Photo Tales - Week 1

Alternate Title: New Meme to Join in On!

My friend Beth over at Laugh until you Cry is starting up a fun Meme that I have been thinking about for some time now. In my head I've wanted a weekly "Picture and a Thousand Words" type of thing, but as soon as I was ready to get it out the gate I started working a job with less flexibility on time - mostly the issue that I don't get home with enough "fun" time after work. Easier, now, to grab on to Beth's fun game!

The Picture:

The Story:
I took this picture at the end of a very wonderful afternoon of just Abby and I hanging out. I set off with the goal of taking the "perfect" Easter picture of Abby. This was before the official Easter Dress arrived in the mail, but just barely. Anny was off with friends for the afternoon touring a local attraction, so I got Abby to buy in to the picture-taking fun!

We had lunch at home and then posed for some just-for-Easter types of shots with some silly eggs we got the day before. They were filled with candy, and just perfect for that day. We took some pictures in the courtyard that were really fun, and then headed to the park. Abby insisted on playing a game of chase more than playing by herself, which turned out to be uber fun for me, too!

The day turned out to be hotter than I had expected, and by the time we walked home Abby was done, or so I thought. She discovered that the brick walls were cool to the touch, even on a hot day. I had put the camera away already, but pulled it back out. With a little coaxing, she let me have another three minutes of pictures - which was just right to get this shot. I really love the contrast of her bright dress with the dark wall, but I mostly love that it was the end of a perfect daddy-daughter time!

Potty Breakthrough

So, lots has gone on this week and I have not blogged.  Those my not be mutually exclusive... I might get a post or two up this weekend.  Hopefully. 

*This is a post about poop.  And a shower.  If you are a visual person, this is probably not for you...

Last Sunday we had a breakthrough of sorts on the potty front.  Abby had been a week since pooping.  Again.

We had been pushing blueberries into her like water starting on Friday as soon as she got home from school.  I don't know if it is the same for every child, but blueberries are a go-to for us.  They work to move things along in her little system, and they taste great!  We are still using blueberries from last summers Farmer's Market that have been in the freezer, by the way.  The only downside of frozen blueberries is that it make her lips look like she has been making out with Cookie Monster and her fingers look like she voted in an Afghan election.

So anyway, we could tell that Abby was finally going to explode give in and poop, so we decided to take the opportunity to make sure it all ended up in the potty.  She is still pooping in her underwear of late - when she poops, that is.  She was doing a little dance and could not sit down any more.

I want to break in here and tell you that I am not an abusive father.  It pains me to know that she is not passing her poo,  and I am looking forward to your comments about things that help "move" your children along.  This has only been a problem since switching from diapers to the potty, which she has embraced.  Except the pooping part.  I read a post about a child who finally gave in when he heard the word "suppository" and it was explained what that meant.  I don't want to get that point.

Typically on Sunday morning either Anny or I will bring Abby into the shower with us to get a really good cleaning that does not happen in the tub and to wash her hair.  Again, great father, right?  Oh well.  I got her into the shower with me with a guarantee that we would spend some time playing before washing her hair.  This convinced her to come in, and then she got really uncomfortable on the poop front.  She was not playing in the water because she was focused on holding everything in.

And then something clicked in her head.  She asked for the potty.  She wanted to poop - in the potty!  This, my friends, is progress in a major way.  Part of it was setting her up, but sometimes that is all it takes.  She could not hide in her room if she can't get out of the shower. 


Anny brought the potty into the kid-potty into the bathroom, but Abby didn't want to get out of the shower because she was wet and knew she would be cold.  We did the only logical thing...  We brought her potty into the shower for her to take a dump.  Abby got special permission to poop IN the shower.  Lucky kid.

So we reminded her about her "friend" Prudence from Once Upon a Potty who had to sit.  And sit.  And sit and sit and sit and sit.... And sit Abby did.  For ten minutes. 

But it worked.  She pooped in the potty, and only in the potty.  VICTORY! 

As a reward she got to wear her new Sleeping Beauty Princess Dress, which is better than chocolate as a reward for my child.  She wore her dress to church and got to tell everyone why she got to wear such a special dress - because she had pooped on the potty.  She was fawned over, even more than usual, and got congrats and cheers and high fives for the whole day. 

Maybe that will have been enough to make the "click" of using the potty stick. 

Maybe she will think about all of the attention the next time she starts to poop in her pants and she will get our attention rather than get quiet and hide it.

Maybe, just maybe, my daughter will have to go to a local college so that she can come home once a week to take a poop in the shower.

I'm hoping for one of the first two choices above - you can guess which two.

*As an "update" to a not-yet-posted-post, it is Friday morning and Abby has not yet pooped since the victory I just wrote about.  Two nights this week we have even given her medicinal help in the form of "Little Phillips" for toddler tummies.  This child has a stubborn stomach I tell you.  We will begin the blueberry regimen tonight, I guess. 

Passing with Flying Colors!

Just out of one of Abby's three parent-teacher conferences for this school year.  We both go because I believe it to be important that we both get into the routine of being at these types of things, though I freely acknowledge that at the age of two, it's not a huge deal.  I refuse to be complacent now for fear that the habit will falter to the other side. 

So anyway, today was the day for our conference with Abby's lead teacher, Ms. Linda.  We got there a few minutes early and chatted with the folks in the infant room.  They're always so much fun, especially when you bring them donuts in the morning and see them in the afternoon!  (I'm sticking to the donuts for the foreseeable future.  Major brownie points without having to actually bake brownies!)  We met with Ms Linda at 2:20 ish, while all of the little ones are taking their naps so that we can have her attention, and she can have ours.  I'm glad that Abby was not running around because she would inevitably have been bouncing off of the walls while we tried to talk, and that is not helpful for anyone involved!

You know, it is a bit strange to go into a parent teacher conference.  I remember them when I was in middle and high school - lots of looks-of-disdain directed at me and profuse-how-the-hell-do-you-do-it looks cast at my teachers.  (I never applied myself.  Yup, didn't put it in quotes, I have learned that it was the truth.)  I always walked out of those meetings with the sense that I was going to have a lot of work to make up, you know, since I had been skipping it up to that point, and lots of lectures on the way home.  I swear I was a good kid, just not the schoolin' type.

I'm saying it now, I really hope that we don't have to have meetings like that for Abby.  Period.

Back to today's meeting - we were presented with a folder with Abby's name on it.  In the left pocket was a standard checklist of areas that they are looking at for Abby - language development, letter and number recognition, motor skills - you know, preschool stuff.  Abby got good marks across the board with an asterisk that led to a note that she needs to listen a bit better, but then we expected that one.  That note, though, gives us a heads up as to what they are working on with her at school, and what we should be working on at home with her. 

On the right hand side was a set of pictures and edu-specific descriptions -

"in this picture Abby is demonstrating development in math - she really likes to sort.  On this day she pulled out all of the cows, and only the cows, to play with."  (and the picture was of her with an army of cows that had to have numbered 18!)

Pretty fun to see pictures of her, but even more fun to see that the things she is doing is actually developmental and not just silliness of toddlerhood.  We told her that Abby has an affection for cows - whenever she finds one of her LittlePeople cows at home, she has to find the other two because they are a family.  They can not be separated for fear of... who knows what?! 

Behind that there were several edu-oriented projects that are designed to assess where she is so that we can assess when she is picking up new things.  One of them was "This is Me: Age 2" and it featured several blobs, but all of them had eyes, noses and mouths, and a few of them even had (more than two) legs!  Considering at Thanksgiving we were just working on making circles that were not all eggs, this is really cool.  I will scan that later and put it online, but I want to get this up now.  :o)

We did talk a bit about potty training - it's still going really well with the exception of the pooping issue.  She still hates to do it in the potty and will not do it at school.  It is fine with us if she only does it at home, but right now it's not going anywhere.  Again.  This is something that we need to be aware of because we don't want her to get sick.  Seems a silly thing to be thinking of after my day Monday, but it's reality.  Oh well.

At the end we had time to ask questions about the assessment or Abby in general.  We asked about her babbling*, which she has started recently, and told Ms Linda about our upcoming move to Saint Louis.  It does not matter a whole lot to her teachers in the long run, but we wanted to be sure they were aware so that if Abby begins to show signs of being overstressed they both have a reason and can alert us to her mood change so that we can address it at home.  (i.e. spend more intentional time together rather than focus on packing boxes.) 

All in all she's a bright, happy little girl.  We did not need an assessment to tell us that, but it is always nice when someone else says it, right?!

*About the babbling: it's really funny, actually.  Abby will call everyone to attention saying "It is my turn to talk, please listen!"  When she has everyone's ears and eyes she will start a story with real words, then launch into babbling.  She says it with a serious face most of the time.  Some of the time she also is just making rhyming sounds - not words mind you, but sounds that would rhyme if they were words.  Like I said, it's funny and she only does it in fun times, never if we're having a conversation about things that matter.  That's ma' girl!

A Bouncy Trouncy Pouncy Fun Fun Fun Day!

Over the last week the weather folks have been telling us it would snow.

• On Monday it was "hey folks, snow to the south, nothing here.
• Tuesday brought "we can't be sure, but it's likely just going to be a dusting"
• Wednesday and Thursday the projection went to "maybe an inch or two around town"
• On Friday it because "big storm in the NC and Southern VA, but at most two inches around the beltway"

Well when all was said and done, we ended up with about five inches of snow!  Insanity.  We didn't even get to play outside because it was way too powdery, but it sure made staying home on Saturday evening easier.  (I heard that pizza places around the area had thrown in the towel and stopped delivery!)

Turns out that Anny and I both left the house with different destinations just as the first flakes fell.  Not a big deal when you're expecting an inch - but surely made our trips slippery.  We got out and back safely, thank goodness!

While Anny went for groceries and a haircut (and an "it was right beside the Hair Cuttery" trip to Michaels for craft stuff"), I took Abby to Columbia to a classmates fifth birthday party.  It was held at the AIRMania Fun Zone, which I had heard about but never gotten a chance to go to.  Their "public sessions" are from 10 to 2 during week days - so we're not exactly going to have a chance to play with their stuff often.  The set up is pretty amazing - they have eight inflatable moon bounces, all inside and split into two zones of four.  Abby was a bit hesitant, as is her routine when we enter someplace new.  Because Anny has never been on a moon bounce, she would be content that Abby never be on one.  Ever.  For her whole life.  Yeah, it takes daddy-daughter time to crush that, right?  :o)  (Anny was supposed to take her, but I was able to at the last minute.  Thank goodness!)

After about two minutes of staring at the mammoth jumping houses - she grabbed a friend and they took off.  It's funny, I don't know if she could tell from the outsides, but she picked them in progressively harder stages.  She started off with the standard moon bounce - square with mesh to keep them in.  They worked together, Abby and Abbie (yes, really.) helped each other up onto different pieces, and followed each other all over the place.  It was really fun to watch them!

I was really proud of Abby for working her way up and challenging herself to do things she did not think she could.  

I really should have gotten her a snack about halfway through but didn't think about it and payed the price.  She got really whiny when another party showed up and they were "restricted" to zone 2.  The pieces are about the same, just with different looks.  She was trying to be stubborn about it, but I can be even more stubborn - especially when it means not ruining someone elses' party!

The hosts also had pizza and cake for the kids (and parents, too) which was fun. 

I got to talk with some of the other parents about parenting in general and each of our children as individuals.  One dad asked if I volunteered at the daycare.  I was a little caught off guard, to be completely honest.  He had noticed that all of the children were approaching me (one little girl even dragged me around to help her find someone else) and many knew my name, or at least knew me as "Abby Monroe's Daddy!"  I told him that I hardly ever even pick Abby up, but when I do I am sure to get on the floor and talk with them and sing whatever they are singing and do their silly dances.  It makes a world of difference, let me tell you! 

And yes, I realize this will probably only be a good way to get to know her friends until she hits elementary school.  Then it's going to be catch as catch can, right?

I drove very, very slowly on the trip home while Abby slept to recover from all of the fun.  It was a great time!

Awkward Moment: Mall Edition!

Setting the scene, before I give you the awkward moment.  Trust me, it's worth reading to the bottom, only if you can point and laugh at my humiliation.

On Monday we had a holiday off - which will only happen a few more times during the school year.  On Sunday we mentioned during Sunday School that we were looking for something to do, and ended up making plans with friends to hang out with the kids at Columbia Mall.  That place is a favorite of ours, mostly because they have a great play area and a cheap Carousel/Merry-Go-Round!  Recently they have added both Five Guys and Chipotle to their food court, so I could basically live there for a month and be happy.

It amazes me how little time we spend with the dozens of other parents of young children that we know.  Our best friends live a half hour away and their boys are practically brothers for Abby, but we are lucky to see them twice in a month.  Our trip to the mall was the first trip with that family in over a year.  I need to fix this.  (And I apologize for the unannounced aside.)

So, we got there a little early, and they got there a little late - no biggie.  That's the exact reason that we planned to meet AT the playground!  Abby didn't know they were late, and we were having fun and didn't really notice until they arrived and said "sorry" for the lateness...  oops!  We should really wear watches.

After playing in the playground, we made the journey past the pet store over to the Carousel.  Abby could hear it about halfway down the hall and got giddy - but then, she announced "we are at the mall to ride the horses" before we got to the parking lot...

We went to the food court and ended up with food from three different places - and it would have been four if the lines were shorter.  Abby was getting a bit restless when the little guy with us had to use the potty.  She was up and walking, then she was laying down on the bench.  We were talking with our friend about potty-training strategies - and started with the one that works for a lot of folks - just going straight to big girl pants.

**Here is the Awkwardness**
Me: Hey Abby, do you like to wear big girl pants?
Abby: giggle, giggle
Me: Abby, April wants to know if you like to wear big girl pants
Me, noticing a mother at the table that is practically touching ours: Oh, I'm sorry.  I'm sure this is not the conversation you want to hear at lunch.
Other Table Mom: No, my daughters name is Abby. (points at daughter, sitting beside my Abby.)
Me:
Me: (in my head: CRAP. CRAP!)
Me: Well, that was completely inappropriate of me then.

Then I turned bright red, and shut my mouth in an effort not to insinuate to another five year old girl in the mall that I had interest in her underpants.