Thing one and thing two

Today we went to the Warriors and Warbirds Veterans Day Celebration at the Monroe Airport. I am not kidding you when I say there is always something to do around here. I could find an activity for us every weekend. Anyway, it was an airshow with a whole bunch of planes from WWII. We arrived for the last performance, called Tora, Tora, Tora.

These planes were manufactured in 1967 for the movie Tora, Tora, Tora. They are modeled after the Japanese planes used to attack Pearl Harbor. The whole performance was a reenactment for the attack, with the planes actually dive bombing the airstrip. They used pyrotechnics to mimic the bombs too. I did not take pics because I was holding Leah. The pics here are from their website of past shows.


During the whole thing, the announcer was describing the scene for us. He explained exactly what happened to each ship that was hit, talked about the men who were able to get into planes to fight, and detailed the patterns of the attacking planes. I was teary practically the entire show, thinking about the battle and everything. It was pretty amazing. Erin, however, did not enjoy the noise. She squirmed and fussed the whole time, probably preventing Mike from truly enjoying it. Sorry, honey! Afterward, we were able to get into a helicopter and a CAT (communications-ammo transport AKA a big tank). There were so many old military vehicles there to see too. We had a great time.

Tonight we ate dinner at La Strada (the best pizza around these parts). While we were there, Erin said pee-pee again. I brought her into the bathroom. But you know how public toilets are. The opening in the front is as big as her bottom. So there was no comfortable way to sit her on the potty. She did go the tiniest bit, but just couldn't relax enough to go for real. I can't believe I will have to start carrying my potty seat cover in my diaper bag already!

Mountain biking with children

Today we went to Cane Creek Park to bike on their trails. I knew the trails were going to be unpaved, I thought like dirt paths. Not so much. It was actual mountain biking, going over tree roots and piles of leaves. Mike had Leah and I had Erin on the backs of our bikes too. I have to admit I was TERRIFIED at first. And poor Erin on the back. Her helmet hit the back of the bike seat with every bump. She just kept saying, "Mama, Mama," over and over. Then after a bit I heard her humming to herself. So I guess she got used to it. After I got over the fear of skidding on a root and losing control of my bike, I realized that biking through the woods this time of year is SO beautiful. I wish I had taken our "new" camera, but it's not like I could have stopped to take pictures.

Also, remember how I mentioned potty training a few posts ago? Well, today when Erin said pee-pee, I rushed her to the potty. She sat for a minute and Leah brought us a book. While I was reading to her, she strained, saying "Pee-pee?" and out it came! She pooped on the potty after telling me she had to go! It would be awesome if she could poop on the potty.

Ready for potty training?

Today Erin came over while we were getting ready for school and said, "Pee pee?" I immediately checked her diaper and it wasn't warm, so I assumed that she was just talking. Five minutes later when we were loading into the car, I smelled it. She had pooped. So do you think she really knew it was coming? If so, we are ready to start potty training. Just kidding, I am not about to go there. But I thought it was cool that she seemed to recognize that she had to go.

I feel guilty that today was the first day I did not stick to my training schedule. I have been so tired lately and my back has been hurting. I have this pain underneath my left shoulder blade. It only bothers me if I am doing something. It hurts the most when I put Erin into her high chair or a grocery cart. I probably pulled or strained something the other day when I was doing pull-ups. Anyway, I have been extraordinarily lazy and I am not happy about that. I guess I won't take a weekend day off.

Lacking one ring

I cannot wear my engagement ring anymore. I am so sad about it. It is not due to weight loss (I wish). It is because I think I am allergic to it all of the sudden. Every time I put it on I get this big ole rash on my ring finger that wakes me up at night. Once I take it off, it takes a week or so for the rash to go away. I have tried cleaning it well in case it was a chemical on the ring that was irritating me, but it didn't help. I can still wear my wedding band, thank goodness. But it sucks.

On another note Erin pooped in the potty today! She was looking like she had to go during dinner, so Mike took her and sat her on the Dora potty ring on the big potty. She cried a bit because it was hard for her to go, but I think sitting on the potty actually helped with gravity and no diaper and all. And then there it was! How cool is that? No wonder I want another baby! My baby is not a baby anymore. :)

Poop du jour

I have never in my life experienced a poop explosion of this magnitude. Here are the items sullied:

Erin's entire romper
the changing pad
the carpet in spots from the kitchen to the living room behind the couch
Erin's car seat
my shoe
my pants
Leah's pants
the bathroom sink (where said romper was rinsed)
the dryer (where said romper was sprayed heavily with stain spray)
the washer (where said items of clothing are currently swishing away)

Mike & I were just talking the other day about how Erin has peed/pooped out of diapers MANY times less than Leah. She is just neater, even down to spitting up and eating (so far anyway). But today topped them all. Even Leah's movie theater disaster didn't touch this for sheer number of items requiring cleaning. Thank goodness I was just getting home is all I have to say.

Note: I believe this is due to the fact that Erin has had glycolax in a juice bottle every day for a week. This is the first poop of exploding consistency she has had since she was a newborn.

Advice, please, people...

Okay, here is the deal. Leah goes to a 2 morning a week preschool. It is from 8:30 to noon and she gets lunch. I drive 20 minutes each way to bring her and pick her up. There are no special programs, just the teacher and an assistant with 12 kids doing art projects, circle time, playing outside, etc. She loves going. It costs us $260 a month.

When I was looking at preschools for her way back when, I had another school on my list to look at, but then I found Kids R Kids (where she is now) and did not look any farther. Well, just last week, Laurie went to visit the other one I never got to look at, First Presbyterian Church Preschool (they do not have a website that I can find). Their program runs 9-12 with no lunch. The place is MAX 10 minutes from me, in downtown Monroe. They do the "car rider pickup" in the afternoons so you don't have to get out of your car. You just pull to the overhang and they put your kid in your car. They have music class every Tuesday (from one of those kids music programs, not just a teacher doing music with them). Once a month, a lady comes to do a hands-on science project with them and she brings live animals for the kids to touch. Oh and did I mention it costs $108 for 2 days a week?

So you say, where is the advice? Sign her up! Well, here is my concern. This is a church-based preschool. If you know Mike and I at all, you know that we are only religious on our own terms. We are not ready for someone else to dictate what our children learn about God. I asked the director if there are any specific religious things they do in class. They sing a prayer before snack. I have no problem with that. Once a week (or month, I can't remember) the two and three yr olds have a Bible story lesson. She said they do ones like Noah & the Ark or Jonah & the Whale. The stories themselves I have no problem with. I am just afraid they will be pushing their own agenda and Leah is so intuitive she will pick up things that maybe I don't agree with.

So here is my dilemma: do I let her go, save lots of $ and just see what she picks up? Should I even be concerned about it? Our personal religious position is awkward because it doesn't fit into the tenets of any established religion. While I don't object to Leah learning about organized religion, I think she is a bit too young to have it thrown at her by strangers. At this point, she believes anything grown-ups tell her. I would prefer that she were old enough to really discuss it with us.

Thoughts???

As far as Leah's asthma, the steroids have helped some and she took the last dose this morning. She is now on Singulair, which is a daily medication for asthma. The dr said it will take at least 2 weeks to know whether it is working. Her goal is to completely eliminate the coughing. In a month we will re-evaluate and see if this is the best long term solution.

P.S. Erin pooped last night for the first time in a week! I was already preparing with all the tricks to try to get her to go. She had been eating prunes for 4 days and when I walked into her room at 5am it smelled like prunes so bad! :) I had to take the diaper out to the big trash can, it smelled so strong. So we are better now. I was nervous to have a repeat of Leah all over again but hopefully it was a one time thing.

Underwear a Go-Go

Just a quick note to say that Leah has been wearing big girl underwear for the past 2 days. There have been NO accidents (knock on wood) and she has even pooped on the potty twice! Maybe we've got it figured out. I have not given her her constipation medicine yet because whenever I do, her next poop is not solid and she has not ever done that BM on the potty yet. So I have been holding out because she has been going on her own fairly often. I would LOVE to be done with the meds though...

Erin has been having a little rice cereal and a fruit or veg at dinner time each day this week. Some days she does better than others. She downed bananas and was okay with peas. Pears were not a favorite though (which I was surprised at). After giving her a bite or two the past two nights, she has been straining like she has to go the bathroom. Now I am freaked out because this is how it started with Leah. I am already starting to think about switching to oat or barley cereal and nixing the rice. That is what I had to do with Leah and also cut out bananas totally too. I hope Erin doesn't turn out with that same issue!

Just to refresh my memory

I got the chance to relive the good old days when I constantly had poop or spit-up on my clothing. I took Leah to the children's movie of Charlotte's Web today. Toward the end, she was getting restless so I put her on my lap, hoping to last the rest of the movie. As I stood up to gather our stuff after it was over, my pants felt wet. Once I got out into the light I looked down saw a wet spot on my pants where she had been sitting. In the bathroom I discovered that she had EXPLODED out of her diaper on both sides and up the back JUST LIKE A NEWBORN! We had to exit the theater with me, poopy pants, and Leah, naked except for a diaper and sandals. Quite the picture. Needless to say I did NOT get to stop by the grocery store on the way home like I was going to.

One more reminder how FUN those days are.

Note to self: pack extra clothes for EVERYONE!

P.S. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Leah is now on meds for constipation so those kinds of poops are not unusual, just not usually so explosive.

A day to remember

When Leah woke up from her nap, she said "Poo Poo?" So I thought she had pooped and I took her to change her diaper. Her diaper was clean and I was about to put it back on when I noticed she was starting to go to the bathroom. We ran downstairs and I put her on her potty. She didn't really want to stay there, but we read Eight Silly Monkeys and by the end, she had POOPED on the POTTY! I took a picture of the actual poop too (such a first time mommy). This picture was taken after everything was all over. She had been running around while I looked for the camera. I asked her to sit back on the potty and say cheese and she did. It showed a little too much for comfort so I blurred out the inappropriate areas. :)

My baby is so big now!