Tag Archive | 2014

Month 35: Easy Peesy – Day 1037 to Day 1067

Apr22

Compare to Sister’s Blog:   Month 35:  Beach Trifecta

DSC_0033 (28)12/22 Monday Day 1037

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

It will soon be time for this blog diary to come to an end since we are really at the end of this potty journey. I’ve considered Mini Moose done for quite a few months since the poop was under his control. He may never fully be able to go the whole night without a pee which is not unusual. I often get up to go myself. The key point is that he is still waking up to go potty and our accidents at night are rare. I still expect some to happen from time to time over the next few months

12/23 Tuesday Day 1038

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

12/24 Wednesday Day 1039

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

It has really been unseasonably warm and I can’t rememer the last time this time of year when you could practically go outside in shorts. Well, some people around here I’ve een in long shorts, but the rest of us are in pants and light sweaters. After the kids were asleep Daddy Man and I finished wrapping the Santa Gift (Rockenblox that Itty Bitty asked specifically for) with special paper and a gigantic fancy bow. I stuffed the stockings and put the British Christmas Crackers on the tree (I am so excited about these little things. They should be way better than cracker jack prizes and I am a fan of the cracker jack). I put a santa tag with everyone’s names on them in gold ink because it was my Santa Gift. Yeah, I asked Santa for presents. He’s progressive and uses Amazon to ship. I also made a huge gift tag for the Frozen Jeep gift from us and Daddy Man’s parents to go with the big bow. Daddy Man spent a couple of days putting it together and sticking on the stickers. The kids will have a blast with it this spring.

Santa is also left a mess of magical glitter dust from the downstairs chimney, up the stairs and all over the tree. Yeah, I know how to do the Kringle right.

DSC_008712/25 Thrusday Day 1040

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

Merry Yulmashanakwanzaa! We opened gifts in the play room and it is a disaster area, but I think fun was had by all. Then the whole family: me, Daddy Man, kids, brother in law, and Grandmama moved to grandmama’s house for the second set of present spoils at her house. We stayed for dinner. The kids pretty much passed out when we got home after they ran around like crazy people for an hour.

12/26 Friday Day 1041

Night EC: 1 night miss (twice) and 1 morning catch

Mini Moose was quite disturbed at being soaking wet twice in the night. I am not surprised at this since it was a long day and he slept hard. I doubled up his training pants just in case and that helped keep the bed dry!

12/27 Saturday Day 1042

Night EC: 1 night miss and 1 morning catch

12/28 Sunday Day 1043

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

12/29 Monday Day 1044

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

12/30 Tuesday Day 1045

Night EC: No Night pee!

12/31 Wednesday Day 1046

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

Yes the kids stayed up very late tonight to ring in the New Year. I encourage it and even poked Mini Moose awake a couple of times so he wouldn’t miss it. We spent the night in watching way too much TV and eating take out. We rang in the new year and then went to bed thirty minutes later.

DSC_01081/1 Thursday Day 1047

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

Happy New Year! I cannot believe that it is 2015 and I feel like all the time is the world is just passing us by. I say this and I let the kids watch old Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman VHS tapes all day. That’s hardly being productive or making use of our time!

1/2 Friday Day 1048

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

1/3 Saturday Day 1049

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

1/4 Sunday Day 1050

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

Mini Moose and Itty Bitty have been absolute BEARS. I am losing my mind and yelling every day; I don’t want to be a yeller but I can’t seem to STOP. They seem to fight over everything and I am stressed about money and its just not good to have all this happening when stuck in the house.   This cabin fever is a horrible thing.

1/5 Monday Day 1051

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

1/6 Tuesday Day 1052

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

1/7 Wednesday Day 1053

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

1/8 Thursday Day 1054

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

1/9 Friday Day 1055

Night EC: No Night Pee!

1/10 Saturday Day 1056

Night EC: No Night pee!

1/11 Sunday Day 1057

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

IMG_11331/12 Monday Day 1058

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

I think both the kids are in some major growth spurts and mental development. Mini Moose is suddenly talking in more elaborate sentences (though I can’t understand most of it) and his memory is sharper. He’s developed a new sudden interest in puzzles. Itty Bitty has some new fine motor control skills she’s been showing off with scissors and drawing and coloring (she can now color in the lines and she was surprised that she could). They are still both at each other’s throats too which is not making for a harmonious household with Dragon Yeller Mommy.

1/13 Tuesday Day 1059

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

I’ve been trying to make a little money through some online review writing and some survey work, but it is very slow going and I don’t think it’s going to go anywhere. I can make a little more doing another text based service, but the kids distract me so much that it is hard to concentrate on that kind of work when it has to be so precise. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I know that I am tired of being in a money crunch. Though we aren’t wanting for anything, there is still stress of not being able to set aside money. I’ve done a lot of smart shopping, saving on gas, cooking everything from scratch. I don’t even buy coffee two days a week anymore, I’ve been brewing it at home.

1/14 Wednesday Day 1060

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

Today. I might eat my children.

1/15 Thursday Day 1061

Night EC: 1 night miss and 1 morning catch

1/16 Friday Day 1062

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

1/17 Saturday Day 1063

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

Let it snow. We are in a blizzard zone. As if we aren’t cooped up enough. Itty Bitty did go to dance class today and she continues to love that and she and her dad will likely go skiing afterward. She definitely is the outdoors type. I decided not to take Mini Moose because he doesn’t have equipment and he gets very mad if he can’t do what his sister does. I also don’t ski so I would be of no help to him anyway.

IMG_11671/18 Sunday Day 1064

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

Happy 42nd Birthday Daddy Man! This year I had to redeem myself from the Marble Cake Disaster of 2014, so I and my little sous chefs baked from scratch chocolate cake and frosted it with homemade chocolate butter creame and chocolate ganache. While this project wasn’t without its hair pulling and near disasters it did come out delicous and beautiful and we presented it to Daddy Man very pleased with the result.

I also made some fantastic English toffee bars. That, however, didn’t go as smoothly the first attempt. There is a patch of burnt molten sugar outside of the back door. Nothing my grow in that spot for a few years since I am sure it charred right through the slush and to the ground!

1/19 Monday Day 1065

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

Snow Day!

It was a HUGE brain burst for the kids and we are in the tail end of it. I’m exhausted and twitching from the lack of sleep. Mini Moose, aside from the puzzles, is also now much more adept at using computers and touch pads. He’s very good at turning on the Rokenbok vehicle and manipulating it much better than he did when they kids first got it for Christmas. He remembers sequences and can follow three and four step instructions. He’s also learned the art of stomping feet and protesting his displeasure with more vigor. His vocal chords can now peel the paint off the walls with it’s shrill.

MiniMoose Wordisms:

I do this self!
I helpa you momma peas?
Shista get out!
Go upstairsh/downstairsh.
I crying, I sad!
Vroom Vroom cars on puta, dad? (Can I watch cars on your comuter Dad?)
Angee Berd (Angry Birds)
No Nebba! (No never!)
Powpoo Gos (Power Puff Girls)
Keyfo (Clifford the Big Red Dog)
Monsta (Monster)
I no wike it. (I don’t like it)
I bruff teef (I want to brush my teeth)
Heppa me yucky (Help me floss my teeth with this dental flosser that gets yucky and goes in the trash when I’m done)

IMG_11581/20 Tuesday Day 1066

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

My first class of the semester got cancelled yesterday due to the obscene amount of snow we got. I also cancelled Itty Bitty’s second dentist appointment because the weather seems so iffy right now.

1/21 Wednesday Day 1067

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

Month 34: Practically Predictable – Day 1007 to Day 1036

Apr21

Compare to Sister’s Blog:   Month 34:  Unperfect Practicality
Month 35:  Look Mommy, No Seat!

DSC_099611/22 Saturday Day 1007

Night EC: 1 night MISS and 1 morning catch

Yeah, I missed it. He even rolled off the flannel “fail safe” I lay on the bed so the sheet got wet. Luckily, I also put a flannel failsafe UNDER the sheet for just such an emergency. Yeah, I tossed the soggy pants, left the boy nude, threw a towel over the wet spot, and went back to sleep. It was 3AM. Momma ain’t getting up more than necessary at that hour.

It happens once in a while.  Not a big deal!  The sheets needed washing anyway, this was just an additional incentive.

11/23 Sunday Day 1008

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

11/24 Monday Day 1009

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

11/25 Tuesday Day 1010

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

It is probably going to snow a LOT tomorrow. I went out and got the kids holiday clothes (12 bucks each! SCORE!), but the selections were pretty slim for Mini Moose. He got a nice white button down, and Itty Bitty got a off-white sweater dress. They’ll be squeezing their feet into their almost outgrown dress shoes (they take them off anyway, so it isn’t like they’ll be wearing them for long). I got a last gift for my twin nieces for Christmas since this is the Thanksgiving year. It was a pretty nice day, but it took forever…FOREVER…to find anything suitable for a good price. The selections for boy’s wear is abysmal.

I’ll be passing along Itty Bitty’s old party dresses to my little nieces. It is just a little sad that I won’t be using them again, and there is no way Itty Bitty can squeeze herself into them. My Brother1 want a Lemon Meringue pie, so I’ll

And the sibling fights continue. If anyone wonders why it takes ages to actually post up anything, it is because they are usually fighting at my feet and I can do little more than take a few minutes at a time to even jot down a quick entry much less upload.

11/26 Wednesday Day 1011

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

My brother requested that I bring a lemon merengue pie for Thanksgiving. So…I made one from scratch. That’s right people. The crust from scratch, the lemon cream done in a double boiler with real lemons, and real merengue. Oh…it was so beautiful! So beautiful that I got cocky and made a chocolate pie from scratch using the rest of the pie dough. I couldn’t get that darn chocolate cream to thicken! And when I finally got it to the right consistency I forgot to strain it. I am pretty sure it was tasty, I didn’t get to actually have some, but a chocolate pie should be smooth not with little tapioca sized lumps. Considering that my sous chefs aren’t the most helpful or experienced, I managed to not mess up too baddly.

11/27 Thursday Day 1012

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Happy Thanksgiving! Actually, it is Merry Thanksmas or Happy Chrisgiving. We combine holiday visits and alternate each year, and so exchange Christmas gifts at the same time . This year it was turkey day away, and yuletide at home. A icy snow storm made us late and we didn’t arrive until 1pm. Since they eat earlier we didn’t get to have dinner with everyone, but on the other hand there was more room to be had at the table! We ate more dessert than food (except Daddy Man who had equal indulgence of food and dessert). My brother was pleased with the pie, though it wasn’t nearly as beautiful as it was yesterday. Merengue shrinks and weeps a little, so it really should be served right away. We decided not to stay overnight this time since mom’s house is not really set up for children. Space is filled up with nice things, and not a whole lot of floor space for four grandchildren under the age of 6. Mini Moose and Itty Bitty enjoyed playing with both uncles and their aunty very much. Mini Moose added a very exuberant “Unco” to his vocabulary, and managed to sweet talk UncoR out of his phone so he could watch toy car videos on it. UncoE was busy with his twin offspring, but did get much lovin’ from the little. The kids fell asleep on the way home and it was a blissful, peaceful drive home.

We forgot to bring leftovers home … again.

11/28 Friday Day 1013

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Grandmama came by to visit today and we were still in a bit of post-holiday dessert crash. Lazy doesn’t even begin to cover it.

11/29 Saturday Day 1014

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Daddy Man’s brother UncoB and his long time girlfriend AuntS. came buy and the kids were beyond delighted. They each got to occupy their favorite. Itty Bitty had AuntS occupied showing her toys, games, music, art supplies, puzzles, and dress up costume. Meanwhile, Mini Moose latched onto “UncoB” (saying his name so wrong, yet so right) and had him building car racetracks all afternoon. They had quite an elaborate setup going on that took up the entire playroom. When Itty Bitty emerged with her captive, all four of them were very busy with improving the set with more track and the addition of leggo buildings. Oh, they had a grand time. UncoB hadn’t yet had the pleasure of having a niece or nephew choose him above all and keep for themselves since Itty Bitty was rather sweet on AuntS if she was around.

11/30 Sunday Day 1015

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

We went down the street and picked out tree from a local family owned business. It’s a good thing we don’t put a tree topper on the trees because it is touching the ceiling. We need a robust tree because we don’t want the cats to climb up in it, so we always get a pretty hefty Frasier Fur. We need to let it rest and fall into place before we decorate it. The kids are excited!

DSC_101212/1 Monday Day 1016

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Itty Bitty and Mini Moose got a brand new micro-drifter stuck in the tree base. It’s a big deep base and even with my long fingers I couldn’t get it out. Daddy Man wanted to leave it in there to rust, but I told him it was brand new (got on clearance the other day…and that price was hard to beat!) and I wasn’t about to let it sit in there. We got it out, but Daddy Man was not pleased. The tree ended up very crooked, but by mutual unspoken agreement we left it as is for the moment.

My sticker on my Jeep expired yesterday so I had that done and it passed! It lives another year! My only complaint is that it wasn’t making that noise it’s been making. I can’t have any mechanic check out a noise that isn’t being noisy. It was warm today, so it seems to get bad when it is cold. I hope it isn’t something serious. I really want it to hold on one more year.

12/2 Tuesday Day 1017

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

The tree is cursed. The 300 light string we’ve used for years has finally kicked the bucket. Half the lights won’t light, and some of them look fried out. I put out all the Christmas decorations instead and took down the few Halloween items that were still up. This i the earliest I’ve ever had everything out!

12/3 Wednesday Day 1018

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

I know I haven’t spoken much about EC lately, but…there is really nothing of note to say! Mini Moose takes himself to the bathroom and I rarely bother putting his pants back on since he’s happy without. He doesn’t use the little potty unless the big toilet happens to be occupied so there is very little for me to do, except wipe a messy butt. Sometimes he asks me to take off his pants if he’s in a hurry. He’s talking more and communicating with longer and longer sentences. He certainly won’t let his sister have her way nearly as often as he used to. The screeches of protest during their daily squabbles are wearing on my nerves.

12/4 Thursday Day 1019

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Tree is still crooked.

12/5 Friday Day 1020

12/6 Saturday Day 1021

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Santa pictures! Itty Bitty was all over Santa like crumbs on a beard. Mini Moose on the other hand was not so enamored and insisted I stay. I had to sit with them. But luckily I am experienced and I wore coordinated clothing and did the “Parent Lean Back” with the boy perched on my knee as close to the Man in Red as possible. We got big smiles and a great shot! Mini Moose even was relaxed enough to want to touch Santa’s beard! Not only did we get good pictures with their cute coordinating matching blue outfits, but I ordered 100 postcards from VistaPrint for $20.00 (which includes shipping) after I did some photo magic with picmonkey. Regular postage is very expensive, so last year I sent out post cards for half the price of regular stamped mail.

Doing things early seemed to be going well!

Until Daddy Man got home we straightened out the tree, and opened the new string of 200 LED lights and …they didn’t work. I tried for two hours to make it work. Nope. The tree really is cursed! He had to go back out, return the defects, and took his chances at another store. We finally got the new lights put on and the ornaments. Tree…done!

Oh, one year I was so sad because I thought we weren’t going to have a tree. It was 2008, if I recall. On Christmas Eve Daddy Man went to Home Depot and brought home a tree on his way back from work. It was THE best bouquet I’ve ever gotten!

DSC_103412/7 Sunday Day 1022

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Grandmama gave me the gift of the Nutcracker. I don’t know if this a tradition everywhere, but the Nutcracker Ballet is very popular this time of year. Mini Moose was too young to go, so it was just Me, Grandmama, and Itty Bitty. I think Itty Bitty was a little young for it too since she was quite fidgety and impatient. She didn’t really know the story, so after the first half hour of dancing she had her fill! She did get through the whole thing, and there were a LOT of children there. I bought a very reasonably priced keepsake paper doll book that turns into a stage, and a very overpriced Mouse King stuffed toy for Itty Bitty, and a surprise keepsake ornament for Grandmama.

Speaking of gifts. Itty Bitty is very keen on giving everyone gifts this year, and it seems like she has tapped the National Bank of Grandmama! So next weekend they’ve made plans to shop and bake cookies! Ah, to be young again.

12/8 Monday Day 1023

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

12/9 Tuesday Day 1024

Night EC: No pee until the morning catch!

Yeah, I’m surprised! I even woke up in a panic and offered. I got lip for my troubles. I was wary about the no pee, but went with it.

12/10 Wednesday Day 1025

Night EC: No pee until the morning catch again!

Twice in a row. I’m trying not to get excited. Mini Moose didn’t wake me up, so I woke him up to offer at our usual 2-3am window and I got a rather firm refusal.

12/11 Thursday Day 1026

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

And that’s that. Back to routine! That’s okay. I’m not upset, just hopeful. I am just spoiled. Helping Mini Moose pee at night is insignificant and not at all hard. I’m just getting lazy!

12/12 Friday Day 1027

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

12/13 Saturday Day 1028

Night EC: 1 night MISS and 1 morning catch

Yeah, it hasn’t happened in ages, but we had a miss. I rolled out of bed to go spend some time with Daddy Man and when I got back he was soaked and still asleep (with his butt up in the air). He usually calls me if I’m not there to take him potty. I was quite surprised! Luckily, I didn’t get so cocky as to leave him not on top of our flannel wee-wee pad so it was easy to fix.

Little guy needs to top sucking down all that water before bed. Have I mentioned that Mini Moose is obsessed with having other people feed him this month? Yeah. Totally Baby Led Weaned and he suddenly doesn’t want to feed himself! I vacillate between complying and saying “Sorry, you’ll have to feed yourself” because I refuse to eat my food cold and sometimes I’m just in the middle of something. He’s even had Itty Bitty feed him to her utter delight!

Sister was with Grandmama all day. After her ballet lesson, they went gift shopping, then made cookies. We then all met for dinner. While she was away and Daddy Man was with Mini Moose I wrapped all the gifts! Early streak continues! I am totally a last minute wrapper. Usually Christmas Eve or the day before that. My mom has hers all wrapped in July (and I am not exageratting).

DSC_0039 (34)12/14 Sunday Day 1029

Night EC: 1 night MISS and 1 morning catch

Two nights in a row! This time it was because I missed the signal. Wow. You know, I bet this strange happening might be the clue to future changes coming ahead for night EC. He went those two night in a row without peeing and giving me attitude about offering.

Do I dare to hope? Hey is capable of going to the bathroom alone at night, but he’s just so groggy that I just help him pee in the cup since it is just faster and easier. He’s even gotten down off the bed himself and gotten the cup. I don’t let him do that alone in the dark, because sometimes even I miss it if I’m not careful. Penises tend to stick out at an angle that requires some aiming!

12/15 Monday Day 1030

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

A pretty ordinary day. Wake up. Squabble. Eat. Squabble. Annoy Mommy. Laugh. Squabble. Snack. Nap at 3:30. (and I ordered Itty Bitty to take one because she was just off the wall). Daddy Man came home the usual time and asked if we were going ot the gym since we haven’t gone for two weeks. I said yes, only because the kids get to run around a big kid gym for 1-2 hours while the parents work out in the adult gym. I had not actual motivation to actually exercise. Especially since we’ve slacked off and I have to start over again. I’m doing the couch25k series (Couch to Five Kilometers — because we Americans do everything with American measurements except for things like races for no apparant reason other than that’s how we do it). Week one of the series is a 5 minute walking warmup, 60 minute run, 90 minute rest, and repeate the run rest 8 times. I did this before our Wedding back in 2007 and was running one mile non-stop. As a non-runner that was a HUGE accomplishment for me. And on a very happy note, I got my two class appointment next term/semester. Not as good as getting three, but better than one or none!

Itty Bitty Wordisms:
Knucklecracker = “Nutcracker”
Smoovie Maker = “Smoothie Maker” but actually a “Blender”
Organment = “Ornaments”

Mini Moose Wordisms
Pidermayne = Spiderman
BareBare = Care Bears
Fanta Cwash = Santa Claus
Effant = Elephant
ShistaWhaYou!? = Sister, Where are you!?
Whatchumakin?= What are you making? (learned from Itty Bitty)
Teef Shiney? = Are my teeth shiney? (learned from Itty Bitty. When she says this if she is asking if she’s brushed long enough)
Opee Pinits?= Open presents? (no, not until Christmas!) Response with pout: Awwwww!

12/16 Tuesday Day 1031

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

12/17 Wednesday Day 1032

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

12/18 Thursday Day 1033

Night EC: No night pees!

DSC_095212/19 Friday Day 1034

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

There is really not much to report. Mini Moose takes himself to the potty and I often find his pants in strange places since he’s discovered that he can kick them off of an ankle. He’s still not much interested in putting them back on, but he at least is taking himself. He uses the potty signal to tell me he needs to go, but little by little he’s starting to go without announcing it first. I’ve seen him just emerging from the bathroom and perhaps saying “I pee.” I have also seen him suddenly jump up from playing to make a mad dash for the facilities doing the potty signal on his way.

12/20 Saturday Day 1035

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch

12/21 Sunday Day 1036

Night EC: 1 night catch and 1 morning catch