Potty Training. It Happened.

Thia post is about potty training. It might be extremely boring or TMI for some of you so feel free to ignore. For others it might be interesting. Just know I am writing this for future me and future Sadie.

I put off potty training as long as I could. I had no desire and so there was no rush. The problem was, Sadie was ready. She told me when she was doing her business, she was very interested in what everyone else did in the bathroom, she loved reading "Everyone Poops" and other classics. So when I was in the US I invested in the book "Oh Crap! Potty Training" and started reading. I am definitely the type of person who, when knowing nothing about a topic, needs to immediately dive in and research the hell out of it. I need to create a reference manual and instructions as well as an explanation of the various philosophies for myself so I can choose the right way for me. At least that WAS me. And still sometimes is i guess. But, for potty training, a few different mothers of 3 recommended it to me, and I decided if it worked for them it will work for me. And it did. I read the book and decided we would just go cold turkey for both day and night.

The first week was full of surprises. Sadie did awesome. She got it within a couple hours. There was a lot of naked time and a few accidents (especially when we left the house. Yes she pooped on the beach.) But most of all, because of her age and personality, i had to really let go and let her learn this herself. Hovering and asking her if she needed to go were bad. Leaving her alone and trusting her were (hard!!) good.

Most of all, i learned that people make way too big of a deal out of potty training. I probably didnt need to read a book to figure it out. When parents are under pressure to do it in "3 days" like many online posts promise, then the kid is also under that pressure, and there are negative results.

Using the toilet is a learned behavior. Just like anything, with practice and understanding of expectations, it gets easier.  We are about 3 weeks in, and i would definitely say she is "potty trained". There will be the occassional accident for a while yet I am sure, but so what. I have never been less afraid of poop and pee, and so proud of my daughter for pooping in the right place when she does. Seriously every time I get excited and so does she.

In sum, i recommend the book. It has some great advice, especially how to talk to your kid about it. Certain statements to use (ie never ask them if they need to go, they will say no 99% of time). She also had really great tips about how to night train and make it easier on yourself.

So, good luck! Put that poop in the potty!

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  While I love Christmas (the other probably obvious choice), fall is my favorite season, and for whatever reason, there is just something about Thanksgiving that makes my heart so full.  Is it the food?  Perhaps.  But, in my memory bank, I can play various Thanksgivings over and over in my head and just feel the love, the warmth, the comfort. And, there's not even presents! ;)  I just love Thanksgiving.  I love going through recipes and deciding which ones to make.  I love envisioning what the dishes will look like.  I love waking up and getting the food prepped and smelling all the delicious rosemary and sage and onions. I love seeing the turkey carved. I love sitting at a large table full of family and friends and talking about what we are thankful for one by one.  I love playing football after a huge meal (even though someone always gets hurt).  I love choosing which pie to try (and then sneaking in a few more slices throughout the evening).  It's such a great day.  I love it.

I wasn't able to celebrate the last two Thanksgivings in the US.  In fact, last year, I didn't celebrate with food at all.  This year, however, I got my chance.  I made a turkey, cornbread stuffing (without two major ingredients!! SAGE was one!!), cranberry sauce, and cheesecake (no pumpkin here!). We took it over to our friends' house, and celebrated with 25 other people with swimming and football (it's summer here, remember?).  We had a lot of fun, and the food was wonderful. 

Our Trip to the USA 2015

We love America.  We love our family and friends there.  And, yet, we aren't able to go very often, so when we do, we try to balance packing lots of activities in with also not creating more difficulties when traveling with two under 3. 

This time when we went, Isaac and I got to sit in Economy Plus in the bulk head seating with use of a bassinet (if you ever travel internationally with an infant, REQUEST THE BASSINET).  I have requested ever time, but this is the first time I got it.  It was amazing.  However, Isaac didn't love it, slept for 3 hours in it and then the rest of the time wanted to be on my lap.  It's tough traveling with kids, let's be honest.  But, we did it and it was worth it!

First up, Isaac's baptism.  Matt and Katie were Isaac's godparents, and we really enjoyed the day with lots of family and friends (thank you to all those who came!!), food, and swimming.  Isaac was a little tired through the whole ceremony (we woke him up from his nap), so no smiles :(, but got to love that white suit!

On that day we also took some great family photos.

 I love this one with all the cousins! (sans Isaac who was too busy sleeping...)

The next day happened to be my birthday, so we celebrated by going to a pumpkin patch in Marble Falls that had every fall-related kid activity you would ever imagine.  Sadie LOVED feeding the goats and jumping on a large blog.  Isaac was super into the little pumpkins.

Our trip to Austin was rounded out by a trip to Salt Lick.  I've never seen Isaac eat so much...

Next on our agenda was Houston for a very very spectacular wedding.  We were so lucky to be a part of it as Sadie was the flower girl.  She isn't even 3 yet, and she has already walked down the aisle (with a very handsome Noah!).  I love that everyone in my family is such a good dancer.  So much fun.  So much love.

And, finally, the kids were able to spend some quality time with Great-Grandpa.  Here is my favorite picture of the trip.  I can't believe how much they look alike!

To all our family and friends that made our trip so wonderful, thank you for making time for us!

To all those we missed during our visit, we will make up for lost time soon!

My daughter, my pirate warrior

When Sadie was 8 months old she was diagnosed with Duane's Syndrome, an extremely rare congenital eye condition. What it means is that she was born without an optic nerve in her left eye that controls the muscle.  In other words, she is unable to move her left eye outward.  There is no cure.  This is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life.  The good news is that in theory her vision shouldn't be affected, although there can be issues with head posture and movement as her body compensates for the lack of peripheral vision on her left side. Over the past two years things have been seemingly developing well.  However, during our recent visit to the pediatric ophthalmologist, we learned that her vision is substandard, and the dreaded eye patch to strengthen her left eye was recommended.  You can imagine how thrilled Sadie and I were at the news.

So, here we go. Let's convince an almost three year old to wear an eye patch for 2 hours a day (thank goodness it is only 2 hours!).  The first day was seamless. Shockingly.  Every day since then (as long as she gets to set the timer and look forward to ice cream and Peppa Pig when it goes off - with a few occasional reminders during the 2 hours- she does pretty well.

Every day when I watch her with that eye patch on, I can't help but feel sad for her.  Not constantly, but as a very empathetic person (and her mom!) I hate to see her have to go through anything abnormal or potentially painful.  Luckily, this isn't painful for her, and so far Isaac hasn't made fun of her or tried to pull it off her.  Needless to say we stick around the house for those couple hours.  It could be a lot worse, and for that we are lucky.

So here is my beautiful daughter being her awesome pirate self.