The girls' new tricks...

Why do kids have to grow up so fast? I mean, there have been certain stages that I wish would have passed a little quicker...like...ohhhh...the terrible two's that actually started at 1-1/2 in our house, maybe? But now that the horror that was that stage finally seems to be clearing out of our house ::knock on wood::, well - for a year anyway...it seems that I've simply blinked and both of my babies have grown up! They both have added a few new tricks to their repertoire. They are as follows...


Big has one new trick this week. It's called peeing on the potty...and the floor from time to time...but ya know, she tries. Yep, it's official...she's in training. (And absolutely no thanks to my evil plan by the way. Just had to get that out there.) She has gone on the potty twice a day for the last two days now and has gone in her diaper fewer times than she went on the potty! (yes, I know that means she's only peeing 3-4 times a day...we try several more times a day than that...the girl is a camel) So, what did Mommy do? Well, besides singing every "proud" or "congratulations" potty song I could think of (or make up quickly) I went out and bought her a pack of Disney Princess Pull-ups. I know reviews on these things are really hot and cold, but Big looooooves the Princesses...so we thought we'd give them a try. Fortunately, Cinderella has only been peed on twice now...so we're clearly making some progress. I've now coined the phrase "You don't want to pee pee on your Princess, do you?" I mean, clearly princesses are too fancy to get peed on, right? This results in a contemplative look from Big, and then usually a hurried trip to her little potty to "try" to go. She really does love them...the Pull-ups that is. Last night I was putting her jammies on, and in the process, I grabbed a diaper to put on her, thinking that if she did wet her diaper overnight, we might need more absorbency than a simple Pull-up can offer. I can only say...what was I thinking? A mere peek at the diaper resulted in the loudest, girliest screech I've experienced to date, along with some full body "get that crap away from me" wiggles. I was then informed that she does NOT wear diapers anymore...she wears "big girl unddapants". Copy that Houston...no more diapers. This is a good sign right? Or is it just a sign that my diaper expense just doubled in size? (stupid Pull-ups and their fancy price tag...stupid Princesses...) We shall see...

Little has a few new tricks too. The first one is called waking Mommy and Daddy up twice in the middle of the night to eat. Well, OK, this isn't a new trick, but she hasn't done it for a month or so now, so it feels new all over again. Ughhhhh...which leads us to her second new trick: spitting out and not eating rice cereal. Yep, after the third night in a row of waking twice, Hubby and I decided that it was time to load her up with some cereal before bed in an effort to get her to sleep longer...that's the myth you know? "Feed the baby cereal before bed and they'll sleep longer." You've heard it, right? Well, it doesn't work here...mostly because our child has a finicky palate...this we already knew...and refuses to open her mouth for the cereal. I swear, her tiny lips are like Fort freakin' Knox! Last night I, reluctantly, found myself sneaking spoonfuls of the, apparently vile, stuff into her mouth each time she parted her lips to complain about it. (bad mommy moment...what can I say?) Yeah, I don't think she cared for me much at the time, heh. Next step...adding it to her bottle? You know, I hate to mess with her bottles, after the fiasco we went through to simply get the girl to drink them...but something has got to stop this getting up twice a night. She's 5 months old for goodness sakes...that's a long time to go without more than 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep!! (Keep in mind that I can't even caffeinate myself in the morning to get through.) So that one is kind of a work in progress.

Little's third, and final, new trick is a bit more on the TMI side... It involves holding her poop for three days...as opposed to her previous habit of going each time she was fed...and then filling her diaper the likes of a new Guinness world record. It's the formula...it's gotta be the formula. Right? Anyway, this trick usually sends one (or both) of us (Hubby and I that is), running around the house like headless poultry in an often fruitless attempt to minimize the explosive damage. It also often results in the following...an impromptu bath, draining of the wipie box next to her bed, depletion of the stack of diapers on my dresser next to her bed, changing of her bedsheets, sanitizing of her hands and feet (she moves so quickly, its hard to keep them out of "it", you know?!?!)...and so on. And the stink! Good God! You think the stinky butt lullaby was true before?! Ugh. I find myself speechless sometimes, trying to explain how one itty bitty person can make so much mess and stink...but that's our girl. Hubby is secretly very proud...umm...when he doesn't have to change the diaper. Even he has limits, people.

And in all seriousness...Little has been making great progress with her Physical and Occupational Therapy lately. She allllmost rolls over all by herself now, and is practically sitting alone. Note: I said practically. She still does end up in a doubled over heap most of the time, or flopping over to the side like a "timbering" tree...but she's working on it. She's also so great at reaching for objects and grasping them and getting them to her mouth. Oooh! And holding her head up when she's laying on her tummy, that's a big one for us!! And dammit, she's still the happiest baby I've ever seen. Such strides they're making...we're so proud. ::sigh:: Kinda makes the rest of this motherhood gig worth it, you know? It just all goes so fast...