Let's talk about potty

I've come to the conclusion that I am the reason my daughter is stressed out about the potty.  I am forever after her:
"Gracie, do you have to go potty in the toilet?  Where do you go potty?  Do you go potty on your panties?  No, where do you go potty?"

I stress her out.  There's no doubt about it.  I know this because she had a fantastic day with Abue Rosi.  In fact, Gracie and Lukie had a fantastic potty training day.  They both wore underwear (well, Lukie wore Gracie's pajama bottoms as underwear, but don't tell him that) and ran to the bathroom all by themselves.  When they are with me, they pee on the couch, on the carpet, on their clothes.  It sucks and it makes me want to put a Pull-Up on them.

Add to that my determination to teach my son to pee in the toilet sitting down.  He has horrific aim and I am not interested in scrubbing a toilet free of boy urine.  I'm just not.  I've read several opinions and almost all of them agree that boys need to be taught to pee sitting down.  Why?  Because they forget they need to sit to poop.  Can you imagine him standing to pee only to...OOPS...poop on the floor???  Unfortunately, at Abue Rosi's house, all of the males pee standing up and Lukie wants to be like them.  Personally, I think it is incredibly foul to pee standing up.  There.  I said it.  It's totally disgusting.  I can just see the pee spraying all over.  Yuck!

It isn't really a battle, at least, I don't feel like I am engaged in one.  In the end, it will all work out.  No one goes to kindergarten in diapers. 

But with my luck, Gracie and Luke will be the first.

Without Pictures

Every moment with Gracie and Luke requires a camera.  My camera, however, is often not to be found.  There have been many moments this week I wish I had captured, because they are amazing memories I really do not want to forget.

This week, Gracie started wearing big girl undies at school.  She is incredibly cute in them.  She loves looking at Hello Kitty and friends.  While we are very excited for her, I'm not entirely sure she is ready.  She has been a little stressed out, does not like being asked if she needs to go potty, and will not nap (I think she's afraid to have an accident while she's asleep).  She especially does not like pooping in the toilet.  Frankly, it scares her.  She'd much rather go in a diaper or Pull-Up.  She has been uncharacteristically on edge this week and I'm a bit worried that we are pushing her too soon.  Her teachers seem to think she is definitely ready.  I plan to keep an eye on her this week and make a decision about whether or not to continue.  The last thing I want is for her to be anxious about  wearing panties.

This week also heralded the beginning of my work at Summer School.  There have been many late nights and it has made the smiles, hugs, and "I love yous" all the more wonderful.  I wish I could be at home with them more and I'm hoping things even out soon.  Yesterday, we spent time together, Gracie, Lukie, and I, painting with watercolors.  We painted on paper for quite sometime until Lukie decided he wanted a different canvas.  "Look at me, Mommy!  I painted my toes!"  Sure enough, he had used the black and blue water color paint to paint all 10 of his toes.  He asked me if I wanted my toes painted too, but I declined.  Gracie, however, could not wait for her toes to be painted.  Lukie obliged and the two of them ran around the porch giggling and shouting, "Look at my toes!"  Again, another moment a camera would have been handy!

Then, there was the day my little boy was a very BIG help to his Daddy.  My dresser did not fare well moving from our house to our temporary abode and back.  It was from IKEA and as much as I love them, the dresser was not built to withstand all of that moving.  Daddy had Tio Joey and Tio Freddy move the dresser out to our car port and Thursday, Lukie and Daddy carefully took it apart.  Daddy only had to show Lukie how to use the screwdriver once.  After that, he was a pro.  He disassembled the dresser drawers and actually lifted the wood up into the trashcan all by himself.  When Daddy told me about it, he had such pride in his face.  I thought he would burst with it.  I wish I had video of Lukie lifting those heavy pieces of wood into the trashcan.  He keeps telling me that he is Superman. I suspect this is the only chance I will have to see him in action!

For quite some time now, Gracie and Lukie have been talking up a storm. I have no idea how many words they each can speak, I just know that I can hardly keep up with them.  Gracie loves to tell me stories.  Some of them are memories of things she's lived and others are completely figments of her imagination.  Here's the story she told me the other day on the way to Abue Rosi's house:

"Mommy, I took my puppy for a walk, but he didn't eat the pizza.  I told him: 'No puppy, don't eat that pizza.' and then he walked down the street and we said 'hi' to the giraffe, but he didn't eat the pizza either.  And we saw the chickens and they tried to walk with us and I said: 'No chickens!  No eating the pizza!'  Mommy, those chickens are silly.  They shouldn't eat pizza!  They should eat bread.  Can we get some break for the chickens, Mommy?"

I sat in stunned silence listening to that story.  I had no idea what to make of it, no idea what is from actual experience and what the heck is totally made up.  All I know is that she was very excited about her story and repeated it again.  Another time, my camera would have been helpful.

*Sigh.*

I just wish I could remember to bring it in from the car.

It was inevitable

I knew this day would come. I can't be on top of Gracie and Luke 24 hours a day.

The good news is that it wasn't the toilet.

Let me explain. Gracie and Luke refuse to take a bath anywhere but in the guest bathroom. They like the big tub and the sliding glass doors. The doors help them hide from us and they love that they can splash and be silly without making a mess.

Last week, the tub stopped draining well. In fact, it took over a half hour to drain last night. Daddy thought perhaps a recent poop episode resulted in a clogged drain. The thought makes me gag a little. So, I tried using Liquid Plumber gel last night and nothing. The water refused to drain. So tonight, we went and bought the Foaming Pipe Snake version of Liquid Plumber and, on Daddy's suggestion, a new plunger.

I used the Liquid Plumber as soon as we got Gracie and Lukie into bed. It had to be poured in and left to sit for an hour. When I came back an hour later, I turned on the hottest possible water and waited for the drain to start, well, draining.

Nothing. Nada. The tub continued to fill with water and would not drain. So, I grabbed the plunger and started plumbing. Suddenly, weird colored stuff started floating in the water: some turquoise stuff I did not recognize, discarded elastics from Gracie's hair, and then...
a small green alligator toy. The water started draining a bit. Success!

And then, something else poked up from the drain. As the water drained a bit more, I was able to put my hand down and pull up: a yellow, plastic, toy fork.

Why was there a toy fork in the bathtub? I suspect we'll never know.

I'm going to remain happy it was not the toilet with the alligator and fork inside. For now.

Rockin' "La Bamba!"

Abue Rosi recently traveled to Mexico to celebrate Abuelita's 90th birthday.  She brought back lots of stories of her visit and, for Gracie and Luke, some surprises!  Their favorite new toys are tiny guitars that Tio Martin and Abue Juve are trying to teach them to play.

While I don't have video of them singing their new repertoire of songs, La Bamba is their best so far.
Anyone want to hire my little cantantes?

Pajamas and rain boots optional.