she's eighteen...months

Oh, sweet Carly. I have so much updating to do on her growth and goings-on. She adores her big sister, and she's learned to push Rachel's buttons, too. She's opinionated and full of personality. Life is so much more fun with her around.

Last Monday, I started her in big girl undies. ...well, to her, they are big girl undies. They are really the teeny tiny padded Gerber training undies, but they are definitely not diapers, which is the key. My plan was to wait until the weather got warm enough, and then let her run around in undies and a tee for a few days until she figured things out. Thankfully, I don't have to worry one iota about poopy, because she hasn't done that in her pants in MONTHS...I honestly cannot remember the last poopy diaper I had to change. So, I've waited on the peepee. I started Rachel in undies much earlier, and it resulted in much frustration. Looking back on our EC experience with her, it was just a silly mistake on my part--I needed to be comfortable waiting until the child could clearly communicate her needs. With Rachel, I was left guessing (does that mean potty? does she need to go? is she going to go in her pants??). Carly can say everything that needs to be said, and clearly has a grasp of all of it: potty, diaper, undies, dry, wet...she gets it.

So last Monday and Tuesday were full of puddles. She did immediately start telling me when she had wet (she was always so concerned with "peepee...floor"). By Wednesday, we could have let ourselves become quite frustrated, but, I held onto hope that she'd get better. By the weekend, she was making it to the potty much more often, and yesterday, we were accident-free! AND, the best part is that we aren't having to prompt her at all--I think that is key to knowing she understands (I remember constantly asking Rachel, mostly out of fear that I would miss her cues). She even woke up Monday morning, calling "potty, potty, potty" and her diaper was DRY! That hasn't happened again, although her morning daipers have been significantly less soggy. I'm certainly okay with that taking a little longer (Rachel was almost 2 1/2 before she stayed dry at night).

At any rate, it appears we're pretty well there--with a potty-trained baby turning 18 months old yesterday. And I could not be more pleased with our journey this time around. We started on Day 1 with EC (Elimination Communication) this time. It sounds like a long time to work on something, but it has become a lifestyle around here. Was it worth it, knowing that I might could have gone this route (that is, potty training by way of training pants in 2 weeks or less) even without all the preliminary pottying that happened over the last 18 months? YES. A thousand times--YES. I cannot ignore the fact that she has always pooped in the potty as the rule, not the exception, and began doing so consistently around 7 months (whenever solid poop showed up and she began sitting up). No, she didn't tell me, and yes, I changed many poopy diapers too. But what mommy wouldn't give up a little extra effort to have to deal with LESS poopy?? By about 10 months, I probably only had to change one poopy diaper a week (give or take), and by 12 months, hardly ever. For THAT, and that alone, it's worth it to me. And I can't help but think that our week-in-undies has been made easier by EC.

Other things I love about Carly:

• She loves hugs, and, although she's on-the-move all day, she regularly checks in for a good snuggle.
• She also loves to snuggle with stuffed animals, and, anytime she snuggles, she says, "awwwwww" when she hugs one of her little friends, or one of us. It's very cute.
• When she's having fun, she says, "BEEEEEEEE" instead of "weeeeee!"
• She says "peeba" for "pizza" (which she loves).
• When she nods affirmatively, her entire torso nods enthusiastically.
• She LOVES to communicate, and gets so very excited when we understand her. She has lots of words, and sometimes will rattle them off, just to hear herself be understood ("knee...knee...knee..." "Yes, Carly, that IS your knee." ).
• She's very ambitious, and is into climbing, jumping, and running. She is expressive when she falls ("woah!" she squeals).
• She thinks Rachel is funny, and she seeks her big sissy's approval. She also knows how to get a rise out of Rachel, which is funny to watch, but it quickly creating points of contention throughout the day. Rachel's a tough cookie, but it appears that Carly will be giving her a run for her money. I love that.
• She is the easiest to laugh. Just a tone in my voice or a sideways glance can get a giggle out of her. And she has the best giggle I've ever heard; it's impossible not to smile or laugh along with her.

There are so many things, every day. I can't count how many times I whisper under my breath, You are so stinkin' cute.. The twinkly in those clear blue eyes, and those squishy chubby, thighs and the little curls that are growing in the back of her hair...her random assortment of teeth, the way she'll crawl or scoot on her bottom just to be funny, the way she's beginning to pretend and form her own opinions. I think we'll keep her.

my little baby

Our sweet little Carly turns 6 months old tomorrow. Praise God we seem to have an answer for her persistent cough: acid reflux or Tracheomalacia, either of which she will grow out of without consequence. We have medication for acid reflux, but I haven't been able to bring myself to give it to her yet. If she has it, it sure doesn't seem to bother her, aside from the normal amount of spit up (still significantly less than we experienced when Rachel was a baby), and, of course, the congestion/cough. It doesn't make her fussy, keep her up at night, or cause her trouble breathing. On the other hand, if she gets another ear infection, I sure will kick myself for not giving it to her. Oh, these mommy decisions...

I finally started Carly on rice cereal about a week and a half ago. I'm rather hesitant when it comes to food, and I'm not sure why. Maybe because it's such a tangible sign that my baby won't be a baby forever, or maybe it's just because we can't avoid having "another mouth to feed" any longer, but whatever it is, I put it off as long as I can. She loves it, though, and she caught on to the whole deal rather quickly (my baby, my little baby..). I can hardly stand it!

She's great fun now, too. I can't believe how proficient she is becoming. She was playing with an input toy a couple of days ago, and she was actually picking up the balls and putting them right where they belonged! (my baby, my little baby).. She can sit up on her own quite well (although I still don't leave her sitting by herself), and she wants to get moving so badly. She thinks Rachel is hilarious, and she has the cutest habit of keeping the very tip of her index finger perched right inside her bottom lip. She is as pleasant as any baby I've ever been around, and I love her sweet little voice that she's finding more and more (she's gone from cooing to "yayayaya" to "dadadada" in the past week). She also L-O-V-E-S being naked (or "nakedy" as Rachel and I call it), and will giggle at nothing when she's free from diaper and clothes.

And speaking of diapers, yes--she still wears them. She goes on the potty some, of course, but I don't foresee a diaper-free future for quite some time. We do love catching what we catch, though, and she definitely knows what's going on now. (my baby, my little baby). I am less enchanted now with pottying and cloth diapering, and I'm happy to move into a season when it's all just a part of normal life--the potty, the cloth diapers, the laundry. With Rachel, I resorted back to disposable diapers pretty readily, but now I don't even think of it, really, because cloth is what we're used to.

The first picture here shows how much Rachel loves that her sissy is growing into a playmate. I can't turn my back on Carly for more than a few minutes before Rachel has surrounded her with toys. I sometimes can't find Carly in the mound, and she seems to get overwhelmed at times, but I do think it's sweet.

Below is the face Daddy will want her to use on all the boys:

new baby, new chart

Saturday night, I started re-reading a lot of articles and testimonials about Elimination Communication. I have a renewed interest now, and I feel encouraged and, well, not as silly, after having read what other mothers have done. I even found one story that sounded just like my experience with Rachel! Anyway, I also felt emboldened to go diaper-free with Carly. But, since that sounds potentially messy, I've decided to just go waterproofless. So, during the day today, she has worn just a cloth diaper with no waterproof cover. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, we have had much fewer misses today! So, for old time's sake, here's the potty chart for today, as of 3:00pm:

Potty Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	7	4
poop	3	1

Wow, babies go a lot. I knew she went often, but not that often! Going cloth, and especially going without the waterproof cover has been very enlightening on that end. Knowing that she wasn't waterproof made me much more attentive to her cues. When she fussed, and I knew she was neither hungry nor sleepy, I took her potty. And she's gone almost every time, even though there was a time or two when she had just gone 10 minutes before. Herein lies my biggest consideration when debating about whether to continue with this EC thing: now that I've seen it, how could I not assume that might be the reason behind any efforts to communicate with me? I am learning her hunger cues, and her sleepy cues, and now her "elimination" cues, and I just don't think I could ignore any of the three at this point. After all, what else does a baby do?? Of course, I'm not right every time, but sometimes I also think she's hungry when she's not, and sometimes I think she's tired when she's not (or, conversely, I don't think she's hungry when she actually is, or that she's tired when she actually is), so it stands to reason that I would miss some of her elimination cues just as easily.

With Rachel, I had a definitive goal to be done with diapers by the time she reached 12 months. I moved the goal to 18 months when we "failed" the first goal, and then I gave up on having a goal at all when she wasn't completely done at 18 months. I felt frustrated as she got older and still had accidents. But, after reading a lot of the accounts from other moms, and now being on the other side of it with Rachel (she's been fully trained by day and night for about 5 months now), I know to consider this a process, and I know that it will just "click" with Carly whenever she is mature enough. I know that I am laying the groundwork for future potty learning, and whether we have more catches or more misses is neither here nor there. It is about learning to communicate with my baby about her basic needs, and setting forth clear expectations so I won't have to re-train her from using a diaper when she's older.

I am totally in love with this concept, in case you can't tell, and there is nothing sweeter than the times I have with just her, holding her little dimpled bottom over the potty and seeing her grin up at me after she's gone. She seems to realize what's happening, but, at the least, I can just assume she likes being bare-bottomed. I'm happy for those gummy grins, whatever the reason.

i hate diapers

Brace yourself, because it doesn't get any funnier than this: Carly (3 weeks old) is peeing and pooping in the potty. I laugh every single time, but it's true. Let's back up a little, shall we?...

I started sitting Rachel on the potty when she was very young (7 months old) after reading up on a method called "Elimination Communication" or EC. Unfortunately, as I read, I realized I had waited too late to really start, so what I did with Rachel was more like potty teaching; I taught her that peepee and poopy belongs in the potty, and she eventually got it.

I was excited (albeit skeptical) to try true EC when Carly arrived. It's a simple concept with a few books on the subject--none of which I've read. Anyway, if you've ever been around a newborn, you know how obviously and frequently they "eliminate." So, from the beginning, I've been making a sound (I chose to whisper "keekeekee") every time she goes.

Yesterday afternoon, I checked her diaper because I assumed it would be wet, and, when it was still clean, I decided to give EC a whirl. I held her over the potty and made the noise several times. AND WOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT SHE WENT??? She peed AND pooped! Woah. Since then, I've managed to catch about half her pees and poops this way, including twice before her two feedings in the middle of the night. HA! It's been more than a day, and, while I'm not ready to say for sure that it's not mere coincidence, it really does seem that she responds to the sound. Amazing. Hilarious. I hope it lasts.

published!

A friend of mine emailed me last week requesting that I guest-author an entry about potty training for the Prayer of Hannah blog, an informational blog written by five devoted mommies. I was super-flattered to be asked, and I had such fun recounting the thought processes that drove our potty training choices. Thank you, Christina, for the opportunity to write!

happy mommy's day

Jarrad and I have long sworn off non-holidays like Valentine's Day, but there's something a little special about Mother's Day. I guess it's because there's just something special about a mommy. I think I have the best mommy there ever was. She taught me to take care of myself and to think for myself. She taught me to view the world through the Truth, and to filter everything--everything--through that, regardless of whatever is popular at the moment. She taught me that God doesn't change, and that I can trust in that timeless Truth, and in His son, Jesus Christ, who was the Truth, in the flesh, fulfilling the prophesies of hundreds of years before.

I pray that I can be that kind of mother to Rachel. I don't want to just love her. I don't want to just teach her to enjoy life. I don't want to just make her well-behaved. I want her to follow the Truth, and to value truth, and to live out truth in her life by trusting in Christ. I know I can't do any of this, but praise God that I can trust in Him to lead me through it, and to show me the way amidst the many mistakes I have made and will make.

I love being a mommy.

strange moment

On a less-serious note, Tia Milli came for a visit this weekend, and witnessed Rachel's wit at its best. In preparation for bedtime last night, we escorted Rachel upstairs and sat her on the potty, where she went poopy, as hoped. She looked down and commented, "poopy in there." We agreed with her. Then, Rachel got a sly grin on her face, and she said, "eat poopy." "What Rachel?" "Eat poopy!" she repeated, grinning. "Eat POOPY??? Eww Rachel!" Delighted at my reaction, she repeated her new catch phrase several times, and then she put her fingers to her mouth and made munching noises, then swallowed, and showed us her tongue, saying, "all gone." GROSS. I tried to explain to her that these are things that boys usually talk about, not us girls, but she just kept repeating, "eat poopy."

While most of Rachel's vocabulary includes imitations of my own vocabulary, I can assure you that I have never--never--said, "eat poopy." That is a Rachel original.

I love being a mommy.

who is she kidding?

Rachel was contentedly playing today when I said to her, per routine, "Rachel, I'm going to count to five, and then we need to go sit on the potty." I counted, expecting to be met with objection, but at the end of the count, she dutifully stood and headed toward the bathroom, where she cooperatively allowed me to sit her on the potty. "Wow," I thought to myself, "I didn't think she'd agree so easily"--she had been so focused on her task. Almost as I was having that thought, Rachel looked down and said, "Pssss, pssss, pssss, pssss. All done." She squirmed off the potty, and I rolled with laughter. It seemed as if this had been her plan all along, to somehow appease me so she could get back to her play.

Just an FYI, and because I haven't blogged about pottying in a while, Rachel does a pretty good job telling me when she needs to go, but she's not 100%, so I still try to preempt her when I can. She wears undies during the day (the kind with a little extra padding, just in case), but she does wear a diaper for sleeping, partly because I don't know when to believe her when she hollers "POTTY" from her crib--it's her favorite delay tactic. Sometimes I go to her, and she usually just grins, as if to say, "gotcha!" and then she says she does not, in fact, need to potty. It's been a long adventure, and still going!

terrible seventeen-months

Rachel has been extremely cranky today, and I think there's nothing really to blame it on, except her age. I got pretty cranky, myself by lunchtime. Rachel had been playing contentedly, and I was taking pictures. After a few minutes, I decided I should tidy up the kitchen a bit and wash the couple of dishes left over from breakfast. Oh, the wails that followed. Rachel bosses me all day, and sometimes I just say, "No, Rachel, I will not sit next to you while you eat and feed your teddy bear his imaginary food and milk, because I don't have to do what you say." So there. Boy, does she get mad. So I'm standing at the sink, washing dishes, and she is literally pushing my legs in the direction she wants me to go. When I tell her "no," she just flings herself around, often smacking her head against a cabinet or the floor, which she really plays up like she's injured beyond repair. It makes me crazy. But I really almost lost it when she was standing there in my feet, having a fit, and she wet her pants. This child has not had an accident in several days (with the exception of her tummy issues, but I mean a peepee accident), so it was all because she was in the middle of her temper tantrum that she wet herself. Thankfully, she haulted, and I got her to the potty for most of the peepee, which was some consolation to me.

I love this outfit Rachel's wearing, but she added the jeans herself. She has figured out how to put pants on, and she drags jeans around and struggles to put them on and then take them off. They often end up backward, and she has trouble walking around and bending over in them, but she's just so proud of herself that she doesn't mind. She finally got these on the right direction, and I helped her get them buttoned, and, ya know what--this outfit is actually cuter with the jeans! Oh, oh, what will she be like as a teenager...

cute moment

When it was time to put cranky Rachel down for her nap, Little Miss Busy didn't want to go to bed. Part of our routine now is that I hold her by her crib and sway her for a couple minutes. She gets really still and sweet, and pats my shoulder a lot, so it's hard to put her down (I think she knows that). Today, she collapsed on my shoulder for a few seconds and then sat up and told me she needed to go potty. "No, we're all finished with the potty--you just went potty." Without protest, she collapsed again for a few seconds more, and then popped her head up and asked for some water. "No, Rachel, you had some water." She lay back down. Then she looked at me and snorted out her nose and pointed to the box of tissues. "You don't need to blow your nose, Rachel." After lying still and thinking of one last delay tactic, she looked back up and asked for a bath. It was hard not to laugh as I refused her last ditch effort.

non-toy toy of the day

CD's...(notice all her teeth!)

tuesday post

First of all, I would like to report an abrupt ending to Rachel's paci usage. That's right--we packaged them up and "mailed" them to the hospital for little babies yesterday. I was anticipating a loooooong night last night, but Rachel did great! I have been dreading the end of paci era, and I am relieved that it hasn't been a big deal so far. I hadn't planned to take them away so early, but Rachel face and lips have been so chapped lately, and she always had a weird white film on the inside of her lips whenever she woke up, so I decided the time had come.

We have also officially switched to training pants by day. Rachel is finally big enough for the smallest sized cheap training pants, and I am relieved to be rid of diapering a busy toddler. She averaged two accidents for the first few days, but she's only had one (usually during dinner) or none for the past 3 or 4 days. There are still times when she wears diapers: when she sleeps, and when we're on long car rides, for church and for a babysitter. She doesn't seem to mind switching back and forth for now.

Saying "byebye" to the paci and "byebye" to diapers really makes me feel like my little girl is growing up. To prove she is getting closer to two every day, the last week or so has been full of meltdown after temper tantrum after extreme mood swing. It's a roller coaster living with a toddler! Here's a video of Rachel begging for a cracker, as she does innumerable times a day. She usually uses a sign she made up for cracker, but she already knew that I knew what she wanted, so she didn't bother here...

Rachel is really talking a lot lately, too, although her words are few and often unintelligible. She kind of just talks about whatever she can name, putting the words together into nonsensical sentences. My favorite is that she likes to say "maamaaaa" so sweetly now, and she absolutely yells "DADDY, DAAAADDY," when Jarrad's in another room. Also, whenever I say, "where's the _____?" (fill in the blank with whatever I can't find at the moment), Rachel immediately calls for whatever it is--"jaaaacket, jaaaaacket,"--and then hugs and kisses the item as soon as we find it.

cute moment

Today, we got in the car to go to the grocery store. Rachel started yelling "glasses, glasses, glasses" (in her language, of course), as she pointed to my suglasses that were clipped to the visor. I put them on, and she said, "yay!!" and clapped her hands.

Rachel had a meltdown one day because I wouldn't let her climb onto the coffee table, where she intended to sit on a little plush couch that goes with one of her dolls. I did let her sit on the toy couch on this chair, though, and that made her happy enough.

And, finally--last but not least--we visited MiMi and Poppy over the weekend, with Uncle Travis, Aunt KiKi, and Cousin Tyler. Tyler has suddenly become very interested in Rachel, so getting the two to pose for a picture wasn't difficult. Awwwwwww.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel has enjoyed learning to use crayons and stickers. Her artwork would be so fun, if she didn't usually ball it up and declare it "TA" (i.e. trash) as soon as she was finished. I guess she's one of those artists.

one nap, two naps, three naps, four

The weekend was fun, with lots of visitors. Saturday morning brought MiMi and Poppy, Uncle Travis, Aunt KiKi, and Cousin Tyler. My mom baked her specialty: Chocolate Pound Cake, and I got to keep half because it was MY birthday last week. Rachel skipped her morning nap, although she did have some quiet time in her crib before our company arrived. After her 1.5-hour afternoon nap, Jarrad and I took Rachel strolling at the mall, where we ate an early dinner (Rachel ate a peanut butter sandwich and a banana) before tucking her in bed.

Sunday is always a one-nap day, but Rachel did well. We all went separate directions in the afternoon: Jarrad helped a friend with some house work, I had my first soccer game (100 degrees is too hot for soccer), and our friend Stacie graciously came over to hang out with Rachel. Rachel's nap was only 1.5 hours (again), but she didn't seem to mind that Mommy and Daddy weren't home. Our Community Group came over Sunday night, and Jarrad served $0.45 tacos from Taco Bell.

About every other day, Rachel has nap troubles. She sleeps until 7:00 or 7:30am and, although she may seem tired and sleepy, she has a really hard time taking her morning nap. I've been letting her skip it, but, consistently, it results in a too-short afternoon nap, and, consequently, a really cranky baby. She slept until 7:00am today, and was acting sleepy by 8:15am. I decided not to even try putting her down for a nap until 9:30am (she's usually down at 9:00am), and, by then, she seemed really ready. She settled on my lap for our book, and she got really still and quiet. But once she was in her crib, she rolled around and finally pooped in her diaper before going to sleep around 10:15am (of course, I cleaned her up first). She woke up at 11:30am, just in time for GiGi's visit. At 2:00pm, GiGi left, and Rachel, who had been going full speed ahead showing off for GiGi, and I headed upstairs to settle down for nap. Surely she will sleep well...but, as it turned out, she never slept at all. So I got her up, and we went to Koen's house for a visit. Being in a different setting was enough distraction to keep her happy, and Carla was kind enough to even feed us dinner! Rachel ate chicken and veggies (something she does not usually love), cheese, and mandarin oranges (a Rachel favorite). She had nooooo problems going to sleep tonight.

Progress Report

I think we're ready to cut the progress reports. Rachel is doing GREAT on the potty, now, and I feel fully confident leaving her in a coverless diaper all day (except when she sleeps). She still has one or two "accidents" almost daily, but they're always small. Exciting!

cute moment

Rachel stays so busy all day. One of her favorite pastimes is to drag around a bag (preferably a gift bag or shopping bag), putting things in and taking them out. Another favorite hobby is sitting on things, and, most recently, climbing. A few days ago, she successfully into our shortest living room chair, and she was so proud. Today, it occurred to her that she might be able to climb onto the coffee table, something she's never before attempted. She hoisted herself up in no time, and stood up, with a conquering grin. I took a few pictures before forbidding her to climb on the coffee table, and she quickly moved on. When Jarrad got home later in the afternoon, Rachel stopped her play to run and greet him at the door. As soon as he came in, she turned back, ran straight to the coffee table, and climbed up. What a show off!

non-toy toy of the day

I was on the phone for a moment yesterday when Rachel found the Q-tips in the bathroom drawer. She made it out with about 8 held tightly in her little fist. I took them away when she started pulling the cotton off the ends, bit by bit.

the girl who cried "googoo"

Rachel is 14 months old today! Time flies. 14th month shameless picture count: 288 beautiful photographs of my toddler.

On Wednesday, Rachel took a great morning nap, and I had a few things I needed to pick up at the store, so I made Rachel a peanut butter sandwich and grabbed a banana, and we headed to Target. She had a great time riding in the cart, and, conveniently, we were almost ready to check out when she started getting antsy. I rolled our purchased goods and Rachel over to the little eating area in Target, and she sat there, people watching, eating her lunch. She really seemed to enjoy the distraction, and it was a nice change of scenery for me, too. Right after she went down for her afternoon nap, my friend Theresa dropped off her 8-year-old daughter, Ali, for me to babysit. Ali finished her homework just in time for Rachel to wake up from her nap, in a great mood. They played all afternoon, and Theresa and Ali ended up staying and having dinner with Jarrad, Rachel, and me.

Yesterday was my birthday. In honor my birthday, Rachel slept in until 7:00am! I was excited that the sun was fully up before me, but not as excited when she refused to take a morning nap. We met my friend Shawna for lunch, and Rachel had fun entertaining the waitresses and other guests. She was really tired by the time we got home, but she still had a little trouble taking a nap

Rachel has been sleeping great at night, but her daytime sleep is not as good. About every other day, she doesn't want to take her morning nap, and her afternoon nap usually falls about 1-1.5 hours. One and a half hours of daytime sleep, which is what she got yesterday, is not enough for my child. She was so cranky and clumsy all afternoon, but she cheered up some when Aunt Mamber came over. I tried to put Rachel to bed early, but, as usual these days when I try that, she still didn't actually go to sleep until 8:00pm. She was up at 6:15am today, which guaranteed a morning nap, even sleeping through a really loud thunderstorm. She slept over 2 hours this afternoon while my 18-year-old neighbor, Crystal, came over before she leaves for college in next few days! It's fun to reminisce about leaving for freshman year in college.

Here's a picture of Rachel, just after the first time she successfully climbed into this chair in our living room.

Progress Report

Rachel only wet one diaper on Wednesday, and one yesterday, two today (except that her diaper is wet every morning...I'm not counting that one). She even used the potty in Target Wednesday, and when we were out for lunch yesterday. Exciting!

Rachel is loving how attentive we are being to the potty now. "GOOgoo" (her word for potty) has become quite the effective delay tactic before sleeptimes.

cute moment

Jarrad was home for bedtime, so, once Rachel was bathed and dressed for bed, we decided to read a book together as a family. Jarrad sat in the rocking chair with Rachel in his lap, and I sat down on the floor in front, with the book in my hand. I looked down and realized I had the book turned the wrong way. I laughed, and turned it around, but that made it completely upside-down. Rachel burst into laughter through her paci.

non-toy toy of the day

After our Target trip, Rachel had a few minutes to play before nap, and her game of choice was to push the laundry basket around the room, stopping at different spots to collect various items (mostly shoes). It was like she was shopping!

it's your birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Yesterday was Uncle John's birthday, and today is GGPaw's birthday! Here are two old pictures...I'll let you figure out which one is Uncle John and which is GGPaw.

Things have been quiet in our world yesterday and today. We've mostly stayed indoors, because who wants to go outside when it's 103 degrees?? Rachel also slept in both days, until 8:00am yesterday and 7:45am today. She struggled to take her naps yesterday, so I didn't force the morning nap today, and she ended up only taking one 1 hour 15 minute nap this afternoon. Tia Milli came back from her summer in Honduras this week, and she came to visit Rachel for a few hours. She took lots of pictures and video, and she brought Rachel fun gifts from Honduras. In the picture, she is wearing her Honduras tee shirt and playing with her new Honduran purse, which contains her new hopping chick toy. Tia Milli also brought some cute clothes from her mom, and a pretty Honduran doll like the ones little girls in the villages play with. It was just what Rachel needed to forget she hadn't had a morning nap!

Progress Report

Now that I've decided to take full responsibility for being sure Rachel gets to the potty before she wets her diaper (that is, I'm not waiting for her to tell me she needs to go), things are going great! Yesterday, except for wetting her diaper at her naptimes, she only wet one diaper all day. Today was the same, until tonight she had two wet diapers and two peepees in the potty within one hour, but we were all a bit distracted with Aunt Mamber stopping by and Jarrad being home earlier than usual.

cute moment

UP! Rachel is always wanting "up." Since she learned to say the word, she has been using it constantly. I can't get much done in the kitchen because little Miss Nosy wants "up" in the middle of the action. I'll have to admit--it is hard to resist those skinny arms stretched high in the air and that tiny voice asking to be held.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel's favorite play for the moment includes sitting on any and every piece of furniture in our house. She stands by her choice chair and either says "up" or does the sign for sit until someone helps her. Sometimes she sits for a long time, and other times she enjoys getting up and down and up and down again.

mac and cheese

Rachel was awake early this morning, at 6:00am. She held up pretty well, though, and she went right to sleep at 9:00am for her morning nap. My cousin DeeDee's kids, Sarah(5) and David(3), came over around 9:30am to stay for a little while. When Rachel woke up around 10:30am, the three of us headed upstairs to greet her. Sarah and David went right into Rachel's room and started playing with her toys, as Rachel watched from the crib. I offered several times to get her down so she could play too, but she seemed content observing from afar. When she finally thought it was safe, she agreed to join in the play. The big kids intrigued Rachel, and they had fun watching her toddle around.

Rachel begged to go outside all day today. I told her "no." There is no way we are playing outside when it's 100 degrees. How do people survive without air conditioning? It's amazing.

Aunt Mamber came by this afternoon, and she and Jarrad hung out with Rachel while I got to go hang out with some former coworkers of mine. It's nice to finally feel like I'm getting a life back, but it's kind of sad at the same time, because it means my baby is growing up (I know those of you with older children think I'm crazy, but just let me be melodramatic at the moment, thank you very much).

Progress Report

After hearing about my friend's early potty training success, I was motivated anew today. Rachel wore a cotton diaper sans waterproof cover most of the day, and I took her to the big potty regularly. It worked out great, and I'm encouraged. Sitting her on the little potty had become quite the power struggle (she begs and whines and fusses and cries for her toys), but she does great in the bathroom, as if she knows what that room is for; she gets right down to business. She also loves watching it flush down as she waves and says "bye bye."

I didn't keep count today, but I think Rachel wet three diapers and pooped twice in her diaper (I still don't know what is up with that).

cute moment

Rachel figured out how to push her ride-on car toy around today. She still is not sure how to ride on it, but she was really proud of pushing it and steering it.

non-toy toy of the day

Washcloths (video by Jarrad)

monkeys always look

Did you give up on us? It has been well over a week since I last reported our goings-on. Jarrad kindly posted a cute video he produced with some old footage of Rachel, and I'm hoping that was enough to keep everyone checking for new posts.

Rachel and I are back, and finally back in full swing. We had a fun time visiting MiMi and Poppy last week, and Rachel did really well adjusting to her new bed (a Pack-n-Play). She didn't even seem to mind that MiMi and Poppy put her to bed every night while I helped my old coach at his soccer camp. They reported that she walked over to the Pack-n-Play and asked to go to sleep whenever they gave her a signal that it was bedtime. It was a big relief to me that she did so well.

While back in my hometown, I made a few attempts to see old friends, most of which fell through. We did get to see my high school history teacher, though! We still keep in touch, and Rachel really enjoys his silliness. He always has an interesting gift for her, too, like a Cheerios dispenser that looks like a boy with a baseball cap and a Wiggles CD.

There were several times last week when Rachel actually wouldn't let me take her from Poppy. MiMi didn't get to see Rachel as much as Poppy because she had to work most of the week (while Poppy is already retired). She and Rachel still had fun in the early mornings and evenings, though, and Rachel enjoyed MiMi's singing the most, even at times trying to imitate her.

We got back Saturday, and PopPop and Uma came Saturday evening for the wedding of our friends, Glenn & Jessica. Rachel was so exhausted and overstimulated with all the excitement that she had trouble going to sleep Saturday and Sunday night. Aunt Mamber babysat Sunday night during the wedding and ended up putting Rachel in the bed before 7:00pm because she was so tired! (pictured are PopPop and Uma...I took a few pictures with Poppy's camera last week, and I even made a CD with the pictures, but I forgot to bring them home withe me.)

Today was a bit quieter. We visited our neighbor, Mr. Henry, between naps, and then my friend Theresa brought her daughter, Alex, over this afternoon. Theresa and I visited while Rachel napped and Alex did her homework (she just started third grade in year-round school!) I've already calculated that Alex can be our designated non-family-member babysitter in six or seven years--especially since she loves Rachel and they live right down the road from us!

Progress Report

Rachel is still doing pretty well on the potty, but no better. Interestingly, Theresa's daughter, Alex, was trained by 13 months with the help of Theresa's mother. She said Alex started wearing training pants when she was Rachel's age (a switch I've considered making). It's so nice to talk to someone who was actually successful with early potty training, since I've only read stories until now. I've been discouraged, but knowing it's not impossible helps a lot.

cute moment

We were going out last week, and I was driving, with Poppy in the back seat entertaining Rachel. He whistled his funny whistle several times, and then Rachel attempted to imitate him by scrunching her nose, sticking out her lips, and snorting and blowing in and out. Poppy thought it was hilarious.

Poppy left Thursday afternoon to go to Romania on a mission trip, and he was already gone when we got home from having lunch out. As soon as we walked in the house, Rachel looked all around, stuck her arms way out and said, "hmmmmmknn?" (which sounds like our, "Where'd he go?"). She patted her chest and said "Poppy" several times for the remainder of the week. (She learned to pat her chest when PopPop taught her his name, and it quickly became her "sign" for any grandfatherly man.)

Rachel is also really into sitting on things right now. MiMi has a doll chair and a doll bench that are the perfect size for Rachel to sit herself on. She regularly stopped her play to go over and sit on the bench, and she loved carrying the lightweight chair to various places in the house, setting it down, and plopping on top. She always grinned, very pleased with her accomplishment.

But my favorite part of the week is when she came out to our soccer camp. Rachel understands the phrase "kick the ball," and she showed off for all the girls and their parents by kicking the soccer balls. She looked pretty coordinated, and everyone assured me that she would be a soccer player one day. We'll see!

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel has continued to enjoy playing with the plastic packaging from the Cheerio dispenser she received last week. It opens up nicely so that she can put things inside and close it again, pretending it's hidden (even though it is made of clear plastic).

MiMi and Poppy also kindly allowed Rachel to play with their plastic containers, and Rachel thoroughly enjoyed pulling them out of the cabinet, carrying them around, stacking them, and pretending to feed her stuffed animals and baby dolls from them. Oh yeah, and she liked to sit on the containers, too.

dinner theatre

Yesterday was fun, although Rachel's little gums definitely seemed to be bothering her. She's been having terrible trouble going to sleep at nap time, even taking 2 hours to finally fall asleep this afternoon (at 3:55pm, I went in her room and retrieved the pacis she had ousted for the third time, and I vowed I would get her up if she didn't fall right asleep when I left).

After her second nap yesterday, we met Aunt KiKi, Cousin Tyler, and Carla (sans Koen, since he was taking a nap himself) at the mall nearby. There is an outdoor area there that has an in-sidewalk fountain, perfect for children to play. It was Carla's idea, and I worked myself up for it. As soon as Rachel woke up, I stripped her down and smeared her with sunblock, found her cutest diaper and a summery outfit, packed her swimmy shoes and sun hat, and we were off. I thought Rachel would be mesmerized by the water jumping up out of the ground. Tyler seemed to think it was fun, and Rachel and Tyler were mildly interested in each other, but Rachel preferred walking around greeting everyone who was sitting at the tables outside. We hung around the mall all night. Aunt KiKi shared some of her baked ziti with Rachel, and then we let the kiddos play in the indoor play area. Rachel has been timid on the playground in the past, but last night, she went for it. She climbed all over the fake rocks, and she laughed hysterically as Carla and I helped her go down the slides for the first time. All the equipment is made out of squishy-but-firm foam, which really came in handy when Rachel decided to run down one of the slides. She fell back and hit her head on the slide and tumbled the rest of the way down (these aren't big slides, mind you). Carla, Aunt KiKi, and I gasped, but Rachel laughed and got right up. Whew! She learned all this monkey business from her cousin Tyler!!

Today was busy in a fun kind of way. Since Rachel took over an hour to go to sleep for her 1.5-hour nap this morning, and two hours to go to sleep for her 1-hour nap this afternoon, I was able be fairly productive. It is sad, listening to her on the monitor, struggling to stay awake while wanting to go to sleep. More info below...

Shortly after Rachel woke up this morning, two men came to clean our living room carpet. Spots have been popping up everywhere, and it's been driving me crazy. I've tried to do spot treatments, but it hasn't worked. As soon as the crew came in, Rachel went straight over one man (the older one...she seems to prefer older, grandfatherly men) and gave his leg a big bear hug. He laughed [uncomfortably]. Conveniently, it was Rachel's lunch time, so I pulled her high chair right over to the edge of the living room so she could watch the show as she ate. It could not have worked out any better. Incidentally, the guys were really impressed with Jarrad's concrete countertops. It was fun to have a chance to brag on his hard work!

Aunt Mamber came over this afternoon for her usual Thursday visit. Rachel was in a good mood, as she has been lately post-dinnertime.

I have slept really well the past two nights, which is a change from the last couple of weeks. It is amazing how good sleep really affects the how good I feel and how productive I am.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	4	7
poop	0	2

From Sunday until last night, Rachel had done nothing on the potty except one poopy (and that was only because I caught her when she was about to go). Last night, right before bed, she peepeed on the potty, and I could not have been more thrilled. Today, she peepeed some on the potty, although she was still mostly reluctant.

The most amazing thing, though, is that this child, who went about 10 weeks without pooping in her pants even one time, who I watched hold her poopy all the way home from the park one afternoon, who used to only average once a day, usually right before bedtime, has now started pooping in her diaper in her crib. I don't know how she can possibly be holding it for that, but there is no other explanation. Yesterday morning, she had two dirty diapers in her crib before she went to sleep for her morning nap, and one in the afternoon. This morning, I changed a wet diaper and then a dirty diaper before she went to sleep, and this afternoon was exactly the same routine. It is amazing!

cute moment

While Aunt Mamber was here tonight, we were playing in Rachel's room, and two of her stuffed animals were sitting side-by-side. Rachel pointed at them, said something forcefully in Rachel-language, and then she turned, and she sat on them, laughing a sinister sort of laugh.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel did get a little wet from the water fountain at the mall, and she thought that was funny. Even funnier, though, was the disgusting, runny mud puddle in the natural area by our table. She was stomping in it, just like PopPop taught her to do, and she was having such a great time that I didn't stop her...but I did give her a good bath before bed last night.

clown shoes

Yesterday was a long day, even though we took two field trips. Between her naps, Rachel and I went to visit our neighbor, Mr. Henry. He enjoys watching Rachel walking circles around him. Rachel even asked to sit in his lap, and sat there nicely for at least 30 seconds before squirming to get down. After her afternoon nap, we went over to see Ms. Kathy, another friend. Her son, Glenn, is getting married in two weeks, so she's been getting ready for the wedding.

Today was busy, which is a good thing. We had lunch with some other mommies and children. Rachel enjoyed watching the big kids play, and everyone was impressed at how much she ate. Fifteen-month-old Murphy ate a de-crusted peanut butter sandwich for lunch. Rachel had half a peanut butter sandwich, a bunch of macaroni and cheese, lots of fruit, and some banana pudding. She ate and ate and ate and kept signing "more." Even I was amazed.

We also ran a few errands late this afternoon right before dinner. We took a nice walk after dinner, and Rachel watched from her stroller as I pruned a couple of our bushes outside (can you believe it?). She got antsy and we came inside and played in her room until bedtime. For the first time in several days, Rachel seemed to be in a really great mood. She was giggly and content, and she wanted to snuggle, so she came and sat in my lap pretty often.

With the exception of tonight, here is an example of the kind of days we have been having. I think she must be getting some new teeth...

Progress Regress Report

She still is refusing to even sit on the potty. The only time she has used it in the last three days is when I caught her about to poop in her pants, and I rushed her onto the potty in time to catch it. Every other poop has been in her pants, right at naptime or first thing in the morning. She hasn't peepeed in the potty in three days either. Sad.

cute moment

Before we left Mr. Henry's house yesterday, I asked Rachel for a hug, but instead, she went right over to Mr. Henry and hugged his leg. It's like she was rubbing it in my face that I didn't get a hug!

Here's a video of Rachel working really hard.

non-toy toy of the day

We went to WalMart today, and I couldn't resist getting Rachel a new toy...check out these fake crocs!

i'm mr. lonely

Rachel and I have had an uneventful (which means long) week. Several attempts to see friends and visit neighbors have fallen through, and the weather didn't cooperate for Rachel to "swim" in her little pool the days I wanted to do that, so we've found ourselves trying to stay entertained around the house. Rachel has been sleeping until closer to 7:00am, which is a big relief, and her naps have been good lengths and predictable for the most part as well. She has been a bit disagreeable the last couple of days. She throws her toys, has temper-tantrums, pulls her bib off during meals, and generally wants to do what she wants to do, which is usually exactly what she knows I don't want her to do. It's rather frustrating. But I still think she's cute.

Aunt Katie came over Friday night, and Rachel got to try pizza for the first time. It was a hit, and Rachel was a mess. After bedtime, Katie and I watched the movie "High School Musical." It was much-needed down time. I haven't seen a movie in so long!

On Saturday, Rachel and I went to a baby shower at Aunt KiKi and Uncle Travis's house in honor of Denise. We had fun and Rachel wore a pretty little pink and white dress Aunt KiKi gave her. Of course, I didn't take any pictures...oops. Rachel even took a short nap in Cousin Tyler's crib after he woke up from his own nap. It was really fun to hang out and watch Rachel and Tyler play together some. Tyler is 7 months older than Rachel, but he still outweighs her by about 10 pounds. He always wants to hug and kiss on Rachel. It's sweet.

Sunday was hard. Since Rachel has gotten into a routine of waking up between 6:45am and 7:00am, she is usually ready for her nap at exactly 9:00am. But we trucked off to church without regard, and I ended up being called out of the service to sit with her in nursery because she was crying. I am convinced she would be fine in the nursery if it weren't for her missing that nap!

I take a lot of pictures of Rachel, but we've found fewer and fewer pictures of ourselves with Rachel. We're going to try to make a point of getting more pictures of us! Here are two from last week:

Progress Report

Rachel has all but quit the potty. It's really frustrating, because it is clear that she knows exactly what is going on. She even sometimes peepees as a protest when I won't give her something she wants. I'm not making this up. On Saturday, she wanted something from on top of her chest of drawers, and I said, "No Rachel, you can't have that." She fussed and whined, then stopped abruptly and peepeed. When she does that, she usually looks right at me, does the sign for no, and says, "nah nah" with a scolding tone.

cute moment

Rachel is really into playing "peek-a-boo" right now. She even hides her toys from herself. She opens her arms and says "hmmmmmguh?"...which sounds like when we say "Where'd it go?" Then she "finds" it and squeals.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel needed something different this week, so I let her dig into the play food Aunt Mamber gave her for her birthday. I was keeping it from her because the package says 3+. Some of the food is pretty small, but Rachel did great, and I really don't worry about her choking on much anymore. Of course, I keep my eye on her, but she does really well these days. Anyway, she played and played with this "food." I loved play food when I was little, so I played with it some today too. The analytical side of me had trouble, though, because the "food" had terrible proportionality. I took a picture so you can judge for yourselves. How do you suppose they decided what to make which size?

another nap, another dollar

Rachel slept in until 6:25am today! I was thrilled to see the sun was up before Rachel, so I was in a good mood. She started getting cranky around 8:30am, right on schedule for her 9:00am nap. However, for some reason, for whatever reason, it took her a full hour to go to sleep. She slept and slept and slept, until 12:10pm. What a nice break for Mommy!

Between naps, we visited Ms. Kathy, who lives really close by. She has a son who grew up with Jarrad, so she's almost like family! She also JUST became a grandma, but her grandbaby lives on another continent for a few more weeks. I thought it might be nice for her to get a baby fix (even though I'm feeling less and less like Rachel's a baby anymore) as she looks forward to meeting her granddaughter, Ava. Rachel, as usual, enjoyed exploring Ms. Kathy's home and picking up Ms. Kathy's things, and sitting on Ms. Kathy's tiny footstool.

We came home right at what I thought would be a good time to put Rachel down for her afternoon nap. 3:15pm did not work out for her though. After going back and forth with her several times, I gave up around 4:30pm. Aunt Mamber came over, and Rachel was really glad to see her (it's been over a week!), so that was a good distraction for super-tired Rachel. She was in bed tonight at 7:30pm. I wonder what time morning will come for us...

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	5	8
poop	3	1

Does anyone out there think these are ridiculous numbers? She was doing fairly well today until her afternoon nap attempt. The problem is that she seems to have figured out that she can talk to me from her crib. So about 10 minutes after I lay her down, I hear her in the crib: "GOOgoo GOOgoo GOOgoo." She's saying potty...does she need to potty? I don't want to ignore her if she needs to potty. I gave her a chance to potty before her nap and she didn't go. Did she hold it so she could call on me like this? Fine, I'll go up there. And so I go. And her diaper is wet (or dirty, like it was this afternoon). I sit her on the potty. She's amused and doesn't do a thing. She's back in the crib, I leave, and wait...10 minutes later the sequence repeats. What in the world??? This afternoon, she went through THREE diapers like this. The first was dirty, and the other two were just barely wet, as if she had squeezed some out so she'd have an excuse to get out of the crib. Is that possible? She seems to little for such complicated manipulation...er...

cute moment

While Rachel was awake in her crib this morning, I heard her on the monitor, laughing. What made her laugh? I wish I knew what she was thinking sometimes!

non-toy toy of the day

Ms. Kathy has a wonderful set of bunnies who sit on the floor by her entertainment center. Rachel tried to pick them up, but they were too heavy. She scooted them around for a minute and then moved on to easier decor.

vacation: over

Last week was our first official summer beach vacation with Rachel. Wow. Taking a baby on vacation is a lot of work. In fact, I think Jarrad and I have a new appreciation for how much work our parents had to do to make our vacations happen. When we have experiences like this, we are often amazed to think about families with 4 or 5 children...how do they do it? I've always wanted a house full of children. If that is what the Lord has in store for us, and if I can manage to keep blogging, I guess we'll all find out how it happens!

Jarrad and I had originally planned to come home tonight, Monday night, but we decided to come home yesterday afternoon. Aunt Katie rode home with us, which was fun, since we don't get to see her much. However, we decided to leave in the afternoon instead of following our usual don't-take-a-car-trip-longer-than-two-hours-before-Rachel's-bedtime rule. Unfortunately, we failed to consider that our trip would be falling at the end of the weekend following the week of July 4th, when EVERYONE is at the beach. What should be a 3-hour trip turned into 4.5 hours, and Rachel, who slept peacefully for the first 1.5 hours, was completely distressed by the time we got home. And so was I. I rode in the backseat with her, and tried to entertain her. She went back and forth from being content to being hungry to being fussy to being sleepy to being downright mad. I felt so sorry for her, poor baby.

It was really nice to have an extra day at home, though. Jarrad's still technically on vacation, and we decided to continue vacating. We napped when Rachel napped, and we gave ourselves a free pass to relax. This afternoon, we went to the mall and walked around, and Rachel went to bed around 8:15pm (we've been pushing the time back bit by bit, and it seems like it might be working...maybe).

Progress Report

This week turned out to be such a great potty week. Rachel seems to be motivated again, and she is more consistently telling us when she needs to go, having a dry diaper, and then cooperatively sitting down and going. She acts proud of herself, and she seems to look forward to her reward (jumping up and down) and saying "bye bye, peepee" as we watch it flush down the toilet. She even went potty at the mall tonight (I bought her an On the Go Potty) I'm not getting my hopes up, though, as I anticipate more setbacks like the many we've had in our 5-month journey so far.

cute sad moment

This is the saddest cute moment I've ever reported. On the loooong trip home, strapped-down Rachel went through 5 to 10-minute stretches when all she did was look at me, whimpering, with sad, watery eyes and a frown, signing "help, please, help, please, help, please." It broke my heart.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel is more in love with shoes than ever before. She has begun acting like the queen of shoes, even at times demanding that we remove our shoes in her presence. When we take them off for her, she often just looks at them and continues playing with something else, as if she just wants to have the option of playing with the shoes. Crocs are her favorites. There were lots of Crocs at the beach, and Rachel took turns "wearing" them as she pranced around the condo or on the beach. Jarrad's Uncle Billy gave her the nickname, "Croc." (Incidentally, Uncle Billy played football at NC State, where his nickname was "peahead," because he wore the smallest helmet on the team.)