Another whirlwind week come and gone. I seriously stopped in my tracks this morning at the realization that it was already the end of September. Crazy!
Our lives have been even more hectic than usual lately it seems.
Last Monday: appointment with Audrey's ENT to have her tubes checked. All is good.
Last Tuesday: appointment with all 4 of the therapists that evaluated Audrey and the coordinator and discussion of the next steps.
Last Wednesday: appointment with Audrey's pediatrician for her 9 month wellness visit (oops - she was 9 1/2 months+ for this appointment). Both kids got flu shots and Audrey got another shot.
Tim was out of town all weekend last weekend so it was just me and the kids. Somehow we managed to stay busy the entire weekend though, between a haircut for Barrett, grocery shopping, making a few freezer meals (Chicken Chili and Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili) and a lovely visit from my wonderful friend Jen. It'll be Tim's turn this weekend when I have to work all weekend.
This week Audrey came down with something and was home for two days from daycare so Tim and I each had to take a day off to stay home with her. Poor little thing just looked so pitiful, glassy-eyed and hot and just wanted to be held all day. Holding her was like holding a lightbulb, she was so hot. Fortunately she is doing a lot better today, but still not her normal active and happy self.
Work has also been busy since I'm still interviewing applicants for an open position in my department. It's been really hard to find qualified applicants, believe it or not. Whomever the recession has been hitting either isn't in my field or in my area!
We had some good meals this week too so wanted to share the recipes.
Slow Cooker French dip - so easy and delicious. With only a few ingredients (beef, beef broth, french onion soup and beer) really can't be beat. Tim claims it's near the top of his list of favorite meals now.
Carnitas - we poured this packaged sauce on a pork roast and simmered in the slow cooker all day. I try to avoid packaged stuff for both the mystery ingredients and the cost, but it was very flavorful and easy. We served on corn tortillas with sliced avocado and tomatoes. This is probably the last of the garden's tomatoes, as it's turning really cold here some days!
One great development in the last few weeks is that now Audrey is eating table food with us! It's so nice to be able to serve her what we make for ourselves and she's actually a much easier and less picky eater than someone else under 3 feet tall who shall not be named but has the ability to make some mealtimes a nightmare. Some nights little Audrey devours her food and just eats and eats, even picking food off her bib after we've taken her tray off the chair. It's so wonderful to see her eating so well and I can only hope the scale will show this when we weigh her again in a few weeks.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Audrey - Nine months old
Poor Audrey, I never posted an eight month update for her. Neglected second child. And her 9 month photo shoot was an adventure that I wouldn't mind never repeating! She has become such a wiggle worm and was all over the place. Everytime I would try to take a photo, she started crawling forward, propelling herself out of the chair and trying to get away. The photos were exhausting!
Anyway, Audrey at nine months is such a sweet little thing. She has become her own little person in the last few weeks, so unbelievably curious and active.
Food - I had almost given up hope on solids but she has now turned mealtimes around and is eating solids like a champ! Dare I say that she is doing awesome??? In the last month she has eaten pears, plums, peaches, prunes, cauliflower, and parsnips. She also really likes finger foods, although has gagged a few times after eating them. I think the texture gets stuck in her throat. This has happened with the chunkier parsnips I made this weekend and with bread. She's really cut back on her milk consumption, hopefully due to the added solids. I continue to worry about her eating constantly but am optimistic since she seems to really be warming up to and excited about solids.
Sleep - what can be said about her nightime sleep besides that she rocks! She goes down easily at 8pm like clockwork. I wake her at 7am weekdays and she'll sleep until around 8 on the weekends. Naps on the other hand continue to be not so great. Most days she'll just take a few 20 minute catnaps here and there. If we're out and about, she's pretty good with falling asleep in the ergo. But every once in a while she'll surprise us with a really long weekend nap out of nowhere. So hard to predict. She seems to nap best curled up on me or Tim and that sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon to me!
She's really started to show preferences for people and some stranger anxiety. One of her favorite people is definitely her older brother and she's all about watching him and doing whatever he's doing.
Audrey's favorite toys are her musical seahorse and this random clock that I bought at Once Upon A Child, thinking Barrett could better learn numbers and how to tell time. Turns out she loves dumping it over and playing with all the pieces.
Her lateral incisors popped through mid-August and it's so cute to see her little fangs! The middle ones are following soon after though, so no fangs for long.
One of my favorite latest activities of Audrey - crawling! Okay, so that wasn't a development in her ninth month - it happened at 9 months, 2 days, but I'll include it here since it was close enough. She moves slowly, but she's doing it. In the two weeks before she turned 9 months, she became really active as far as moving up and down from sitting to laying, pivoting and reaching.
And since I never updated for her 8 month milestones, here is a photo from Audrey at 8 months!
Anyway, Audrey at nine months is such a sweet little thing. She has become her own little person in the last few weeks, so unbelievably curious and active.
Food - I had almost given up hope on solids but she has now turned mealtimes around and is eating solids like a champ! Dare I say that she is doing awesome??? In the last month she has eaten pears, plums, peaches, prunes, cauliflower, and parsnips. She also really likes finger foods, although has gagged a few times after eating them. I think the texture gets stuck in her throat. This has happened with the chunkier parsnips I made this weekend and with bread. She's really cut back on her milk consumption, hopefully due to the added solids. I continue to worry about her eating constantly but am optimistic since she seems to really be warming up to and excited about solids.
Sleep - what can be said about her nightime sleep besides that she rocks! She goes down easily at 8pm like clockwork. I wake her at 7am weekdays and she'll sleep until around 8 on the weekends. Naps on the other hand continue to be not so great. Most days she'll just take a few 20 minute catnaps here and there. If we're out and about, she's pretty good with falling asleep in the ergo. But every once in a while she'll surprise us with a really long weekend nap out of nowhere. So hard to predict. She seems to nap best curled up on me or Tim and that sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon to me!
She's really started to show preferences for people and some stranger anxiety. One of her favorite people is definitely her older brother and she's all about watching him and doing whatever he's doing.
Audrey's favorite toys are her musical seahorse and this random clock that I bought at Once Upon A Child, thinking Barrett could better learn numbers and how to tell time. Turns out she loves dumping it over and playing with all the pieces.
 |
| Fighting over toys all the time now! |
Her lateral incisors popped through mid-August and it's so cute to see her little fangs! The middle ones are following soon after though, so no fangs for long.
One of my favorite latest activities of Audrey - crawling! Okay, so that wasn't a development in her ninth month - it happened at 9 months, 2 days, but I'll include it here since it was close enough. She moves slowly, but she's doing it. In the two weeks before she turned 9 months, she became really active as far as moving up and down from sitting to laying, pivoting and reaching.
And since I never updated for her 8 month milestones, here is a photo from Audrey at 8 months!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Our LITTLE girl and some serious issues
Boy, two posts in a row about feeling bummed. What a depressing blog, huh? I swear I have a half dozen half-written posts that are much more upbeat but I need to add photos and finish them so in the meantime, I'll just be a Debbie Downer and write yet another depressing entry.
I have had Audrey evaluated by Early Intervention, based on recommendations from her pediatrician and Cleft team. I have been concerned with her, shall we say, extremely petite size and her reluctance to eat and babble so the medical teams and I decided this was something I should pursue.
I met with a developmental therapist, a physical therapist, a nutritionist and a speech therapist over the last few weeks. The news was mixed.
Physically, our Audrey Kate is doing great. She's sitting, crawling, reaching for objects, etc. But the other information wasn't so positive.
As expected, she's little. Like really little. Like 4th-percentile-for-weight little. Everyone is surprised to hear that since she looks so proportional but she is falling off the growth curves. She's 8th percentile for height. In the last month or so, I've started adding 1t of formula to some of her bottles but clearly that's not enough. So now I'm adding formula to all her bottles in an effort to bulk her up. Barrett is small, there's no doubt about it. He's routinely in the bottom 20% of the growth charts, which is still surprising to me. Tim and I are not small people are neither are the majority of our family members. I don't know where he got his little stature from. But he's not alarmingly small like Audrey.
Secondly, her vocalization is just not where it needs to be. She's making sounds that a two month old might make. Pretty much all she's doing is cooing and making "ah-ah" sounds from the back of her throat. Occasionally, we do hear a "mamama" sound but this is rare. I had assumed first that her sounds would be delayed because of the cleft but her speech pathologist at her Clinic told me that the cleft shouldn't influence her sounds. Then I assumed it was probably due to her inability to hear well until she got her tubes placed, but it's been 6 months now and she still hardly makes any noises. She is just a quiet little thing.
Based on preliminary recommendations, the developmental & speech therapist that I met today suggested that the next steps would be to see a medical diagnostic professional to assess her more thoroughly. They thought this might be a endocrinologist or geneticist to see if there are further issues at play here.
I am terrified.
Clefts can come by themselves as just an isolated fluke or they can be a part of a much more serious syndrome. I'd been thinking all this time that we were in the clear and that her small size was just due to her difficulty and reluctance in eating.
Now I am being told that it may be much more than that.
I am trying to get through the day and hope for the best. I will hear the final evaluation of the Early Intervention Team tomorrow and then we'll have to figure out our next steps. I cannot even fathom the thought of my little Audrey having more serious medical issues than we knew she already had. All I can do is hope and pray and try to keep it together.
I have had Audrey evaluated by Early Intervention, based on recommendations from her pediatrician and Cleft team. I have been concerned with her, shall we say, extremely petite size and her reluctance to eat and babble so the medical teams and I decided this was something I should pursue.
I met with a developmental therapist, a physical therapist, a nutritionist and a speech therapist over the last few weeks. The news was mixed.
Physically, our Audrey Kate is doing great. She's sitting, crawling, reaching for objects, etc. But the other information wasn't so positive.
As expected, she's little. Like really little. Like 4th-percentile-for-weight little. Everyone is surprised to hear that since she looks so proportional but she is falling off the growth curves. She's 8th percentile for height. In the last month or so, I've started adding 1t of formula to some of her bottles but clearly that's not enough. So now I'm adding formula to all her bottles in an effort to bulk her up. Barrett is small, there's no doubt about it. He's routinely in the bottom 20% of the growth charts, which is still surprising to me. Tim and I are not small people are neither are the majority of our family members. I don't know where he got his little stature from. But he's not alarmingly small like Audrey.
Secondly, her vocalization is just not where it needs to be. She's making sounds that a two month old might make. Pretty much all she's doing is cooing and making "ah-ah" sounds from the back of her throat. Occasionally, we do hear a "mamama" sound but this is rare. I had assumed first that her sounds would be delayed because of the cleft but her speech pathologist at her Clinic told me that the cleft shouldn't influence her sounds. Then I assumed it was probably due to her inability to hear well until she got her tubes placed, but it's been 6 months now and she still hardly makes any noises. She is just a quiet little thing.
Based on preliminary recommendations, the developmental & speech therapist that I met today suggested that the next steps would be to see a medical diagnostic professional to assess her more thoroughly. They thought this might be a endocrinologist or geneticist to see if there are further issues at play here.
I am terrified.
Clefts can come by themselves as just an isolated fluke or they can be a part of a much more serious syndrome. I'd been thinking all this time that we were in the clear and that her small size was just due to her difficulty and reluctance in eating.
Now I am being told that it may be much more than that.
I am trying to get through the day and hope for the best. I will hear the final evaluation of the Early Intervention Team tomorrow and then we'll have to figure out our next steps. I cannot even fathom the thought of my little Audrey having more serious medical issues than we knew she already had. All I can do is hope and pray and try to keep it together.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Last week I traveled to Wolfsburg, Germany, for work. It was the first time leaving Audrey and only my second overnight trip away from Barrett. Poor Tim had to take on the task of all the childcare duties, which isn't easy. And I knew it was going to be tough to leave the kiddos and a bit exhausting to travel overseas. But I had no idea what was ahead...
It all started with a 9pm flight from Chicago. This part went relatively smoothly. The only hitch was that I had to pump. I thought I would possibly be able to do this in my seat, since it would be nighttime and I can do it pretty discreetly under a blanket, but it felt really awkward, due to the location of my seat and continued meal service. I hogged the bathroom for 20 minutes twice, standing in a gross airplane bathroom attached to a pump. Keeping it classy.
I proceeded from Munich to Hanover via another flight, then took two trains and a taxi before finally reaching the hotel Tuesday night. Total travel time = 19 hours. Total modes of transportation = 6 (1 car, 2 planes, 2 trains, 1 taxi) I was exhausted!
The next two days was our conference. I was unbelievably jetlagged. I guess that's something you get used to the more you do it, but when you average 6 hours of sleep per night and spend a night traveling, the time change definitely catches up to you. I was really struggling to stay awake and feel okay. Plus, pumping in the bathroom during every break wasn't fantastic either.
Of course, just as I was finally starting to assimilate, it was time to return home. That is when the fun really started.
Our first flight was scheduled from Hanover to Frankfort at 8:30am. I was very nervous about the day's flights due to a pending flight attendant strike. So when I randomly woke up at 1am, I thought I'd better check to see if the flight was okay. Sure enough, it was cancelled. I spent the next few hours trying to figure out what to do, going back and forth, and finally decided to wake up my coworker and try to catch the 6:30 flight. I called him at 3am and we left the hotel at 3:30 to depart in his rental car for the airport.
Then the highway was closed. Oh joy. As cute as I think those rural German towns are, I didn't plan on seeing them at 4am!
We ran into the airport and made it to the gate. Relieved, as I continued to see that my flight from Chicago was still on time! I made it to Frankfort, enjoyed all the luxuries that airport provided (tiny dirty bathrooms, crazy crowds and chaos and employees and passengers yelling and overflowing trash cans) only to see that my flight was suddenly delayed as it was scheduled to board. Flights all over the board were cancelled, so I had no choice but to hold out hope for my scheduled flight to eventually make it out. I was seriously concerned that I may be stranded in Germany indefinitely.
At last the gate clerks announced it would be departing! We all herded around like cattle, as if the plane would pull away again and we'd still be stranded there. Just as they were close to opening the doors, someone vomited all over the floor at the gate. And no employee cleaned it so everyone had to walk through/around it to get onto the plane. I alternated feeling like I was on candid camera or in a third world country.
Finally, at 9pm that night (4am German time), I made it home. Total travel time = 25 hours, total awake time = 27 hours. Tim kept the kids awake so I couldn't have been happier than to wake through that door and see all my babies.
I knew Barrett would miss me, which he did. Since I've returned he's been crazy clingy to me and my biggest fan. That could also have something to do with my insane work schedule in the last week since I've returned, including working Saturday and Sunday and working until 10pm Tuesday night.
But I didn't think Audrey would really mind me being gone. Turns out I was wrong. Everyone commented that she just wasn't herself - that she wasn't as bubbly or happy as normal, was much more subdued and that it seemed like she missed me.
Needless to say, after this experience, I don't plan to fly again anytime soon. In all my years of traveling for work (which were a lot, since I traveled non-stop for my first job), this was by far the worst travel experience I had. So happy to be home and with my family again!
It all started with a 9pm flight from Chicago. This part went relatively smoothly. The only hitch was that I had to pump. I thought I would possibly be able to do this in my seat, since it would be nighttime and I can do it pretty discreetly under a blanket, but it felt really awkward, due to the location of my seat and continued meal service. I hogged the bathroom for 20 minutes twice, standing in a gross airplane bathroom attached to a pump. Keeping it classy.
I proceeded from Munich to Hanover via another flight, then took two trains and a taxi before finally reaching the hotel Tuesday night. Total travel time = 19 hours. Total modes of transportation = 6 (1 car, 2 planes, 2 trains, 1 taxi) I was exhausted!
The next two days was our conference. I was unbelievably jetlagged. I guess that's something you get used to the more you do it, but when you average 6 hours of sleep per night and spend a night traveling, the time change definitely catches up to you. I was really struggling to stay awake and feel okay. Plus, pumping in the bathroom during every break wasn't fantastic either.
Of course, just as I was finally starting to assimilate, it was time to return home. That is when the fun really started.
Our first flight was scheduled from Hanover to Frankfort at 8:30am. I was very nervous about the day's flights due to a pending flight attendant strike. So when I randomly woke up at 1am, I thought I'd better check to see if the flight was okay. Sure enough, it was cancelled. I spent the next few hours trying to figure out what to do, going back and forth, and finally decided to wake up my coworker and try to catch the 6:30 flight. I called him at 3am and we left the hotel at 3:30 to depart in his rental car for the airport.
Then the highway was closed. Oh joy. As cute as I think those rural German towns are, I didn't plan on seeing them at 4am!
We ran into the airport and made it to the gate. Relieved, as I continued to see that my flight from Chicago was still on time! I made it to Frankfort, enjoyed all the luxuries that airport provided (tiny dirty bathrooms, crazy crowds and chaos and employees and passengers yelling and overflowing trash cans) only to see that my flight was suddenly delayed as it was scheduled to board. Flights all over the board were cancelled, so I had no choice but to hold out hope for my scheduled flight to eventually make it out. I was seriously concerned that I may be stranded in Germany indefinitely.
At last the gate clerks announced it would be departing! We all herded around like cattle, as if the plane would pull away again and we'd still be stranded there. Just as they were close to opening the doors, someone vomited all over the floor at the gate. And no employee cleaned it so everyone had to walk through/around it to get onto the plane. I alternated feeling like I was on candid camera or in a third world country.
Finally, at 9pm that night (4am German time), I made it home. Total travel time = 25 hours, total awake time = 27 hours. Tim kept the kids awake so I couldn't have been happier than to wake through that door and see all my babies.
I knew Barrett would miss me, which he did. Since I've returned he's been crazy clingy to me and my biggest fan. That could also have something to do with my insane work schedule in the last week since I've returned, including working Saturday and Sunday and working until 10pm Tuesday night.
But I didn't think Audrey would really mind me being gone. Turns out I was wrong. Everyone commented that she just wasn't herself - that she wasn't as bubbly or happy as normal, was much more subdued and that it seemed like she missed me.
Needless to say, after this experience, I don't plan to fly again anytime soon. In all my years of traveling for work (which were a lot, since I traveled non-stop for my first job), this was by far the worst travel experience I had. So happy to be home and with my family again!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Struggles
Somedays I feel like superwoman. Woohoo, I've got this today! I say to myself. Wake at 5am? Yup. Drop two little ones off at daycare? Check.
Conference calls, supervising my staff, meetings with the CFO? I'm on
it. Then it's on home around 6pm to make dinner, give baths, and prep
for the next day., Mixed in with all that is exclusively pumping for my
little girl and cooking up her organic meals fruits and veggies.
But other days, I'm a mess. Dash into the daycare with an unfinished bottle for them to give to Audrey and a clingy son. Email after email, request after request, juggling all the demands from all sides at work. Run out of the office at 6:15 while trying to avoid the eyes of the CFO, who's wondering why I'm leaving "early" only to greet the last kids at the daycare and drag now non-clingy son to the car. I arrive home to try to throw something edible for dinner and the usual nighttime chaos ensues. Grand total of time spent with my children for the day: less than 1 hour.
I've really been struggling lately. Life seems to be moving at warp speed and I'm holding on for dear life.
My current struggles:
1. I'm growing increasingly dissatisfied with Barrett's daycare. He's coming home with some very bad habits, including a potty mouth and aggression and I don't like it! I expected to have to deal with bad language or attitude at some point but didn't expect it out of my 2 1/2 year old. He still seems like a baby to me, but one of his little friends at school is being a bad influence and teaching him things I don't really care for! I have always thought the school where the kids go is the best option but lately I'm starting to wonder if there's a better choice. I hate that the choices other parents are making on how they decide to raise their children is impacting my home, including cursing and discipline. I get that I can't shelter them forever, but I am certainly not crazy about foul language at 2 1/2!!
2. I am also feeling momentously overwhelmed at work. I have been working a ton of weekends and have so many things on my plate right now. I am going to Germany at the end of August for a work trip and have a zillion things to do between now and then. September doesn't look much better, including working several weekends in that month, including Labor Day weekend. This after working the entire 4th of July weekend makes me want to cry in frustration.
3. Also, I can't shut off my non-stop worry about Audrey. We visited her Cleft team last week and received disappointing news again - she is continuing to drop in her weight percentile. Things looked promising at her last appointment but this time, she weighed in at 15lbs, 2oz. This is less than Barrett weighed at 6 months, and he was a peanut too. She isn't a fan of food. Also, she's definitely not where she should be with her speech, which was no surprise to me, but still sad to hear. I'm calling Early Intervention to see if we can start getting her into some speech therapy. The nutritionist also recommended fortifying with formula. This has been a constant recommendation that I've chosen to ignore. But this time I've decided to listen.
I'm a big believer in breastfeeding. I could list all the reasons, but there's just no comparison to breastmilk and I have done so much to allow my children to only drink that. I've always considered it my gift to them, that I sacrificed so much time and effort to give them the very best. Even though I'm away from them all day at work, I felt proud and selfless that I was able to do this for them. I adamantly shook my head to the continuing recommendations that I start adding formula to Audrey's bottles. But after this last appointment, I have to concede.
I guess part of me is realizing that maybe I'm refusing formula for purely selfish reasons. I'm pretty darn proud that Barrett was fed only breastmilk and never had any formula. I wanted to do the same for Audrey. But maybe part of my resistance is because I want to be able to say that she didn't have any formula either. And that's not a good enough reason if her weight is too low and formula might possibly help . So I am going to start giving her some. Anything to bulk this girl up!
So the stress continues. I am looking ahead in longing to next summer, when I am planning on life slowing down a little bit. I am praying for guidance in our lives as we are facing our big decisions.
But other days, I'm a mess. Dash into the daycare with an unfinished bottle for them to give to Audrey and a clingy son. Email after email, request after request, juggling all the demands from all sides at work. Run out of the office at 6:15 while trying to avoid the eyes of the CFO, who's wondering why I'm leaving "early" only to greet the last kids at the daycare and drag now non-clingy son to the car. I arrive home to try to throw something edible for dinner and the usual nighttime chaos ensues. Grand total of time spent with my children for the day: less than 1 hour.
I've really been struggling lately. Life seems to be moving at warp speed and I'm holding on for dear life.
My current struggles:
1. I'm growing increasingly dissatisfied with Barrett's daycare. He's coming home with some very bad habits, including a potty mouth and aggression and I don't like it! I expected to have to deal with bad language or attitude at some point but didn't expect it out of my 2 1/2 year old. He still seems like a baby to me, but one of his little friends at school is being a bad influence and teaching him things I don't really care for! I have always thought the school where the kids go is the best option but lately I'm starting to wonder if there's a better choice. I hate that the choices other parents are making on how they decide to raise their children is impacting my home, including cursing and discipline. I get that I can't shelter them forever, but I am certainly not crazy about foul language at 2 1/2!!
2. I am also feeling momentously overwhelmed at work. I have been working a ton of weekends and have so many things on my plate right now. I am going to Germany at the end of August for a work trip and have a zillion things to do between now and then. September doesn't look much better, including working several weekends in that month, including Labor Day weekend. This after working the entire 4th of July weekend makes me want to cry in frustration.
3. Also, I can't shut off my non-stop worry about Audrey. We visited her Cleft team last week and received disappointing news again - she is continuing to drop in her weight percentile. Things looked promising at her last appointment but this time, she weighed in at 15lbs, 2oz. This is less than Barrett weighed at 6 months, and he was a peanut too. She isn't a fan of food. Also, she's definitely not where she should be with her speech, which was no surprise to me, but still sad to hear. I'm calling Early Intervention to see if we can start getting her into some speech therapy. The nutritionist also recommended fortifying with formula. This has been a constant recommendation that I've chosen to ignore. But this time I've decided to listen.
I'm a big believer in breastfeeding. I could list all the reasons, but there's just no comparison to breastmilk and I have done so much to allow my children to only drink that. I've always considered it my gift to them, that I sacrificed so much time and effort to give them the very best. Even though I'm away from them all day at work, I felt proud and selfless that I was able to do this for them. I adamantly shook my head to the continuing recommendations that I start adding formula to Audrey's bottles. But after this last appointment, I have to concede.
I guess part of me is realizing that maybe I'm refusing formula for purely selfish reasons. I'm pretty darn proud that Barrett was fed only breastmilk and never had any formula. I wanted to do the same for Audrey. But maybe part of my resistance is because I want to be able to say that she didn't have any formula either. And that's not a good enough reason if her weight is too low and formula might possibly help . So I am going to start giving her some. Anything to bulk this girl up!
So the stress continues. I am looking ahead in longing to next summer, when I am planning on life slowing down a little bit. I am praying for guidance in our lives as we are facing our big decisions.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Weekend review
We had a fantastic last weekend. Summertime in Chicago is short but gorgeous. So we try to spend as much of the weekend outdoors as we can. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!
Tim took the kids on a bike ride. It was cute to see two little ones side-by-side!
Our new car!
Just kidding, it was the 911 Carrera S that we borrowed for the weekend. Barrett kept saying "go fast! go fast!" He's definitely his parents' child.
maybe ours for good someday?
Our luck with pools hasn't been too good this summer. We had two punctured and one with a dead bird in. Third time is a charm? We got this cute little giraffe one on sale at Target recently.
Tim took the kids on a bike ride. It was cute to see two little ones side-by-side!
Audrey started chewing on the seat strap so of course our little imitator had to follow suit.
Continuing to work on food with Audrey. If she eats a few spoonfulls I consider it a success!
A big fan of anything Mommy's, especially hats.
Another hat fan?
Audrey's first time in the pool. She liked it!
Monday, July 30, 2012
The theme of last weekend
I'll give you a hint...
Yes, that's right, we started POTTYTRAINING!
So when I make a decision to do something, I go all out. Clearly evidenced by the above picture. I get mildly obsessive and determined and potty training is no different. Enough so that I was still singing Elmo's potty songs in my head the rest of the week "You can do it, you'll use the potty!" And every single one of my dreams the night following involved potty chairs, peeing, accidents, etc. I'm surprised I didn't wet the bed with all that I was thinking about urine.
My mom swore by Potty Training in One Day. She swears it worked for me and so I decided to give it a try. We had bought Barrett some underwear a few months ago and talked to him about going in the potty. He sat on it every day at daycare when the other kids did, would jump up and say "I did it!" but he hadn't done anything. We backed off a little and set a date for when we would try. I got the book about one day potty training from the library, along with a bunch of other children's books and dvds. So we had a plan. I was really nervous leading up to it, since I hadn't done it before and wasn't sure I knew what I was really doing. Barrett is super smart but can also be quite strong-willed so it could be either a hit or a bust.
What I did: I bought juice, fun straws, multiple packs of stickers, balloons and streamers to decorate the bathroom and make it a fun experience, and m&ms. I also bought a Potty Scotty doll. This is an anatomically correct wet-and-drink doll; I cringed while ordering it due to the hefty price tag (like $40) but I figured with Barrett not really understanding what was supposed to happen on the toilet, the doll would help. Plus that's the price of a pack of diapers, so if it worked, we'd be saving money in the long run, right?
But thankfully it's all paying off because Barrett is doing AMAZING. The gist is that the morning is spent concentrating on "potty training" the doll. So Scotty had accidents, went in the potty and got stickers and treats all morning. Meanwhile I pumped Barrett full of juice. Just before lunch, Barrett started saying he wanted to go so sure enough, he did! The first time I saw him go on the potty, I almost cried. Yes, seriously. And he has continued to go since then.
Now, a week later, he has gone without an accident for the last few days. I am so proud. I really think we did this at exactly the right time, that the doll was key and that he's just a smart little cookie who wants to please us (sometimes).
We're not there yet but are on the right track and I'm thrilled with his progress. I really never thought he'd take to it so easily so I am relieved. I'm sure I'm jinxing it by saying this, of course. Hoping he keeps this great progress up!
Yes, that's right, we started POTTYTRAINING!
So when I make a decision to do something, I go all out. Clearly evidenced by the above picture. I get mildly obsessive and determined and potty training is no different. Enough so that I was still singing Elmo's potty songs in my head the rest of the week "You can do it, you'll use the potty!" And every single one of my dreams the night following involved potty chairs, peeing, accidents, etc. I'm surprised I didn't wet the bed with all that I was thinking about urine.
My mom swore by Potty Training in One Day. She swears it worked for me and so I decided to give it a try. We had bought Barrett some underwear a few months ago and talked to him about going in the potty. He sat on it every day at daycare when the other kids did, would jump up and say "I did it!" but he hadn't done anything. We backed off a little and set a date for when we would try. I got the book about one day potty training from the library, along with a bunch of other children's books and dvds. So we had a plan. I was really nervous leading up to it, since I hadn't done it before and wasn't sure I knew what I was really doing. Barrett is super smart but can also be quite strong-willed so it could be either a hit or a bust.
What I did: I bought juice, fun straws, multiple packs of stickers, balloons and streamers to decorate the bathroom and make it a fun experience, and m&ms. I also bought a Potty Scotty doll. This is an anatomically correct wet-and-drink doll; I cringed while ordering it due to the hefty price tag (like $40) but I figured with Barrett not really understanding what was supposed to happen on the toilet, the doll would help. Plus that's the price of a pack of diapers, so if it worked, we'd be saving money in the long run, right?
Now, a week later, he has gone without an accident for the last few days. I am so proud. I really think we did this at exactly the right time, that the doll was key and that he's just a smart little cookie who wants to please us (sometimes).
We're not there yet but are on the right track and I'm thrilled with his progress. I really never thought he'd take to it so easily so I am relieved. I'm sure I'm jinxing it by saying this, of course. Hoping he keeps this great progress up!
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