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Category Archives: personal
La Di Da Di, She Likes to Potty*
Song Lyric of the Day:
La-di-da-di, we like to party / We don’t cause trouble, we don’t bother nobody / We’re, just some men that’s on the mic / And when we rock upon the mic we rock the mic right / For all of y’all, keep y’all in health / Just to see you smile and enjoy yourself
Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh / “La Di Da Di“
Today marks 7 weeks and 1 day since one of the most magical, glorious, long-awaited things that can ever happen to a parent happened to me: Coraline became fully potty-trained. So yes, there will be some talk of pee and poop within this post.
Thanks to day care — probably the only time I’ll ever be happy about peer pressure — Coraline had been practicing going potty for more than a year. She first successfully peed on the potty just shy of her second birthday. For months now, she’s been accident-free at day care, wearing BIG GIRL PANTIES!!! (her enthusiasm, I assure you) and only wearing Pull-Ups at naptime. On the days I work from home, she’s worn her BIG GIRL PANTIES!!! during naptime without any accidents.
So on that magical, glorious, long-awaited day 7 weeks and 1 day ago, I was working when she walked over and quietly, almost shyly, said, “Mommy, I have to go potty.” Nothing unusual about that (except for the quiet shyness) since that’s what she said any time she had to pee. So you can imagine my surprise when she ended up dropping off the kids at the pool, a first. I could have thrown a party for her right then. As it is, I thought of her breakthrough as her early birthday present to herself, since it was six days before her 3rd birthday. She even came up with a potty-training mantra on her own: Pee and poop go only in the potty!
She’s had a few accidents since then, like an accident at school one day the teacher blamed on Coraline’s enthusiasm to get the job done, or not getting to the toilet quickly enough here at home. But overall she’s done great. And just two nights ago, she announced that she was going potty on her own, no doubt inspired by seeing her two big cousins do just that this past weekend. She was so serious about going on her own that she made me wait in the hall, around the corner from the bathroom door. You know, so she could have some privacy and, oh, not have to see her mother.
Even if Coraline were still working on the whole potty-training thing, I’d still be proud of her. But now that she is fully potty-trained, I thought I’d share it with all of you exactly how proud I am of my (big in her mind) little girl.
Coraline hamming it up the day of The Big Breakthrough (9/18/13).
*My apologies to Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, but I just couldn’t resist.
The 3-Day Playdate
Song Lyric of the Day:
They’re in the car, on the highway / It’s so magical, feeling, that no one’s got a hold / You’re a catalyst to your happiness you know / This is your heart, it’s alive / It’s pumpin’ blood / It’s your heart, it’s alive / It’s pumpin’ blood / And the whole wide world is whistling
NONONO / “Pumpin Blood“
This past Saturday I drove Coraline and her cousin Stephen down to Alabama to visit my other sister’s family and for the kids to have some quality cousin time. We started off by meeting Vanessa and her family and a couple of friends at the Huntsville Botanical Garden (which is gorgeous). Elliott almost plotzed himself when he saw Stephen since he thought only Coraline and I were coming to visit. During the drive down, Stephen had even said, “I’m cuzzie’s surprise.” (They call each other cuzzie.) The weather was mild and beautiful, perfect for wandering the Garden’s substantial grounds. If I hadn’t been helping wrangle four kids, I’m sure I could’ve taken even more photos than I did. Vanessa kept talking about a huge slide she’d seen on their last visit there, so we spent a good deal of time walking the grounds looking for it. After a while I became convinced the slide was like Atlantis, never to be found again. In all our walking looking for it we passed a graveyard full of unmarked graves for all the parents who’d gone before us and perished looking for that damn slide. Maybe we’ll find it next time. Or maybe we’ll just find Atlantis.
Miranda, Coraline, Elliott, and Stephen in the Nature Center (11/2/13).
After the Garden we headed to Vanessa’s house where the kids all managed to not nap. Coraline was so tired she passed out around 7:15PM local time (Alabama’s on Central, Tennessee’s on Eastern), slumping over my arm as I read books to her and her little cousin Miranda. I carried her up to the guest room and tucked her in, pleased as punch that bedtime had been so easy. My rejoicing was short-lived, though, because when I checked on her a short while later she was sitting up smiling and said, “Mommy, I have to go potty.” After which she headed back downstairs to play some more with her cousins. Ken inflated a queen-sized air mattress for the kids to sleep on in the living room, Coraline’s first sleepover with both her big cousins. Stephen had slept over in her room at home the night before, her first-ever cousin sleepover. They were so excited about our road trip in the morning that Rich could barely get them to go to sleep. I’m pretty sure he spontaneously self-sterilized that night.
Outwardly Coraline appeared done for the night. But really she was just recharging her batteries to thwart my attempts at getting her to bed at a decent hour (11/2/13).
Elliott, Coraline, and Stephen sleep off the day (11/2/13).
Coraline and I were seriously dragging on Sunday (mostly me, anyway). We’d gained an hour driving down to Alabama, then gained another hour thanks to Daylight Saving Time. I know I certainly felt like it was two hours later than the clock said it was. The fact that all four kids were up and at it by 8AM didn’t help. We stayed close to home that day, with playground time and lunch out our big adventures for the day. Of course, the kids were all about playing together, so it didn’t really matter to them where we went as long as they were together.
At the playground Sunday (11/3/13). Right after I said it looked like they were acting out a scene from The Breakfast Club, one of the boys punched both fists in the air.
Yesterday Vanessa, Coraline, Stephen, Miranda, and I had a nice breakfast together (Ken was at work and Elliott was at school). We picked up Elliott from school a bit early to give the kids more time together before we had to head home. We set out at 3PM EST so we’d get home around dinnertime. I can’t tell you how many times I had to ask what time it was this past weekend — too many time changes. The drive home was blissfully uneventful, with Coraline and Stephen watching Monsters vs Aliens for the billionth time on the portable DVD player my sister Samantha thought to send with Stephen (Thanks, Sam!). Coraline ended up sleeping for just under two hours, while Stephen stayed awake the whole time, watching Madagascar during the final stretch.
I can’t tell you how happy I was to finally get home. I loved spending time with all my babies, but dear lord, they have a frightening amount of energy. I’m convinced that collectively their energy could provide electricity to a small town via toddler-sized hamster wheels. Also, Coraline is a horrible bed hog who kicked the living shit out of me Sunday night into Monday. As crazy as the kids are when they get together, I look forward to some more weekend-long playdates for them. The best thing about being around them? I never forget to take my birth control pill on time.
Halloween 2013: Family Costume
When Coraline declared she was going as Cinderella for Halloween, Rich wondered how we could turn that into a family costume like we did last year. I suggested going as the Ugly Stepsisters Anastasia (Rich) and Drizella (me). Rich went trick-or-treating with us dressed like this. Which is why he should win Father of the Year.
Of course the star of our family costume was our very own princess, Coraline.
Filed under coraline, personal, photography
Photoblogging: Cinderella
For Halloween 2013 Coraline went as Cinderella. Which is not surprising because lately she is all princess, all the time. This might now be my favorite new photo of her.
Filed under coraline, personal, photoblogging, photography
Three: Happy Birthday to Coraline
Coraline is now officially a 3-year-old. Happy birthday to my little princess, who has her own distinct (toddler) fashion sense, great comedic timing, is whip-smart, and has a kind heart. I love you, sweetie. Happy birthday!
No Words
Song Lyric of the Day:
You’ll never hear me complaining, I’m certain the sun will shine / I don’t care how the weather vane points / When the weather vane points to gloomy / It’s gotta be sunny to me, when your eyes look into mine
Louis Armstrong / “Jeepers Creepers“
I haven’t run out of things to say (the hubby can vouch for that). I might not always find/make the time to update here, but I still have stuff to say. There are still words I want to write. Rather, the “No Words” title of this post is a mandate issued by my doctor in the last couple of weeks to rest my eyes. That’s right: My doctor literally said “no words.”
Work has been so busy of late (yay, job security!) that there have been nights where it has felt like my eyes were going to fall out of my head; it even hurt to blink at times. With other life stressors wearing me down mentally, physically, and emotionally these last few weeks, the strain of looking at a computer screen all day has really gotten to me via blurred vision, dry eyes, and near-constant headaches.
So my doctor said, “No words,” when it comes to downtime. Which means no reading my book, no reading news or blogs online, and no updating this blog. Instead I’m to watch TV or a movie, or play a game on my phone or iPad (helllllo, Candy Crush Saga). So that’s how I’ve been spending short breaks away from my computer screen during the day. I’ve also tried stepping outside on the patio more, for the fresh air as well as to distance myself from the temptations of reading, both my book and online. I’ve not only barely updated here the last few weeks, I’m now behind on reading my favorite blog. First-world problems, I know. But I’ll catch up again soon enough, after my peepers have had time to recover.
Image courtesy of Unique-Optique.com via a Google search.
Filed under personal
Counting Back to One
Song Lyric of the Day:
Hey, little baby, what would you say / If I took you further away? / Countdown’s begun / Counting backwards to one / On and on, the endless debating / You get home, but nobody’s waiting / Countdown’s begun / Five, four, three, two, one
Beautiful Small Machines / “Counting Back to 1”
The last few weeks have been rough, so stressful that at times it was next to impossible to see any light at the end of the tunnel. You know the saying “your worst day is your worst day”? My worst day kept repeating itself. Add to that stress the grief over Grandma Lee‘s passing, and I have been one hell of a weepy, moody, anxious mess for seemingly forever now.
Things have finally turned a corner recently, with a big, positive change that I (and Rich) had been waiting for for some time. It doesn’t solve all of life’s current problems, but it certainly helps and, to me, at least, it feels like a MASSIVE weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I can finally start to look forward and feel optimistic about things again. Because when I go to my dark place it is really fucking dark, and I was worried I wasn’t going to make it out of there alive. So here’s to making it out (relatively) sane and looking forward to, well, everything again.
I discovered this band, Beautiful Small Machines, via Pandora, and their music has been a bright spot for me of late (I also LOVE “Superconductor,” which my fellow Castle fans might recognize.) Add to that the fact that Bree Sharp is in the band, and I am one happy fan, since her song “David Duchovny” is my go-to karaoke song. OK, would be my song if I ever sang karaoke. Alright, I’m probably never going to sing karaoke, but I DO sing the shit out of that song. In my car. Alone.
Filed under personal
Photoblogging: Bouquet
This bouquet was waiting for Coraline and I when we got home Monday night. With 100% certainty, Coraline declared, "It's from my godCaren mommy." She was right -- her godmother had indeed sent this beautiful bouquet and a lovely condolence note about the passing of Grandma Lee.
Filed under personal, photoblogging, photography
