Cereal....the magic potion

As a new mother many people suggest you give your baby cereal as if it was a magic potion. When you are having sleepless nights; well meaning, educated, loving individuals will tell you "Give them cereal."

I read an article when Jack was brand new that said that cereal too early did nothing, that it was linked to childhood obesity, and juvenile diabetes. Now as a person who always struggles/d with weight I did not want to do ANYTHING that would make my children fat so I waited. Jack was never overweight, in fact he was in the 25 percentile for weight. At about 4 months when a friend had asked why I hadn't started cereal I shared my reasoning. To which she responded "Shanny have you seen your son, he's starving! Give that kid some damn cereal." Needless to say we started solids shortly there after and he did just fine.

Fast forward to baby #2, being a good mother I try to keep up with research etc. I read several articles that suggest waiting until the baby is 4-6 months before starting solids and they recommend 6 months. So I was kind of riding the fence about it. My mom had stayed with us and she said "You need to give that baby cereal, he'll sleep better." I quickly told her what I had read and shared that I was going to talk to my pediatrician about it. When we went to the pediatrician she told me you could go ahead and start solids, give it a try, if he likes it fine. If not wait a little while and try again later. I decided that my mom and the fact that the pediatrician brought it up I should try the whole cereal thing. I bought the rice cereal and mixed the cardboard concoction and fed it to Ryan. Surprisingly he ate it, granted he likes food and it shows but most babies spit more of it out than eat it, most of it. Then he promptly passed out. I figured it was what he needed and again I must have been starving my baby. Then he spent the entire night screaming. I thought maybe it was a fluke so I did the cereal again the second night. Again he was up every 2 hours screaming, I was pissed. All these people talk about cereal being God's gift to babies and this is worse than I had it at week 1. Needless to say I made a call to the pediatrician and they said to not give him the cereal for a night and see how he does. HE WAS FINE!!! Thank you people but I am going to wait and for your information cereal is not a magic potion.

The sweetest thing

Yesterday Jack sat in my lap in the living room and he happened to notice our wedding pictures. This was our conversation.

"Mommy that you and Daddy." Jack said as he pointed at the pictures.
"Yep, that was at our wedding."
"You princess."
"Oh because of my dress, that's so nice."
"You B-utifull!! "
"Oh I love you!!"

This might have been one of the sweetest things I have ever heard!!

Toddler Translations

Mommy I not poopy = I most definitely am going poopy in my pants right now and there is nothing you can do about it.
I see it= I would like to hold it, touch it, and possibly break it.
I not sleepy= I am so overtired I am minutes from a complete meltdown so proceed with caution.
I promise= I will try real hard but it's quite possible it is going to happen again any minute.
I no like it= I am most definitely not eating this, most likely I will feed it to the dog, and again there is nothing you can do about it.
It's my turn= Meet my needs RIGHT now!
I show you = Please focus all attention on me RIGHT now!
It's my favorite = I like it awhole lot and don't even think of taking it away or me sharing it in any way shape or form.

and my son's new personal favorite: No girls, only boys = You mommy are not allowed to touch it,do it,look at it, etc.

The Potty Pirate

Arrrghhh....Blimey, teaching ye little ones is enough to make a Captain want to drink ye self sick with grog or take a trip to Davey Jones Locker.

Yesterday was day 2 of the "Potty Project". The morning started out fantastic, Jack woke up by going to the bathroom right away. He ate breakfast and then of course when I tried to get him dressed he did his typical "Nudie Dudie" dance and ran from me. I decided FINE~ don't get dressed. He then was asking for a pull-up so I was pretty sure he had to poop. So I made him walk around naked. Well he must have been afraid I would make him walk the plank because he eventually pooped on the potty. I was stoked. He stayed dry through nap. But from 4:00 P.M. to 5:00 he managed to pee on my carpet twice, the couch, the hard wood floor, and his train table. Needless to say, I was excited to have back up. The evening ended okay.

On a side note, my favorite thing he said yesterday was a run on sentence of sorts. A two year olds mind runs rampant. He often jumps from one topic to the next. Everyday I ask Tom and Jack "Did you have a good day?" So "Have good day." has become one of Jack's sayings. He also because of potty training has been constantly fiddling with his pee-pee. As he stood before me naked he said "I touch my pee-pee, have a good day, I go work......" Well I am sure for some people they have a good day if they touch their pee-pee too.

This morning Jack did not seem to excited about potty training. He did go potty though and then promptly said "I get sticker." Yep....we followed the same procedure. He generally has his BM about 15 minutes after he eats so I got him undressed. I had him sit on the potty, he peed but no poopy. He asked for a pull-up but I told him after you get dressed. Needless to say it was taking a while. I wanted to shower so I put the potty chair in the living room in front of Dora and the other potty chair in my bedroom in front of Dora.
"If you have to go poopy, sit on the potty. Okay? Where does poopy go?"
"In da potteee. Otay Mommy."
I went upstairs to shower. When I came out Jack was in my bedroom. I asked him "Did the poopy come yet?" "Nope" I made him sit on the potty and it still didn't come so I thought maybe he didn't need to poop so I got him dressed. When we eventually went back downstairs it took me a little while but then I finally noticed it....The poopy was on my hard wood floor.
"Jack did you go poopy on Mommy's floor?"
"Uh huh."
" Where does the poopy go?"
"In da-potteeee"
"Why didn't you tell Mommy?"
" I don know."

Fast forward to leaving the house. I try to convince Jack to put on a pull-up just in case but he insisted on wearing his Superman underwear. So I let him. As we were pulling out of my sister in laws he said "Mommy I not go poopy." I asked him if he had to go and he assured me he did not. We got to Costco and I go to get him out and he was soaked. I quickly reviewed the concept of where pee-pee goes and then quickly changed his clothes and put on a pull-up. When we left I didn't think to check his car seat. When we got out at Kohl's he was soaked. I grabbed a pair of shorts and walked to the customer service and paid for the new shorts and into the bathroom we went. I changed the shorts and then promptly put my son on the potty. Well apparently he really had to go and the stream was pretty powerful. He didn't have it pushed down quite far enough. Well those brand new dry shorts quickly became wet pee-pee covered shorts. I took a deep breath wiped them with a wet paper towel. We went back into the store grabbed 3 more pairs of shorts (they were the nylon gym shorts and they were $4.00) finished my shopping and then checked out. Got to the car and changed our clothes AGAIN, sat on an extra t-shirt and headed home. Needless to say the evening went a LITTLE more smoothly. =)

Potty Party

So in hopes of trying to get Jack potty trained I read the book "How to Potty Train Your Child in One Day". The book is a very practical guide of how to do it, with ideas, tips, etc. Needless to say it consists of having a "Potty Party" which in toddler understanding it means FUN. You spend the morning teaching a baby doll how to use the potty, reading potty books, videos, etc along with playing with your child. The book suggests a theme and the games and treats all reflect your theme. At lunchtime you have a BIG KID celebration for the doll and then in the afternoon you basically repeat the process with your child. At the end of the day you take it on the road for your child's BIG KID celebration.

I bought the Potty Scotty doll the book recommends. Potty Scotty is blond with a mullet of sorts. You feed him water and it fills his leg. Yes his leg. When you then make Scotty sit down he urinates out of his uncircumcised penis. He is anatomically correct, he even has wrinkles on his sack. The problem with Scotty is if you move his leg in ANY way he leaks, pees, etc. Part of the process is to have the child feel Scotty's underwear to feel what dry underwear feels like....because of Scotty's constant leaking it doesn't feel dry too often. Luckily Jack didn't seem to notice to much. I guess after peeing in your pants for two and a half years there are various stages of dry. Scotty's leaking didn't seem to bad. =)

Saturday morning we started Captain Jack's Pirate Potty Party. The bathroom was labeled the "poop deck" the couch was the "Captain's Quarter's" and the kitchen was the "Galley". We had pirate wear including eye patches, hooks, hat, and swords. Tom's tool box was turned into a treasure chest. Our Pirate Potty treats included gummy words, gold fish, and m& m's. We played walk the plank, cannon ball pop, and treasure hunt. We decorated the bathroom with streamers (which was a big hit). Every time we went into the bathroom Jack would laugh with delight "STREAMERS!" I had four potty books and two potty videos. A potty chart with stickers for Jack and Scotty. We were set. All in all it went very well. Jack was excited about Scotty going potty and every time Scotty had to go so did Jack. (The books says not to force your child but I figured hey...if he wants to why not) The only accident in the morning was a poopy. The poor baby had sat on the potty for three books, three songs and flashcards when he said "Mommy I tried." So I said okay, well let me know if you have to go again. So a little while later while he was playing he said "Mommy I go poopy" Needless to say we were already in process. We took Scotty to McDonalds for lunch, which was a treat. After eating I suggested we take Scotty potty. I whipped out the fold able Diego potty seat for Scotty and Jack insisted he go first- Naturally! Both Jack and Scotty successfully pottied at McD's. We came home for a nap.

Believe me we needed it. I was exhausted. We had planned Jack's big kid celebration for 5:30 at Chucky Cheese. Jack napped from 1:30-3:30. He stayed dry during nap. Got up and we continued. Daddy and Ryan came home and he showed Daddy how to use the potty. We then took the show on the road. We got to Chucky Cheese , where he had never been before, and he was mesmerized. Unfortunately he was so enthralled he had his first pee accident. You could tell he was heart broken. So we changed our clothes. It went okay, Mommy made a mistake and didn't pull his pants down far enough one time so he had to change. Needless to say we changed twice at Chucky's before we went to a pull up. To top the cake off, he went home with Grammy and Papa and his cousins. He did pretty good at Grammy and Papa's with the only accident again being a poopy.

All in all it was worth the time and energy....we are working on it. Today is day 3 of underwear and so far so good. Stay tuned for potty posts. =)

Musings of a Mommy

So I think that my oldest may be getting a touch of sibling rivalry. Whenever we are talking to, holding, etc his younger brother he has to insert himself completely into Ryan's face or our faces. While I don't want him to feel left out I have a thing about personal space. I am not a fan of "close talkers" and that is precisely what Jack has been doing. Not sure what to do about it...

I have been reading books on parenting. It suggested asking them if they understand instead of chance to say NO. So I tried it...it works but the book never said what to do when they do say NO. Especially when it is something you know they understand-like pick up your toys.

The things Jack has been saying lately that humor me

• watch me, you watch me
• no monsters in der?
• I'm (fill in the blank: fireman, superman, etc) you (fill in the blank)
• That's my favorite
• You my friend? He's my friend.
• My broder sleeping, bit, (which means spit up....I kept tell him Ryan can't bite yet) crying, etc.

Ryan is growing like a weed. He is not even four months yet and he is starting to bust out of 6 month clothes. He also has so many fat rolls in his chin he has what can only be called a diaper rash between the rolls. =( He is starting to coo and laugh constantly which is so fun to watch. He is so good natured.

All in all I am feeling completely blessed.

7-12 Thing that are cute and funny now

May not be as funny or cute in 10-15 years.

We have several close friends that their children are close in age to Jack and Ryan. We have spent tons of time together with the kids and they play very well together and they in turn are pretty close. This past weekend we found ourselves laughing because we realized these children will be life-long friends and these behaviors may not be funny later.

• They take baths together, all six of them have seen each other naked multiple times. After bath they partake in streaking through my house.
• Being helpful Jack and Alex tried to catch a naked Andi and hold her so she could get her diaper on.
• Jack was lifting Anderson's shirt to kiss her belly, then Anders on lifted her own shirt so he could kiss her belly.
• I was defending Jack because he was kissing and hugging all his friends and they were tired so they were getting tired. Tom yelled at Jack and I said "He is just being affectionate." I was reminded by our friends that when Jack is a teenager and I walk in on him with his friends he may try to use "I was just being affectionate."

Needless to say they keep us entertained.