Today I rearranged a bit of our house around and the sunroom is now officially CootieGirl’s playroom (and eventually CootieBoy’s when he’s old enough to actually do more than sit and drool all over himself). There are still “adult” things in there – my small table linen cabinet, our two large bookshelves that house our 1,500 cd collection and a looming tree/plant thing that I “inherited” from my parents last year and have managed not to kill. I brought out a few of the toys we had been keeping in the garage due to lack of space and tonight I’ll have CootieDad bring up one of the bins from the basement that has the toys that CootieBoy will be playing with in a month or so. I took out the theater seats I had in there as well as the velvet bench (theater seats are now in the living room and the velvet bench is in the garage until I can figure out what to do with it).

Compared to Ms. Deby’s house (our former childcare provider) our toy room is sadly lacking, but CootieGirl did double her toys this Christmas and I have a feeling that they’ll multiply again when her birthday arrives in April.

We’re gonna need a bigger house.

CootieGirl is in the bath right now – she loves taking baths but she hates having the water poured over her face when we’re getting the soap out of her hair.

One of our cats is named Stinky. As CootieDad is bathing her he’s having her holler out for Stinky. “INK! IIINNKKK! IIINNNNKKKKK!!!!!” I think he’s trying to distract her just before the waterfall over her face.

I think CootieGirl is going to end up being a sleep-talker. How do I know this? Because when she sleeps she makes noise – and not just any noise.

A few nights ago she screamed in her sleep but when I walked in her room she was sound asleep and not even close to being awake.

Here in VA the four Cooties are sharing a room, and CootieDad and I have been awakened both nights by her noises – moans, cries, screams. Each time CootieDad thinks she’s awake and in need of comfort, but I quietly tell him she’s sleeping, and sure enough she never makes another peep until then next moan, cry or scream. So weird, and a bit disconcerting.

Fortunately, Infant Son has not woken up due to her cries, which gives me hope that once back from vacation we’ll be able to put him in the crib in their room from now on and that we’ll get our bedroom back to ourselves.

Another item of note – this morning after going potty (it only took 45 seconds of crying before she did what she had to do) we put on a pretty pink pull-up diaper. No more bulky size 5 diapers. The past two days we’ve only had dry diapers from her because she’s actually waiting and using the potty. Yippee!!

More success this morning with the potty training. I woke up CootieGirl around 8 a.m. and as she got out of bed she pointed at her diaper and said, “Dirty!” I asked her if she needed to go potty and she said yes. I stripped off her pjs and her diaper and sat her on her potty. She was a little upset about it, but I kept reassuring her that it was okay.

She got a concerned look on her face and said “Dirty!” again, pointing at the potty. I didn’t think anything of it and continued to tell her it was okay and if she needed to pee or poop she could. And typing that sentence makes me realize that I’m probably going to get a bunch of sickos at this website.

Anyway, after a few more minutes sitting there I asked her if she was done and she said yes. She stood up and I saw that she had actually pooped in the potty! I was thrilled! I had been told by other moms that it’s the bowel movements that are hardest to get kids to potty train for, but apparently when you gotta go, you gotta go!

Obviously, lots of praise, hugs and kisses after she “flushed” her toilet and got a new diaper on.

And then, yes, I had to go clean the thing. The worst part of the whole experience.

Update at 1:20 p.m.: She just woke up from her nap and after our “good mornings!” (as though she were waking up after a full night’s sleep) I asked her if she wanted to go on the potty. She said yes, and I led her there. Again there was a brief protest, but she eventually calmed down. After a few minutes she said, “Done!” and I thought she hadn’t done anything but didn’t feel like pressing the issue. But alas, when I helped her stand up she had peed in the potty! I felt like doing a jig right there in the bathroom.

The other development of the weekend was CootieGirl’s speech. It seems as though the switch has officially been flicked because this weekend CootieGirl copied everything we said.

CootieGirl, that’s great!
“GREAT!”
CootieGirl, that’s so nice!
“NICE!”
CootieGirl, do you want bread?
“BREAD!”
CootieGirl, wow!
“WOW!”
CootieGirl, time to go to bed?
“NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

This is posted at both Cootiepie and Cootiehog

Today we had Family Christmas with CootieDad’ side of the family. A few days ago two of the gifts arrived for CootieGirl. They were items I had put on my Amazon wishlist that were specifically for her – a portable booster seat and a toddler potty.

After all the other presents were unwrapped and cooed over I opened the potty box. There were mild instructions for putting in the battery related to the flushing sound the potty makes when the toddler pulls the handle. It took Uncle Peter and I a few minutes to do this because when installing the battery the mechanism kind of unhinged and we had to put it back together. It works now, but you have to pull the handle UP to get the flushing sound, not down.

CootieGirl was thrilled with her potty and as soon as it was functional she began sitting on the seat, saying “My potty” and things of that sort. She kept lifting the lid, sitting, then standing and closing the lid. This went on for a good hour.

So just about 15 minutes ago, all is quiet in the house save for CootieGirl and I playing on the floor with her booster seat (the other hit present of the day). She suddenly stood and went over to the potty.

“Potty,” she said, and made a motion to pull down her pants.

“You want to take off your pants?” I asked her, and she nodded. I helped her get her pants off and then she asked for her shirt to be removed, so I took that off as well. Then she grabbed at her diaper, whining for it to be taken off. I took it off and she promptly sat down on the potty.

“Dirty,” she said (which is the word we say when we know her diaper needs to be changed). I nodded and said, “Yes, this is where you go when you know you will pee or have a dirty diaper.”

Seconds later she’s peeing in the potty. In the nude. In the middle of our living room next to the Christmas Tree. Such holiday joy.

I praised her and when she stood up I went to show her how to use the toilet paper (a roll hangs off the potty) but she balked and so I showed her that she needed to put used toilet paper in the potty. After I did that she promptly grabbed it and took it out. A nice soaking, dripping-with-urine wad of toilet paper in her hands and over my hardwood floors.

I shrieked a little bit, which made her cry, but I quickly replaced my shrieks with cries of “You did great! You used the potty! Yay!” but inwardly my skin was crawling because ewww. I had her drop the wad back into the toilet and dropped the lid on the potty. Taking her arms (not her hands because ewww) I led her upstairs and continued praising her all the way up. I wiped her (and me) down with diaper wipes and then took a quick dip in the decontamination chamber (I wish). I put a fresh diaper on her and again praised her for using the potty. She then watched me clean the removable bowl from the potty in the bathroom sink and replace it into her potty, where she promptly pointed and said, “dirty!” and sat down on the potty seat again.

She’s hooked, I think. Who knew she’d take to potty training this soon (20 months)? I plan on taking the potty with us to my family’s house in Virginia – since we’re going to be there with her 24 hours a day for 7 days it’s the perfect opportunity to get her potty trained or as close to it by the new year.

Huzzah!

Here’s my own CootieGirl’s development story. I forgot CootieGirl’s cup filled with milk in the house as I was about to drive them over to the babysitter this morning. I ran back inside and got the cup, opened the side door, rushed the milk into her hands and closed the door again. As the door is closing I heard CootieGirlsay, clear as day, “Thank You.” So good to see our training is paying off.

Then when we were at the babysitter’s house this morning, she saw some mini M&M’s on a table that she wanted to eat. I asked her to say please and she could have one. Sure enough, out came the word “Please.” She’s so good.

I haven’t posted in a while – things have been hectic! CootieGirl continues to be a fun little girl (pictures in the photoblog can attest to that)!

Her vocabulary continues to amaze me. Last night upon returning home from Ms. Deby’s she didn’t want help taking off her sweater. With very little guidance from me she managed to get it off most of the way before fussing and asking for my help. Soon she’ll be picking out her own clothes to wear, I’m sure.

After dispensing with the sweater, she took my hand, led me into the kitchen and pointed at the upper cabinet where her raisins are (the girl loves her some raisins). I said, “You want some raisins?” and she nodded and said “Raisins!” clear as day.

Upon getting some raisins for her we retired to the tv room and I put on The Wiggles for her – she promptly pointed at the tv and said, “Wiggles!” plain as day.

She giggled and gasped her way through Wiggles and CootieBoy’s Baby Mozart dvd (which she HATED as an infant but loves now) and then we got on the floor and started playing with her megablocks. She poured the entire bag of blocks on the floor then had me hold a large piece while she interchanged various small pieces on top of it.

While playing with her I was also trying to entertain CootieBoy, who was in the bouncey seat next and she would have none of it. Whenever I tried to giggle with CootieBoy, she said, “No!” and would force my attention back to her. Fortunately CootieBoy was in a decent mood and let me focus 90% on CootieGirl and 10% on him.

After dinner I got her ready for bed and at about 8 p.m. I settled her down with only a couple minutes of fussing. We read a book together, she finished drinking her water, and she laid down in bed while holding her doll.

She’s a good girl – a bright girl, and I love her to death.

I’ve read how other mothers are already teaching their 18+ month olds the alphabet and numbers and all that crap. I figure she’s got plenty of time for that so I’m not too stressed, although I think I will start showing her the alphabet flash cards we have from time to time.

My new obsession is teaching CootieGirl her various body parts. For a long time she’s known nose (that was the first one she learned), ears, eyes, mouth, belly, feet, hands, fingers, and toes. This past weekend it only took a few tries for her to learn where her CHIN was. Then Jen and I tried to teach her where her cheek is (the one on her face, thankyouverymuch) and it’s still a thinker for her, but when I point at my own cheek she quickly nods and digs her finger into her cheek. I’m also going to try and teach her where her neck and knees are over the next couple of weeks. Then we’ll work on back, butt, ankles, and elbows – those are the tricky ones. And don’t even get me started one when we might teach her about her *ahem* other parts.

It took me 2 hours to get CootieGirl to lay down for a nap today. She had lunch around noon and then CootieDad took her up. After getting her into her bed she played for a long time and we were okay with that – that’s a normal thing as long as she stays in her bed we don’t mind.

But then she got out of bed and went over to her bookcase and started playing with the toys over there. For about 30 minutes she quietly played with her blocks and again, I was okay with it because I figured that she’d eventually go back to her bed and pass out.

Going on 2 p.m. she was still awake and I was desperate for a nap, so I went into her room, got in the big bed and had her join me. Well, for the next 45 minutes she played with me – she headbutted me, she crawled all over me, she took my watch and began playing with it, she attempted to play with my glasses, she moved the pillows all over the bed, etc. On and on, and every now and again she’d still come up to my face and kiss me or hug me or smack me (in fun, of course).

So at 2:45 I was determined to get her to sleep, so I picked her up when she got off the bed to continue playing, and I put her in her bed.

The shrieking began – horrible shrieking as though I was poking hot needles in her body (which I wasn’t, by the way, I was merely attempted to lay a fleece blanket on her). We struggled for another 45 minutes. I kid you not. Other moms would have given up at the five minute mark and just taken their kids downstairs to continue playing. But considering the fact that between the shrieks my kid was 1) yawning, 2) rubbing her eyes, 3) which were practically closed, I knew she just was fighting sleep (much like her younger brother).

I think about a hundred times I picked her up and put her back on her bed when she tried to crawl out. On and on it went – the shrieking, the tears (real ones), the determination NOT to fall asleep. Finally, I gave in and picked her up and held her, asking her to put her head on my shoulder. I stood there rocking her in her room for a good 15 minutes. I made a move to the bed and she whimpered, so instead I sat in the chair next to her bed and rocked her a few more minutes. Finally her whole body twitched and then relaxed and I knew she was asleep. I waited another minute or two and then laid her in bed, put a blanket over her and walked out of the room.

Of course now my daughter STARTED her nap at 4 p.m., and I can either take a chance that she’ll sleep the whole night through, or wake her up at 5:30 p.m. and then let her stay up for a couple hours before going back to bed – but I don’t want another battle.

But I have no idea why she didn’t want to stay in her toddler bed. She has never reacted that violently against going to sleep. She’ll fuss, sure (what toddler doesn’t), but she would have rather DIED than sleep in that bed today. Weird.