Drastic Measures

Why is that we feel the need to potty train? I wish I could just let go and let her decide when she will be ready but part of me just won’t let go. I have read the articles online, I feel like she’s ready but for some reason she is not embracing the potty like I had hoped. She seems to have all the signs that prove she’s ready (she can undress herself, wipe herself, hates being in diapers, hates having a dirty diaper, wants to wear undies like Mommy and Daddy, hates being changed etc) but she is just not motivated to use the potty. Today I sunk to a new low, candy. I bought a bag of Smarties and we are using that as an incentive to get her to go. Oh, and we also moved the potty into the living room so that she could watch tv while waiting to go (it was a video on potty training that I got from the library so not totally unrelated!). I always swore that the potty would stay in the kitchen and now, it’s taken up residence on the middle of my living room floor. Sigh.

She went pee pee once today, got one Smartie and has lost interest. Perseverance right? Please tell me it gets easier?

Can you spot the potty! This is what my living room looks like at dinnertime on a long day.

ETA - As soon as I hit post Bee brought Lea downstairs because she asked to go on the potty. She actually used it to go number two! Maybe we are on to something after all!

Day 4 - We win!

Day 4 - We win!
Originally uploaded by circecanadian

I got a phone call early yesterday morning from my little sister asking if I would be interested in going to a hockey game with her. She had the opportunity to buy tickets that were great seats (Section 100- Row G - that's 7 rows from the ice!). I was at the library at the time and had to call her back but needless to say I was thrilled! Bee was still sleeping after his last night shift when I found out that she could get 4 tickets so that Bee could come with! I made plans for a sitter and woke up Bee to ask if he would be interested. Not surprisingly he was!

So, after dropping off the girls around dinnertime last night we made our way to Scotiabank Place to see the Ottawa Senators (Go Sens Go!) take on the Florida Panthers. Our seats were great! We could even see the players faces!

It was so nice to get out with Bee without the girls after his night shifts! It is probably the only time this year that we will get to see a game.

Thanks again Nat for the invite!

On the road to the game

The Arena!

The team warming up

Brad and I, waiting for the game to start

The team warming up some more (hence the player with no helmet!)

Natalie and I enjoying our way too overpriced yucky beer!

5-4 We win!

The team celebrates!

Natalie and BF Corey are happy we won!

Day 3 - Snack

Day 3 - Snack
Originally uploaded by circecanadian

I love this shot. I am going to have to find my camera manual and start reading up on all the settings. It's so much fun capturing these little moments.

I love ther grubby little hand, and the chubby fingers!

Day 2 - So glad...

I have girls :)

Day 2 - So glad...
Originally uploaded by circecanadian

30 Tiny Moments - Day 1

I have recently joined a Flickr group called 30 Tiny Moments. The idea: post one photo of one special moment, every day, for one month.

I am always looking for new reasons to take photos and here's some great inspiration!

Day 1 - Anna meets spoon

Day 1 - Anna meets spoon
Originally uploaded by circecanadian

The importance of communication

Anna has been changing in leaps and bounds the last few months. She started crawling, eating solids, walking, waving, nodding and now even a few words! I am learning that my little girl, Anna is turning into a determined, strong willed firestorm. Her personality is so different from Lea’s, it’s amazing that they are related. But, She also has a Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde thing going on. I don’t know if she’s uncomfortable or frustrated but she just gets so cranky and really has no idea what she wants. A few days ago we taught her how to nod and we’ve been practicing with her. A few times she surprised us and we just chalked it up to luck. Tonight was another one of those nights. It was a little earlier than her normal bedtime but she started to get cranky. Not crying just whining. She didn’t want to be held, or put on the ground. I tried milk, cuddling, stories and anything else I could think of. I finally caved and asked her if she wanted to go to bed and she nodded yes???? She went down with her usual minimal amount of crying and I haven’t heard from her since. I still don’t know if it was intentional or not but I sure got the message!

The little Diva Herself!

She’s also become a lot more rough and harder to hold than Lea did. During diaper changes she wriggles, crawls away, rolls over, takes off the diaper anything she can to make it harder! She is hard to dress, hard to hold on to and loves to crawl up and over everything even people. She doesn’t bat an eye when I try to discipline her and is very fond of pinching right now. And let me tell you she hurts! I mean I have bruises J

Where did my sweet little girl go?

Showing her sillier side! Shortly before she walked she would assume this position, look at everything upside down and giggle.

Her new game is to grab the spoon from us and try to feed herself. This shot sums it all up! Notice the utter delight on her face, the spoon askew and the blob of applesauce on her clothes! (Heather, there's the box!!! ;)

I love the differences and the similarities between my girls and they make me smile each and every day.

We left them overnight on Friday and I struggled with coming home to an empty house. Their bedroom doors were opened and their blinds were up. I could tell they weren’t there and I felt incredibly empty. Like a huge part of me was missing. I missed my girls like crazy. We were up bright and early to go get the girls and it didn’t feel quite right until we were all home together again. I am terrified of how much I am going to miss them when I go away in March L

My girls having fun together (sorry about the naked baby!)

From the mouths of babes

Now that we are officially in the midst of the terrible twos we have had to introduce discipline. We have chosen to start with time outs and so far they seem to be doing the trick. The first few times I think Lea was in shock that I would actually put her in the corner and she stayed there and talked to herself and what not. Then when they started happening more frequently she would become very upset and scream at the top of her lungs. I was never sure if our chosen method was working or if she even understood why. Until a few weeks ago.

Bee was on the day shift, and we were nearing the end of the day (and my patience level). Lea and Anna were playing together on the floor when Anna started to cry in pain. I immediately asked Lea why Anna was crying and she said “Lea bite Anna finger”. Of course I had to check for myself since a two year is really not the most reliable source of information and sure enough there was bite marks on Annas finger. I immediately put Lea in time out (no warning!) and she screamed and screamed. At one point she even went “beep beep” and I must admit that I almost died of laughter. You see, when she goes in time out, I use a timer to time the 2 minutes, and when it’s done, it goes beep beep. I guess she was trying to trick me lol… Too bad it didn’t work! So, when Bee got home he asked her what happened and she said “Lea time out for biting Anna finger, and not listening to Mommy” I was totally shocked that she could remember and tell him why she was in time out. It proved to me that the method was working and that she had learned that there was a consequence to her actions.

The last few weeks we have had to use time out more and more and of course become more consistent with it. The main reason she goes into time out is not listening to me or her Daddy. They always say that children are sponges and they take in everything we say, we learned this the last few days. The other day as we were driving to the library for story time, Lea was chastising her “baby” for not listening. She was saying “baby listen to mommy” over and over again. Those were my own words coming back to haunt me. One of the funniest things I have had to do was take her out of the bath tub for a time out the other night. She took a toy away from Anna and would not give it back, so I gave her a warning and she continued to ignore me so I pulled her out, soaking wet and naked and made her stand in the corner of the bathroom, dripping all over the floor. She was so angry, and screamed the entire time. I went right back to bathing Anna and did my best to ignore her. I don’t think she ever thought I would take her out of the tub! What a shock for her. But, they say consistency is key, and I am determined to be consistent.

Then, to top it all off, today she put her dolly in time out, held her up against the wall and everything. She even said “dolly time out, two minutes”. I was stunned. I wish I could describe how this made me feel. Part of me was proud that she has learned what we are trying to teach her and that she was putting it into practice in her play. The other part of me was sad that she would learn punishment and play it with her dollys. It feels like my innocent child has learned something bad or dirty. I can’t really find the words to explain how I feel. Hopefully some of you other mothers will be able to relate. When did my daughter grow up so much?