Our Kids

Whew, it finally happened, they ganged up on me.  Those little buggers were fit to be tied today.  Temper tantrums galore and if one had one, the other looked over and decided to have one too.  It was so funny but exhausting.  I think it is a bit of the potty training coupled with a bad nap day and that we have been cooped up in the house for a whole week, they are ready to see some different scenery that is for sure.

Finding your balance as a parent is really difficult.  Jason and I are on the same page with about everything having to do with the girls the only place we differ is in their ability.  Jason is more cautious when they climb on the sofa but since I am with them all the time I know what they can and can’t do and I know that the likelihood of them falling off the arm of the sofa while they turn the lightswitch on and off and on and off and on and off (you get the picture) is pretty slim.  I don’t let them play with scissors or run with knives or anything like that but I do let them do mostly what they want.  They have never been the sort to get into mischief, I don’t have locks on the cabinets (nor do I have any chemicals or dangerous items in the cabinets) and they can go about the house as they please.  You have to wonder if all that freedom will go to their heads as they get closer to the two year old stage.  We will see, so far it hasn’t been an issue but I guess that is what balance is all about and it has to be constantly adjusted with each new day.  Did I mention this parenting thing was tricky?

Here we are on day 7 of our potty training adventure.  Lucky for me I get to repeat the adventure as soon as the baby A is ready:)  I know that the jig is up and I should just go back to calling them by name:)  So……

Lela has been dry the past 3 nights in a row.  This morning she had a major BM on the potty but that was after holding it in all day yesterday.  We have had a few accidents over the last 5 days but they were almost all due to parent issues, not baby issues.  Piper is starting to sit on her potty again fully clothed which is a good thing, she was in major revolt mode after the attempt last week to begin potty training, yeah I get it, you are not ready:)

Lela seems to be going along fine with it.  Ever since we started she has not peed or had a movement in her diapers during naps or the evening.  I guess that means that she was ready after all.  She still comes to get me when she has to go and does not go right to the potty but it is a work in progress.  We can go out during the day without any accidents.  I am expecting and prepared for accidents but she is doing much better than I would have guessed.  We are not pressuring her in any way, other than the first day when I let her run around bare butt (if you call that pressure). She doesn’t ask to have a diaper put on or anything, she picks out her underwear each day from her drawer in the bathroom.  Piper picks out some too and sometimes I have to put them on over her diaper, which is pretty funny.

We have been staying pretty close to home just so that Lela doesn’t have to worry about strange potties, something I still do:)  All in all a pretty successful experience and it wasn’t too stressful except for the first two days (they were dreadful).  Piper does not like all the extra attention that Lela is getting and is having a few fits but she is having company for dinner and will get lots of hugs so that should make up for some of it.

Reading my friends blog reminded me that I did not blog about our trip to Sedona.  I will make it short but let’s just say it wasn’t too fun.  The scenery was beautiful and our hotel was nice because it had a bedroom and a living room and kitchen so when the kids went down jason and I could still hang out on the deck or watch a movie.  The room service was good and had vegan options, we found an organic grocer so I was able to make food for the girls so in that respect it was great.  The only down side was that we were a bit far out of town so every trek in had to be timed between naps and when we got in town there were tons of art shops and galleries, not really the place to hang out with two toddlers.  We made the most of it and decided that it would be better to do that a little later, like 10 years:)  LOL!

Anyhoo, on the potty training front we have had quite a successful two days.  Yesterday there were two accidents but that was the parents fault and not the child, we are still learning her verbal signals.  She was clearly telling us she had to go in her own way but since she was no longer saying “diaper” for potty like the previous days we missed it.  Today she is back to saying “diaper” when she needs to go we have had 5 potty sessions this morning all resulting in success including her daily BM.  She stayed dry all night last night and is now napping in her training pants.  We will see how it continues.  Her sister spent some time bare butt this AM and she peed on the floor and ran for a diaper, so still a WIP there.

Other than continuing to hone their jumping skills the girls are starting to “sing” along to the ABCs.  It is very cute because they use their quietest voice and just sing along in their own words.  So sweet.  I got it a little on video but we will probably try a better cut before posting anything.  We went to the mall this morning but had a late start, the girls actually slept in until 7:45AM, oh my gosh.  I think it must have been something to do with the moons gravitational pull or something because that was a straight up unexpected first.  They are still napping once a day and going down around 630PM so I am not sure what brought it on.  Jason, the dear that he is, was up and waiting for them at 630AM, I bolted awake at 745AM thinking I had missed something but I had not.

Okay so I know why, all the signs etc. etc. etc. The girls stay dry for long periods, one of them started to demand to be changed right after she became wet, the other started to take off her diaper and soil her crib and then get very upset about it, add to that all the other “signs” that we are supposed to be noticing and voila, here we are in potty training hell-o land.

More progress but who can say if it is right or wrong. You read so many things that you get all caught up and can’t tell up from down. One of the girls has mastered the muscle that allows her to “hold it” but is not really grasping the “relax” part of the muscle. It is distressing for all of us but putting her back in the diaper does not help her relax, we were able to use distraction twice today to help her relax. Tomorrow we are going to give her lots of water and see what happens, if she is okay with it and starts to relax we will go with the training and if not then I am going to put her back in her diapers and help her relax and then we will try again in a few weeks. I am in no rush and if she decides she is not ready then we will back off and just go back to practicing with our diapers on and having some bare butt time. I think she is right on the edge of getting it all working but we are certainly not into pushing it.

The other twin started to sit on her potty fully clothed today and did not mind it at all. She has to use a telephone book to get up on it and to sit (which is cute) and did not seem to mind. I bought her a shorter potty but she wants to sit on the exact one her sister has. She is very eager to look into the potty to see what her sister has left behind and really enjoys waving bye bye to any deposits:)

I am sure everyone is dying to know how the potty training is going so I will tell you…..in a little while.

Two things happened today that were pretty cool.  The first one was the Piper said “meow” and “moooo” into the phone to her Nana in Texas.  Now that is cool because usually if we want her to stop crying for any reason all we would have to do is get out the phone and MUM is the word, full stop no noise….EVER.  Not that we do that but we do joke about how they can be chatting away and then you hold out the phone and you get bubkis.  So that was cool for me and for Nana.  The other thing they both did today was learn to jump.  It was quite fun and probably not the thing to be doing on potty training day but hey I live on the edge!  Lela can jump an eensy bit off the floor by herself and if you hold her hands she really gets going without any assistance from you.  Piper does not leave the ground yet but makes all the motions and if she takes your hands then she hangs there and jumps but you have to do all the work.  Hmmmm…..I see a pattern with that one:)

Okay so the PT update is that we are doing much better after spending 1+hours on the phone with our friend Molly in MT.  She let me know that things are normal and to forge ahead and listen to that little voice inside me and forget the “experts”.  In my book that qualifies Molly as the expert and thanks to her I am much more grounded and we made more progress this afternoon than we had in the last two days.  The twin that is PTing is doing better, she knows when she is about to go and asks to have her diaper put on, instead we go to the potty where she goes, although she is not thrilled about it.  She is getting more comfortable with the whole thing but she is not jumping for joy over it all.  She did show some interest in her deposit and said bye bye as she flushed it in the big potty.  She is learning to control her muscles but is not too excited about going to the potty.  We will keep at this for the next couple days with some breaks and just see how things go.  I am not expecting her to be trained by Monday I just want to give her the opportunity since she has been showing all the signs that she is ready to learn.

Then again….what do I know8-)

Why can’t I ignore the signs that someone is ready to potty train, why can’t I go on this wonderful, blissful diaper changing rodeo forever, why do I have to potty train?  I am certain that I am not the only mother to be asking this question tonight and I am even more certain that most mothers ask themselves this at least once.  I think we are doing the right thing although it seems awfully stressful for the one girl child that is potty training.  The other girl child is blissful to pee and poop in her pants, even her cotton big girl pants, even though SHE was the one that wanted to use the potty, well no longer, SHE is not interested.

We have made it through two days with not much in the way of “success” but from what I have read it is pretty normal.  The taller girl child is figuring out the sensation of urniation and does not really like it but she is starting to hold it more, signal it is time sooner and I am hoping that tomorrow with more effort on my part we will make some progress.  It is heartbreaking to see your little loved ones struggling with something new but that is how they learn and grow.  Since the older girl child is no longer interested she just stands around and watches and reads books, she was very sweet and shared a cracker with her little sister and stayed with her while she was on the potty so I can’t really complain.

I won’t call them girl child all the time I just figure one day they won’t want everyone to be able to read about who went what where so unless you know who is older and who is younger, mum is the word.

Well I am biting the bullet.  We have been working on getting ready for potty training.  We have learned the words and signs for wet and dry, and I think they know the difference.  We have had potties in the bathroom and we have been sitting on them with our clothes on.  Piper tells me when she wants a diaper and Lela is happy to go and sit on the potty when I say it is time.

So even though they seem to be at different stages I have decided to go whole hog.  We spent about an hour this morning in panties with no accidents but we have never peed in the toiley either.  So we will see how it continues.  I am dedicating the next four days to no outings so that we can give it the old college try.  I think we might have to put it on hold this afternoon and go out and get Piper a new potty, although the one we bought her is ultra cool, she can’t seem to hoist her little legs up on to it.  Lela has no trouble and sits with ease and smiles and kicks her legs (so cute).  Piper tries to sit by herself but can’t so she gets off, she is not one to let you help her do ANYTHING unless she asks for help.  Very independent that Piper.

I have taken up the rugs and am ready for any accidents to happen.  It will be a very matter of fact approach with no scolding and no jumping for joy when a deposit is made in the toiley.  I am going with the everyday part of life approach, of course I will encourage them and they will know they did a good thing but I don’t want to break out the cookies and soda (as one of the books suggested).  I mean really, offer my kid saturated fats and high fructose corn syrup as a reward for peeing????  I think I might as well hand out tootsie rolls and heart attacks, LOL!  Anyway, this might be like the one nap thing for the next few months so if you can’t stomach the drama of it all stay away for a while:)