Tag Archive | parenting

Month 34: Practically Predictable – Day 1007 to Day 1036

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

Month 33: Me Do This – Day 976 to Day 1006

Compare to Sister’s Blog:   Month 33:  No Problem, I Got I Covered

IMG_0854

Rear mounting helps the boys aim.

10/22 Wednesday Day 976 (32 Months)

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment

There is getting to be very little to say these days on the state of affairs.    Being a butt wiper after a poop just isn’t that blog worthy!


10/23 Thursday Day 977

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment


10/24 Friday Day 978

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment


10/25 Saturday Day 979

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment

It’s been a rough month, but it seems like we are coming out of the end of it. Between the leaves…oh my goodness…the LEAVES. Will it never end!? And the body restructuring going on with the littles, I am not sure where I am, who I am, and what year it is. Even the cats are keeping a wide berth.

I couldn’t find a Velma outfit for Itty Bitty that was her size. I did manage to find a red floral skirt that I can turn inside out to make solid red. I had to go searching in the “boy” department to find an orange sweater. I couldn’t find orange socks ANYWHERE. Luckily we have red socks and Itty Bitty can wear her black dress shoes. We had some old 3D glasses that kind of look like Velma’s specktacles. I will put Itty Bitty’s hair in a faux bob after I straighten it a bit with a flat iron and it will look Scoobtastic.


10/26 Sunday Day 980

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment


10/27 Monday Day 981

Night EC: No night pee! 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment


10/28 Tuesday Day 982

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment


10/29 Wednesday Day 983

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment


10/30 Thursday Day 984

Night EC: 2 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment


Velma and Scooby!

Velma and Scooby!

10/31 Friday Day 985

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch
Day: No pee misses.
Poop: Successful Deployment

Happy Halloween! The Scoobies are ready! Daddy Man is supposed to be Shaggy but didn’t buy any acceories. He did wear a green shirt and khaki’s, though Itty Bitty and I agreed that the green shirt wasn’t green enough! I was pinkified with my wig, heavy makeup, flower child inspired design on my cheek, and I even had fake lashes! Itty Bitty looked just like Velma and I even put on fake freckles. Mini Moose wanted hiss face done too, so he got a Scooby inspired face paint to go with his costume. We makde a last minute addition to his costume. Daddy Man opened an old cereal box, turned it inside out, scrawled “Scooby Snaks” on it — and that was Mini Mooses’ trick or treat container! The boy wouldn’t let it go even when it got heavy. I was holder of the pillow case for holding the excess loot.

It was a brisk night…a little cold but clear. Itty Bitty refused to wear pants or a jacket over her costume, so I just layered extra shirts under the sweater and made sure he knee socks were pulled high. Some people knew we were Scooby and the Gang, and others took a while. Are we really that old!? Yeah…we are.

Much candy was collected for Daddy Man and I to loot later. Muahahahaha.


11/1 Saturday Day 986

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

It is now November and since it is clear that we don’t have any Day EC issues worth mentioning at all, I’ve cut down our daily report to nights. Even that is pretty routine. Dull dull dull…is what we want though! Most of the time now, I don’t even know when Mini Moose has gone potty, since he doesn’t need to tell me unless he’s having a problem, or we are out and he can’t go by himself. He prefers to rear mount the toilet still, so he’s usually without pants since that is easiest for him. It’s not that he can’t take his pants off, it is just more convenient. He can’t put them on yet, though if they are already on he can pull them up. Somtimes when Itty Bitty is going, Mini Moose will decided it needs to be a joint effort. I really don’t like cleaning out the Little Potty when that happens! I really could just put it away, but it doesn’t hurt to have it out. We don’t use the little potty at night, we are still using a jumbo, plastic soda cup for night pee. With a boy, it is really easiest and less likely to miss fire! Mini Moose has tried to pee himself in a cup on his own, however, he has not yet learned the utmost importance of aiming first (he aims when he uses the big toilet, but forgets elsewhere)! He does like to empty it too, though, I (being a tired parent, recovering from a double growth spurt of a five year old and 2.5 year old) don’t encourage it — I’m just tired of cleaning the backsplash on toilet.

I still have Mini Moose in his Imse Vimse training pants at night just in case of a miss. I do put him in traning pants under his clothes, not because of mishaps (which don’t happen anymore), but because they fit him well and they aren’t good enough to pass on to anyone else. Several of them, after two rounds of EC, are getting holes! I can put him in regular underwear with confidence, just trying to get as much life out of these as possible!


11/2 Sunday Day 987

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch


11/3 Monday Day 988

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

How does Mini Moose aim in the toilet? Does he stand? No. He sits facing the toilet with his legs straddled wide, both hands holding him steady, leans forward so he can aim, and pees free style. He’ll even do a number to this way, but he prefers to face the proper direction for that.


11/4 Tuesday Day 989

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch


11/5 Wednesday Day 990

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch


11/6 Thursday Day 991

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch


11/7 Friday Day 992

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch


11/8 Saturday Day 993

Night EC: 1 night miss (I was really out of it) and 1 morning catch

Dear Mini Moose…I would appreciate it if you switched to a verbal, “I have to pee,” rather than crawling on my face and sreeching as your potty signal. Thanks.


11/9 Sunday Day 994

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch


IMG_060711/10 Monday Day 995

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Mini Moose almost lost an eye!

All I wanted to do was…rake…again. It was a nice day. The kids were at each other’s throats. So we went outside. It was okay for about an hour, then I moved down the driveway while the kids were playing with their trikes. The area I was raking was not an area with much visibility and had a lot of debris. I don’t mind the kids climbing on rock and things, but we have an area for that where you can actually see where you are going. I had JUST finished telling the kid, “Not safe over there. Not for climbing!” A few seconds later, Mini Moose decides to jump off into a ground cover, and pops back up with a bloody eye! My heart was in my throat! I tossed the rake, leaped over debris, scooped up the boy, called the girl, ran into the house, and applied ice.

After the initial adrenalin rush, I could see that he was a very lucky little boy. Half an inch higher and he’d have been blinded. It wan’t bleeding much and he gouged out some skin, but I now know why our eyes are set inside bony sockets that protrude! He stopped crying after three minute, and after five minutes acted like nothing happened except for wanting ice on it and asking to nurse. Instead of going to the ER, I took him into the peditrician’s office. We still waited an hour and a half, but that is way less than we would have been at the ER. By the time we were seen, the swelling was down a bit. The eye itself was undamaged. The doctor said a stitch wouldn’t help the flesh injury, and to just leave it alone. We got some topical antibiotic prescribed that he said we probably wouldn’t need.

What is it with this boy and his eyes!? This is the second eye injury, and I think it is the same eye!


11/11 Tuesday Day 996

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Day 2: The swelling is mostly all gone today. The injury is scabbed over and look ugly, but is already healing fast. I put some of the ointment on it today because he was touching it with a finger, and some vitamin E oil. I doubt it will get infected, but toddler fingers are dirty beasts.

We stayed inside and played with play doh. I am just not up for going out. I’m more shaken about yesterday, while the kids are back to normal.


11/12 Wednesday Day 997

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Day 3: The eye is healing really well, and I swear that this lucky little bug is probably not even going to scar!


11/13 Thursday Day 998

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Day 4: Everything is going well. Healing fast, no sign of infection, no swelling. Kids are fighting again. More leaves fell.


11/14 Friday Day 999

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Day 5: Scab fell off and bled a little. It look like little more than a scratch. “Boo-Boo eye” will soon be an after thought.


11/15 Saturday Day 1000

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Day 6: Happy 1000th Entry! Wow. What is there to say, except I think it is time to think about starting another blog that isn’t dedicated to …output. I can’t believe I’ve been doing diary entries about EC for FIVE years now and only had each child in a diaper for a year or less! It doesn’t seem like it has been that long, yet, Itty Bitty is five years old. Wish I had something profound to say. How about: “In your face, critics!”


11/16 Sunday Day 1001

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Day 7: Eye looks great, the second scab over is also healing well.


11/17 Monday Day 1002

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch

Day 8: He picked his eye and left fresh skin exposed. THAT might scar. If he had left it alone, it probably wouldn’t have at all. We’ll see in a few weeks. But for now, I consider it fully healed.


It was a groovy Halloween this year.

It was a groovy Halloween this year.

11/18 Tuesday Day 1003

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch


11/19 Wednesday Day 1004

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch


11/20 Thursday Day 1005

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch


11/21 Friday Day 1006

Night EC: 1 night and 1 morning catch