7:00 - 6:30 baby! I know many of you out there have amazing sleeper babies, but our sweet little Sophie has yet to sleep all the way through the night until just last night! Hopefully it continues!!
1 week ago
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Emmy went and did it!
As promised, I will now document the series of events that led to Emmy finally being completely potty-trained. If reading about bodily functions such as pee-pee and poopy disgusts you, than this is not the blog for you.
It all began in January. I had no intention of potty-training Emmy at the time. I'm a believer that potty-training should be easy and I didn't want to force things. Well, out of the blue, Emmy announced she wanted to be a big girl and proceeded to go pee-pee and poopy on the potty several times. So I decide to strike while the iron was hot and potty-train her. I read a fun book called Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day and got pretty excited at the prospect of no diapers. (The theory behind this book is that the first part of the day is spent potty-training a doll and then the second part of the day you work with the child to do what they just "taught" the dolly.) So to make a long story short, I went all out. I bought her a new potty seat and stool, lots of fun drinks, a baby doll that pees, and a new book about the going on the potty. I sewed little pairs of underwear for the baby doll. I decorated the house with balloons and flowers. I even put a variety of candy rewards in cute little blue cups and put them on a serving tray so that when she was successful she could choose one. This might have been one of the happiest days of Emmy's life. When she woke up, I declared that today we were having a potty party. I presented her with her gift and told her we would be eating breakfast (Fruit Loops, no less!) in the family room together. We read potty books, watched potty shows (the library is a great resource!), and had a lot of fun together. She did very well - no accidents - and we celebrated that night by taking her out for ice cream.
OK, so I'm not doing a good job at shortening this long story. Unfortunately, with each passing day, Emmy had more and more accidents. She began to resent going to the potty and it became a battle of wills. A battle that I was not in the mood to fight. So, I told her she wasn't ready to be a big girl yet, put the doll and big girl underwear away, and bided my time.
Fast forward a few months to May. I was feeding Sophie one morning when Emmy walked in and said, "I want to be potty-train." "Sure," I said. I had her spend the day with just a T-shirt on (yes, it was fun to see her cute little bare buns running around) and was very low-key about the whole thing. She had no accidents. I took her to Cold Stone to celebrate and she chose blue cotton-candy ice cream with gummy bears as a mix-in. The next day her friends came over and she peed her pants twice. But, after that day, she's been pretty near perfect, even at night! It turns out, she can hold it for hours and hours - refusing to use public restrooms and often refusing potties at friends' houses.
So the second time around was how I always hoped - almost effortless. Yes, I had to wait until she was almost three, but after only two days, I don't even have to think about it. She can take care of her own business now, and I'm so proud! More importantly, she is proud of herself and it is so fun to see her feel such a sense of accomplishment. The first few times she peed on the potty, the expression on her face was priceless. Also priceless is how she announces, "Mommy! Peep is coming out!" (Emmy calls pee, peep - which I think is pretty cute).
If you're wondering about the title of this blog, it is the first line of our victory song (this song was passed down from when I was a wee one):
Emmy went and did it, she did it, she did it
Emmy went and did it, she (fill in the blank) on the potty!
Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!
Attempt #1: Potty Party Day
Practicing on the pot
What a big girl!
It all began in January. I had no intention of potty-training Emmy at the time. I'm a believer that potty-training should be easy and I didn't want to force things. Well, out of the blue, Emmy announced she wanted to be a big girl and proceeded to go pee-pee and poopy on the potty several times. So I decide to strike while the iron was hot and potty-train her. I read a fun book called Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day and got pretty excited at the prospect of no diapers. (The theory behind this book is that the first part of the day is spent potty-training a doll and then the second part of the day you work with the child to do what they just "taught" the dolly.) So to make a long story short, I went all out. I bought her a new potty seat and stool, lots of fun drinks, a baby doll that pees, and a new book about the going on the potty. I sewed little pairs of underwear for the baby doll. I decorated the house with balloons and flowers. I even put a variety of candy rewards in cute little blue cups and put them on a serving tray so that when she was successful she could choose one. This might have been one of the happiest days of Emmy's life. When she woke up, I declared that today we were having a potty party. I presented her with her gift and told her we would be eating breakfast (Fruit Loops, no less!) in the family room together. We read potty books, watched potty shows (the library is a great resource!), and had a lot of fun together. She did very well - no accidents - and we celebrated that night by taking her out for ice cream.
OK, so I'm not doing a good job at shortening this long story. Unfortunately, with each passing day, Emmy had more and more accidents. She began to resent going to the potty and it became a battle of wills. A battle that I was not in the mood to fight. So, I told her she wasn't ready to be a big girl yet, put the doll and big girl underwear away, and bided my time.
Fast forward a few months to May. I was feeding Sophie one morning when Emmy walked in and said, "I want to be potty-train." "Sure," I said. I had her spend the day with just a T-shirt on (yes, it was fun to see her cute little bare buns running around) and was very low-key about the whole thing. She had no accidents. I took her to Cold Stone to celebrate and she chose blue cotton-candy ice cream with gummy bears as a mix-in. The next day her friends came over and she peed her pants twice. But, after that day, she's been pretty near perfect, even at night! It turns out, she can hold it for hours and hours - refusing to use public restrooms and often refusing potties at friends' houses.
So the second time around was how I always hoped - almost effortless. Yes, I had to wait until she was almost three, but after only two days, I don't even have to think about it. She can take care of her own business now, and I'm so proud! More importantly, she is proud of herself and it is so fun to see her feel such a sense of accomplishment. The first few times she peed on the potty, the expression on her face was priceless. Also priceless is how she announces, "Mommy! Peep is coming out!" (Emmy calls pee, peep - which I think is pretty cute).
If you're wondering about the title of this blog, it is the first line of our victory song (this song was passed down from when I was a wee one):
Emmy went and did it, she did it, she did it
Emmy went and did it, she (fill in the blank) on the potty!
Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!
Attempt #1: Potty Party DayPracticing on the pot
What a big girl!
Monday, June 16, 2008
One Year of Blogging
Under my belt. I haven't been near as great as I thought I would be at updating the good ole blog. Still, its been fun to make note of the moments that make up our lives. A few highlights of the last little while:
My Birthday - I felt like a queen! A surprise party, a chocoloate mousse pedicure, dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, time to myself spent blissfully in the bookstore and Banana Republic, and a massage made my day very memorable! Thank you to all who showed me so much love that day! P.S. Thanks to my friend, Cassi, I have a new love: poco dolce bittersweet chocolate tiles - topped with grey sea salt and filled with sesame toffee - AMAZING
A visit from my Mom, my mother-in-law, and my sister - roughly three weeks in a row! How wonderful to have family members love my babies almost as much as I do. Emmy enjoyed reading "Pinkalicious" with my mom and then making pink cupcakes, she had fun at Fairyland in Oakland with her Grandma Jojo, and she played at the beach in Capitola with Aunt Ashley. Sophie smiled through it all.
Sophie eating solids - thankfully she has taken to babyfood much more willingly than her older sister! She's eaten almost everything I've given her and is pleasant throughout the experience, though very messy. She grabs the spoon, then grabs her hair, puts her hands in her mouth, wipes them on her clothes - a sticky, baby mess! I usually strip her down before each meal so that she doesn't have to wear three outfits in one day. She's growing so fast! She's very tall (90th percentile), fairly slender, toothless, and bald. We think her hair looks like it may end up being blonde, though its hard to tell. She's rolling around, grabbing at everything, and loves to shriek with joy. Oh, and she's still not sleeping through the night.
Emmy is potty-trained, finally! (Expect a blog detailing her potty-training journey at a later date)
Landscaping - we've planted two trees and many other bushes and flowers in our front lawn and are having fun watching everything grow!
A vacation to the Cayman Islands! We just got back into town last night. Pictures and more details will follow soon.
Happy Summer to you all - may we all enjoy happy times this summer!!
My Birthday - I felt like a queen! A surprise party, a chocoloate mousse pedicure, dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, time to myself spent blissfully in the bookstore and Banana Republic, and a massage made my day very memorable! Thank you to all who showed me so much love that day! P.S. Thanks to my friend, Cassi, I have a new love: poco dolce bittersweet chocolate tiles - topped with grey sea salt and filled with sesame toffee - AMAZING
A visit from my Mom, my mother-in-law, and my sister - roughly three weeks in a row! How wonderful to have family members love my babies almost as much as I do. Emmy enjoyed reading "Pinkalicious" with my mom and then making pink cupcakes, she had fun at Fairyland in Oakland with her Grandma Jojo, and she played at the beach in Capitola with Aunt Ashley. Sophie smiled through it all.
Sophie eating solids - thankfully she has taken to babyfood much more willingly than her older sister! She's eaten almost everything I've given her and is pleasant throughout the experience, though very messy. She grabs the spoon, then grabs her hair, puts her hands in her mouth, wipes them on her clothes - a sticky, baby mess! I usually strip her down before each meal so that she doesn't have to wear three outfits in one day. She's growing so fast! She's very tall (90th percentile), fairly slender, toothless, and bald. We think her hair looks like it may end up being blonde, though its hard to tell. She's rolling around, grabbing at everything, and loves to shriek with joy. Oh, and she's still not sleeping through the night.
Emmy is potty-trained, finally! (Expect a blog detailing her potty-training journey at a later date)
Landscaping - we've planted two trees and many other bushes and flowers in our front lawn and are having fun watching everything grow!
A vacation to the Cayman Islands! We just got back into town last night. Pictures and more details will follow soon.
Happy Summer to you all - may we all enjoy happy times this summer!!
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