Potty Training Triumphs

We have officially completed the 3 Day Potty Training course with Gracie! This method was something that was introduced to me after my New Year post. Grace goes to daycare, and I needed to do something that was definite, so it seemed like a very promising method. Basically, you begin on Saturday morning and complete on Monday. It required 3 full days, so taking one weekday off is necessary. The basic principle is positive reinforcement and you have to be next to your child (literally not more than a foot away) at all times so you can catch any accident or sign that she needs to use the potty.

http://www.3daypottytraining.com/

Gracie and I began on Saturday morning by throwing away (really donating) all the baby diapers, and put on big girl panties. Right away she began to recognize when she had to go potty. We made it to the potty a majority of the time, but had difficulty getting her to actually verbalize her need to go. Gracie went back to daycare on Tuesday and had similar difficulty, therefore leading to more accidents as she was not being watched like a hawk (as I was for the past 3 days). By day 5 she was really starting to express her need to go (we got an extra day at home due to the massive snow that hit Chicago) and I think we are making major progress. It is not an easy process by any means, but a major part of this, for us, was getting rid of all diapers, pull ups, training pants, etc. The same training for night and day made complete sense to me. Why would we want to say don’t pee in your pants during the day, but at night it is fine? We have had both dry and wet nights, but I think Gracie is doing really well. It has been a little over 2 weeks now an I am a proud parent of a potty trained child!

My biggest fear with potty training was going out of the house and doing any kind of travel. Public bathrooms can be a germy place and the thought of bringing my child into these places was scary. I knew we would not be able to avoid this, so I looked up some potty covers and thought these larger ones would be great! As she does not yet understand what to touch and not to touch, these cover everything.

http://www.amazon.com/

The State of Me

In tone with one of the key topics of the State of the Union address this evening I would love to discuss education.

In my time thus far, I have spent more of it as a student than any of my other roles as an employee, wife, or mother. Education is so important and I am a true believer in the fundamentals of learning, which is why my husband and I are struggling to find the right preschool for Gracie. The other reason we are struggling with this is the financial aspect, which in turn brings us back to education. My husband and I are both highly educated (him more so than me which I don’t like to admit). I have a bachelor’s degree in biological science and he holds a doctorate of physical therapy. However, with this education come the insurmountable student loans that we struggle with every day. I know we are not the only ones of our generation facing this struggle. It is truly disappointing to have to reconsider our daughter’s education due to the financial burden of her parents’ education. I would love to hear from any others out there who face these challenges as well.

Another aspect that makes our search a bit more difficult, is finding a full day program. As working parents, it is not an option to enroll Gracie in half day programs. This is probably the most limiting aspect, unless we come up with some more creative solutions. Again, I would love to hear how other parents are dealing.

In our search for preschool we have found the National Association of Education for Young Children site to be helpful.
http://www.naeyc.org/academy/accreditation/search. 

Here you can enter your zip code and a radius, and the site will give you all accredited preschool programs in your area (you can also download this list to excel).

Good luck to all those out there in finding the best fit programs for you and your child!  I (and other readers, I'm sure) would love to hear about your triumphs and tribulations.

To Cut or Not to Cut?

It has been over 2 years and we still have not cut Gracie’s hair. When she finally started to grow hair, after her 1st birthday, I told Paul we were NOT going to give her bangs. Although bangs have made a wonderful comeback and can be quite stylish, I still cannot get over my own childhood bangs that started mid scalp. As her hair began to grow, we parted it to the side thinking it would eventually tuck behind her ear. Well, it has been another year and still no luck. We have tried bows, headbands, ponytails, and lately hair spray (not sure what the rules are about kids and hair spay, so please do not judge). The bows are working better and better these days and we are still working on pony or pigtails. Our day care provider is even giving us updates on how long she keeps her bows and ponies in. It was 4 hours the other day! So, the question is do we finally cut her hair so she can see, or keep going? My vote is keep going!! Besides, I am just not ready for the first hair cut yet.

Here is a peak at the progression of Grace's hair from 16 months to 2+ years.



 One of my good friends recently opened an Etsy shop for her hair bows. Anyone who has girls, these are adorable (not to mention she has an adorable model)!

Flower Headband (The Lilly Pad)



Flower Headband (The Lilly Pad)

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Itty Bitty Bows (The Lilly Pad)

Aha! Moments

I realize that I am still considered a newer parent, but it seems no matter how experienced the parent, there are always going to be parental Aha moments. Whether good or bad, these moments have their impact. My first Aha moment came when Grace was not even 1hour old. She was a larger baby, born at 9lbs 3oz, and with larger babies comes blood sugar concerns, so the nurse wanted her have formula. I had just been wheeled from the OR into the recovery room, and my husband was out in the waiting room telling our families the wonderful news. Here I was, by myself with this beautiful little girl, and the nurse asks,


"Do you have a preference for formula?"

Preference?? Was it like wine, the more expensive the better? I had no idea how to answer such a seemingly simple question. It was at that moment that I realized, WOW, I am a mom! Everyone is going to be coming to me for the answers, and I need to have them (or at least act like I do). I asked the nurse if she had a recommendation. She told me what they prefer to give infants, so I went with that. Luckily, MY mom came in at that moment, and she helped be me feed Grace her first sips of formula, and I am forever grateful to my mom for being there. I am sure most new parents probably have moments like this, but this is a moment I will never forget, as it was my first parental Aha moment.

My most recent Aha moment was bitter sweet. Now that my baby is a full fledged toddler, we have become very familiar with ‘time out.’ We began time outs around her second birthday, thinking that she was old enough to understand the concept. At our new house, the time out spot is on our stairs. This way we have a spot upstairs and down. A typical time out involved my husband or I explaining to her what she did wrong, and then having her sit quietly for 2 minutes (one minute per age). When the time out was over, I would ask her,

“Can you tell Mommy why you were in a time out?”

The typical response was,

“Yes,” then silence, and I would explain again the reason for the timeout. One morning, Grace was being especially difficult about getting dressed. She began to scream and hit. I put her in a time out and after she sat quietly for the 2 minutes, I went to her and asked,

“Do you know why you were in a time out?”

She responded with,

“Because I screamed and hit.”

Wow!! She got it, and I was not even expecting her to say anything. Aha!! It works! So, while I don’t like putting my Gracie in time out, I love that the technique actually works! Plus, I am teaching her the difference between right and wrong. I hope we will continue to have many more successful AHA moments like this.

Any other parental Aha moments from moms or dads out there?

The 2nd Time Around

When Gracie was born I thought we had everything... which we probably did.  When we would get something new my mom would say, "They didn't have anything like that when you were a baby" or "I wish they made that when you were a baby."  Yet, when I go shopping, inevitably I see something that I wish I had when Gracie was an infant and find myself saying, "I wish we had that when Grace was a baby."  There are also a few things that my darling husband convinced me were absolutely unnecessary, and now I cannot wait to purchase these things for the second baby (the second is not in the works just yet, but I am always planning). 

First off, I will absolutely be getting one of the infant head supports for the car seat.  I was overruled when I originally wanted this item.  After our ride home from the hospital I should have gone out and gotten one.  The ride was a matter of blocks, but I sat in the back holding Gracie's head every time we hit a bump and pleaded for Paul to drive even slower.  They come in pretty much every color, so no worries about matching your carrier.

Sunshine Kids 2 in 1 Head Support for Strollers and Car Seats

http://www.amazon.com/

When Paul and I were registering for baby gifts, I pretty much followed the list and wanted one of everything.  Paul was a little more realistic and figured there were somethings that we did not need.  A monitor was one of those things given we were bringing Gracie home to a 2 bedroom, single level apartment where we were never more than 5 steps away.  However, this time he was overruled and we did end up receiving a monitor as a gift.  At the time a video monitor seemed a bit much, again given that a monitor was probably not necessary to begin with, so we went with one of the basic models.  Once we had Grace I instantly wished we had the video monitor.  I still wish we had one today, especially when Gracie learned how to jump out of the crib.  Even more for when I hear those noises thinking she is getting into something in her room and wish I knew what she was doing in there, but don't want to go in because she is supposed to be sleeping, and if I do go in she will never go back down.  Therefore, when number 2 comes along we will hopefully be purchasing a video monitor.  I have done some minimal research and found one that had some decent reviews, but if anyone has one that they love, let me know.  

Summer Infant Day & Night Color Video Monitor

http://www.amazon.com/

I'm sure there will always be something new that we want for the little ones, it is just too much fun.  Anyone else have a must have for the second time around or something that you have now and could not live without?  

New Year New Post (Finally!)

I have resolved to begin blogging again and hope to keep good on my resolution this year.  It has been a while and we have been very busy.  My original goal, to be a working mom who can keep up with everything, was a bit lofty.  The summer got way too busy at work, therefore most things in my personal life suffered as a result.  I would love to hear from other moms regarding how they keep up with work and motherhood.  How do you balance? 

Paul and I have made one really big step... we have moved out of our urban flat, to a suburban townhouse.  It was a BIG move for us and the decision was not easy, but it has reduced both our commutes and our travel time to daycare.  We went from 2 hours a day in the car to about 30 minutes.  It has made a big difference, not to mention the additional space!

During my hiatus my baby girl is no longer a baby and has become a true toddler.  Gracie is now 2 years old and keeping me on my toes.  Potty training has been our latest adventure and is not going well.  I would love some advice from those out there who have gone through this.  I have heard from another mom about a book, "The Potty Boot Camp" and we are going to try this next week.  I will let you know how it goes. 

http://www.thepottybootcamp.com/

(also available on Amazon)


Wish me luck and Happy New Year to all!

Rainy Days

Our Memorial Day weekend was beautiful, up until Memorial Day when it rained for the majority of the
afternoon. Luckily we got to enjoy a picnic breakfast on the beach before the rain. Rainy days can be full of toddler tantrums without the right game plan. On this rainy Memorial Day we decided to make our own playdough and take a trip to IKEA! Making playdough is something I had heard about through a friend and was surprised how easy it was.

Playdough Recipe
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
Food coloring

Place all ingredients together in a large pot. Stir over low heat until the dough thickens. When the dough pulls away from the sides and clumps in the center, remove from heat. (if dough is too sticky continue to heat)

Allow dough to cool enough to handle then knead dough until it becomes smooth. Now separate into 4 equal balls for coloring. Make a hole in the dough with your finger and place a few drops of food coloring in. I used neon food coloring in pink, purple, green, and blue. Fold the dough over working the color in. I wore gloves to avoid getting dye on my hands, but once the dye is completely mixed in the dough it will not color your skin or furniture.

Now you have playdough, and are ready to have fun with your little one!

McCormick Neon Food Coloring (I think it is more fun than your basic colors)

Gracie enjoying her homemade playdough

We also took our first trip to IKEA on this rainy day to purchase Gracie a table and chair set. This is not a store to shop around in unless you don’t mind coming home with a few more items than you planned on. We came home with our table and chairs along with an easel to foster Gracie’s wonderful artistic talent. Coloring is a favorite activity around our house and this easel was a great addition. Luckily IKEA has reasonable prices and we managed to get out of the store under $100!

IKEA - KRITTER Children's Table

IKEA - KRITTER Children's Chair

 

IKEA - MALA Easel

 

IKEA - MALA Paper Roll (for easel)

 

IKEA - DUKTIG Coffee / Tea Set 

(We did not actually buy this set as the items are breakable, but they were too cute! Perfect for an older child)