WAY too much information

After much trepidation (on my part), I decided that THIS was the week to potty train Mags. I read a great book called Toilet Training in LESS THAN A DAY, and by Monday morning was feeling very confident.

A great deal of the strategy in this book is giving the child lots of liquids so that they have to go to go a lot, in turn giving them a lot of practice. Which, is a great theory. IF YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY GOES TO THE BATHROOM. Yesterday she was up by 8:30 (I know, I'm spoiled), and when I went to put her down for her nap at 12:30 she STILL HAD NOT GONE.

All I can say is we may not be getting a lot of practice, but I'm also not cleaning up a lot of messes. I'll take it.

Our big mantra has been, "Maggie, what do you do when you need to go pee-pee or poo-poo??" "RUUUUNNN to the pot-ty!"

Tonight my mom and I were downstairs playing with H-Man while (we thought) Maggie was upstairs with her dad in his office. Suddenly she appears from around the corner saying, "I went potty!" with her pants down at her ankles and a very proud expression on her face.

Astonished, we panicked, and rushed her into the bathroom. As I was lifting her onto the toilet she said, "NO! I already went!" I then looked down at her pants. Dry. "Did Daddy help you?" "No, I did it myself!" "Really?" "Yes! In mommy and daddy's bathroom. I wipe my hands, too!" "Oh good, you washed your hands?" "No, I have toilet paper and I wipe my bottom with my hands."

Perplexed, we trekked upstairs to find out how true her story really was. Well, folks, the proof is in the pudding. Flashback, anyone?

(What this picture does not include is the string of toilet paper from the roll to the toilet.)

Soooo...although there are many mysteries surrounding tonight's events, apparently she can go on her own. Next lesson? Toilet paper usage.

Baby vs. Grinch - Nine Months

So much of this last year is a blur to me. Amazing to think back to last January at this time when we weren't even sure where Howie would be born! And now - whoosh! - he's nine months old. NINE! Unfortunately for him (or maybe fortunately considering his temperment the first 6 months of his life...), his blog records leave much to be desired.

A LOT has happened in the past three months.

He is known as H man to nearly everyone...

...although his nicknames abound as much as his drool.

He eats like a horse. He only has four teeth, but chews and chomps like he has a full set.

Unless he's truly not hungry (rare), I still have yet to offer him a food he won't eat. Peas, carrots, beans, squash - he will not turn any of it down! If this is any indication of what he will be like as a teenager, I am in trouble! He is definitely a different child from his sister. (Who still will not eat any of the above of her own free will) He gets visibly angry if he sees someone eating something and he is not. This includes my morning cup of coffee...can't a mom get a break??!

He is into EVERYTHING.

I was thankful to take the Christmas tree down this weekend, and am finding myself discovering new ways I need to re-babyproof our rooms. Between army crawling and rolling he can get almost anywhere much faster than you can think.

He gets bored quickly, and between keeping up with him and keeping him entertained (and fed!) we are quite busy.

He loves watching the trains go by out the back window, and was very excited that Christmas brought him several CARS and TRAINS and other boyish things that we've never really had around here. Football is his favorite thing to watch on TV. (Not that I ever let my children watch TV) He never seems to mind when Maggie (accidentally or not accidentally) tackles him.

All in all, I am discovering every day the differences between raising boys and girls.

He has always been a little chatterbox, and continues to be as he adds more sounds to his "vocabulary." Lately his faves are Mama, Dada, Baba (just babbling, don't be impressed). He quite often says a combination that sounds like "Hi Dad," which I find so endearing...even though I know he's not REALLY saying it.

He LOVES his sister. He is generally a very friendly, smiley, social baby when other people are around, but nothing holds a candle to when Maggie enters the room. Her presence automatically elicits smiles and coos and giggles. It is really very sweet. Fortunately, she feels the same way. I am cherishing these moments where they love to be around each other...because I know there will be days coming where they don't think quite so fondly of each other.

Snow Days

There's something I love about being able to declare my own snow days. It's right up there with wearing pajamas til 11 and including sweat pants in the range of Acceptable Attire...a few of the perks of being a mom with babies.

I have vivid memories from my childhood, laying in bed listening to the radio (gasp!) read the list of names of schools that had been called off, my heart beating faster as the alphabetical list got closer to my school's name.

Ever since Maggie was a baby and I said goodbye to my full-time (paid) job, snow days have become one of my favorite entitlements of being a mom. Days where if I don't want to leave the house I don't have to and we can do everything that school aged children and working people wish that they could. Namely, not leave the house. There was in fact one week Maggie's first winter where Gary was out of town and we did not leave the house for FIVE straight days. I'm not sure why I'm sharing this...even as I write it it sounds horrible. At the time it felt indulgent.

It's really not that glamourous. It's just the first major snow. Which is always romantic and fun (especially from the inside looking out). Come February when we are all banging our heads against the wall because we're tired of being locked inside together it will not seem that glamourous at all.

But considering the years until school start and I am bound to someone else's schedule again are ticking down faster and faster, I'm just going to soak these days in.

Little Moments

A Very Glizty Christmas

Newsflash: Maggie is totally into GLUE. Last week it was scissors - which still terrifies me, but she is surprisingly precise and careful - but glue really takes the cake. Thanks to storytime at the library, she's been bugging me to get some for awhile. I finally caved when we went to Target last weekend. A trip to the dollar bins and two glue sticks later, I have now discovered something that can hold her attention as well as the television.

She and Gary (yes - I really had nothing to do with this craft other than purchasing the materials) spent literally ALL afternoon on Sunday bedazzling these little guys. (yes - I did just use the words "Gary" and "bedazzle" in the same sentence.)

It is, without a doubt, my favorite Christmas decoration of 2011. Although Toot and Puddle on the playroom tree are also up there.

Note to Santa: only .25 of the 2 glue sticks purchased still remain. I hope you shop at Costco.

Pondering

It's no secret that parenting changes your view of faith and faith changes your view of parenting.

Two years ago I vividly remember taking this picture during church (gasp!). I remember being overwhelmed watching tiny Maggie sleep as we sang, "The First Noel." She was so small and tiny and suddenly the humanity of the Baby Jesus became very real to me. The responsibility of parenting and raising our daughter to know Jesus personally also became very real to me. I will never forget that moment of her first Christmas.

Last year at this time I was approaching the stage of being Great With Child. Maggie and Gary and I were still living apart, and it was a very lonely, confusing time for me. I was having a hard time even remembering I was pregnant some days, let alone bonding with my baby. During our Women's Bible Study Christmas Brunch the speaker told about her own experience being pregnant during the Christmas season with...a son. Who knows why certain things touch you in different ways when you're pregnant (stupid hormones), but again, I vividly remember driving away that day overwhelmed with the anticipation of the season...of my pregnancy...of my son...and again brought the Christmas Story that much closer to home as I thought about Mary being pregnant with her own - God's own - son.

This year has been an entirely new Christmas experience. How FUN to introduce Christmas to a child...EVERYTHING is new to her. It's been very interesting to see what she picks up on - from what she sees on TV, to what others tell her, to what she sees around her (Christmas lights, huge blow up Santas, etc.), to what she hears in church, to what WE tell her and emphasize.

As I brought out the Christmas boxes this year, she was literally bursting with anticipation - and she had no idea what was even inside! Frankly, I never remember what I put in which boxes, and the first one I opened happened to hold our Nativity set. One of my vivid memories from this Christmas will be opening the box for one of the angels and Maggie (not knowing what I was opening) exclaimed, "But where is Baby Jesus??" Every box I opened after that she asked the same question. He was finally in the last one...and she was beaming as she put him and Mary on the shelf. Earlier I had purchased a Little People Nativity set for her and Howard to play with. I was going to wait a few days to bring it out, but seeing her excitement I just couldn't wait. She carried that little Baby Jesus under her arm all morning.

At night I've started reading the Christmas story (or parts of it) from her little children's Bible. Same story. Every night. She still asks for it. She also asks for "the Baby Jesus one" ("Away in a Manger") when I sing to her before bed. The past two nights she has sung the last few lines with me.

This is a lot of writing just to say that this Christmas what will stand out to me is not Maggie's experiences with presents or Santa or snow or cookies...but that it's her first true experience with JESUS. As I read her stories and sing her songs, I have realized (DUH) that teaching her about God sending his son to us as a tiny baby is the beginning of teaching her about the his great love for us and her salvation. Everything starts here.

This is by far the most meaningful Advent/Christmas season I have ever experienced in terms of reflecting on the True meaning and significance of this date. Even watching Howie looking at the lights or chewing on Joseph's head make me "treasure up all these things and ponder them in [my] heart."

Cheap Labor

My cleaning ladies came today...whew!