Diaper Woes

***WARNING*** This post includes information you may not want about my second daughter.  

So I've been having a problem lately.  Ladybug absolutely can't keep her hands out of her diaper.  Sounds gross, I know.  It really kind of came upon us in stages.  First it was just when we changed her diaper.  I can handle that.  We wash hands after changing.  Her giddiness when learning that it is time to change said diaper actually makes it funny.   And now I can actually get her to wipe her own bottom.

Next came the hands in the leg hole of the diaper.  Didn't so much mind it when we were at home.  We wash hands often.  However, it became a little excessive when she spent our entire hour at Target with her hands in her diaper.  No amount of my pulling her hands away could make her stop.

It progressed even further.  Now she really relishes taking her diaper off in her crib.  Kind of a downer to reach in for my beautiful little girl in the pitch dark and feel a naked, wet bottom.  However, Ladybug even managed to top that one.  I picked her up from her crib the other day after nap time.  Everything seemed normal.  It didn't feel like her diaper needed to be changed.  I took her downstairs and proceeded to start trimming her nails, and noticed something brown on her fingers.  Surprisingly I didn't think too much about it.  Until I realized what it was.  When pants prevented her from removing her diaper, my sweet little girl had managed to empty out her diaper for me.  I went back upstairs and the mess at the foot of her crib confirmed my suspicions.  I'll never look at black beans the same way again, and I love black beans.

So, how early is too early to potty train?  I'm very much in the child-led potty training camp.  Kids generally know when they're ready to start, and you can't really force my kids to do anything that they're not ready for.  But this is getting ridiculous.  She knows when she is going.  She'll stop everything just to put her hands in her diaper and feel herself going.  Ask her if she's going potty and her whole body will shake "YES".  This sounds like readiness, doesn't it?  Goodness knows I'd love to get rid of the Pampers, especially since she's not really letting them do their job in the first place.  Just not so excited about the exponential increase in dirty laundry.  

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

It's a gray, dreary, chilly day in the ATL.  Perfect weather for a hearty lamb stew and some great cuddle time on the sofa with the girls.  We're screening The Bee Movie today.  After more than 30 days with no rain I forgot how nice it is to curl up during a thunderstorm.  The puppy girl is anxious though and is pacing everywhere.  All in all, it's been a perfect day so far.  

The Great Birthday Party Dilemma

So this past weekend was Sunshine's very large birthday party with her friends.  Daddy and I had gone back and forth for weeks about whether or not we would even have a big friend birthday party.  I didn't necessarily want to.  I mean, what is it with birthday parties?  They are insanely expensive.  The entire class needs to be invited.  (Not such a small task considering your average Montessori classroom has 30 students.)  Not to mention the fact that keeping 30 3, 4, and 5 year-olds busy and entertained requires nothing less than creativity on the level of Walt Disney.  We're not even going to talk about the goody bag dilemma.  

My husband's argument for the party was compelling.  Sunshine's never had a birthday party with her friends.  She's had such a tough time making friends at school.  Maybe seeing all of them outside of school would help.  Every kid should be able to experience a big, fun birthday party every couple of years.  It's a cool part of growing up.   

So I gave in.  I booked a party at Leapin' Lizards, a really cool inflatable place in Decatur.  I absolutely was not going to try to entertain all those children in our home on 2.5 weeks notice.  Then I started worrying.  What if no one came?  These kids haven't know Sunshine for very long.  What do we do about gifts?  I wanted to say "no gifts," but Daddy thought she should be able to experience a party with gifts, just once.  The only party slot available was 4:00-6:30 pm.  That meant serving dinner.  What do you serve 30 kids for dinner when some of said children are vegan, some are kosher Jews, and some just have parents who don't want anything not organic or free-range to pass across their child's lips?  Then the goody bag dilemma.

Invitations went out.  A tentative menu of cheese pizza, chicken tenders, and a vegetable tray was planned.  Much thought was put into the goody bag dilemma.  Several ideas were discarded.  Finally tote bags, markers, and foam stickers were purchased.  Party plans were moving along nicely.  It would have been nice if people had actually RSVP'd by the date, but that's OK.  It's relatively easy to move numbers around with a party like this.

I was still so anxious though.  I know, I know.  I'm worried about a kid's party.  How lame is that?  But we're new to this school.  We don't know these parents well.  We want Sunshine to fit in.  We want her to be accepted.  We want to be accepted.  What would the parents think about us?  Would we get party invitations after this?  My stomach was churning all day long.  

All in all though, the party went really well.  The kids jumped.  They played.  Sunshine found a friend that stayed with her through the entire party!  She didn't play alone!  Surprisingly there were no tears, from anyone.  It got a little chaotic when we called the children in for dinner.  I was so busy thinking about what to serve, that I didn't even bother to think about how I would get all these children plates fixed.  But the other moms there were fantastic.  They stepped right in.  We didn't really have enough food for the parents to do more than graze.  We probably should have had more.   Oh well.  Sunshine had a blast.  That alone makes it a complete success.  To top that, I even got compliments on the goody bags.  

I'm embarrassed to say that I was so nervous about this.  I know a bad birthday party won't put my kid into therapy.  I just want her to start feeling a little better about this move, her school, her friends.  I know buying her things won't help, but I'm hoping this experience did.  I'm not sure we'll do a big birthday party next year, but she'll have some great memories from this one.  

Charades, anyone?

Ladybug is in such a fascinating stage of development.  Or at least I think so.  She is very non verbal, but she is finding ways of using her body to communicate.  Suggest that we go upstairs to change her diaper, and she will get so excited that her whole body shakes itself yes.  Not just her head, but her whole body.  It's absolutely wild to watch.  Ask to share her raisins, and her head drops down to the floor, her bottom lip pouts out, and she'll clutch her raisins so tightly that the phrase "Over my cold, dead body" comes to mind.  She'll flap her arms wildly when she sees a bird, or airplane for that matter.  She pants when she sees a dog.  She even puts her hand to her ear when she hears me tell Sunshine that it's time to help find my cell phone.  I'm beginning to think the rest of us should sign up for sign language lessons.  

Sunshine never really went through this stage, so it's all new to me.  It's kind of fun, playing charades with my kid.  I know I'm right when her entire body starts bobbing up and down wildly.  It's the very definition of "YES."  

A Shout Out to Daddy

Ever since we moved and Ladybug learned to walk, the girls have been all over my cabinets in our bathroom.  There is something so enthralling about lots of little bottles and containers.  The girls just can't get enough of them.  The second that Ladybug's feet hit the ground, she'd make a beeline for for them.  I'd walk into my bathroom seconds later, and the floor would be littered with bottles and jars, some with their lids nearly off.  I can't tell you how many times I've stubbed my toe on something that they've dragged out.  

I came home from a birthday party round robin with Sunshine a while ago and again tripped over something left on my bathroom floor.  I said something remarkably similar to what a sailor might have said, and bent down to put it back in the cabinet.  I couldn't pull them open.  My amazing husband had childlocked my bathroom cabinets.  And then left something out so I would be sure to trip over it, let loose some colorful vocabulary, and put it away.  But that's ok, he did it without my even asking him to.   And he's helped to ensure that our children's vocabulary is way less colorful!

Some more photos of my beautiful girls.....

Happy Birthday, Sunshine!

My Amazing Sunshine,

You're four years old now.  Four years going on fourteen.  You told some of our neighbors that you were turning four, and you had such a grownup look about you.  You were posing.  They gave me a look that said, "Oh Angela, you are in such trouble."  But that's another post.

I feel like I spent all day looking at you and thinking about that truly scary, exhilarating day that you entered this world.  We were nervous, like all new parents facing labor and delivery for the first time.  I remember just bits and pieces now.  Like how it took so long for you to cry, and that they didn't bring you to me like they were supposed to.  I remember feeling very anxious.  You were perfect; you just needed a little time.  I remember trying to nurse you that very first time.  How I had no idea if what I was doing was right, but you seemed content and busy.  I remember that very first night that we brought you home.  Silly me.  I thought you would wake me up every two hours to eat.  You didn't.  I woke up, completely engorged and terrified that you'd stopped breathing six hours later.  You were fine.  Just sleeping like a baby.

We quickly learned that you will do things when you are ready.  No amount of cajoling on our part can make you ready for something you are not.  You will do things in your own time.  You were a swaddled baby.  Couldn't sleep without it.  We tried to take it away several times, but you weren't ready.  Then, at six months old, you suddenly couldn't sleep with it.  And you told us, in no uncertain terms, that you were done with it.  Even now, you let us know when you're not ready.  Just this weekend you had your first soccer practice.  You're on a team with children you don't know, playing a game you are a little unfamiliar with.  We should have known that you wouldn't necessarily take kindly to practicing.  I wish the coach  might have let you kids have time to get to know each other.  But we don't live in a world that caters to us, and your Daddy and I are trying to teach you a little bit about that.

Your kindness and courtesy amazes me.  I love that when we go out for ice cream, you are the first to offer up your flavor to us for tastes.  You give bites of your favorite foods to Ladybug, without hesitation, if you think she might want them.  You gently help her down the stairs, and cheer her on for getting down without falling.  We've even caught glimpses of you curled up at the corner of her crib, reading her stories.  You absolutely love to hold doors open for others (thank you, Richmond Montessori!), and you know that trash belongs in a trashcan.  There are many students at the high school next to your school who still don't have a great grasp on those lessons.  

You understand so readily that there are certain things that you don't have to share; Cat, Jungley, Baby, and that everything else is up for grabs.  You're so patient with Ladybug when she wants to play with all these toys that were formerly just yours.  You even show her how to use them properly.  

You have an amazing love of all things girl:  sparkly shoes, butterflies, cool hair bands, Fancy Nancy, Barbie dolls (thanks, Mimi), and jewelry.  It never ceases to amaze me.  You need to feel put together in the morning.  Everything matches down to your accessories.  Your purse goes with you to school.  I'm so the very opposite of well put together.  I usually don't match.  My hair is usually up in a bun, and accessories con only rarely be found on my person.  It's absolutely delightful watching you.  I do feel as though I lack some girly gene though.  I know we'll butt heads, but for now I love watching you grow.

Sunshine, your laugh is absolutely infectious.  Luckily we hear you laugh so much more often than we hear you rage.  Although as you test more and more boundaries, you seem to feel more and more frustrated.  We've been working on counting to 10 lately.  When you're angry, I can ask you nicely to count to 10.  You do the same for me.  It's only fair.  Hopefully this will make for some better mornings.

I see so little of the baby that you once were.  I think I'm mourning that just a little.  On the flip side, it's incredible to see the girl you are becoming!

Happy Birthday, Sunshine!

Love, Mom