Potty Party

Potty training is not exactly a party for us, but you wouldn't know it by looking at these sticker "charts".

There's a party on Mars all day long.

 

 

But, we soon ran out of robot stickers, so we moved on to butterflies.

Butterflies were a good time, and she even got a few for going poop! But then, they were no longer that motivating, so we moved on to...monkeys!



 

 

Her imagination is going wild lately. It's so delightful to watch. She makes up stories and songs for everything that she experiences. Her entire life is one long running commentary. And, she is very methodical about everything. She carefully chooses which sticker goes next, and its placement on the background. She puts similar stickers together. With the monkeys, she was making sure that each monkey got a banana or a flower for a while. When the scene was complete, she tallied up the girl and boy monkeys, and told stories about what they were all doing.

 

We've moved on now, to frogs. I asked her what kind of a background she wanted, and she wanted the frogs to be hopping on rooftops and trees. I may have gotten a little crazy with that one. We'll see.

 

Maybe I'm making this a little bit too fun, though, because what I really want is for the potty training to be OVER! She's really dragging this one out. We've tried all kinds of methods, and we refuse to make it a fight. I just need to have faith. All parents I've ever talked to, and the pediatrician, say that one day they just get it, and it's done.

 

Of course, as far as I'm concerned, if she wants to collaborate on these scenes even after she's going to the bathroom by herself, that's just fine with me. A little art never hurt anyone.

It's a New Year

It's a new year. We're off and running. I was thinking about resolutions and there are many things I should probably accomplish this year - lose weight, get more money, be happier, yada yada yada. All noble goals, but I'm going with something else this year, something a little more general but fundamental to driving all other goals and desires.

I want to work on ridding my mind of my fear. Lofty, huh? Fear fuels anger, anxiety, failure, confusion and inaction. I want to be done with all these things. I need to conquer and destroy what is keeping me from my happy mind. This is probably going to take me longer than one short year. It might take me my whole life, but I have to get back on the path.

I've been in quite a mental slump lately, and I want out. Slumps are super uncomfortable for me because I like to set my mind on something and get on with it. Slumps are also necessary. Sometimes you have to (or be forced to) pause so that you can allow the right answers to come to the surface. Sometimes I have to shut up a little bit and tap into the wisdom around me, so I can make the right decisions. These are the in-between times, where all the real work is done.

I don't really have a methodical plan for how to get rid of fear. It's not an effort comparable to pulling a semi-truck with my body like a strong man. I think it's more of a graceful mental massage. Staying in the moment. Mindfulness. Meditation. I need to tap back into that stream because I can't survive with this wild painful mind. I need to regain my mental suppleness. I think I can do it, but I have to keep my eye on the prize, with constant vigilance.

Also, I want to go real easy on myself this year. Easier than ever. I will be more forgiving and less demanding of myself. I will sit down when I need to rest. I will get out when I need a break. I will walk and do yoga more, as a favor to my body. I will ask for help when I need it. I will break down and weep when I feel out of control, instead of saving it up for a convenient PMS excuse. I will surround myself with the people that I can safely share my happiness with, and my sadness.

I will save some energy for myself, because challenging fear is a huge feat. It's not going down easy. If I have nothing left for this battle, I'll be in this same place this time next year. This is one resolution I don't want to slip away into obscurity.

Wish me luck.

The Three Year Old Says

I've been collecting some pretty funny, and surprising, sayings from my darling girl. Every time I think she should watch her mouth, I think that I should watch my own mouth. And so it continues...

One morning, I woke up to the sound of A in her room, rummaging around, saying:
"I can't find my binky! I'm freaking out!"

Every time I try to comb her hair, especially when it's wet, she will cry:
"You're making me crazy!"

This one is a little disturbing, but I think maybe it was caused by pine needles from the Christmas tree?
"There's a needle in my pants!" 
After an exhaustive search, no offending needle was found.

Every time I leave the house, I hear A in her sweet voice, pleading:
"Can I go with you?"

This one makes me smile a little, but it doesn't amuse her Daddy very much, especially when it's applicable:
"Daddy's a grouch!"

And then there's this. I am not taking the blame for this one, because I very rarely say this version of the f word. She, however, applies it to many things. Daddy gets the dagger eyes from me on this one, because I think he started it and it makes us all sound like very disrespectful people.
"I don't want no fricken juice!"
"Turn off the fricken light!"

She knows it's not cool. We were out in the yard the other day and a neighbor was using a power tool.
"Mama, what's that fricken noise?"
Me, trying to keep a straight, stern face: "What is the word you are not supposed to say?"
A, head down: "Fricken. I'm not supposed to say fricken......but what is that fricken noise?"

We're working on that one, and trying to explain why it's ok to say "freaking" but not "fricken". I always thought I had a good grasp on the English language, but the subtleties are killing me here.

Photo Show - Toys and Play Time

The birthday/Christmas season has been good to the girl. Lots of new toys and experiences were introduced around here, and three bags of old toys were donated to make room for the new.

Here are portraits of some of our favorite, and most photogenic, toys:

Hello Kitty and her people, all lined up (arranged by A, me playing with depth of field)

 

A smaller group (arranged and shot by A, with a little help)

 

Whoooooo?

This guy talks, walks, and rises up on two legs!

 

This takes up her entire room. We can't wait until summer, where it will make a perfect deck tent.

And, the dreaded bath paints. J does not like these, but we have fun anyway. They're soap!

This one's mine, but isn't it amazing? I can't wait to put it out in the yard in better weather!

 

It's Lunch!

Ever since A started preschool, I've kicked lunch up a notch. I'm not sure why I feel so serious about it, but I do. I searched for a while for just the right lunch box. I make it a point to make her lunch myself so that everything can be healthy, colorful and nicely arranged. One night J started cutting stuff up for her lunch, and I heard myself tell him, "But, J, that's not right. You need to do it bento style." For real, I said this. I'm not sure if A even notices, but it matters to me.

Organic juice box, carrots, mandarin oranges, peanut butter & jelly mini-sandwich,

granola bar, pirates booty (veggie flavor)

Of course I love my baby, but I also really like being this girl's mom. It means a lot to me to do it right, and even to do it with some sort of style. Maybe it's a little overkill in preschool, but it's never too early to have a fun lunch, in my opinion.

I remember making my own lunch when I was a kid. I remember very vividly the last sandwich I made myself in first grade. It was peanut butter and banana. By the time I got to eat it the banana had gotten nasty. From then on, I'm pretty sure I just bought lunch. It's not that my mom didn't want to do it right, or do it with some sort of style, but she worked full time and she had three kids going on, so she just plain didn't have time.

I always intend to make time to make lunch count. It's part of expressing my joy in being a mom. These little things count, even if it only counts to me.

Mixed Media

The girl has declared herself an artist. I'm so ok with this it isn't even funny. I don't care how messy it gets or even how much money I am sure to spend on various supplies. I'm even secretly hoping she runs with it. Ssshhhhhhh!

In addition to the amazing scissors and glue sticks she recently acquired, she got a frame decorating kit for her birthday. She proceeded to use every single sticker, jewel, color of paint and glitter pen on every millimeter of space on the frame. Hey, it's her vision!

 

The work in progress:

 

 

 

When she was finished with that, she took the paint and branched out to the paper on the easel:

 

 

 

Not wanting to be confined by medium, she proceeded to paint over all the Christmas stickers and faces that she had already drawn:

 

 

 

Still not satisfied (I like the spirit!), she added some crayon the next day:

 

 

 

Perhaps the final touches will be this layer of glued on paper for contrast, and some fringe cut on the edges:

 

 

 

She seems to constantly be in the cycle of creation and destruction. It's a fascinating (and kind of maddening) process to observe. I love how deeply concentrated she looks when she's really into it:

 

 

 

I hope she never loses her experimental spirit, and is never afraid to express herself.

 

 

 

 

Mars

As you can see, the Mars landscape (aka potty chart) is coming along nicely. Lots of mid-size stickers for pee and a couple of big ones for when she tried to go #2 in the potty.

Here is a typical scenario and conversation about pooping:

A goes in the other room, out of my sight, and gets very quiet. The only time she's not talking, singing or otherwise chattering, is when she's asleep and when she's pooping where she shouldn't be. I can usually find her behind the couch or the curtain. Head down, eyes up, looking guilty.

Me: A, are you pooping?

A (quiet, strained voice): No.

And when I go in there, I'm greeted with: Get out of here! Go away!

I'm not sure what I can do with that, other than stay calm and keep encouraging her to go in the potty. This child does not take the easy way, ever. She will get it eventually, I can only assume.

Mars is getting crowded. I'm about to switch out that background for a nature scene for all the beautiful glitter butterfly stickers I just got. I'm hoping to populate it with many LARGE butterflies.