The Burp Rag Chronicles

Sleepover

Today is a huge day. The biggest, most bestest day in the girls life yet. Well, okay, last night was.

Cameron slept unswaddled, in her sleep sack. All night. ALL night.

You know what that teaches me? That maybe I was using the swaddling blanket as more of a crutch than she did. Shame on me.

With Sydney the week we decided that she didn't need to be swaddled anymore was pure Hell. That was where we learned Cry It Out (CIO) and while the results were beautiful, the first couple of night were one of the hardest things I have ever done.

Cameron continues to prove me wrong. She keeps showing me how not like Sydney she is. I think it's natural for parents of more than one child to compare their kids, but I'm really trying hard not to do that so often. Hopefully I will be better at that when she gets older and can comprehend more. ;-)

And in other news...

Sydney has taken to playing games on Nick Jr.'s website, and, just as she should be genetically, she is a natural with the computer. She is really liking Wow Wow, Wubzy too. Which is a nice change from Spongebob. ;-)

You'll have to turn your speakers up a bit to hear her, but here is a video of her singing the theme song. :-)

Check out that head-banging action. It appears she takes after her mom's hard rock roots. *lol* All right, now turn your speakers down a little. ;-)

We also are starting to get things ready for Sydney's birthday party - the poor girl got jipped with a Family Party last year, so this year Grandma Elsie is helping us throw a good, fun party at a local kid bouncy place. We've been to a party there before and it was AWESOME, just what she needed (to get exhausted!) It's going to be a crazy day if everyone RSVPs that they are coming, but it will be fun and the place can certainly hold a lot. She's excited, she's chosen Wall-E as her "character" so we made a Wall-E eVite for our friends, and I plan to have some more Wall-E goodness. She is SO excited to be turning "four 'ears' old!"

Let's see, Cameron is unstoppable at rolling now. She is an absolute professional at going both ways, which I think has probably helped her sleeping unswaddled. I haven't a clue if she rolled in bed, but I can imagine her using it to get more comfortable.

So, there is my update on the girls! I will have one hopefully later today discussing how crappy of a soap I think Charlie's Detergent is and how it causes a WICKED diaper rash on Cameron - it almost made me switch from cloth to the gDiapers on a permanent basis.

Almost. Thank goodness for my friend Kim and my friends here in the Internet. Thank you for the intervention, everyone! ;-)

5 Months

Cameron is five months old today - and what a big girl she is! She's now rolling from front to back and back to front. Mostly she likes going from front to back, maybe because it's a challenge to get over her shoulder. Maybe she just really likes a struggle. Great, another one of those girls. ;-)

Drooling like a crazy person, though I can't feel any teeth budding in her mouth. She is getting great at intentionally reaching and grabbing for things, and is now talking up a storm when the mood strikes her. And that mood is often. She is now eating about 8 oz.of milk at a time, though she spits up a bit. Well, a lot. But not like Sydney. Hooooo, not like Sydney. No one could beat that girl in spit ups.

Loo-oook at that cutie!


(Just for comparison!)

Today we had my friend from high school Kim over - she's in town visiting so I tempted her to come over with the kids and eat doughnuts and play on the water slide. Worked like a charm, I got her to go to bed early, and the kids were all tuckered out. Mission: accomplished! And only one Bakugan critter lost!

We came back from vacation on Wednesday. It was a good one, one of the best ones yet! I love going there for the Fourth of July - the dinky city of Covington has some pretty awesome fireworks. And my mother-in-law has pretty awesome seats for the viewing of them! AND (yes, it does get better!) people bought some pretty cool ones to set off on the street, so couple that with the neighbors down in the cul-de-sac, our street was the place to be.

Sydney proceeds to crack us all up with the things she says and do. Though I do wish she had a 5- or 10-second delay on her for censorship. I mean, she's three, some things are going to just come out.

For example.

She likes to make observations. Ones that us, as adults, see and don't mention because of the ability to sense the other person's potential feelings and/or embarrassment. Or maybe they are ones that are so blatantly obvious, there is clearly no need to bring them up.

Sydney does not have that ability to put herself in someone elses shoes yet. So she looks at everyone sitting out in the yard/driveway, observing differences. Then, she opens her mouth...

"Everyone has hair. Except...... that guy," pointing at one of our cousins, who is getting a little sparse up top.

Quick, hit that mute button!! I'm glad some people found it funny because had I been over there my face would have been glowing with embarrassment.

To make note, he is the only male member of the family that Cameron didn't instantly cry at when he held her. I think the facial hair freaks her out at first, but since he doesn't have any... maybe that was the winner? ;-)

10 Year Anniversary

Jarrod and I celebrated our ten year anniversary today. Not wedding anniversary, but ten years that we've known each other. :-)

I can remember that day (evening?) pretty clearly, though pregnancy brain is muddling things a tad. I'll be more clear next year, I promise.

We met up at EZ's Brick Oven and Grill because it seemed like a good/safe place to meet this guy I met online. Ironically, I was in a relationship with a complete ass hat at the time so maybe this was my way of getting out. Saving myself from myself, really.

Anyway, we met, exchanged pleasantries, and we went inside where we proceeded to order hamburgers. His was plain with only mustard, and mine was with everything BUT mustard. "Oooh boy, this is off to a great start." The reason I met up with this guy was because we had so much in common - we drove practically the same car, we were both computer nerds, we chatted on ICQ forever and a day. The moment I saw the weird burger ordering... it felt too good to be true. ;-)

But, we went on. The cashier took his money (He paid. Good boy!) and he proceeded to drop the change. I snickered to myself, how cute. We took a seat, small talked about who knows what (I bet he can tell you, he remembers that kind of thing!) and our orders came up.

His was drowned in mustard and mine had mustard on it. I don't HATE mustard, but I have to be in the mood for it. Anyway, it was a pretty uneventful first date after that. We ate, chatted, etc. and walked out to our cars after that. Where we opted to go see a movie - Pleasantville. Was a pretty safe bet for a First Date movie, so I was in. We watched, enjoyed, went our seperate ways after that.

Overall, a good evening. I'm pretty bad with details anymore, but really, it's pretty obvious what happened from then on out. I moved in with him, we moved to California, got married, bought a condo, had a kid, sold a condo, moved back to Texas, started having another kid. More to this story come February. ;-)

So this afternoon we opted to revisit that same EZ's we met at. A few things have changed, but we talked about how much we've grown as people, the things we remember since then, incidents at that restaurant after we met, etc. It's been a long road, but I'd do it again any ol' day of the week. Or... decade of the millenia, as it were.

So this evening he surprised me with an Edible Arrangement. I've really, really wanted one of these for a loooong time now. Seriously, what an awesome idea! I adore fruit, and our cats just tend to eat the flowers if you go that route so why bother? And this way it's a family treat, too. Oh, it was just what I wanted. I didn't really expect anything, so it really WAS a surprise.

And what a yummy surprise! The grapes were kind of a visual let-down (not as dark purple as they were in pictures I'd seen) but they TASTED great! And the strawberries and pineapple... oh! Chocolate dipped strawberries, but not all of them which was nice. I like naked fruit, too! ;-)

And generally I am not too big on surprises. I hate them, loathe them, in fact. This was a very happy, dappy surprise though. :D

Horrid

So, last night was pretty crappy, all in all. Jarrod's post is totally wrong. WRONG.

I get home from work, and Syd is reasonably chipper. Getting her to bed was a out and out nightmare. NIGHTMARE. She's learned to pull the trick "I have to go poo-poo, Mommy!" to try and stall getting to bed. So last night, after many attempts to get her in bed, we had to take away Light Buddy. She screamed and screamed...

What broke my heart was when she kept saying, "Mommy...? Mommy......?" But as we'd done it all night, I opted not to go in. I knew she was tired, she was melting down. But damn, that was hard.

I ate dinner and went to bed crying, myself.

This morning she doesn't seem any worse for wear, though. So I guess that's good. I had nightmares about her crying though. I kept hearing, "Mommy...??" all night, and I feel like I  haven't slept at all.

You know what sucks about that whole episode? I left work feeling pretty darn good. I'd taken some calls, did pretty good (if I do say so myself!), and was feeling happy. What a turnaround.

Before we went to school this morning she went poo hugely and stinkily - so she still "gets" it. :)

And now, more funnies.

More Of The Same!

The good news: Sydney poo'd in the potty again this evening!! Wheeeee!!!

The bad news: She has had a fever all day, peaking at 103.6 this afternoon just prior to dinner. So, needless to say she won't be going to daycare tomorrow. Unless by some sort of miracle she is fine in the morning. I know kids have a way of healing fast... ;-) She's had a raspy voice all day and a bit of a cough. But the fever was kind of freaky. Other than feeling lethargic this morning (she seems fine now, other than a minor fever that Motrin seems to be doing a FINE job handling) she's been fairly good all day. She napped well this afternoon, and finally ate some soup with crackers for dinner. The girl loves tomato soup. :)

I am so proud of her!! She earned Henry the train tonight by pooping! Now Gordon is the big incentive to poop in the pot. At some point the rewards will wear off - I have two more trains and some small instruments from Gymboree after that. She's done well weaning off treats for peeing, so I think we'll be good. :)

I am SO proud of her! At first she tricked me by saying she had to poo, and then there was nothing. Then she said she had to poop again RIGHT after that, and after I rolled my eyes internally, I took her to the potty and we read and read. Then she did it! She kept saying, "I'm pooping! I'm pooping!" And boy. The stench told me she was absolutely right. What a good girl!! :D

Announcement

I'd like to make an announcement.

Ahem.

MY DAUGHTER POOPED IN THE POTTY TONIGHT!

In lieu of flowers, please send Dora the Explorer episodes. *lol* For celebration she received a plush Backpack with Map from the show. Hey, whatever it takes! :D

I knew she had to go poo, she's been mentioning it ALL DAY. We've been on the go all day, running errands, hanging out with Grandma, etc. She's been doing really well by going pee-pee at stores (I carry her folded Sesame Street potty seat with me at all times nowadays) and she didn't have a pee accident all day long. Yay!

Well, this evening we went out to eat and she wasn't hungry at all, which I found pretty odd. She's usually a pretty good eater. So we packed up our leftovers and headed home, where she had more talk of needing to go poo-poo. So, like the horrible parents that we are, we told her to try to wait until we got home (we were, like, 1/2 mile from home!) and she did! We got home, Jarrod took her to the potty, where she proceeded to wee for half an hour. *lol*

Then, I caught the little turkey right after that, standing in the living room, grunting!! Then she fought with me about going to the potty and hid behind a chair - which is how I knew for certain that she had to go. So I shooed her out from behind the chair and enticed her to come to the bathroom with promises of stories and happiness.

It worked! We were reading one of the potty books and THERE SHE GOES! :)

It was so exciting, I can't express how happy I was. She has been pretty good with "getting" things pretty quickly once the first step has been made. I think she will connect the feeling of needing to go now. At least that is my fervent hope!

Let's hope she keeps it up!

The Coming of Age

My baby went to her first day of school today.

I didn't cry, but I am sad. I miss her. I know that tomorrow and subsequent days will be filled with work, etc. and that I should enjoy today relaxing, cleaning house, painting my toenails and all that. But I feel melancholy.

When we got there this morning at 8:00 (or so) she was excited to be there. She was happy to go into the room and start playing (and saying "Mine! That's mine!") with the toys. They also got her some breakfast (Cheerios, toast and a banana) and she was eating happily as Jarrod and I ducked out of the room.

I felt weird leaving her in someone else's care while I was going to be at home. I felt... irresponsible. I know there are days where she gets on every last nerve of mine, but today I felt like a Bad Mommy. But I keep telling myself, she NEEDS the interaction with other kids.

She really does, I'm not just telling myself that to comfort me. I think. Maybe I am.

Mr. Potty

So I tried a new tactic with Sydney today... I made a sort of "Bleeding Gums Murphy" type voice (the jazz player from The Simpsons) and made the toilet "talk" to Sydney.

"Sydney! I need some poo-poo! I'm so, so hungry for some poo-poo! Won't you feed me??"

So throughout the day I kept saying in that gruff voice, "Sydney! So, so hungry! You gonna feed me some poo-poo??"

So at one point she'd had enough and answers, "Oh! Coming right up!"

She's 2-and-a-half, people!

What a crackup.

I said I'd do it...

...and I did.

But... I think this'll be the last time for awhile.

I look... unfinished. 

And my face is chilly.

My hair isn't really graying, though, it's just the highlights from the camera.  It is shiny and frizzy, though... seems to be a result of the hair loss from the weight loss.  My hair up front isn't just thinner, it's finer, and I have about as much control of it as a parent does of a 4-year-old hopped up on cake and ice cream.

This is raw, unPhotoshopped me, by the way, so revel in the glory of the budding nose zit, the hole left from the ingrown hair I yanked out of my upper lip tonight, and the various splotches upon my forehead. It goes to show just how made up TV personalities are.

Oh, and that's 24-hour shadow.  My brother grows that in about 30 minutes.

Back to Potty Training

So we are working on potty training again. Sydney is 2.5 and it's just time to revisit that old friend. If she can be potty trained by the time she starts school, she can be in the Big Girl room - the room that has better play equipment because it's not the "older baby" room. So, we're working on that.

She did really, really well for the most part today. We went and ran a few errands, but when we got back at about noon I put her in panties and she kept dry. until about 5:00 when she was in our room as I was folding clothes and she hid behind a box "Mommy find me! I'm hiding! Uh-oh, Sydney pee-pee...." Sure enough she peed behind the boxes.

But then later she had a tiny accident in the living room, and I took her to the bathroom where she peed a LOT, so I think she understood to hold it until we got to the bathroom. She's such a smart girl, I know she won't take too long to really GET the idea. My fear is that she is such a busy body that she isn't going to want to stop playing or running around like a loon when she has to go potty.

My other fear is public restrooms. ICK.

She is so excited to be going to school. Every time we drive by the building, we say "Hi, school!" and when we get into the car to run an errand, "Go, school?" It kind of breaks my heart to see her so eager to go. I guess soon enough she will learn to hate it like the rest of us eventually did. ;-)