Milestones....

So, it seems as if we're just hitting major milestones around here left and right!  Luke just told me a few minutes ago that he needed to go potty.  Up until now, we are constantly just taking him potty!  He came up to me right out of the blue while I was helping Ally with homework and exclaimed "Mommy I need to go potty!"  When did you get so big my little man????

Then, there's Ally.  Always giving us challenges, but today, does all of her homework as sweetly as can be... and even takes INSTRUCTION FROM ME without arguing!!! She never does that.  She usually pretty much just assumes her mom and dad are morons and won't listen at all. Ever.  ;)

She's been changing and growing up in good ways lately too.  Monday, when I picked her up from school she told me "Mommy, I had two cookies in my lunch, so I gave one to Morgan. I hope that's okay."  This the week after she told me that she earned seven Silly Bands  and Morgan didn't get any so she gave her one.  I am so glad she is becoming such a great sharer... AND can recognize when someone is left out or excluded.  Atta girl Ally!!!

Potty Training Blues...

So, Luke is ROCKING the potty training!!!!  Seriously.  Very few accidents.  Sleeping through nap and all night in his "big boy pants".... but we are having trouble with #2. As in, he's just stopped going!!!????  He went three days recently and then, went in his pants and I was just so happy that he went, so I didn't mind.  Here we are again... it's been a day or two and he's complaining his butt hurts and I think he's either holding it because he wants to go or just doesn't understand the feeling????

I remember having trouble getting Ally to go IN the potty, but she had no problem going a number of times a day in her pants!!!!

Luke used to go a couple times a day... now every two or three days?  Hmmm....

Any tips much appreciated!!!!!!!

Such a BIG Boy...

This past weekend, Scott and I went to Chicago (more on that next post!) and when we came home, Nana had taken Luke shopping to pick out his very own "big boy underwear!"  He chose Cars.... and that weekend, he wore big boy pants with only one accident the entire time!!!!

Of course, we took him home and he proceeded to pee instantly on the living room chair, but that was just our welcome home gift.  Or punishment for leaving him in the first place.  ;-)

He has worn his big boy underwear every waking hour since then, and has not had a single accident!  Not ONE!!!!  (okay, I might not be counting #2 here.... but I consider that secondary! ha!)  We have been putting him in a diaper at naptime, but he wakes up completely dry..... and this morning, he woke up totally dry from the night!!!!  In the process of changing, he peed a little and we rushed to the potty and he damn near filled up that little potty!  I have never seen him pee so much!!!!!!!!!  I was so proud of him.... I gave him chocolate at 7:30 am.  :)

He is not 100% on board with this every moment. Getting him to actually go is a struggle.  He does not tell us yet... and he does not go and sit on the little potty without some talking into the whole thing!  Bribery is huge around here too.... as in "I will make you chocolate milk if you go...." or the ever so popular chocolate.  I am not opposed to bribing my children for good behavior. I think it does deserve a reward and is not always to be expected.  It's hard to be good sometimes.  ;-)

I cannot express how proud I am of Luke and his potty training!  Yesterday, after I picked him up around 3:30.... we were out and about all night until 8:30 and he didn't have a single accident. I took the little potty with us... and he went once, at the park in the back of our SUV, around 5:30/6.... and then, again when we got home around 8:30/9.  He's holding it.  He knows not to go in his underwear.  He is rocking this potty training business!

With Ally, we tried the pull ups thing.... which just did not work for her. She was smart enough to know they were not underwear and she could still go in them!  So.... once we went cold turkey to underwear, she too "got it!"  The only trouble we had was #2 and I expect Luke will be similar. But, first things first and and he is doing so well.  :-)

Such a big little man, my Lukie.............

What's Up?

Besides Ally's new school... which has seemed to dominate my posting lately... we do have a lot of "other stuff" going on!!!!  I think that school-age children are the most time consuming of all. Watch out moms of toddlers and preschoolers.... you ain't seen NUTHIN yet!!!!!!

With elementary school comes... meetings, opportunities to volunteer, class parties, after school girl (or boy) scouts, sports, going to friends' houses, having friends over, sleep overs, special camps... and the list goes on and on.  This is not even touching the HOMEWORK and fundraising ventures...... whew. Seriously.  I thank the lord each day that I have chosen to go part-time.  We would not survive AT ALL if I were still working until 5 or 6 each day!  God bless those of you that do it.  But, more than anything, it allows me to be a bigger part of Ally's life (in particular).  I feel that she and I have gotten worlds closer since I am home with her each day after school.

Parenting the school age child is a whole new ball game..... add to that, the fact that we still have one who is not in school.... and things get interesting!  But, for the most part... in a good way!  I like having Luke around two days a week to do the mundane with. He is so much fun to run errands with..... hang out at the house with....... or take on playdates!  I love taking him to pick Ally up at the end of the day and seeing how giddy he gets when he sees her come out of the school. He is so proud of his big sister... and she is equally as giddy to show him off!

Luke has been such a big boy lately!  The past three or four nights he has chosen to sleep in his big boy bed!  Of course, just to prove he cannot be consistent, he asked to go back to his crib last night... out of the blue!  WTH???  Oh well. We have both set up now.... and if Scott has his way, we will leave it that way "until he is five!" HAHA!  No... not so much.... but Scott is not eager to disassemble the crib AGAIN.  :-)

Now that he is sleeping in a real bed (most nights), it's time to think about potty training!  Luke is not potty trained yet for no other reason than we are lazy.  Well, I am lazy.  And, I need to commit to staying home for a week or so..... and I don't do that so well.  ;) We always have something coming up that I think we need to "get past" before I can take the plunge.

This coming weekend, Scott and I are going (alone without the kids!) to Chicago for the Dave Matthews/Jason Mraz concert and to see lots of friends. So, Luke will be with my in-laws for the weekend and we won't be home to work with him.  Next weekend, we will be staying in hotel for a wedding. Not the best timing there to be potty training! 

The week and weekend after that.... might be a possibility.... but I have a number of committments, so this means that it would fall on Scott to take the lead.  Is this possible?  Hmmm... I wonder..... :-)))))))  Maybe that should be my goal. Oct 1st....... no more diapers.

The money I will save alone should be incentive enough!

So...... big boy beds...... potential potty training.... new schools..... in short, the kids are dominating the field these days.  :-) What else is new?  But... looking forward to a wonderful adult get away this weekend!

Week Two...

Well, this was the second week of school for Ally.  The second week of her brand new school!!!!  Remember last week? The first days that were so hard.... the days that were so hard on both mother and daughter?  Well, I am insanely happy to report that it appears those days are behind us!  Last Monday was rough.... Tuesday not much better... it was the first full day. The lunch routine was new. Recess different.  She was having a hard time and overwhelmed with the change.

One week later... and she raves about the lunches (it seems that Queens has quite the reputation for yummy food!).... she's all smiles each day I pick her up... she gets out of the car in the mornings, on her own and runs to the many friends she's made already... I hear through other moms that everyone really likes Ally and they are happy she came to "their school!"  Such words warm a mom's heart!!!

She is still waking up in the morning, excited to go to school! This morning, was their first all-school mass and she was excited to show me that she had the sign of the cross down and she's memorized some of their prayers. She's very proud of herself.  I asked her yesterday if she was happy with her new school... and she answered, "I miss my old friends, but I know I can still see them... but I am so happy to have ALL these new friends and Mrs. Engemann is the BEST!"

We had Parents' Night at the school yesterday, and I can attest to the fact that Mrs. Engemann is truly the best. Scott's exact words after she made a presentation to the parents were "Wow!  Ally's gonna have some high expectations from here on out!  That lady is amazing!"  Anyone who knows my hubby knows that he does not dish out compliments so easily.... so he was pretty impressed.  She is full of energy, a complete overachiever and you can tell she truly CARES about the kids! She recently became Catholic herself, so she is the perfect teacher to lead her class through their First Communion and Reconciliation this year, because she just went through those sacraments herself!

Ally has homework each night with the exception of Friday because her teacher believes the weekends are for family! Love it.  And, this week, Ally got a brand new desk for her room!!!!

Each day, after school, she is giddy to get her homework out and sit at her desk and do it!  Talk about a great motivator!  Now I know the newness of this desk might wear off... but for now, she is super excited about it... and happy to do work at it every day!  She has been working on her math facts, spelling and reading at it every day after school.  I'm very proud of her!

She is adjusting better than I could hope for. The first week, she really didn't eat much. Complained of stomach aches frequently and quickly lost noticeable weight.  But... week two has brought dramatic change in her... she's eating well again, no physical complaints... and most importantly, her behavior has not changed. She's not acting out.  I can gauge Ally's day instantly when she gets in the car.  If she starts yelling at me and acting out... I know she's had a rough day. Maybe she felt left out for some reason, or didn't feel that she fit into something her group of friends were doing.  Maybe someone was downright mean to her.  All these things are sensitivities to Ally.  And, she bucks up and puts a smile on her face at school... but when she gets home into a comfortable environment..... she melts down.

We have had none of these meltdowns in the past week. She has come home happy, hungry and even excited to talk about the day's events.  I can't ask for much more out of the second week of something so new.  I am so very happy for her. 

This week, we also started gymnastics on Wednesday nights! She's is going to Syd's... a gym that a few of the girls from her class and school go to as well.  She takes the class with one of her classmates from Queens which is another great thing for her... to have that one one one time outside the classroom with a new friend!  So far, she likes it.... but we've only had one class!  :-)

All-in-all, it's been a good week!!!  Ally went off to school today pretty giddy for the day ahead!!!  And she looked so darn cute.........

Day Two...

So.... yesterday was Day Two of Second Grade!  Ally was still a little too excited to fall asleep at a decent hour the night before.... she was up until 10 or 11. Too late for a seven year old girl who got five hours the night before!  I, on the other hand, was exhausted and ready for bed at like 5:30!!!  :-)

But, the fact that she was still excited and wanted to go back, told me that it couldn't have been ALL THAT BAD.... so I was encouraged by this!

I took her and plan to for the rest of the week. Under normal circumstances, Scott will take her on his way to work because he drives right past the school, and it's out of my way.  I also need to be to work before school starts because of my part-time hours.... but we are working around that for this week only. Ally wants her mommy and I am happy to oblige.

Day Two was the first uniform day!

She can still wear her cute pink shoes, which she loves... but all in all, the uniform doesn't phase her, in fact I think she likes it!

One of the girls in Ally's class had told her she would look out for her on the playground and make sure she knew how to line up..... little did I know that we would be met with a whole gaggle of girls when we got there.  I was so amazed by their kindness.... and how much they genuinely wanted to help and be there for Ally.  I was worried that her hesitation and tears the day before would put them off..... but they were all so sweet!!!  I was able to make a quick get-a-way and there were no tears!!!  What a relief......

I went off to work for the day and returned to pick her up after...... she was smiling and happy when she got in the car, even though she was dying of thirst!  :-)  It was 91 degrees and I can imagine fairly warm in their classroom too!  I try to ask her about her day without being too nosey. That delicate balance of making sure she's okay without scaring her off. I want her to talk to me, but I have to walk a fine line.

I asked about lunch (a very important social event you know!) and she said it went great, even though she didn't really like the chicken nuggets. She said she ate them because she was starving.... which was great to hear because she hadn't really eaten anything in two days and was complaining of stomach aches. 

She told me stories of girl conversations... and singing Camp Rock songs together... and doing cartwheels.  All good things........ this warms a mom's heart!

This morning, I walked her to the playground once again.... and, once again, she was greeted by smiling little girls.... this time, screaming her name and announcing they like her headband.  :-)  Girls.... ;-)

I hope today goes even better!!!!!!