Adventures in Potty Training

It's been a little over a week since Norah has decided that she was ready to use the potty. It was the early last week that she tried to go potty before taking her bath. We let her sit on the potty and she squeezed out a few drops. We made a big deal about what a big girl she was (note: as soon as her feet hit the bath water she finished peeing). I quickly made her a potty chart (I had gotten everything to do it I just hadn't made it yet) she got her sticker and put it on the chart. She thought that was so cool.

The next night when I came home from work she had spiked a 103* fever out of no where. She wasn't taking the Tylenol that we were trying to give her so the doctor suggested we give her a bath while we waited to bring her in. When we took her upstairs she insisted on trying the potty again. I wasn't expecting much because she was so sick. Well I should set my hopes lower more often! She full out peed on the potty! My mind? It was blown. How could such a sick little girl go for real potty for the first time? I don't know but she did. She got another sticker and was so proud of herself.

She continued on that weekend using the potty about half the time. She even pooped on the potty on the third day. I was like WHA? I thought this was going to be super hard. We had been trying to get her to use the potty for a while now. She has been telling us for months when she was about to poop but she always refused to use the potty saying, "no I poop my diaper. you change my diaper." So yeah I was expecting more of a fight.

We went out and got some pull-ups. She is in love with them because 'Punzel in on them. She gets really mad when she has to wear one that only has Cinderella on it. Why do they have either 3 princesses or just Cinderella? Why can't each of them have their own diaper? Lame.

Anyway we took pull-ups to daycare for her to use. She is still about 50% actually using the potty. Either she does great in the morning not wetting herself or better in the evenings. After a the first few days last week she kind of decided that she just didn't want to try I guess. She threw a huge fit in the morning that she didn't want to wear a pull-up and I noticed on her paper for daycare that she didn't use the potty at all that day. I'm trying really hard to keep her in the pull-ups and I keep asking her if she has to go potty.

I would say she always poops on the potty unless it happens while she napping. Which is good because lets face it I'm tired of changing poopy diapers. The peeing is harder. She gets so distracted playing with friends that she just goes in the diaper.

She's doing a great job though. She has filled two and a half lines on her potty chart. Granted I made short lines because we thought it would be daunting for her to fill up a big line her first time. I made six rows with 5 boxes each. She decided to fill them long ways so she has to get six stickers instead of five before she gets a prize. I guess that's better for us. Last night when she finished a line she said "I cover my eyes and get a prize." She held her hands over her eyes while Mitch went to get her prize. She's such a goober sometimes!

Ok this is long. In summary: potty training is going great and was very unexpected at this time.

Stall tactics of a toddler

Lately, Norah has really be into stalling everything. Mostly at bed time but other times too, like when it's time to eat.

It starts most nights when it's time to go to bed. We let her pick a show (which sometimes can take forever) then we change her diaper and get ready to take her medicine. This is where the stalling usually starts. She HATES her medicine. I can't blame her. It looks toxic and even though we get it flavored grape I'm sure it still doesn't taste all the great. First it's: I no take my medcine night. Then it's: I wanna sit in mommy's lap. Ok so she sits in my lap. Then it's: I wanna sit in daddy's lap. So we switch. Then no I do it MYSELF! Really child? Just pick a spot to sit. Once we get her to sit then it's all with the flailing of the hands in front of her face blocking the medicine dropper. Ugh!

Once that ordeal is over with we watch a show. Most nights we automatically give her a snack while she watches a show. But on nights when we have a late dinner we usually skip giving her a snack unless she asks. Well on those nights she waits until her show is over and THEN asks for a snack. Really? You couldn't ask before now?

Then it's the teeth. First she wants the toothpaste. Then she doesn't. Then she wants to stand. Then she doesn't. Then it's a another 5 minutes standing there telling her to stop messing around and just brush. I know she's a baby and can't really brush but she won't even chew on the toothbrush. It's so frustrating. My SIL is a hygienist and she says that Norah doesn't need toothpaste. But her breath is so RANK in the morning we're trying to help that a little. Any suggestions on keeping baby's breath fresh please let me know.

After we get through the teeth it's time to put her down. She likes us each to sing her Twinkle Twinkle. then we jointly sing her You are my Sunshine. But this all takes another 10 minutes. She wants to run around and hide from us. She wants daddy to tickle her. She needs to "get the sillies out" Then she starts singing that song from Yo Gabba Gabba.

 Oy Vey! Just lay down already child! I timed it one particularly bad night and it took 30 minutes. THIRTY MINUTES! It should not take that long to put a two year old to bed. I can't keep doing this every night. Some one please send help....and wine...

Dinner converstaions with a Toddler

Last night we had the most interesting conversation with Norah. She started out by talking about how the cats get sick:

"Mia get sick. Mia get sick on the floor. Eeeeeewwww. That's gross." (This is all said with a scrunched up nose).

"Yes. Mia gets sick sometimes and throws up on the floor. It's ok. Everyone gets sick sometimes."
"Oh. Yeah. Mia not get sick anymore. Stanley not get sick."

Then she started talking about how she got sick a few weeks ago. "I not sick. My belly feels better. I drink my water, my milk. Make my belly feel better."

"Oh good. Is drinking water making your belly feel better?"
"Yeah. I not sick anymore."

We move on from this topic while she eats the rest of her dinner. We asked if she wanted anything else.

"I waaaaaant....(thinks long and hard) cherries and grapes. Yeah. Cherries and grapes make my belly feel better. You (turns and points at Mitch). You get my cherries. My grapes. Make my belly feel better. You (turns and points at me). You go start my bath."

Yup she's a bossy little thing. After much coaxing we finally got her to ask nicely with a "please." Then she looks at me and says: "I want a purple bath. Purple bath will make my belly feel better."

WHAT!?! Where does this kid come up with this stuff? Seriously I have no idea.
It was lots of fun actually talking to her about things and listening to her remember different things from the past few weeks. Hopefully we can work on the bossy part though.


P.S. We had to settle for a GREEN bath because that was the only color we had left. and her belly seemed just fine with that.