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 :)

Potty Training Update

Since I like to be a woman of my word I decided I should update this blog, as I said I would. But, the update is not a celebration of using the potty but rather an explanation for why there is no potty celebration. :)

It's my fault! I have been purposely putting off the potty training. I have been reading the book, "Toilet Trained in Less than a Day" and it's great! But first it talked about spending about an hour with a doll that wets to show Emer how to put the baby on the potty and watch it pee pee. Then she would be responsible for dumping the pee pee into the big potty. So I decided that since this is such a big part of this process I would have to wait until I get a doll that wets. Day One - Avoided!

I still have not found a doll that wets, mainly b/c I haven't been looking! I need to do that, I know. But I did move the potty into our bathroom and have been showing Emer what we do on the potty by talking about it and using Elmo to demonstrate. She loves to sit on the potty (both her little one and our big one!) but she hasn't wet in it yet. She just says, "pee pee?" and this means she wants to play on the potty. I'm a little worried that the longer we play like this with no pee pee in the potty the harder it's going to be to get her to sit on it and go! Day Two - Playing Around!

I decided I would go ahead and potty train her this Sunday and Monday, even without the doll that wets. But now my grandma just moved from a 2 bedroom apartment to a 1 bedroom and my dad wants me to come take a look at some of the furniture to see if I want it. Since the whole potty training thing should be done in a full day I have to commit to be home ALL day. I'd like 2 days to do this b/c I'm thinking Day One will be for Training and Day Two for Reinforcing. Well with Sunday now occupied with leaving to check out furniture, that doesn't leave me 2 days in a row. Day Three - Over-committed!

I am now considering whether or not I want to do this Wed. and Thur. I would be home the entire time until I go to work Thur. evening. That's nearly 2 whole days. We could make sure she uses the potty before we leave for the Y on Thur. then use it as soon as we come home. It might work...I'll let you know! Day Four - Coming up!

Big Things are Coming!

August 1st - Emer used a regular cup, without spilling anything, by herself, for the first time today. I know my mom has helped her use a small regular cup, but I have never been able to get her to drink from a cup without dumping it on herself. So this was a very exciting development! She was so proud of herself!

August 2nd - I went back to work for another year of counseling the primary students in Greencastle. I'm excited for school to start, but as I was driving home one day I started thinking about Emer. I wonder what kind of student she will be like...I wonder if she'll make friends easily...I wonder if she'll like reading or math better...I wonder what she'll look like. She's changing slowly, but you can see it when you look closely. (Of course she's still nearly impossible to capture via photograph!)

She's only 2 but I was having trouble remembering what I used to do with my time before she was born. This is usually a romantic thought many people have when they are thinking about a new boyfriend or girlfriend. I never understood it. What did people mean they couldn't remember life before that person? How ridiculous! We make our own lives and don't need someone else to make our lives for us. Geesh. But it's different with a kid. My tiny wonder has given me someone to be with all the time. I can teach her things, show her the world, play in the little world of our backyard, and watch her run around like a crazy person. It's so much more fun than I ever thought! And I know she's not perfect. She has her (my) temper. When she doesn't get enough sleep she gets CRABBY! And who knows what she'll decide to eat when we sit down to a meal. (Hmmm, that also sounds a lot like me...)

Random side thought - do you think my love for Emer makes me a narcissist???

August 4th - I was able to put a french braid in Em's hair for the first time! It stayed in all day as well, I was so excited :)

August 8th - Let the potty training begin! I will update this blog next week with our progress. But for now, please wish us luck!!

Birthday Thank You's

My, my how the time flies! I hope that when Emer is old enough to do her own Thank You cards she is more timely than I am! But right now, I'm all there is to take care of the Thank You's for her. So here we go!

On the 4th of July my Tiny Wonder turned TWO!

We had a lot of fun throughout the whole day starting with our presents and ending at an Indians game. Well wait, I guess the festivities started the day before when Emer got a card in the mail from Karesa and family. It included frog stickers, which she Loved!

She had also gotten a package a while back but we saved it for her birthday. She loves her duck pillow from Cousins Sadie and Lucy (and family)!

Cousins have good taste in gifts because Hayden and family got her the Wonder Pets Schoolhouse which she hasn't stopped playing with!

(She's also gone back to asking to watch the Wonder Pets more often than I would like...it's only TV, right? LOL!)

After opening our gifts (see below) she played for a while then took a nap as usual. It was kind of a nice surprise that we were able to keep her on her usual schedule, especially since we had been traveling home from the Outer Banks the entire previous day. She enjoyed the beach, though wouldn't get in the water. It was very cold so Idon't blame her! She did love playing in the sand...

Which was good for me to see, considering the big gift we got her for her birthday! Here she is playing with our neighbor's granddaughter the day after her birthday:

They enjoyed some sprinkler and sandbox action! The girls are too cute together :)

Grandparents can also pick some great gifts. At this point on Emer's birthday I was feeling like a 2 year old's birthday is more fun for the mom than the kid : )

These are from Gigee and Poppy

The Bubbles are from Grandma

Sand box toys from Gigee, Poppy, and Grandma

Concluding Em's birthday we went to the Indians game and enjoyed a Rose Hulman cookout, a losing game, and baseball hats for the kids. Emer and Hayden are definitely the cutest babies at Victory Field! Don't you agree? :)

It was a late night, finishing up with fireworks from Em's bedroom window. She enjoyed the day and the night. The 4th of July is one special day in the O-C household!