My good friend Amanda, photographer extraordinaire, just took some family pictures for us. I just cherish these pictures. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Amanda! You have such an "eye" for these things...what talent!
I am now 31 weeks pregnant, yet feeling like I am full-term already. Not sure what that means. Although I haven't gained as much weight to this point as I did with Reagan, I feel ENORMOUS. I was blessed/cursed with the torso of a ten year old (read: short), and so the more pregnant I get, the more my baby and my body battle over who will win. The baby usually wins, and by jutting outward as far as she can go. I am constantly asking myself, "Can this baby girl get any bigger?" and then she reminds me that yes, indeed she can, with a swift kick to the ribs. Reagan was, I believe, born 10 days after her due date. This baby needs to hang on until at least 6 more weeks, then she's welcome to make her appearance. "This baby" officially has a name now, too. Although I never 100% decide on the name until the baby comes out and we meet her face-to-face, we're 99% sure that she will be called Ember (middle name to be decided) Wilson. Ember means "a small, glowing fragment of fire," which, bear with me, is what this baby's spirit and personality really feel like to me already. I hope that she is fiery (not furry), and that, despite her size or stature, she will always be glowing. I am so excited to finally meet her. It has gone by so fast. Please remind me of that those last few agonizing weeks, okay? =)
I also wanted to share something that was really inspiring to me this morning while I was going over my Young Women lesson for church. Marvin J. Ashton gives a talk entitled "In His strength," in which he talks about, among other things, the youth feeling like "nobodies" as they go about their daily activities. It's not just the youth, though. I'm thinking that we, as adults, also go through phases where we ask ourselves "who am I to deserve this?" or "who am I to have my prayers answered?" I know I do. How often do we tell ourselves that we are "nobody"? Probably too often. He goes on to talk about Joseph Smith and that, despite being 14 years old, and calling himself an "obscure boy," he always trusted that, in God's strength, he could accomplish all of the things that were required of him. Which, as we know, were A LOT. Ashton says, "As children of God we are somebody. He will build us, mold us, and magnify us if we will but hold our heads up, or arms out, and walk with him. What a great blessing to be created in his image and know of our true potential in and through him! What a great blessing to know that in his strength we can do all things!" I loved this. It's nothing new - we've heard it time and time again, but for some reason, it really hit me hard this time. We (I) might be "obscure" or awkward, but I am a child of God. And so are you! I love this thought.
Alright, so I should have switched this next thought around with the last one (it's a lot "nicer"...oh well? =) I am seeking advice from all moms about potty training. Did you read a book that was particularly helpful for you? If you were expecting while your child reached an appropriate potty training age, did you wait until after the baby was born? I've never been one to rush Reagan into anything she isn't ready for. I'm all about letting her take her time and doing things when she's good and ready. However, lately she's been obsessing about ANYTHING to do with poo-poo, bums, and potties. She tells me when she has to go (only #2 so far), rushes into the bathroom, pulls her pants down, and wants to sit on the potty. She HATES when she is dirty. She will grab a diaper, lay on the ground in front of me, and say "Bi-doe?" which, in Reagan language, is "diaper?" In other words, in a lot of ways, she seems ready. However, when we do make it to the potty and she sits down, she kind of (well, not kind of) freaks out and, besides rare occasions, stands up right away and runs out of the bathroom, terrified. We have had a few successes on the potty, and I let her try when she wants to, but I don't want to rush her into something she isn't ready for. I realize that she is not even 20 months old yet, which seems pretty early. Should I just keep on doing what I'm doing and let her try when she feels like she can? Or is there some "magic formula" or step that I am leaving out? I try to make it a positive experience for her, and give her lots of praise when she decides to try and sit down on the potty. I know she knows that it is not something to be scared about because, more often than not, she ends up in the bathroom with me, and sees that I don't "freak out" about anything. I guess I am just kind of lost at what to do! Any advice would be appreciated! I always feel a little silly asking for advice about parenting, because, for the most part, I feel like I know what's best for my daughter, but potty training is something that I just honestly am not very well-versed in!
Last, but not least, here is a picture of my sister, Haley, snorkeling.
She lives the LIFE out at BYU Hawaii! When I look at pictures of her and all of the fun adventures she has been having, I sort of feel like, in Freudian terms, I am watching my id. And I mean no offense by that, either. I just may or may not be extremely jealous of all of the tropical goodness she is soaking up out there! Reagan misses her Auntie "Hayhee" though, and is constantly telling us that "Hayhee died." Yes, apparently my daughter has a dark side to her. We always have to remind her that no, she didn't die, she's just at school. And she is LIVING life to its fullest!
5 comments:
If she is showing interest right now, it doesn't mean it is the only time you can go forward with potty training. I've had two friends who's kids where showing interest, but they either just had a baby or were going to have a baby. It is a lot to commit to starting that up and for the one she just kept on with the diapers until after the baby was older and then the kid showed interest again at a later point and she picked it up then and it went smoothly.
The other tried to start that with all the hoopla of also having a newborn and it did not go smoothly (she would forget to remind her to go potty, there was so much "newness" with the new baby that the kid had a lot of set backs). So she just quit the potty training until just recently. The kid expressed interest in it again and it has been going smoothly. For both it was between 6-9 months after the first wave of interest in potty training.
Only you know your child the best and what they can handle. Having just had our second I know for me it would have been way to much to try and potty train Olivia with the new baby. Just know that if you try and it doesn't quite work out the first time it doesn't mean you can't try at a later date or that you are going to freak up her potty training, it also won't be a big deal for her if you just wait until things are calm for YOU to start that with her.
Good Luck!
PS- I LOVE Ember, what a original and awesome name!
i don't have a ton of advice since we're new at this too, but i can tell you what our approach has been. she's been using the potty off and on for about 4 or 5 months now (only #2, i don't think she realizes #1), but we try not to push using the potty. we really want it to be her choice. she's still too young for us to really worry too much about it. when she does sit on the potty we read books or sing songs, and if after a few minutes she wants to get off or hasn't produced anything we put the diaper back on and ask her to let us know when she needs to go potty again. yes, it starts to get annoying when you do this 5 or 6 times a day and get nothing out of her, but she's learning. i think praise is a huge thing, everytime she does produce we lay it on so thick she's beaming with pride, and she can't wait to tell daddy when he comes home (or anyone else she comes in contact with).
i am coming to the conclusion that this is going to be a long process, and at some points very frustrating for both brooklin and i, but the only thing i can do is try to not make it such a chore. if we're at this same rate in progression in a year, then it'll be time to kick it into high gear. :)
let me know if you find any good books.
I did the same as Liz with Kaden and it was before Chase was born. He had potty chairs all over the house and he would give us #2 signs so we would go sit down and I had a couple books and a toy JUST for the potty sitting there waiting for him. I would distract him and get him to sit as long as he could. Also, when he would join me in the bathroom I would always take off his diaper and let him sit on the potty at the same time. We just stayed relaxed for a few months and he got used to it and sat longer and eventually started going over on his own. Then we switched to pull ups so he could take them off himself and he was potty trained by the time Chase was born (2yrs 3mo) even at night. You just have to be reminded all the time. I think I even tried setting my phone alarm every hour during the day to just ask, suggest, and go over to it so that he wouldnt forget. But no pressure! My friend pressure her kid and it took a year and a half of fighting without much luck. Chase is starting too so maybe I will discover something new. Good Luck!
Tell Reagan to grow up and pee like an adult. Get real Reagan.
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