Toilet Training Christmas Highlight

Still toilet training, or really doing it this time.  I finally pulled the diapers, Sam can wear them at night only.  It's been a long week of bathroom trips but he is finally coming around, or at least peeing in the toilet with minimal accidents.  Pooping is another story.

Christmas we literally spent running back and forth from the toilet every time we spotted the "poop-face."  He would then sit on the toilet and freeze.  At my parents' house, several trips (maybe fifteen?) and several pairs of underwear later, I sat him down on the toilet and went back down to Christmas dinner to find a book to read him and my glass of wine.  I wheeled an office chair into the bathroom and settled in for the long haul.  He looked up at me like I was crazy, "what are you doing?"
"We're going to read a book and wait for your poop."
"It came."
We peered into the toilet and sure enough, he had produced.  I cleaned him up and he asked if he could tell Nana, as she had a toy waiting for this miraculous moment.
I was washing my hands and told him "yes," then started to tell him that was a private conversation when he raced out of the bathroom.  He got midway down the stairs which lead into the dining room, where about 10 extended family members were enjoying their dinner, calling, "Nana, Nana!"
I heard the dinnertime conversation cease, "yes?"
"I pooped in the toilet, and it was ENORMOUS."
Still in the bathroom, I dropped my head into my hands.
A beat of silence from downstairs and then a rousing round of applause.  Luckily we had an understanding audience of relatives.

Christmas 2013

Sam and Vivian on Christmas Eve

                                                            Vivian with Uncle Mou

Vivian with her new ride on toy from Santa

Sam's anatomically correct Gingerbread man label

Christmas Ride On Presents

When Three Year Olds Decorate Christmas Trees

Dear Santa

We were trying to avoid Christmas lists this year and the whole idea of asking for things, but then Sam saw it in a Curious George movie.  I let him watch an inordinate amount of TV while we were laid up with the stomach bug, so I fully take blame for that. The premise of the Curious George movie was that he drew pictures for his list and no one could decipher what he wanted and had to guess at what to buy him.  That apparently went straight over Sam's head as his first idea is that he would draw pictures of what he wanted.  We compromised and Chris and I wrote and drew pictures of each object.  And then Sam helpfully dictated Vivi's innermost desires for toys, which sounded suspiciously similar to his own tastes...

When Vivian is Feeling Better

After being sick with a fever and having no appetite, I could tell Vivian was on the mend.  Sam and I were trying to do a project and found her enjoying the houseplant.

Thanksgiving Family Photo

Trying to take a photo with Nana and GrandJoe on Thanksgiving.  This is just the last 30 seconds of it. Nana is trying to pacify the babies and Sam is practicing his smile.

Gingerbread House 2013

Sam and his gingerbread house.  I got smart and bought a kit this year, which was still difficult enough to execute with Vivian crawling around and needing to be picked up, but at least it was organized and thought out.

This is also Sam smiling his photo smile that we can't seem to get him to drop.  Not sure where he learned it.  Christmas photos are going to be pretty special this year!

Baby Trade In

Sam was watching his baby cousin walk around over the Thanksgiving break.
"Mom."
"Yes?"
"She walks."
"Yes, she does."
"My baby (Vivian) doesn't walk."
"Nope, not yet."
"We need a baby that walks.  We should get a different one."

He's since recanted that statement, he decided Vivian might be a keeper.  Lucky we didn't upgrade.

Vivian's New Skill

She figured this one out tonight and got pretty good at maneuvering the chair around.  It was hard to stop Sam from "chair racing" with her.

Trying to do Work

And so of course I'm checking Facebook and writing a post, but it reminded me of a day earlier this week.  I just finished teaching a course to teachers in Boston and with Vivian not sleeping because of her congestion this week, she'd wake up every night at around 9:00, just as I finished doing things around the house and sat down to prepare or grade.
The other night I got her to back to sleep on our bed and opened the computer to get back to work.  She really was sound asleep, when all of a sudden, behind the open laptop a head appeared and then two little hands.

                                  So much for Mama working.

Vivian Cooks

Vivian has a unique way of "cooking" at the little kitchen set.  Either standing on the oven door or in the basket of food.

Chris's Phone

I was at work the other day when I missed a call from Sam's school.  The kids have both had horrible colds for the past few weeks, so I figured he'd developed a fever.  I called back and got the school secretary on the phone.
"Good morning," she said, "we wanted to let you know that we have Christopher's phone."
"Excuse me?" I said.
"We have Christopher's phone."  I figured Chris had left it when he dropped Sam off that morning.  She continued, "Samuel had his father's phone."
Oh.
"Oh.  Really?  He did?"
"Yes, we have it here now in case your husband is looking for it."  Which of course he was.  I called Chris's office and got his office manager.  When I asked for him, she said he wasn't in the office because he was busy looking for his phone.  She said he was in a horrible mood and retracing his travels that day to find it.
"Well," I interrupted, "I happen to know where it is.  Sam has it."
She didn't stop laughing for about a minute.

When I hung up I noticed that I had a missed FaceTime call from Chris's iPhone from a couple of hours earlier.  So Sam not only had the phone, but had tried to FaceTime me.

Chris and I met at the school, as we weren't able to communicate about who was doing pick up.  I made him retrieve the phone from Sam's teacher, who didn't seem thrilled as she apparently had heard it vibrating multiple times, but couldn't locate it.  They had found it in Sam's nap bag at nap time.  It's still not clear how it got in there.  I did clarify with Sam that the FaceTime call had been from Sam and his Spanish teacher, who seemed amused that the phone was there.

A few years ago, I had to stop several of my fifth grade students from texting and Facebooking in the bathroom during math class.  I had to call their parents and explain what was going on and that I was going to have to confiscate their phones if it happened again.  Now I was getting calls from my three year old's school.  Karma?

Halloween Pirates

The Parrot

A well-meaning and generous family acquaintance heard that Sam was going to be a pirate for Halloween, so she bought him a talking toy parrot.
The day it was given to him, I picked Sam up at Chris's work one afternoon after a meeting, and got both kids home.  It was already late, the kids were hungry, I was hungry, I was tired and the parrot needed batteries.  The parrot required a very, very small tipped screwdriver.  Fifteen minutes later I had only unscrewed one screw and was in the process of stripping the other screw, with Sam, "helping."  I finally found my eyeglass repair kit and got the battery pack opened and the batteries in.
Relieved, I handed Sam the parrot and got Vivian settled with some toys so I could make dinner.  The parrot was repeating everything Sam was saying, in the same tone of voice.  Sam was so excited, that he would repeat what they parrot had repeated, so that I was now hearing everything three times (or four if the toy picked it up again).  Meanwhile Vivi was happy screeching, so the parrot was intermittently happy screeching.  Images of disassembling the parrot began to pass through my mind.  After about a half hour, I convinced Sam that parrots slept a lot and threw a blanket over it, like a "real" parrot.

Sam and the parrot bonding.  It was cute for about five minutes.

However, later that night, the parrot came in handy when Sam threw a fit getting out of the bath.  He was starting in on a great temper tantrum and screaming, so loudly that his aunt left.   I turned on the parrot.  The parrot screamed when Sam screamed.  After two screams Sam froze, "what was that?"

"The parrot repeating you."

Eyes wide, he stared at it, "oh."  The tantrum was over.

The parrot made appearances on and off for days, until I relocated it to a high shelf to watch over everything and rest up for Halloween.  

Pumpkin Patch

A quick pumpkin patch trip with GrandJoe this weekend.

Dairy Free

I've started a couple of posts about Vivian being intolerant to dairy, but never finished or posted any of them.  Today it's on my mind though.  Her intolerance was something we figured out when she was about a month old and would sometimes projectile vomit when I breastfed her, or be generally uncomfortable and cry for up to five hours a day.  It kind of came to a head and at her one month appointment, after she had been crying multiple hours a day and I just thought she was colicky.  However her pediatrician suggested that I cut dairy out of my diet.
I kind of did, stopped eating cheese and having yogurt, etc and it reduced the crying, but her stool tested positive for blood, so I had to completely cut it out.  No baked goods with butter or milk, including many breads, no cheese, butter, milk, ice-cream, etc.  The harder ones were the ones you don't think about, deli meat, hot dogs, veggie burgers... I could go on and on.  It made me rethink my diet and many things that we take for granted (pizza nights!), but all in all it hasn't been too bad.  Eating out has been tricky or going to people's houses for dinner or parties, but for me, there's an end in sight, when I finish breastfeeding.  It also made me eat more fresh and less processed food, which is a good habit.
I was hopeful Vivian would outgrow this stage.  Sam had a similar intolerance though not as severe.  He never drank cow's milk, he would get ill if he did (and still doesn't drink it).  When he turned three he could tolerate yogurt and ice-cream.  I thought Vivian would be the same.
Today though,  at pick-up at Sam's school, we were sitting on the playground and she was crawling around on a beach towel when she picked up a bag of open Goldfish snacks and was mouthing them.  I took them away within seconds, but she immediately turned bright red and started gagging.  She threw up and kind of whimpered, but her face returned to it's normal color and she seemed okay.  She had a couple of small bumps around her mouth, but was breathing well and was kind of cuddly, but was back to herself within minutes.
I guess this was the first time she had ingested a product with milk or cheese directly.  After a call to the pediatrician they told us to take her to an allergist before introducing her to any other new foods, since it would be considered a trace amount, just the crumbs or residue as she hadn't actually ingested a cracker.  I'm still hoping it was a chance encounter, that there was something else that made her cough (she was trying to eat leaves a few minutes before).   Hoping for the best and thankful that it was a quick incident and I was there.  No more cheesy snacks around here for a while!

Naptime Again

This was naptime this weekend, or the lack of naptime.  The kids had to play, each taking the opportunity to wake each other up as they drifted off, at least once.  Vivian has learned how to pull up, which she finds delightful and hilarious.  However, she can't get back down, so I must have lain her back down at least ten times.
Needless to say, very little sleeping got done (they finally were separated and Viv napped with me and Sam with Chris) and they were both cranky for the rest of the evening.

The next day at Nana and GrandJoe's was similar.  The photos below I found on my phone which was on the bed with Sam and I, when I was napping and he apparently was not, since he was the photographer.  He finally slept when Joe finally lay down with him.  Vivian slept with Auntie and then managed to crawl off the bed despite her nest of pillows.  Yet, somehow, she will nap (solo) in 2-3 hour shifts at her childcare provider's during the week!

Buddies

                         Vivian and her friend at story hour at the library.

Tickets and Machine

 

After a very long appointment the other day for Sam's ears, I finally get the kids loaded in the car.  Somewhere between exiting the doctor's office and getting on the elevator in the parking garage, I had to get Sam off the floor in a fabulous meltdown that told me how he really felt about the day.  Meanwhile, Vivi was in the Baby Bjorn sling happily munching on the parking ticket I had just validated.  By the time I realized, she had gummed one corner pretty well. 

Unfortunately it was the kind you had to slide into the machine to exit the garage.  Even more unfortunately, the machine didn't like the chewed up parking ticket and jammed.  Just to be clear, the screen flashed "Jam" at me several times, while the arm guarding the exit stayed firmly in place.

The attendant who was supposed to be monitoring the machines didn't notice me yelling, "excuse me," out the window for a few minutes, until the line of cars backed up the ramp and he came over.  He opened the machine and gave me a look of disdain when he found the chewed up ticket.  I tried to apologize and explain it was the baby-

Happy Birthday(s)!

                                         

                         Somehow Sam always gets in on the cake action.

Sam and his Sibling

My favorite quote from the weekend:

As I'm in the kitchen and they are in the living room playing, I hear Sam celebrating.  "And she did it!  She crawled across the finish line!  She winned the race!"  When I peek in, Viv is oblivious to why Sam is celebrating, but delighted that he there is cheering and that he's paying attention to her.

Vivian Visits the Sandbox

It's a whole new world off the blue sheet that she is supposed to play on in the yard.  The sandbox is a whole discovery.  No wonder Sam spends so much time there.

Sam's Favorite Scootering

It's great to scooter through puddles, this obsession does not end.

What Vivian Likes to Eat

Grass.

Shoes.

Soccer Balls. 

Ipads.

Laptops.

Vivian's Solids

Our baby who wants nothing to do with solid food, but will scream bloody murder if you try to take grass or leaves away from her.  She wants nothing to do with cereal, mashed banana, or applesauce.  Chris jokingly suggested giving her lettuce or spinach leaves.  This is only thing that she doesn't make faces when mouthing.

Sucking on spinach from my salad at lunch.

Viv's Pirate Boat Picture

When we were drawing pictures the other day, this is the picture Sam wanted me to draw.  There were very specific instructions on how to draw Vivian on her "pirate boat," sailing around and pillaging toys.  If you look closely, you will see very specific toys she has stolen (Thomas the Tank engine, a boat, a book, a green car, etc).  Sam then helped me decorate it (see scribbles above) and cut it a little for the final touch.

Vivian in the Crib

So far Sam has been cool with the toddler bed, since the big change in sleeping arrangements.  Vivian will tolerate the crib for so long during the night and nap times when she is really tired.  However, if there is something better going on, this is what I find when I go to check on her.  The crib is near the doorway of the nursery and even if I have the door closed, she is convinced she is missing something.  She crawls to the end, drops her pacifier down, then whines until I go in.  Then, usually, she is delighted to see me.  Here, she's checking out what we're doing without her.

Not Loving the Sign

Saw this at a local Starbucks.  

Vivian Scooting

"Mom...."

Sam starts just about every sentence with, "mom," or "dad," his way of starting conversation.  And he likes to talk, all the time.  Really, all the time.

When we are in the car it's a constant, "mom."
Turn the music down to hear him.  "Yes, Sam."
Then he tells me what he sees ("I see a dump truck dumping it's load," or is thinking "it's hot out today," then finishes with, "I can't hear the music."
"Because I turned it down so we could talk."
Music goes back up.

The other day he must have run out of things to say.
"Mom."
Music goes down.
"Yes Sam."
"My hands and feet are still attached."
Pause.
"They were going to become unattached?"
"No, they're still attached."
"Okay, good."
"Mom."
"Yes Sam."
"I can't hear the music."
"Because you were telling me your hands and feet were still attached so I turned the music down."
Music goes up.  Sometimes the things that come out of my mouth are truly ridiculous.

The Nap That Did Not Happen

The drawback to sharing a room.  They played instead of napped until I took Vivian out of the crib.  Not even 6 months old and he's 3, and they think it's hilarious to play instead of sleep.

Transitions

We made it through the night.  The kids slept fairly well, Chris and I were up and down a lot, settling Vivian and then I had to nurse her a few times.  Sam woke up, but went back to sleep and stayed in the bed the whole night.  He may not know he can get out?
The Lego car bribe will be the death of me.  Of course it's totally not-age appropriate, which why buying a $5 bargain toy is not the best plan.  Sam is also practicing wearing underwear today and having lots of accidents.  So between cleaning those up, I get to fix the Lego car that completely falls apart everytime he plays with it.  I'm totally going to end up buying a Lego car that he can play with and fix himself and will end up spending three times as much.  Of course.
I just looked up Lego and there are different stages of Legos.  Apparently the Lego Duplo is what he should and can play with and also potentially that Viv won't be so likely choke on.

I'm not sure how I waited all summer for all of these transitions!  Trying to convince the child that he can pee in the toilet will be a miracle.  I am completely at a loss as to how he can want to wear underwear but not use the toilet.  These were his top toilet training excuses.  Now it's just "later."


I will when I'm four. (It used to be "when I'm three.").

I will after the baby comes. (He tried that again this week.  Apparently he thought another baby was coming.  Way to make me feel great about my flabby belly.)

I can't squish Lightning McQueen (the picture on his toilet seat).

I'm only medium big.  Not big up to the ceiling yet.

I like my diapers. (No doubt about that).

After Santa comes.  (Six months later...).

I will when I'm five.  (He's still three).

I don't want it to touch my leg.

Tomorrow.

I don't like the color of the toilet.  White's not my favorite.

The following bribes have been rejected:  chocolate, an ice-cream sundae, watching TV, a toy excavator, a new Lightning McQueen car, a trip to the park, trip to the beach, and choosing big boy underwear.  He could probably hit us up for a real car and get one the way we're going.

Thank goodness Vivian can't talk and tell me why she can't sleep in the crib.

Sleeping Arrangements and Legos

I am currently attempting to build a Lego race car.   Earlier today I saw a table of two for $10 sets of Legos and bead sets and decided to stock up for upcoming birthday parties and Christmas.  For some ungodly reason it seemed like a good idea to leave one on Sam's toddler bed.  The bed he is supposed to be sleeping in.  Because obviously, when a child travels for seven hours straight, he can handle seeing his little bedroom turned upside down and finds out his pirate sister has invaded.  And his mom has left a treat (read bribe) on his bed, that has to be constructed.  That he can't play with tonight, just in the morning after he has slept in the bed.  REALLY good idea on my part.
Legos are up there with Ikea furniture.  Not loving it.  Kind of insulted that it says 5 +.  I am way over the age range.  I meant to grab the 3 +, perhaps I would have been more successful with that.  And as I type this, pirate Viv is asleep in the crib, Chris is probably asleep between the crib and the bed on pillows on the floor, and our overtired toddler/preschooler is wide awake.  Chris clearly won on this deal.  Although if I leave him there asleep, it may get me out of waking up all night to soothe Viv and return an escaped Sam to his bed.

Sleeping Arrangements I

Major transitions around here, as I prepare to go back to work in a few weeks.  We're trying to get everyone into new sleeping arrangements.
Sam never left his crib that he has been in since he was 5 months old.  Among the things he is stubborn about giving up, the crib is the one that has to go.  Vivian has outgrown the bassinet and has almost flipped out of it.  Now she's back in bed with Chris and I and we are not getting enough sleep.

Sam will sleep elsewhere on vacation- selectively.  In Martha's Vineyard, his sleeping spot was the windowsill in our bedroom, despite the very cool bunk-beds in the other room (my parents got to experience those instead, though I guess they wouldn't have fit on the windowsill).


(Sam on the windowsill in Martha's Vineyard).


This weekend, Chris took Sam to see a family friend, and Vivian and I hung out here.  Furniture got moved (thank you Grand Joe) and the playroom got organized (thank you Auntie), and Vivian has been in the crib for two nights.  She did fairly well all things considered.  My goal is to get her to sleep through until 5:30, when I will be getting up for work in a few weeks!  Yikes!  When Sam gets back in a few hours, he'll have a little shock to find his toddler bed in place of his crib and his sister in his old digs.

Hoping for the best tonight!

 Naptime in Long Island, before Viv could effectively move far enough to tumble.

Pirate Viv

A couple of my friends were asking Sam about Vivian starting to get around, after I told them that she was starting to move.  Vivian is slow, but determined, and will work her way across short distances, usually directly towards Sam and his toys.

"Where does she go?" my friends asked him.
"She goes forward and backward," Sam answered, "and sometimes in a circle.  She's like a pirate."
"A pirate?" we all asked.
"Yes.  A pirate.  She comes along and steals away my toys right out from under me."

Vivian swiping Sam's soccer ball.

Vivian's Noises

We'll all be happy when this phase ends!

Eventful Morning

So far it's been one of those busy mornings at our house, completely kid related however (and there's only two!).

• Vivian learned how to scoot across the rug using one arm and her legs to retrieve things that she wanted (mostly Sam's toys).  Meanwhile, Sam was playing with his cars and eating his breakfast on the couch and decided his car should run through his strawberries.  Somehow this happened on top of the white curtain that hangs behind the couch, smearing strawberries on the curtain and all over the couch.  We cleaned up the couch up together and put the curtain in the washing machine.
• While we cleaned up, Vivian was "taking a nap" in Sam's crib.  When I went into check, she had located his sippy cup that he has water in, and was effectively drinking it (the child who won't take a bottle).
• I finally get them ready to leave the house and they are at the bottom of the stairs while I ran back up to get long sleeved shirts.  Sam called up, "I played a trick on Viv!  She's laughing."  The trick was that he fed her a leaf, more specifically, "this dirty, junk leaf from the stairs, mom."  The baby who is not interested in food ate the leaf and was indeed laughing.  The leaf was in specks around her mouth and in her drool on her chin.  She kept coughing all morning.  She should have had the sippy cup after the leaf.
• We met our friends at the playground.  Sam had two huge meltdowns after playing only in the sun and refusing to move to the shade or have a snack.  Five minutes before we left, he wiped out while running with a wagon with three wheels (go figure).  Then he didn't move his arm for the next ten minutes, except to clutch it and scream for his father.  I called Chris so that we could go to the pediatrician's across the street thinking it was nursemaid's elbow (when the elbow pops out of the socket, he's done it before).  Chris arrived and we went over to the pediatrician, where Sam immediately proceeded to play with the toys with both arms and give Chris a high five.  Which, all being said, is better than nursemaid's elbow and having to pop it back in.  We came home and put a band aid on it.  

Now it is thankfully nap time... 

Reading

Sam reading to Vivian.

Vivi "reading" my magazine.

And ripping it. 

Funtown, Maine

Sam is usually very timid, but not on rides.  We went to an amusement park with a friend and her family today.  He wanted to go on the roller coaster and various other rides that he was luckily, too short for.  Some of them scared me!  (Including the height of the airplane & helicopter rides).  Here are a few photos.