Light at the end of the tunnel?

Potty-training, night-wetting...these are a few of my least favorite things. But, I can see a glimmer of hope, a small light at the end of this long tunnel. Sabrina went all day yesterday wearing training pants and stayed dry. So, I think it's time to get started on more consistent efforts with her. Also, Libby's night wetting has improved. I know she gets discouraged, but I have faith.

We finally had an overdue playdate with friends, Taylor, Hayley & Lauryn today. It was so nice to see them and let the girls all play. They played Xbox, Barbies and Sabrina played princesses with T. I must say, Miss T was a good sport about it all, being that she is going on 8 yrs old. :)

Libby's reading is getting so good. It's amazing to hear. I got her a set of Phonics books and she is breezing through most of them. She read "Inside, Outside, Upside Down" by Dr. Seuss tonight, all by herself, with the exception of the word "right."

Math facts are improving, too, although I thought she was already at the top of her game. Her latest paper came home on Friday with the words, "Awesome! Faster, too! Less than 1 minute!"

Library Books:
"Plenty of Penguins"

March 2013

I love seeing the girls play together now. It's usually nice, though there can be occassional fighting ;) They play Barbies, trains, My Little Pony, school...

Libby's behavior is definitely getting better, steadily. We still have fights but she gets over it faster and apologizes. It's nice to see things improving.

School is going well. Conferences are in a few weeks. They will be "student-led" which sounds interesting. Her latest math paper that came home said, "Super! Less than 1 minute!" Her last project about resources and living things went well, too. She presented on Shetland Ponies and items from the grocery store.

We have had a few delayed starts and 1 snow day in the past few weeks. Much needed snow.

Night 1: One accident, then 2 hrs, then all night :)
Night 2: One accident, then 4 hrs, then all night
Night 3: two accidents, then all night (4hrs between)

Recovering from the break

Seems like we're having a tough time getting back in gear after the break. O is sleepy and been having tummy pains for the last 2 days.

Books from library:
"Sister Tricksters: Rollicking Tales of Clever Females" by Robert D. San Souci
"Lily's Purple Plastic Purse" by Kevin Henkes
"Olivia" by Ian Falconer
"Little Lucy" by Ilene Cooper

I'm surprised at how much O seems to enjoy "Sister Tricksters." It doesn't have many pictures and is written in a Southern dialect.

We stayed busy during the break. Started off with Olivia having a sleepover w/Ms. Angie's girls on the Sabrina had ballet, but Olivia did not. We went to the gym one day so that Mommy could work out, then had lunch with Daddy. Later that day we went and painted ornaments for Christmas. We also hung out w/Ms. Angie and her girls one day. Then, gobbled up a "plump & perky turkey" as O calls it on Thanksgiving. We went to paint one day and O made a painting for Dede and one for Nana. The weather was pretty nice all week, so the girls had time to play outside, too. We finished up the break with O having a birthday party for a former preschool friend, who now takes ballet with her.

Olivia had a presentation for school yesterday for the How We Express Ourselves planner. She interviewed Oma about the games she played as a child and researched the games they play in Germany. I got to see her present and she did a fantastic job. She wore my old dirndl to present, too :)

Literacy folder had "Get the Gag" Decodeable No. 14 this week. She's been up to No. 20 "Red Hen and Rod Rat" but books come out of order sometimes. She's doing really well with sight words, read about 30 of the ones on her ring last night. Though she's still having trouble with a few on the "High Frequency" word list.

Little sister is getting dressed and putting on her pull-up by herself.  Miss Independent. She likes to play with the Leapster, dress up like a princess or a witch, color and play with dolls/babies.

Back to "work"

Back to school today! Spring Break went by too fast. We did get to have lunch w/Daddy one day and go to the Air & Space Museum up in Denver w/Daddy Friday. Having a 3-day weekend w/Daddy was nice. The weather was so warm that we spent the majority of our time outside. Olivia played w/neighbors, Evie and Brooke. We had almost an entire week of "good" days.

Olivia started using her ACT anti-cavity rinse after brushing at night. She doesn't enjoy it but I'm not giving her a choice. She has to get used to it to keep those teeth strong.

I bought Olivia some new flip-flops just in time for the nice weather. Those big puppy feet need a 12/13 in flip/flops.

Sabrina is going through some early terrible-2s behavior. Everything is "NO!" and she's very particular about what she does or does NOT want. It's good that she can express it but frustrating that she chooses to be so aggressive and loud.

Music to Mama's ears

"Mama, I'm gonna help you bring in some of those bags from the store!" Olivia declares as we get out of the car. She may have an awesome ulterior motive (to get to the box of nilla wafers first) but it's so nice to hear her offer to help. She's really becoming a big girl. I can't believe she'll be 5 in a few short weeks. Where has the time gone??

Little sis is definitely learning to potty train much earlier. She sits on the potty every night before her bath and has actually gone a few times. Now, she just asked to go "pee pee" this morning when we went to the bathroom to wash hands.

Sabrina is proving to be my big trouble maker. One of the kids that you hear about, the ones who require you to childproof EVERYTHING! She chews on crayons, scribbles on everything except paper, tears up toilet paper...

Happy 2012!

Sabrina is 17 months old today. Already trying to run and repeating lots of words.

We spent the holidays in Miami with Daddy's family this year. The girls did really well traveling, especially considering the early morning flights. We got to see Oma and Dede one day on our trip. We also participated in the family reunion for Popsi's family. It was a lot of traveling but a nice time.

School started yesterday, which meant 1 day of school for Olivia this week. She took her LalaLoopsie doll for show & tell.

Olivia's did really well with her bathroom behavior on our trip. Nana helped her have lots of "star" and "Rapunzel" days. Her other behavior wasn't so great - a combination of late nights with cousins and showing off for older cousins.

I can't believe it's time to start planning Olivia's 5th birthday. Next month!

School's out for Winter...

Winter Break started today for Olivia. Her last day of school for the semester was yesterday. The kids had a small party. Spring Semester starts on 5 Jan. 2012

Book of the week: "Oodles of Animals"
Word of the week: bells

Olivia & I went to the dentist this past week for a general check-up/cleaning. She did really well. No new cavities. Sabrina stayed w/Ms. Erin, which was a huge help to me.

Sabrina loves to dance, stomp her foot and scream. Yea, I think the terrible 2's are starting early w/this one. She screams at the top of her voice & looks around to see who is paying attention. It's ear-piercing. I like that she understands simple commands though. And she shows interest in the potty. It's very, very basic, but she goes thru an entire routine. I put her on the toilet to pretend to pee. She stands on the stool and washes hands at the sink. Then, dries her hands w/ the towel.

Sabrina seemed to be in a lot of pain from teething today. That 4th molar is working through now. Poor kid. They seem to take forever.

Book of the week: "Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story"

This week's swimming lesson was much better. Olivia swam w/Ms. Julie again. I got to talk to her after the lesson, which made me feel better. She seems to get Olivia's attitude and is willing to work w/her.

Olivia had another episode of telling me that it hurt when she went to the bathroom this week. I couldn't be certain it was not a UTI, so we went to the Dr. on Tues. Thankfully, everything is fine and the dr. was very nice in giving us suggestions on how to improve potty habits and attitudes.

Getting better?

School is going a bit better. The only crying today was related to arguing over what outfit to wear (despite picking one out last night). Olivia seemed happier & was excited to see that one of her friends has a skirt exactly like one that she owns. Daddy picked up so I could go to my dr. appt. More excitement now that I'm 2cm dilated & 50% effaced. It will be interesting to see how labor goes this time.

In other news, Olivia shows signs of regressing w/her potty training. Not fun. She had a bunch of big accidents last week at our friend's house. I might have to pull out the stamp chart & rewards again. She's asked to sleep in reg. panties a few nights, too, but that is not working at all.

A dry night

Happy & excited that Olivia woke up with a dry pull-up & went straight to the bathroom the other morning. I know it will take some time to fully get there, but it's nice to see her recognizing what needs to be done....

Well, that went...poorly

Olivia asked to go to bed without a pull-up last night. I knew it wouldn't be successful, but wanted to give her a chance to see what would happen. She went to the bathroom about 15-20 mins before falling asleep, but was up around 1am. She had wet everything. We had to strip the bed, change her & let her sleep with us. So, obviously, she's not ready to sleep thru the night dry, but I'm glad we tried. To her credit, she stayed dry from 1am until waking around 730am. Also, she didn't use the bathroom for another hour or so after waking up. So, she can go at least 6-7 hrs.

In other news, Olivia gave us a taste of her worst behavior to date. We went to the airport in Denver to pick up our friends who flew in from DC on Sat. They had their 2 year-old son w/them. We met them inside by the baggage claim. For some reason, she flipped out when we saw them. I don't know if she was actually scared of them, tired or what. No one did or said anything to provoke her. It was terrible. She screamed & cried for a really long time & refused to get in the car. I thought she was going to make herself sick. She was so upset that she started shaking & peed all over herself.

Then, there's Mommy. I'm 26 weeks now - third trimester, I think. I don't feel pregnant sometimes. Other times...my back hurts, I have indigestion & trouble sleeping. Have some Braxton-Hicks contractions and am tired a lot, but it's not bad.

update

So, it's been just over a month since Olivia decided to start wearing underwear. She's been doing really well. Some things are still hard, but she's pretty good about it all. She's even holding it during naps (2 hrs or more)- though I try hard to make sure she has a waterproof pad under her if she falls asleep on the couch. Not sure how to move ahead w/overnight, but she doesn't seem to understand or be ready to hold it that long yet. We did try to use a training panty instead of her normal overnight diapers last night. That held fairly well, but she definitely knows the training pants will hold. Anyway, so that's the update. Feels like we're on the right track still. :)

Such a big girl

It's been almost 5 days now that Olivia has been wearing big girl panties & telling me when she needs to use the potty. I'm in total shock, but so happy. I hope it lasts.

I finally got invites out for her 3rd bday party. We're going to have it at Chuck E Cheese this year. Seems more reasonable, especially when most of her friends are the same age. Can't imagine having them all in the house at one time. Oh & she asked for a "Princess & the Frog" cake.

Happy New Year - 2010!

Olivia is running around pretending to be at the beach, throwing a beach ball, while serving tea w/her Snow White tea set. It's going to be a great year ;)

Potty training is still hit or miss. Though today seems to be a new day of her wanting to wear big girl panties & actually telling me when she has to go. Vs the old days of me asking her every 30 mins.

We went for her seasonal flu booster shot the other day. It was the first time she showed any sign of understanding what was about to happen. It didn't end well. Many tears. But I partly blame the nurse. She seemed tired of giving shots & wasn't very gentle.

Olivia saw her 2nd movie @ the theater last week - The Princess and the Frog. She really liked it. I was worried during the voodoo scenes, but she was the best kid in the theater & made us proud.

We spent the holidays in Jamaica w/Nana & Popsi. Olivia had a great time w/all of her cousins. She went swimming, played in the tree house & partied w/family.

Can't believe her 3rd birthday is around the corner.

Well, bust my buttons!

Olivia has been buttoning the buttons on her pjs for a month or more (I'm behind on things). These particular pjs are soft, so they're easier than other buttons. She tries w/other sweaters or jackets, but isn't always 100% successful. Still fun to see her learning a new skill.

The potty is still on limited success mode, too. Daddy's newest tactic is to try & bribe Olivia w/bubble baths. He showed her how fun they can be last night. So, he's hoping it's some initiative for her to potty during the day. We'll see...

More snow today!

Olivia asked to go pee-pee on the potty today. Completely out-of-the-blue, just asked to go, was pulling her pants down & asking for help. She's growing up so fast. Maybe this potty training things won't be so horrible *fingers crossed*

More potty...

Olivia has gone on the potty again :) She was in the bath tub a few nights ago when she suddenly stood up & I could tell what was happening. I asked her if she wanted to sit on the toilet & she said yes. And away she went. I got pretty wet trying to help her - haha, but she did a great job.
Since then, she hasn't done it again, but when she goes in her diaper she'll tell me pretty quick & want it off. She'll let me sit her on the toilet for a bit, too, even though the moment has passed ;)
She still won't pee. The other day, she wouldn't nap, but I left her in her crib for quiet time. I heard her playing w/the window blinds, so I went upstairs. She had taken off her pull-up training pants & peed in the crib. Nice...I guess I need to do something more focused with her. My friend sent me a 3-day potty training program. Time to read it.

Big step in potty training

I'll try to keep this as simple as possible for anyone who is actually reading.
Olivia was in the bathroom w/me while I was getting ready this morning. I was brushing my teeth & she was playing with the door to the toilet (it's separate from the rest of the bathroom). I looked over at her & she said, "Kaka's coming." I asked if she wanted to sit on the potty. She said yes & let me take off her pants & diaper. She went right away. I was so proud of her. :) She's been wearing Pull-ups sometimes, calling them her "big girl panties." I guess I need to really start full gear training her. I didn't know if she was ready, but maybe I'm the one who isn't ready.

Potty

Olivia asked to go to the potty today. Normally, she just talks about it, but if you take her in the bathroom she shakes her head "no" and doesn't want to do anything. But tonight, she asked to go and told me to get up and go with her. She even pushed me down the hallway. When we got to the potty I asked again to be sure and she tried pulling her pants down. So, I took off her diaper and sat her down. She had already done her business, but it's a step. Def time to get her a practice potty.