Potty Training

Potty training is not my favorite part of childhood. Once they are solidly potty trained, it is great. Changing a baby's poopy diaper is one thing, but the horrific mess that is a toddler's poopy diaper is quite another. So once they are competent at using the potty and don't have to go every 30 minutes in order to keep dry, it's pretty nice. It's getting there that I don't like.

We're working with Grayson on going potty, but it's been slow going. We've been through this before, but every kid is different and the things that worked so well with David aren't so effective with Grayson. He pulls the stickers off his sticker chart and throws them on the floor (not sure why), he argues with me about the two Skittles he is supposed to get after going pee on the potty, and so far the promise of various treats and rewards for finally pooping on the potty haven't motivated him in the least.

Fortunately, he's able to initiate going potty some of the time and we had a trial run in underwear last week that went pretty well. Since then I haven't been able to convince him to wear underwear again, but today I insisted. He was upset for a while, and I let him stay naked and throw his fit. Then I offered some Wall-E underwear and that turned the tide. Unfortunately, the package only has one pair of Wall-E, so if he insists on them again tomorrow I'll have some more convincing to do. But hopefully we'll be able to get through the next few days without too much mess, or too much fuss.

He's supposed to be potty trained when he starts preschool and that is rapidly approaching. We have about 5 1/2 weeks until the big day, and although technically they'll let him come in a pull up if he still needs it, I'd really rather not. So I guess it's time we start trying a little harder to make this potty thing happen.

I do have to wonder if the cashier at Target found it funny last week when I bought two packages of toddler sized underwear and a bottle of carpet cleaner labeled "Kids and Pets". Hmmm, what am I going to be up to the next few weeks.

Camping, take one

This weekend we attempted our first ever camping trip with kids. We used to love camping, back in the days when that meant IM'ing each other at work on Friday with a, "Yeah, let's go camping this weekend!" Then loading up the car with a handful of stuff, arriving at a campground after dark and not caring in the least, and sleeping in the next morning well after the birds started chirping.

This was a far cry from the pre-kid days. I spent several days planning and an entire day organizing and packing. You always have to take a bunch of stuff camping - after all, you're essentially bringing all your basic needs, including shelter. But kids take it to a whole new level. And we don't just have kids - we have three, ages 5, 3 and 11 months. Are we crazy? Maybe just a little.

The weather forecast was iffy, but we decided not to scrap our plans. Our good friends were planning to join us at the state park, docking their boat there. And my dad and brother had an adjoining campsite. The first night went well. We arrived and set up camp, got a fire going and had the requisite toasted marshmallows and such. We let the kids stay up way too late, and we had quite a bit of trouble sleeping once we finally went to bed. The thing with the first camping trip in about 6 years is that you work out the kinks and realize what you need to do differently next time. On that list are new sleeping bags for me and the hubs - we were freezing. Add to that a few wake ups by Miss Bean and Grayson coughing for about 2 hours, sleep was in short supply.

Around 3 am the rain started. We knew rain was possible, but it seemed like it might rain a little, but not torrential downpours. When the kids woke around 7 (and we'd slept a little in between), it was still raining. We decided to go out to breakfast, instead of getting soaked outside and by the time we got back, it was down to a light drizzle. We figured we could stick it out, and decided to stay - at least for a while. The rain actually stopped, and we managed a trip down to the beach and the boys got to do some fishing with Grandpa. Ella took a good nap and we thought we'd at the very least stay through dinner, and then decide if we wanted to pack it in early or spend another night.

Then the rain started again. And didn't stop. The middle part of the day had been filled with short drizzly bursts of rain that stopped as quickly as they started. This rain started, and didn't stop. And still didn't stop. And then got harder. By about 3:30 I knew we were done, so I started packing our stuff.

I'm a bit disappointed that the weather cut our trip short, but overall I actually feel really good about it. If we can survive camping in the rain with a 5 year old, a 3 year old and an 11 month old - heck, we can do anything! More than anything, this felt like a test run to see if our kids are camp-able, and this certainly was the ultimate test. They did awesome. David and Grayson had a blast playing in the woods around the campsite and Ella was her usual magic-baby self. All in all, I'd say the weekend was a success.

And I'm not going to lie, I'm really looking forward to sleeping in my bed tonight.

Library

We went to the library today. I know, alert the media, right? I slack off on writing anything for ages, and I sit down to write about the library? Well, one has to start somewhere.

I used to take D to the library all the time, particularly when he was my one and only, but on into G's babyhood. We went to storytimes, and often went just to pick out books to borrow. You know, normal library stuff. And then G got mobile. Let's just say G is not a library kind of kid. He can't sit still for very long, he doesn't particularly like looking at books (a concept which both astounds and alarms me, being an avid reader since, well, since I could read), and he lacks the self control required to use a quiet voice, at least for very long.

Still, I want to make library trips a regular part of our routine, at least for the summer. With D out of preschool (that's a whole other post!), I'd like to find at least a few activities we can do rain or shine that will build some regularity into our week. We all function better when we have a few things planned to get us out of the house.

So off to the library we went. D is well versed in library etiquette, but G got the 3-year-old version - no running, listen to Mommy, and use a quiet voice. As he ran in the doors, exclaiming, "Where's books!" at the top of his lungs, I knew it was going to be a short visit.

D was happy to browse the shelves, although I think he got a little overwhelmed with all the choices. But it didn't take long before he had a few picked out. G, on the other hand, after grabbing a few things off the shelves, only to abandon them on the floor, bee-lined for the little play area next to the window. Another little boy, who looked to be about the same age and of similar temperment, was already playing. The two of them managed to get each other riled up, despite both myself and his mom doing our best to keep them quiet. On the playground, those two would have been a lot of fun to watch together; at the library they were a recipe for disaster. Fortunately for me, they left shortly after we arrived.

The rest of the visit was what I expected it to be - ok, overall, but a little hectic. I had to keep G from running around while trying to help D look for a dinosaur book (and we never did find what he wanted), while holding Miss E because she decided she was bored in the stroller. I should have known on that last count; next week I'll just sling her. She's always happier when she's being carried.

I'm going to have to get creative to think of ways to get G more interested in reading. At home, we tend to just let it go (aka, give up) and not read to him very much. It's tough when he won't sit with you to read, and forcing him obviously doesn't do any good (nor do I want to make it a chore that he learns to dislike). He ended up chosing a Disney Cars comic book, which I'll attempt to read with him. We may be onto something there; if I can find a few Nemo, Wall-E and Cars books, we might get him to read a little more.

I think the key to library trips with my zoo is to make it short and sweet. Get in, pick a few books, play in the play area for a few minutes, and jet out of there. Hopefully this will do more to encourage D's reading, and instill at least an interest in books for G.

Worlds Apart

Recently my husband and I decided to sponsor a child through WorldVision. It is something we've considered doing in the past, but for one reason or another (mostly my procrastination and shameful lack of generosity) we didn't. Recently, my husband came home and said, "We need to sponsor a child through WorldVision!" Thank goodness for that man. Without him, I shudder to think how limited my generosity would be. It's something I'm working on.

How does one choose a child? Out of the literally millions of poor, impoverished and hungry children in the world, how do you choose one? We decided to choose a child with the same birthday as our oldest son, with the hope and plan that we'll soon add two more, also sharing birthdays with our other two kids. It seemed as good criteria as any we could come up with.

So I searched the website for a boy with my son's birthday. And we found Thapelo.

He is five years old, living in Lisotho, in southern Africa. It's a country devastated by the AIDS epidemic. Entire communities have been devastated by the disease, leaving children orphaned, farms unplanted, food in short supply. His profile lists his health as "satisfactory," whatever that actually means. He lives with his mother, two sisters and a brother.

I don't even know her name, but I think of Thapelo's mother often. We share a bond of motherhood, made just a tiny bit more special because we labored and delivered a child on the same day. Her joy was my joy. Except each morning, I get up and go to my well stocked refrigerator and pull out fresh eggs. I take out bread and pop it in the toaster, and pour a cup of fresh, cold milk. I hand my son a healthy breakfast as I prepare to send him off to preschool, and most days I don't even think twice about it.

I have no idea what she has to feed her son.

I think of her often. While I worry about whether we'll have to miss picture day for D's baseball team, does she worry about whether she'll be able to feed her children that day? While I fill out forms to register D for his free education, does she worry about whether her son will ever learn to read? Or how she'll pay for his school uniform?

I do feel good that we are going to begin helping them with our sponsorship. I have faith that this organization is, and will continue, to do good in their community, and Thapelo and his mother will benefit. I hope to receive news that he gets to go to school someday... that his community has a source of safe, clean drinking water... that they have enough to eat. I don't know how much is possible through that measly little $35 we send each month, but I hope it is something. I hope it helps ease the burden Thapelo's mother must feel every day.

I live with the joy of knowing my children are not going to go hungry, will be cared for when they are sick, and have every opportunity to grow and thrive. She does not. Each day I need to strive to remember how lucky I am, how lucky we are. And pray for sweet little Thapelo and his family. It is, quite literally, the least we can do.

Final wrestling meet

Last night was my pint sized five-year-old's final wrestling meet. We made it to three out of the four they had this season (he had an ear infection the day of the first) and it was amazing to watch his improvement. Daddy has spent time working with him, in addition to the regular practices and he really learned some moves.

His first match was really impressive. They don't actually keep score or declare a real winner (it's strictly recreational), but he did very well against the other kid. I was so amazed to see him putting the things he's learned to use the way he did. His improvement in just the two weeks since the last meet was obvious. I was really proud of him.

His second match didn't go so well. He wrestled a different kid, one he's been matched against before, but he got taken down hard and hit his head right at the beginning. You could tell he wanted to stop right then and there, and he never really got it together. But he never quit either. He was almost crying the whole time and I'd be lying if I said it didn't absolutely break my mommy heart. But he kept fighting, and kept fighting and stayed off his back the whole time. Although he wasn't able to do much to the other kid, he didn't let the other kid do much to him either. I suspect if points were kept, he'd have lost that match, but I was so impressed with his determination. His head hurt and he wanted to stop, but he would. not. quit. We cheered him on and yelled for him to keep going, that he was doing so great! And he kept fighting.

Afterwards, he broke down in a puddle of tears in Daddy's arms. His head hurt and he was frustrated and upset. He had held it in so fiercely during the match, all that emotion came bursting out with equal ferocity when it was over. He cried for a bit and my husband proved, once again, how incredible he is. He held him and talked to him and helped him calm down.

You'd think after all that, he would have said he doesn't want to wrestle anymore, or that he's glad the season is over. But no, not my little monkey. After the outburst had run it's course, he was nothing but proud of himself and happy with what he'd done. He told anyone and everyone that he did a good job and even though his last match was really hard, he didn't give up.

He's actually disappointed the season is over.

Wrestling is not an easy sport. It isn't easy for the wrestlers, obviously. And it isn't easy for the mommies either. I'm happy that he did it, and I think he's learning some incredibly valuable lessons. He's learning to push himself, to try harder than he thinks he's capable of. He's learning to listen to those around him who can teach him, and that when he does what they tell him, it pays off. And he's learning that even when something is hard, pushing through and not giving up can pay off in a big way. If he'd quit and insisted on stopping the match, he wouldn't have been nearly as happy when all was said and done. He felt good about how hard he tried, whether or not he "won." And that's a powerful lesson for a kid to begin learning.

Roly-polies and push ups

Miss E is a mover. She's about 5 1/2 months old at the moment, and already she's trying to move around. She started rolling at 3 months old, which was amazing to me. Her brothers didn't roll until 5 months and, geez, 7 months I think. I don't know, poor middle child and his milestones, I can't remember for sure when G rolled, but it was later. So now I have this little girl who rolls from back to tummy like crazy. As an aside, I do wish she'd figure out how to roll back the other way so she wouldn't keep rolling and getting mad about it.

But rolling isn't her only trick. She lifts herself up pretty high with her arms when she's on her tummy and sometimes lifts her hips up off the ground. Recently she started getting into what looks like a push up position; she lifts her whole body, holding herself up with her arms and tippy-toes. She can't hold it for long, and I can't figure out what exactly she's trying to do, but she's so strong!

We also find her facing all sorts of different directions on the floor. She can't quite scoot forward yet, but I have a feeling that isn't too far away. She can turn herself around in a circle, essentially, and does so to reach toys and other random things on the floor. Already I'm having to pay attention to what the boys leave around because she can reach more than you'd think.

I don't know, this kid is a mover and a shaker. She's trouble already :).

Zucchini in a smoothie?

As I was browsing for new smoothie recipes, I found one that caught my eye. The title began with "Don't knock it till you try it," which was instantly intriguing. The rest read, "Zucchini Chocolate Banana Peanut Smoothie." Ok, wait. Really? Zucchini? With chocolate, banana and peanuts? In a smoothie? I was skeptical to say the least.

I read the ingredient list, and it was no typo - zucchini topped the list. It was well reviewed, and people had lots of great things to say about it. Ok, this I had to try.

Turns out, the zucchini is peeled, grated and frozen. It almost acts like the ice in a smoothie, adding that cold, slushy texture. I didn't follow the recipe exactly (the original was more like a milkshake, and the original poster said she was experimenting with making a dessert), but came up with a delicious smoothie, and you'd never know it has a veggie in it!

1/2 zucchini, peeled, shredded and frozen
1 banana, frozen
1/2 -1 scoop protein powder (I used the "natural" flavor, meaning it doesn't have any flavor added - you'd never even know it's in the smoothie either)
1 heaping spoonful of unsweetened cocoa powder
A spoonful of sugar (see if you can read that without the song sticking in your head)
About a cup of milk (can adjust to desired texture)
Optional: A heaping spoonful of peanut butter (I've made it both with and without the peanut butter - good both ways)
Throw the ingredients in a blender and enjoy!

Seriously, this comes out delish. It tastes a lot like a creamy chocolate milkshake - except it has a bunch of protein, plus the good stuff in the banana and the zucchini. Even my kids liked it! The amounts above make a pretty good sized smoothie - there was plenty for myself and some for both my boys (although they didn't have big portions).

Tonight before bed I peeled and shredded a couple more zucchinis and popped them in the freezer - ready for tomorrow!