The long sought after pee in a cup

Yesterday began with a doctor's appointment for Alexandra.  We were worried she had a bladder infection, so I took her to the doctor.  I knew they would have to get a urine sample, so all the way there I talked about how she would need to pee in a cup.  "OK, Mom, I can do it", she said.  She's had to do this once before and did a great job.

(For those who aren't experienced with little kid bladder infections, the alternative to peeing in a cup in a catheter, which is one of the most horrific things I have had to watch my child go through when Alex was a baby.  I will do pretty much ANYTHING not to have her go through that again.)

Attempt #1:  8:30am Doctor's Office
Alex starts in a good mood but no pee.  She finally announces "It's too hard." and gets off the potty.

We begin to drink a bottle of apple juice.

Attempt #2 9:00 Doctor's Office
Apple juice is now 1/3 gone.  After numerous bribery attempts by mom, Alex announces that yes, she will indeed pee in a cup for a sticker.  We try for 10 minutes with Alex saying how hard it is to pee and then she says "no Mom, I will not pee.  I don't want the sticker."

Attempt #3 9:30 Doctor's Office
Apple juice now 1/2 gone.  Nurse has bribed Alex with markers and coloring book to keep drinking apple juice.  Alex's hands are now covered in markers as is her cheek where she has rubbed it on.  I pull out my secret weapon...the iphone.  Alex sees me playing her favorite game, Peekaboo Barn, and asks to play.  I tell her I would be happy to let her play as soon as she pees in the cup.  She agrees.  After 5 minutes with no pee, I promise to buy her a car if she gives up just 3 drops of pee.  No dice.  She begins her drama queen wailing, letting all those outside of the bathroom know how she is certainly being mistreated.  We leave the bathroom and announce to the nurse and doctor that we will now be leaving without a drop of pee hitting the cup.
We are sent out into the world with a specimen cup just in case at some future time in her life, my daughter decides to pee again. 

Attempt #4 Daycare 4:30pm
When I pick Alex up from daycare, I ask the teachers if maybe they can help me have Alex pee in the cup.  I figure she's now just pissed at any combo of mom, the cup and pee, so maybe changing it up a bit would help.  After attempts by three teachers, and bribes including a princess sticker, a rubber frog named Blurble, and a pee party with her friend Nicole, Alex still refuses to contribute to the cup.


Attempt #5 6:30pm Target
After a pizza dinner and a half bottle of gatorade, we head with daddy to Target for some shoes shopping for Jack.  Jack announces he has to pee.  Alex follows suit.  John asks, quietly, "Do you have the cup?"
We get to the restroom where Alex immediately protests when I pull the specimen cup out of my jacket.  "No mommy, only daddy can hold the cup for me."  I am down with that, little girl.  I am TIRED of crouching over the potty with you!

Success.

Official delivery of specimen cup to the doctor's office...7:15pm.

I think her shirt says it all

L-O-V-E

And then I bought him an aluminum bucket...

Friday is our 10th wedding anniversary. I could go on and on about how much has happened in 10 years and how things have changed but stayed the same and love grows and kids kick your ass, but lets get on to the important stuff. Like what are we getting each other for our anniversary. It's a biggie, after all.

Well, the powers that be, lame as they are, decided that the 10th anniversary gift should be tin. Tin, really? I mean, what am I supposed to get him? A can of soup? OK, moving on. The modern tradition for 10 years is aluminum...wait...C'MON!!!! I mean, who are these idiots? Tin and aluminum? Who were they- Alcoa stockholders?

Well, screw that. John and I are declaring a new tradition for 10 year anniversaries. Behold, the iPhone anniversary. That's right, we bought each other iPhones. And we will celebrate our anniversary by sitting close and staring adoringly into our iPhones while we download all the greatest applications. And send cutesy text messages to each other. Because THAT my friends is love.

Funyuns!

I surprised Jack today by going up to the school cafeteria to eat lunch with him. He was really excited to see me and even more excited to show me what he was eating...FUNYUNS! You know, those onion ring shaped chips that taste incredibly awesome and have no nutritional value whatsoever? He had bought them with his lunch account that I fund so he can buy milk. We have been packing his lunch every day at his request.

So when I saw him with FUNYUNS, I did a double take. Then I looked around and noticed 5 boys all around him, all holding FUNYUN bags. They were ALL scarfing them down. And not one of them, including Jack, had touched any other part of their lunch.

It suddenly dawned on me why Jack is bringing home a half eaten lunch the past few days.

FUNYUNS!

The elementary school timesuck...

I have always enjoyed being involved at the school where my kids attended preschool. I manage the vegetable and herb garden there and enjoy showing the kids what we are growing and teaching them small somethings about the garden. So when Jack moved up to elementary and they asked for volunteers for various things, I of course signed up. My first foray was as a library helper. I help the kids in Jack's class during their library time to check books in and out.

My first day there I was thrown a couple of curve balls, including an 8-year old asking one of the most complicated questions I have ever tried to decipher. It was like I was trying to unravel the Da Vinci code, trying to understand what this kid meant. And every time I would ask her a follow-up. more of the puzzle would tumble out of her mouth. Next was the damn library computer system. Damn, who designed this thing? Finally, I realized why they ask for these library volunteers. Because they have this poor librarian who has an endless stream of classes coming in all day. Literally one class in, another class in, first class out, third class in, second class out, and so on... They don't even schedule a lunch time for this woman. They have to ask for volunteers and IF they get enough volunteers to cover the library at the right time, ONLY THEN can she have a lunch time out of the library. And BTW, she also leaves the library for an hour to cover the desk in the front office. Good lord!

My next volunteer opportunity was to be a guest reader for Jack's class. Seemed simple. Show up, bring a book, read, leave. Give the teacher a 5 minute break to catch her breath. I show up at the allotted time and sit in the OFFICIAL ROCKING CHAIR FOR READING. I show the class my book (Officer Buckle and Gloria- one that Jack and I had selected the night before as having a great storyline and some really funny parents). I was promptly told by one of Jacks classmates "Oh, we have that in our reading area. That's an old one." I bucked up and soldiered on! "Great, then I guess you guys can make sure I read it correctly!"

...still looking for the awesome volunteer buzz...

Finally, I heard they were starting a garden. A garden??? My ears perked up. Right up my alley. I contacted the person in charge and joined the committee. At the first meeting, I discovered they had constructed the raised beds already...
under a stand of oak trees where it only gets some morning sun...
with no fencing to protect from the deer...
with pressure treated wood for the beds.

And of course everyone thinks it would be FAN-TAS-TIC to let the kids plant vegetables...
that need 6-8 hours of full sun...
and taste absolutely delicious to the deer...
and should not be grown in pressure treated wood lest we leach chemicals from the wood into the veggies.

- sigh-

And I'm quickly learning the challenges faced when you deal with an entire school district that has to weigh in on every decision, like where the beds go and whether we can have a water spigot.


How many more years will my kids be in school??

The View from Down Here

Sunday was museum day in Austin where the museums had free admission. We took advantage by taking the kids to see the Wildflower Center. I started taking pictures upon arriving but Jack kept asking to take some as well. I thought to myself how Jack will have a totally different perspective on the Wildflower Center and it would be interesting to see what catches a 5 year old's eye. Give a little leeway for the fascination a 5 year old can have with taking pictures of his feet.

But without further ado, here it is.

The View from Down Here aka a 5 year-old's visit to the Wildflower Center:

If it keeps them safe, amen!

Effective Tuesday, Texas laws have been amended to raise the age and height requirements of children required to use a booster chair in the car. The changes require a child under 8 years old ride in a safety seat, unless the child is taller that 4 feet 9 inches.

Under the original law, a child 5 years old or more than 36 inches could ride without the safety seat.

And whoosh...he was a kindergartener

The first day of school for Jack. Last night there was no sleep. Lots of anxiety. Wondering if he was ready. But enough about my problems. Let's talk about Jack...who slept like a baby and had no nervousness whatsoever. Woke up happy as a clam and ready to go out to the bus stop. The bus pulled up right on time and whoosh, the doors closed and he was off. Didn't even look back for the waving goodbye photo.

Which was fine, because I had promised to meet him at school so we could walk into his class together for the first day. The bus pulled up and off he came with the biggest smile. Gave me a big hug and told me it was really fun taking the bus. We walked to his class together and I helped him hang his backpack. He gave me a hug and then was gone, off to discover everything waiting for him in Kindergarten.

And it's just how I wanted him to feel on his first day of kindergarten. Not wanting to look back at all.

Bus Practice

Jack starts kindergarten in 1 week. Hard for me to fathom but his enthusiasm helps tame some of my anxiety. I have friends who tear up when they talk about their kids starting school and I am sure I will be right there with tears rolling down my face on the first day. So we're using the last month that Jack has been at home with me to practice some skills he'll need for school as well as just build excitement for him for the first day.

One of those things is taking the bus. Jack has always said he wants to take the bus to school- and since that gives me an extra hour before I have to leave the house with Alex, I'm all for it. The bus stop is right at the end of our street, but we'll have to really change our morning schedule as the bus pick-up is at the time that we are currently just getting out of bed.

So this past weekend we bought a bench and placed it on the corner. Jack and I walk out there every day to practice waiting for the bus. He loves sitting there and waving to neighbors driving by. Hopefully it will help him to feel a little familiarity on day 1. But I know it does not guarantee that there won't be some shaky knees on the first day when the big yellow bus drives up...and certainly does not guarantee Mom won't have tears rolling down her face as she waves goodbye.

Say Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Jack and Alex both went for dental checkups the other day. It was Alex's first visit and Jack did a great job of telling her all about it and training her to say "aaaaaah" when the dentist asked. And when he told her about the prize drawer at the end of the checkup, she was totally on board.

She approached the experience with caution but warmed up after the hygienist offered her the choice of four toothbrushes with princess pictures on them. Alex totally went Mermaid.

Then up in the chair for a chat with the hygienist and the cleaning. It was over in about 3 minutes.

Finally the dentist checked it out and pronounced all teeth beautiful and healthy.

Now I have to point out that if adults went to the dentist and they offered a cool toothbrush, no laying down and being scraped with noisy instrument, a 3 minute cleaning and a prize at the end, I think they would have a lot more enthusiasm from their patients about showing up twice a year!

The look

Oh man, he was mad at me. I can't even really remember why. But here are the most likely top 5 candidates for what I said immediately before he gave me this look:

1. Stop pushing your sister.
2. Would you please stop playing and take a bathroom break?
3. That's what happens when you hold your watermelon too close to the dog.
4. Do you think you could share that toy?
5. You can have your turn on the swing in 5 minutes.

Could be any one of them. But it doesn't matter. He just gives me the look. Sometimes he accompanies it with a lion's roar because he thinks that is fierce, but it really just makes me want to go and grab him and plant kisses all over his cheeks. Which no doubt would lead to another one of these looks.

Adieu to the baby years

I felt a bit sad as I saw the crib loaded into a car and drive away. But it was time. Alex has inexplicably woken up potty trained after no struggle at all and along with it came a desire to be OUT, OUT of her toddler bed (crib without side). So we took Jack's top bunk off and moved it into her room, both parties seemed satisfied with the new arrangement.

But the crib just sat in our dinging room, unassembled, leaning up against the wall. Until a week later when it dawned on us that was all we needed from the crib. Our kids were both done with it. And we were done having kids. So up went ads on Craigslist for the crib, diaper genies, leftover diapers, wipewarmer, etc. And the crib, the beautiful crib that I agonized over when choosing it before Jack was born, was the first to be snapped up. While I'm so happy to see it go to a nice couple who is expecting their first child, it makes me remember all the memories from that crib like an old friend. An old friend who I trusted with my children, and who guarded them safely through each night when they were at their most vulnerable.

New-born Jack in the crib

Jack and his favorite mobile

Need we say more?

Jack learning to escape from the toddler bed phase

John cramped into the toddler bed with Jack, reading by headlamp

Alex moves into the crib

Alex with her favorite blankie waking from a nap

Thanks, old friend.

X Marks the Spot

When I came home from a date night the other night, Jack was already in bed. But wide awake. He had sacrificed his beauty sleep so he could be alert to tell me all about the treasure map when I got home. Mountains and deserts and ponds...ponds?...OK, whatever, ponds. Probably deep, dark ponds with dangerous...ummm...koi living in them. Careful, they can take a foot off. Even a decoy treasure X so you will be tricked into thinking you had found it but WHAM! A trap right next to the decoy. Sucks for you, careless treasure hunter. Only the brave and true of heart will make it through the terrible, um, waffle-maker traps and reach the glorious treasure nestled between the shore and the desert

I'd like some Independence with a side of cooler weather please

This past weekend was awesome, but good lord, can someone please get our weather back to normal? Day after day of over 100 degree heat coupled with high humidity literally melts the energy right out of you...by 10am. Our strategy for this weekend was to just move from pool party to pool party, preferably without ever getting into dry clothes between parties. Really, it was the only survival technique that worked. When you find yourself watching fireworks at 10m and STILL sweating, you know that is some serious hot weather.

The kids decorated our lawn tractor to participate in the neighborhood parade. The highlight was following the firetruck down the street and then getting to climb in...only as long as mom climbed in as well. That's OK, I've always wanted to wear those big headphones and respond to a 4-alarm fire. At least inside the truck there was some shade.

Just a spoonful of sugar...

Somedays, you just need a cupcake...preferably one almost as big as your head.

Not too far away...

Alexandra has made the transition to a side-less crib...well...smoothly wouldn't exactly be the description. She likes to sneak out of her room after bedtime and go around the house. And she's stealthy. Who taught this child to sneak? I'll be upstairs and hear the tiniest sound from the downstairs. Thinking the dog has learned how to open the fridge door and is possibly eating raw chicken, I check on it. Turns out Alex is downstairs, on the sofa with her blanket and a book, all snuggly in her spot.

When Mom was here, she found Alex almost asleep leaning up against the wall next to her closet.

Two nights ago, I found her sneaking into the guest bed to try out the accomodations in there.

But last night, she just wanted to be near her dad. So she stayed in the hallway, just out of sight but right around the corner from his desk. As silent as a mouse. But as she gradually got sleepier, she laid down and fell asleep with her head poking around the corner. We didn't even know she was there until John happened to look down.

So stealthy, so cute!

Operation Pretty Panties Commences

Today was Alexandra's first day to go diaperless. That's right, folks. We're making the move to underwear. Operation Pretty Panties is now active.

Day One went pretty well since most of it was spent at daycare. Nothing like outsourcing this kind of stuff. But she did get dressed in her panties this morning and had no accidents prior to getting to school.

We arrived at school with no less than 8 spare sets of underwear and changes of clothing. I mean, I wasn't sure what kind of day these guys were in for. But she was excited about wearing the new panties and had a "Baby Gone Wild" moment, walking into school and showing everyone her underwear. That's my girl!

End of day report, only three accidents. Well, 2.5 since the last one was during dinner and she did manage to finish it in the potty after I carried her across the living room from the dinner table. I declare that a success. Let the good luck continue, please.

Hoot, hoot!

Long weekends always necessitate some projects that will just suck up some time. So, let me introduce to you the Memorial Day Weekend Time Suck Activity 09! Screech Owl House Building!

Just kidding. I was very inspired by Bob's post over at Gardening at Draco and showed it to my husband, commenting how neat it would be for him to build one with Jack. Lo and behold, today was the day. John found some plans on the internet and they built it out of cedar. We filled the bottom with about 3" of dried leaves. You can see Jack thinks everything is too loud, so he is holding his ears while John drills on the top.

Then, right before it went up, I realized we needed some finishing touches on it. So I grabbed some Sharpies for the kids and some paint for me. First, an owl for the top.

Jack added our welcome message on the side. And I promise that as that message fades, I will climb up there and retrace the cute little Pre-K handwriting every year, if I have to!



Then John hung the house up about 15 ft. off the ground in a big oak with a very open surrounding area, since that is what we read the owls look for when they are searching for a new pad. You know those owls, its all location, location, location!








And now, we are all just waiting. Is there an owl real estate listing sheet or something I can advertise our new offering in?

Moving Forward

This week was Jack's graduation from Pre-K. I kind of laughed when I heard they were having a graduation ceremony, but I will be the first to admit that I got teary when they walked in to the room accompanied by Pomp & Circumstance. He was moving forward to the next level.

And that's the gist of it. They are always moving forward.

When I took Jack to drop him off and get in his "cap and nightgown" as he called it, he had a little freak out. There were a lot of people there, kids getting into these gowns that he had never seen before, a lot of excitement and anticipation in the air. He just clung to me. So I sat at a table with him for a while and reassured him that I was here, everything was fine. But he just kept clinging, saying he wanted me and he did not want to be there. All the same feelings came back to me that used to happen when he was a baby and I was dropping him off in the toddler room. The classic parent dilemma. Is it better to stay and soothe or get out quickly? Teachers will tell you that 1 minute after you leave they are usually OK and moving on to something else. It is your presence that makes them want to hold on to you. When faced with change, many of us fight moving forward. We want to keep things as they are.

Well, I gave him some hugs and kisses and told him I would see him inside. Forcibly disengaged his arms from around my legs and steered him over to sit next to one of his teachers. I could hear him crying as I went inside to sit down.

5 minutes later, he marches in, looking...well...intrigued by all this excitement of the crowd that he is walking into. He stands with his classmates to sing some songs and receives his "diploma". Here he is, moving on. And I'm just wondering how I will continue to find the strength to let him, because sometimes I just want that baby back in my arms.
(click on the image below to see the video)

Hard working man

Some days are just too long...

Sometimes you just know...

when you have a picture that will surface again later in your child's life. Like at their wedding when you need something good to accompany a toast!

The Great Paint Party 09!

Jack told me he wanted to have his birthday at our house this year. He has always adored art time so we decided to have a paint party and let the kids go to town on their very own canvases.
So we gathered the supplies:

Pack of 26 board mounted canvases from Dick Blick
6 pump dispenser tempera paint gallons with little serving cups
25 painters hats
cut up plywood to make palettes
Men's white t-shirts for smocks



John built a plywood "wall" for the canvases to be attached to (and to protect my roses and lavender from being the next great art project!) and we attached a few canvases to an old playhouse we had in the backyard.



All did not go according to plan. We had bought a huge tarp to hang between the deck and trees and act as a sunshade but the morning proved to be too windy and ripped the grommets right off the tarp when we tried to hang it. Oh well, "best laid plans" and all that crap.

But the kids showed up and we got them all in their caps and shirts. Then off to the paint dispensers they went.



Man, these kids must have been inspired, because they got going on their paintings right away. One lesson, don't give black as an option o the palette. The black way overpowered all of the other colors on the early paintings. We learned fast and cut it out of the mix.

Once the kids were done with the paintings, many opf them asked if they could paint their caps and shirts, so we got them more paint and they all sat on the ground and went to it.

Some went a bit further than others in the painting process.


















Others decided just painting one body part was not enough.

A sweet, juicy day!

Sometimes you wish you could just bottle up a day and store it away!

Back in March, there was a day when it started pouring rain after I dropped the kids off at school and as I ran some errands, I thought my day would be ruined. I was picking up some things for Jack's upcoming party and planned to go by a nursery to pick up some plants for the new flower bed (aka Jack's Garden) in front so it won't look like a big mud pit when we have guests coming over next weekend. By the time I headed toward the nursery, the rain was so thick, I couldn't even see the car in front of me so I declared it a delayed trip and turned around toward home.

Well, they say if you don't like the weather in Texas, just wait an hour. And an hour later we had blue skies and a beautiful breeze outside. John had come home early and I had just gotten an announcement from Sweet Barry Farms in Marble Falls that their strawberry fields were open for picking.

So we picked up the kids early from school and all played hookie to go and pick strawberries.

Now we all had different picking styles. John is a get-it-done kind of picker. He likes to get right in and fill the box up. Works down a row and back up the next. I like to dilly dally. I pick for a while and then have to stop and look around (this is why I am the photographer of the family). I eat a few, listen to sounds, find my kids and take some photos. Try to snap a photo in my mind so I can remember the moment later as I am lying in bed.

Jack likes the excitement. As he picks, he makes exclamations. "Wow, look at this one." "Whoa, that's big." "This is really the biggest one." Alex likes to be with everyone and not miss out on anything. She picks a few with John. Then she sees her Nana two rows over and runs to her for some picking. Then back to me because she must be missing out on something. Then over to her grandfather to pick with him.





So there it was, full-on strawberry picking, juice running down chins, unable to stop from eating them right off the vine. 4 full boxes later we came home to make strawberry pie at Jack's request.

How sweet it was!

Sadness

I'm back from vacation and I have lots of fun things to share but before I do, I have to share some sad news. When I got home yesterday after being out of touch for over a week, I checked my regular blogs that I follow. I gasped when I checked The Spohrs are Multiplying. It's a great blog written by Heather who blogs about her beautiful daughter Maddie who is just a miracle child at birth . She survived some major health obstacles and is about 17 months old. Her husband Mike blogs at The Newborn Identity

The first post I saw was "Hospital". Maddie has ongoing breathing difficulties, so I was sad to see that she was having trouble again. The next post was "Madeline Alice Spohr". That made my heart skip, because you just don't have that kind of title without something major going on. Sure enough, I was shocked to learn that Maddie had been admitted to the hospital with breathing difficulties and had passed away. Tears just began rolling down my face as I read about the funeral service and was honored to read both Heather and her husband Mike's tribute to Maddie. They are beautifully written.

I was up last night, unable to think, just feeling so sad for Heather and Mike. It's a wondrous thing, this internet. I have never met Heather and Mike yet I have followed ups and downs in their life and laughed and cheered at Maddie's accomplishments. And then to read about a tragedy like this and just feel like I want to give my friends a hug. Friends that I have never met but yet I hear about their life more than I hear about some of my friends I know in person. Anyway, Maddie was such a beautiful little girl and I will think good thoughts for Heather and Mike and hope that their support group, friends in real life and just over the internet, can offer them comfort to help them make it through this time.

It makes me think about how Maddie has touched so many people without even knowing it. Perhaps people all over will be like me this week and look at their kids extra long while they are sleeping or give them a bit more slack when they repeatedly whine "mommy, mommy, mommy" over and over again. I'll think of Maddie and Heather and Mike when I feel so tired from the day and just want some alone time. And then I will happily pick up "just one more book" to read to Alex or Jack. Because they asked. Because they are next to me. Because it will be a small thing that I can do that means the world to them at that moment.

Hugs to you, Heather and Mike. I'm thinking about you.

Hello hives!

Darn you random allergy for affecting Jack. All covered in hives, moving all over his body from head to toe. Hardly time to put cortaide on one spot before it had moved to aonother spot, So Benadryl it was for 3 days. And he was a trooper.

Luckily, none of it was contagious, because his birthday party was Saturday and these pictures were taken Thursday. But he was all clear for Saturday with just a bit coming out on his face. We gave him a break from the meds for the party but went right back to them after as the doctor said to keep him on Benadryl until the hives were gone + one more day.

Poor baby.

Still have not figured out what caused it.