My coworkers have started commenting about how pregnant I look, which is satisfying because I really DO look pregnant!! I have quite the little belly and I've gained 15 (or 16 or 17) lbs so far. The heartburn and sideaches have already started, so it's going to be a fun next 4 months. I am appreciating that my biking had really helped me stay in shape with my first pregnancy, because I'm feeling pretty worn out these days. Although, I guess I do remember being too tired to want to bike in training for that ridiculous adventure. I'm glad I did, and I'm glad I'm not this time. Perfect!
Emily put together her first sentence today at Ms. Amanda's. She said Swimming's fun!!! Over and over and over. She will parrot anything you say to her, and it's possible to have conversations with her about things she likes and things she has done. Tonight, we were able to tell her that she'd get some fruit if she ate her potatoes (we aren't even bribing her with dessert yet - so that bodes well for getting her to eat a few veggies here and there). And, she helped me pick up toys with things like "Put the puzzle pieces in the box and then we'll read your favorite book." I think it's neat that she can respond to "if / then" statements. That takes some complex thought and understanding, and she totally has it down.
The past weekend was interesting - my dad's extended family had a gathering at my aunt's house in Waukee, so we drove over there after Emily's nap. There were 9 little girls under the age of 10, plus two little 3-year-old boys. Emily had a great time! Travis had a good time too - when we got there, they were passing out shots of Jaegermeister, followed soon by shots of SoCo and then Jell-O shots. The kids were on tremendous sugar highs from all the cookies available, and most of the adults were heartily drinking. It was definitely a party of self-indulgences! :) Emily loved seeing everybody, and she was again taken aback by my uncle's similarity in appearance to my dad. Don isn't Grandpa - he's the faux Pa. (Har har har.) Anyway, it was a nice way to be social on a weekend where we didn't have to travel.
Next weekend, Ragbrai starts. Jenny, Dave, and Travis will be on the bus to Council Bluffs on Saturday, which means that Julie, Sarah, Megan, and Emily will all be at my house with me until Jenny and Dave come back Sunday night from their single day of biking. I'm looking forward to it, with a bit of apprehension (gotta do some activity- and meal-planning!) and excitement. Emily has been asking for Sarah and Megan every day since she last saw them.
Now I have to go pick up my brother and sister-in-law from the airport as they return from 10 days in Europe. It sounds like it was an incredible trip! Good thing I have people like them to live vicariously through.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Potty Training, Take Two
We had the holiday weekend at home, so with four days to figure this out, I decided to give Emily another shot at potty training. I'd say we had mixed to not-so-great results... but not altogether terrible. Last night, she used the potty three times (at my suggestion) at a friend's house, and she seemed to know exactly what she was doing and be so pleased with herself. I had high hopes for today, since we had the whole day at home to figure it out and earlier in the day she had gone twice without me suggesting it. Today went well until she pooped in her underwear, and then the game was pretty much off for the day. We sat and read books on the potty for probably 45 minutes before she finally peed on the carpet... and I gave up for the day. She wore diapers until she finally pooped again in the evening, and then wanted to wear her "Melmo"s, which I was glad to hear that she wasn't totally opposed two wearing undies after all this. I'm glad I bought 3 different kinds of undies, because she really took a liking to the Elmo ones. I'm not sure how to handle tomorrow when she's at daycare. I think we made enough progress over the last 4 days that I don't want to just give in and go back to diapers completely. I'm afraid if I do that, I'll miss a window of opportunity where she's able to try something new and not be too stubborn to leave behind diapers. We'll see what Amanda thinks tomorrow, I guess, but I think I'll keep trying the next three mornings next week.
The funniest part of potty training is that I discovered that Emily has nearly no poop face at all. She was standing 3 feet from me as I talked to her, wearing only a shirt, and suddenly there was poop on the floor behind her, as though it had fallen from the sky. She seemed a little surprised to see it there, and I tried to explain to her that with a little warning it could fall right into the potty. It was certainly a weird experience for her, but really, really funny to me, somehow. It was such a surprise!! What the heck, where did that come from?? It's too bad, though, because the lesson didn't really stick for her.
All in all, it was a really fun weekend, even with the exhaustion of sitting on/near the potty for hours and hours. Travis got a couple of bike rides in, and we saw some friends. I did all of the laundry and grocery shopping, so it was productive too. And there was only one bottle rocket in our yard this morning, so for all the explosions going on last night in our neighborhood, not too bad.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Run ragged!
What a crazy month it has been! After all the family gatherings a few weeks ago, we took the next two weekends on the road, too. We went to Minneapolis for a wedding of two friends and had a really great time reminiscing and seeing everybody that we miss so much from our time up north. Cute pictures are posted at picasa already. The trip was a little rough on Emily, who decided her carseat isn't comfy enough for a real nap.
This weekend, we went to the Des Moines Arts Festival on Friday night, and although it was a nice way to kick off the weekend, it was rough on Emily. She couldn't sit still to eat anything (fair food, walking around), so by the time we got home and tried to feed her real food in her chair, she was too tired to focus on eating. Needless to say, she was up early, calling for breakfast from her crib! We left Saturday noon for Barnum and went to Travis's 10-year class reunion. Emily stayed at her grandparents and had a really fun evening with them and her uncles. The next day, we went to mass with his family and then had lunch together before leaving town during her nap. Travis let me sleep in Sunday morning, getting up with Emily at 6:30. I woke up at 8 - wow!! What a treat!!
Emily is really talking these days. She will try just about anything you say and point to, and give it a pretty successful try. She has also discovered swimming, and LOVES it! We took her to the hotel pool up in Minneapolis and it took her about 2 minutes to go from not being sure at all to having the time of her life. She kicked, she splashed, she even put her face in the water! She didn't really like that, but she wasn't at all freaked out. She tried to blow bubbles, and she loved "jumping" off the edge of the pool into her dad's arms. She was in her swimsuit every day for a week, having a great time in the kiddie pool and sprinkler at Amanda's. As she was unwinding tonight for bed, I heard her calling out for "svimming..." And boy does she look great in a swimsuit. :) what a cute little bod!!
My ribs have already started aching. I was so hoping that the permanent stretch in my ribcage would leave me a few more weeks without this ache, but it set in at right the same point as the first time. I am trying to improve my posture throughout the day, because it's worse in the evenings after a day of slouching, I guess. I am also starting to notice that sleeping on my back doesn't feel the greatest, but I do it a lot and I remember it was hard to stay on my side the first time around. So, out of the 40 weeks of pregnancy, I've had about 10 that weren't overshadowed by nausea, exhaustion, or discomfort. And that counts the 2 weeks before I was actually pregnant! (during which time I did BRR ride. ha!)
We are starting to get ready for Ragbrai around here. I am not going to participate at all this year, which is a hard thing to swallow for me but I just can't see that it's worth the hardship for me to try to make things work. That, and the only biking I've been able to do this year is 5 miles to my brother's house and back. I really liked the benefits of biking while pregnant, but it wouldn't've mattered this summer - you can't bike if you're the mother of a toddler and wife of a biker / workaholic. Pretty discouraging, but I'm still having a great summer, so I guess my hobbies are just changing. I'm such a grown-up now... if I didn't like being a mom so much, I'd be pretty concerned about it!
This weekend, we went to the Des Moines Arts Festival on Friday night, and although it was a nice way to kick off the weekend, it was rough on Emily. She couldn't sit still to eat anything (fair food, walking around), so by the time we got home and tried to feed her real food in her chair, she was too tired to focus on eating. Needless to say, she was up early, calling for breakfast from her crib! We left Saturday noon for Barnum and went to Travis's 10-year class reunion. Emily stayed at her grandparents and had a really fun evening with them and her uncles. The next day, we went to mass with his family and then had lunch together before leaving town during her nap. Travis let me sleep in Sunday morning, getting up with Emily at 6:30. I woke up at 8 - wow!! What a treat!!
Emily is really talking these days. She will try just about anything you say and point to, and give it a pretty successful try. She has also discovered swimming, and LOVES it! We took her to the hotel pool up in Minneapolis and it took her about 2 minutes to go from not being sure at all to having the time of her life. She kicked, she splashed, she even put her face in the water! She didn't really like that, but she wasn't at all freaked out. She tried to blow bubbles, and she loved "jumping" off the edge of the pool into her dad's arms. She was in her swimsuit every day for a week, having a great time in the kiddie pool and sprinkler at Amanda's. As she was unwinding tonight for bed, I heard her calling out for "svimming..." And boy does she look great in a swimsuit. :) what a cute little bod!!
My ribs have already started aching. I was so hoping that the permanent stretch in my ribcage would leave me a few more weeks without this ache, but it set in at right the same point as the first time. I am trying to improve my posture throughout the day, because it's worse in the evenings after a day of slouching, I guess. I am also starting to notice that sleeping on my back doesn't feel the greatest, but I do it a lot and I remember it was hard to stay on my side the first time around. So, out of the 40 weeks of pregnancy, I've had about 10 that weren't overshadowed by nausea, exhaustion, or discomfort. And that counts the 2 weeks before I was actually pregnant! (during which time I did BRR ride. ha!)
We are starting to get ready for Ragbrai around here. I am not going to participate at all this year, which is a hard thing to swallow for me but I just can't see that it's worth the hardship for me to try to make things work. That, and the only biking I've been able to do this year is 5 miles to my brother's house and back. I really liked the benefits of biking while pregnant, but it wouldn't've mattered this summer - you can't bike if you're the mother of a toddler and wife of a biker / workaholic. Pretty discouraging, but I'm still having a great summer, so I guess my hobbies are just changing. I'm such a grown-up now... if I didn't like being a mom so much, I'd be pretty concerned about it!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
One memory
Here's a memory that I just thought of, and I don't want to forget. My cousin Matt told us all this today, and he's got Grandpa's storytelling gift so I hope my memory can recall what he said verbatim:
"We were talking at Christmas one year, at Carol's house, and Grandpa says to me, 'You know, Matt, getting old is really tough.' 'Yeah, I'll bet, Grandpa.' 'Cause up here, I'm still 18, but I've got the body of a 92-year-old.' And then he says, 'and what happened to my hips?!? I wear suspenders, you know, and I know I've got highwater pants, but I just can't find my hips anymore!!'"
Okay, rats, it's not as funny once I write it down. But it was a nice memory, one of many.
"We were talking at Christmas one year, at Carol's house, and Grandpa says to me, 'You know, Matt, getting old is really tough.' 'Yeah, I'll bet, Grandpa.' 'Cause up here, I'm still 18, but I've got the body of a 92-year-old.' And then he says, 'and what happened to my hips?!? I wear suspenders, you know, and I know I've got highwater pants, but I just can't find my hips anymore!!'"
Okay, rats, it's not as funny once I write it down. But it was a nice memory, one of many.
Crazy
This weekend turned out to be crazier than I could have imagined. We went out to Panora on Thursday afternoon, and had a really nice time with almost all of my maternal extended family on Friday. Saturday morning, we were remarking at how much fun we were all having, and how we should do this every year instead of Christmas. But then, my dad got a phone call that his dad was doing much worse, and my sister and I went to talk to him. By the time we found him, he'd gotten another call, and Grandpa was gone. My parents packed up right away and drove up to Holstein, but we stayed to finish out the weekend. It was hard to be having such a good time (sailing, canoeing, swimming, eating, chatting) when we knew my dad was off helping his mom plan a funeral.
There was the standard exhaustion, of course; Emily took pretty good naps but I couldn't make the room dark enough for her to sleep past 6 AM. Plus, the last night we were there, she woke herself - not once, but twice - with poopy diapers. Incredible. I think she had been eating way more than usual because she can't tell me the difference between hungry and tired, so when she's as exhausted as she was she just kept thinking that more food would make her feel better. I can't blame her - I'm the same way!! So, Sunday was really not fun, as we had to clean the cabins, pack everything, and say goodbye, which I suppose is favorable to having some MEAN diaper rash!! We got home shortly after lunch on Sunday, and Emily took a nap at home while I unpacked, put food away, and re-packed for a trip to Holstein. After she woke up, my sister's family arrived and stayed overnight at my house. They spent Monday morning at the Science Center while Trav and Emily and I did our regular Monday morning routine; we all left for Holstein that afternoon.
It was really a lovely funeral, if there is such a thing. Grandma insisted that the funeral should be Tuesday morning, and she was really strong throughout. It's weird - I can't think of any other time that I have seen every single one of my cousins in such a short span of time. It was hard to say goodbye to Grandpa, but it was even harder to see everyone else so sad, including Grandma, my dad, and his siblings. We did our best to really celebrate his life, because if you think about it, passing away in your sleep after 94 years of a life full of wonderful family, a job that he loved (farming) in a town full of friends, it's really the way to go. I looked around at the family today, and I really think he had good reason to be proud of us. He really couldn't hear much at all for many, many years, but he loved to just enjoy the rest of us getting together and laughing, and we did our share of that today. He could tell the funniest, best stories, of which I heard many retold this weekend. There were only a few pictures of him that the family could put together for a memory board, but they were all very meaningful with a story behind them. He and Grandma loved to dance, and I will always treasure dancing with him at my brother's wedding 4 years ago. I don't know if he ever danced after that, actually. Most of all, I really think my dad can feel like he did everything he could. I was most worried that he'd be kicking himself for one thing or another when it's all said and done, and that he'd never forgive himself of that guilt. But I think he's okay.
In other news, the baby is really kicking these days, mostly in the evenings. Travis and I sat on the couch enjoying a few good hard kicks the other night. I really like this stage, where it's a gentle reminder of who I've got growing there, and not an assault on me. I'm wearing maternity clothes about 80% of the time now, so yeah, I'm really showing! Ultrasound is on Thursday, so that'll be really fun, too.
The past 5 days have been absolutely crazy. I feel so bad for Emily that we're going to throw her in the car on Friday afternoon to spend two days in Minnesota, and then spend the following weekend in Barnum. But she's a trooper; she was absolutely wonderful for the entire weekend, no matter what we threw at her. And when we get back from Barnum, I think we'll give that potty training another go. She peed on the floor tonight after her bath, and I pointed out to her that that's what she should do in the potty instead of on the floor, and she thought and thought and thought about it. Then later, she pointed to that spot on the floor and said "no, no, no!" She's getting there. :)
There was the standard exhaustion, of course; Emily took pretty good naps but I couldn't make the room dark enough for her to sleep past 6 AM. Plus, the last night we were there, she woke herself - not once, but twice - with poopy diapers. Incredible. I think she had been eating way more than usual because she can't tell me the difference between hungry and tired, so when she's as exhausted as she was she just kept thinking that more food would make her feel better. I can't blame her - I'm the same way!! So, Sunday was really not fun, as we had to clean the cabins, pack everything, and say goodbye, which I suppose is favorable to having some MEAN diaper rash!! We got home shortly after lunch on Sunday, and Emily took a nap at home while I unpacked, put food away, and re-packed for a trip to Holstein. After she woke up, my sister's family arrived and stayed overnight at my house. They spent Monday morning at the Science Center while Trav and Emily and I did our regular Monday morning routine; we all left for Holstein that afternoon.
It was really a lovely funeral, if there is such a thing. Grandma insisted that the funeral should be Tuesday morning, and she was really strong throughout. It's weird - I can't think of any other time that I have seen every single one of my cousins in such a short span of time. It was hard to say goodbye to Grandpa, but it was even harder to see everyone else so sad, including Grandma, my dad, and his siblings. We did our best to really celebrate his life, because if you think about it, passing away in your sleep after 94 years of a life full of wonderful family, a job that he loved (farming) in a town full of friends, it's really the way to go. I looked around at the family today, and I really think he had good reason to be proud of us. He really couldn't hear much at all for many, many years, but he loved to just enjoy the rest of us getting together and laughing, and we did our share of that today. He could tell the funniest, best stories, of which I heard many retold this weekend. There were only a few pictures of him that the family could put together for a memory board, but they were all very meaningful with a story behind them. He and Grandma loved to dance, and I will always treasure dancing with him at my brother's wedding 4 years ago. I don't know if he ever danced after that, actually. Most of all, I really think my dad can feel like he did everything he could. I was most worried that he'd be kicking himself for one thing or another when it's all said and done, and that he'd never forgive himself of that guilt. But I think he's okay.
In other news, the baby is really kicking these days, mostly in the evenings. Travis and I sat on the couch enjoying a few good hard kicks the other night. I really like this stage, where it's a gentle reminder of who I've got growing there, and not an assault on me. I'm wearing maternity clothes about 80% of the time now, so yeah, I'm really showing! Ultrasound is on Thursday, so that'll be really fun, too.
The past 5 days have been absolutely crazy. I feel so bad for Emily that we're going to throw her in the car on Friday afternoon to spend two days in Minnesota, and then spend the following weekend in Barnum. But she's a trooper; she was absolutely wonderful for the entire weekend, no matter what we threw at her. And when we get back from Barnum, I think we'll give that potty training another go. She peed on the floor tonight after her bath, and I pointed out to her that that's what she should do in the potty instead of on the floor, and she thought and thought and thought about it. Then later, she pointed to that spot on the floor and said "no, no, no!" She's getting there. :)
Monday, June 8, 2009
And the fun begins...
The next three weekends are going to be CRAZY. This weekend, we're going out to Lake Panorama to celebrate my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. All of my extended family - Coulson side - will be there, including Emily's cousins, and we'll be there for 3 full days. The next weekend, we're traveling to Minneapolis to celebrate a wedding of a few friends from our days up there. The weekend after that is Travis's 10-year class reunion, so we'll be in Barnum that day. So, I had hoped for a nice quiet weekend at home to mentally prepare for all of this, and I guess technically I got that, except Travis went canoeing and camping Saturday and part of Sunday. It was harder than I thought it would be, being alone with Emily for that long, and I was exhausted by the time he got home. It would've been easier had I not known that he was hanging out with our friends (including MY family!) and having a really great time. So, we had a little chat when he got home, and I went out and bought expensive shoes. Just when I think I'm not a real girl. :)
The potty training experiment last week didn't go so great, but I had my expectations set low so I suppose I wouldn't say it was that disappointing. She peed twice on the floor and once on my lap. The last time, she was standing right next to the toilet, and said, "Uh oh..." So, I took it as a learning experience for her, to know what it feels like to go without a diaper on, and to learn that that's not a good thing. Those are things to learn, so, success, right? After her afternoon nap, she actually was willing to sit on the potty again, and she did go in the potty!! So, another success! Since then, she's been in diapers, but she LOVES to read one particular book about going potty, and it's about 3/4 of the time that if I suggest sitting on the potty she'll get all excited and run after it. The rest of the time, she says no, and I just let it drop. She hasn't actually gone any time since then, but I always tell her she did a great job and how proud I am of her. She likes sitting backwards on her potty upstairs, which is just a little adaptor seat on the big toilet. It's pretty funny to see. We're still working on learning not to Dip, Dip, Dip anything EVER in the potty, which may end up being more frustrating than learning to actually go. Eh, whatever. I don't mind spending the whole summer like this, cuz I think she's learning, little by little. At some point, I'll stick her in big-kid underwear for the day (which she loves to put on, btw) and she'll put it all together. Not yet, but perhaps before she turns 2. We'll see!
Emily has bunny ears on a headband, and a similar flower headband. If she puts one on, then I get to be the other. :) She's so fun to play with! Today, she did a great job of self-play, both in the car and at home. She got a new little shopping cart yesterday and she has spent nearly every waking moment after receipt of that pushing it around with her favorite doll in the front basket. She also likes to wear my old purse when doing so - adorable! I should get those pictures posted...
The potty training experiment last week didn't go so great, but I had my expectations set low so I suppose I wouldn't say it was that disappointing. She peed twice on the floor and once on my lap. The last time, she was standing right next to the toilet, and said, "Uh oh..." So, I took it as a learning experience for her, to know what it feels like to go without a diaper on, and to learn that that's not a good thing. Those are things to learn, so, success, right? After her afternoon nap, she actually was willing to sit on the potty again, and she did go in the potty!! So, another success! Since then, she's been in diapers, but she LOVES to read one particular book about going potty, and it's about 3/4 of the time that if I suggest sitting on the potty she'll get all excited and run after it. The rest of the time, she says no, and I just let it drop. She hasn't actually gone any time since then, but I always tell her she did a great job and how proud I am of her. She likes sitting backwards on her potty upstairs, which is just a little adaptor seat on the big toilet. It's pretty funny to see. We're still working on learning not to Dip, Dip, Dip anything EVER in the potty, which may end up being more frustrating than learning to actually go. Eh, whatever. I don't mind spending the whole summer like this, cuz I think she's learning, little by little. At some point, I'll stick her in big-kid underwear for the day (which she loves to put on, btw) and she'll put it all together. Not yet, but perhaps before she turns 2. We'll see!
Emily has bunny ears on a headband, and a similar flower headband. If she puts one on, then I get to be the other. :) She's so fun to play with! Today, she did a great job of self-play, both in the car and at home. She got a new little shopping cart yesterday and she has spent nearly every waking moment after receipt of that pushing it around with her favorite doll in the front basket. She also likes to wear my old purse when doing so - adorable! I should get those pictures posted...
Monday, June 1, 2009
Being tested
Emily was really pushing my buttons tonight. We had a crazy weekend, which I'll describe more, so I don't know if it was weird for her to be home after being at Amanda's all day, or if she didn't eat enough while she was there, or if she was just plain exhausted, but MAN she was whiney tonight!! Maybe she's just practicing being two, who knows. Every little thing that she wanted (markers, nailclippers, pens, me holdling her) that sometimes we allow in moderation, she would not take No or distractions as an answer. And even if she's unhappy sometimes, she doesn't melt down like she did tonight. Unbelievable. But I didn't snap, at her or at Travis, who decided it was the perfect time to read up on the news while I wrestled Emily AND tried to fix dinner. I'll try to be even more graceful next time - practice, practice, practice.
This weekend, we went up to Barnum on Friday night, and had a nice visit with Travis's folks. Early the next morning, we drove to Ida Grove, and met up with my parents and a few of my dad's cousins who were visiting with their 95-year-old mother from California. I've decided to model my life so I can end up as healthy and charming as my great-aunt Anna - wow. To see her, you'd guess she's maybe 80 years old, probably 75. We had a nice breakfast with them, and then headed up to Cherokee where my Grandma was with my Grandpa in the hospital. He had some high potassium levels that had put him into bad condition, and he didn't wake up the whole time we were there. Emily did her best screaming in the hallway, and still nothing. Apparently he was doing much, much better on Sunday, but we had to go back on Saturday so I didn't get to talk to him. I kind of felt like I said my goodbye to him; I sure hope I was wrong. That was really tough, especially seeing how hard this is for my grandma and my dad. We traveled back to Barnum during Emily's nap, and had dinner with Trav's folks before heading back to Des Moines. It was an emotionally draining weekend, seeing my grandpa slowly slipping away, seeing nearly all my extended family, trying to keep Emily safe in an unfamiliar house and calm enough to get to sleep at a decent time, and failing at the latter two. I don't see how you can laugh at a little girl who is scared silly after she tips over backwards in a chair that she hadn't ever sat in before, and why my schedule for her can be pooh-poohed as though I don't really know what she needs. I was so frustrated that I couldn't leave her in the care of anybody else for a second without her getting into something dangerous and/or hearing her scream a few minutes later. But I kept my cool, remembering that her grandparents are rusty at handling a toddler, new at being grandparents, and it doesn't mean she isn't wholeheartedly loved. But still frustrating to me... constant vigilance in an effort to protect her is so exhausting.
Tomorrow is a big adventure for Emily - potty training! We've been preparing for a while, giving her time to sit on her potty with or without a diaper, and talking about getting changed right after she goes, and her favorite part, practicing flushing. Tonight before bed, we read a book about a little girl who learns to go potty, and we read it nearly 3 times through with much interest from Emily. Then, I asked her if she wanted to try to go potty before she got her jammies on, and she was all excited and took off for the bathroom, and she actually peed!!!! She gave me the biggest, prettiest smile when she realized what she had done. She was so proud of herself!! I have high hopes for tomorrow, but I keep telling myself that we have a huge stash of diapers and it's totally, totally fine to go back to diapers if she gets frustrated. I don't want to give her a complex about it, so I am trying to do everything I can to make this fun and not stressful. If it turns into a stressor, we'll quit, no biggie. But after that smile tonight, I'm pretty encouraged. The funniest part of this so far has been teaching Emily that toilet paper goes into the potty and stays there - her first attempt at dropping it in was accompanied by an enthusiastic "Dip! Dip! Dip!" I didn't see anything in any of my prep reading about how to teach No Dipping in the Potty. That must be Emily's special twist. :)
This weekend, we went up to Barnum on Friday night, and had a nice visit with Travis's folks. Early the next morning, we drove to Ida Grove, and met up with my parents and a few of my dad's cousins who were visiting with their 95-year-old mother from California. I've decided to model my life so I can end up as healthy and charming as my great-aunt Anna - wow. To see her, you'd guess she's maybe 80 years old, probably 75. We had a nice breakfast with them, and then headed up to Cherokee where my Grandma was with my Grandpa in the hospital. He had some high potassium levels that had put him into bad condition, and he didn't wake up the whole time we were there. Emily did her best screaming in the hallway, and still nothing. Apparently he was doing much, much better on Sunday, but we had to go back on Saturday so I didn't get to talk to him. I kind of felt like I said my goodbye to him; I sure hope I was wrong. That was really tough, especially seeing how hard this is for my grandma and my dad. We traveled back to Barnum during Emily's nap, and had dinner with Trav's folks before heading back to Des Moines. It was an emotionally draining weekend, seeing my grandpa slowly slipping away, seeing nearly all my extended family, trying to keep Emily safe in an unfamiliar house and calm enough to get to sleep at a decent time, and failing at the latter two. I don't see how you can laugh at a little girl who is scared silly after she tips over backwards in a chair that she hadn't ever sat in before, and why my schedule for her can be pooh-poohed as though I don't really know what she needs. I was so frustrated that I couldn't leave her in the care of anybody else for a second without her getting into something dangerous and/or hearing her scream a few minutes later. But I kept my cool, remembering that her grandparents are rusty at handling a toddler, new at being grandparents, and it doesn't mean she isn't wholeheartedly loved. But still frustrating to me... constant vigilance in an effort to protect her is so exhausting.
Tomorrow is a big adventure for Emily - potty training! We've been preparing for a while, giving her time to sit on her potty with or without a diaper, and talking about getting changed right after she goes, and her favorite part, practicing flushing. Tonight before bed, we read a book about a little girl who learns to go potty, and we read it nearly 3 times through with much interest from Emily. Then, I asked her if she wanted to try to go potty before she got her jammies on, and she was all excited and took off for the bathroom, and she actually peed!!!! She gave me the biggest, prettiest smile when she realized what she had done. She was so proud of herself!! I have high hopes for tomorrow, but I keep telling myself that we have a huge stash of diapers and it's totally, totally fine to go back to diapers if she gets frustrated. I don't want to give her a complex about it, so I am trying to do everything I can to make this fun and not stressful. If it turns into a stressor, we'll quit, no biggie. But after that smile tonight, I'm pretty encouraged. The funniest part of this so far has been teaching Emily that toilet paper goes into the potty and stays there - her first attempt at dropping it in was accompanied by an enthusiastic "Dip! Dip! Dip!" I didn't see anything in any of my prep reading about how to teach No Dipping in the Potty. That must be Emily's special twist. :)
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