The past couple of weeks I have been putting together a holiday gift list. I'm a bit hampered by the fact that I have twice misplaced the physical piece of paper on which the list was written. But now I have a new and improved third version of the list, and having figured out what I am giving people, I am ready to commit:
Wow, way to jump on the bandwagon. Only 8581 people pledged before me.
I had been thinking about this for a while, but once I decided I could take this pledge and make as well as buy things for people, I got on board. Then I started regularly reading the blog Sew, Mama, Sew!. How I missed this one before I am not sure, but for anyone who likes to make stuff for themselves or others, wow, what a treasure trove.
Each day through November they posted a category of gifts, with links to tutorials and free patterns. I have already made four different things mentioned on Sew, Mama, Sew! and I am making a few more before Chanukah and Christmas are upon us. Speaking of which, I need to get my butt in gear - Chanukah is only a couple of days away! I will share the photos of my projects once I have given them to people. (A few of my friends and family check in here and I don't want to ruin the surprise.)
In other news that doesn't seem like a whole post:
(1) This past week marked a milestone in Ada's verbal development. Ada is already a pretty verbal toddler, and has been talking in sentences for a long time. How long exactly I can't remember, which is why I wanted to write down that last week is when she went from speaking a single sentence at a time to talking almost non-stop. Now instead of telling me that she played with Claire at school, she lets loose with "Claire had the corn. I played with the corn. Claire gave me the corn. Claire had the orange. I waited for the tricycle. Other kids rode the tricycles, I waited." and on and on and on and, well, you get the idea. Add this to the non-stop singing she's been engaged in for a couple of months, and we are pretty much the loudest house on the block.
(2) Since we moved her squirmy, wiggly baby self out of our room a couple of years ago, Ada has slept in a crib. Until today. Well, technically she's still in the crib, but we took one of the sides off to see what she'd think about a "big girl bed". Chris's parents still have the cedar frame he used as a kid, and we'll be bringing that up for Ada in a week or two. We thought we'd put the crib side back on, but she did not want us to, so she's up there right now, snoozing away in a three sided crib. Happy as a (sleeping) clam. No loud child-falling-on-the-floor noises (yet).
Ok, wait. I wrote that on Saturday. At bedtime Ada requested the return of the fourth wall. She was very proud of herself for sleeping in the three sided crib at nap time, but I guess the prospect of doing it all night was a bit much. The big girl bed is still coming, but for now we'll follow Ada's lead on this.
(3) No movement on the potty front. (N.B., any word I could use in the prior sentence feels overly evocative - movement, change, action...) In order to more specifically encourage Ada to use the potty, I have added daily potty time to our routine. This is in addition to me asking her if she'd like to use the potty multiple times a day (she always says no) and allowing her to run around pants-free for hours at a time. She never has accidents, and will ask for a diaper if I haven't forced her to put on clothes before the need arises. Now what? I have a little container of "potty treats" but have not yet sunk to bribing her for peeing in the potty, but I am getting there. I am pretty sure that she'll be excited to get chocolate covered raisins, but I wonder if using food as a motivator is such a great idea. I feel really torn about the whole process, as I know that the moment she's done with diapers I will have to be a lot more vigilant about making sure she goes before we leave the house, when we get where we are going, etc.
Any thoughts? Advice? Should I just not worry? Please advise.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Oughta be Committed
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My advice on the potty training is that it is fine to do the orientation, here is the potty what it is for, casual suggestions etc. But don't worry. The less you get stressed about it the less chance there is that it will become something like those kids who withhold and then get fed castor oil. My boys spontaneously stopped using diapers at 3. One had one poopy accident at a theme park. I can't remember the other having any. But we used diapers longer than most girls.
ReplyDeleteI've been fabricating up a storm; my cellar is covered in lint. I've been felting sweaters and turning them into bags - the bodies into shoulder totes, and sleeves into iPod (and the like) cases. It is amusing the hell out of me.
ReplyDeleteAbout the potty training - no advice, but I loved your line about your own reluctance and the concomitant need for increase parental vigilance. I felt the same way, and it's something no one ever says.
i think becky is right about just not worrying. we used treats/bribes because i was getting fed up. it worked but i don't think it was the greatest idea. h got really attached to the reward and i'm not going to do it with m. i think if i had been more patient (not my strong suit in general and not at 8 months pregnant) he would have figured it out without the damned m&m shortly after he did with them. i am always good for potty training chat if you want. :)
ReplyDeleteby now i make my kids beg to wear underwear...i'd rather change dipes than wet clothes (or worse)...
ReplyDeletea) remind me to give you the potty-training pants I told you about; I have lots of extras, and, well, I already told you about that part.
ReplyDeleteb) it's totally not all they crack it up to be, this potty-training ish. I mean, it is, but it's not. it's like everything else about childcare; you just do it, and you worry a lot about certain things before they happen, and then you go through them and don't think that much of them, and when they're over, you're like, oh. so that's what *that* was all about. mehhh.
etc.