Three Years!!!!

Wow!!! Three years have gone by since Tiny entered this world, on her due date, against my orders (you remember - I told her to a wait a week past her due date so we could be married 10 years before having a kid). She has proven to be an independent, strong-willed, and very fun Tiny! So it's about time I write in this blog and update everyone!

I will try to add pictures at some point but (it's been requested that I update the blog) I just don't have time to find my card reader, pull the pix off my phone, add them to my computer, then download them to the blog. So, just words for now! :) And a smiley emoticon or two, haha!

Let's start with the stats! Today, well as of her 3rd year doc appointment, Emer is:

36 inches tall - 38th percentile (really?! She seems so tall!!)

29.4 lbs - 36th percentile (that seems accurate)

Above average in some things and therefore just developing "perfectly" according to the doc! :)

Things that she knows now:

* Emer can sing the alphabet song, saying each letter perfectly.

* She can tell us the first letter of all of our names.

* She can count to 20!

* She loves going to the library and picking out books. Then she memorizes them and reads them to herself or her 'friends'.

Things she does:

-> Over the past year we have continued swimming when we get the chance and Emer has kept up her skills. This summer I am teaching swim lessons through the Y and I'm also teaching Ems the same things I'm teaching the kids in the classes. She can swim by herself, using a noodle, by kicking, stroking with her arms, and blowing bubbles! It's so fun to swim with her!

-> For Christmas Gigee got Emer a tumbling mat. We've been working on somersaults, back bends, etc. So, in April I enrolled Emer in tumbling. She has loved it ever since! We even got her a new leotard for her birthday! On tumbling days I have no trouble getting her dressed b/c she is soooooo excited! She can now do front somersaults, back somersaults with a spot; she can hang from the bar on her hips and from her knees, and kick off the bar; she can do a back bend and kick out of it with a spot; she can walk on the balance beam by herself (except when I ask her to!); and she can jump off of a spring board onto a "vault" then jump onto the ground. I'm always amazed at what she has learned and love that she loves tumbling!

-> Ems loves to sing! She learned songs by listening to them and repeating them back. She has always loved music but this last year she has really improved her language skills and pronounces things very clearly in song. She is even better at making up songs - it's too funny!

-> Speaking of making up things, sometime last fall, maybe in the winter (I can't remember!) she started really putting stories together. She'll set up dolls or other toys and make up stories with them. I love just watching her play - so creative!

All in all, Emerson Rachel Cripe, my Tiny 3 year old, is amazing. Yes, she gets crabby and whiny when she's tired or hungry (I know someone else like that!) but she's just so much fun when she's happy. I Love My Daughter!

The PeePee TeePee

I think it is safe to write this blog now. (And I'm using this is as my excuse for not having written it before now, haha!) So here goes.

The week before Hayden's 2nd birthday was a big one for Tiny Wonder. The snow and ice had been horrendous. School was getting canceled day after day, you've seen the ice slide off our back porch, cars were stuck in garages. It was miserable. But, Gigee watched Emer on Feb 3rd and 4th so I could make up one of my missed days of work. And here is where the fun begins.

Emer spent 2 days at "Gigee's PeePee TeePee"! She came home to us totally potty trained! Now I am sure you are reading this going, what?! Really potty trained? Didn't I just read that Emer wasn't ready and caused the most stress for herself and her mom EVER? Didn't I hear her mom say she would learn from her friends in pre-school, maybe Kindergarten? Just kidding :) How is this possible? And what is the PeePee TeePee???

All good questions. Let me answer some of them for you:
1.) Yes, really potty trained. Emer had 3 accidents in the week following her stay at the PeePee TeePee. One was her trying to get to the potty in time and the other 2 seemed to be either deliberate or she just didn't care at that time. Within in a couple of weeks she was napping in undies on days when she would fall asleep in the car. Last week she told Daddy she didn't want a diapee on for her nap because she wasn't a baby. (She does still sleep at night in diapees, but this is a safety measure as she always goes potty before getting jammies on.)

2.) Yes, a recent blog was all about the day Emer and I tried "Potty Training In Less Than a Day". But, that was way back in Sept. And she wasn't ready then...

3.) I did visit a pre-school where I was told 90% of the kids in the 3 year old class come in not potty trained. But they learn from each other. So after Sept. I had decided this is what I would do - let the pre-school train her!

4.) It is possible because Emer was ready this time and Gigee was more calm/relaxed about it all than I was. I think this is Gigee's calling in life! (love you, mom!)

5.) The PeePee TeePee is a fun name a friend of mine created for Gigee's house. I don't know what it is about my generation but many moms dread potty training and my mom is the best at it. When my friend heard about Emer she suggested a business for my mom. Then we brainstormed names. I keep telling my mom she could make a ton of money with this business. Just bring your 2 year old to my mom's house and leave him/her there for 2 days. Let Gigee train your kid! You are thinking this is a great idea, aren't you?!

At this point I could not be more proud of Emer. She is a full-fledged potty-user and proud of it!

Winter Fun!!!

This morning, while potty training, we decided to take a break and play on the ice slide that had developed off our back porch. Emer didn't want anything to do with it, but Steve and I had a blast!

WEEEEEE!!!!!

AHHHHHHH!!!!!

Potty training was OK. She waited until after lunch to do anything. Then she went the tiniest amount, in about 3 different drips. She was excited when it started so she'd step away to look at it. I would then encourage her to sit back down and finish. On the 3rd sitting, I knew she hadn't finished, but she clearly wasn't going to (and was getting sleepy) so we went upstairs to get ready for her nap. She proceeded to COMPLETELY fill a diaper. She told me she was going peepee so I know she knew what she was doing then! We changed that diaper, read her stories, then put her down for a nap. I don't know if I want to attempt it again this afternoon. Can she get an infection from holding it for so long??? What's the deal with this chic?!

Now I think I'll slide some more, WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! :)

Happy New Year, 2011!

Let's start this blog entry off with a summary of the last several holidays from 2010:

Yep, a slide show is the lazy mom's way to summarize 4 months, but sometimes I need to take the lazy mom's way! :)
It's amazing to me when I think about all the holidays that fall into place at the end of a year:
The funniest thing about them is that Emer seems to really like Halloween the best! (Yea, that's my girl!) This year we visited a couple other Halloween stores and she loved the blood and gore again! In one store she found a coffin with a blow-up dracula that would pop out and then fall back in. She watched it for nearly 10 minutes! I hope she always keeps this love of Halloween because that will just make the holiday more and more fun.

Christmas was a total blast this year and brought about the first year I felt overwhelmed with gift options for her. I had a HUGE list of items I thought she would love and only realized how big the list was when I started shopping for items. I was able to share ideas with my family so that helped and made the things she got from Santa that much more special. The big item this year was an easel. One side is a chalkboard and one side is a dry erase board. There is a big roll of paper that you can roll down to draw on as well. She also got crayons, markers, chalk and paint to go with it.
Here she is working on some new pieces:

Here are a couple of her first drawings, hanging in her "house":

The 3rd of Jan., 2011 brought us her 2.5 year doctor appointment. So, without further ado, here are the most recent stats:
Weight - 27.6 lbs
Height - 36 inches tall
Head - Average (I forget the measurement!)
Attitude - Priceless :)
Concerns - None! She only had an appointment at 2.5 because of the speech concerns we had at her 2 year appointment. But, just like our fantastic Dr. O'Nan said, her babble turned into words about 3 months later and it seems every day she adds a new word to her repertoire. And according to a speech development chart given to me by my school's speech therapist, Emer is ahead in some language development categories. It kind of makes me laugh that we were concerned at all!

Oh, and 2011 also brought us a whole new look for me! Before I ask what you think, you must understand 2 things - 1.) I have been growing my hair out for about a year and half to donate to Locks of Love. And 2.) I consider this a medium length therefore I did NOT do the "I'm a mom and need a short mom-haircut" cut!! So, that being said, what do you think?

Happy New Year, everyone! :)

Truly a Parent

As I write this the Colts are playing, and winning. This is my favorite weekend event - watching the game on our big screen in the Colts lower level of our house. Emer just woke up from a nap, I can hear her and Daddy talking about how Mommy is watching the game and asking if she wants to join me. This is such a nice change from last night.

Let's start with what a fun day Emer and I had yesterday! It's Christmas-time so we went to a local farm to check out the Christmas on the Farm presentation. They had reindeer, Santa was there!, Emer made crafts, enjoyed some pumpkin bread cupcakes, cheese made at the farm, and hot chocolate made with milk from the cows. Then we rode on the sleigh hay ride! So much fun!

After her nap she played around a little while I did a little work organizing some PartyLite stuff. We finished the evening by heading out to take care of Farley and the horses then enjoying dinner at Noodles. She was the perfect little dinner mate at dinner - got her own booster seat, used a spoon to eat her mac n cheese, and showed generally good table manners. It was a wonderful evening! Then 1:00am hit. I had gone to bed early because I have a terrible cold and I don't want a sinus infection to come out of it! So at 1:00 I hear crying. I wait a minute to figure out if I really hear it. I do...I go into her room and Emer is crying and saying, "Ow!". She is holding her stomach. I'm thinking it must be all the cheese she ate today! So I tell her to relax and that if she lays flat and pulls her knees up it might help. It seems to because I'm eventually able to get her back to bed and asleep. For a little bit...
Then I hear crying again around 2:00. Steve is awake now so I grumble to him, "It's your turn". I hear him calling for me and things too mean to write down go through my mind. The next thing I know he's yelling, "She's throwing up everywhere!" and even more evil things run through my mind (because I've always said that I can't clean up vomit as it makes me sick, and he's always said he'll take care of it). I get out of bed and what I find is total TMI so use your imagination!
I spring into action and the next thing I know Emer has clean jammies on, the washing machine is running, and we're laying in bed with a trash can beside us trying to get a little sleep. I'm still not sure how I managed to do all of that without getting sick myself.

We were up a few more times in the night but did manage to get some sleep from about 5-9ish. This was one of those times when you truly have to balance: move quick, but appear calm, gruffly clean, but lovingly cuddle. It's different to taking care of a spouse or a friend. There was something unconscious about my reaction. The entire experience was driven by such a strong love for a tender being like Tiny Wonder. When someone you are responsible for is sick it's hard to relax until it's all over. I know there are things I can do to help her (talk, cuddle, keep her warm and safe) but I can't cure her. And I can't stop the hurt. All I can really do is love her and let that lead my actions.

It's at times like this that you know you are Truly a Parent.

Bring on the Holidays!

I feel like it's been so long since I blogged on here that I have a million and one things to tell you about. So, where to start...where to start...

Hahaha! I never got started on this blog! Instead I wrote the next blog. So go read it then check back again soon for some pics of the recent holidays that we've missed...

They will be posted soon, I promise!

A Response to Potty Training

Potty Training Day has come and gone! If you read the previous blog (well, it's actually the next blog if you read them in order from the top of the screen down...) you will see a comment from Leftygirl saying she thinks I'm overthinking. This blog today is a tribute to her genius!
You will also notice that I said I was going to potty train the week after August 15th. Well, that week went like this:
Avoided!
OK, OK, so we pushed it back a month and began Potty Training on Sept. 15th. Here's how it all went down:
Sept. 14th evening - We told Emer that tomorrow was a special, exciting day! She was going to learn to use the potty like a big girl! She giggled. And, if I remember correctly, went to bed just fine.
Sept. 14th - 8:00am - We sat down to breakfast, as usual. I figured I'd get us through the morning food routine then begin the training process. So after breakfast we brought the potty into the kitchen (per my book's recommendation) and I reminded her what Mommy does on the potty and how she sits Elmo on the potty at times. I then let her choose her panties and traded the diaper for panties. I asked her to sit on the potty. She refused at first, but finally did sit for about 30 seconds.
Later morning - We were trying to sit on the potty every 15 minutes. I was using Goldfish (she would get one when she sat on the potty) for bribery. She didn't go once all morning. I was ready with stickers, apple juice, and cookies! But there was no opportunity to reinforce anything!
11:00ish - Emer seemed to have gotten bored with the whole potty training thing and was now refusing to sit on the potty. She also FINALLY peed, all over the top of the potty and the floor! She started crying and throwing a fit. I tried to get her to step off the potty and sit on it but this made it worse. Pure, 100% temper tantrum.
Noonish - She finally calmed down enough to let me clean up the mess. We decided to have some lunch. I asked if she wanted a diaper back on for lunch and she did. So had a nap right after lunch...
1:45 - We traded diaper for panties and started once again on the potty. I asked if she wanted the potty in the bathroom and together we moved it there. This helped her sit on it, but she again would not sit for more than 30 seconds. One time she got up, walked into the kitchen, and peed. She didn't realize she was doing it, though, until her foot moved into it (she was peeing on bah). She threw another fit, but refused to sit on the potty and try to finish. It went on like this...all afternoon...until...
5:30 - She peepeed on the potty!! However, this experience solidified my suspicions that she wasn't ready for this. I got excited when I heard it and shared my excitement. She was smiling and clapping, then stood up and went to close the lid. She saw the pee in her potty and said, "Oh yeah!" like she was surprised there was something in there! She had no idea what she had just done! But we celebrated with ice cream b/c I NEEDED some, ha! I don't believe she ever made a connection between the ice cream and using the potty.
6:00 - She sat on the potty, went a tiny bit and said she was done. We then went outside to walk in the yard and she proceeded to finish peeing in her panties. Or so I thought. I took her in to change her and she peed all over the floor! She slipped on it and got terribly upset all over again...
Later than evening - My mom called to check on how things had been going. She finally understood why I thought Emer wasn't ready to learn to use the potty. We all agreed to put it away and bring it out in a month so. I was never so happy to have someone tell me to quit something!
I have had sleepless nights; I have taken care of a sick baby; I have dealt with a 2 year old who won't go to bed or sleep through the night; I have cleaned up food thrown from the high chair. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has been as stressful and awful an experience as Sept. 15th, 2010. Everyone kept teasing me by saying Emer was going to be graduating high school and asking me to potty train her. Now I don't care how old she is. I am not sure i can try this again in a month. Maybe Christmas break. Or maybe (since she and Hayden copy everything), after Hayden is potty trained! Just don't look for an update anytime soon :)