Sunday, May 31, 2009

Abby AKA The Potty Training Prodigy

A week ago this past Thursday, Abby and I awoke as we normally do in the mornings. It seemed that the day would be the typical day with Lexi at school. I got up, brushed my teeth, and began to get dressed while Abby watched her kiddie shows in my bedroom. When I said it was time to go downstairs she asked, "I wear panties like yours?" Not believing my ears since she has not shown a remote interest in succumbing the potty training pressure in the past, I asked her if she wanted to not wear a diaper and wear panties instead. Now, with this question I was expecting a sudden change of mind. But not that day. Abby decided it was time to potty train and this time it would be on her terms. I followed along.

We went to her room and I took her panties out of her dresser and got her dressed for the day. I grabbed a handful of "spares" to take downstairs and followed Abby down for breakfast. It wasn't long until she waddled to me with a tell-tale stream marking her leg. I thought to myself that this was going to be equally as disastrous as our previous attempts but resigned myself to the fact that I should stick with it as long as my supply that I brought downstairs held out. So, we cleaned her up and she donned a new pair of clean, dry panties.

Another accident did occur, but it was markedly less than the previous oops. I could tell that she had started to go, felt the wetness, and stopped herself. This meant she had muscle control and I was thrilled because it was the second sign of the day that this would possibly be our last attempt at this venture (the first sign being that she initiated the process herself). As the day progressed, this same type of "oops" happened over and over but wasn't deterring us from the goal.

Three days later, the accidents were minimal, she told us every time she had to go, and we were going through less panties. She even began to wake up dry at this point too! The only real oopses she had were the dreaded #2s. Now why is it that many kids will agree to the potty being the place for #1s long before they fathom the idea that #2 should go there too? Anyway, this continued as the week grew long and I was so confident in her ability to tell me when she had to go and hold it until he could get to a restroom that I stopped having her wear pull-ups or rubber pants as insurance when we were out running errands.

Well, as of today, she has officially figured out where #2s belong. I am so excited I could scream! I swear she is a potty training prodigy and I am so happy. We still have her wear a pull up at night as an insurance policy, but she continues to stun us by waking up dry. I think that I could have quite possibly bought her last pull up. Could it be?

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Lexi's 1st Grade Award Day

Today was Lexi's Award Day at school. The day began very early this morning when I woke Lexi up to get ready for her big day. She chose to wear an adorable sundress and wanted her hair done in two french braids so that she could be fancy for her moment in the spotlight.

Thankfully Stefan took some time out of his workday to attend the ceremony which thrilled Lexi to pieces and I was able to get my mom to sit for Abby so I could go and not be distracted. The ceremony began with a slide show of some goofy pictures from their field day followed by a slide show that displayed slides for each student with a written story of what they will do in the Spring and a picture of them next to their story. Each student was given the opportunity to read their story, talk about it, or have Ms. Glenn read it for them. When it was Lexi's turn, she chose to have Ms. Glenn read it. That wasn't too surprising.

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After the slide show, Ms. Glenn gave 1st Grade Participation Awards to each student for completing the school year. Then she gave out Certificates of Excellence to students in specific content areas. The recipients were chosen based on their performance whether it was high scores or improvement over the course of the year. Lexi received a Certificate of Excellence in Language Arts. Upon giving Lexi her award, Ms. Glenn bragged about Lexi's story writing abilities and how Lexi's stories always made her laugh.

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More awards were then doled out for highest AR scores and Citizenship Awards.

Finally, Ms. Glenn gave out what she called Candy Bar Awards. These awards, she explained, were an attempt to match each student with a well-known candy bar. For example, the three inseparable boys in the class were given 3 Musketeers. Lexi received a package of Skittles. Ms. Glenn explained that this is because Lexi has such a colorful personality that comes out in her writing.

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You know, it's funny. In kindergarten Lexi got the award for Best Author...

...Is there a pattern forming here?

Monday, May 11, 2009

Abby is 3!

Yesterday, Abby turned 3. It's so hard to believe that already three years have passed since I wobbled into Northside Hospital to have her. Three years have passed since I was fighting nurses for a taste of jello post-op. And three years have passed since she stole a piece of my heart.

Since her birthday fell on Mother's Day this year, we decided to have her party at the house on Saturday so her party wouldn't interrupt anybody's Mother's Day plans. The whole family was here as well as her best friend, Katelynn, and her buddy, Mikey. We conversed and the kids played while people chowed on the food. On the menu was White Trash dip (don't knock it until you try it), PB & J sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadilla wedges, a veggie tray, and fruit salad. The food quantity was perfect because only crumbs were left. She opened her presents next and made off with a bunch of cool new gadgets and gizmos. After presents, we served cake. She was thrilled to have all eyes on her as everyone sang Happy Birthday accompanied by Mikayla playing the flute.

Later on, Katelynn rejoined us for a sleepover---Abby's first ever attempt at a slumber party. I know these girls are a bit young for this, but there is a very good reason we did this. Katelynn's parents, Jen and Taylor, don't have any local family that can relieve them for a night so that they can go out on the town without worrying about being home by a certain time or paying a sitter. Let's say that they did stay out late and pay a sitter, then they would have to be worried about what time Katelynn would decide to awake in the morning. Given Sunday was Abby's actual birthday AND Mother's Day AND Jen's birthday to boot, we decided to do this for Abby and Katelynn and the Taylors.

Unfortunately, the sleepover did not go as planned. Everything was fine...until bedtime. Stefan and I went to lay Katelynn and Abby down because they were both very sleepy. We realized shortly into this venture that Katelynn was missing Pink--her Tags blankey. Stefan went to her house to retrieve the trusted companion, but returned with an imposter. He returned with Blue--Pink's cousin, but not Pink. Besides the realization that Pink was nowhere to be found, we also realized that there was no way that Abby would ever go to sleep knowing that Katelynn was in the room with her so I took Katelynn to our room while Stefan remained with Abby. The plan was to get them to fall asleep separately and then move Katelynn back to Abby's room for the night. It did not work out that way.

Katelynn, who had been properly prepped by her mommy to know that she was going to be staying the night away, did not realize what this entailed until it was time for lights out. She refused to go to sleep. She did not fuss or cause a big ruckus...she just refused to fall asleep and she wanted to be comforted...not by just anyone...but by me (since mommy wasn't there). By comforted, I mean that she required constant contact which meant that (in all reality) I would not be able to move. It wasn't so bad until I realized that this would continue all night. This is a claustrophobic's nightmare!

Since Lexi was still awake, I figured I'd ask Katelynn if she wanted to sleep with Lexi. She said yes so I gathered all of her comfort items (except for Pink, of course) and made her a bed in Lexi's room. All looked good. She seemed happy and Lexi was being quite the source of comfort...until the moment I turned the lights out and attempted my exit. I guess Katelynn again realized that she would be staying with us and freaked. So, I returned to our room with Katelynn and her armload of comfort items (except Pink) to once again attempt to get her to go to sleep.

Finally, there came a point when she was visibly tired beyond belief. I'd ask her, "Katelynn, aren't you sleepy?" She'd quietly (and pathetically) nod.

"So why don't you let yourself fall asleep?" I'd ask. Fear would flood her eyes as though the world would cease to exist if she allowed her eyes to close as she would shake her head emphatically 'no'.


At this point, we realized that we were fighting a losing battle. Her parents called to check in on their way home from their date to the ballet and, when we told them what was going on, they agreed that Katelynn needed to go home to her own bed.

Oh well, it was worth a try. We'll definitely try again soon...only next time we'll make sure we have Pink who, by the way, was on the floor of her mommy's car the entire time.

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Mikayla

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