I Could Not Be More Proud!

Well we did it. We spent the weekend potty training and I could not be more proud of my daughter. She amazes me and I am simply beaming.

Rex and I took a stance early on that we would wait until we knew Maryn was ready to potty train. Depending on who you are talking to this can be a popular approach or a lazy one. But, we endured the comments of disbelief that a 3-year-old was not potty trained and the ones that claimed: they're your children and we will let you screw them up however you choose. And low and behold the results are the same. My daughter is going to the potty, well at least she is peeing in the potty. And you can ask our friends, Jeff and Amy, who were over for dinner last night........she is really going to the potty! From dinner to bathtime, she must have sat on the potty 20 times. Enthusiastic to say the least!

Every parents approach to potty training is different, but I have to say that I am very happy we waited. Being able to see Maryn being so proud of herself is beyond words. She is so aware that she is crossing a threshold from being a baby to being a big girl and I am happy to make those steps while holding her hand instead of at her back pushing her across!

Kudos to you my sweet baby girl!!

Edited on 8/7/06:

I just wanted to add that a week later, Maryn is already pooping in the potty! I am so stoked! We went the whole weekend with not one single accident and we actually left the house! It was so funny sitting in the bathroom with her while she pooped. I tried so hard not to laugh when her face would turn red and she would strain to go and say, "it's just going to pop right out!"

Because she progressed through this potty training thing so quickly, Rex and I got tired of handing out prizes all day. So, we took her to the store yesterday and picked out her final prize for doing so well (a cinderella doll with accessories)and had a "Potty Party" cake.

Poor Dylan has just caught on to the process and this morning went and sat on the potty with all his clothes on. I said to him, "good boy, look how big you are". He proceeded to get down from the potty and walk directly to the closet where we kept the potty prizes and say, "treat". Needless to say, he was not at all happy when I explained that he had to actually pee or poop in the potty to get a prize. His day will come!

Sometimes I Fail

I realize that a more accurate title would likely be "On the Rare Occasion I Get It Right". I know I do not stand alone as a parent when at the end of the day I am all too aware that I have screwed up. I was irritable, I was cranky, I was unforgiving, I was brooding around with that face that makes me catch my breath if I have the misfortune of stumbling across a mirror.

With Maryn's wonderfully enhanced vocabulary she can now say to me, "mommy...don't scream at me". What this makes me realize is that I have passed on to my daughter my penchant for overexagerating. Screamed, I did not. Talked loudly, very likely on certain days.

As always, Catherine Newman knows just how to say it:

"The thing is, I am forever snapping at them and exasperated. I come after them in my awful, neurotic way with wet washcloths and hand sanitizer and sunscreen and bug spray and I ruin their lives. I nag them to finish their milk and brush their teeth and clean up the living room and be careful on the stairs and stop scratching my back with their revolting toenails. I wiggle teeth and dig out splinters and turn an appraising eye to their moles and scalps and infected bug bites and red throats. They are too loud and too wild and too whiny and too bickery and too hot to be crawling all over me like that. But still I can't get over the miracle of having them here."

Maryn and Dylan:
In the process of ruining your life may I never, ever get over the miracle of having you here!

Missing the Paci

I say this with complete love for my daughter... There is one downside to the fact that Maryn no longer has her pacifier. Her mouth NEVER stops moving!

This was the case before, but at least when we were nearing nap time or nighty-night time, it truly was a quiet, chill-out-on-the-couch moment. NO MORE. She talks, she refutes things you say, she questions you and then corrects you, she plays Devil's Advocate, she recites the Gettysburg Address... and so on and so on.

But still, we love her. Its just a new world now, that's all.

Small Confession

I have realized something recently that although I should not do.....I fully admit to. My two beautiful children are terrified of bugs. I don't know how this could have possibly happened with us for parents ;)! Nevertheless, when my kids see a bug they take off like a full-grown black grizzly bear is nipping at their heels.

Knowing this about my children you would imagine I might discreetly take care of a random house bug. What I actually do is use this to my advantage. We all need what experts call "Mommy Time-Out" right? I now get this by declaring....."BUG"! And all of a sudden I am peacefully finishing up dinner or actually using the restroom without an audience........at least for a minute or two!!

Maryn's First Night Without Her Paci... Marathon Puking!

On Friday Maryn took her gift bag, with all the thousands of stickers she applied to it, filled with all her paci's to give to the babies at her school. She was so great when we went in. She dug right into the bag and wanted to literally give the paci's to the babies. She HAD to see them in the babies mouths. I explained to her that they would only need them at nap time, in which she replied to me, "I'll wait". Of course you will. So, with some coaxing the hand off of paci's was complete and we moved on to the rest of our day, she to class and me to work.

Because of her being such a big girl, I agreed to take her to McD's to get chicken nuggets directly after our doctor's appointment for Dylan's hiney rash. As the end of the day was approaching I was getting really anxious about what I was in store for. I had convinced myself that I may not get the best nights sleep. I was somewhat hopeful because she naps at school with no paci and has since she started.

Evening comes and everything that I expect to happen...happens. She asked for it after bath and seemed fine when I reminded her. She played around chatting until Dylan fell fast asleep and then she started to cry. This lasted about 5 minutes and then she was fast asleep. Not so bad...right? Then it began.

Around 12am, Maryn woke up and had barfed all over herself. Rex gets her up and we put her in the shower. We were really thinking maybe she had just really upset herself and that was it. We let her snuggle with us for a while and I take her back to bed. As I am laying her down in her bed she starts to gag and puke again. Then, all of a sudden my quite sleeping little boy wakes up and barfs all over his bed. Needless to say we all end up in the living room on the sofas and Rex and I spend the evening catching barf. We finally get to sleep about 6am and luckily the kids slept until 10:30am. I can say with minimal certainty that I don't think Maryn will ever eat another chicken nugget. I can't say that I don't like the idea of this.

Here's the part I am so proud of. Through this night of hell, Maryn asked for her paci just once. Generally when she is sick, day or night, she will ask to have it. But only once. Today she has not mentioned it even once. I am so proud of her. Yeah Maryn!

Just so you all know, everyone was just fine this morning. Back to normal. Dylan greeted me running full steam down the hall and Maryn, in her usual after sickness state, has been clinging onto us like one of those monkey's with the velcro feet. Here's to hoping that we do not have to catch another bucket of barf for at least a couple months!

Our Son the Nudist

I put Dylan down for his nap on Saturday. He never did go to sleep. I waited and waited, but no go. I'd hear him in there talking and laughing or I'd hear the springs in his crib going as he bounced up and down. I'd march in there, tell him to lay down, cover him up, leave, and then 5 minutes later he was at it again.

Finally after an hour or so, I decided to go get him since he wasn't going to sleep. When I walked in, he was just standing up, pacifier in his mouth sideways yet a big smile on his face. He was just looking at me with that goofy smile.

I walked past his crib to get some clothes for him (since I had laid him down with only his diaper on.) When I turned around, I noticed what he was smiling about - he was butt naked. He had taken his diaper off and tossed it over the edge of the crib.

I said "What did you do?" and he just smiled bigger and made a small, sly chuckle, "Heh heh!"

Really missing Dylan this week!

Maryn has been sick this whole week. The doctor says she has a severe sinus infection. Every night she spikes really high fevers so we have had to keep her out of school. On Wednesday, Rex stayed home with her. On Thursday, I stayed home with her. And today she is home again with Daddy.

Although I am really sad that she doesn't feel well, it is like we have been on some strangely pleasant sick holiday.....and Dylan did not get invited. He has gone to school by himself everyday. Walking out the door with whomever was taking him to school, all smiles, saying his goodbyes to everyone. He was excited to go to school. He didn't know what he would be missing. But, I did.

Despite Maryn's sickness, we have met for lunch everday. She has gotten balloons. We painted fingernails. She got to go to work with Daddy and sat at a big desk drinking her coffee (oj in a coffee mug) and eating her muffin man (what she calls a muffin), doing big things like making a grocery list and counting her money. She has felt really special I am sure. And I really am happy that we have had some alone time with her. I also feel a little sad that Dylan, blissfully at school, is missing out on it all! We did get an extra balloon for him today at lunch though. It was a gesture he will never know because it popped on the way out the door. Maryn mourned Dylan's balloon only for an instant. I mourned the lack of his presence a little longer.