Medical Calls

Yesterday was the day for making calls to the hospital and doctor's offices. First I called the Ob/Gyn office to cancel my appointment for this Thursday morning as I have a training I need to do online then. I've used Blackboard for the past 6+ years, but our university is switching to a different learning management system - effective in just two months. They told us about this switch a few weeks ago. Most of the training sessions will be done on campus, but at least this one I can do from home. I wasn't really wanting to go back anyhow since I was just seen at that clinic last month for my post-partum/ post-operative appointment. I was wishing the doctor just would have done the pap smear last month even if it was a month early since I was there. I am not in any hurry to reschedule. The past seven years I haven't gone for yearly gyn appointments because I've been going far more regularly either to an RE for fertility treatments or to an OB for pregnancy related appointments. The REs have been handling my annual pap smears, but I don't plan to see REs any more.

Then I called the Pediatrician's office to check and see what they thought about Ian's weight gain. The nurse said that he was right on target as they look for babies this age to gain an average of 1/2 ounce a day. I was surprised. I guess I should feel relieved, but I don't. I mean I'm glad he gained one pound in the last month, but he still seems very scrawny to me, and I think if he weighed more that he might be sleeping better at night. I mentioned that he spits up a lot, but they seem to think everything is fine. I guess that's good news. However if he doesn't start sleeping better at night, I am going to want to try supplementing some and see if that makes a difference. I also am going to keep a log as to how long I nurse each day as it feels like I am nursing him All Day Long. I usually only get 2 ounces when I pump at school which makes me think my supply isn't what it should be although I usually pump for less than 10 minutes, and I know that pumping at work can give you a very different result than nursing or even pumping in the presence of your child. I was encouraged when I weighed him this morning as he's up to 8lb 9oz! This means over the past 4 weeks (since February is exactly 28 days long) he gained 20 ounces as he weighed 7lb 5oz on February 16th.

The last call was to the Patient Advocacy office at the hospital where I had the c-section. I reported what happened to me. I feel there were three mistakes along the way: #1 the three doctors who did my c-section didn't remove all the placenta, #2 the nurse didn't take me seriously when I was passing huge clots a few days later, and #3 the two OBs whom I spoke to on the phone on January 19th weren't listening to me and gave me bad advice regarding how to handle my hemorraging. She said she'd be opening an investigation and would be getting back to me. I kept putting it off because I envisioned I'd be on the phone a long time, but actually it was a pretty short conversation. I did a little more research on having a retained placenta, and I learned about Asherman's Syndrome which has a few causes but one of them is that 40% of women who have a D&C for a retained placenta develop Asherman's. This scar tissue in the uterus can cause a variety of problems. Time will tell if I have developed this or not. If I had to go through this, I am very glad it was after my second not my first delivery, as Asherman's can cause infertility and recurrent miscarriages.

In the morning I thought we might be making a trip to the doctor's office as Nadia's face collided with the coffee table. Sometimes when she falls it makes a horrible sound and actually she's fine - no marks whatsoever which amazes me, but that wasn't the case yesterday. Paul had tried to leave for school earlier in the morning, but his car wouldn't start. He was using my car to recharge his battery. So when the blood started spewing on to Nadia's shirt and pants, I screamed for him to come downstairs. After she calmed down she kept saying "hurt." I felt awful. You don't have to be a parent for very long to realize that you'd much rather endure any sort of pain than to see your child suffer in any way. I was afraid she might have cracked a tooth or something, but thankfully she hadn't. She had a cut on the inside of her lip and also had an abrasion that was bleeding on her chin. Over time I noticed that a portion of her lip was bloody and swollen. I wasn't expecting to continue the popsicles in the morning routine, but my reason for doing it was for her injuries rather than potty training. She happily ate two popsicles.

We had a good nap day yesterday with the exception that there wasn't much overlap between their afternoon naps. Ian needed help (i.e. put the pacifier back in) for both naps, but this still represents significant progress. His morning nap was about 2 hours long. I am not sure how long his afternoon nap was because I left for school while he was sleeping. Nadia slept for almost 3 hours again! Because they both had good nap days, I decided to stay home from ladies Bible study today. When I went two weeks ago, I couldn't keep Nadia awake the whole way home and then she didn't take an afternoon nap (except for sleeping in Beth's arms for 30 minutes). I'd like to see both of them stay in a good nap routine, and me going to Bible study interferes with that. I'd love to get a little nap today, and I also want to do some more grading of the midterm exams I gave last night. I'm about half-way done at the moment. As for sleeping last night, Ian slept about 7 hours total from 9:00pm to 5:20am. I nursed him twice during that time span as he woke up once prior to midnight and then again around 3:30am. The amazing thing was that Nadia didn't wake up until 6:50! So far we're 3 for 3 of her not getting up before 6am since the clocks shifted one hour, and two of those days she got up around 6:45. Hoping this will continue!! We've moved her bedtime to 8pm. Maybe that's also helping.

Nadia didn't too badly with her transition of doggy staying in the crib. She asked for him several times, but we were able to shift her focus rather easily. You can tell by looking at the pictures I've taken of her the last couple of months that he's usually in her arm. Speaking of pictures, she definitely makes sure I take a picture of her after I've been taking some of Ian. On Sunday she went and sat down on the step with her doggy and said to me "take picture." I took one and then she went and got the big bear that I use for their monthly pictures, and she tried very hard to get bear to sit upright beside her on the step. It was hard not to laugh at my adorable little model. She wanted me to take a picture of her with "bear bear" and doggy. I doubt I'll be posting too many pics of her until her chin & lip heal. It's easy for me to get Ian to smile, but 99% of the pictures I take of him are really blurry. I have been trying the technique of pushing the button down half-way prior to taking the picture so that the "shutter lag" is much less, but that's not enough to solve the problem with Ian. He is constantly in motion when I'm talking to him. I need to buy a better camera.

As for watching tv, she watched one VeggieTale dvd with me between the hours of 6am-3pm. Paul said he made it until 7pm and then needed to pop one in. So she watched more than 30 minutes, but she watched FAR less than she did last week. It helped that the toys in the dining room/living room (her slide, kitchen, etc.) seemed "new" to her yesterday as they had been off limits during the week of potty training since I was trying to limit the area where she might have accidents. One positive result of potty training is that she's now drinking water. So I made that a third goal of the week. She can have milk at meals and when she gets up from her nap, but at other times she needs to drink water. She still doesn't like juice, but that's really not important to me. I'll be happy if she just drinks water and milk in the months and years to come.

Canines

I don't think I had mentioned it here before, but Nadia's top canines came in recently. She now has 14 teeth after having 12 teeth for over 6 months. She'll probably be getting the last 6 teeth over the next 6 months (bottom canines and all four second molars). The other canine development is that I've decided her beloved doggy needs to stay in her crib. She just got too attached to him in that she wanted to be holding him 24 hours a day. This led to battles when she was eating as he wasn't allowed to join her in her highchair. This also proved to be a problem when potty training since she put him in her potty after she peed. So her two adjustments for the week will be only having doggy in the crib and only watching 30 minutes of tv or dvds a day.

Ian didn't have a good night last night. I really don't know why he is having such a regression in terms of sleeping at night, but it's VERY frustrating and exhausting! Last night he slept from 8:15-11:00pm, 12:00-1:40am, 2:05-3:00am, 3:35-4:30, and 5:35-6:20. So the one good thing was that he fell asleep 5 different segments in the Nap Nanny. That was a first. Unfortunately they were rather short. I was in bed for about 6.5 hours total, but it doesn't feel like it when it's chopped up so much. Plus I was getting used to getting at least 7 hours total two weeks ago. I am still longing for the day when I can get my usual 8-9 hours. I know it will probably be at least 3 more months until he sleeps 12 hours straight, but hopefully by the time he hits 4 months old he can be down to just one feeding between the hours of 9pm-6am so that I can get closer to 8 hours of sleep a night. I long for the day when I don't wake up with a splitting headache.

We didn't put Nadia to bed until 8pm last night since she had taken a later and longer (3 hour) nap. Even with the later bedtime, she was up at 6am this morning. She's already switched to the new time. I knew her sleeping in (she got up at 7:40 yesterday) wouldn't last. Since she got up before Ian (very rare), I took a shower before Nadia & I came down for breakfast. A shower isn't optional when one is going to work!

The first picture was from almost exactly one year ago (3-16-09). Hasn't she grown a lot in the past year! The last photo shows the way she usually wears her bunny ears - as a necklace, LOL!

White Flag

You know you're potty training when...

1. Your house smells like carpet cleaner.
2. You spend most of the day watching your child's face.
3. It's 9am and you've already fed your child 3 popsicles.
4. The highlight of your day is when your child uses the toilet.
5. Your child doesn't wear underwear or a diaper for over 12 hours.
6. You have your daughter wear dresses every day.
7. You go from doing the laundry 1-2 times a week to doing it every day.

Well this attempt at potty training Nadia is officially over. It's very frustrating to think all the misery that we went through for nothing. The soonest I'll try again will be in May, but I might wait until July. We shall see. I packed away the $60 worth of supplies - two potties, one insert, underwear, and training pants. Hopefully either Nadia or Ian will make use of them in the future. I should never have tried this week. I did because she kept asking to go pee pee on the potty. I should have gone to church today. This morning I pumped her with fluids but she managed to hold it in for 6 hours. I knew she'd pee during her nap since she hadn't gone for so long, so I put a diaper on her for her nap. She slept 3 hours! Her diaper was as soaked as it usually is after she's been in it 12 hours (overnight). I put her in underwear after her nap until she had an accident on a recliner in the family room. That's when I put her diaper on and gave up. She hasn't peed in a potty since Friday morning. I think she'd do well in China as she seems to prefer peeing standing up. I am dreading doing this again, but it should be easier since hopefully I won't be so tired and Ian won't be in my arms as much at that point.

On a more positive note, Nadia is really taking off in her expressive language development. Her sentences are getting longer and longer. While watching Curious George today she said "Monkey is taking a bath." Sure enough he was! Oh and that's something that's going to drastically change starting tomorrow. The tv is going to be on FAR less in the coming days and weeks. I want to get back to a maximum of 30 minutes a day. Yesterday when I was sweeping Nadia said "Nadia sweep. Help you." How sweet! She says "hug you" and "help you" many times a day. I love her hugs and sooo appreciate that she wants to be a good helper!! The word she says the most each day is "Nadia." This means "I'll do it." :-)

Forward and Backward

Last night was the "spring forward" night most of us dread. I put Nadia to bed at 6:45pm, which is a little earlier than usual, but that was really 7:45pm according to the new time. Springing forward was a good thing for her. She slept almost 12 hours!! I am certain 7:40 won't become her new wake time, but maybe she'll at least sleep intil 6:00. She woke up in a happy mood. :-)  I put Ian down at 9:15pm (new time), and he slept until 1:30. It was very hard to get him back to sleep after that. I finally got him down at 3:00am, but then he only slept 45 minutes. After he was up for another hour I got him back down, and this time he slept about 90 minutes. When is he going to get back to giving me a 6 hour stretch? Last night wasn't as bad as Thursday night, but it still wasn't enough sleep for me. Part way through the night I felt like totally giving up on nursing so that Paul could help out more with the feedings. I was encouraged when I got him dressed this morning. He's wearing a 0-3 month outfit for the first time, and aside from the sleeves being too long - it fits!! YAY!! I'm very accustomed to rolling sleeves up as long sleeves rarely fit Nadia. I will definitely take and post pictures of him today in his new outfit. His Grandma got this for him a few weeks ago. I think he looks very handsome!

Yesterday Nadia took a couple of steps backward in terms of potty training. I figured that would be the case since I decided to have her wear underwear. She never had a #2 accident this week when she wasn't wearing underwear. Normally she goes #2 in the morning, and I figured she'd definitely be going yesterday morning since she had to go on Friday night (kept saying "poop") but never actually went. She went 3 times yesterday morning. The first time she started in her underwear and I noticed and she finished going on the potty. The second time I noticed and got her on the potty on time. Both of those times I gave her a lollipop since she did poop on potty. I wanted to help her understand that lollipops are for pooping on the potty. I figured she was done pooping, but I was wrong. The next time that I realized she was pooping, she had already finished going in her underwear. I didn't give her a lollipop that time. Paul was watching her when I was getting a shower, and she said something and came over to him, but he had fallen asleep in the family room so she peed on the floor. He said that accident was his fault not hers.

I don't know if she kept her underwear dry during her nap because Paul didn't hear that I had asked him to take off her diaper (which was over her underwear) when she got up. I was napping while the kids were napping. I got up when Ian got up, but Nadia took a shorter nap than Ian & I did. When I got up, her underwear was wet. The rest of the day she kept saying "pee" or "poop" and then would go sit down on the new potty. I thought that was a step forward that she was taking the initiative and had no objection to sitting, but she never actually went on the potty. After it had been quite a few hours, I let her watch some VeggieTales while she sat. I was very, very frustrated as she did the same routine of standing up and immediately peeing right after she had been sitting for awhile. She walked around the family room leaving a trail on the carpet. She definitely went backwards yesterday in potty training as she never peed in the potty all day long which was the first time this week that happened. Not counting going in her underwear when she had a diaper on over it, she had two peeing accidents on the floor. I had planned to have her wear one of the waterproof training pants to church today, but in light of how exhausted I am and the fact that she went backwards in her potty training, I think we might stay home today.

She's definitely learned to hold the pee back as earlier in the week she had 6 accidents in one day whereas the last couple of days between accidents and going in the potty she's only peed 2-3 times a day (during the 12-13 hours we were working on potty training each day). By yesterday night I was again wondering if I should postpone the potty training until May. I'm going to see how she does today and then make the decision since I go back to school tomorrow. Today is day #7 of potty training, and although she's made definite progress (staying dry during naps, only 1-2 accidents a day, asking to sit on the potty to pee or poop, etc.), I'm still thinking she might not be ready. I do hate the thought of starting this all over again though.

Last night she and I had a battle over eating one bite of banana. She had eaten most of a banana for breakfast, and at dinner I wanted her to finish it before she ate something else. She ate the first bite, and then refused to eat the second (last) bite. I kept telling her that she could eat what she wanted to after that, but she refused. It wasn't about the food in my mind, but rather about her learning to obey. However, I have decided that I need to get her used to being told what she eats for dinner every night. I'm planning to continue to let her pick (between options that I give her) what she wants to eats for breakfast and lunch, but eventually I'd like us to all sit down and eat dinner together, and when that happens I won't be serving a different meal for each person. I want her to learn to eat whatever is served for dinner, and more importantly I want her to learn to obey. She never did eat that second bite last night. I gave up when she fell asleep in her highchair. I woke her up and took her up for a bath and put her to bed. So she had a very tiny dinner (a few bites of yogurt and one bite of banana). While she was screaming I told Paul I'd rather fight this battle now than when she's sixteen. It still wasn't fun. I honestly was surprised she could be THAT stubborn. 

I finished the photo book that I got for free (only had to pay for shipping). Click on the link if you would like to see the album I made of Ian's first three months.

MUCH Better Day and Night

Aside from being up since 2:30am, yesterday was a much better day. First of all, Nadia didn't have any accidents while I was at home. Let me say this girl has an AMAZING bladder. She can hold it way, way, way longer than I can. I was pumping her with fluids (popsicles, milk, and water) since 6:00am and yet she didn't pee in her potty until 11:30am. I couldn't believe she could hold it for 5.5 hours. She also managed to keep her underwear dry during her 2.5 hour nap! I was also thrilled that she took a long nap after two days of really short naps, especially considering she woke up super early yesterday morning. She woke up at 6:30am on Thursday morning which was much better, and I put her to bed at 7:30 on both nights. I have no idea why the time she gets up varies so much these days even when I'm consistent with her bedtime. I am not sure what effect the clock change will have on her starting tomorrow. She had one accident yesterday while I was out shopping. Paul's parents said she fell on the kitchen floor and peed as she got up from that so they think that's why she wasn't able to hold it that time. This was the only accident she had all day yesterday!!  Last night she needed to poop. She kept telling us that, but she didn't go although we had her sit on the potty every time she said so. I haven't changed a poopy diaper since Sunday! She had one poop accident in her underwear on Monday, went in the potty on Wednesday and Thursday, and didn't go on Tuesday or Friday. She only peed twice yesterday over a span of 13.5 hours - once in the potty and once on the kitchen floor. She definitely didn't get that from me, LOL. I go to the bathroom very frequently - not as often as when I was pregnant although still more than usual since I'm drinking way more water than I usually do due to nursing. I feel very encouraged about her potty training and am hoping to see continued progress this weekend.

It was also great to be able to get out of the house for the first time since Sunday. Paul's parents came up about 10:45am. I took a nap from about noon-1pm. I would have slept longer, but Ian was crying. I have to say though that just that one hour of sleep made a HUGE difference in how I felt. A little after 3pm I drove to the mall. I picked up the photos at Sears.  I gave some to Paul's parents, and we already have two of them in frames in the family room. I love them!!! The photographer who took them was the one who was there yesterday afternoon. I wrote down her name (Karen) so that I can request her the next time I make an appointment. She did a great job! I plan to take Ian again once he's smiling rather easily, and I plan on taking Nadia again when she turns 2 years old.

I went to Target and bought Nadia another potty (which is much easier for her to sit on and with the lid down it doubles as a step stool for her to use at the sink) and some training pants (underwear that's a little thicker in the middle). I'm planning on having her in underwear more today in preparation for church tomorrow morning. As I passed by the dollar bins at Target, I saw Easter hats. I bought four of them (white, pink, and purple). She looks SO cute in them! I can't wait to post pics. A very well spent $4. I also got her a pair of bunny ears (that she wore as a necklace last night instead of on her head, LOL) and Curious George (aka "monkey") socks - all from the dollar bins. I didn't even look in many of the bins. I just saw these as I was walking by. I want her to wear hats with her dresses to church some this spring. We'll see if she'll keep the hats on or not. :-) She didn't cooperate last night for a photo which was a shame as she was wearing a super cute 2T dress and looked adorable in the hat. Hopefully I'll have more success today with getting a good photo (although she won't be wearing that dress again today). After I was done at Target I started the drive home and stopped at the grocery store en route. I was gone about 95 minutes total. Ian got two bottles yesterday (more than usual), but it was worth it so that I could have a nap plus go shopping. I ended the day feeling oh so much better than I did when it started. It was also nice to have more adult interaction (chatting with Paul's parents) as I had very little of that Monday-Thursday.

Last night also went much better than the previous night. Ian slept from 8:50pm-1:20am and then from 2:30-5:20am. I got almost 7 hours of sleep!

The final piece of good news would be that Ian gained 1 ounce yesterday!! He weighed 8lb 6oz this morning. Hopefully he'll do the same today. :-)

3 Months Old!

Ian turned 3 months old today. He wouldn't even be 2 months yet if he had come on his due date. He's still a little peanut. He has outgrown some of his newborn size clothing, but most of it still fits him. He can wear size 0-3 month onesies, but that's all that fits him of that size thus far. What he's wearing in this picture is a newborn onesie (underneath), 0-3 month onesie (his Grandma got him both onesies when he was in the hospital), newborn pants that I got him, and socks that were once Nadia's.

Yesterday He spent a couple of hours outside with Nadia and I (not at one time but over the course of the day). He did a great job! I held him for part, had him on the deck in his gym for part, and had him on a blanket near the swing set for part. He seems to enjoy the outside just like his big sister. We shall see if he shares her love for digging in the dirt, swinging, going down the slide, and collecting rocks. It was raining today so we didn't go out, but Nadia enjoyed playing with 4 rocks she brought in the house yesterday. I'm already grateful for our new fence!

Up until this week he had been doing better as far as sleeping - a 5-6 hour stretch plus another shorter one (usually 90 minutes) at night in his Nap Nanny plus he's up to two naps a day in there as well although the length is extremely variable, in part due to Nadia waking him up sometimes. Last night I think he wanted to stay up all night to celebrate turning 3 months old. He slept from 8:15-11:15pm and 12:30-2:30am, and that was it. I was not a happy camper that I couldn't get him to stay in the Nap Nanny for more than 5-10 minutes past 2:30am. I got less than 5 hours of sleep. :-( Hopefully soon he'll get back on track with sleeping at night. He's getting better during the day at spending time in the gym and Bumbo. His smiles are absolutely gorgeous, and he's just started a little bit of social laughter. He's laughed in his sleep for a long time. He's also beginning to do some cooing with me. I love it! He moves all around his gym, but isn't rolling over yet. We need to get working on tummy time more. He's not spitting up as much as he used to, so that makes me think we can put him on his tummy more. Hopefully he'll start enjoying it more. He's very happy when his diaper is being changed; he dislikes getting dresses if it involves anything going over his head, and he absolutely HATES baths.

He weighed 8lbs 5oz this morning. I was very upset at first as I was hoping to see at least 8lb 8oz and hoping for closer to 8lb 10oz. It means he only gained 5.5 ounces over the past 11 days. I felt a little better when I remembered that he weighed 7lb 5oz (with a dry diaper at home) the day of his 2 month appt (2/16/10) and he weighed 7lb 3oz at the doctor's office without any diaper on. I'll weigh him again on the 16th so we can know how much he gained in one month, but at least he has already gained 1 lb. The first 5 weeks  he averaged a gain of 2oz a week so he's doing better than that, but I was hoping for 7 oz a week. The norm for breastfed babies is 4-7oz a week. The pediatrician at his last appt told me as long as he gained 1/2 ounce a day it was okay. That's where he is now. I looked online and the norm from two months to six months old is to gain 1-2 lbs a month. I was hoping he'd gain 2 lbs a month. Nadia gained 4.5 lbs from 2 to 4 months and 3 lbs from 4 to 6 months, and she was primarily nursed during that time span (at most one bottle of formula a day). I just don't know why he's struggling so. I did have her off the shield right around the time she turned 1 month, but she gained 1lb from 2-4 weeks old while on the shield. I began trying this morning again to get him off. I am going to make that my main goal for him next week. Please pray I can get him off the shield and that it's not too stressful for him or I as I've had enough stress from potty training this week. If that doesn't make a difference with him gaining weight I will likely be encouraging Paul and others to give him more formula than he's getting now so that my little peanut will hopefully start gaining weight. I'm hoping he'll weigh 11 lbs by his 4 month appointment. Hopefully that won't lead to him wanting to wean off of me any time soon.

Priorities

When you have two children under the age of two you have to be very conscious about how you will spend the very limited time you have when both children are asleep. This week I've been averaging 6-7 hours a day of "kid free time", which has meant I've been trying to sleep during all of that time. In most instances over the past 3 months I've chosen sleep as my top priority. As one example, that's why we stopped our Netflix membership. Watching tv or a movie is definitely not a priority for me. Usually the only tv I watch these days is what I have on for Nadia (Clifford, Curious George, VeggieTales, or Sesame Street) or what Paul has on from the time Nadia goes to bed until I go to bed (usually Fox News). I should say in both cases I am not really watching the tv but rather it happens to be on while I'm in that same room.

Yesterday I was really, really hoping for a nap. I put Nadia down at a time I thought Ian would also go down easily. Unfortunately he didn't go down as easily as I hoped; however I did have them both down at a time that if they had taken decent naps, I could have had a good nap also. When Ian wakes up after his third stretch (generally between 4-5am), I try to get downstairs ASAP because if he screams too long then he wakes Nadia up. Her waking up earlier than normal doesn't impact how much sleep I get since I'm already up for the day with Ian, but it does impact how much sleep Paul and Nadia get, and when Nadia doesn't get enough sleep she is very cranky all day long. Prior to becoming a Mom, I used to brush my teeth and wash my face when I first got up. That doesn't happen any more due to me rushing downstairs to nurse Ian.

Yesterday once I had both kids down for their afternoon naps I had to decide what was most important to me. I ended up deciding the #1 priority was for me to eat lunch. That only took about 5 minutes so then I decided #2 was to get a shower (for the first time in 2 days) and brush my teeth (first time that day). They were both still asleep after the shower so then I was trying to decide whether or not to blowdry my hair. I decided to blowdry for a few minutes (not completely), and then I finally crawled into bed. I fell asleep but bolted awake 15 minutes later. Nadia was fussing. I stayed in bed about 10 more minutes before I went and got her. By the time I got her, Ian had also awakened. They both had short naps (less than an hour). I just haven't been able to catch a break this week.

Today since Paul's parents will be here I also have to decide what is most important. I'd like a nap. I'd also like to go shopping. I can't be gone too long from Ian as I don't want him to have more than one bottle of formula, and I also don't want to be apart from Nadia too long due to potty training. It will be a tough decision whether to take a nap or go shopping, and if I go shopping where exactly to go. Maybe I'll be able to get a short nap AND go to the grocery store and Sears. We shall see. I am very grateful they're coming up so that it's at least possible for me to do one of these things. Sometimes I wish I had quit my job and we had moved out near PSU for the duration of Paul's doctoral studies, but one negative consequence of that plan would have been that Nadia and Ian wouldn't have gotten to see Paul's parents as often as they do now. I am glad we don't live toooo far from them (about one hour away).

In their DNA?

In each of these instances, Nadia did the "typical" behavior even though  (to the best of my knowledge) she had never seen it demonstrated by anyone else:

1. She took apart the very first Oreo cookie she was given and ate the icing before eating the cookie parts of the sandwich.

2. She started tearing off the paper on her crayons.

3. She climbed up the slide instead of using the steps.

4. She added kicking her legs and pounding her arms while lying on the floor to her crying routine when throwing a tantrum.

I am sure there are more examples, but those are the ones that are coming to my mind at the moment. Are there any you can think of to add to the list?

Yesterday Nadia had 3 accidents and several successes. The first "success" happened early in the morning. She started to pee (wet her Elmo underwear) but used her muscles to stop the flow. I quickly helped her to the potty where she peed a little bit. I was impressed that nothing was on the floor, but I could also tell she hadn't really let hersefl go all the way. Sure enough she had 2 accidents within a fairly short period of time. In the first case she left a trail of pee from where she was playing to the potty (she walked there on her own initiative). The second time she had come over to me to get my attention, but I didn't realize it was in reference to needing to pee because I was walking toward the dining room to put Ian in the Nap Nanny. From 9:00am to 1:00pm she didn't have any accidents (or use the potty). Her underwear was a little damp from her nap so I think the same thing must have happened (started to pee and stopped herself). Her third (and last) accident for the day happened not long after she had gotten up. I admit I was very frustrated after that one.

If I could do it over again, I wouldn't have tried potty training this week. Not because of Nadia, but because of Ian and I. It has been horrible timing that Ian has not been allowing me to sleep well At All this week. I am very tired. Her accidents often happen when I'm nursing Ian. The poor guy has been interrupted SO many times this week when she has had an accident OR when I've thought she looked like she was about to pee or poop and have hastily taken him off of me and set him on the floor. Needless to say he screams every time at the sudden removal of his milk supply and separation from Mommy. His screaming often leads to Nadia crying. So there I am using carpet cleaner for the umpteenth time and both kids are screaming. Fun Times. If I had to do it over again, I'd have waited until May for the first attempt at potty training as hopefully by that time I'll be getting more sleep at night and Ian will be more independent in playing by himself for longer periods of time. After the 3rd accident I was very, very close to throwing in the towel and saying we were done with potty training for a couple of months. However the rest of the day went much better. She didn't have any more accidents, and in the evening she kept telling me "poop." I knew she needed to go and put her on the potty briefly every time that she said that. She didn't go the first few times. I think she was holding it back, but finally the last time she said it (around 6:30pm) I asked Paul to get her to the potty ASAP and this time she succeeded. The thing that made me the happiest was that she was aware of her need to go and told me so BEFORE anything started coming out of her body. So maybe she's close to getting the hang of this?

One of her "strengths" would be that she can go many hours without going to the bathroom (or having an accident) including while she is sleeping at nap time. She also has the necessary communication skills, has learned to "hold it" if she starts to pee in the wrong place, and she is aware of her need to poop. Her weaknesses include that she can't pull down her underwear by herself yet, sometimes she has a hard time getting on her potty by herself, and the biggest two would be that she doesn't pee on the potty even when she has to go (as evidenced by the fact that she has an accident less than 30 seconds after getting off the potty) and that she hasn't expressed to me a need to pee (like she did for pooping this evening).

The M&M's backfired. They caused a lot of tears and tantrums all throughout the day even though many times I gave her one when she took the initiative to sit on the potty. I gave her 5 when she had the peeing success in the morning, and I gave her a LOT (maybe 15?) after the pooping success in the evening. We shall see if that success will help her deal better with the M&Ms today. Right now I regret asking Paul to stop and get some on his way home on Wednesday night. If it doesn't go better with them today, I'll be putting them away. My plan at the moment is to keep trying for 2-3 more days. I want to stay closer to her a greater part of the day (and go back to trying to hydrate her more than usual) so that hopefully she can pee in the potty more often. Paul's parents are coming up today as they haven't seen the kids in 3 weeks. Since there will be two extra people here I figure that I will stay with Nadia whenever I'm not nursing Ian, and someone else can stay close beside her when I am. I also plan to buy her two things at Target - a smaller potty (the froggy one is too wide for her to get on easily on her own) and more absorbant underwear (Wendy recommended that purchase). At this point I have no idea what the end result will be. Maybe she'll continue to make progress and I won't abandon potty training, or maybe I'll decide she wasn't quite ready and start up again in May. We shall see. I'm very glad that I'll have more help the next 2-3 days since Paul's parents will be here today and Paul will be home on Sat/Sun. Potty training a 20 month old by yourself while caring for a 2 month old hasn't been an easy task. At one point yesterday I actually felt like I was going to pass out (after carrying both kids upstairs simultaneously so I could give Nadia a bath as she was very dirty from playing outside). That's how tired I have been this week. I really, really can't wait for both the sleep deprivation stage and intense potty training stage to be over. Both are very unpleasant. At least when I train Ian (and I don't even want to think about that right now, LOL), I should be getting my usual 8-9 hours of sleep a night. :-)

Conspiracy Theory

It feels like the kids are in cahoots with each other to make sure Mommy doesn't get to sleep. On Tuesday Nadia's nap was about 2.5 hours long. As soon as I put her down yesterday, I started trying to get Ian down. It took me a little longer than I hoped, but within 45 minutes of getting her down, he was asleep in his Nap Nanny. I went upstairs to brush my teeth and wash my face for the first time that day. Forget a shower...I was just hoping to at least brush my teeth. I'm not asking for much, right? I then laid down in the hopes of sleeping for an hour, but 5 minutes later Nadia woke up. She hadn't even been down one hour. I traded my nap for outside time with Nadia. I took a monitor outside so I could hear Ian if he woke up. He slept for 2 hours; so if Nadia had taken as long of a nap as she had the previous day, I could have slept 90 minutes. I'll try again today. Unfortunately we got off to a bad start last night as again his first stretch was only 2.5 hours (8:30-11:00pm). At least this time I woke up on my own at 11pm when he started crying. His second stretch was only 2 hours (12-2am), and his third stretch was about 1.5 hours (2:50-4:25).

The good news was that Nadia, who was wearing underwear in the crib for the first time ever, woke up dry! I brought the potty outside, but she wasn't on it much. Mostly she was on the swing and slide. After playing outside for one hour, I brought her inside as at that point it had been 3 hours since she peed. I thought that she would certainly have to go in the near future, so I put her on the potty, turned on VeggieTales, gave her a snack, and went in the kitchen to get the beef stew going in the crockpot. I finished cooking by the time the DVD was done, and Ian was still sleeping so I took her into the bathroom and let her give her doll a bath in a basin of water while she sat on the potty. During that time Ian woke up. I brought Nadia back out to the kitchen. While I was nursing Ian, she got off the potty (which she had been on for about an hour) and as soon as she stood up (on the linolium in front of her toybox) she peed. I wasn't aware of it, but she walked over to me, pointed to the floor, and told me "I peed." I can't believe she was able to hold it 4 hours. I can't do that, LOL! It was very frustrating though that she had just been on the potty for an hour and then 30 seconds later peed on the floor. I didn't have her sit on the potty much the rest of the day, and she had one more accident (about 2 hours later).

So she was out of a diaper for 12.5 hours today (most ever) and during that time she went in the potty twice (peed once, pooped once) and had 6 accidents. I called Paul on the way home and asked him to buy her a big bag of M&Ms as her reward for peeing on the potty (one M&M for each success) and lollipops (she loves the ones they give her at the bank and doctor's office) for when she poops on the potty. He was able to get some M&Ms at CVS but couldn't find lollipops (except he saw DumDums at the grocery store but I was afraid those might be a choking hazard). In some ways it feels like we're making great progress in that she can hold it for long periods of time including while sleeping at nap time, and she's definitely aware of what's going on and can verbalize it. However, in other ways it feels like we're so far away as she seems to prefer going on the floor to the potty. I keep wrestling with whether this is just how potty training goes and I should just persevere for a few more days OR if I should stop and start again in two months. Tomorrow I'm not going to have her sit on the potty for extended periods of time. That isn't working. Hopefully the M&M's will be a good incentive. I'm open to ideas if anyone has experienced something similar with their child!

The last picture in today's post was taken on April 27, 2009. I posted it again to show how much she's grown in the past 10.5 months! Kids just grow up WAY too fast!!!

The Money Saving Mom website is a goldmine. She's going to add a feature where you can just receive certain posts (such as just for certain stores like Kroger or CVS or Walmart). Of the many she posted yesterday I thought the one on stocking up on food and toiletries was good. It's how I've always shopped although in my case on a much smaller scale. One problem I've had the last several years is that we stopped getting a newspaper so I don't get coupons as regularly, which is why I took advantage of one of her offers yesterday for the magazine, All You. I've never heard of it before, but evidently it has TONS of coupons in each issue and her "deal" was to get 40 issues for $28. So I'm giving it a whirl. Hopefully I will be able to use a lot of the coupons in it. I also signed up for the $10 credit at bTrendie. I might use it to get Nadia a Kidorable umbrella. I also signed up for Kraft First Taste, which means I'll now receive coupons from Kraft for new products. Finally, I think I'll take advantage of the free photo book from Picaboo. You have to order it by the end of this month, but you get a 20 page (8.5x11) hardcover photo book (regularly $39.99) for free. All you pay is the shipping ($8.99). I've never made a photo book before, but it looks like a cheaper and faster way of scrapbooking or creating a traditional photo album.

Bumbo Time!

Last night I put Ian down at 8:30pm and immediately went to bed. Usually I hear Ian when he cries, but when he started crying at 11:00pm I was so out of it that not only did I not wake up when he started crying (in the dining room), but when Paul brought him up to our bedroom I didn't get up right away because I was so disoriented I thought I was already nursing . I was very upset when I looked at the clock and realized he had only slept TWO and a half hours. He'll be 3 months old on Friday. He should be able to go longer than that! He was sleeping 5-6 hours the first stretch before we went to Maryland. That hasn't happened the last 4 nights. I want it to resume ASAP!!!! The good news is that for the first time ever, the second stretch was a little longer than the first (almost 3 hours). His third was only one hour long so my day began before 5am once again. Nadia woke up at 5:45. I went and got her at 6am and got her dressed. Then we went downstairs and after trying to go potty I took off her diaper and put on her underwear and fed her in her highchair (whereas she ate breakfast sitting on her potty the last two days.

The photo above shows her eating a popsicle while sitting on you know what this morning. She had an accident at 6:30 (standing on the linolium thankfully). I was surprised as the earliest she had peed the last two mornings was 9:00am (two hours after her diaper came off that morning). Since Paul was still home, I called him and had him clean it up while I was changing Ian's diaper. I figure I had cleaned up all the accidents on Monday and Tuesday so it was his turn. :-) She peed on the potty two hours later. What "worked" this time was letting her give her baby doll a bath in a little basin filled with warm water. I tried letting her listen to the faucet running, but that didn't work this morning. Keeping her hands in warm water did the trick. She didn't cry this time (progress) but again I think she stopped it (not too much in there). We celebrated big time. I took her outside even though it's not that warm yet (supposed to get up to the low 60's again). She had an accident outside within 30 minutes of her success which proved I was right that she hadn't let it all out. Between playing in the dirt (a thrill for her) and the accidents, I decided it was time for a quick bath.

As you can see from yesterday's and today's photos, Ian is now using his Bumbo. He hasn't completely mastered holding his head up while sitting in it, but he's almost there. I am grateful for any time he spends in his gym, swing, or Bumbo as it means more one-on-one time with Nadia, which is especially important this week. I also think it's helping him with his ability to hold his head up plus also his ability to sit up. One added bonus is the time he spends in there he's not lying on his back. Too much time on one's back can affect the shape of baby's head. I don't want that to happen, and he's REALLY not into tummy time. I need to work on his tummy time skills before his 4 month doctor appointment rolls around. Also time on his belly would help him work on his rolling over skills. So many things for such a little guy to work on, LOL! I got out the scale, but I haven't weighed him. I have a love/hate relationship with the scale. It all depends on what news it gives me. I will definitely weigh him no later than Friday so I can know what he weighed on the day he turned 3 months old. It's been 9 days since I weighed him - the longest he's ever gone without being weighed!

About 2 hours after her accident outside, she had an accident on the carpet. She had JUST gotten off the potty (after having been on it a very long time) and was playing with her dollhouse. I carried her to the potty while she was peeing so she finished in her potty. I know that's what most people suggest you do when this happens, but the one downside is that then you have a trail of pee to clean off the carpet. It seems to be the messier way of handling it. Since she had now gone through 3 pairs of underwear, and I only bought 7 pairs, I didn't put any on after that accident. Thankfully I noticed when she looked like she was pooping. I was nursing Ian, but I quickly put him down and rushed her to the potty. I got her there on time! YAY! This was her first time pooping in the potty. She had a #2 accident on Monday and didn't go yesterday. So this morning we had 3 accidents and 2 successes. While I was trying to feed her lunch, she literally looked like she might fall asleep in her highchair so I put her down earlier than usual for her nap, and she fell asleep very quickly. The last two days I put only a diaper on her for her nap, but today I left her underwear on and put a diaper over the underwear to protect the sheets if she doesn't stay dry like she did yesterday. If I can get Ian to go to sleep in the near future, then I am going to take a nap. Please go to sleep, Ian!!! He only took a 45 minute nap this morning so he should be tired. I would love, love, love a long nap, and Paul isn't home today so he won't be the one to wake me up, LOL.