2010

I realized that I only wrote 14 blogs last year. That is not impressive at all. At our blogging peak, we wrote almost 90 in one year. I guess with a lack of time and busier lives blogging falls down on the list, but I still like having it around. I am not going to commit to writing more blogs. Every blog I read usually has a low point and then they swear they will write more and they don't. I will just say that I will continue to post as I have time and something to say. There used to be two of us doing this, but m quit years ago....

Updates:

1. Potty Training: all done. check. [famous last words]. EG has done great. She wears panties all day and usually through nap as well. I sometimes put her in a pull up at nap if she has had a ton to drink, but she wakes up dry. I think that is about me not wanting her to have a bad experience (waking up with wet panties). She does wear a pull up at night, but she is waking up dry in the mornings too. I really had this potty training built up in my mind as a struggle, but so far it has been fine. Again, she was ready. It was her decision.

2. Getting out of bed. EG has been in a toddler bed since late summer. She has always been really good at staying in bed and going to sleep until winter break. She started getting out of bed after we put her down. These are things we have "caught" her doing:

twirling in her room
running down the hallway
sitting at the top of the stairs
reading books to elmo
playing with her new jewelry box
looking for dress up clothes

We were totally frustrated with the "game" of going upstairs and getting her back in bed. After a few days of thinking about it I went to find our old Dr. Ferber book. Sure enough, he had an entire chapter dedicated to this very issue. It made me feel better that it was a common issue and he had ideas for solving it. We used his method (as we always have) and of course within two nights and 3 minutes (total) of crying she was staying in her bed again.

3. Once we solved the getting out of bed and playing issue and potty training had settled down we realized EG was still having trouble sleeping. She would wake up and just need something -- covers put back on, kisses, a little rocking in the rocking chair, etc... What we started to put together is that she was cold during the night and/or uncomfortable. Her covers weren't big enough, she had so much stuff in her toddler bed that she couldn't move around so.....

4. Time for the big girl bed. Her crib converts to a full size bed, so we went to the mattress store and let her try out a lot of mattresses and we picked one out. I went and picked it up on Friday afternoon (we figured a 3-day weekend was a good time to try and transition) and brought it home. After an hour of trying to "convert" the bed we finally got it done. We put on the linens and EG practiced getting in and out of bed.

5. She has done great with the big bed for the two nights she has had it. She has trouble settling down to fall asleep -- she's pretty excited about the bed -- but once she falls asleep she stays asleep until morning. Hoping this continues. This morning when she got up she said, "My feet have room in my new bed!"

Potty Training

When the girl makes up her mind -- it's all done. Here is how it started:

1. Daycare started talking about pull-ups and being a big girl.
2. Bribes: 1 chocolate chip for trying, 2 for peeing, and 3 for the whole deal.
3. Other little girl (who has two older sisters) at daycare started going potty and wearing panties. The other little girl and EG are about two months apart.

EG asked me on the way home one day when we could read books in bed. I told her when she is a big girl and doesn't have to wear diapers we will get her a big bed and we can read books in bed.

We got home and she asked to pee on the potty and wear a pull up. That was about 4 days ago and today she wore panties all day. She even woke up at 1am last night and came to get me because she had to potty. She woke up dry this morning.

We have no idea where this is going. We haven't read a book or researched it at all (so not like us). I think this is one of those things that really isn't about us or how we do it. She was ready to try it - so she did.

We aren't getting rid of the diapers or changing table yet. We will just see how it goes.



e-

The Christmas Card Question

I think with the invention of FACEBOOK the entire Christmas card sending ritual is becoming questionable. Throughout the year, we post on FACEBOOK a few of our favorite moments and a couple of great pictures. As this holiday season rolls around, the question is - do we need to send out photo/xmas cards?

I think the answer is yes. I still have friends who are not on FACEBOOK (although that number is shrinking). I also don't have business associates on my FACEBOOK page. I try to keep my worlds somewhat separate. Many of my older family members still don't have a computer. Additionally, how do I know if people are actually checking their social network sites?

Here is the real reason to send out Christmas cards: they make people happy. I love going to the mailbox each day during the season and seeing how much the children of my friends and family have grown. Reading the holiday letters entertains me. We keep all of our cards from the year before so we know who to send cards to the next year and it is fun to compare cards from year to year.

Finally, I write on my xmas cards. I try to write a small personal note on the back of each card. It only takes a few minutes, but for those few minutes I am talking to an old friend, a dear family member, or some other person who means something to me.

I will send out cards this year. I will treasure the ritual of sitting on the couch with a black sharpie, an address book, last year's cards, stamps, and write to each of my people and sharing a memory of them - if only for a few moments.

Now - how to choose which card -- which picture -- what saying. Religious? Non-Religious? Oh, the decisions. I will be using shutterfly. I have made about three Shutterfly books and loved them. Additionally, a few years ago we had shutterfly xmas cards and adored them. We tried other places with "cheaper" price and ended up with cheaper cards. I couldn't stand last year's card.

I really like this card for this year.

And, I will continue to use SHUTTERFLY for my books. They are so fun and easy to make!

Happy Halloween!

She did great. EG said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you " each time. We went to about eight houses and then came home and handed out candy. She was fearless.

Bud Lite Year

Two weeks ago we decided that EG should see her first movie. It was a chilly Saturday night and instead of Sesame Street we put in Toy Story. Every night since then we have watched the first 25 minutes of Toy Story. It is pretty cute to watch her learn about Woody and "budlityear".

She has transitioned into her toddler bed. We bought her an OK to Wake alarm clock. We worked with her for days and days until she learned that she can't come out of her room until the light turns GREEN! It took a month (like everything does with her), but now she stays in her room until 5:30 a.m.

We are all very excited about fall....cooler temps...pretty leaves...pumpkins....

Night One with the Toddler Bed

One 3 a.m. wake up. We think she woke up a little confused and scared. After a diaper change and some hugs it was right back to bed. There was a 5:20 a.m. wake up call.... We will see what tonight brings.

Toddler Bed

EG is becoming a "big girl" so fast. She has gotten taller, talks non-stop, asks "why" all day long, and this morning she crawled out of her crib. She came barreling into our room and said, "I got out of my crib all by myself." I was completely out of it and it took me a few seconds to figure out what happened. When we both figured it out, M and I just started laughing. EG was VERY proud of herself.

We then spent the morning going to church and pondering if we should:
a. keep her in the crib and threaten her not to get out
b. go and buy a mattress and box-spring and put it on the floor
c. go all out and convert the crib to the full-size bed it will become one day -- this would also mean buying all new bedding (which I had already picked out....and loved)

I really wanted to visualize what her convertible crib would look like as a full size bed. I googled for awhile and found some pictures. We then realized that her crib could become a day-bed. Holy cow. Super easy. We went upstairs, pulled out four screws, found the old crib skirt (which we almost sold on ebay), and voila a great transition from crib to "freedom". We had no idea the bed would do that. We should have really paid attention when we bought it. We did that all before nap.

Nap was funny. She was told to "stay in her room and take a nap". She played for an hour. She destroyed her room. We had already "super toddler proofed" the room a few weeks ago because we figured this was coming. M went up every 30 minutes and reminded EG to take a nap. Finally, she fell asleep and slept for an hour.

This evening she went down in her new "toddler bed" and within 5 minutes she was out. We will see what the night brings and we will see how early she "visits" us in the morning.

A summer in pictures

I am now 2

She is now a 2-year-old full force. Demanding, full of hugs and kisses, and talking up a storm. Here are a few pics....the one with the orange hood is her Halloween costume from last fall....she just had to try it on and then wear it for 30 minutes.

2 years old

Happy 2nd Birthday sweet EG.

EG asked for three things for her birthday: toothpaste, panties, and cupcakes.

She got all three.

We also take a picture of her first thing in the morning on her birthday....

First Haircut

EllaGrace was born with white peach fuzz all over her head. By 2 months she had lost all of that and was completely bald. Completely. Before her first birthday she started to grow hair from the base of her neck up. This, after a year, resulted in a mullet. The back of her hair was full of curls and was long enough to put into two pony-tails, but the sides and front were still very short and wavy.

Yesterday, we took her in for her first haircut (more of a shaping). She did great. She sat very quietly and did everything we ask her to do (look down, look up, etc...). Her hair is much shorter in the back now and the mullet is gone. She still has her curls too....

We moved back

We thought we would go to wordpress.com because it allows us to password protect our posts, however wordpress charges you 60 bucks for a video upload....we are way too cheap to pay that so we are back to free blogspot.

EG is doing great. She is 22 months old and talks all day long. We have changed her schedule...FINALLY!!! It only took us 20 months to do it. This is what her day looks like now:

6:30am: wake up
7:15am: breakfast
9:00am: snack
11:00am: lunch
11:30am - 1:30pm: nap
2:00/3:00pm (depends) - snack
5:00 pm: dinner
6:30pm: bath
7:00pm: bedtime

It is so much easier to manage the afternoon without having to rush to get dinner on the table by 4:30 pm

So, what fun has she been having...see below...building forts...discovering Easter fun...figuring out how to reach the cookies...











Thank you for coming back to our blog! Sorry about all the changes!

Nicknames

What we call her...

EG
Ella
EllaBella
EllaBellaMozzarella
Sugarfoot
Babylove (her Ninna's favorite)
Bug
Goose
SillyGoose
Monkey
Pookie May
Darling
Honey

A Year in Pictures

What I've Been Doing This Winter

Sitting in snowbanks...

Learning about static electricity...

Sledding...

Putting ribbons in my hair...

Taking down the Christmas tree.