Now I've got Doodie trained too!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 naptime accident and 1 poo in her panties

Alasdair: 2

No, not potty trained, but he did grab the bowl out of the potty chair after Maeve had used it, carried it into the bathroom (sloshing it all over the kitchen and bathroom floor), dumped it into the toilet and flushed! Nice. I pretty much don't have to do anything now. Michaela and Doodie will take care of everything for me. :)

On another note, I saw just about the cutest and most heartbreaking thing I've ever seen Maeve do tonight. I was cleaning up, Michaela was reading, Daddy's in bed (wtf??) and Maeve is taking care of Elmo. He took a nap on my kitchen rug that was dragged into the girls' room. He peed in the potty which required a wipe and an imaginary dump in the toilet/flushing, etc. He was at the table in Doodie's high chair with a bowl and a cup, but he was apparently "not eating his be-fest" according to Maeve. After that he needed a bath. Now, the bathtub was still draining (it's really slow) and I saw her go in there, but i figured she'd just pretend to wash him and maybe get some jammies on him or whatever, so I let her be. Two minutes later I hear the bathtub faucet turn on, so I yell from the living room for her to turn the water off and don't play in the bathtub.

(here's the heartbreaking part)

So Maeve comes tearing out of the bathroom into the living room and she's absolutely freaking out with fear, and she's saying "Elmo's dying!! Elmo's dying!!" I mean, she was terrified. You would have thought she birthed him herownself. So I had to run in there and rescue the drowning Elmo from the bathtub, wring him out and promise to give him a bath downstairs and get him all dry in the dryer.

(not our actual Elmo)

On one hand, it's freaking hilarious. But she was so geniunely scared and upset that I can't help but feel bad for her. Plus I'm in some weird way really proud of her having those kind of complex feelings and also understanding that water is dangerous. Huh. My amazing little 3 year old.

the pooping isn't going so well

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2 poops in her panties
Alasdair: 1

Just like every potty training kid, Maeve still hasn't grasped the whole pooping thing yet. This morning she was laying on the floor playing with some Barbies and all of a sudden she looks up at me and says "I peed!!" with a look of shock on her face. So I brought her over to clean her up and lo and behold, poop too. So I cleaned her up and then reminded her what we do when we have to go poo, and not an hour later she pooped in her panties again. Geesh.

The problem is that with Michaela i knew what she did when she had to poop. She had a pooping "place" and she'd get really quiet and stand a certain way. With Maeve I haven't figured it out yet. She does tend to get quiet and still I think, but I haven't quite grasped it.

And, to top things off, Maeve woke up with one of her butt cheeks covered in a rash with one spot in particular really flaky and nasty. I have no idea what it is, if I should use benadryl or steroid cream, or how she got it. What I do know is that it is NOT diaper rash. And I dare you to try to google "rash" and "butt cheek" or "bottom" or "butt" and "child" and not get an entry for diaper rash. Google fails. If it's not getting better in a week i'll take her in to the doc. For now we're just chalking it up to Swine Flu. :)

A bit of a backslide

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2 pees in the potty, 2 poops and 2 pees in her panties
Alasdair: 2

Today was my first day back to the work grind after 11 days, so we need to get a new potty routine in place. I actually think when Maeve is more active, she's better at recognizing when she's got to go, as opposed to while she's losing herself in an episode or two of Dora the Explora. We'll get back on track though.

And then there's Doodie. I mentioned yesterday that his poops are just gross lately, and today was no different. But with pooh #2, we (I) left him in it a little too long. I put him up at the dinner table and he wouldn't even sit down because it hurt his bum. He squatted in his booster seat and ate. Once I got him cleaned off in the bath and dried off, I could see his whole scrotum is bright red. Poor baby. So I creamed him up with some Desitin and he was off. I think we can avoid the weepy rash. That usually stays pretty localized on his butt cheeks and doesn't get on his penis or balls, although they haven't been 100% unaffected. But this rash isn't so bad. We won't even need the Ilex.

Note: Best thing ever after sinus surgery? Sneezing. Close second: Blowing your nose. Don't take these things for granted people.

!!!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 pee accident, BUT she pooped in the potty again!
Alasdair: 2

Doodie's got something nasty going on in his tummy, and frankly so do I. I think between all the greens my dh has been cooking lately and my harsh meds for my sinuses, it's wreaking some havoc on my insides. I'm ready to head off to bed shortly so I can sleep through the awful gut feeling.

But before that I'm waiting for Maeve to pooh on the potty again! She was all tucked in and came running out saying she had to go poop. So now she's watching American Idol and watching her daddy to ab exercises in the living room while she gets inspired to "go". I'll send her back to her room shortly. She rarely poops at night, even if she does have to go.

But we continue to have lots of success going potty with Maeve, so I'm glad for that. Our diaper pail was only half full this week instead of overflowing!! Maybe we can even downsize our garbage can again. :)

Potty Trainer for Hire!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1 - IN THE POTTY!!
Alasdair: 2

I haven't posted in a week or so because I was technically on "vacation" last week, but I ended up having sinus/septum surgery on Tuesday which put me out for the week. Then I suffered some complications that put me out even longer. Long story. Really long story. But today i'm back and tomorrow I start getting all the crap shoved up my nose out! yay!

The other motive for taking vacation last week was to fully concentrate on potty training Maeve, so I was concerned that it wasn't going to happen. But you know what? 1 day with me and 5 with my seven year old daughter was enough to get Maeve peeing on the potty when she needs to and she even POOPED on the potty this morning! I was still in bed!! Seriously, she deserves a Nobel Peace Prize and Maeve gets a gold medal! I couldn't be happier. Maybe we'll end up going to preschool in the fall after all!

Some Success!

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: NOT ONE WET/POOPIE DIAPER!!
Alasdair: 2

Today was offically day 1 of our Potty Training Boot Camp with Maeve. Yesterday at my in-law's Easter get-together we used our last pull up. She peed in her bed this morning instead of getting up and using the potty, but other than that she went 4 times in the potty, twice because she did a little potty dance/squeezy thing with her legs and I rushed her to the pot to go. One of those times was even at Walgreens and she used the public toilet!! I'm so proud of her.

Of course, this is day 1. Now my expectations are set WAY too high. :)

Happy Poopy Easter

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 2
Alasdair: 2

We got all spiffied up this morning in the Easter fancy duds and headed out to a brunch at my friend's house. We did a little egg hunt (inside 'cause it's Washington and it's pouring rain outside), and then we had a nice meal. And something that Maeve ate made her crap her pants to the point where it actually fell out of the leg of her pull-up and onto her sock, where she then proceeded to track it all over my friend's beige carpet and house full of people.

Nothing like the holidays I tell ya.

Happy Easter!

The Terrible Twos? Terrible Threes? Nope. It's the Terrible Maeves.

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 0
Alasdair: 3

First the poo, then the "Maeves". Doodie has been pooping up something runny and nasty for a few days now, anywhere from 3 - 6 times a day. And the diapers are FULL. Yesterday they started eating away at his bum and now he's got a rash. It's only weepy around his bunger, but his balls are red and raw, and his poor thighs are all irritated. The poo keeps running down his legs inside his pants and so it's making everything it touches all red. We used some Ilex tonight and creamed him all up with some Desitin too.

Oh, and he ate some birthday candles today, so his poops are runny, green and flecked with pretty red and blue wax!

So, I don't know what to do with Maeve. She is hands-down the most stubborn person I have ever come into contact with. She won't do as I ask, as I say, as I scream, nothing. We try to keep things fun and light and with any small request the mood turns dark. There's pouting and screaming and foot stomping which leads to time outs and butt smacking and sitting in your room crying for hours on end. And then there's Maeve. j/k! I took next week off of work for the sole purpose of potty training Maeve so that she can go to preschool in the fall. I was optimistic, but the closer we get to P-Week the less I think I'm going to be successful. I'm pulling out ALL the stops though, so hopefully we can get this burned into her hard little head. And maybe once it's there it will never come out like with my first one!! :D

Retro Post

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1
Alasdair: 2ish

I didn't post last night because I seriously had the WORST NIGHT EVAR. Okay, I'm being a tad dramatic because I can name at least two other nights right now that were worse. But it was bad. I left work late and had to go get my kids from the Y. My friend who watches them brought them there and checked them into daycare with her kids while she took a class. I was able to squeak in a 45 minute workout, which was good. Then we got the kids and Maeve was poopy (naturally) and Michaela told me she had a headache. My first thought was, "she's going to puke". I think she gets migraines like her dad and more often than not when she has a headache it leads to vomiting. So anyway, we go to the cars, but not before stopping to get a piece of candy. M &M ate theirs quickly, Doodie let the chocolate melt all over his hands and face. We went to my friend's car to get Michaela's backpack, but Doodie got pissed because he wanted to ride in her car. So he starts throwing a fit. I drag him to my car and take away his melty chocolate (because the day before I had just washed their car seat covers - see previous post about dog poop) and he goes ballistic. So we're heading home, Maeve stinking up the car, Doodie throwing a hissy and we are 1 block from home, no shit, when Michaela shouts, "Mommy, I'm going to throw up, aaaahhhh!" And she does. Inside my car. This is a first for me. I guess I'm pretty lucky since i have a 7 year old and have never cleaned puke off of the inside of my car.

Anyway, I now am trying to get ahold of my husband, who is having a paid dinner and drinks at a bar. And not answering his cell phone. So, let's recap what I have going on now:

Maeve: poopy, way too tired, needs jammies and soon she'll be really pissed off that she can't sleep in Michaela's bed.
Michaela: pukey, fever of 103, tired, needs a bath and some Motrin.
Alasdair: way WAY too tired, screaming, needs jammies, clean diaper and his nightly concoction of a nutrition drink mixed with half and half.
Husband: MIA
Me: Sweaty, tired and hungry as it's 8:45 and i haven't had dinner yet.

So, I finally get the girls both in bed, Maeve screaming bloody murder, Alasdair in bed without his drink because he didn't want to drink it, he wanted to suck on a binky and hold the cup so I took it away. After much thrashing and head banging I just tossed him in his crib and shut the door. (i learned tonight that i apparently forgot to shut the light off, my husband turned it off when he came home and calmed Maeve down and checked on Doodie). I then went outside to cry my head off and clean up vomit from my car in the dark.

All i can say is that I am SO glad I have a sinus infection and can't smell a damn thing. My car smells like shit and puke, but it smells like nose rot to me!

Does dog poop count?

Michaela: no accidents
Maeve: 1, 2 if the dog crap counts
Alasdair: 1

So, we went to pick Michaela up from school today and had to get the small crew out of the car because we had to go buy SCRIP inside the building. So I parked on the street next to a grassy hill. We got to the school, bought the goods and came out without incident. But then we got to the car and while I was putting Doodie in his seat the girls were running up and down the grassy hill. Okay, good. Michaela got in the car, Maeve got in the car. We got almost home and Maeve says, "I'm poopie." Of course, what else is new. So we pull up to the house and I get Maeve out of the car and see that she is indeed poopie. First I thought she pooped and it leaked all over her pants and shoes. Nope. It's dog doo. It's on her jeans, her shoes, her socks because she's wearing Crocs, her car seat and MY car seat. Gross.

I proceed to extract all the poopie items from the car, Resolve my car seat and decide to wash all the kids car seat covers. It's about time anyway. Then it dawns on me, "Michaela, did you know that Maeve stepped in dog poop BEFORE she got in the car?" After a long drawn out story about something or other, I heard one of the two words I was looking for. "Yes." ARGH. Seriously. I should have made her clean up the poop in my car.

The grossest thing is that I still have a sinus infection and can only smell the rot in my nose, so I can't even tell if my car stinks like dog crap. Even cleaning it up I couldn't smell it. I'll probably get on the bus tomorrow on my way to work and no one will sit with me because i smell like poop. Sweet.