before
Ta-Da! Isn't it pwetty? (well, ignore the burned-out light)
after
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
The Picklesbane -- before & after
This is the closest I could get to a "before" picture -- note the seizure-inducing wallpaper in the background (if you can get past the diapered rabbit.... don't ask). (Miriam is just under two in this pic, FYI)
before
Ta-Da! Isn't it pwetty? (well, ignore the burned-out light)
after
before
Ta-Da! Isn't it pwetty? (well, ignore the burned-out light)
after
Diary of a Bathroom (aka The Picklesbane)
Week 1 – Aug. 30-Sept. 3
We had just finished the dining room & had our home blessing at the end of August, so we were feeling pretty pumped & ready to finish up the last 2 rooms of the house, the living room and main level half bath, or “powder room”. We spent this week doing prep – removing pictures from the walls, books from the shelves, etc. Walmart was out of a particular dye we needed for the paint, so we decided to tackle the bath first, since that required lots of prep (primarily removing wallpaper). We tried peeling off some wallpaper, thinking it would come off as easily as the paper in the DR, but it clung tenaciously to the wall, the stubborn stuff.
Week 2 – Sept. 6-10
Made a run to Lowe’s (we LOVE Lowe’s – it has something for everyone!) to get THE CLAW™ – a fun, deadly-looking pokey wallpaper-remover thingy that we had hoped to avoid purchasing initially, but oh well. It all seemed so easy:
Step 1 – perforate wallpaper with THE CLAW™.
Step 2 – spray holey wallpaper with blue gooey gel. Let sit for 15 mins, allowing gel to work its adhesive-dissolving magic.
Step 3 – scrape off soggy wallpaper.
Piece of cake!
Right?
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ – WRONGGG!!!!!!!!!!
It turned out more like this:
Step 1 – run THE CLAW™ over the walls (this was actually fun), everywhere you can reach, except for places like corners, near the ceiling, near the floor – basically within 2 inches of any edge (since the pokey things couldn’t reach that far).
Step 2 – spray wallpaper, ceiling, floor, door, self with sticky blue gooey gel. Allow to dry for 15 mins.
Step 3 – attempt to scrape off now-dry and even stickier wallpaper.
Repeat steps 2 (omitting the waiting part) and 3.
Step 4 – while removing wallpaper, remove large sections of underlying sheetrock as well. Note that some patches resemble a cat, a boot, a small continent.....
Step 5 – curse previous owners and whoever hung the wallpaper.
Step 6 – give up in despair and fix your self a martini.
Step 7 – call around to local army surplus stores and see if they sell hand grenades.
Week 3 – Sept. 13-17
Mrs. Pickles opened the door to the bathroom once or twice, sighed, and shut it again. Instantly imagining the worst case scenario, she had visions of spending a fortune having to replace all the sheetrock in the bathroom, causing her to sink into a home-improvement-project-induced depression. She called Walmart to see if they had the dye in yet. No luck. That certainly didn’t help either.
Week 4 – Sept. 20-24
Mr. Pickles decided to have mercy on Mrs. Pickles and pick up where she left off. He clawed the remainder of the walls and removed most of the rest of the paper (and large chunks of sheetrock as well). He also removed the light fixture (dropping & shattering one of the glass light shields in the process – oh well, guess we get to have a new one that matches!), took off the toilet tank, and loosened the sink cabinet so we could get behind/around those areas more easily. We also ran out of blue gel so we had to get another bottle. Mr. Pickles called Walmart to see if they had gotten the dye in yet. They hadn’t. Kmart also sells DutchBoy paint, so Mrs. Pickles made a quick trip to see if she could get the paint they needed there. After her experience with the customer nonservice there she resolved never to shop at Kmart again. (Mr. Pickles said it’s no wonder so many Kmarts are going out of business.)
Week 5 – Sept. 27-Oct. 3 (the first time we worked through a weekend)
Heartened by Mr. Pickles’s progress, Mrs. Pickles’s depression dissipated and she finished up the last few patches – using tools like pliers, tweezers, and a flat head screwdriver in the process (don’t ask). Then she washed the walls to get the rest of the adhesive off (it is REALLY sticky stuff – we’re wondering if they didn’t use some industrial strength stuff since it is a bathroom). On a roll, she decided to give Walmart one last chance. The manager of Walmart was then informed that he just lost a customer forever because she will NEVER shop there again. Mrs. Pickles next went to Lowe’s and had such a positive experience there. They know how to match paint samples! They know how to work their mixing machines! They know how to speak English! Mr. & Mrs. Pickles decided to buy stock in Lowe’s. Aside from paint Mrs. Pickles also bought the economy size tub o’spackling to patch up all the naked sheetrock. Unfortunately, she chose a rainy day to do it, so the spackling took FOREVER to dry. But once it was all sanded, we put on a coat of primer. Hooray!!! Visible progress! The day after, we applied the first coat of paint. Hooray!!! A yellow bathroom, finally! We celebrated by going out to eat (mostly b/c we were both too exhausted even to THINK about cooking dinner). :)
Week 6 – Oct. 4-Oct. 8
Mrs. Pickles applied the second coat of paint, and after a very creative moment during a bout of insomnia one night, designed and started painting the border accent. (As of today, this is still incomplete, but she doesn’t care anymore. Have we mentioned that by this time Mrs. Pickles was 7 1/2 mos. pregnant and getting decidedly slower?) She cleaned up the mess, Mr. Pickles installed the new light fixture, towel ring, & TP holder, and, *sniff* oh joy, we have a pretty, working bathroom again! Oh frabjous day!
We had just finished the dining room & had our home blessing at the end of August, so we were feeling pretty pumped & ready to finish up the last 2 rooms of the house, the living room and main level half bath, or “powder room”. We spent this week doing prep – removing pictures from the walls, books from the shelves, etc. Walmart was out of a particular dye we needed for the paint, so we decided to tackle the bath first, since that required lots of prep (primarily removing wallpaper). We tried peeling off some wallpaper, thinking it would come off as easily as the paper in the DR, but it clung tenaciously to the wall, the stubborn stuff.
Week 2 – Sept. 6-10
Made a run to Lowe’s (we LOVE Lowe’s – it has something for everyone!) to get THE CLAW™ – a fun, deadly-looking pokey wallpaper-remover thingy that we had hoped to avoid purchasing initially, but oh well. It all seemed so easy:
Step 1 – perforate wallpaper with THE CLAW™.
Step 2 – spray holey wallpaper with blue gooey gel. Let sit for 15 mins, allowing gel to work its adhesive-dissolving magic.
Step 3 – scrape off soggy wallpaper.
Piece of cake!
Right?
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ – WRONGGG!!!!!!!!!!
It turned out more like this:
Step 1 – run THE CLAW™ over the walls (this was actually fun), everywhere you can reach, except for places like corners, near the ceiling, near the floor – basically within 2 inches of any edge (since the pokey things couldn’t reach that far).
Step 2 – spray wallpaper, ceiling, floor, door, self with sticky blue gooey gel. Allow to dry for 15 mins.
Step 3 – attempt to scrape off now-dry and even stickier wallpaper.
Repeat steps 2 (omitting the waiting part) and 3.
Step 4 – while removing wallpaper, remove large sections of underlying sheetrock as well. Note that some patches resemble a cat, a boot, a small continent.....
Step 5 – curse previous owners and whoever hung the wallpaper.
Step 6 – give up in despair and fix your self a martini.
Step 7 – call around to local army surplus stores and see if they sell hand grenades.
Week 3 – Sept. 13-17
Mrs. Pickles opened the door to the bathroom once or twice, sighed, and shut it again. Instantly imagining the worst case scenario, she had visions of spending a fortune having to replace all the sheetrock in the bathroom, causing her to sink into a home-improvement-project-induced depression. She called Walmart to see if they had the dye in yet. No luck. That certainly didn’t help either.
Week 4 – Sept. 20-24
Mr. Pickles decided to have mercy on Mrs. Pickles and pick up where she left off. He clawed the remainder of the walls and removed most of the rest of the paper (and large chunks of sheetrock as well). He also removed the light fixture (dropping & shattering one of the glass light shields in the process – oh well, guess we get to have a new one that matches!), took off the toilet tank, and loosened the sink cabinet so we could get behind/around those areas more easily. We also ran out of blue gel so we had to get another bottle. Mr. Pickles called Walmart to see if they had gotten the dye in yet. They hadn’t. Kmart also sells DutchBoy paint, so Mrs. Pickles made a quick trip to see if she could get the paint they needed there. After her experience with the customer nonservice there she resolved never to shop at Kmart again. (Mr. Pickles said it’s no wonder so many Kmarts are going out of business.)
Week 5 – Sept. 27-Oct. 3 (the first time we worked through a weekend)
Heartened by Mr. Pickles’s progress, Mrs. Pickles’s depression dissipated and she finished up the last few patches – using tools like pliers, tweezers, and a flat head screwdriver in the process (don’t ask). Then she washed the walls to get the rest of the adhesive off (it is REALLY sticky stuff – we’re wondering if they didn’t use some industrial strength stuff since it is a bathroom). On a roll, she decided to give Walmart one last chance. The manager of Walmart was then informed that he just lost a customer forever because she will NEVER shop there again. Mrs. Pickles next went to Lowe’s and had such a positive experience there. They know how to match paint samples! They know how to work their mixing machines! They know how to speak English! Mr. & Mrs. Pickles decided to buy stock in Lowe’s. Aside from paint Mrs. Pickles also bought the economy size tub o’spackling to patch up all the naked sheetrock. Unfortunately, she chose a rainy day to do it, so the spackling took FOREVER to dry. But once it was all sanded, we put on a coat of primer. Hooray!!! Visible progress! The day after, we applied the first coat of paint. Hooray!!! A yellow bathroom, finally! We celebrated by going out to eat (mostly b/c we were both too exhausted even to THINK about cooking dinner). :)
Week 6 – Oct. 4-Oct. 8
Mrs. Pickles applied the second coat of paint, and after a very creative moment during a bout of insomnia one night, designed and started painting the border accent. (As of today, this is still incomplete, but she doesn’t care anymore. Have we mentioned that by this time Mrs. Pickles was 7 1/2 mos. pregnant and getting decidedly slower?) She cleaned up the mess, Mr. Pickles installed the new light fixture, towel ring, & TP holder, and, *sniff* oh joy, we have a pretty, working bathroom again! Oh frabjous day!
Friday, October 01, 2004
"Are you my mother?"
Our little girl is full of fun, and intelligence. She loves to sing, dance and read. One of Miriam's current favorite stories is “Are You My Mother?” No doubt Grandma Belland is happy about this, as this is book was (I believe) a gift from her, and she has recounted to me stories of when she read the book to her own daughter years ago.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the general plot, here's a quick summary. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!) Mama bird realizes that her baby bird will soon hatch, and, after hatching, he will undoubtedly be hungry. While away from her nest, Baby bird does hatch, and, to the wonder of the natural universe, he is born with the abilities to walk about and speak in complete sentences. Knowing that he must have a mother, it leaves the nest and searches the surrounding area for her.
The plot thickens as we realize that Baby bird does not know what Mother looks like. Traversing the local area, Baby bird asks a variety of different animals and objects whether or not any of them might be her mother. Some creatures look at Baby bird in surprise, while the objects (such as a boat or the remains of a post-collision Ford Pinto) can't respond at all. This vast array of specimens includes a cow, a chicken, an airplane, and a “"Snort!"”. At the end of the story Baby bird is happily reunited with his mother, joyfully proclaiming, "“You are not a cow. You are not a chicken. You are not an airplane or a Snort!. You are my mother."”
Recently, after chasing Miriam around the house, Greg hid on her. Genevieve would ask, "“Where's daddy?"” as she searched for me. When she finally found me she said, "“Daddy! You are not a tiger. You are not a lion. You are not an elephant. You are not a Kevin (our next door neighbor). You are a Daddy.”
Greg is quite happy that she didn't confuse him for an elephant--as neat as elephants may be. :)
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Have we mentioned...
... the fact that Miriam likes "The Sound of Music"? The other day I noticed she kept scooting up a flight of stairs, backwards, singing something about the sun and going to bed. Then she would lay her head on the top step -- and I realized she was singing Gretel's line from "So Long, Farewell"!!! That poor kid needs to get out more.
In other movie news, Miriam calls the musical "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" the Uncle Dave movie, since the main character Adam has a big bushy beard. :) (btw, she doesn't believe me when I show her earlier pictures of Unca Dave sans beard and try to convince her that's who it is.)
In other movie news, Miriam calls the musical "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" the Uncle Dave movie, since the main character Adam has a big bushy beard. :) (btw, she doesn't believe me when I show her earlier pictures of Unca Dave sans beard and try to convince her that's who it is.)
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Other Miriam News
Today's Headline: 2-year old speaks Latin!
Greg recently overheard our daughter repeating some words that sounded very familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out what she was saying. Then he realized that he was listening for the wrong language. Here's a sampling of what she said:
Greg couldn't believe it until he asked Genevieve to listen to her. She heard the same thing. When Greg said, "She's saying the Agnus Dei," Miriam looked up at him and started singing from the beginning.
In Other News
Miriam continues in her delight of singing songs from "The Sound of Music".
Miriam has picked up several songs. Genevieve mentioned a few of them in other posts. Here's another song she enjoys from "The Sound of Music"
The Goodnight Song ("…so long, farewell, …")
Miriam once hid behind a chair, then popped her head out to the side singing "Cu-koo, cu-koo".
Miriam continues in her delight of singing "TROGDORRRR!!!"
Due to the influence of her Uncle Joe and Aunt Rie, Miriam picked up this name (link soon to be attached if I can figure it out) and the song from which the name comes. The song is actually a humorous heavy metal ditty from something.com, ..., I mean homestarrunner.com. (Those of you familiar with the site will get that joke. Those who aren't, you'll just have to check out the website) For those of you who don't have the stamina for bad heavy metal (I know, as if regular heavy metal wasn't bad enough), the song is about a dragon who goes around and "burninates" (I'm sure that word is copyrighted) the villagers and the countryside.
When Miriam climbs up on Daddy's back, she'll occasionally say, in a gravelly voice, "Trogdorrrr!!". This must her battle cry or something, because she seems to expect him to march off like an ouliphant going to war.
I must admit that Miriam has had a bit of encouragement from her father, as he will occasionally sing it himself out of sheer enjoyment for the song's silliness.
Greg recently overheard our daughter repeating some words that sounded very familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out what she was saying. Then he realized that he was listening for the wrong language. Here's a sampling of what she said:
Agnus Dei
(muttering)
Qui tolis pekata
mundi
Mi-(muttering) nobis
Greg couldn't believe it until he asked Genevieve to listen to her. She heard the same thing. When Greg said, "She's saying the Agnus Dei," Miriam looked up at him and started singing from the beginning.
In Other News
Miriam continues in her delight of singing songs from "The Sound of Music".
Miriam has picked up several songs. Genevieve mentioned a few of them in other posts. Here's another song she enjoys from "The Sound of Music"
The Goodnight Song ("…so long, farewell, …")
Miriam once hid behind a chair, then popped her head out to the side singing "Cu-koo, cu-koo".
Miriam continues in her delight of singing "TROGDORRRR!!!"
Due to the influence of her Uncle Joe and Aunt Rie, Miriam picked up this name (link soon to be attached if I can figure it out) and the song from which the name comes. The song is actually a humorous heavy metal ditty from something.com, ..., I mean homestarrunner.com. (Those of you familiar with the site will get that joke. Those who aren't, you'll just have to check out the website) For those of you who don't have the stamina for bad heavy metal (I know, as if regular heavy metal wasn't bad enough), the song is about a dragon who goes around and "burninates" (I'm sure that word is copyrighted) the villagers and the countryside.
When Miriam climbs up on Daddy's back, she'll occasionally say, in a gravelly voice, "Trogdorrrr!!". This must her battle cry or something, because she seems to expect him to march off like an ouliphant going to war.
I must admit that Miriam has had a bit of encouragement from her father, as he will occasionally sing it himself out of sheer enjoyment for the song's silliness.
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Regarding Comments
An Alert Reader just pointed out to me that Blogger will try to get you to sign up before you can post a comment to any of our blogs. Don't DO IT!!! Don't FEEL PRESSURED!!! I think you can just click on the "post anonymously" link and you won't be harrassed to JOIN THE EMPIRE. (Of course, it would be nice if you left a name so we'd know whom to send the hatemail to--- I mean, who was leaving the comment.) :) (Okayyyy, can we tell I've had too much sugar today? I think the in utero Karate Kid can tell too...) If that doesn't work, I guess you'll just have to email us the old-fashioned way!
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Speaking of #3...
Hence the nickname "Peanut" (almost 2 mos.) 
at 20 wks, cuteness from head...
...to toe!
at 20 wks, cuteness from head...
...to toe!
Cuteness Update
I can't believe it's been over 3 months since our last Miriam update! Of course we've forgotten a lot of the hilarious/cute things she's done that we wanted to tell you all about (parental amnesia), but fortunately in a couple moments of foresight we jotted a few things down.
***************
A MUSIC CRITIC OF TENDER YEARS
Miriam has very discriminating musical tastes. One day when I was scanning through various radio stations, every time I paused at a pop station she would frown and say decidedly "No like dat moosic!" She seems to prefer Classical, especially "pano moosic". However, when I came to one with a steady beat, she smiled and started bopping her head. Only two and she's already a teeny bopper!
I'm still not sure what she thinks of my playing the piano at home -- she likes to sit nearby and read books while I'm playing, but every time I come to the end of a song, she cries, "Yay! Mommy all done pano!" Can't tell if that's supposed to be a subtle hint or not...
Miriam has a very good ear for music. I don't know if it's a sign of her superior intelligence or if it's just typical of all kids this age (I know which option her grandparents would choose!) but she catches on to songs and memorizes them very quickly. She's got pretty much all the songs from Sound of Music down pat. Her favorites are Do Re Mi and So Long, Farewell. Do Re Mi: for a while she would sing, "Re, a deer, I call myself" over and over, but now she can sing the whole song from the movie, including the "Do mi mi, mi so so" part. (She knows it even better than Dad!) So Long, Farewell: for a while she would BEG us to sing "in the hole, in the hole" and was very upset when we wouldn't comply. We had NO idea what she could possibly mean. Finally it dawned on me that she was quoting "in the hall" as in, "There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall." NOW she says, "Mommy, sing 'In the clock in the hall and the bells in the steeple too'? Please do dat for me?" (How can I resist?) :) Another popular request is, "Mommy, sing 'I like to stay and taste my first paint'?" (She's inherited her father's gift for making up words to songs that she doesn't really know.) ;)
She must be proud of the fact that she's a determined carnivore (sorry all you vegetarians out there!) -- another of her fav songs to sing at the top of her lungs is, "I've got a friend in meat!" (I wonder if the fact that she sings this the most after watching the Toy Story movies means anything?)
**************
A TWO YEAR OLD'S GRASP OF LANGUAGE
I know there's a tons of things we wanted to add here, but I could only remember a couple -- It's hilarious watching little kids buidling a language from the ground up. They seem to cycle through favorite words or phrases. For a while Miriam's was "do X NOW" as in, "Daddy, sit up NOW!" She gives her opinions very decidedly for so young a person. (10 points to whoever can place that quote!) Another "now" phrase has been "I'm busy wight now," used especially whenever we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do, like pick up her toys. I can't really be annoyed when she does this, because I know that she learned it from me!
**************
da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-
POTTY TRAINING UPDATE!!!!
(those of you with no children may want to skip this part)
Yes, we've started! We had thought about waiting until after #3 was born, but we figured we'd at least like to lay the groundwork beforehand even though she'll probably regress for a while. For the longest time she was resistant to the idea (as in, whenever I asked her if she's like to sit on the pot, she'd scream "NO! SIT! POTTY!!!"). So I didn't push it. However she LOVES reading books about toddlers being potty trained. One especially helpful one mentioned the attraction of Big Girl Pants. So I grabbed that idea and played it up as much as I could. However, Mom learned
Lesson #1) Kids do not respond to promises of abstract future rewards well.
Typical exchange: Mom: "Wouldn't you like to wear big girl pants someday?"
Miriam: "Yeah!"
Mom: "Okay, then let's sit on the potty for a little bit."
Miriam: "NO! SIT! POTTY!!!!!"
So the other day when we were bored we went out and bought some Big Girl Pants. Miriam had lots of fun helping to pick them out -- of course she chose some purple ones. And of course when we got home she wanted to try them all on, so we had NEW exchange:
Miriam: "I wanna wear big girl pants!"
Mom: "Okay, then we need to sit on the potty for a little bit first."
Miriam: "Okay!" [begins stripping off clothes]
Mom [thinking]: "Well, that was painless!"
Mom learned lesson #2: Never underestimate the power of BRIBERY.
I do have to confess that chocolate has also been used as an incentive. (When the choclate runs out I've got a bag of little cheapy party favor toys. Remember how much you used to love those?)
Anyway, we are happy to report that after one initial major accident (which she didn't like the feeling of AT ALL) we've pretty much had a string of successes. We weren't sure how things would go at first -- we didn't know if she could interpret the signals in time or maintain enough control. (I've been especially leery since we have all wall-to-wall carpeting!) But I guess she was ready!
And even though I'm getting a little tired of spending most of my days sitting on the bathroom floor, I am looking forward to not changing a toddler's dirty diapers any more!
So... now we get to start it all over again with #3 in a couple months!
da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-
*************
(FYI: we're counting the current in utero family member as #3. When somebody asks me how many children I have, I like to respond, "Three: one on earth, one in heaven, and one in the oven!") :)
***************
A MUSIC CRITIC OF TENDER YEARS
Miriam has very discriminating musical tastes. One day when I was scanning through various radio stations, every time I paused at a pop station she would frown and say decidedly "No like dat moosic!" She seems to prefer Classical, especially "pano moosic". However, when I came to one with a steady beat, she smiled and started bopping her head. Only two and she's already a teeny bopper!
I'm still not sure what she thinks of my playing the piano at home -- she likes to sit nearby and read books while I'm playing, but every time I come to the end of a song, she cries, "Yay! Mommy all done pano!" Can't tell if that's supposed to be a subtle hint or not...
Miriam has a very good ear for music. I don't know if it's a sign of her superior intelligence or if it's just typical of all kids this age (I know which option her grandparents would choose!) but she catches on to songs and memorizes them very quickly. She's got pretty much all the songs from Sound of Music down pat. Her favorites are Do Re Mi and So Long, Farewell. Do Re Mi: for a while she would sing, "Re, a deer, I call myself" over and over, but now she can sing the whole song from the movie, including the "Do mi mi, mi so so" part. (She knows it even better than Dad!) So Long, Farewell: for a while she would BEG us to sing "in the hole, in the hole" and was very upset when we wouldn't comply. We had NO idea what she could possibly mean. Finally it dawned on me that she was quoting "in the hall" as in, "There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall." NOW she says, "Mommy, sing 'In the clock in the hall and the bells in the steeple too'? Please do dat for me?" (How can I resist?) :) Another popular request is, "Mommy, sing 'I like to stay and taste my first paint'?" (She's inherited her father's gift for making up words to songs that she doesn't really know.) ;)
She must be proud of the fact that she's a determined carnivore (sorry all you vegetarians out there!) -- another of her fav songs to sing at the top of her lungs is, "I've got a friend in meat!" (I wonder if the fact that she sings this the most after watching the Toy Story movies means anything?)
**************
A TWO YEAR OLD'S GRASP OF LANGUAGE
I know there's a tons of things we wanted to add here, but I could only remember a couple -- It's hilarious watching little kids buidling a language from the ground up. They seem to cycle through favorite words or phrases. For a while Miriam's was "do X NOW" as in, "Daddy, sit up NOW!" She gives her opinions very decidedly for so young a person. (10 points to whoever can place that quote!) Another "now" phrase has been "I'm busy wight now," used especially whenever we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do, like pick up her toys. I can't really be annoyed when she does this, because I know that she learned it from me!
**************
da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-
POTTY TRAINING UPDATE!!!!
(those of you with no children may want to skip this part)
Yes, we've started! We had thought about waiting until after #3 was born, but we figured we'd at least like to lay the groundwork beforehand even though she'll probably regress for a while. For the longest time she was resistant to the idea (as in, whenever I asked her if she's like to sit on the pot, she'd scream "NO! SIT! POTTY!!!"). So I didn't push it. However she LOVES reading books about toddlers being potty trained. One especially helpful one mentioned the attraction of Big Girl Pants. So I grabbed that idea and played it up as much as I could. However, Mom learned
Lesson #1) Kids do not respond to promises of abstract future rewards well.
Typical exchange: Mom: "Wouldn't you like to wear big girl pants someday?"
Miriam: "Yeah!"
Mom: "Okay, then let's sit on the potty for a little bit."
Miriam: "NO! SIT! POTTY!!!!!"
So the other day when we were bored we went out and bought some Big Girl Pants. Miriam had lots of fun helping to pick them out -- of course she chose some purple ones. And of course when we got home she wanted to try them all on, so we had NEW exchange:
Miriam: "I wanna wear big girl pants!"
Mom: "Okay, then we need to sit on the potty for a little bit first."
Miriam: "Okay!" [begins stripping off clothes]
Mom [thinking]: "Well, that was painless!"
Mom learned lesson #2: Never underestimate the power of BRIBERY.
I do have to confess that chocolate has also been used as an incentive. (When the choclate runs out I've got a bag of little cheapy party favor toys. Remember how much you used to love those?)
Anyway, we are happy to report that after one initial major accident (which she didn't like the feeling of AT ALL) we've pretty much had a string of successes. We weren't sure how things would go at first -- we didn't know if she could interpret the signals in time or maintain enough control. (I've been especially leery since we have all wall-to-wall carpeting!) But I guess she was ready!
And even though I'm getting a little tired of spending most of my days sitting on the bathroom floor, I am looking forward to not changing a toddler's dirty diapers any more!
So... now we get to start it all over again with #3 in a couple months!
da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-da-na-la-
*************
(FYI: we're counting the current in utero family member as #3. When somebody asks me how many children I have, I like to respond, "Three: one on earth, one in heaven, and one in the oven!") :)
Sunday, September 12, 2004
First Post Ever
Welcome, friends and family to our little cyberhome! We've been planning for ages to set up a website so you could get family updates & pictures from us on a more regular basis, and peruse them at your convenience. We'll see how we like the blog thing.
(FYI the previous posts are repeats of updates we already sent out.)
Thanks for stopping by! God bless you all.
(FYI the previous posts are repeats of updates we already sent out.)
Thanks for stopping by! God bless you all.
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