pull-up, big girl panties, whatever!

I've tried taking her every 30 minutes and it came to dragging her kicking and screaming into the bathroom because she didn't want to stop what she was doing and go. So I cut it back to every hour, then we had some accidents, and still she didn't want to go. At scheduled times like bedtime and just before nap, no problem. She'll sit down and tinkle and maybe, if you read to her 14 different magazines, she'll poop while she's there. But other than that, she doesn't care if she's wearing around pair of pee soaked panties with poop caked on her butt. (sorry I know this is gross and disgusting, but seriously! Who wants to wear poop!?)

We just don't know what to do and after talking to a few other parents, we've decided maybe she's just not ready. Everyone told us she was. She would tell us when she had wet or poopy pants and needed to be changed at 18 months. Not now! She lies and tries to hide and screams everytime we need to change her. When did this become torture???!!! For all of us!

She's crying and hates it!!! Finally Friday night, I just broke down and cried too. This is overwhelming and I have no idea why it's not working. I told Troy I can't understand what we're doing wrong. We've tried it all. We've been patient, offered rewards from marshmallows, to stickers to band-aids to a "special prize" if you can go all day long with clean panties. It ain't gonna happen. I honestly don't know what else we're supposed to do.

So, we're going to give this a break for a few weeks and then come back to it and try again. We put away the big girl panties and the pullups, took away the potty seat and the step stool for the toilet. I even moved all of her books and magazines out of the bathrooms. We're completely shutting this off for awhile. Which is tough. She wants her big girl panties back, she asks to potty when we're out in public (loves hearing that pee-pee echo), and she still hides and lies and doesn't like having her diaper changed.

My biggest concern is pre-school in the fall. She can't go if she's not potty trained. But that's several months away, and a lot can change in that amount of time. I know she will stop peeing in her pants eventually. It's not like she'll be 35 and still wearing a diaper. We'll just have to wait, patiently, and hope she'll be ready. If not, it's her timing and not ours.

In the meantime, we're open to suggestions. We've exhausted everything that's been thrown at us on this one, so if you've got something better to offer, lay it on us!

Preschool here we come!

It felt a bit like opening the letter to see if my child had been accepted to an Ivy League University. How stupid is that?! She's two and we were battling to get her into a pre-school. As it is, we had to settle for an afternoon class, 3 days a week. We probably shouldn't mess with her AMAZING nap schedule, but she will be 3 by that time, and we're hoping to cut back a bit on the daytime sleep.

Ella will start preschool this September. Best of all, she'll be in the same class with Sophie! (my friend Kimmie's youngest daughter who's just 6 months older than Ella)

We both researched several preschools and decided this would be our first choice. They have a great program with lots of schedule options, music, fitness, SPANISH, etc... We're not members of this church, and we aren't alumni with older kids, so we had to wait until this week to register. We braved a MONSOON Tuesday morning and drug the girls in there. Before we even started paperwork, they let us know morning classes, would be out of the question. Those are comptelely full.

I debated whether and afternoon class was even possible for Ella. She's such a great sleeper and really wants her "happy nappy" every day. But we've talked to several other moms, prayed about it, and just asked God to help us make it work, if this is the right place for Ella.

We got the letter today that helped us make the decision. We're all going to the church service there tomorrow morning so Troy can check it out as well. I like the fact that this preschool is faith based. They have chapel, learn verses, and virtues like "God wants me to share," or "God wants me to be kind." I feel like those are such important messages for kids and I want Ella to have those values and share them with other kids.

Now if we can just get her potty trained! (more to come on that in another post) At least we know where we're going and when. I can check that item off my list.

Big Boy Shoes

A couple of firsts today for Alex, he rode in his new big boy carseat. No more infant carrier!

This gets sentimental for me. I got kinda weepy when I took off the toy bar to send to a friend with a 2 month old. Alex loves that toy! It's hard to believe he's too big to play with the little froggies and bumble bees already!

But he put on his shoes for the first time today! Daddy says if he's no longer bundled up in the sleeping bag seat cover, he's gotta wear some shoes. They're too big, but OH SO CUTE! Love that baby boy of mine!

(He only wore the Elmo t-shirt because we went to see Elmo Live at Sprint Center. Otherwise, I don't think Daddy would have let him out of the house looking to sweet!)

Happy Chinese New Year! (now whack that pinata!)

Maybe my child is multi-cultural. Maybe she just watches too much TV!

Ella wants a pinata. Out of the blue. And, she's upset that we don't have one in the closet or lying around the house somewhere for her to play with. What were we thinking? Forget Candy Land, or the AquaDoodle, we've got to have a paper mache sombrero and a baseball bat!

I think it comes from a Dora episode. She and Boots win a pinata as their prize for collecting tickets at the carnival. Well if Dora has one, Ella thinks she needs it too. I've tried to explain that pinatas are not something you'll find everday. They're for special occassions, parties or holidays and festivals. Sounds reasonable, but my child is not buying this lame excuse. If you need an occasion for a pinata, Ella will find one. "Let's have a party." Again, I try to explain that parties don't just happen everyday. they're for special occassions, birthdays, holidays and such.

"Chinese New Year Party, get a pinata!" HUH?!?! How does she even know about Chinese New Year you ask? My Ella is also looking forward to a new cartoon which looks a lot like Hello Kitty, but it's a little Asian child and her pets. (Something like "Knee-How Ki-Lan" no clue how you spell that.) This much anticipated show premieres on Chinese New Year. Leave it to those crazy folks at Nickelodeon to solve Ella's dilemma.

Pretty amazing though that she's figured this all out and now expects us to come through. So I guess we'll order take-out with chopsticks next week and pick up a pinata at Party City. Happy Chinese New Year everyone! (2008 is the year of the rat... I checked.)

What happened to my grocery list?!

What can I say, except that I guess Alex needed a little fiber in his diet.

We made a Target run this morning, and the boy was ready to get out of his carrier and have some lunch. All it takes to occupy him is a simple piece of paper, my shopping list. He holds it crinkles it and pretty much destroys it by the time we're done, but that's okay. I'm throwing it away at that point. Except that I forgot!

It wasn't until I opened the door to take Alex inside that I noticed something on his cheek. I immediately recognized this shard of paper and began searching his seat for the rest. A few confetti size pieces, and I found a similar shred in his mouth. But that's it. The rest of the list is gone, and Alex isn't starving anymore.

I panicked and called Laura. "Is he choking?" she asked. "No, he's smiling at me." She assures me he's fine, and this too shall pass.

The Mommy Mafia

I just love hanging with other Mommies! I stopped by my office today to pick up some supplies and planned a lunch date with several other moms.

I love that we can share things with one another to make the cost of raising kids a little less painful. (I brought in some maternity clothes for Merritt, brough some baby boy hand-me-downs for Heidi and picked up some boy hand-me-downs from Tara. )

I love even more than we can share experiences, and learn from one another. Who knew I could freeze yogurt tubes and they'd be less messy for Ella! She loves them, now I have a way to make it happen! Who knew maxi pads in my son's diaper at nap time would keep him from leaking all over his bed since she insists upon sleeping on his tummy. Plus they cost less than the expensive boy specific diapers! (Who knew that Merritt would have an extra convertible carseat just sitting in her garage that we can use for now, so we don't have to buy 2 new car seats for Alex!)

I fed my kids and other moms helped me juggle them both, juggle my food, refill my drink, grab a utensil when Ella dropped hers, helped feed Ella the messy yogurt in a tube, talked to me, talked to my kids, and we all enjoyed lunch together! It was like a spa date with my kids along! I was able to relax, converse, laugh and yes, shovel in a few bites in between.

It's great getting together with women who understand the trials and triumphs of being a mom! I'm so glad we did this and I can't wait to do it again!

Make room for Baby (time for a refresher course)

This should be a big weekend for our boy. Alex is too tall for his baby carrier, so he's getting moved into a convertible car seat, he's starting to pull up on things, so we're dropping his crib mattress down from the newborn position, and since he's really trying hard to crawl, it's time to get down on all fours again and search for the stuff you never realized could be potential food.

We have two, big dogs, so he's gonna find fur on the floor and taste it. He'll probably find a dog food crumb or two as well. His sister drops craisins and cereal and everything else all over the place, so regardless of how many times Callie cleans and vacuums, there will be food remnants to pick up and taste.

There are cords to move and outlets to cover, and shelves to clear. Just as we've gotten Ella to the stage where she'll actually listen, and leave a few things alone, along comes Alex. We'll see what survives this round.