Potty training - Weekend

This weekend, potty training went awesome. In fact, it wasn't even like training. Makayla just told me when she had to go or thought she had to go. There were absolutely no accidents and I even took her out for lunch at a restaurant. I knew last week that if we were determined, she would get it this time, and it worked. I am so pleased.

Diapers were the last "baby" thing that Makayla used and now we've said goodbye to them (except at bedtime). It is a good thing because who wants to change diapers on a toddler, but it is also a sad time to think that she's growing up and isn't my baby anymore. Sniff, sniff.

Potty training - Day 4

Makayla has still got the hang of it today. She broke my heart this morning though. She got on the toilet first thing, but she had already peed in her diaper, so she didn't pee anymore in the toilet. She got off and said "Mommy isn't proud of me anymore." I told her that I was proud that she tried to go pee on the toilet. I told the sitter about her statement, so she has also been trying to tell her how proud she is when Makayla just tries. Clay is going snowmobiling for the weekend which is good, so now I can concentrate on helping Makayla with potty training instead of Clay wanting us to go all over the city. It would be hard to practice potty training when we are dragging the kid all over the place.

In this process, I have to say that most of all, I appreciate Makayla's sitter. It has been a joint effort between us, but she has mostly dealt with it all week since I've been at work through the day. I have appreciated her advice and support in the process. She is a wonderful person and I can't tell her enough how much she means to both Makayla and me.

Potty training - Day 3

We're part way through Day 3, and I have to say that today is going extremely well. She peed in her diaper before I went into get her this morning, and she told me that outright. I dressed her and off we went to her sitter's. She had a glass of milk around 9:10, and within an hour or so, the sitter knew that Makayla was holding her pee based on her stance (knees twisted inward). She would keep asking if Makayla had to go pee, but she would say no. At around 11, the sitter explained that sometimes your tummy hurts and so when you pee, it won't hurt anymore. Shortly after that explanation, Makayla said she had to pee. Away they went to the bathroom and then she asked "Can you hear it?" They had a big hooray with all the kids and called me to let me know of her success. By 3pm, I had received 2 more phone calls. One about a poop in the toilet and one more about peeing. Each time Makayla had told the sitter she had to go. She is still wearing the same pants that I dropped her off in this morning! I had been so focused on finding what incentive would work for Makayla, that I think I overlooked the obvious...she didn't know what I meant went I asked her if she had the "feeling" that she had to pee. She didn't know what the "feeling" felt like. After the sitter's explanation of her tummy hurting, I think she is putting it together.

Potty training - Day 2

This day started out about as well as Day 1. Makayla had a few messes, but she did poop on the potty in the afternoon. She had another pee mess before I picked her up at the sitter's. I made her sit on the toilet before she went to bed. I waited her out since she was holding it and wanted to wait for me to put on her bedtime diaper so she could pee there. She sat for 45 minutes on the potty, but she finally peed. She was excited that I was proud of her and she would say "Mommy is so happy!"

Potty training - Day 1

Day 1 went about as well as can be expected. At the beginning of the day, Makayla wouldn't tell her sitter when she peed. She would just pee and carry on. Makayla peed on her sitter's couch and floor and ran out of panties, so the sitter resorted to using another kid's underwear. She ran out of pants too, so I took her home with her snowpants on. We resumed the same routine at home of going to the toilet every 20-30 minutes. She peed on the kitchen floor, but like she had by the end of the day at the sitter's, she had told me that she had to pee while she was peeing. She was really freaking out when she peed at the end of the day, so hopefully this is a good sign and she will start recognizing the feeling before she has to pee and not want to have wet pants. Thinking good thoughts for Day 2.

Potty training...ugh

We are back at potty training again. Makayla and I have been working on it off and on since last September. We start trying and then she doesn't seem ready, so I back off for a month or so. Now, she is only a couple of months away from her 3rd birthday, so Clay and I have decided that potty training must work this time. In the past, I have tried various incentives to get her to use the toilet (stickers, money for her piggy bank, candy, etc.) and they haven't worked. I've also used pull-ups with cool alert as a transition from diapers, but she doesn't see them as any different, so this hasn't worked. This time I am trying to appeal to her sensitive side, thinking that she might be more motivated to go to the toilet if it makes Mommy happy, but Mommy is disappointed when she doesn't go. We're also going cold turkey on the diapers. A cold, wet bum has got to be an incentive to want to use the toilet, right? Her babysitter is on board with this method too. We hope that when she realizes that we're both determined, she will cave. I welcome any and all advice.

The Backyardigans

Makayla and I went to see the Backyardigans show at our local theatre. At first we met up with a friend of mine and her daughter for supper at "Old McDonald's" and to play in the playplace for a bit. Then we ventured down to the show. The show was very impressive and Makayla thoroughly enjoyed herself. Here she is waiting for me to get downstairs so we can go.

She picked out a Pablo toy to have as a souvenir of the show.
Here they are - the Backyardigans!!! It's a bad picture since we were in the back row.
Here is Makayla dancing in the aisle at the end of the show. She was bouncing up and down with all the other kids.

Random stuff

Clay is still trying to get over his ear infections. The right ear, which had progressed to an inner ear infection a couple of weeks ago, still isn't quite right, so he has to go back to the doctor this week to see about it.

Makayla and I are going to see the Backyardigans show at our local theatre. I took her to the Big Comfy Couch show last spring and she loved it, so I know she is going to enjoy going this year even more. Unfortunately the weather is calling for some nasty stuff tonight through Friday. The temperature is supposed to be really mild tomorrow so hopefully it will just mostly be rain and not several inches of snow. We're supposed to meet a friend of mine and her daughter for supper before the show, so hopefully she will be able to make it as she lives an hour away.

Our house is still for sale. We had two showings last week. One of them said that the house was too far out of the city, which we've heard time and time again, so nothing new. The other couple also looked at our neighbour's house that is also for sale. Our neighbour's house is beautiful in my opinion. They have 3 completely finished levels, open concept, at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, nice big rooms. Compared to our split entry house with 4 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, no open concept, and good sized rooms but not huge. We heard our neighbour's feedback before we heard ours. The couple said that their house was too small. Once I heard that, I knew that ours was going to be a dollhouse in their eyes, which it was when we finally got the feedback. Moving on...

We're still struggling to get our property deal worked out. We were told that by tomorrow, the government will have signed off on the deeds so then the property can be transferred into our name. We are so anxious to have this deal completed. One of the people buying a building lot from us is chomping at the bit to get his house building started. I guess he's bringing a bulldozer in this weekend to start clearing the lot. We did get approval for this from our government contact since he said it's just a formality for the minister to have to sign off on the deed transfer and it will be our property shortly. We have had the building lots surveyed and we do have approval for the building lot too, so it's just a matter of getting property transferred into all the appropriate names.

Makayla, my mom and I went on a big shopping trip a couple of weekends ago. Clay had gone out and I really wanted to get out of the house but didn't know what Makayla and I should do. I made a list of some things I needed to buy and off we went to the mall. We stopped at my mom's house since they had just redone their kitchen countertop and sink and I wanted to take a look at the finished product. She heard we were headed to the mall, so she wanted to join us. So off we went. Makayla had a blast. Nana tried on clothes, Mommy tried on clothes and even Makayla tried on some clothes. I found her a cute dress that she is going to wear as a flowergirl for my brother-in-law's wedding and some adorable shoes. I found a nice new spring coat for myself and Nana picked up some new clothes for her trip to Las Vegas and Key West. I know this trip was just one of many that we girls will have over the years. I was just so glad that Makayla enjoyed herself so much.

Easter is this weekend, which snuck up on me. I got Makayla a few little chocolate treats and some for Clay too. I got her a Shrek puzzle and some new crocs and bathing suit for summer. She enjoyed the Easter egg hunt we did last year so I'm excited to see how she does this year.

Another blog

I started another blog showing all of my cross stitching work.

http://angela-crossstitching.blogspot.com/

ARMY

Makayla asked last night if Daddy would play the "ARMY" game. Clay and I looked at each other, not knowing what the "ARMY" game was. Makayla slid under the coffee table and asked "Where ARE ME?" I guess she meant hide and go seek.

I finally finished!

I have finally finished this cross stitch project that I've been working on since August 2007. It is a Thomas Kinkade design and it caught my eye the moment I saw the picture. Usually I can breeze through these projects relatively quickly, but there was a ton of detail in this one. I am extremely happy with how it turned out. Unfortunately it will have to stay tucked away in a drawer until I get it framed when we get our new house built.

Do you see the resemblance?

Makayla is convinced that these 2 guys are one in the same. Do you see the resemblance?

The first is Prince Charming from the Shrek movies while the second is Eric Stromer from the HGTV show "Over Your Head". I watch HGTV quite a bit and I was surprised the first time Makayla looked at the TV and said "Mommy, it's Prince Charming!"

Makayla loves to play the computer. I never dreamed that she would be capable of playing a game all by herself at her age of less than 3, but I was wrong. She started by learning on her Leap Frog "My First Computer" that she got for Christmas. It is a keyboard that includes a small mouse that plugs into the TV. I showed her how to use this and she was a pro by her third time using it. She would occasionally ask me to play on our real computer, but I figured she was too young. I showed her a Mickey Mouse kindergarten game that a friend of mine gave me since her kids had outgrown it, and Makayla was keen to try the game herself. I showed her how to run the mouse, which she pretty well knew from playing with her Leap Frog computer. Now, she can sit and play the games without any help from me. I told Clay that she is going to be showing him how to run the computer before long.

We haven't had any more house showings, but we've been so overwhelmed with snow, that I'm sure nobody is interested in looking at houses right now. I know that I am tired of shovelling snow. The snow banks in our backyard are currently over my head, and we're calling for another foot of snow on Wednesday. The snow seems to drift into our backyard and hardly touches our front yard. I've decided that I'm not shovelling the walkway in the backyard again, so we'll just have to start using the front door for the rest of the winter. Even Clay was in agreement with this.

One year ago, I was sitting on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Oh how I wish I were sitting there again!! I just have to keep thinking, less than 2 months before we go to Punta Cana.