12-20-06
OK, in spite of all my whining, Jessie seems to have done pretty well in the potty training. It makes me glad,
after the fact, to have gone through all the trouble even if it might have been easier to wait. We started on the 10th,
she went about 3 days of all accidents and then finally had ONE success - that kick started something because she had more
successes after that. Then I think she was starting to try to judge when she needed to go rather then just run for the
bathroom everytime she thought she might have to go because she was having more accidents again. By about last Friday,
the 15th, she was doing pretty well and she even went out to the doctors and a restaurant and came back with a dry diaper.
On Monday she tried out daycare with the whole potty training thing in mind and she did have 1 accident there, but otherwise
did well. The next day I took her to the doctor (for Ash's well child visit) and bravely had her in underwear with lots
of clothing changes available. She did awesome with not one accident! Later we went out to Farma's house and they
all went out in the car to look at neighborhood lights and she said she had to go potty in while they were out but she held
it until they got back. One thing I'm noticing is that her clothes don't fit like they did! Many of her pants
are falling off her little butt-less figure now and we cannot use the overalls or onsies so I've had to clear a bit out of
her closet. She also is not a fan of all those dresses and tights that I've got for her so I'll need to figure out a
way to change her mind there! :) So... now I'm thinking overnight. "They" say that you just wait for them to wake
up dry but to that I say YA RIGHT. I've seen what happens when you condition a kid to wear diapers overnight.
Oh, and does anyone know who makes TINY underwear? The smallest sizes look like she is wearing clown skivvies.
I've got a page in the scrapbook for her training. LOL! Go check it out.
12-15-06
Sooo... maybe I should update. I have been on vacation for a week, afterall. Oh, ya, a vacation with the
kids at home is not actually EASIER then going to work. (And I do mean that it is not easier, however it is much more
lovely to be at home with the kids.)
Anyway, Jessie has been having fun being at home with me. She sleeps in until about 10 or 11 though, which is causing
large amount of havoc on the rest of our schedule. She doesn't want to nap at 1, of course, so I push it back to 2,
but even then she doesn't feel tired. Then at night she is over tired and doesn't go to sleep then either, then she
is up until midnight and sleeps until 10 or 11 again. I am also confusing her with what "lunch" and "breakfast" are
because when she wakes up just in time for lunch, she wonders why I'm offering her, oh, grilled cheese when she wants cereal
or eggs.
We are also doing potty training. Kinda. I've been resisting posting about it because really, I hate potty
training. I hate the concept of being stuck at home and falling asleep on the edge of the bathtub while I wait for a
child who has just made the "I have to go potty." claim to produce. I hate forcing a not-angry face when the same child
gets off the toilet 3 hours later only to go downstairs and pee on her chair during dinner. I hate the whole fussiness
of it when I just know in the back of my mind that I could just not do it and eventually she, like Gavin, would tell me to
stop using diapers one day because she wanted to use the toilet. THAT was easy. So WHY am I doing it? I
don't know. Because I'm home fulltime for a bit and I figured it'd be a good time. I'm also doing it because Jessie
has been having a horrible time with diaper rash so I think it'll be healthier for her to be out of diapers - potty trained
or not. SO - yes - we had that one very early success a LONG LONG time ago and then baby brother was born and there
has been no sign since of readiness. I just decided to go for it anyway. The first few days it was basically a
not potty trained girl walking around without a diaper on and telling me when I had to clean up after her. Ya, I asked
her CONSTANTLY if she had to go and ya, we sat in the bathroom with my butt falling asleep on the edge of the tub. Nothing.
The third day into it she actually had a success on the toilet and that seemed to prompt her into a bit better action.
(Yay for stickers I guess.) The next morning she was awesome, telling me when she had to go and making it to the toilet
and going right away all morning. Then that afternoon when Gavin and Daddy got home it was back to square one.
It's been pretty much very very very slowly getting better with some "getting worse" in there too. Yesterday she had
her first #2 success on the toilet. I think it actually kinda shocked her but she was quite proud of herself announcing
that she was a very good girl for a bit after that. Of course, now she mysteriously has to go to the bathroom every
time we try to put her down for nap or bedtime. Part of me is screaming to just stop trying to force the issue and wait
for her to tell me she is ready. The other part of me is saying to stick it out at least while I am home. I don't
know. We went out today to the doctor for something and then to Red Lobster (YUM) after that and she was diapered for
the trip. She didn't wet her diaper once the whole time and when we got home she announced that she had to go to the
bathroom so we RAN her up there and she actually did go. I don't know... we'll see. Like I said - I don't really
like potty training.
On Saturday last weekend we went out to the mall to see Santa. (diapered. We didn't actually start the training
until Sunday because I knew we'd be out Sat.) I LOVE the Brookdale Mall Santa because the setup is nice, the Santa is
very nice and realistic and ususally the same guy, and there are NEVER any lines. As always, on Saturday evening we
got to the Santa area and there was no one there besides us and Santa. The kids got to walk up to him and chat and ask
for what they wanted and Jessie got some nice time to warm up to him. She was really really scared right away but still
she knew who Santa was and was excited to see him. She asked for this fairy princess costume. To see the pics,
go to the links page and check out the family scrapbook. I've just been putting the new pictures on that so do check
that out from time to time. After that we went to the food court and I got this great vegi gyro from which Jessie tried
to eat my olive but decided she didn't like the "weird" kind I had. (She LOVES olives!) Then we brought the kids to
the play area and they ran around like crazy people.
OH, yesterday during lunch (breakfast) I was getting her some ham and I had put some cottage cheese on her plate and
left the container at the table and went into the kitchen. Jessie said she wanted more cottage cheese because she ate
all that I had given her so I said I'd be right there. Well, I guess I hadn't gotten there fast enough because when
I did get over there, she had spooned about 3/4ths of a FULL cottage cheese container onto her plate and was busily using
her spoon to pat down the goo so that it was level all the way around her plate with the raised edge. The cottage cheese
cake went pretty much uneaten so I had to dump it all out. Note to self: Do not leave an open container of cottage
cheese anywhere near an unsupervised Jessica. This also goes for olives and pickles, but I knew that already. Speaking
of food, when we went to Red Lobster tonight she had the grilled chicken and steamed vegies but she mostly just ate my trout.
She turned her nose up at the cheesy bisquits!!! WHAT??! Oh, and I tried to get her to eat some avocado from our salads
at lunch today but she wouldn't let me get it anywhere near her. She isn't quite as adventurous as she used to be with
new foods. Maybe that is left over from her trying the salad pepper that came with my gyro when we went to visit Santa.
I TOLD her it was hot but she was holding it and she said "No Momma, it isn't hot, it is cold." I told her it was hot
after you bite into it so she took a little nibble and gave it back to me with this horrid face and drank all her juice. Huh,
I tried to tell her.
