Bath Time!

 

....but they look like they should taste so good

scrub a dub dub!

bubby bath stank eye

Waiting Room

We coach and coax our little ones to develop language skills and when they do we rejoice… until they say things in public which bring embarrassment upon their parents….

Today we were in the waiting area at the car dealership while our car was being worked on.  One of the mechanics walked in to grab a cup of coffee.  He was a tall man, on the heavier side….

Hazel:  ”WHOA, that’s a big one mommy!”

(the man was luckily quite freindly and turned around and greeted Hazel very pleastantly, despite the comment.)

However, our other waiting room companion was not so friendly….

(A woman, probably in her early 60’s, came in and sat down…)

Hazel:   “Hi”

Woman:  ”Hi, what’s your name?”

Hazel:  ”Hazel”

Woman: “What?”

Hazel:  ”Hazel”

Woman:   “I don’t understand what you are saying”  (said in an extremely blunt tone)  

Annoyed mom (aka, me):  ”Her name is HAZEL” (I intervened).  

Rude Woman:  ”Well Hazel don’t you have a last name? (rudely said once again)  

Increasingly annoyed mom:  ”We aren’t quite that far yet.”  

(She ignored me)

Rude and ignorant woman:  ”Well, do you know how to dial 911 Hazel?”

Me:  ”She just turned 2.”  

Rude, ignorant, and intrusive woman:  ”Well you really should teach her, it is never too early for them to learn, you hear stories on the news all the time about children saving their parent’s lives.”  

Annoyed moms thoughts:  Great idea!!!  So every time she gets ahold of one of our cell phones the paramedics will show up at our door.  

*Although my experience in Early Childhood was brief, I can safely say that, at the age of two, there are MUCH more important skills a child should possess, besides knowing their last name and how to dial 911.  But lets give a special thanks again to the rude waiting room lady for creating an environment of awkwardness for our entire hour of wait time!  When Hazel said she had to go potty, I all but jumped at the chance to leave the room.

Putting “our tinkles in the pot”

I vaccilated even posting this because I don’t want irony to bite me (or Hazel) in the bottom, but our baby girl is nearly potty triained!!!  We now even utilize public restrooms, with the help of a portable kiddy toilet.  She still wears a pull-up, or cloth diaper at naps and bedtime, but usually wakes up dry after naps.  I am sure every parent who goes through this feels that they could write a book, but I really do feel we gained some very helpful knowlegde for potty training in the future.  I always wished someone would have just given me some key suggestions to try.  For anyone interested, here are my two cents (or five rather).  

Basically it came down to these FIVE main points.

*Not an expert, but thought I would share.   

1.  UNDERWEAR- all day, no acceptions, there may be accidents, but take the diapers away!  They are a safely net for them and they know when they have one on they can pee and poo to their hearts content.  Also, after they have worn their “big kid pants” for a while, diapers just don’t make the cut.

2.  INCENTIVE- finding something they like well enough to bribe them with it (I know this sounds terrible, but it worked).  ”If you potty on the toilet you can play with play dough.”  Continual prizes didn’t effect Hazel and was expensive to keep up, so I think finding one big thing that they LOVE is more practical, and worked best for us anyway.  (We do have gerber wheat cookies by the toilet as well since sometimes time doesn’t allow an immediate play dough play session).

3.  POTTY BOOKS- we had two and she loved them!  One was a rhyming one Me Ma got her and she knew it by heart.  The more they see, hear, and understand about the potty the better and sooner they will grasp it. We even made up a song, which also helps to pass the time…  (Hazel was singing this to her monkey this morning)

(To the tune of twinkle twinkle little star)

Pee pee and poo poo on the toilet

is so much fun I don’t want to spoil it

when I go number one or number two

I get a cookie whoop-dee-doo!!!! (hands in the air)

pee pee and poo poo is so much fun

I’m gonna go go go till I’m done

4.  PARENTAL/CARETAKER CONSISTENCY- Basically it came down to our willingness to drop everything with the first signs of “nature’s call”.  This is probably the hardest part.  

5.  NEVER GETTING UPSET-  Of course we would say things like “Hazel that makes mommy/daddy sad when you potty in your pants (and make a really sad face)…”  and stuff like that.  However, we did not want her to grow to resent the potty, so we did not force the issue on “rough” days.  We tried potty boot-camp about 4 months ago, here at the house, setting the potty timer, and sitting on the pot every 10 minutes throughout the day, but ultimately she was not ready, so we decided to try again when she was a few months older.  Understanding and respecting your child is a HUGE part of training.  

I am crossing my toes and fingers and praying that the arrival of the new baby does not cause severe regression, but is something we must be prepared to deal with.  

No new pics, so here is an oldie…..

Taking a Walk Down Memory Lane....

The is Head Down!!!

After a disappointing visit to the midwives on Wednesday, in which they told me they were not sure of the position of the baby, but they suspected breech(feet first), I was pretty bummed.  With a VBAC they would neither consider trying to deliver a breech baby, or attempt to flip it.  Another scheduled C-section and a lot of effort, hassle, and head ache for not.  Not to mention a 4 day stay in a hospital an hour away from where we live.  So they scheduled me an ultrasound this morning at the hospital.  Fortunately it was all good news “unofficially”.  The radiologist kept saying that every time I would ask his opinion on something “Do the fluid levels look good?” “Yes, very good, unofficially.”  Apparently only the doctor can give their patient the “official” word, but it made me laugh.  They were able to tell me that it is still a boy with a bit of hair apparently.  He also “unofficially” stated that my due date looked closer to March 5th.  It just keeps getting pushed back.  My original C-section with my original doctor was scheduled for February 17th!!!!!  Don’t get me wrong, I am all for letting the baby cook as long as possible, but after being given three due dates, I am starting to wonder if I will just be pregnant forever.  

Of course I know this isn’t true, but sheesh people!  

We showed the ultrasound photos to Hazel and she just says “where did he go?”  Clearly she can’t read them and honestly I really can’t either.  When Phillip got home tonight she ran to him with them and said “baby brodders pictures!”

And a HUGE thank you to Casey, the most wonderful friend in the world, who comes and graciously watches my child, with virtually no notice, and thanks ME for letting her spend time with Hazel.  Casey you are the best and Hazel is lucky to have you in her life!  

casey and Hazel reading "Elmo"

Hide the Baby: Toddler addition

When it all began…Hazel was a couple months old Phillip decided to “hide” her one night, in various places, and have me go and find her, while the camera was rolling.  If you haven’t already,  you should check out our series on Youtube of “Hide the baby” this is my favorite one, but there are four installments.  

Now you have a brief history of our families affinity with hiding and seeking games.  Hazel is beginning to understand the beginning concepts of hide and seek.  We are still working on the “staying hidden” part, but we will get there.  Tonight while playing an impromptu game of hide-and-seek Hazel the contortionist maneuvered herself into quite the hiding spot (with a little help from daddy).  She usually doesn’t stay hidden for long so I didn’t have the camera rolling, but we did get some still shots.  

"nothing to see here, just an ADORABLE play kitchen," tehe

"Oh, but wait! Is that a hand???"

"And face and torso of a small child???"

"Indeed it is!!!"

And…hiding spot of the year goes to……drum roll…..HAZEL!!!

Hide and Seek Champion

This and That

Have I mentioned this girl loves her play dough?  Well she does and will face the terrors of the potty just to be able to play with it. She usually has quite the spread.  If you can see she ran out of room in front of her booster chair and had to scoot down to another chair to find some more workspace.  

play dough time!

cutting out play dough shapes

We were able to make a deal on our Squibb Mobile this weekend.  We had the advantage being as it was the end of the month and they were eager to make a deal.  The dealership came down A LOT and we only had to go up a little.  All in all a successful negotiation.  

Our new/used car!

One of our (Hazel’s) favorite Monday morning past-times, garbage truck watching.  Special treat today,  apparently the garbage man’s friend was driving by so they had a chat in our driveway.  Therefore the truck was in front of our house for a good ten minutes.  Hazel was in Heaven.  

garbage truck watching

36 week bowl holder

Although convenient, I will not miss this when it is gone.  

And finally, Christmas Tree watch 2010

This was in my stocking at Christmas.  Phillip has never been one to buy me cut flowers.  When I do get flowers they are usually in the  potted form, so they can be a gift which keeps giving, according to him.  I am assuming its the same idea behind these trees.  We have three buds out of 6 seeds so far.  It is fun to watch their progress.  Maybe if we are lucky we will at least have a Charlie Brown tree by next Christmas.  

 

"Oh Christmas Trees"

Insomnia

Well I have been up most of the night.  Mostly due to uncomfort and partly due to the excitment of finding a used car that was in our price range that hadn’t been used to haul goats.  Therefore at around 5am I decided to get up and make myself useful.  With the laundry underway and breakfast in my belly, what better to do than blog?  I have quite a few things on the agenda for this post.

1.  Firstly, thank you playdough.  Was playdough sent from Heaven?  I think so.  As of right now playdough is the main reason our daughter knows almost all of her colors and goes potty on the toilet.  Before she gets to play with it she must complete two tasks:  ”put her potties in the toilet”  and name the colors of dough.  Basically toilet training just came down to finding something she liked well enough to use to bribe her.  Yes it sounds devilish, but it works.  Yesterday was our most successful day yet!  Only one incident “off the pot” and she even named the color black, which is a huge breakthrough.  She now recognizes blue, yellow, orange, purple, white, green, red, pink AND black.

2.  The bowling ball (aka baby) has dropped.  I believe it is called lightening when the baby drops into the birth canal in preparation for birth.  This weekend I noticed my belly was much lower and yesterday I began walking with a really funny waddle.  I literally fell like I have a bowling ball between my legs or have been riding on a horse for several days…. and I read online that when lightening occurs that is just how most women describe it as feeling.  Will the baby be here sooner than predicted?  Probably not, but things are starting to change.

3.  Our double stroller arrived!  We ordered the Graco Duo Glider and it is NICE.  Of course we have only pushed Hazel around in it in the living room, but she loves it and it’s maneuverability and features are superb (so far).  It is quite massive, but I will make that trade off for a good, reliable stroller.  Shout out to my dad “Boopa” for putting it together.  

Ms. Cranky face (she really does like it though)

4.  The Squibb Mobile:  aka Ford Freestyle.  When I used to work at the Early Childhood Center the teachers opened car doors in the morning and walked all of the kiddies inside.  There was one family that I always rushed to open their door becasue their car facinated me.  It wasn’t a minivan, it wasnt an SUV, but it had a third seat, was low to the ground like a minivan, and I thought it was quite stylish.  With our expanding family I just don’t think the Prius is going to be the best for accommodating all of us, plus carseats, plus stroller, plus dog, plus anything else at all we might like to travel with.  Last night we finally found one in excellent condition, used, and almost in our price range.  Tax is a killer!!!  Though the car salesman was pushy and rude we couldn’t walk away from a good deal.  We are heading back to look at it this weekend when Phillip’s parents are in town, for a familial second opinion.   Hopefully with a little negotiating things will work out!  If not, we can always strap Dora to the roof of the Prius…

well that sums up the excitement in our lives right now.  I will keep you updated with any baby news and of course new pictures of Hazel if and when they become available.

Glamor shots

I guess I lied.  Hazel does apparently allow herself to be photographed…once she has put her makeup on.  She has developed a bit of a fetish with chap stick which she refers to as “lip”.  We allow her to occasionally don the  carmex or Burts Bees, but that is it.  However, a well intending Me Ma gave Hazel some Avon “chap stick” a while back, which I tried to hide at the back of the bathroom drawer, (as it has a slight hint of color in it.)  We were going to get it out in about, ohhh, 15 years, but Hazel found it the other night and, you can probably guess what happened….

she was mostly concerned with the "lip" that got on her hands

"lets put a smile on that face"

Her lip stick application really does remind me of the Joker in Batman

 

I have to admit that I was actually quite impressed that most of it was on her lips though

35 weeks and GROWING

 

35 weeks

 

 We didn’t make it to the doctor this week.  We had just returned from Salem the night before my appointment and Hazel decided to nap from about 4:30-7 during the car ride home, translation, she didn’t fall asleep until past 11.  Therefore we were not up in time to make it to the 9am appointment, an hour away. Not to worry we rescheduled for this coming Thursday when we will, once again, make our long trek  for another 5 minute appointment… 

I am feeling great.  Just crammed, in more ways then one.  I am not sure I have shared this story before, but I can’t seem to find my box of maternity clothes from when I was pregnant with Hazel.  Our house and storage space isn’t vast so we have looked in every possible location they could have been stored.  I fear I accidentally threw them in the box of clothes I took to goodwill several months back, before I was pregnant.  As punishment, since maternity clothes are expensive, I have been stretching and squeezing into any of my regular clothes possible.  Extra long t’s are my best friend.  Luckily I saved my “heavier days” jeans I got while on my semester abroad in Australia and they are the only jeans that fit.  Today I wore tights with a shirt and cardigan that barely covered by bum,(see pic above)  but hey, it is the price I am paying for recklessly getting rid of the clothes I so badly need right now.  

One final cute story:

While playing at Me Ma’s house this past weekend Hazel found a tiny baby bottle in the toy collection.  She came over to me, lifted up my shirt and pressed the bottle to my belly and said “Eat baby.”  awe, I think she is somewhat starting to understand and if she likes her brother half as much as she likes dogs and cats, we should be fine.

The Phantom

For the time being, at least, it appears Hazel does not want to be photographed.  In recent days, whenever I have tried to snap a shot of her doing something cute, she covers her face and runs away.  So I just wanted to get word out right away that the likely decrease of pictures in upcoming posts are not for lack of trying…

This is what I am talking about…

 

the phantom chef