Lainey funnies

We were in the car earlier and that song "Like a G6" came on. Lainey started giggling and said, "Cheese sticks?! What a silly song!" And she laughed and said that every time they sang about it. Then "Pony" by Ginuwine came on right after it and she said, "Is this a burping song?" You have to know how the intro sounds...it does sound like burping! It cracked me up. :) Then the responsible adult in me changed the station...

It's potty time

Oh yes folks. We decided it was time. Lainey had recently become textbook "resistant" to potty training. And I mean that literally. Here is an excerpt from Pediatric Advisor 2006.4, written by B.D. Schmitt, M.D.:

"There are some children who are resistant to toilet training. Your child is considered resistant if after trying to toilet train your child:

- Your child is over 2 1/2 years old and has a negative attitude about toilet training.

- Your child is over 3 years old and not daytime toilet trained.

- Your child won't sit on the potty or toilet."

Yup...our doctor gave us this information on a handout about toilet training when I told them about Lainey and how lately she'd been really resistant to not only the potty but to having her diaper changed. I mentioned that we were thinking about doing that "naked weekend" every parent with toddlers reads about. Our pediatrician agreed, gave us some tips and the handout and I went home and told Troy we were trying it this weekend. 

So over the past week I began talking up this "potty party" weekend. Lainey was kind of confused, especially since she'd just had her birthday party. "Another party? Can my friends come watch me open more presents?" "Um...it's not quite like that sweetie. This is just a party at home with us and we will teach you how to use the potty. But there will be treats! And surprises!" "Yeah, and my birthday cake!" Um...

We made a run to Target on Friday and I stocked up on some things from the dollar section and grabbed a couple of packs of M&Ms. Then I went to BJ's for Lysol spray & wipes. We were ready. We decided we were going to do our 3 days on Saturday - Monday since Troy can't be "off" on a weekday and I knew I'd need more help on days 1 & 2 than day 3. Friday night I got the extra waterproof mattress pad that we had from Lainey's old crib mattress and a couple of beach towels and set it up along with her Fisher Price singing potty downstairs. I stuck the leftover juice boxes from her birthday party in the fridge and fund a printable potty chart on Pinterest. 

Saturday morning when Lainey got up around 6:30 we made a big deal about going in her room to take off her last diaper. I even let her put it in the diaper genie. I put her in just a t-shirt and explained that she wouldn't be wearing pants today and asked if she wanted to throw away the last of her diapers. That was when she flipped out. She demanded a diaper. She wanted pants. And she definitely did not want to throw out her diapers.

I was a bit worried this was foreshadowing for the day but we managed to hustle her downstairs with the promised distraction of breakfast. Then things definitely improved. We had a very normal morning except that she was sans pants and had to constantly sit on a towel. By about 10, I was super bored. She hadn't peed and I hadn't showered or dressed or anything because I felt like I needed to be there when she went to the bathroom for the first time. Harper went down for her morning nap and I decided this would be a good time to get out the art supplies. Lainey and Troy and I all painted and I realized that Lainey & I are about on the same artistic level while Troy is a regular Bob Ross. Behold his dolphin & flower compared to my snail & sun:

So we're sitting there painting and all of a sudden, I hear the sound of water hitting the floor and Lainey looks up surprised and said, "Mom, I'm going pee pee!" I told her to get on the potty and she did and finished peeing and her potty sang and she got excited and did a little dance. Then we wiped, went to the powder room to dump the pee, I let her flush and we washed our hands. She was really excited when I to,d her she could have a piece of candy and a sticker on her potty chart. It was like it all clicked for her and the rest of the day, she peed in the potty all on her own. I didn't even have to keep asking her if she needed to or even be in the room. She would just go get on it when she needed to pee and call out, "Mom, I'm going pee pee!" Our only mishap came after lunch. Troy & I were in the kitchen cleaning up and she had gone to play in the playroom when she came in the kitchen with this distressed look and said, "I just pooped!" Indeed...there was a turd on the floor. But we cleaned it up and told her it was no problem...we'll just work on that next time and she was fine the rest of the day! She filled her potty chart and got to choose a prize and was super excited. 

I was so excited for her that during the afternoon, I went in her room and took all the diapers out and moved them to Harper's closet and removed all of the changing table stuff from the top of her dresser. I think only a parent who has gone through potty training can understand the excitement of seeing this:

Day 1 was a tremendous success but ended like it started. I gave her a bath and she melted down over the fact that I was putting her to bed in a pull-up instead of a diaper. But I stuck to my guns and told her no more diapers and she was fine after awhile. The poor thing was so exhausted that she fell asleep while I was talking to her in her bed and she slept until nearly 8:30 the next morning! Considering she usually gets up between 6-6:30, I knew she was exhausted.

Day 2 was even better than Day 1. When we started out, I said our goals for today were to keep the towels dry and poop in the potty. I'm proud to say she accomplished both! However, after she pooped in the potty, she still pooped a little on the kitchen floor. Clearly, she wasn't done yet. But it was okay because it was right after dinner and I just took the girls up and gave them baths. So I feel like it was still a good day. And she was excited because she got two toys (one for pooping in the potty and one for filling up her potty chart again).

Day 3 was good too. I felt like she had done such a great job that I thought we'd try big girl panties. She was actually excited to wear them and she still did great peeing on the potty without reminders. I was so excited and patting myself on the back about her being potty trained. Then after lunch we were playing in the playroom and I caught a whiff of something. "Lainey? Do you need to go potty?" "Nope." "You sure? You sure you don't need to poop?" "Nope!" (This is where she tries to run off and I grab her and find that her panties are full of poop.) So...that was kind of a mess to clean up but I tried to stay upbeat and we put on clean panties. 

So she did not get toys today because she didn't poop in the potty or fill her chart but I still think she did great. I am also terrified to leave the house and have ordered a travel potty. We shall see how things go from here!

They're getting so big!

In case you were wondering why I hadn't previously posted about Lainey's 3rd birthday (which was on the 21st), it's because I was holding off until after their doctor's visit so I could fill in all their stats. Harper went too because it was time for her 15-month visit. So, here they are:

Harper weighs 22 10.5 (50th percentile) and she's 32.25" (80th percentile). She is growing great and looks healthy. She's still not walking (unless you count on her knees which she does everywhere) but we're really close. Lainey didn't walk until 15 months either so we're not concerned (yet).

And now for the big birthday girl! Lainey weighs 32 lbs (also 50th percentile) and she's 37.75" (75th percentile). She took an eye test for the first time and passed it perfectly. She's been watching this show "Doc McStuffins" so she was really excited about her check up and insisted on getting Snuggle Bunny & Tiny Baby checked out too. Thankfully our doctor is awesome (and also knows about the show) and was totally cool with it. The only hang up with Lainey is that she is still not potty trained. Like, not even close. I told the doctor we're thinking of doing a "naked weekend" and she encouraged us to give that a try soon. So we'll see how that goes. I am looking forward to that like I imagine one looks forward to a colonoscopy but if it means putting us n track to no more diaper changes, then I will deal with it.

Now for the fun part...we had Lainey's party on Saturday at our house. We had some neighbors and family over, lots of food and cake (of course!). Even though it was a no gifts party, Lainey still got a few good presents which she was really excited about. Here are a few pics from the event:

She is getting to be such a big girl! We have definitely moved into the "why" phase and we're still working on being nice to Harper. I hear this gets better when Harper is a little older and can stick up for herself. We tell Lainey all the time that she better watch out because Harper is going to get her as soon as she's able. :) But she is still a sweetie. She's super smart and curious about everything. Thankfully, she loves being at home with us and I've loved getting to watch her grow just in the past few months.

Howdy

Hey y'all! I finally did a smart thing and downloaded this Blogger app. I am always thinking of little things that I should blog but am like, "eh, I don't want to drag the laptop out." Well now I don't have to! So maybe this will keep me from being such a slack blogger. And I realize I have a ton to catch up on so I plan to do that soon. But in short, I can say that I love staying home but it is super busy. And man, you have to clean all the time when you are all at home all the time! They are some messy little people. Good thing they are so cute. How cute? 

Yeah, pretty cute. :)

The Start of Something New

I won't give you the same old song about being oh so busy and not making time for the blog because I think that is pretty obvious. BUT that should all be changing (well, I think/hope so). You see, I am about to make a big career change. Namely, I have quit my job and am about to become a stay at home mom.

I know, right?? Crazy! But I am super excited. I have been lamenting the fact that we don't get to spend much time together as a family but it was just one of those things. I would just tell myself that people do it all the time and I just needed to figure out how to make it work. And I know that people do it - and more, with less. But Troy and I started taking a look at our financials, etc to see if we could swing it. I think both of us were surprised when we figured out that, with a few sacrifices, we could make it work.

So...yes, we've been super busy. There were the holidays, work, Troy's business has been growing, he was promoted to Company Commander with the Guard and watching our girls grow up in a flash. I will post some recap blogs (with pics!) of all of that but I did want to share my news. :)

Okay, so now for what you really want...some pictures of the girls! Here they are in their Valentine's outfits:

Stuff & Things

Holy cow, I haven't written anything since Harper turned 6 months old?? Times flies...

She turns 8 months old tomorrow. That is so hard to believe! She is my funny little monkey and I mean that. She is fascinated with things like her hands, she loves bananas and she grunts a lot. She was saying "Dada" but not all that much. She is liking food a little better now (although we still struggle with veggies).  She's not crawling yet but she does accidentally scoot herself backwards when she's in the crawling position (which then just makes her mad because she's going in the opposite direction than what she intended).

Lainey is still very much a two year old. She is super sweet...until she's not. I have to remind Troy all the time that she's just very sensitive. Take yesterday for example. My Mom was here with the girls and she had heated up some lunch for Lainey. Lainey was fussing because she wanted to eat it even though my Mom warned her it was pretty hot. Well, Lainey went to take a big bite and my Mom said, "No Lainey, don't eat it - it's hot!" and Lainey put her head down on the table and just cried and cried. My Mom had to explain that she wasn't yelling at her, she just didn't want her to burn her mouth. Such a sensitive little animal...

As for the big kids around here...we're fine. Troy is insanely busy with his work and the Army. Not that it is a bad problem to have but he is working most nights and weekends which makes me feel a bit like a single Mom. (Hats off to all the single Moms out there!)

Here is the part where I post cute yet amusing pictures of the littles:

 

Lainey's mullet had kicked it up a notch in these pics. Don't believe me? Check this out:

 

 

Glorious. You'll have to stay tuned for updated pics of her after her Aunt Lala have her a much needed haircut.

 

 

 



Six Months

My little chubby happy girl is six months old already! Okay, actually 6 1/2 months because I have a hard time updating this blog in a timely manner. But anyway! At her appointment, she weighed 16 lbs 2 oz (about 50%) and was 27.25" long (about 95%). I think the nurse was a little generous with her length measurement but either way, she is pretty long! She did great at her appointment and wasn't even too upset about her shots. However, I did have a Mom of the Year moment when the doctor checked her ears and informed me that her left ear was infected. Oops! Dr. Sarah is so nice...she told me that the same thing happened to her when she took her son for his 6-month appointment but I think she might have just been saying that to make me feel better. To be fair, Harper is so dang happy all the time...she was never symptomatic! Or was she...

"Um...hey, Mom? Guess what?"

"I have an ear infection!"

"That's why I'm grabbing my ear. See??"

"Oh yeah...and I might be teething too."

 

So...not a shining moment but she's totally fine. A round of amoxicillan and she's good to go! Thankfully she's not allergic to that like Lainey. And she really didn't fuss or act like her ear was bothering her. She is just such a happy baby! Always smiling and babbling. She can now say, "Dada" and she laughs when she gets really tickled about something. She is thisclose to sitting up on her own. She can do it but not for long periods before she falls or slumps over. She rolls over like a champ (preferring to do that when she goes to bed so she's more or less sleeping on her stomach) and she loves to stand up! It is funny how different babies can be. Lainey was never interested in moving and loved to sit and listen to books and music. She was dainty with her hands and really let you know when she was hungry. Harper, on the other hand, grabs anything within arms reach, is always kicking her legs or trying to sit up, will not sit still to be read to (she likes to scream and grab the book to put it in her mouth) but is much more chill when it comes to wanting to eat or anything like that.

 

Speaking of eating, she has now started eating some baby oatmeal. We tried the rice cereal but she hated it (so did Lainey) so we moved on to oatmeal and she loves it! Behold the difference:

 

Trying rice cereal:

 

 

Trying oatmeal:

 

 



We're going to try a veggie tonight and then probably a fruit in a few days. She's so funny now...she watches up eat with great intensity and does her mouth like she's tasting. So I know she wants some food. I'm still nursing her too and that is still going well! Now that I made it to 6 months, I'm trying not to put a bunch of pressure on myself. I'm obviously going to keep nursing her as long as I can, but if I don't make it to a year, I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I made it to about 8 months with Lainey and she has turned out just fine!

So that's all the news on Miss Harper. She is just so cute & so sweet! It's hard to believe that at the beginning of the year, she wasn't even here and I am so looking forward to the holidays with our little family of four this year. :)