Sometimes mommy needs a timeout

Today has been a day already-and it's only 8:45am. It started at midnight, when Lexi decided to wake up and just play in her bed until 2:00am, then she was awake at 6:30 and ready to go. Since then, she's been on the move and has just been naughty. She's constantly on the go. If she's awake, she's doing something (usually something she's not supposed to). For the most part, I can handle this fact. It's exhausting, but also pretty fun to see what she's learning. Today was different.

After peeing on the floor, torturing the cat, screaming at me multiple times, and dumping all of our DVDs out on the floor, I decided it was time for a mommy timeout. This doesn't mean that I put myself in a locked room, and just let Lexi have free reign over the house. It means Lexi gets an early morning nap while I remove myself from the situation to prevent myself from getting overly frustrated and creating more bad behavior-kids feed off bad attitude. The thing is, this wouldn't work if she wasn't really ready for a nap. She would normally scream and cry if she doesn't need to sleep, but when I put her in her crib a few minutes ago, she simply laid down and covered herself with a blanket. Let's hope when she wakes up in an hour or so we're both ready for a new start to the day.

I have no idea what creates days like this, but it seems like today is one of the worst that we've had in months. She's had some big changes in the past week, not that I think she's completely aware of what's going on, but I think she's aware that I've been a bit down even though I don't think I let it effect our time together. We've got our work cut out for us the next several months.I'm still learning as I go. A friend on Facebook shared this picture yesterday, and I love it. It rings true for me, especially today:

here's to a better afternoon!

3 day potty training

This Memorial Weekend, Jon is going to be out of town for work. Lexi and I will be doing work of our own.

The past several days, she has been taking her diaper off by herself and doing her business (1 and 2) on whatever surface she is on-grass, carpet, crib mattress...I had stepped back when it came to potty training because she stopped wanting to sit on the toilet and I didn't want to force her especially since she is so young. However, her new preference for being naked has shown me that she is ready to be trained. She will go to the bathroom within minutes of taking her diaper off, and I have noticed certain times when she goes. It'll be tough to catch the BMs since she normally does that at nap time and at night.

And so, on this long weekend, she and I are going to do the 3 day potty training method. It calls for getting rid of all diapers in order to prevent that "crutch" (I will keep them for the reason mentioned above), and for the first 3 days, she is to be pants free at home, and if we go out, she'll wear no diaper, just loose pants. I have to give her lots of crackers so she is really thirsty and she'll drink lots of water and milk. They say to expect somewhere around 20 (!) accidents the first day, then down to 10 the 2nd day and somewhere on that day, something will "click" and she'll just get it. Of course, the first 3 days is just the beginning, I'm not expecting a miracle (nor does the method assure it). She knows what the toilet is for, I don't doubt that Lexi can figure this out. I've got stickers and M&Ms, she loves reading books on the toilet, and she gets such a proud look on her face when she hears that tinkle. I make it a point to mention that feeling. Today I messed up and set the "potty timer" for 10 minutes after she went pee on the toilet, at 7 minutes, she wet her training pants. Friday, I'm going to buy more pairs of underwear for this weekend (even though you aren't supposed to put them on her, I think she needs to feel what that feels like)

With any luck, by her 18 month check up, I'll be able to tell her doctor that we are mostly potty trained. What a relief not to have to buy diapers anymore.

I'll blog as we go through this weekend.

Just a quick potty training update

Yesterday was a very big day! Lexi went potty in the toilet not once, not twice, but THREE times!!! Not bad since that was the first time she'd ever gone. And today, she went another two times and tried really hard several other times.

I'm really hoping this is the turning point and that we don't have too much longer in diapers. I'm going to buy some pull-ups and training pants soon just to see how she does. I'll update again after :)

Growing up so fast!

Lexi is 15 months old tomorrow! How the heck did that happen!?!? Can we just slow time down just a little bit, so I can enjoy all of the (pleasant) moments with her?

Lexi has picked up a number of new words this week, and it is so exciting to watch her connect the pieces to get what she wants. Thus far she uses the following words correctly (I'll probably forget a few): Mama (and the variations), dada, hi, please, up, Llata (grandma's dog, her first word she ever said), Grandma ("amma"), yeah/yes, nice (when she needs to be gentle), night night, book, ow (is this a word?), hot, and attempts to say "how are you" but it mostly comes out jumbled :)...I just think about all of the words she'll ever say throughout her lifetime, and it's awesome to watch and listen to her talk. She also "talks" while we drive and I'm not sure there's a better way to pass the time than to have these conversations.

The other night, Jon and Nevaeh were singing the ABCs and Lexi was watching them so intently, and I could see the wheels turning in her mind and she was trying to imitate them, it's crazy to think that soon she'll be talking/singing more often than not.

Onto potty training. Lexi loves to sit on the toilet now. She signs "potty" when I tell her she's going in her diaper and when I ask if she wants to go potty, she'll run to the bathroom to sit on it. It's cute. Also, this week, she began bringing me a diaper and laid down when she needs a new diaper. She hasn't gone in it yet, but the fact that she's connecting the sensation with the action, I'm hoping it'll be soon. She also went #2 in her diaper this morning while sitting on the toilet, she got lots of praise for that :)

One negative side to her getting older is the temper tantrums! When Lexi is tired/frustrated and doesn't get her way, she can throw a fit that could rival anyone, it's super frustrating for me when I'm just looking at her wondering what in the world I do. Thankfully they don't normally last long, and it's easy to distract her usually, but she has quite the temper! The screaming alone is enough to make me walk away and hide in my bedroom. I wish I could skip over the fits, but I know that it's going to get worse before it gets better. Oh well, you've gotta take the good with the bad. It's just unfortunate that when she's being a little pill, she thinks she can just smile at me and it's all better. I'd like to be able to stay upset with her, and I know that it doesn't do any good when I laugh at her, but I can't help it. I guess life's too short not to smile when your daughter smiles-even if she did just knock all of the DVDs off the shelf for the 10th time!

I know this is a lot of rambling, but I'm a mom now, my brain doesn't function like it used to. I'll update her weight and length on Monday after her appointment

All Aboard the Potty Train! (toot toot)

Yes, I am *officially* potty training Lexi! Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's "young" but I have climbed aboard the Potty Train, and it's going very well thus far. She picked up the signs for "potty" and "wash" in less than a day, she'll sit on the potty for a long while (with the reward of an M&M) and she is interested in her toilet(s). When she's going to the bathroom in her diaper, I reinforce the potty sign and she acknowledges it and this morning she walked into the bathroom and placed her cushion on the seat as she was going #2. I don't know how long before she actually goes on the toilet, but I'm so happy that she's sitting!

The Potty Train kit that I received came with a book for parents, a board book for the child, and a cartoon DVD that introduces the signs necessary for communicating during training. Lexi *loves* the book and the DVD. The first time she watched it, she was in awe! This is the child who cannot sit still long enough for anything! And she wouldn't move when we played it for her, and she gets mad when I try to take away her book. In the book for me, it says that in the 1960s, 98% of children were potty trained by 18 months, now the average is 37 months and that Huggies just came out with a size 7 diaper! Of course, early potty training isn't for everyone, an if Lexi didn't seem interested, I'd back off, but she is picking up some small steps quickly and I'm hoping that she will be potty trained by age 2. With some changes that are coming soon, it shouldn't be a problem.

Discipline

Lexi had a full blown temper tantrum tonight, because I told her to tell grandma good night. She laid face down on the carpet and cried and screamed. I laughed at her, mainly because of how absurd she was behaving. Then I ignored her, I walked away and didn't acknowledge her in the slightest. I watched her though, and as she was settling down (meaning she was doing her fake cry) she was looking around to see what reaction she was going to get. When she realized she wasn't getting one, she walked towards me whining and wanted up, I said "no" and finished getting myself ready to go upstairs and then I started going toward the steps-when she didn't follow I asked if she wanted to go on her own or be carried. She plopped down so I picked her up and we got ready for bed. I know she was acting this way because she was exhausted, but it just reminds me that she is her own independent entity, she has her own desires and is separate from me. She no longer depends on me for her every NEED, she can get places on her own. When our goals don't mesh, we are going to have conflict-this is going to happen for the rest of our lives together. I want a strong and independent daughter, but I don't want a rude and rebellious daughter. And that brings me to one of my greatest fears: Discipline!

Everything I read tells me to "be consistent and follow through". I don't want her to laugh at me when I tell her to do something "or else", I want her to know that I'm serious, if she doesn't behave or follow the rules, there will be consequences that fit not only her age but the severity of her disobedience. I am afraid that if I don't start off strong now, she's going to think I'm a pushover and constantly push the limits. I'm going to struggle with discipline forever, I can only hope that I'm doing the right thing when it comes down to it. If Lexi is anything like me, she is going to be extremely hard headed, and that's okay. As long as she knows that I am the adult and that I have her very best interest at heart, we'll be okay. However, I know that though she may know those facts, she won't always like them. Gosh, I'm not ready for the terrible twos, tween, and teenage years! What was I thinking!?

Early Potty Training

One of my goals this year is to begin potty training Lexi early. I have been doing research and I feel as though she could pick it up easily. She's showing some of the cues that indicate readiness: She has picked up on sign language quite easily the past 3 weeks, so she can communicate her need to go to the bathroom that way; she is also able to walk; and she has obvious "tells" when she's going to the bathroom that I can watch for. I am going out tomorrow to pick up either a potty chair or one of those cushions that goes onto the big toilet. I'm going to start out by putting her on there right after she wakes up in the morning and after nap times (on the weekends) and also before bath time with the water running. I have no illusions that she is going to be potty trained  in a week, but I would like her to be able to tell me by the time she is 18 months old.

I'm not sure what they're going to do at work since her class doesn't have a potty in it, and the next step up is my room (and I cannot have her in my class since I'm the only teacher in there). But I guess that's something they'll have to deal with. I have a few reasons for wanting to potty train early-1. Diapers! So expensive for something you throw away. 2. I believe it can be done this early, and given how she has picked up on other things, I'm hoping she'll be open to this. 3. I have seen so many parents struggle with their children when they have waited past the child's 2nd birthday, I don't want Lexi to be afraid of the bathroom, I also don't want her to resist this. I figure if I introduce her to it now, it'll be easier.

One of the most important thing I've read is not forcing her. If she's scared or nervous the first time, then I'll just take her off and we'll try again. Maybe a bit TMI, but I have been bringing her into the bathroom with me since she was a newborn and I'm hoping since she's familiar with the toilet, that'll help

I will update next week with how the introduction has gone

Happy Birthday!

Today is Lexi's first birthday! I've got her gifts wrapped, and am entirely prepared for her to be not interested in anything I got her haha I bought her a pair of holiday pajamas (I think this should become a tradition for her birthday), a dress, some bath toys, and some fancy blocks. I think I was pretty restrained and I have pretty much finished up Christmas (I think I'm going to see how she reacts to these gifts before I decide).

At 2:45am, Lexi woke up crying and when I looked at the clock, I smiled. 2:45am was when I began pushing last year, I know it was just coincidental, but it still makes me think. How long after birth do babies remember it? Probably not long, but it is really hard to say. All she wanted to do when she woke up was cuddle up with me-something she NEVER wants to do! It felt so nice to just hold her, knowing that at exactly the same time one year ago, I was doing the same thing for the first time. All of the feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and it was a great time. I am a big Gilmore Girls fan (shut up Courtney) and every year on Rory's birthday, her mom comes into her bedroom at the time she was born and shares the story again...it's a bit TMI, but I think I'm going to do that with Lexi.

I'll post pictures/maybe a video of her opening her presents and eating her cake later

My baby's last first holiday

We've made it full circle, this time last year I was huge and couldn't eat as much as I thought I could...plus anything I did eat gave me horrific heartburn. Then the next day, Brittany and I went shopping and I about died, my feet and back hurt so bad after a few hours. Anyway, I was thinking that today is officially Lexi's final first holiday. Which made me think about all of the things we did for the other major holidays.

1. Christmas (3 weeks old): We woke up early and opened gifts with my grandma and aunt and then Jon, Lexi, and I went to the buffet for brunch with my grandma, her sister, and my aunt. After that, we went back to Jon's and slept...not too much excitement.

2. New Years (4 weeks): My mom watched Lexi for a few hours so Jon and I could go out, I was pretty much a nervous wreck haha

3. Valentine's Day (2 months): We went to school/work and she got to wear her cute little valentine's day outfit :)

4. St. Patrick's Day (3 months): She had just been released from the hospital after her 2 week stay, so she stayed home with Jon, while I worked and then came home and spent the night with her.

5. Easter (4 months): We went out to Jon's family friend's house and ate a ton. Lexi had a little bit of potatoes and then we went to my cousin Chrystal's so she could meet Lexi

6. Memorial Day (Just about 5 months): We had a family BBQ at my grandma's house and got to meet all of my cousins and uncles.

7. 4th of July (exactly 7 months): We were flying home from Jon's basic training graduation and she was sleeping most of the flight while I looked out the window and could see fireworks being set off-way cool!

8. Halloween (Almost 11 months): She was also sick on this day, but I did dress her up in her little bee costume and take her around the block with Ainsley. She had a ton of fun looking at the kids who came to our door :)

9. And Thanksgiving (almost 1 year old!): She's napping right now while the food is cooking, and she's going to eat a ton, I'm sure! I know I am, to make up for last year!

The story of Alexis Noelle

Oh, how the time has flown by this year! My tiny, little baby isn't so tiny or little anymore. She is a "talking", walking, loving spitfire. She learns so much every week and it amazes me every time I look at her and look at pictures of where she started-it's especially hard to imagine that I carried her inside of me for 9-ish months.

I'm going to try to not get carried away with my pregnancy memories. So we begin...

On Friday, April 16, 2010, I took a pregnancy at about 8:00pm. Within 20 seconds of setting it down, the second "positive" line turned pink. I wasn't really expecting it to be positive considering I practically took a test every month, but there it was. I immediately started crying...not for any other reason except for "delivery was going to hurt!" Yep, that was my first thought when I found out-and I wasn't wrong ;-)

I remember the first time I felt the little "popcorn" flutters of movement. I was at Despicable Me with Jon and I felt it and almost started crying. I lived for those moments when Lexi would have hiccups or be moving around like she was on a mission. I checked weekly for what piece of produce she was similar to (from poppy seed to banana to a watermelon), I checked daily for what was developing on her body, I thought about her, dreamt about her constantly. Lots of weird and uncomfortable things happen when you're pregnant, it's not for the faint of heart, but I tried not to complain because I knew it was worth it.

My pregnancy was pretty routine, I had leg cramps, a tiny bladder, HORRIBLE heartburn, but nothing out of the norm until about 30 weeks or so. I had never received a complete review of my 20 week ultrasound (when we found out we were having an "Alexis"), so during one of my appointments I asked the doctor I was seeing if she could get me some details. She said that everything was fine except the ultrasound tech couldn't see both heart chambers clearly-nothing was necessarily wrong, they just didn't show up clearly because of Lexi's positioning, so she scheduled another ultrasound just to make sure. I went in for it, and we found out that the heart was just fine, but that the amniotic fluid level was lower than the doctor's preferred, so I had to take what is called a non-stress test just to make sure things were okay despite that fact. During the NST, I had to push a button each time I felt Lexi move so they could monitor whether or not her heart rate rose and dropped appropriately (the first time I did this, it took about an hour to get an appropriate number of movements, Lexi was already stubborn!), and based on those results, I had to go in 2 times a week for the remainder of my pregnancy, 2 NSTs and 1 ultrasound every week to monitor the fluid levels to make sure it didn't drop drastically. Then after 3 weeks of that, I had to have 2 NSTs and 2 ultrasounds each week. I did everything I was supposed to do-drank a TON of water, stayed off my feet when I wasn't at work, and didn't overstress about anything.

For several weeks, everything was just fine until the week Lexi was born. I went in on Tuesday, November 30th for my appointment and everything was fine, my fluid level was at 7 (they like it to be 10 or higher, but 7 isn't dangerously low), so they sent me on my merry way. Friday, December 3 (a day away from 37 weeks), I went in like always and took my NST, which I thought went really well, Lexi was super active and then I had my ultrasound. I knew right away that something was off because I didn't see the normal pockets of fluid that I normally did, and then the tech told me that she would be right back. I wasn't worried about Lexi because I could still feel her kicking up a storm, but I was extremely nervous that they would need an emergency c-section or something so I called Jon really quick before she got back in the room and told him what was going on. The tech came in with Dr. Reuter (my favorite!) and he took a look and then moved me into an exam room and told me he'd be right back. When he came back, he told me that the fluid level went down to 2mL and that he thought it was time to induce just to be safe.

I called work and called Jon to tell him to come over and walked over to Labor and Delivery where they began something to soften my cervix since I wasn't dilated or effaced at all (can I just say, when the nurse/doctor checks to see how far along you are in this process, it's extremely painful!). The nurses figured that it would take a couple of doses of the softener to get things going and you can have one every 4 hours, but by the 4 hour mark I was having fairly regular contractions so they started the pitocin. The doctor didn't want them to break my water manually (obviously, it was already low) but about an hour after he told them not to, it broke on its own while I was in the bathroom. Once that happened, the contractions got extremely painful and I asked for a pain medicine-not an epidural at this point. That worked for about 15 minutes and the contractions jumped from about an 8 in pain to a 20. I couldn't breathe, so I asked (maybe begged) for an epidural. My mom was in there with me while the anesthesiologist was prepping and I asked her "Why did you do this TWICE!?" and she said "you'll forget all about this pain when you hold your daughter" (I did).

Once I got the epidural, I was able to sleep a while, and at about 2am I asked the nurse if I could get an increase because I was feeling a bit of pressure. She checked my progress and said "No, you're at a 10. I'm going to call the doctor" I began "practice" pushing before he got there at about 2:30am and I remember saying that I would have her by 3:00. Once the doctor got there at 2:50 or so, everything went so fast, I think I pushed for real maybe 6 times and she was here and she was PERFECT at 3:08am on December 4, 2010! They had NICU in the room just in case since she was 3 weeks early, but she registered 9/9 on the APGAR scale. I remember crying from relief and because I just wanted to hold her. While the doctor finished up, he told me that he was extremely impressed that it didn't take me longer because Lexi was apparently "sunny side up" (face looking up instead of towards my back) and he said he'd seen mothers of several children push for hours in that instances, and that it usually resulted in a c-section. I'm glad I didn't know while I was laboring, I think I would have stressed myself out. He said I was the "talk of the floor" because it went so fast haha

Lexi weighed 6 pounds exactly (Dr. Reuter took bets as I was pushing, and my grandma was right on with her weight) and was 19 inches long and the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. In a little over a week, she is going to be 1 year old and I can still remember everything I was doing this time last year...She is the light of my life and I can't wait to see all the things she does and learns in the next year!