Abby normal

Tonight, Ryanne shunned her tater tots in favor of "more small spinach leafs".

As a parent, I am incredibly proud that she has a taste for veggies and seems to like them.

As a human being struggling with weight, I have to say, "WHAT?!?!?!"

Hopefully her tastes will keep her from ever falling into the second set. This is her first time actually showing an interest in cold, leafy veggies. We keep serving them, hoping she'd give them a chance one day since they're really nice sides in the hot Texas summers. I read that you may have to serve something 7 times before most toddlers will eat it. I think we're way beyond that, but I'm glad we didn't give up.

Ready for her sibling

Yeah, she's got the bipolar reactions to her little brother down pat.

Some days, she's sitting in my lap and she'll feel him moving. I just describe this as kicking. More often that not, after she's been kicked for a while, she'll swing around in my lap (no small feat given how small it's getting) and kick him back. Usually this comes with some announcement like, "He kick me. I kick him back." It's all I can do not to laugh.

Tonight, though, I went upstairs to say goodnight after her bath. I got my usual hugs and kisses and put her down. She lifts my shirt and starts tugging on my waistband saying, "Good night, baby brudder." I helped her get my shorts below the belly and she gave the belly a kiss. Then came the usual nightly pronouncements, "I love you, baby brudder. Have sweet dreams." I melted.

I guess we have her prepared. I don't know that she really knows what she's getting in to, but she acknowledges him as a person, even in utero.

More from the front lines

"I needa pee. I needa pee. I needa Pot Bot."

This was said as she, turns out, peed all over my chair at the kitchen table. Ah well, now mine and Chrys' have both been christened. I'm sure they're the first of many.

To her credit, this is the first accident in days (4, I think) and the first in almost a week that has been more than a dime size spec on her panties as she catches herself and holds it. She was running around naked so it probably took a bit for the wetness to actually hit her.

Now, I'll take the time to shamelessly plug the "Pot bot". It's awesome if you have tons of animals (that like to throw up on your carpet) or a potty training toddler. Quick, easy and you can set it and walk away (for most things...chairs, it only takes a few seconds with the hose). Plus, the toddler finds it a great source of entertainment so if you set it and walk away, you get a bonus 5+ minutes of peace as it cleans. She can't see much, but is fascinated by what it might be doing under there.

From the mouths of the potty training

Today, she was wearing panties again (day 3, thank you very much). These were coupled with a pair of overalls that might *finally* be getting a bit short - they are from last summer.

We go to dinner, we run through the rain to and from the car/restaurant/house. We walk inside and she starts grabbing at her tush the way she often does when she's wet or needs to pee. I'm confused as she peed seconds before we left the restaurant, but ask her, "What's up?" anyway.

She looks at me, earnestly, and says, "My tush is stuck."

I go over to help her, only to discover that she's got a whale of a wedgie. Chrys and I just about died laughing and trying to stifle it. Best.line.ever.

Potty training

Today, she wanted to wear panties when we got dressed. I give her the option every day and she sometimes takes me up for it for an hour or two and then wants to go back to the diaper. Sometimes the panties stay dry while she's in them, but more often than not the decision to go back to the diaper is made when she wets after said hour or two. Usually, though, she just wants the diaper.

The real news is that she wore them all day and was dry for 90+% of the day, through visits to the Y (for my exercise class) and Target (where she even used their restroom) for groceries.

I blame myself for the one accident. We were done with dinner and getting ready to go outside. I asked her to please go pee before we went outside. Sure enough, she squatted down where she stood and did just that. Boy did I feel dumb for not providing a clearer "where" for the action.

I think we'll still put her in a diaper for night because she tends to use the restroom immediately upon waking and I'm not sure we can get to her in time - all the time. Plus, I have some diapers to use up so I don't have to store them for 2 more years. I am really excited at the prospect of having her trained and, honestly, it's been so much easier than I expected.

I've tried very hard to keep this whole process pressure free and let her lead. She's been so close (Japan and lately) and would back down at the last minute. I think we might actually be headed to permanence, though. I guess at this point, she's confirmed (by exploration...trust me) that just about every toilet that she'll ever visit has neither buttons nor beeps (that bidet will haunt her forever, I fear). I hope she still wants to wear panties tomorrow.

Moving

We gave ourselves a month to move out of our old house and into the new. At this point, we're about 2 weeks in and Chrys is making substantial progress moving us out while I make progress moving us in. This means that things come in spurts while RC sleeps. We made her toys and things a priority and as she's asked for other stuff, we've made sure it's there the next day. Mostly, though, she hasn't been worried that things aren't there and very pleased when they are the next day.

Well, tonight was different. Tonight, I was cooking dinner while we waited for Chrys to get home. I asked if she wanted to help me cook and she said no. All of a sudden, she runs into the kitchen and looks at me, very concerned, "My oven?!"

I told her that daddy hadn't moved it (her Hello Kitty kitchen set) yet and it was still at the old house.

Apparently she's realized that enough stuff has been moved that this was cause for concern because we must have forgotten it. She starts running laps around the kitchen/living room/dinette, yelling, "My oven. Where is it?"

I kept telling her I would ask daddy to bring it tonight, but she just kept the laps up. I got down to talk to her and explained that it hadn't been lost or forgotten, just not prioritized since she hadn't seemed to miss it yet. Now that she missed it, it would be there in the morning when she woke up. We talked about this and she calmed down and went back to jumping off the chair and couch.

Honestly, I felt her pain. There were some things that I've missed from the old house, too. At the same time, it was borderline funny watching her as she tried to process and figure out where we'd managed to stash her big kitchen set since there was obviously some large space that she just didn't know about.

Ma nah ma nah

That was RC's favorite song for a bit. She gets the emphasis wrong, but she likes MahnaMahna (from the first season of the Muppet Show). Chrys and I really like the song so we've gone along with her liking it. I think she likes that we sing and it's easy for her to sing along to (doo's and mahnamahna). She requested it on every car ride until I had to move that CD inside for my own sanity.