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Thursday, October 26, 2006
 
The adventure has begun. Potty training. Yesterday was day 1. I didn't learn too much new at the class. It was basically just a local kindergarten teacher with advanced degrees in early childhood education and something else that has 5 kids including twin boys and all were trained shortly after turning 2. She wrote down what she did - what worked and what didn't - and turned it into a book. The class consisted of her going over the highlights of what works and a little of what doesn't and then some questions and answers time. Basically she said if you have a girl who is over 2, most likely she is ready. And when I looked at all the "signs" she lists in her book, Annika hits most of them. Yesterday morning Kris asked me about the class. I started by telling him that Annika is most likely ready and I think he stopped listening at that point. He's been ready to do this for a while. So, he made the decision that we were starting yesterday. Me, the organizer/planner/worrier, wasn't quite ready for this. But we don't have any training pants! And limited amounts of underwear! We need more cleaning supplies! And what about waterproofing her bed!, etc., etc. I went with the flow though and made a Target list for a big run tonight. How are we doing it? Basically Annika is naked from the waist down at all times during the day. She is only wearing a diaper during her nap and at bedtime (for the time being - when she has the daytime thing down we'll tackle night time). We have her potty chair in the living room for convenience but I will also be buying the smaller potty seats that fit on the standard toilet (along with a stool so she can get up there herself). She had many accidents yesterday and the portable steam cleaner was out more than once. The area rug has now been removed from the living room for the time being. And the couch is mostly off limits as is the (carpeted) upstairs. It's much easier cleaning up the wood floor or tile floor in the bathroom. We did have some successes yesterday too though. When she started pooping (in the middle of the living room) yesterday, I quickly caught her and she stopped herself and then finished the job on the potty chair. And after having lots of pee accidents yesterday, there was one time last night when I asked her if she had to go (of course she said no) but I put her on the big potty anyway and she went. And last night at bath time she started peeing on the floor of the bathroom but stopped herself and went over to the toilet and started lifting the lid. She finished her job there. I think she'll get it but the next few weeks are going to be messy. And we're pretty much homebound for the time being until Annika has this down a little bit. Then we can start making short outings (with her in cotton training pants with the plastic on the outside) but only to someplace where we know where the bathroom is. Kris and I have a job in this too. It is our job not to get frustrated or angry with her. She is after all learning a new skill - training is not just a name for this - she is actually in training. We have to be patient with her and give her lots of positive encouragement. Like yesterday when she would have an accident I would quickly carry her to the potty chair while saying "Uh oh Nika! We have to go pee-pee in the potty - not on the floor!" in a sing-songy voice. And then when she would go potty in the potty chair she got lots of praise (and some kisses - but really I smother her with kisses all the time so this was no different) and some candy. She's such a smart little girl though that she figured out the candy thing pretty quickly. She started sitting on the potty just long enough for her butt to touch it before jumping off again and asking for candy. The rules have officially been changed to only getting candy when there is pee pee or poopy in the potty. Sitting on it isn't enough. Stinker.

OK, is that enough about potty training for now?

Here's something completely different. I'm thinking about Christmas (already, I know). I'm thinking about what I would like to get Annika (A kitchen set quickly comes to mind. And of course more cute clothes). I'm also thinking about our Christmas card this year. We usually do picture cards. I've asked Kris if he wants to do another family picture or just a solo picture of Annika. He's unsure right now. I asked him again yesterday during lunch and got no response. We need to make a decision pretty soon though. I don't have any clothes I can wear that are nice enough (and holiday appropriate) so I'd have to go shopping. And of course Annika will need a new dress (or two) and I'd also like to get Kris at least a new shirt. And I need time to go shopping for all this plus I'd need to make an appointment early enough. I need to have enough time to get them all addressed and sent out. Do any of you (especially the family reading) have an opinion on this? Would you prefer a family picture or a solo Annika picture? (Personally, I'm leaning towards family).

I uploaded more pictures last night. Yahoo has a new picture format. If you go into album Annika #13, you'll only see the first 100 pictures. You have to go to page 2 in that album to see the rest. I think there's something like 127 in that folder or something. I created a new album last night named Annika #14 and put 25 pictures in it. I'll try to keep the albums to 100 pictures or less from now on. Go look at my baby in her cute ladybug costume! I also added a 25 week belly photo to the Pregnancy #2 album. No need to comment and tell me how huge I *already* am! :)

Posted by Kristina at 10/26/2006 08:47:00 AM



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