Christmas 2006 I received a gift card to one of the largest spas in the area. I have put off using it until this past weekend. (And the only reason I used it then was because it was going to expire at the end of the year.) Spas just make me nervous. I'm not an outgoing person and generally avoid new experiences. I just feel like I don't belong at a spa. But I decided to suck it up and make an appointment for a pedicure and a pregnancy message. The pedicure was so great. I love the way my toes look. At least I think I do since I really can't get too close to them at this point in my pregnancy. It's too bad that it's too cold to wear sandals now. I might actually have to consider another one come summer time. The message was a little awkward at first but really, how could it not be relaxing. The pillows she used so I could lay on my stomach cracked me up. But in the end it was worth it. All in all, it was a good day. Thanks Ken for watching the Tater.
Update on potty training...one accident in the past two days. Apparently the Halloween craft time at the sitters today was just too much of a distraction. But the big new is that Nate has poo'd on the potty the past two nights. I think he's starting to get the hang of this.
Update on Bug...this kid is growing and I still wish I could keep him/her in there longer. I love being pregnant and even though I can't wait to meet this little one, I already miss the fact that they won't be with me 24 hours a day for much longer.
Big weekend coming up. Trick or Treat Friday night and we are celebrating my Dad and my birthday. (His b-day is October 31 and mine is November 1.) Sunday is Nate's birthday party with family and on Monday Ken and I are taking the day off work so the three of us can do something fun on Nate's actual birthday. It's a cliche to say it, but I can't believe my baby is almost three years old already!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Potty Training - Part II
Update for Potty Training Day 3: 1 poopy accident and several pees on the pot.
For the most part we are depending taking Nate to the potty on regular intervals and not relying on him to tell us when he needs to go. But he did wake up this morning with his practice big boy pants (aka a Pull-Up) only slightly wet and didn't fuss when I made him sit on the potty first thing. We even got a pee! My sister Carrie watched him during the day and said he woke up from his nap dry and eventually went pee on the potty after sitting there crying for several minutes. (She also said she met someone as stubborn as her.) My other sister Mindy watched him in the evening and she got the poopy accident. Apparently Nate didn't even mention it to her after the fact, she just smelled him. When she asked him why he didn't come get her when he had to go, he told her that he forgot. Hmmm, we might have an issue with this eventually. But tonight after he was in bed and Ken was laying down on his bedroom floor "just for a minute", I heard Nate tell Daddy that he had to go pee and low and behold, he came downstairs with a dry Pull-Up and went pee on the potty. Maybe he is getting a hang of this thing after all. My mom and dad are coming over tomorow to spend the day with Nate and give him some more one-on-one attention. Keeping my fingers crossed for another good day!
Quick update on the other kid. I had an my 33 week OB appointment today. Only up one pound from two weeks ago. (I wonder about the scales at the office. Last appointment I gained 7 pounds in three weeks on a different scale.) But blood pressure was still really good and I was only measuring slightly big, around 34.5 or 35 weeks instead of 33.5 weeks. But since no one is expecting this Bug to be a tiny 6 pounder, everything seems pretty normal. Ken and I took a tour of the hospital. It was pretty personal since we were the only two people signed up. All we really have to remember is to park in the Yellow lot and go up the the third floor. I'm guessing the nurses and doctors will really take over from there.
Thanks to my family for all their support with this adventure. I don't know how we would be doing it without you!
For the most part we are depending taking Nate to the potty on regular intervals and not relying on him to tell us when he needs to go. But he did wake up this morning with his practice big boy pants (aka a Pull-Up) only slightly wet and didn't fuss when I made him sit on the potty first thing. We even got a pee! My sister Carrie watched him during the day and said he woke up from his nap dry and eventually went pee on the potty after sitting there crying for several minutes. (She also said she met someone as stubborn as her.) My other sister Mindy watched him in the evening and she got the poopy accident. Apparently Nate didn't even mention it to her after the fact, she just smelled him. When she asked him why he didn't come get her when he had to go, he told her that he forgot. Hmmm, we might have an issue with this eventually. But tonight after he was in bed and Ken was laying down on his bedroom floor "just for a minute", I heard Nate tell Daddy that he had to go pee and low and behold, he came downstairs with a dry Pull-Up and went pee on the potty. Maybe he is getting a hang of this thing after all. My mom and dad are coming over tomorow to spend the day with Nate and give him some more one-on-one attention. Keeping my fingers crossed for another good day!
Quick update on the other kid. I had an my 33 week OB appointment today. Only up one pound from two weeks ago. (I wonder about the scales at the office. Last appointment I gained 7 pounds in three weeks on a different scale.) But blood pressure was still really good and I was only measuring slightly big, around 34.5 or 35 weeks instead of 33.5 weeks. But since no one is expecting this Bug to be a tiny 6 pounder, everything seems pretty normal. Ken and I took a tour of the hospital. It was pretty personal since we were the only two people signed up. All we really have to remember is to park in the Yellow lot and go up the the third floor. I'm guessing the nurses and doctors will really take over from there.
Thanks to my family for all their support with this adventure. I don't know how we would be doing it without you!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Potty Training - Part I
Well, we finally took the plunge. We've tried potty training several times without much success and giving up fairly easily. (I looked back in Nate's baby book - aka the bunch of post it notes I have thrown inside his baby book- and there are notes about how he was going poo and pee on the potty in September...of 2007.) But this past weekend we dove into potty training and we're not looking back!
Since we've tried this in the past and did not get very far, I decided that we should try something different. There is a book about "Potty Training in One Day". The basic idea is that you have a big party for your toddler and focus the whole day around potty training. So the night before we started training, Ken and I decorated the bathroom with streamers and balloons, wrapped up the new doll that Nate was supposed to train to use the potty in the morning, got the treats and surprises all wrapped up, and laid out the potty videos and books we got at the library.
Sunday morning we hear Nate start talking so Ken and I muster up all the enthusiasm that could possibly be had at 7:30 am and rush into Nate's room and tell him there is a surprise for him downstairs in the bathroom. Now, the book said as long as you are excited about the doll, the child will be too. Nate tore downstairs and could care less that there was a wrapped present inside for him. All he wanted were the balloons that we had used to decorate for the "potty party". He finally opened the doll but really could care less. I ended up naming the doll Pete for him. We were supposed to start watching potty videos and reading potty books and getting Nate and Pete both excited about being big boys. I was thinking this would be great because Nate loves to watch TV. We had Elmo's Potty Time and Bear in the Big Blue House Potty DVDs along with some potty video from Huggies. Nate unenthusiastically chose Elmo to watch and five minutes into it, he was complaining that he didn't want to watch it, he wanted to watch Blue's Clues. We convinced him to leave Elmo on for awhile.
The next step is that the child is supposed to teach the doll to use the potty. So Ken and say that Pete has to go potty and Nate should show him how to go on the potty. Success! Nate buys into the whole thing about the doll going pee on the potty. After Pete went on the potty, we picked out a sticker to go on Pete's potty chart. Then the treat. The book explains that the child will pick out a treat for the doll and if the child promises to use the potty "someday" then the child can have the dolls treat. So Nate picked out a treat for Pete but then wanted to pick out a treat for himself. We were very, very near tears and a total meltdown as we tried to explain that the treats were for using the potty and Pete has used the potty. I think he had picked his least favorite treat to give to Pete and was looking for a good one for himself.
After another 30 minutes or so of trying to get Nate to train Pete to use the potty, we gave up on the concept. It just wasn't working for Nate. So out came the new big boy pants for Nate and on they went. We spent the rest of the day running to the potty and practicing going. Two big wet accidents the first day and couple of little ones. But there were several successes along with two poos on the potty! Today my parent's came over and watched Nate with about the same amount of successes and accidents as the day before. Tomorrow my sisters are tag teaming since I have a doctor's appointment at 3:30 and then Ken and I tour the maternity ward at the hospital in the evening. We are so lucky to be able to have family pitch in like this with the training. We're hoping to have Nate trained well enough to go to the sitter's on Wednesday or Thursday without too much back tracking.
So this is the last of the three big hurdles I wanted to have tackled with Nate before the baby arrives. The binky fairy took the binkies at the end of the summer. He started sleeping in his big boy bed a couple of weeks ago. And now potty training. Is his third birthday really only two weeks away?!?
Since we've tried this in the past and did not get very far, I decided that we should try something different. There is a book about "Potty Training in One Day". The basic idea is that you have a big party for your toddler and focus the whole day around potty training. So the night before we started training, Ken and I decorated the bathroom with streamers and balloons, wrapped up the new doll that Nate was supposed to train to use the potty in the morning, got the treats and surprises all wrapped up, and laid out the potty videos and books we got at the library.
Sunday morning we hear Nate start talking so Ken and I muster up all the enthusiasm that could possibly be had at 7:30 am and rush into Nate's room and tell him there is a surprise for him downstairs in the bathroom. Now, the book said as long as you are excited about the doll, the child will be too. Nate tore downstairs and could care less that there was a wrapped present inside for him. All he wanted were the balloons that we had used to decorate for the "potty party". He finally opened the doll but really could care less. I ended up naming the doll Pete for him. We were supposed to start watching potty videos and reading potty books and getting Nate and Pete both excited about being big boys. I was thinking this would be great because Nate loves to watch TV. We had Elmo's Potty Time and Bear in the Big Blue House Potty DVDs along with some potty video from Huggies. Nate unenthusiastically chose Elmo to watch and five minutes into it, he was complaining that he didn't want to watch it, he wanted to watch Blue's Clues. We convinced him to leave Elmo on for awhile.
The next step is that the child is supposed to teach the doll to use the potty. So Ken and say that Pete has to go potty and Nate should show him how to go on the potty. Success! Nate buys into the whole thing about the doll going pee on the potty. After Pete went on the potty, we picked out a sticker to go on Pete's potty chart. Then the treat. The book explains that the child will pick out a treat for the doll and if the child promises to use the potty "someday" then the child can have the dolls treat. So Nate picked out a treat for Pete but then wanted to pick out a treat for himself. We were very, very near tears and a total meltdown as we tried to explain that the treats were for using the potty and Pete has used the potty. I think he had picked his least favorite treat to give to Pete and was looking for a good one for himself.
After another 30 minutes or so of trying to get Nate to train Pete to use the potty, we gave up on the concept. It just wasn't working for Nate. So out came the new big boy pants for Nate and on they went. We spent the rest of the day running to the potty and practicing going. Two big wet accidents the first day and couple of little ones. But there were several successes along with two poos on the potty! Today my parent's came over and watched Nate with about the same amount of successes and accidents as the day before. Tomorrow my sisters are tag teaming since I have a doctor's appointment at 3:30 and then Ken and I tour the maternity ward at the hospital in the evening. We are so lucky to be able to have family pitch in like this with the training. We're hoping to have Nate trained well enough to go to the sitter's on Wednesday or Thursday without too much back tracking.
So this is the last of the three big hurdles I wanted to have tackled with Nate before the baby arrives. The binky fairy took the binkies at the end of the summer. He started sleeping in his big boy bed a couple of weeks ago. And now potty training. Is his third birthday really only two weeks away?!?
Monday, September 29, 2008
Only two more months
So when I started this blog, I thought it would a good place to record my life so I could look back someday and try to remember what is was like at this point in time. So the end of September is here and the baby's due date is is December 5...that's just over two months away. I don't have a blog to look back on to see what life was like 2 months before Nate arrived but I think I remember pretty well.
Two months before Nate was born I had read probably 3 or 4 different books on pregnancy and started reading about what the expect during the first year of life. I had researched all the baby gear and carefully chosen the best while keeping a handle on price. I'd debated and returned at least one bedding set and most likely had the nursery all set with the final choice. We'd decided on a name and everyone knew "who" would be making the grand entrance at the beginning of November. We had finished our childbirth class and taken and class on breastfeeding. I had worried and fretted about labor and exactly how I would feed the new baby. Ken and I ate out as often as possible and saw lots of movies figuring that it was our "last chance" to get out as just the two of us.
Two months before Bug is expected to make and appearance I have reread about 5 chapters of one of my old pregnancy books. (And I think they were all prior to twenty weeks.) I'm haven't researched any baby gear because we still have all of Nate's from three years ago and that was researched thoroughly. (Although at some point I'm going to get new bottles most likely because Nate's Avent bottles are not BPA free and - bad mommy- they were sometimes microwaved to get breast milk up to room temp.) No new bedding for the baby. The nursery will pretty much stay the same and Nate will move into his new big boy room...eventually. His bed was here two weekends ago but it wasn't quite right. The loft couldn't be "unlofted" so they came back this past Saturday to take it back and fix it and it will be back this Saturday along with the dresser we originally ordered too. As for names, we got nada right now and since we don't know the gender, we got double nada. No classes this time but since we will be delivering at a different hospital this time, I think we'll probably try to do a tour sometime before delivery. I have thought about this delivery alot because I am trying to decide if I really want to attempt a VBAC this time or have a repeat C-section. But since I really want to see where I am closer to delivery, I guess I haven't thought about it that much. Ken and I have been able to eat out alone a couple of times this past summer thanks to our generous families watching Nate and we even saw one movie. (Maybe we can get one more movie in during the next two months?)
What's the same between my life now and my life three years ago? I was so thankful for the opportunity to be spending 24 hours a day with the little life that was/is growing inside me. I love you Nate for who you were then and who you have grown to be already. I love you Bug (as you give me a couple of little kicks right this minute) and I can't wait to find out who you will be.
Two months before Nate was born I had read probably 3 or 4 different books on pregnancy and started reading about what the expect during the first year of life. I had researched all the baby gear and carefully chosen the best while keeping a handle on price. I'd debated and returned at least one bedding set and most likely had the nursery all set with the final choice. We'd decided on a name and everyone knew "who" would be making the grand entrance at the beginning of November. We had finished our childbirth class and taken and class on breastfeeding. I had worried and fretted about labor and exactly how I would feed the new baby. Ken and I ate out as often as possible and saw lots of movies figuring that it was our "last chance" to get out as just the two of us.
Two months before Bug is expected to make and appearance I have reread about 5 chapters of one of my old pregnancy books. (And I think they were all prior to twenty weeks.) I'm haven't researched any baby gear because we still have all of Nate's from three years ago and that was researched thoroughly. (Although at some point I'm going to get new bottles most likely because Nate's Avent bottles are not BPA free and - bad mommy- they were sometimes microwaved to get breast milk up to room temp.) No new bedding for the baby. The nursery will pretty much stay the same and Nate will move into his new big boy room...eventually. His bed was here two weekends ago but it wasn't quite right. The loft couldn't be "unlofted" so they came back this past Saturday to take it back and fix it and it will be back this Saturday along with the dresser we originally ordered too. As for names, we got nada right now and since we don't know the gender, we got double nada. No classes this time but since we will be delivering at a different hospital this time, I think we'll probably try to do a tour sometime before delivery. I have thought about this delivery alot because I am trying to decide if I really want to attempt a VBAC this time or have a repeat C-section. But since I really want to see where I am closer to delivery, I guess I haven't thought about it that much. Ken and I have been able to eat out alone a couple of times this past summer thanks to our generous families watching Nate and we even saw one movie. (Maybe we can get one more movie in during the next two months?)
What's the same between my life now and my life three years ago? I was so thankful for the opportunity to be spending 24 hours a day with the little life that was/is growing inside me. I love you Nate for who you were then and who you have grown to be already. I love you Bug (as you give me a couple of little kicks right this minute) and I can't wait to find out who you will be.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Nate sings! Baby Bug kicks!
Okay, just a quick update. (Life has been busy lately.) As much as love hearing little kids sing, my son just does not like to....until the last week. He'll now sing "Rain rain go away, come back some udder day" pretty much upon request. It is the sweetest song my ears have ever heard. e(I've also caught him secretly singing the opening song to the Backyardigans a couple of times and was laughing until I cried. Maybe there is a reason Nate tells me he can't sing...it really was pretty off key but adorable anyway.)
As for Baby Bug, he/she is definitely getting stronger. Those cute little movements I started feeling just a few weeks ago have given way to kicks and jabs. I keep telling myself to savor every minute because I really do love being pregnant and this may be my last baby but how cow some of those pushes really catch me off guard! I had an OB appointment yesterday and everything is still looking good and I'm measuring just a little bit big. Dr. L said I most likely wouldn't be having a six pound baby and I totally agreed.
As for Baby Bug, he/she is definitely getting stronger. Those cute little movements I started feeling just a few weeks ago have given way to kicks and jabs. I keep telling myself to savor every minute because I really do love being pregnant and this may be my last baby but how cow some of those pushes really catch me off guard! I had an OB appointment yesterday and everything is still looking good and I'm measuring just a little bit big. Dr. L said I most likely wouldn't be having a six pound baby and I totally agreed.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Labor Day 2008
Growing up, Labor Day was always a major holiday at our house. I lived in a small town and like many small mid-western towns, we have one "major" festival each year. In my hometown, that festival is Labor Day weekend. Covering both blocks of our downtown, there are rides, games, food, and a stage where local musicians, dancers, and entertainers of all sorts perform. The high school marching band plays at an ice cream social at the old train depot. The local scholarship/beauty pageant is held in the high school auditorium. (No, I never competed but I did go to watch several years.) On Labor Day, there is a long parade filled with antique cars, politicians and trucks hauling local sports teams and classes that were having reunions that year. The best part of the parade was a majority of the participants throw candy to the crowds. I'd come away with just as much candy from the parade as I would on Halloween. As I got older, I remember spending HOURS each day hanging out downtown with my friends, some of which I was just catching up with since school had just started the week before. Labor Day weekend holds a lot of memories for me.
This past weekend, I took Nate back to my hometown to experience another Labor Day with my son. On Saturday evening, we met up with my best friend and her two little girls and walked downtown. Somehow, the festival seems so much smaller than I remembered. Nate wasn't too interested in the rides (even though he really liked them at the two fairs we went to over the summer) but he did play two games where he won a shark and a dolphin. I bought him some french fries and I had my fried cheese on a stick. (The same fried cheese stand has come for as long as I can remember and sets up on the same corner every year. I will truly mourn the year that it does not show up.) We were only at the festival for around an hour and had covered it all. Was this really the place where I had spent so much time as a child?
On Monday, we went to my parents' house for a cookout and then a short walk up the street to watch the parade. I ate too much, watched Nate play with water balloons for the first time, and sweated through the parade. I loved every minute of it. Seeing Nate wave at the people in the parade and happily munch on a sucker instead of diving all over the street to grab even more candy. (I know that day will soon come because I watched his older cousins racing to grab as much as they could.) Nate finally decided that he could pedal his bike so I walked behind him as he rode his bike around the block that I circled so many times when I was growing up. Even though not much has actually changed in my home town during the Labor Day festival, Labor Day isn't the same as I remember growing up. I thought I might miss the way it was, but really I loved it just as much.
This past weekend, I took Nate back to my hometown to experience another Labor Day with my son. On Saturday evening, we met up with my best friend and her two little girls and walked downtown. Somehow, the festival seems so much smaller than I remembered. Nate wasn't too interested in the rides (even though he really liked them at the two fairs we went to over the summer) but he did play two games where he won a shark and a dolphin. I bought him some french fries and I had my fried cheese on a stick. (The same fried cheese stand has come for as long as I can remember and sets up on the same corner every year. I will truly mourn the year that it does not show up.) We were only at the festival for around an hour and had covered it all. Was this really the place where I had spent so much time as a child?
On Monday, we went to my parents' house for a cookout and then a short walk up the street to watch the parade. I ate too much, watched Nate play with water balloons for the first time, and sweated through the parade. I loved every minute of it. Seeing Nate wave at the people in the parade and happily munch on a sucker instead of diving all over the street to grab even more candy. (I know that day will soon come because I watched his older cousins racing to grab as much as they could.) Nate finally decided that he could pedal his bike so I walked behind him as he rode his bike around the block that I circled so many times when I was growing up. Even though not much has actually changed in my home town during the Labor Day festival, Labor Day isn't the same as I remember growing up. I thought I might miss the way it was, but really I loved it just as much.
Monday, August 25, 2008
You are my sunshine?
I think we are still dealing with the aftermath of the visit from the binky fairy. Nate hasn't asked for his binky since the day after they were "given to the babies" but I know he's not sleeping as well through the night and his naps are not as long. So my poor boy is pretty tuckered out and bit more cranky and "terrible twoish". This morning he was mad at me because I wouldn't let him watch cartoons before going to the sitters. (I know better than to start allowing that because once those cartoons are on, we'd NEVER get out of the house.) So he sat down on the ground and glared at me and then threw himself backwards and started screaming/crying. I tried to talk to him but it just made it worse so I told him I would be in the kitchen and when he was ready from breakfast, he could come see me. About 20 seconds later, he stomped into the kitchen and announced, "I'm mad at you Mommy. You made me fall down." Yes, he was mad at me because and in his anger he flopped himself on the floor so I guess in his mind, that means I made him fall down.
Tonight, Nate was very mad during his bath because I beat him up the stairs. (His competitive streak will be a whole separate post sometime.) So he cried through his bath and started calming down just a little when he was wrapped up in his towel and I was rocking him in his chair. I started singing "You are my Sunshine" to him because that used to calm him down when he was a little baby and I was feeling nostalgic. He stared up at me with his big brown eyes and I could see him just start to relax. I sang it through twice and finish up with "...please don't take my sunshine away." Suddenly, Nate reaches and grabs the air in front of my face and says in his tough guy voice "I just stole your sunshine Mommy." So of course I act horrified for him and the next thing I know, he's thrown my "sunshine" in his mouth and chewed it up. (I guess he was still a little bit mad with me.) When I asked for my sunshine back though, he did spit it into my hand for me so I guess maybe he really does love me after all.
(And by the way, this is my first night with no Olympics in 17 days....what am I supposed to do with my evenings again?)
Tonight, Nate was very mad during his bath because I beat him up the stairs. (His competitive streak will be a whole separate post sometime.) So he cried through his bath and started calming down just a little when he was wrapped up in his towel and I was rocking him in his chair. I started singing "You are my Sunshine" to him because that used to calm him down when he was a little baby and I was feeling nostalgic. He stared up at me with his big brown eyes and I could see him just start to relax. I sang it through twice and finish up with "...please don't take my sunshine away." Suddenly, Nate reaches and grabs the air in front of my face and says in his tough guy voice "I just stole your sunshine Mommy." So of course I act horrified for him and the next thing I know, he's thrown my "sunshine" in his mouth and chewed it up. (I guess he was still a little bit mad with me.) When I asked for my sunshine back though, he did spit it into my hand for me so I guess maybe he really does love me after all.
(And by the way, this is my first night with no Olympics in 17 days....what am I supposed to do with my evenings again?)
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