A Getaway: St. Louis

Welp, we got out of town for a bit and I forgot to leave one of those sweet little notes here that said "See you in a week!" We first visited The Ranch, Big Sky Ranch, that is. Stayed there for a week and relaxed. Then visited Uncle Eric (my brother) and Aunt Erica in St. Louis. And now we're home. We really enjoyed ourselves. (Thanks for hosting us, dear family.)


Tegegne, you really wanted to see the cheetas at the St. Louis Zoo, as they are your favorite animal at the moment. They were hiding. Silly cheetas. You were quite understanding though. We did have a good time watching the penguins and puffins, elephants, and bears. 


Saturday we spent the morning at the South Tower Grove Farmers Market. The live music (Brothers Lazaroff), fountain/pool, and watermelon basil soda were quite awesome. 


The best part of the weekend was our time with Eric and Erica. Hensley was in Aunt Erica's arms most of the weekend, and Tegegne hung out in Uncle Eric's lap (by hung out I mean "jumped around"). A few more highlights were the wicked beats and fantastic sounds that Ababayeh and Hensley played on Eric's organ, and Erica's ceramics show. 


Did I mention that I love E & E's decor in their house? I would have taken more photos but Michael and I walked in and quickly re-arranged the place so Hensley didn't break any of Erica's one-of-a-kind works of art or Eric's antique banjo and other cool things.


Love,


Mom


P.S. Oh, and for the sake of remembering these little milestones...Hensley, while on our trip you made your way to the big toilet twice and with Ababayeh's help pooped and peed! Hooray! 

Hensley Ruth: 17 Months + Potty Training

Dear Hensley,

You are actually 16 months and 4 weeks, which I do want to make note of for information's sake.  I'd heard of this woman (Julie Fellom) who wrote a book about potty training your toddler between 15 and 28 months.  Then I read several other sources that had similar information. I have a few friends that did something along these lines with their young daughters. As we both know, you are less and less interested in being in a dirty or wet diaper (usually cloth) these days, you've become quite interested in watching the rest of the family go potty, you sometimes let me know when you were going, etc. We also both know that your baby brother is on his way, we have one set of cloth diapers, and I'm becoming more and more pregnant by the day, so I thought we may as well try out Fellom's potty training tips and see what you think!

You spent all of yesterday and today with no "bubby" (diaper) or clothes...just naked as a jay bird (minus nap/sleep time). When you woke up Friday morning, we waved "bye-bye" to the "bubbys" and had a removal ceremony. After that we either hung out by the potty upstairs or downstairs with lots of special drinks, salty snacks, fruits, special reward candy, towels on the floor and a few toys and books. Oh, and most importantly a dolly that peed and got rewarded and did the potty dance. (Several sources I read suggested the doll that actually wets herself, but I just poured a little juice in when doll went pee.) We used a little timer that went off every 15 minutes, which is when I encouraged you to sit on the potty and give it a try. You sat on the potty a ton. You peed on the floor/towels a ton. You only peed in the potty twice because I caught you going and you continued to go when I sat you down. 

Then tonight you pooped in the thing. I was so surprised and happy. We celebrated big time and your potty dance and facial expression was so awesome! You were really proud. 

It's been a great two days with you, and you have loved the special mommy-and-me-non-stop-floor-time. I'm thinking that you're not quite ready to be diaper-free 100%, because you always seemed caught off guard when you did start going and never actually told me...you just said "Uh-oh" or "No-no" right after you went! We will continue to sit you on the potty and try to go cold-turkey again in a few months. 

Thanks for being willing to learn, Hens. I'm proud of you and love you so much.

XOXO,

Mommy 

This is your expression.  

You look so big here!

We fare-welled the boys and you cried so hard!

You love these two so much!

Today we gave "big girl" underwear a try. Notice the blue ones flying through the air!

You wanted them all on at once. So you wore two pair and your dolls wore the rest. 

Happy Froddy: On The Poddy

Happy Friday!


Our weekend will consist of a whole lot of this. I've been thinking about it and decided to give it a try. The boys packed up and went to Big Sky while Hensley and I are staying home with one mission. Drink lots of fluids, and use the potty! It's a potty party!  (Sorry you weren't invited.)


I'll check back in after the weekend to let you know what we learned through the process. Here are the links I read on the topic...


Potty Training in 3 Days or Less
How To Potty Train in 3 Days or Less
Potty Training in a Day


(cartoon.)

Hensley Ruth: What Just Happened?

Hensley Ruth, you are seven months old and you just peed and pooped in the big potty! Holy cow! This has your mother so excited and proud! You peed in the big potty last week too!


So, am I crazy? Maybe. (Crazy for the midwest, but if I lived in San Francisco, I may be normal!)  I've been sitting you on the big 'ol toilet just after you eat (because I noticed that is usually when you go) and after the second time I sat you there, you went pee. It was quite interesting to see your little mind and body work. 


I just ran into this article from the NY Times on infant potty training and I totally need to read more! Wish I would have heard of this stuff earlier. Watch out, this mommy is full speed ahead and going to be finished scooping poop out of those cloths before we know it! 


Some tidbits from the article:
For many parents in the United States, the idea of potty training before a baby is able to walk, or even before age 2, is not just horrifying but reprehensible - a sure nightmare for parents and baby, not to mention a direct route from the crib to the psychiatrist's couch. But a growing number of parents are experimenting with infant potty training, seeing it as more sanitary, ecologically correct and likely to strengthen bonds between parent and child.


As with breastfeeding, a turn toward infant potty training would represent a leap into the past. Before the 1800's, babies in Western societies were swaddled, which restrained them and contained their wastes, Laurie Boucke said in "Infant Potty Training" (White-Boucke Publishing, 2002), one of several books she has written that advocate the technique. When cleanliness became a virtue in the 19th century, Ms. Boucke wrote, infants were regularly held over a chamber pot until they learned the habit of using it.

"When I started doing this, I got to start seeing him as a little person with abilities," she said.


At two recent meetings of support groups, mothers and one father shared signals their babies gave: kicking, nose-rubbing, getting loud, getting quiet, hiccupping, feeling warm to the touch, shivering.

If you or a friend have done this please comment and let me know! I'd love to learn more. Or if you have a baby and want to try it together contact me!

Twice w/o Prompting

Photo.

You just sat down on your potty for the second time today without prompting. I would say this is major progress, wouldn't you? The funny thing is you really prefer to take your time in there. It makes me laugh. And for the first time today you said farewell as we flushed the toilet.

You have a slight fever, but it's not slowing you down. Still talking/making noise 100 miles an hour.

False Alarm & Wagon Ride

Did you enjoy the day? I sure did. Most of the time our mornings are kind of slow. I thought we were heading out the door at 9:30 am to run errands, but somehow an hour went by and you were just out of the bath, getting dressed, feeding Owen, having a snack, and putting your coat on. At 11am we made it to Gymboree for some sunglasses and shoes for your baptism next we.

Potty training is exciting. We were in Gymboree and you said "potty" so we sat our things down, hurried across the street to the Noodles & Co. where we found a family restroom. I tried setting you on the potty and you stiffened up and said, "No mommy, no potty, noooo potty" along with some crying. So we washed our hands, you tried to flush the toilet several times (but you didn't get to it because mommy is fast and flushing is part of the reward), and we went back to Gymboree. We walked back in the door and I put you down and you instantly said "Potty, potty mommy." I replied, "I'm sorry, but you just had your chance to potty." We bought our things, went home, and I changed your dirty diaper.

Later you went for a wagon ride, with Owen and I and I realized that I was a bit ambitious to take the large wagon all over the neighborhood. We have huge hills and I barely lugged you up one of them. I was desperately commanding Owen to help pull. He did. Phew. That's what the jogging stroller is for!

(Since I asked you to smile, you were trying with all your might not to.)

Mommy Wow

I said "Potty?" then you said "Potty!" and next thing I knew you were using your potty. Way to go buddy! It's a great day in the world of motherhood. Before the potty, we made a fort in the living room and a band with wooden spoons and mixing bowls in the kitchen.

Today I'm learning that nap time is when moms clean up, drink chai lattes, and on good days they paint their nails. They also make important calls, email their friends, check facebook, and update their blog. On really good days they prep for dinner, change and fold some laundry, and write thank you notes. Nap times have the potential to make moms very productive.

After your nap time your friend Zion and his mom, Tricia are coming to play with you. I cannot wait for this play date!

We are missing your dad and look forward to the moment he walks in the door!