A walk to see the sunset.
Compare to Sister’s Blog: Month 31: Veni Vidi Vici
8/22 Friday Day 913 (30 Months)
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
We are on an amazing streak! I don’t know what to do with myself!
If I could do a cartwheel I would. I’ll have to be content with the Snoopy Dance!
Amusements!
8/23 Saturday Day 914
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
Grandmama treated us all to a trip to an amusement park today! We rode on so many rides (Daddy Man went on the crazy Roller Coaster by himself. I don’t do coasters and he doesn’t do teacups so we’re square). The food was way over priced, but the admission was pretty reasonable with unlimited rides so it balanced out.
These were very fast! They both LOVED it and went on it two more times, willing to stand in line.
I was rather taken aback though when I paid for a stroller so that the kids didn’t have to exhaust themselves between rides with walking. The stroller rental was thirteen dollars, so I tried to give $23.00 so I could get a ten dollar bill back. I hand them the twenty, and was digging in my pocket for the three ones, “Hold on, I have three bills so you can give me a ten back.” and they said, “Sorry we can’t do that. We can’t make change.” I blinked, “Uh, I don’t want change, I just wanted you to give me back a ten instead of a five and singles.” You know, because usually it is better to keep the singles you have since they can dwindle pretty fast. They refused to give me a ten and referred me to customer service! I…I have no words that are kind.
The kids were exhausted by the time we got home, but we had no potty issues and Mini Moose and Itty Bitty were fearless riders of even the most surprisingly fast kiddie rides. Daddy Man will one day have steady company on his Roller Coaster rides.
8/24 Sunday Day 915
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
Itty Bitty tests out the new swim bubble with Daddy Man.
8/25 Monday Day 916
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
8/26 Tuesday Day 917
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
We seem to have cracked the poop! WOO HOO! Steady on Mini Moose, steady on!
8/27 Wendesday Day 918
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
8/21 Thursday Day 919
Night EC: 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses, except one when we were out and I forgot to pee him as soon as we got home.
Poop: Catch
8/22 Friday Day 920
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
8/23 Saturday Day 921
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
I really am going to miss Mini Moose’s little naked tush when he finally starts wearing pants all the time. I sometimes miss it when I realize that Itty Bitty hasn’t needed me for potty help for months — not since she was sick. She just takes care of herself. It is funny though when she suddenly runs by in panic to make it to the bathroom because she waited too long. Once in a blue moon she doesn’t quite make it. She tells me, then tosses her dirties in the hamper, and gets herself new underwear. It’s not that I miss poop patrol, it is that I realize that she hasn’t been my teeny little baby in such a long time.
8/24 Sunday Day 922
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
8/25 Monday Day 923
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
My moods have not been the best. As the kids grow, we are more and more on each other’s nerves, especially when in a big house they are up my rear end when I just need a few minutes alone to just center. The same go rounds every day are really getting old and wearing me down. Can we have ONE morning where there isn’t something unpleasant going on? Just. ONE.
I try so hard to use positive language and all that, but lately I just…Snarl. Really. It get’s to the point where you are so tired you just spew all the cliche negative barks: GET OFF YOUR SISTER’S HEAD! STOP TEASING YOUR BROTHER! PUT THE CAT DOWN! DON’T PICK YOUR BROTHER UP BY THE HEAD! BOY, BALLS ARE FOR OUTSIDE! THERE ARE 50 CARS, STOP HOGGING THEM ALL BOTH OF YOU! CAN I HAVE JUST FIVE MINUTES OF PEACE!!! GET OUT, GET OUT GO OUTSIDE!
Gah! Children for sale!
8/26 Tuesday Day 924
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
8/27 Wednesday Day 925
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
At night we still always do a catch in a pee-cup still. Much easier than the bowl set up we used when we were first starting out. No fuss and back to slumber in less than a minute. Most of the time he still has his eye closed!
Giddy-Up!
8/28 Thursday Day 926
Night EC: 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses, except one when we were out and I forgot to pee him as soon as we got home.
Poop: Catch
8/29 Friday Day 927
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
8/30 Saturday Day 928
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
Daddy Man told me that after he was done with his pit stop in the downstairs bathroom, Mini Moose decided that he too was going to pee into the big toilet standing up. Daddy man said he was barely able to reach standing on his tiptoes to pee into the bowl freestyle.
8/31 Sunday Day 929
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
9/1 Monday Day 930
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
Tasting the blueberries to be sure they are okay for picking.
9/2 Tuesday Day 931
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
Things are pretty on the potty front. I can now just tell Mini Moose to “go potty!” when he comes to me and gives me the “may-may” sound and potty sign. I don’t always follow him to the bathroom now, or I’ll just peek in quickly and leave him to it. He’s mostly naked so pants aren’t a problem. However, sometimes he has on trainers so I do have to remember to say, “Take off your pants.” or just “Pants pants!” if he is already rounding into the bathroom. He has found that his favorite way to potty now is rear mounting the toilet (facing the tank). I’m glad of it since if he does on occasion pee in the potty, he feels he needs to empty it (and he’s not so good about pouring without missing the toilet!). He comes back to give me a status report, “I pee!” or “I fush!” or “I poot” (I pooped). He’s been a bit of a bear lately, but we can now see through his vocabulary burst and control of more independence that he’s been growing some more brains!
9/3 Wednesday Day 931
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Catch
You know, I am not sure if I can call poop “catches” anymore since I don’t participate actively in its deployment any more. He tells me, I direct him to scoot to the potty, and he takes care of business.
9/4 Thursday Day 932
Night EC: Miss
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful deployment
We had a miss last night because Mr. Independent decided that “Nyo! Nyo pee!” he has also been saying, “Nyo nap!” when I suggest it, but then five minutes later he’s crawled up on my lap asking for nay-nay then passes out cold. He just doesn’t have Itty Bitty’s Bladder of Steel so he needs to pee at least once no matter how much he protests. The waterproof trainer cover is getting a bit tight so I have been just doubling up his trainers in the event of a miss when both Imse Vimse trainers are dirty. He’s been really restless at night too. I think he’s teething those last two year molars on one side finally.
9/5 Friday Day 933
Night EC: miss
Day: No pee misses, except for a little damp mishap with Daddy Man when I was at work.
Poop: Successful deployment
Missed last night again. I was in a really deep sleep. On a brighter note, whether he has pants on or not doesn’t seem to affect our success rate anymore. The extra time he spent bottomless, for some reason, helped him to learn to signal before critical moment, and to hold it better. Go figure.
9/6 Saturday Day 934
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful deployment
Been working on Itty Bitty’s party. She’s been wanting a pinata for two years and I’m making one. A big one. Probably two big considering I’m a novice pinata maker. We’ll see how this goes. The things I get myself into sometimes.
9/7 Sunday Day 935
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
9/8 Monday Day 936
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
9/9 Tuesday Day 937
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
We are amazed at Itty Bitty’s growing strength with the trapeze on the play structure. She has also had a big spurt in understanding number relationships and has gotten more adept at subtraction and addition. She still tries to “count over” from the beginning to add, but there are times where she is using patterns. She’ll see a group of 8 and then 2 and just say 10, for example. She can count to 100 by herself (though she still has trouble with those teens) and with prompting can count higher. She recognizes the pattern of numbers most of the time, though once in a while she “loses” it. He fine motor skills have improved too. She can color within lines better, has finer control of a pencil when copying numbers, uses scissors with more refinement, and can use glitter and glue with control. We’ve tried some reading/phonetics but something isn’t quite clicking yet…but she is right on the cusp. She can recognize some sight words of course, so she just needs to find a connection to make it all click.
Itty Bitty still has wordisms:
Diamond room (dining room)
Bemember (remember)
Free (three)
Barm (farm or barn)
She is always asking me, “What’s that word mean?” Whenever I say a “big” word she doesn’t recognize.
9/10 Wednesday Day 937
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
9/11 Thursday Day 938
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
Mini Moose still takes a late afternoon nap around 3:30pm like Itty Bitty did but…he also has been skipping a nap entirely once or twice a week now and then. Man…I don’t like it when he skips a nap! Today, I had had it with the two of them, and I made them both take a nap, which I normally don’t enforce naps. But I needed a nap myself, and it was one argument after another. No acknowledgement of hurts to each other, and increasingly dumb decisions about personal safety. I banished Itty Bitty to the floor bed in Mini Moose’s future room and told her if she didn’t take a nap, no TV with Daddy Man. (Yes, Yes, I know…but I was desperate). She tried a few times to pretend to sleep and come out and I’d just say, “I know you didn’t sleep,” and shooed her away. In about fifteen minutes she was out cold. Mini Moose gave me lip for a good ten minutes before he too passed out after nursing.
I got to have myself a much needed nap and quiet time. Ahhhh….Zzzzzzzzz.
9/12 Friday Day 939
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
9/13 Saturday Day 940
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
Mini Moose has been a real grouch. Which means he fights with is sister, wakes me up for non-pee reasons, and just makes this horrid screetching sounds. Boy…you BETTER be up to doing something amazing soon or else I’m going to have to eat you or build a trebuchet and launch you into the woods. Every morning it is the same arguments at the exact same time with the two of them! And the groping…can…we…stop…the…groping! Put your hands down! That include your elbow, and the back of your head, and your foot, and your knee, and your forehead, and the back of your hand. GAAAAAHHHH!
I’ve turned into he world’s worst angry Mogre (mom ogre).
9/14 Sunday Day 941
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
9/15 Monday Day 942
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
The pinata I was talking about…is going to kill me. Why couldn’t I do something simple? No…it has to be Twilight Sparkle with a saucy tilt to her head and jaunty leg that is as big as Itty Bitty. Sheesh. I’m also making rainbow cake, rainbow cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes. It should go pretty smoothly with the cakes. My experimental batches went well and didn’t take long.
I can’t believe summer is almost over and my little baby girl is turning five. I feel like my life is flashing before my eyes.
9/16 Tuesday Day 943
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
9/17 Wednesday Day 944
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
Can we stop the fighting kids or else mommy is going to lose her mind. No, wait, I already lost it! GROWWWWWWWWWWLL! I was so mad and done by evening that I left them both in the family bed with lights out for a couple of minutes. I let Her Royal Contraryness and His Royal Orneryness to stew for a while before I came back and turned on a light. I told them I was going to go sit with Daddy Man and if they left the room I was going to turn out the light again. They, surprisingly, stayed in the room playing with stuffies. When I came back Itty Bitty was passed out and Mini Moose was pouting a bit, but still playing quietly. Usually, I leave them with a movie when I do need to buy some time, but tonight they were so growl inducing I just blew my stack. Neither one of them gave me any lip when I carved myself out a spot on the bed. Mini Moose had nay-nays using proper manners and no groping attempts for once and fell asleep in five minutes.
9/18 Thursday Day 945
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
Countdown to party. I have so much to do still!
9/19 Friday Day 946
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
I am so not ready for the party! Despite all my planning and starting early, I just think I need another week! I baked the rainbow cake which was surprisingly easy (yes, I had six cake pans on hand…don’t ask why). The rainbow cupcakes took a bit longer beacause all my pastry bags were too big and I had to do them by hand. The chocolate ones were okay, but the kids distracted my brain and I accidentally put in an extra egg so the texture was more fudgy than cakey. Itty Bitty’s costume is ready, I did her hair for tomorrow, got all her accessories lined up. Decorations are ready to go except for the balloons.
NEW DEVELOPMENT:
Mini Moose appeared early in the afternoon. I asked Daddy Man…”Hey, where is Mini Moose I though he was with you?” We had no idea where he’d gone off too and then we heard the toilet flush! I went upstairs to see what he was doing and the door was closed. He opens it and comes strolling out. “Did you go potty?” I asked. “Yesh, I poot.” I blink, “You pooped?” He nodded, “Yesh, I poddy I fush.”
Well just hit me with a stick and color me flabbergasted. That was out of the blue!
9/20 Saturday Day 947
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses (despite a lot of distractions, Mini Moose just deferred to GrandMaMa for any potty assistance required).
Poop: Successful Deployment
Party Day! Thankfully it wasn in the afternoon because…you know…not ready. I mean the piece de resistance (the stupid pinata) is done and look fantastic. I did the signs last minute this morning for the games/stations: Pin the Tail on the Pinkie with Applejack (a big banner deco that will be used as decoration in Itty Bitty’s room), Fluttershy’s Critter Toss, Spike’s Treasure Hunt, Rarity’s Boutique (face painting, mousestaches and pony ears), Derpy Bubbles (need batteries!!), and of course Rainbow Dashe’s Pulverize the Pinata, and Zecora’s Mystery Cupcake (I made one cupcake vanilla marble so whoever eats it gets a surprise). I made potty ears last night, which thankfully didn’t take that long. I just hot glued my finger’s a lot. The cutting and putting them on the hair clips and head bands was super easy. The dang balloons were giving me trouble and set me back time wise. The air compressor we have with the new attachments I bought for it worked beautifully, but the day was hot and gusts of winds blew down my big balloon strings and they kept popping as the morning warmed up. I had to re-tie them with proper string I managed to find and made more balloons. I finally got a handle on it, but then it was getting down to the wire. I went in to make the whipped topping for the cake…and that’s when things went south…
The test whipped topping whipped fast, easy and was perfect. Today it just wasn’t cooperating. I couldn’t get it to work. I finally had to just work with it even though it was really too soft, but it had to do. Then I messed up when I frosted the top layer with the wrong color and had to salvage and make it work. Then all the pre-made cutie mark candies I’d cut the other day were all stuck together! I had to bang out cupcake decorations in five minutes. Oh, it was getting to be a disaster. Guests arrived, the food wasn’t out. Daddy Man came in to ask if I was okay, “NO, I’m not okay!” He put some of the snacks out and a threw together a snack tray that I forgot to prepare in the morning, threw small apples and bananas in the bowls for the kids. Then I went back to that STOOPID whipped topping, smacked it together on the cake and cupcakes. The cake layers were starting to list to one side and I managed to balance them somehow. Shoved on halfassed decorations on both trying to cover the flaws. It totally did not turn out looking out the way it was SUPPOSED to, but it came out pretty decent. It was almost an hour after party time that I finally got out there and started the games, took pictures and video. Whew!
Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. The Pinata thankfully broke exactly when it was supposed to. Itty Bitty got hit in the head with the pinata stick…ouch! It was a big hit! The kids enjoyed the different games and stations. Treasure hung popular with the older kids and the critter toss went over really well with the little ones even though they all played them. The cake held up and didn’t fall over (well it listed a bit to the side when it was getting cut)! The kids were really, really excited that the cake was a rainbow and were cooing over the rainbow cupcakes. Nearly all the cupcakes were gobbled up. We had about half of a 8 inch cake left which isn’t bad considering about five adults declined cake entirely. Every kid went home with a prize and goodie bag. I didn’t put a lot of candy in the pinata (some smarties and chocolate crackles), mostly pencils, erasers, party noisemakers, some tops, glow bracelets, and some dissapointing slide whistles that broke before they even got used. Next time I’d go with plastic animals and more glow bracelets rather than cheap whistles. The pinata guts made a dandy fire too.
My baby brother, his wife, and their twin girls came and we all had a chance to chat and play after guests left. They ran into heavy traffic. Daddy Man made them steaks on the grill and the girls had a good time playing with party aftermath and the destruction that was in the playroom. The little kids at the party had come and gone in and out of the house and made a jolly mess. Itty Bitty, I am proud to say, made sure that “The inside toys stay inside, outside toys are for outside.” We have a HUGE yard that isn’t all connected together so finding small toys in all that is pretty much impossible. Thank you girl!
I am so tired. So…so tired.
The gigantic Twilight Sparkle Pinata.
9/21 Sunday Day 947
Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment
Happy Fifth Birthday Itty Bitty!
I am still exhausted and we didn’t finish cleanup from yesterday. We took Itty Bitty out for her birthday breakfast and just pretty much stayed close to home. It rained all day with a lull in the afternoon and the the kids enjoyed playing in the warm puddles.
I wonder how many years of puddle splashing she has left? Of course, I hope she puddle splashes as an adult! It can be really hard to keep that little inner child sparked.
Itty Bitty you are growing so fast. Every so often I catch a glimpse of my little baby, and I miss the smell of your bald head. Sure, sometimes it smelled like armpit, but I could still get a great whiff of that baby perfume. You are so affectionate and headstrong. I am sorry if some days I feel all touched out, and aren’t as free with my hugs as you. I am sorry if sometimes I demand too much quiet or just can’t answer one more question. I don’t want you to stop asking questions or to stop challenging me, even when I raise my hands in exasperation. The world is still all new to you, and you haven’t yet grown tired. Though I know that I should try to see the world through your eyes, this Mama Bear just wants to curl up and hibernate for a while!
Know that I miss your noise when you aren’t near. Miss the questions once I’ve had my half hour of recharge time. I love your persistence and passion. Yes, I see how much better you are drawing cats and people. Yes, thank you for getting the laundry. You may not lick the window! Wow, look at how easily you can do a flip now! No, I don’t want help eating my piece of birthday cake. Thank you, but I don’t want to listen to that song a 61t time. Please, do not jump on my foot! Do not tie that around the cat! You’ve called me twenty times in sixty seconds, WHAT!? Yes, I love you too.
Pottytunities for Two 