Well folks, I am on the eve of potty training with the Biscuit. Oh I can just smell it (or not smell it anymore I should say) -- no more stinky diaper pails. I think my diaper pail is pretty good at keeping the smells in, but as the Biscuit's digestive system develops, it becomes harder and harder to keep the smell in the pail. I dread flipping the lid to dump the diaper each time.
Okay, so I suppose I must fess up a bit. Yes, I really do believe in green living and nothing would make me happier than to stop using disposable diapers. I truly love the little 'g' diapers and I personally think I would be happier as a baby with a cloth diaper on, but daycare + "green" diapers do not mix. I use Pampers (I prefer Baby Dry, but can't find them in size 6 so I'm forced to use Cruisers). Frankly, if I ever end up with another baby who is a girl (which sadly it looks like I never will), I absolutely will use chlorine-free, recycled diapers (I'll blog on the reasons why we need to pay special attention to our developing baby girls in another blog) but for now, it is what it is and my filling up the landfills with diapers days are numbered!
The Biscuit has been showing more and more signs of potty-readiness lately. He can almost get his pants down on his own, he tells me when he's pottying, he's interested in the potty, and he often wakes up with a dry diaper. So, I decided it was time for the Biscuit to pick out his throne.
Many moons ago, when I initially thought he was "ready" for potty training (yes, a bit anxious I know), I bought him a seat to lay on top of our potty seat. This time, I went for the more accessible, on the floor potty. The Biscuit and I went shopping, he picked out the royal potty, and he held on to it the whole time we were in the store.
When we got the potty home, the Biscuit and I set it up in the bathroom, he pulled his pants down (I took off his diaper), and he sat on his new throne. The prince then proceeded to look down for about 5 seconds and Eureka: pee pee in the potty! My boy is a natural.
We both did the pee pee dance while the "royal potty" played the pee pee dance music. A suggestion to all: put a washable rug under the potty. Pee pee guards are just useless. Diaper days are numbered.
If only I knew what in the heck to do next.
The trials and tribulations of raising a toddler in the 21st century with true-life scenarios, parenting advice, and humor (hopefully it's funny).
Moving to a New House, Part 3
During one of the first nights that the Biscuit spent in the new house, he had a little bit of trouble sleeping through the night. I couldn't figure out why he kept waking up, but ended up in his room on a few occasions quieting him back to sleep.
The next morning, I went in to wake him and did our usual morning routine. When I asked the Biscuit if he had a good night's sleep (as I ask every morning), he replied, "No!" I was a bit shocked by this answer, since he usually promptly responds "yes, Mommy." I asked him why and he pointed in the direction of his closet door saying, "what's that?"
I took the Biscuit over to the closet door and he kept pointing upward. Finally, I realized that he was pointing at the doorstop near the upper hinge on the door. I lifted him up and said, "Did that scare you?" and the Biscuit replied, "touch it" so I let him touch it.
Since then, whenever he sees a doorstop he points to it saying "scared you." Now, it truly was cute to hear him say it, and I let him continue for a few days before correcting him with the actual word for the object. He still prefers to call it "scared you."
Makes me wonder, though, if a doorstop scared him and kept him up half the night, how in the world will we ever deal with monsters under the bed.
The next morning, I went in to wake him and did our usual morning routine. When I asked the Biscuit if he had a good night's sleep (as I ask every morning), he replied, "No!" I was a bit shocked by this answer, since he usually promptly responds "yes, Mommy." I asked him why and he pointed in the direction of his closet door saying, "what's that?"
I took the Biscuit over to the closet door and he kept pointing upward. Finally, I realized that he was pointing at the doorstop near the upper hinge on the door. I lifted him up and said, "Did that scare you?" and the Biscuit replied, "touch it" so I let him touch it.
Since then, whenever he sees a doorstop he points to it saying "scared you." Now, it truly was cute to hear him say it, and I let him continue for a few days before correcting him with the actual word for the object. He still prefers to call it "scared you."
Makes me wonder, though, if a doorstop scared him and kept him up half the night, how in the world will we ever deal with monsters under the bed.
Moving to a New House, Part 2
I had enough sense to measure the windows in the Biscuit's room prior to our move so that we could purchase blinds for his window and have it ready to install on day 1. I assumed that the blinds would be enough to block out the light so that the Biscuit could get a good night's sleep.
As pleased as I am to have a home with a front door that faces East, that also means that the morning sun shines very brightly in the Biscuit's bedroom and the wonderfully large window, even covered with a blind, still lets in much too much light for an easy escape to "Sleepy's House." The first couple of nights I opted to let it go, expecting that the Biscuit would get used to the light. He didn't (and I don't blame him frankly. I like it dark when I go to sleep too.).
I threw a quilt over the window to rectify the situation (yes, I know it's tacky, but I was losing sleep and was desperate). I finally purchased curtains to cover the window (in addition to the existing blinds). I opted not to get the blackout curtains, since the blinds + curtains did a fairly good job of blacking out the light. The Biscuit was grateful and went to sleep very quickly the first night the light was blacked out.
So far, everything else in the Biscuit's room has not caused a problem. Well... I guess there is one more thing that "stopped" him in his tracks and caused a "scary" situation to occur; but I'll save that for next time.
As pleased as I am to have a home with a front door that faces East, that also means that the morning sun shines very brightly in the Biscuit's bedroom and the wonderfully large window, even covered with a blind, still lets in much too much light for an easy escape to "Sleepy's House." The first couple of nights I opted to let it go, expecting that the Biscuit would get used to the light. He didn't (and I don't blame him frankly. I like it dark when I go to sleep too.).
I threw a quilt over the window to rectify the situation (yes, I know it's tacky, but I was losing sleep and was desperate). I finally purchased curtains to cover the window (in addition to the existing blinds). I opted not to get the blackout curtains, since the blinds + curtains did a fairly good job of blacking out the light. The Biscuit was grateful and went to sleep very quickly the first night the light was blacked out.
So far, everything else in the Biscuit's room has not caused a problem. Well... I guess there is one more thing that "stopped" him in his tracks and caused a "scary" situation to occur; but I'll save that for next time.
Moving to a New House, Part 1
As promised, we're back in the bloggin' business again. My many apologies for the delay in posting. The move to the new house was quite consuming, but I have lots to share from the experience.
Fortunately for us, we moved within the same general vicinity of our old house. I expected that the Biscuit would really only be forced to adapt to a new house with a new bedroom. One of the big changes that a typical move might involve, such as a new school/daycare, was not something we had to prepare the Biscuit for.
I started talking to the Biscuit about "moving to the new house" about 2 weeks before the actual move took place. He was already starting to get a bit fussy and unsettled (which showed in his sporadic, middle of the night wakings) when he started noticing that I was packing things up, the environment of the house was somewhat more stressful than usual, etc. I made 2 visits to the new house with the Biscuit prior to the actual move date.
It's amazing what simple pleasures children find in new things. The Biscuit was absolutely enamored with the doorbell at the new house. Each time we went for a visit, his main objective was to ring the doorbell. His teachers at school even picked up on the excitement about the doorbell and helped us to reinforce that positive association. It is always a great idea to keep the teachers in the loop on life changes.
The 1 thing that I knew I wanted to make sure of was that the Biscuit's room looked fairly similar (in positioning of furniture) to his old room. Unfortunately, the "will of the gods" stepped in to mess up my perfect plan to trick the Biscuit into thinking this was the "same ol' thing" just a different house.
As always seems to happen with in-town moves, we filled up our U-Haul truck before we had everything packed inside. We were then forced to make several moves with other cars and trucks to get the rest of our belongings to the new house. In one of the final trips, the glorious winds of fate stepped in and wrecked my perfect moving plans. As a tractor trailer passed by the truck, the beautiful crib that my son had spent the last 2 years of his life in took flight and caught 15 feet of air before coming crashing down into a rocky ditch on the side of the road. It was torn to shreds.
I had previously made plans for the Biscuit to spend the first 2 nights of our move at my mother's house so he wouldn't have to try and rest in the chaos. This gave me an extra day to figure out what to do about a new bed. It was a challenging decision because he is almost old enough for a toddler bed, but still isn't potty trained. I opted to purchase another crib that was similar to the old one, saving the additional change in beds for a later date (there is such a thing as too much change).
Much to my surprise, the Biscuit didn't seem to be bothered by the new bed. I didn't try to deceive him and, instead, told him outright that he had a new bed in his new house. He was excited about his new bed. Whew!
I can happily report that the Biscuit's first night sleeping in the new house went quite well. Once he was down for the count, he slept right on through the night. So tips so far are:
Fortunately for us, we moved within the same general vicinity of our old house. I expected that the Biscuit would really only be forced to adapt to a new house with a new bedroom. One of the big changes that a typical move might involve, such as a new school/daycare, was not something we had to prepare the Biscuit for.
I started talking to the Biscuit about "moving to the new house" about 2 weeks before the actual move took place. He was already starting to get a bit fussy and unsettled (which showed in his sporadic, middle of the night wakings) when he started noticing that I was packing things up, the environment of the house was somewhat more stressful than usual, etc. I made 2 visits to the new house with the Biscuit prior to the actual move date.
It's amazing what simple pleasures children find in new things. The Biscuit was absolutely enamored with the doorbell at the new house. Each time we went for a visit, his main objective was to ring the doorbell. His teachers at school even picked up on the excitement about the doorbell and helped us to reinforce that positive association. It is always a great idea to keep the teachers in the loop on life changes.
The 1 thing that I knew I wanted to make sure of was that the Biscuit's room looked fairly similar (in positioning of furniture) to his old room. Unfortunately, the "will of the gods" stepped in to mess up my perfect plan to trick the Biscuit into thinking this was the "same ol' thing" just a different house.
As always seems to happen with in-town moves, we filled up our U-Haul truck before we had everything packed inside. We were then forced to make several moves with other cars and trucks to get the rest of our belongings to the new house. In one of the final trips, the glorious winds of fate stepped in and wrecked my perfect moving plans. As a tractor trailer passed by the truck, the beautiful crib that my son had spent the last 2 years of his life in took flight and caught 15 feet of air before coming crashing down into a rocky ditch on the side of the road. It was torn to shreds.
I had previously made plans for the Biscuit to spend the first 2 nights of our move at my mother's house so he wouldn't have to try and rest in the chaos. This gave me an extra day to figure out what to do about a new bed. It was a challenging decision because he is almost old enough for a toddler bed, but still isn't potty trained. I opted to purchase another crib that was similar to the old one, saving the additional change in beds for a later date (there is such a thing as too much change).
Much to my surprise, the Biscuit didn't seem to be bothered by the new bed. I didn't try to deceive him and, instead, told him outright that he had a new bed in his new house. He was excited about his new bed. Whew!
I can happily report that the Biscuit's first night sleeping in the new house went quite well. Once he was down for the count, he slept right on through the night. So tips so far are:
- Introduce the concept of the new house before the move
- Use positive tone and voice to talk about the new house and moving
- Minimize stress (if you can)
- Be aware that sleeping habits may be affected
- Make caretakers/teachers aware of the move so they can use positive language too
- Find something positive/reward that your toddler can associate with the move (e.g., ringing the doorbell)
- Adapt to the unexpected (e.g., shattered cribs)
- Give your toddler credit for being adaptable
Please share your tips too. More to come...
Is It More than a Rash?
The Biscuit had not been feeling well over the Easter holiday. He had a bit of a cold the week before and then a fever (101F, 102F or so) for a few days going into the holiday weekend (we can't seem to have a holiday where he doesn't have a fever). As sometimes happens when he's not feeling 100%, his eating slowed a bit. For the most part, he had stopped eating solid foods, but was still drinking plenty of fluids. Then came the rash.
After his bath, I noticed that his arms and legs were covered with tiny little pinkish bumps. The rash didn't seem to bother him (no itching) but it certainly bothered me. I gave the Biscuit some extra allergy medicine and put him to bed. I had a date with GOOGLE.
After a few calls to parents of other toddlers and my own parents (with no luck) I found a few possibilities from my friend GOOGLE. The 2 most probable culprits: Roseola or hand, foot, and mouth disease. I prayed for the first, because HFM just sounded gross.
In the morning, the Biscuit was feeling great. No fever, no cold, rash was fading, but a few of the rash bumps seemed to have burst--so off to the doctor we went. While in the waiting room, the Biscuit's best friend, Adam, from daycare is carried in by his grandma. "Does Biscuit have an upset tummy too?" she asked. "No." I replied, "but we'll have to compare diagnoses later."
My doctor said that we had a case of a viral rash (roseola) that often follows an infection. The Biscuit had the remnants of a trailing ear infection. So we left. We later found out that Adam had HFM. Yikes. I then remembered that the Biscuit had refused one of his favorite treats: Mandarin oranges after putting 1 or 2 in his mouth and saying "Ouch!" It should have been a tell-tale sign for me that there was a sore somewhere in his throat (that was unable to be seen by the naked eye).
Well, as gross as it sounds, there's not much to do for HFM but keep up the Ibuprofen and offer lots of liquids. The Biscuit has since made it through and is back to his hearty appetite.
After his bath, I noticed that his arms and legs were covered with tiny little pinkish bumps. The rash didn't seem to bother him (no itching) but it certainly bothered me. I gave the Biscuit some extra allergy medicine and put him to bed. I had a date with GOOGLE.
After a few calls to parents of other toddlers and my own parents (with no luck) I found a few possibilities from my friend GOOGLE. The 2 most probable culprits: Roseola or hand, foot, and mouth disease. I prayed for the first, because HFM just sounded gross.
In the morning, the Biscuit was feeling great. No fever, no cold, rash was fading, but a few of the rash bumps seemed to have burst--so off to the doctor we went. While in the waiting room, the Biscuit's best friend, Adam, from daycare is carried in by his grandma. "Does Biscuit have an upset tummy too?" she asked. "No." I replied, "but we'll have to compare diagnoses later."
My doctor said that we had a case of a viral rash (roseola) that often follows an infection. The Biscuit had the remnants of a trailing ear infection. So we left. We later found out that Adam had HFM. Yikes. I then remembered that the Biscuit had refused one of his favorite treats: Mandarin oranges after putting 1 or 2 in his mouth and saying "Ouch!" It should have been a tell-tale sign for me that there was a sore somewhere in his throat (that was unable to be seen by the naked eye).
Well, as gross as it sounds, there's not much to do for HFM but keep up the Ibuprofen and offer lots of liquids. The Biscuit has since made it through and is back to his hearty appetite.
Recommended Reading
The Biscuit has been an avid listener of books since he was a wee one. I started reading to him as soon as he was born (or really close to it) as I was fortunate to have some friends with kids who were quick to offer me the must-have books for reading to your little ones. The Biscuit's taste in books has changed over time for sure. While I desperately want him to love Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit, which I read to him every night when he was a baby, it just doesn't make it on his list of favs as a toddler. In the spirit of the late, great Roald Dahl, I share with you the Biscuit's list of TV avoidance, the Biscuit's Reading List:
Snuggle Puppy
Hug
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Love You Forever
Something's Buggy (OK, this was a freebie at Chick-fil-a but he loves it)
The Pup Speaks Up
May I Please Have a Cookie
What were/are your child's favorites?
Snuggle Puppy
Hug
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Love You Forever
Something's Buggy (OK, this was a freebie at Chick-fil-a but he loves it)
The Pup Speaks Up
May I Please Have a Cookie
What were/are your child's favorites?
Teach Your Toddler Some Manners (Please)
Call me old fashioned, but I truly believe that you should raise a young boy to be a young gentleman. As soon as the Biscuit was able to say the words "please" and "thank you" we began incorporating the words into our daily lexical diet. Now he can express his wants and pleadings (for food usually) to me by saying "More please." And at only 22-months old, I am quite proud of the accomplishment.
Just this week, we started working on yes ma'am and yes sir (and the no's). The Biscuit is following suit very well. Maybe it is old fashioned (I hope I don't set him up to be bullied), but I have seen a few kids in today's society who still actually say these words (and I have seen so many who don't). I view it as a sign of respect for the parents (or teachers) and it just makes the child who says it seem more well-behaved than the next (who doesn't).
As an update, the pushing and hitting behavior calmed down pretty quickly after I brought home "the naughty stool" for the Biscuit. He responded so well to the discipline. No matter where we are (we find naughty stools/chairs/spots wherever we go so we can use them in a moment's notice), if I mention going to the naughty stool, the Biscuit pays attention. To be fair, our little naughty stool gets a lot of wear and tear (and sometimes he just sends himself there because he likes to sit on it) so I'm not saying that it is a true deterrent yet, but I certainly can say that tantrums are rare and I can quickly change his behavior just by mentioning the word "naughty."
All in all, the Biscuit is one well-behaved little boy. I think that a lot of love from a lot of family and teachers helps. I'm quite grateful for that because it makes it a lot easier to help him on his path to becoming a young gentleman.
Just this week, we started working on yes ma'am and yes sir (and the no's). The Biscuit is following suit very well. Maybe it is old fashioned (I hope I don't set him up to be bullied), but I have seen a few kids in today's society who still actually say these words (and I have seen so many who don't). I view it as a sign of respect for the parents (or teachers) and it just makes the child who says it seem more well-behaved than the next (who doesn't).
As an update, the pushing and hitting behavior calmed down pretty quickly after I brought home "the naughty stool" for the Biscuit. He responded so well to the discipline. No matter where we are (we find naughty stools/chairs/spots wherever we go so we can use them in a moment's notice), if I mention going to the naughty stool, the Biscuit pays attention. To be fair, our little naughty stool gets a lot of wear and tear (and sometimes he just sends himself there because he likes to sit on it) so I'm not saying that it is a true deterrent yet, but I certainly can say that tantrums are rare and I can quickly change his behavior just by mentioning the word "naughty."
All in all, the Biscuit is one well-behaved little boy. I think that a lot of love from a lot of family and teachers helps. I'm quite grateful for that because it makes it a lot easier to help him on his path to becoming a young gentleman.
Stretching Every Dollar
It may be a bit off-topic for this blog, but I thought I'd add in my two cents on some ways to save $$$ as a toddler mom. So, my biggest suggestions for saving money... no for not WASTING money are:
- consignment stores
- online auctions
When I was preparing for the arrival of the Biscuit I started exploring consignment stores. There are SO many out there in every community and there are SO many good deals to be found there. Now, I'm not saying that everything you buy your child should be used, second-hand, previously-owned, however you want to package it, but I am suggesting that you consider it for things like play clothes (or clothes for daycare) and for things like books, DVDs, strollers, high chairs, etc. Just get yourself a nice high-pressured steam blaster if you're like me and paranoid about cleanliness and germs.
An example of a big way to save (at baby time): I opted not to get a brand new stroller when the Biscuit was born and, instead, picked up a 3-year old Graco stroller for $10. It's been great and now that the Biscuit is walking, he won't even get back in a stroller. I know it seems like a good idea at the time to spend $200 on a new stroller, but I would so much rather keep that $$ for his college fund.
Now, on to online shopping. My son has an unusually wide foot, extra wide to be exact. I can't walk into a Target, Wal-Mart, or Old Navy or even a Payless and walk out with new shoes for him. A fitted pair of shoes is going to run me about $25-30 a pop (ouch). Once I determined what the Biscuit's size is, I opted to start shopping around on online auctions, like eBay. So far, I've managed to do well shopping there. I even managed to get a pair of $40+ Stride Rite shoes (gently used) for $10, including shipping... not a bad deal!
Yes, some call me frugal, but I prefer to think of myself as practical. My son looks adorable and I always pick out nice things for him. So don't read this and think that he looks like a rag-a-muffin. For goodness sakes, he'll either ruin them during dinner of playing outside. It just makes sense (or should I say cents) to me.
Me and My Shadow
The other day, I noticed that the Biscuit was behaving rather strangely. He was walking backwards away from a wall and then forwards in a repeated motion. Thoughts of "uh-oh, we've got a crazy one on our hands" did occur to me.
I realized, however, that the Biscuit had found his shadow. I was delighted! "He's your friend Biscuit!" I shouted to him. The Biscuit was amused with his new friend and desperately wanted to touch him so he kept moving toward the wall to try and get closer.
Ahhhh. A developmental milestone reached. A world of imagination begins. I can't wait to get him outside so we can have him jump and try and chase his new friend. Gotta make sure I have the video camera so I can record the moment and send it to the America's Funniest show.
I realized, however, that the Biscuit had found his shadow. I was delighted! "He's your friend Biscuit!" I shouted to him. The Biscuit was amused with his new friend and desperately wanted to touch him so he kept moving toward the wall to try and get closer.
Ahhhh. A developmental milestone reached. A world of imagination begins. I can't wait to get him outside so we can have him jump and try and chase his new friend. Gotta make sure I have the video camera so I can record the moment and send it to the America's Funniest show.
Toddler Party Tricks
No, I'm not offering a list of things you can do at a 2-year old's party to entertain the kiddies, I'm talking about the horrible thing that some parents do: turn their toddlers into the entertainment. I'm quite guilty of this and the kharma wheel came back to bite me this weekend.
Being a fan of the University of Arkansas (Go hogs!), it was only natural that one of the skills that the Biscuit needed to learn was how to "call the Hogs." I decided to test it out on him last weekend. He picked it up like a champ. He's so smart.
Wooooooo PIG SOOOIE (click 2 see it on YouTube)! The Biscuit even had the hand motions down pat. When we went to visit his Starenka (his grandma; loosely Americanized it's pronounced stah zhenka) and grandpa, we showed off his new trick. He repeated it again at dinner. It was one of my most proud moments! Until Sunday...
Sunday morning we, as usual, went to church. (and you all know where this is heading) During the pastor's sermon, when all was quiet, the Biscuit (perched up in his Starenka's arms) began to call the Hogs in the midst of God and everyone.
Well, I hushed him fairly quickly and we giggled a bit. Guess that'll teach me not to use my child as a trained monkey. (but it was really funny)
Being a fan of the University of Arkansas (Go hogs!), it was only natural that one of the skills that the Biscuit needed to learn was how to "call the Hogs." I decided to test it out on him last weekend. He picked it up like a champ. He's so smart.
Wooooooo PIG SOOOIE (click 2 see it on YouTube)! The Biscuit even had the hand motions down pat. When we went to visit his Starenka (his grandma; loosely Americanized it's pronounced stah zhenka) and grandpa, we showed off his new trick. He repeated it again at dinner. It was one of my most proud moments! Until Sunday...
Sunday morning we, as usual, went to church. (and you all know where this is heading) During the pastor's sermon, when all was quiet, the Biscuit (perched up in his Starenka's arms) began to call the Hogs in the midst of God and everyone.
Well, I hushed him fairly quickly and we giggled a bit. Guess that'll teach me not to use my child as a trained monkey. (but it was really funny)
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