I think Ryan is successfully potty-trained, and it took exactly 8 days. Well, it took him 3 days to be successfully potty-trained for peeing, and then an additional 5 to successfully train him to go #2 in the potty as well. The peeing thing resolved itself… he would go in the potty, but over the course of 2-3 days had a few small accidents in his underwear. The pooping thing was one continuous accident after another, until last Monday afternoon. We were at the park, he told us he had to go potty, but the bathrooms were closed. He wound up going in his pants, BIG time (all of the previous #2 accidents were just “sharts”). I guess sitting in a huge mess like that during the quick car ride home was all it took, because that afternoon he went #2 in the potty twice.

As of today, he hasn’t had a single accident since the pooping incident at the park on Monday afternoon. He has gone both #1 and #2 here at home, and at my mom’s house, and has gone #1 in several public places, including Burger King, McDonald’s, a local buffet, and Target.

Best of all? We put him to bed in his underwear on Wednesday night and Thursday night, and both nights he stayed dry.

SUCCESS!!!

Lately Alyssa feels like she’s gotten heavier. I don’t know if I’m getting weaker or she’s secretly strapping bricks or exit signs to herself, but I weighed her the other night, and she’s 45.6 lbs. Holy crap! Not that she’s fat or anything (according to the keepkidshealthy.com BMI calculator, she is in the 49th percentile and is at a healthy weight), but it comes as such a surprise because for the longest time she was bouncing between 38.5 and 39.5 lbs. The last time we weighed her was right around Christmas. Her appetite hasn’t changed much, yet she’s gained 6ish pounds in just three months? Whoa.
And Ryan is my little 44 lb beef cake. He’s a bit shorter than Alyssa, but he has a stocky build, while she’s slender and all sharp points and angles.

It’s sad, but my kids eat SO much more than I do, especially now. Last night, for instance, I made a quick meal of hamburger helper and mixed frozen veggies. They each had TWO large bowls of dinner. This was after breakfast (cereal), lunch (grilled cheese sandwiches and two bowls each of apple sauce), and a late afternoon snack at McD’s. They consumed the amount of food in one afternoon that it would take me two weeks to work through, haha. Sad but true!

Who the hell is designing kids’ clothing these days? I just came across a blog entry where a mother was rightfully horrified at the sight of a nine or ten year old girl wearing a thong (I am also horrified at the mother who blogged about it, because she included a PHOTO of said nine or ten year old girl’s thong. The girl had a whale tail going on, and the blogger cropped out any identifying info, but still… I think taking a photo of a little girl whose underwear is hanging out is highly inappropriate). A thong? What parent in their right mind would allow their little girl to wear a thong? I know I wouldn’t. And what designer would create a thong for a little girl?

I’m not impressed with how a lot of children dress these days. I don’t care what the “fashion experts” say; hip hop clothing, gangsta clothes, emo clothes, THONGS, 2-piece bikinis, mini-skirts, etc., do not belong on little girls. I’m all for cute, feminine and sassy outfits, but cute, feminine and sassy do not equal thongs. That is just trashy.

Today was too gorgeous of a day to spend it cooped indoors. So a little after 1:00pm, right after Ryan went #2 in the potty (!!!!!!!!!!), the kids got dressed and put on their sweater hoodies while I made up some roast beef & cheese sandwiches, and then the four of us (five, if you count the dog) headed out to the local park. 55° and bright sunshine? Bring it!

We need more days like this. I am officially tired of winter. I’m tired of the snow that is STILL around. I’m tired of being cold all the time. And worst of all, I’m tired of being cooped up in the house all of the time!

It’s official: Ryan is potty-trained in terms of peeing, and only during the daytime. But considering that this time a mere week ago he was in diapers 24/7, this is a HUGE step for us. Tuesday was the only real “iffy” day; by Wednesday Ryan stayed dry all day long, even while we’ve been out in the car, in restaurants, stores, etc. Every morning he gets up, takes off his diaper (or we take it off for him), goes to the bathroom, then gets a pair of underwear. He goes to the bathroom as-needed throughout the day, and doesn’t need any prompting from us. But since I’m still worried about the occasional accident, especially if we have been out for a bit or if it’s been a while since he has gone to the bathroom, I’ll go ahead and ask him if he needs to go.

Pooping… that’s another issue altogether. So far Ryan has not have a bowel movement in the toilet. Compounding the issue of potty-training him for a bowel movement is that he has a compulsion to hold his bowel movements. I think this goes back to the summer, when he had a bit of a bowel obstruction and some painful fecal impaction. But a week’s worth of hardcore prescription stool softeners & laxatives, combined with daily suppositories, cleared him out, and since then the issue of him not going as he should is behavioral, and not physical.
So — excuse the grossness — we’ve been dealing with “sharts” and very small amounts of poop, but nothing that I would classify as a “standard” bowel movement. It’s only a matter of time, though. He rarely goes beyond four days without having a massive bowel movement. If he doesn’t have one by tomorrow afternoon, I’ll dose him with [prescription] meds and a suppository (needless to say, we keep a ready supply of them on hand).

But still, I am SO proud of Ryan. I never thought he would take to it so quickly. But he has!

As for the title of this entry, today was just one of those days where I was dealing with poop every time I turned around. First, Ryan and I came back after a morning out, to find that Leah had pooped in her crate (which means in her bed, since her bed takes up the majority of the space in her crate). I put her out this morning for about a half hour, but I guess she didn’t have to go then, and couldn’t hold it until we got home. So I gave her a treat, shook the crap out of her bed, then threw it in the washer for a two hour and 56 minute stain wash, complete with pre-wash, post-rinse, and bleach. Yes, bleach, on a colored dog bed. So far it hasn’t removed any of the color, and even if does, at least I know it’ll be clean and disinfected!

Then Ryan went through about seven pairs of underwear (see two paragraphs up). BLECH. I am just SO done with poop today!

Alyssa is still with Dan’s aunt, uncle and sisters, but my mother brought Ryan back early this evening. She said it went fairly well, but because she didn’t take him out anywhere today (though she originally said that she was going to take him out to lunch and to the grocery store today; I’m not sure what happened there), he was kind of bored and restless, and doing a lot of rocking on her couch. But overall, he was great for her. No major issues, he slept fine — he even took a nap this afternoon! — ate fine, went to the bathroom fine (for #1, anyway), etc.

As I type this he is with Dan in the living room, rocking on the sofa. He’s normally in bed by 8:00pm on school nights and 8:30pm on weekends, but since he went to bed later last night and napped later this afternoon, he’s obviously up a bit later. But he’s already had his Melatonin and vitamins for the night, and he sounds like he’s beginning to wind down, so off I go to tuck him in.

Last week my mom said she would take Ryan for a night this weekend. He’s going on four years of age, and this is his first sleepover at her house. With the exception of a semi-failed attempt at a sleepover with Alyssa at Dan’s brothers’ apartment last spring, Ryan has never slept over anywhere. Alyssa, meanwhile, has been to numerous sleepovers with Dan’s brothers, Dan’s sisters, Dan’s aunt and uncle, and of course my mom. Poor Ryan. While Alyssa is charming, funny, amusing mischievous, and independent, everyone is almost afraid of Ryan. The autism, the rocking, his talking that isn’t always understandable to others (hell, sometimes I don’t even know what he’s saying!), the temper tantrums when he’s frustrated about something but can’t figure out how to verbalize it, his Mama’s Boy tendencies… I guess they’re all very undesirable traits in a kid, lol.

But so far, so good. My mom and Ryan tagged along with me while I drove Alyssa to Dan’s aunt and uncle’s house, since that’s where his sisters live; he then went with my mom out to eat, and she took him home, gave him his nighttime medicine (Melatonin), read a story to him, and then put him to bed. His one sister is home from college on spring break, and she specifically requested Alyssa for the weekend. Fine by me! With all of the snow days last month, I’ve had a LOT of Alyssa, a LOT of the time. And yes, I know she’s my kid and all, but damn, it’s hard to work on a post about Minka Aire fans or relax or even breathe sometimes when there’s a kid up your ass 24/7. A times two? Blah.

I guess I’d be a bad mommy for saying that I don’t miss them. But you know, that isn’t quite true. I thought I’d be 100% fine with them gone, but earlier tonight I caught myself going to check on them before turning in for the night, and I realized… I do sort of miss them! ♥

It seems as though the older Alyssa gets (not that five and nearly a half is “old” by any stretch of the imagination), the more dramatic she gets. She whines, she argues, she flounces, she gets all huffy and dramatic. You should see the faces this kid can make. And over what? Little things. I told her to wear sneakers instead of shoes. I gave her a pink hair clip instead of a purple one. I denied her request for the barcode scanner she saw on an As Seen On TV commercial, etc., etc.

My mom says she gets it from me.
Dan says she sorta-kinda gets it from me.
Some of Dan’s family members insist that she is just like Dan’s eighteen year old sister, who apparently has always been a bit of a drama queen (their wording, not mine!).

I have to tell you, from talking with my mom, I was not like that at all as a child. Oh sure, I got bitchy and whiny and dramatic, but that was with the onset of puberty!

So for those of you who have girls, do they get any better as they get older? Or do they keep on flouncing and dramatizing?

But it’s okay. I love my little girl, even if I get exasperated with her flounciness. She’s beautiful, sweet, helpful, charming, considerate, and SO damn smart. ♥

I seriously cannot believe how easy it has been to potty-train Ryan — as far as going #1, that is. #2 is an entirely different matter that is compounded by the fact that he often tries to “hold” his bowel movements, which results in — sorry for the TMI — “sharts” and the like.

But seriously, this whole potty-training thing? It has mostly been a breeze! We began Monday afternoon, and by Wednesday morning he ceased having any #1 accidents in his underwear. On Thursday morning, in fact, he woke up on his own, took off his own diaper (it’s cloth, but it fastens like a disposable), went to the bathroom, then put on a clean pair of underwear. How awesome is THAT?

And here I was, going crazy trying to get Excel to behave with my laptop computer, so that I could create a spiffy spreadsheet that would chart accidents and successes throughout the day. It looks like I didn’t need ANY of that!

I guess it just goes to show you, when they’re ready, they’re ready! Now to work on the #2 issue. I also want to log how often his diaper is dry in the morning, so I can figure out when to stop giving him liquids so that he can learn to stay dry overnight. But for the time being, I’m perfectly fine with him being in diapers for nap and bed times!

From personal experience, these are my preferred nail polishes not only for color, but how long they last. They routinely last for 2-4 days without any chips or breaks, and that’s with doing house work, laundry, dishes (I don’t wear gloves), etc; handling kids, and typing thousands of words in articles and emails each day.
Psst… I make these suckers last even longer by adding at least two clear top coats after I’m done with the polish itself!

Hard Candy

Nicole by OPI

SinfulColors

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do, as there’s plenty of bills to pay. Mortgage, car loan, auto insurance, electric, cable/television/internet, etc. Does it ever end? I know, the answer is no. Heh. But I still like to ask. Don’t mind me and my rhetorical questions.

Also, don’t mind the large photos. I tend to post 500 x 335 photos because they fit perfectly with the size of my layouts, and they are a good size for showing clarity and detail. Hopefully no one who is reading this is on dial-up. If they are… ouch!