Ian hasn't used the Nap Nanny since May 22. I probably could have transitioned him sooner, but we wanted to avoid needing to buy another pack 'n play for when we were in Maryland prior to our trip to Florida. I've had "sell things on eBay" on my to do list since then, and yesterday during the 30 minute overlap between Ian and Nadia's naps, I listed three items on eBay - some books my sister asked me to sell for her, the maternity swimsuit I purchased last summer, and the Nap Nanny. I listed two of the items as auction OR "buy it now." I don't have a lot of experience with selling on eBay. I mostly used eBay for buying. I probably could have listed the Nap Nanny at a higher "buy it now" price because it sold within a few hours of when I listed it. I'm happy though that it means someone else is getting a good deal for it. They paid me $100 including shipping. I underestimated what it would cost to ship it. I thought it would be no more than $20 since it's so light, but it cost $28.81 to ship it to CT via UPS. Including the box it weighed 6 lbs, but I was billed for 39 lbs because of the dimensions of the box. Maybe FedEx would have been cheaper? I've never sold anything this large on eBay before. Usually I just ship things from the Post Office (only 1/2 mile from our house). After paying UPS, eBay, and Paypal, our "profit" is $59.79, which is about half of the $124.01 I paid for it. It was worth every penny that is for sure! I forgot how much fun it can be to track items you are selling on eBay - seeing how many people have viewed your item, how many are "watching" it, watching the bidded price go up, etc. Maybe that will inspire me to list some other items on eBay. I should try selling things on Craigslist also. I've never listed on Craigslist before. I'm also considering taking things to a consignment shop that only sells baby/children's clothing. It would be fun to shop there. It just opened a few months ago, and I haven't checked it out yet. I should put it on my to do list. :-)
I used to recycle back when all I had to do was put newspapers, aluminum cans, etc. in the special bin and put that out on the curb. When we moved in 2004, we moved to a place that didn't provide that service. So I stopped recycling (embarrasing but true). That's part of the reason I stopped subscribing to the newspaper. For whatever reason it really bothered me to put a newspaper in the garbage can. The only thing I continued to recycle was plastic bags because I could return those at the grocery stores I shopped at or Walmart. When we moved to our new home (Sept 2008), I continued to save my plastic bags even though the stores around here don't take them back. What I need to do is buy some bags that I can take to the store so I don't need to use plastic bags. Anyhow, I recently gave my mom about 18 months worth of plastic bags to take back to Maryland with her as she does have curbside recycling. A few weeks ago I decided that I needed to start recycling again even if it involved driving 15 minutes to take my stuff to a recycling center. I made my first trip today and learned that they don't take glass or styrofoam, and they only take #1 and #2 plastic (and those must be separated). Thankfully they took almost everything I brought (cardboard, magazines, cans, plastic, and plastic bags). I only drink water so I don't produce as much plastic waste as my hubby who drinks juice and LOTS of soda. I had been buying one half-gallon of skim milk (for Paul & I) and one gallon of 2% milk (for Nadia) each week over the past year. I am not going to be buying 2% milk again until Ian turns 1 year old. Once her current milk is gone, I am switching her to skim. The next time I take things to this recycling center, I also want to check out their thrift store. I see that sometimes they have a special where you get 50% off everything. From the photos on the web it looks like they have a lot of clothes and toys. I'll probably also donate some things that I don't want to take the time/energy to sell.
Since it has been taking longer and longer to get Ian to go to sleep for his naps and at night, Paul let him CIO before his 3rd nap today. He cried 10 minutes and then slept 45 minutes. I followed Paul's example and after several failed attempts to get him down, I let him cry about 10 minutes when I put him down at 8pm. I guess Ian is now going to need to learn some self-soothing skills. He's doing MUCH better with sleeping at night. Last night he woke up once (within the first couple of hours after he went to sleep) and cried for about 10 minutes and then he slept until 4:30am! I had been awake since 4am as I was in pain. My body wasn't expecting him to go sleep almost 9 hours. After nursing him for about 40 minutes he slept another hour. Ian slept 9.5 hours total! YAY! I am sooooooooooooo happy that I'm down to one feeding during the night. The only problem was I couldn't get back to sleep, and 4am is a bit early to start my day, but I am very encouraged that in the near future I should feel far more rested than I have felt the past 6 months.
The final bit of good news would be that we are over the hump with potty training. On Tuesday and Wednesday Nadia peed on the potty four times a day each day. Today she did the same plus she also pooped on the potty once -something she hadn't done in a couple of weeks! She now goes when I suggest that she "tries." She doesn't have to sit on the potty for extended periods of time any more. Whew. She stayed dry during her nap yesterday and today. She stayed dry overnight on Monday night and Tuesday night. This morning while shopping at Walmart she told me she needed to go potty as we were checking out. I rushed her to the potty. She didn't go, which didn't surprise me as she's only used her little potty at home thus far. What amazed me was that she held it until we got home. I immediately put her on the potty and she immediately peed. Way to go, Nadia!!! The next step is to get her to start using a regular size toilet. I think we'll use the Elmo insert as a transition. I feel such a sense of relief that the worst part of potty training is over for Nadia. I am glad I'll get an 18 month break before I think of tackling this with Ian. :-)
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