Wow

I've started reading this book, as recommended to me by several mothers, called Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson. He's also written Bringing Up Boys, if anyone's interested. So far, it's fascinating. He talks about both the physiological differences between boys and girls, in addition to cultural influences and a host of other issues.

Something that caught my attention was his mention of a doll called "My Scene My Bling Bling" Barbie. I finally looked it up, and this is what I found.

Yeah. As if I don't have enough of a battle against media and societal pressure to sexualize girls. This is, after all, fairly terrifying. Obviously, I would never buy such a doll for Audrey. But who's to say she won't be on a play date with a girl who does have one? I can't be with her all the time.

Mattel, this is a big fat FAIL.

No Sweat potty training...yeah, right

Oh, the dreaded potty training. I can't even describe how much I've hated even the thought of it. We purchased a program called "No Sweat Potty Training" by Dana Obleman, since we had such great success with her sleep training approach.

Well, I'm sweatin' it. Audrey's doing fairly well, I think, but it's still nerve-wracking. There's a system of rewards, of course. She gets one dark chocolate M & M for going, plus two for, well, #2.  It's a real treat for her, since she rarely has sweets. She also gets a sticker to put on a special chart, which she really loves.

We started off with the small potty, as Dana suggested, for a week. That first week, we had some great days, and then we had days when she didn't go potty at all...which means, of course, accidents all day. It was (and is) extremely stressful. Then again, there was the day that Gramma fed her nothing but watermelon for lunch, and she went 23 times! Yeah, lots of chocolate that day.

She's doing better, though, since she started using the big potty. Maybe she just didn't want to go in the kitchen with us staring at her. Imagine that. We're using diapers during naps and at night, but otherwise, she's wearing her big-girl underwear. She's still having some accidents, though, which I believe is normal. My problem is, I feel like I can't take her anywhere.  We haven't gone to church since we started, because I hate the thought of the nursery workers having to clean up the floor and her, especially since she gets really upset when she has an accident.

David will, unfortunately, be going back to school in a couple of weeks, and I feel like I will be trapped in the house. I'm scared to take her on any play dates. I don't want her peeing on someone's carpet, or worse, pooping. I just don't know what to do. She's having a lot of separation anxiety since we went to Atlanta, and I know it's going to be hard on her when David goes back to work. That's one reason I'd love to get her out of the house as much as possible.

She also won't use her travel potty seat, even though it's just as cushy as her Sesame Street one. But the thing is so awesome; it even has its own little drawstring bag, which is washable, and it folds up so small. But Audrey wants her other one, which does NOT fold up, and she usually wants her stool as well. What am I supposed to do, lug her potty seat and stool around everywhere?

Ugh...so frustrating.

I just need to enjoy the rest of our beach vacation and stop worrying about it, I know. Easier said than done, though.

5 years!!!

David and I recently celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. Amazing! David really wanted to get out of town for a night, but I was very leery because Audrey's never spent the night with ANYONE. Not even grandparents.

At first, I told him I couldn't do it. There was just no way. But then I realized he'd been planning on it for a long time and that he'd asked my mom months ago to watch Audrey while we were gone. So, I realized how important it was to him, and I gave in. I mean, five years of marriage is a lot to celebrate.

After lots of debate, we decided to go to Atlanta because they have the biggest aquarium in the world...10 million gallons of water. Wow. David and I love aquariums, and we'd never been to Atlanta together before, so we decided to spend one night there. Since we left early one morning and came back right before bedtime the next day, we also didn't have to go a day without seeing Audrey.

As hard as it was to go, as soon as we got there, I was excited. We stayed in an awesome hotel, and when we got there, we both took a long nap. It was heavenly to be between those soft white sheets and blanket. White on white...so calming.

Then we went to dinner.



That's us before we left. And did I mention how huge this hotel is? We were on the 35th floor. That's right. The place had a restaurant, bar, gift shop, the works. Here's a pic from the bottom floor. There's a huge skylight on top.



And the aquarium was really amazing. The sea otters were my absolute favorite, but we couldn't get a pic of them because they swam so fast. They're so playful; one was swimming on his back, around and around, with his paw in his mouth. It reminded me of a child sucking on their thumb.

Some of the tanks were giant.



The lady at the bottom looks miniscule in comparison.


Then, a cool whale shark:


And another of my faves, poison dart frogs. Unfortunately, they wouldn't cooperate and turn around for the pic. 



And us as we were leaving. I'm really slouching here, probably because I was so tired.



We had such a great time that we're hoping to go back in November and take Audrey. She loved the aquarium at Myrtle Beach, so I know she'll be crazy about the one in Atlanta. There's also a children's museum nearby, and she'd love that as well. Great trip!

Cuts like a knife

I am so over Audrey being sick. This has been really bad, and I'm just glad that David's been here to take care of her. Especially since she's wanted nothing to do with me.

For the last couple of days, she's just wanted her daddy. Which is fine, I get it, even though it hurts. We've been letting her watch as much TV as she wants since she's sick. It's been a great distraction for her. As soon as she's away from the TV, she starts crying because she's been in so much pain. We think she's had a virus, with a terrible headache and stomach ache.

I feel bad that I even care if she wants to be comforted by me. I should be glad that she has someone who can do that for her. But when she's kicking me, or poking me in the eye, or pushing me away from her, it's hard to be mature about it. Last night, she woke up, and David and I both went in there. We were singing to her, and we finally got her back in bed. David said he'd lie on the floor beside her crib, and I said I would, too. She pointed to me and said, "Go to door". I thought I knew what she was talking about, since she's said that before. So I asked her if she wanted me to leave, and she said yes. Ouch.

Then this morning, I asked her to choose what book she wanted to read before her nap. She said she didn't want to nap, and then the arrow to the heart..."I don't like you".  I was steamed. Embarrassingly, I raised my voice and said, "Oh fine, you don't like me? That's just great!" and stormed out of the room.

All I can think of now is when she becomes a teenager, and then it will be more like, "I hate you, Mom."

About last night...

Audrey's 2-year molars have been giving her fits. They've been hurting, on and off, for months. I noticed that one had broken the skin this week, and the other side is very swollen. I feel so bad for her. And did you know that "2-year" molars can sometimes come in until the age of 5?

Last night, Audrey woke up about 3 am, and she was crying and saying, "Where's my bunny, Mommy? Where's my bunny, Mommy?" over and over again. I went in there, and her bunny was right under one of her other babies. It's very unusual for her to wake up during the night, so I suspected something was wrong. She was also very hot.

Around 5 or 6, I heard her coughing, or what I thought was coughing. Then she started screaming like she hasn't in a long time, like when she used to get her leg caught in the crib slats. I ran in there, and she had thrown up all over the place. This has happened once before, I think, when she actually projectile vomited on the wall.

The thing is...she was more upset about the mess she made than about being sick. It was all over her "big girl" blanket, and she was just freaking out about it. I had to wake David up because I couldn't take care of cleaning up and calming her down.

She hasn't done it again, thank goodness, although she still has a fever. But it concerns me because she gets so upset about messes. I feel like my OCD about cleanliness has rubbed off on her, and that is NOT what I wanted, obviously.

For example, as soon as I took off her dirty pajamas and threw them on the floor, she ran and put them in the hamper. What kid does that when she's sick? If she has a hair on her tray when she's eating (I'm not talking about in her food), she goes nuts.

I'm feeling really guilty right now. I hope I haven't turned her into a mini version of "OCD Heather".



Yes, she's wearing my socks as mittens in that pic:)

Fire...or not

Last night, we went out to dinner with my father-in-law and David's brother to celebrate Father's Day. Audrey was behaving really well. Until the fire alarm went off.

Audrey has always been started by loud noises, even when we get crushed ice from the fridge. I was looking at her when the alarm went off, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She was trying to jump in my lap, which wasn't happening because she was strapped in the high chair. It was all I could do not to scream at David to unbuckle the strap, since I was so upset. I couldn't reach it, since she was lunging for me.

I took her outside immediately, because I knew she was going to have a breakdown if we stayed in there. It was deafening, and lights were flashing, and no one knew what was going on. This went on for 5-6 minutes, which is a lot of time. People started streaming out of the restaurant.

I'm just glad we'd finished eating...and, of course, that there was no fire. Some brilliant person upstairs was smoking in the bathroom. Seriously.

Anyway, they finally figured out how to silence the alarm. The restaurant has recently come under new management, and apparently they didn't know how to do it. The fire trucks and police showed up. At least Audrey got a chance to see a couple of fire trucks up close.

It just amazed me how everyone was so clueless when it went off. The staff just froze up, and they were looking at each other in shock. No one stepped up and took control. So annoying, not to mention dangerous.

So I went home with a headache and a sour mood. I don't think I'll be going there again.



This pic is from February, but it shows what everyone in the restaurant was doing...minus the smile, of course.

Movies

So yesterday, we took our little darling to the movie theater for the first time. She saw her first movie only last week on DVD (Lady and the Tramp), so we thought she'd be fine to go to the free movies at our local theater. They were showing Chipwrecked this week, and even though those little creatures' voices make me squirm, we decided to go. Mainly because Audrey's been obsessed with Alvin since Mom gave her a toy one that came with her (Mom's) Happy Meal.

Truthfully, when I first got up, I wasn't really interested in running out to be at the movies at 9:30. We hadn't had a lazy morning since we got back from the beach, and I knew we'd have to get there early, since those theaters are really packed during the free movies. But we had already mentioned it to Audrey the night before, and she remembered; in fact, those were among the first words out of her mouth that morning.

She did fairly well, considering it was her first movie...that is, until the end. Something scared her, I think when the volcano shook the ground, and I reached over to comfort her. She pushed me away, saying, "Get back over there," indicating my seat. That ticked me off, but whatever. Then she took her water cup and threw it over me, where it almost hit a baby and rolled to the level below us. Unbelievable.

I'm a serious germaphobe, but I also can't stand wasting money, so I knew I had to get it. I had to get on my hands and knees and reach down (shudder) onto the floor in the dark theater. I thought I was going to gag.

Then, at the end of the movie, Audrey refused to leave. She started screaming bloody murder, and everyone was looking at us. Lovely.

She thought we were taking her out to change her diaper, which we didn't realize was soaking wet. I tried to explain to her that the movie was over, that all the people were leaving. She cried and cried.

Needless to say, she got a nice time out when we got home, for pushing both David and me, for throwing her cup, and for acting like a maniac. I was already looking forward to seeing Hop next week, but David said no more movies. Maybe he'll change his mind.

Later on, though, she was perfectly fine.


Oh, how I love the terrible twos.