A side effect of potty training I DID see coming

If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know that CamCam has always been a little obsessed with the potty. 

No, not in a good way. 

In a gross, yucky, make me want to burn down my house and move kinda way.

So it was with a bit of reluctance that I approached potty training CamCam.  Eventually, I knew I’d have to let him and the potty have time together. 

Alone.

Unsupervised.

It was an accident waiting to happen. 

Oddly enough, our “potty accident” didn’t occur when CamCam was alone.  Nope.  I was standing at the sink, 3 feet away from him.  Which, actually, shouldn’t surprise me at all.  Most things seem to happen when I am in the room.  I don’t know if I’m oblivious or if my kids are invisible, but it’s got to be one of those two.  So anyways, I’m standing at the sink getting ready and I hear CamCam playing next to me.  He’s playing with his new car, the one he earned by getting all the stickers on his potty chart. 

Vroooom, vrooom, ahhhhh! 

I look over to see what he’s doing, and there he is, kneeling in front of the toilet.  Both arms are in the bowl, and he is running that little car all over the inside of the toilet. 

Vrooooom, vrooom, ahhhh!  Don't go in the wata, oh no! Ahhhhh, Splash!!!

The Day My Creativity Was At Its Peak

Potty training is in full swing here!!!  Horray!  Woo-hoo!!!  Yes! Yes! YES!!!!

Can you tell I’m excited???  Yesterday it was as if a switch flipped in CamCam, he came upstairs and said he had to go potty.  And he did have to go!  Then he said no diapers, he wanted to wear Mickey Mouse pants.  So yesterday he was in underwear all day, and today as well.  And I have carpet, and couches, and my sanity to protect which means that I have to watch him like a hawk and hardly ever leave his side.  I have to be on the alert for any sign that it’s time to go.  So once again, I’m putting up an old post here following today’s SITS B2B writing prompt:  A Post Title You Are Particularly Proud Of.  Here’s my fave:

The One In Which A Cow Is Killed

Originally published April 30, 2010

Yesterday “Little Miss” had a chorus concert at her school.  Sitting for a long period of time in the middle of a crowd full of people with my 3 little boys to watch something that probably would bore them, yeah, I was pretty excited to take them to this.  I knew her part was last, so I didn’t get there early, I drove up as it was starting. 

And then I drove around the school looking for parking.

And again.

Why did they make a school without a parking lot?  There also was construction on the street, which made it that much better.  Finally I found a spot at the very end of the street, about 1/2 a mile from the school.  I parked and took a moment to figure out how to best get my crew to the school.  The school has stairs to get into it, so I couldn’t even pull out the big stroller.  While I’m trying to figure out if it would be possible to walk that far with them, “Mr. Trouble” pipes up and says: “We can’t park here, it’s too far!  What if my legs get tired?”

You know what?  He’s right.  I know that right in front of the school door was a bus only spot, and I decided that for once I wasn’t going to play by the rules and instead I’d make it easy on myself.  So up we went.  Thanks for the advice “Mr. Trouble.”

I decided it would be best to stand up back with my boys, it would give them a little freedom at least.  They did pretty well, we made it through half of the songs and then the snacks I brought ran out. 

Seriously boys, you gotta learn to pace yourselves!  They look at the size of the bag of snacks, and then look at how many people are sharing, and from that ratio decide how quickly they should shove pretzels into their mouth.  This was a 3 to 1 snack bag ratio so the little hands were grabbing overtime and cramming food in as their little eyes darted back and forth from the bag to each other. 

But once “Mr. Trouble” yelled out that this was boring and he wanted to go home, and CamCam chimed in with a loud YEAH!, I decided it was time to take them into the hall. 

One of my kids past teachers was out there, and her and I started talking about kids.  She mentioned how she had 3 girls and 1 boy, and how boys were so much easier then girls.  How her boy was so calm and mild.

Hah!

Then she offered to watch mine so that I could watch the rest of the concert.  All I could think about was how she’s raised this one calm boy, and what on earth would she do if I left her alone with my 3 little monsters.  So I politely declined.  She went into her room and came out with these little animal finger puppets for my boys.  They eagerly grabbed 3 each, and she puts one on her hand and kneels down to play with them, “Hi Mr. Cow, how are you today?”

And at the same time, both my boys reach out with their little puppets and start hitting hers, “die, die, pew, pew, pew!”  I saw a shocked look that she quickly tried to conceal appear on her face.

I wanted to die from embarrassment.

 

In case you missed it the first time around

As a parent, how many times do you walk into a room, shake your head and think: I cannot believe what I’m seeing.  With a two year old, this is almost a daily occurrence.  I try as best as I can to describe these scenarios to you.  But nothing beats a good picture.  That’s why I always keep my camera on hand.  Because with 3 preschoolers in the house, I have LOTS of great head-shaking moments to capture. 

One of my favorite pictures of CamCam in the past year was in the following post, it’s the 2nd picture down.  The expression on his face is priceless. 

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The Cost of Toddlers

Originally posted September 5, 2009

There's no denying it, kids cost a lot of money. When you find out your pregnant, you start a list of all the baby items you'll need to get. It's amazing how much 'stuff' such a tiny person needs! And it's not a one-shop deal, as they grow they'll need even more 'stuff.' A lot of it is obvious: clothes, toys, books, bedding, etc. But there are a few things that you may not know you'll be needing for your toddler, so I thought I'd give you a heads-up.

Invest in a second set of play makeup. Even if you have a boy. Especially if you have a boy. Because every time you're doing your makeup, little hands will find their way into it. Worse, when you're not doing your makeup, little hands will find their way into it. I've had to throw out countless lipsticks because CamCam has shoved his finger into the tube to get at the color and rub it on his face. He loves to use the make-up brushes to brush his hair. He pushes really hard though, so they end up all smooshed down and unusable. Kinda like when I was in elementary school art class and the art teacher told us to put the brushes in the jar with their bristles up, because if we did it with the bristles down, the brush would be ruined and then he showed us one. All my makeup brushes look like that. All of my eye shadows have deep ridges across them from where he has scrapped them with his fingernails. I cannot buy compact face powder because he opens it and bangs it on the floor to get it to break apart and come out. I cannot buy loose powder because he opens it and shakes it everywhere like this:

You're toddler will be needing a pair of high heels to go with all that pretty makeup:

I am not joking, he is ALWAYS wearing my shoes! He loves all shoes but his own. He'll just randomly be walking around the house in different people's shoes, even company's.

You should be prepared to invest in a set of new keys for your keyboard:

You'll need a second set of accessories for your vacuum because the first set is actually pirate swords.

Every time I go to vacuum, I have to spend at least 15 minutes hunting down all the pieces. Everyday "Mr. Trouble" and CamCam use them to have pirate sword fights. "Mr. Trouble" always gets the big sword and CamCam gets the little one, but he doesn't complain. The funny thing is that I'll ask them where are my vacuum parts and they look at me like I have 2 heads, but if I ask them where's my sword- they bring me right to them. It's also very weird that I cannot find these vacuum pieces without their help, but no matter where I put these or try to hide them, "Mr. Trouble" and CamCam always find them without my help.

Lastly, I can't imagine why my electric bill is so high???

 

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Once I had time to think about it, I realized there were plenty of unnecessary things I wasted my money on.  That list is here.

As my husband puts it, I am being boring and recycling my old posts in response to the SITS writing prompt for today:  “Re-upload a post you wish more people had read and explain why it was important to you.”

 

 

 

A Blog Is Born

Getting Things Started

Originally posted: Wednesday, August 5, 2009

CamCam will be two on August 23. I'm not sure who coined the phrase "terrible twos", but experience has taught me that this does not actually refer to a two year old child. The so-called terrible twos seem to start around 18 months, and continue until 3 1/2 years. So it should actually be called the "terrible two years". I'm currently drowning in this phase. Nothing on this planet can match the determination of a toddler who's made up his mind to do something. Never again will rage and anger be expressed so physically without any regard to the consequences. The world has suddenly opened up to this curious little mind, and they have no fear.
Everything was going ok until about 2 weeks ago. That's when CamCam taught himself how to climb out of his crib. Up until this point, I at least had a 3 hour break mid-day while he took his nap. Not anymore. Now he doesn't nap, he trashes his room instead. He will not go to sleep at bedtime, he trashes his room instead. He doesn't sleep in, his brother wakes him up. I feel like a tornado has entered my home and I'm running around after it trying to pick up it's wake of destruction.

He's actually quite adorable though. His smile embraces his entire face, and has a bit of mischievousness mixed in. You can't help but smile when looking at him. I love this little boy to pieces, but he sure is driving me crazy!

So here's the closet he and his brother share. Everyday he pulls down all their clothes onto the floor. Everyday I refold all the clothes and put them back on the shelves. I tried putting them up on the higher shelves, but he just climbed up the shelves to get to them. I can't shut the door because he taught himself to open doors. I had baby-proofing knobs on them, but he learnt that if he put his thumb in the hole and pulled down, it pops right off. His almost 4 year old brother can't get through a door with a baby-proof knob on it, but he can.

Results of nap time. If he didn't share a room with his brother, I'd just take all the toys and books out. But they do share, and that wouldn't be fair to his brother. However, I'd like to know why everyone seems to think stuffed animals make a great gift? They must have 20 or more stuffed animals in their room. I never see them playing with them. I try putting them on shelves to look cute, but they both just take them down and throw them everywhere.

Is this the point of stuffed animals???

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This week I’m following the weeks worth of writing prompts during SITS Back To Blogging Event.  Today’s prompt was “Re-upload the first post you ever wrote on your blog.”  I like today’s prompt, nice and easy! And, bonus, I got to correct all the spelling mistakes I made the first time around.

This event is sponsored by Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances,

That isn’t apple juice running down your arm. . .

There is a lull in the morning.  A time that peace and quiet reigns over my house.  The oldest two are off at school, two of my little boys are still sleeping, and The Baby is silently looking at books.

Silence.

This is MY time.  I can read a book, poke around on the computer, or just sit and drink coffee while looking out the window. 

And then Mr. Trouble comes down the stairs.  He immediately wants food, says his tummy hurts and he MUST have food NOW.  The Baby is excited to see his brothers finally waking up, and starts running around full of jibber-jabber.  He runs by me as I’m getting Mr. Trouble his breakfast, and I catch a whiff of a dirty diaper.  Mr. Trouble says he needs milk, his tummy is really, really, really hurting and he needs milk now.  The milk and dirty diaper must wait a second, I hear a “tap-tap-tap” coming from upstairs.  CamCam is up, and he needs to be let out of his room.  I run upstairs to let him out, decide to pick him up so I can quickly get back downstairs.  The pressure of my arm is just enough to send his full diaper over the edge.  Yucky liquid starts running down my arm. 

And so my morning has begun. 

Goodbye peace, goodbye quiet. 

We shall meet again 24 hours from now.

That Made Me Cry!

When you have 5 kids, you spend a LOT of time at the pediatrician.  CamCam is a smart little boy now, and he’s very well aware of what goes on at the doctor’s office.  Every time he hears we’re going to a doctor appointment he asks me, “Who doctar for ma? Who’s turn?”

He doesn’t care which sibling the appointment is for, just as long as it isn’t for him.  Numerous times on our drive to the doctor he’ll bring it up.  “Day-don’s turn doctar ma?  Not me?  For Day-don?”

Once we get called in by the nurse, he always lets her know who we’re here for:  “It’s Nolie’s turn doctar.  Not me.  Not me, Nolie’s turn.”

It doesn’t stop there, he need to make sure the doctor knows who this appointment is for as well.  “La-La’s turn doctar.  Not me, not my turn.  It’s La-La’s turn.”

Which is why I was dreading today.  Because today, it was CamCam’s turn.  This morning, I hesitantly brought it up.  I told him we had to go to the doctors today.  He immediately asked who it was for.  I told him that the doctor wanted to see how big he was now that he was 3. 

“I’m bigger, bigger, bigger, like this!” he said, standing up taller and taller in his chair.  I breathed a little sigh of relief, he seemed ok with this after all.  

But once we were actually called into the appointment, CamCam changed his mind.  He walked very slowly away from the toy area, thought a bit, and then ran up to the nurse and said, “Actually, no, it’s not me.  It’s not my turn.”  We convinced him that it would be fun to stand on the scale and see how big he was.  He went along with it, but you could tell he was watching us.  Next we went for the eye check, but CamCam refused to say what any of the pictures were.  He just sucked his thumb the whole time, and gave the nurse a look that said- “I’m onto you.  You try to pretend you’re all fun with this little game of yours, but I know better.  I’ve seen what you can do, and I’m not buying this fun-and-games routine.  I’m not playing along!”

Next she attempted to take his blood pressure.  You’d have thought she wanted to rip his arm off, he flipped out so.  He just screamed, cried, and clung to me for dear-life until the nurse left the room. 

He warmed up to the doctor.  The doctor, though, gets to come in and be fun and friendly.  At our practice, the doctor NEVER gives out shots.  He (or she) is the “Good Guy.”  CamCam loved showing off, hopping on one leg, jumping around.  He was in such a good mood he didn’t notice that the doctor had left and yet we were still in the room. 

I had PROMISED CamCam that there wouldn’t be any boo-boo’s for him, that we were just going to see how big he was.  But I had completely forgotten that CamCam was 2 shots behind.  The pediatrician had run short on 2 vaccines, and so he wasn’t able to get them at his 18 month checkup. 

Today was the day.

I felt so bad for him, he was so upset, he acted like I betrayed him.  It’s one thing to hold down your baby to get shots, and then they forget the minute you pick them up.  It’s quite another thing to hold down your toddler who doesn’t forget the minute you pick them up.  Nope, he cried at me the whole way out, “I said no doctar, you said no hurt me!”

I felt so bad.  Poor little guy.  He actually limped as he walked, and held the spot where his shots had been given, so I ended up carrying him.  That’s the LAST thing little kids heading to their appointment needed to see.

And then we were driving off, and all was well with CamCam again.  As we pulled out of the parking lot he says, “That made me cry!”

Momma too, little man.  Momma too.

What Do These Things Have In Common?

 

Three Lego wheels….

A Lincoln Logs man…

 

A bean bag….

One sock….

Two fighting men…

 

Vacuum piece…

  

A red Imaginext bullet…

Yet another Lego wheel and a magnetic ball….

 

So what do these items have in common???

These are all items I pulled out of my sub-woofer