First few weeks of school

The two most standout things about Carolina going to school are these:
1. She doesn't cry or get upset or wave goodbye when we leave. She just walks right in and goes to the teacher to have her coat taken off.
2. She's agitated when she gets home, like she's a total fidget. It has taken as long as 1.5-2.5 hours for her to quiet down to take a nap after she's had some lunch and we've read 3 stories.

Since I'm thinking that this agitation is part of adapting to going to school for the first time, I'm spending more time with her reading and figuring out how much on a daily basis. Right now, if she's going to fall asleep within 30-60 minutes of me leaving her in her room-- I need to spend time with her for about 1-1.5 hours. And I've found that tickling her is a great way for her to expend some energy and relax.

I tried letting her watch a single Caillou episode (~10 minutes) today after lunch to see if that would help. I'm not sure if it did and I know it didn't make it worse. She comes home each time telling me how tired she is but she's also really wound up. Apparently this is normal. I, of course, have no idea.

On her non-school days, I'm pushing the time we go into her room to start reading a little earlier and spend more time reading. That seems to be getting nap time on non-school days to be a little more 'regular.'

I would say that she's starting to give up naps except that when she sleeps, she still sleeps for 2 hours. So depending on the day, I give her until 3 or 4 pm to get her rest. If it's not 2 hours, then tough noogies. Ha! If I let her sleep past then, she's not tired enough for bedtime at night.

It's only been a few weeks so I'm sure this will all eventually stop being "something" and she and I will know what we need to do so she gets the rest she needs. (And the rest I need as most days I need a bit or a lot of a nap as this pregnancy goes on.)

And she always comes home with a clean diaper. I know they support potty training but I still don't know how on a daily basis. I actually called the director to find out. She's about 90% pooping in the potty all the time and getting 10-20% of pee in there, too. Since she is proud of herself when she does go, and she goes when she wants, I've backed off a lot and don't do a lot of encouraging. I just ask, and if she wants to, I'm there! If she doesn't, I don't always try as hard as before just to get her to sit down, especially now that I know she wants to when she is ready.

The teacher's aide told Ismael this morning when he dropped her off that Carolina is very mature. That if a kid pushes her, she just turns around and says, "Don't do that" and the kid will stop. She doesn't push back. He took it as a great compliment, I just thought "Don't push my kid you little rug rat!". That's why it's good I'm not at school with her. I'm actually not too surprised at her reaction. She's not very aggressive but she is confident, and she'd only push if it was too much for her to handle. I'd like to say my parenting has anything to do with it, but I really think that's just who she is and I encourage her to be herself.

Speaking of my parenting, I have to say that I'm ready for her brother to be born. I'm uncomfortable a lot of the time, more so than I remember being with Carolina. We're still weighing our opinions about circumcision as we REALLY need to know what we want before he's born. For me, the only thing that I agree with in terms of being pro-circumcision is that he will not remember it and it'll heal REALLY fast in comparison to any other time in his life.  I feel that this is a big deal and I'd like him to keep all his parts, assuming they all work correctly, because they all serve a purpose.

I have a sneaking suspicion, like his sister, he'll let us know what he needs right away. So we'll see.

Naps change, again, but I'm nothing if not persistent

Yesterday, after school, she was TIRED. So going to take her nap at 1pm wasn't a big deal.

Today, we were both tired in the morning and ready to lie down and read and such by about 11.30am, after her music class. So we got the pajamas ("ja-mamas" as she calls them) and pacifier and changed her diaper.

I left her room at 12pm and about 45 minutes later she was still talking to herself and then called out "Momma! I pooped!" So, I went in to change her and, again, told her to close her eyes and be very quiet.

"I can't be quiet. Want Mary to talk."
(She has a little Virgin Mary figure next to her bed and recently has taken to holding it in her hand for naps in order to fall asleep. When I explained that Mary was tired, too, she told me that Mary had a snake. I told her Mary is stepping on the snake, so there's nothing to worry about. She then said that Mary can't sleep. I explained that Mary is a mommy and made Baby Jesus take a nap, too. She insisted that wasn't true. So I just went blunt and told her it was time to take a nap, and left.)

Over an hour later she's still in there talking loudly and moving around. So I go in again, now it's nearly 2pm. I had considered just letting her get up and forget the nap, but I know better now. If I keep at this, she'll eventually go to sleep and in a week or so we'll go back to "normal". If I let her give it up, she'll be exhausted AND I'll be exhausted, and more importantly, she's not ready to give it up. (I've seen what happens when a parent lets the kid give up a nap before they're really ready to give it up for good. They're the twirlers and/or whiny and/or super-hyper ones at the park. With parents that often look befuddled. I'm not befuddled, I have a newborn on the way who is going to need some sleep, a toddler that's going through another adjustment phase, and a family in a two-bedroom apartment to keep happy.)

At this point, she looked EXHAUSTED. So I told her it was time to be quiet and close her eyes. She said, "Oh, okay, mommy. Have good nap." and rolled over on her side.

Then, quiet. Finally.

Of course, I haven't rested much but at least she is. I think we'll make some strawberry muffins today as she asked for a lot of them yesterday and then didn't eat them. So I have a big bowl cut up and no cream to eat them with :)

First Day of Nursery School

Well, as usual, it didn't go as I had expected. Nothing ever exactly does. Actually, it went a lot better.

She was nervous this morning before we left the house, even though she'd been asking for WEEKS since she first saw a school, that she wanted to go "play with the kids".

We brought her off a little early since we had to bring a bag of clothes and diapers and wanted to get her set up before her day began. When we walked in, she was happy to say 'hello' to the director, whom she knows, and then to the teacher. This was a good sign as she's become more shy around people she doesn't know and often will not say 'hi' to people she does know casually if she's not interested. The teacher immediately started showing Carolina around the classroom and all the toys to play with, even before I took off her coat.

Essentially she was ready to start playing and we just needed to get out of the way!

When I asked her to kiss me goodbye she said, "You leaving?"I told her yes, that I was leaving and she would stay with the kids and her teacher. I would come back soon after her snack and we'd go home to have lunch and a nap. She thought about it a second and then said, "Ok." And kissed me goodbye.

We walked out of her classroom and on to the sidewalk and I started to cry a little. Ok, more than a little. I couldn't believe it! I was upset and she wasn't. I didn't want her to be upset at all, in fact I didn't think she would, but I REALLY didn't think I'd be bothered. I composed myself (thank you, husband) and he went off to work and I went home. Well, first, I went to a store to look around since I had the feeling that I've needed to get something but CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT IT IS. Walking around the store without having someone talking at me constantly was how I remembered what I needed. And finally bought.

I then spent the morning cleaning the apartment. It was dirtier than usual after the guy came on Tuesday to fix the glazing on the bathtub and I hadn't had a chance to do it while she was awake since we got back yesterday afternoon. Needless to say, my son wasn't too happy about me being so active, but I got it done.

I realized I still had 2 hours left and I could do some laundry. Without having to get her ready to go outside to the laundromat every 30-40 minutes to bring it, come home, take it out of the wash and put into the dryer, come home, and then get it out of the dryer. It went a lot faster.

When I got to the school to pick her up, just before 12, she was on line at the door with the teacher who told me she was a dream to have in class. That she was very well behaved, she danced and played with the other kids, and ate her snack and didn't give her any problems. I could tell that the teacher doesn't have a lot of 'easy' kids in her class, so she seemed to be more appreciative that Carolina was so good than anything. The teacher told me that Carolina didn't like her bananas in her cereal. I said I wasn't surprised as she is not supposed to eat bananas, it's like an allergy. And then the teacher told me, "Oh SHE'S the one with that problem." (I had expressly written a note on her form, and told the director, she can't have dairy, nuts or bananas.)

I didn't get mad but explained that she doesn't like them and they are a problem. And I made sure they only gave her a little bit of milk. Any more, or even a little, and she gets sick to her stomach with really bad diarrhea.

Carolina then told me on the way home that she had cereal. And she "loves bananas". I told her that she shouldn't eat bananas since they hurt her belly. She then told me she wanted more of the "purple cereal" for lunch. I asked her what that was and she just kept saying purple.

THEN she mentioned it was also orange and yellow. A light bulb went off in my head and I said, "Ohhhh. Is the cereal circles with purple, orange, and yellow?"

She looked at me a smiled and said, "YES!" And I just laughed.

Ah, they gave them Froot Loops, which I would NEVER give to her. That's just my choice as it crosses the line of sugar vs. nutrition too far in favor of sugar. I explained that cereal is only at school as a special treat, we don't have it at home. This seems to be an acceptable explanation.

After a lunch of toast, by request, we read some books and she was off to a nap by 1pm. She was yawning right about 12.30.

3 hour glucose test

I forgot to mention that I passed the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. I refer to it as the glucose challenge as it was all I could do not to throw up for over an hour.

The baby was rattling around inside me the whole time. I kept imagining him saying to me, "Mama! What the hell is going on? I don't like this. Never eat sugar again. Ever!"

I don't wish it on anyone. My advice to any pregnant woman going for the one-hour test is:
Schedule it for first thing in the morning
Fast all night/morning
Don't eat any sugar NOR carbs the night before

Pray to your preferred diety that you pass.

If you can't get a first appointment, still avoid carbs and sugar. Carbs turn into sugar and, honestly, unless you really have gestational diabetes, you do NOT want to do the 3 hour test.

Gratefully my parents could babysit that morning. As they had a nice lunch waiting for me upon my return. I had responsibly brought a sandwich. But I didn't want to eat or drink much for a few hours afterwards. I did but not much.

You feel very rough indeed.

Potty training and more talking

So, well, potty training continues. It's expectedly hit or miss. We're getting more action on the poop front as I get SOME advanced warning when I hear, "Mommy, tummy hurts."

Peeing, I've noticed she's able to sit down for a while, ocassionally pee in the potty, but is mostly now holding it. So her post-nap and post-bedtime diapers are FULL. When before they were dry. She will even not pee in the potty and then when we put on a diaper to go outside, she'll pee then.

I hear this is pretty common, so we're just moving along. I'm still having to gently cajole her to sit on the potty at regular times. And when we're staying at home in the afternoon, she gets "nudie time", whereby she only has on underwear and gets to run around without clothes. She likes this a lot. Although it doesn't encourage her to tell me she has to go. She might hold it all or just go in the undies.

Honestly, she's never been a baby or kid to complain about a wet or soiled diaper. UNLESS it was stinging her skin. Otherwise she could wait. So, alerting me isn't forthcoming.

It'll take more time and I'm sure she will work it out one day when she is ready. Hopefully that is before she starts mornings-only during the weekdays at school this fall.

A few funnier things she's said recently:
1. I can't like that. (For anything she doesn't want to eat.)
2. Who deez people eatin my fruit rope? (When my dad tried a tiny piece of her fruit rope before I gave it to her.)
3. Not cool! (Anytime she doesn't like or doesn't want to wear something. As in, this barrette is not cool. Or those shoes you are wearing mommy are not cool.)
4. My eyes are crying or I have crying eyes. (Often told to me when I've accused her of whining. She will tell me it's not whining but crying, so I should take it more seriously.)
5. What (s)he doin? (An all-time favorite about anyone on the street, in a book or seen within eye shot.)
6. No, da baby in heeah. (Accompanied by her pointing at my belly when asked if she is going to have a brother or sister. Often followed by a big hug to the belly and telling it "I love you baby.")

Potty training, glucose tests and naps

We have gotten more serious about potty training. And by "we", I mean me, and by "serious", I mean that we spend a lot more time in the bathroom even though there is virtually no pee going into the potty.

I noticed on last Year's calendar that she was actually pering in the potty last July. I knew she wasn't ready but I could have pushed it. I wish now I had. She's still apprehensive about the potty. Being "nudie" isn't a problem. It's letting the pee actually go into the pot. And now I INSIST she is at least in the bathroom when she says her tummy hurts since I know a poop is coming. I don't force her to take off her diaper for that since she's too anxious and will just cry and fight me. It's not worth the struggle and stress.

We sit on it in the morning, before nap, after nap, and before bathtime. I should do it more often but nothing is happening and we can easily be in there for 20+ minutes. Totally boring. Even reading her a book or the comics. I end up peeing more than usual just because we are in there. And as my back has been killing me, hanging out in the bathroom is not fun for me. So if we are in there for 10 minutes, I call it quits and back on the diaper.

If we aren't going outside, I've started to let her wear the training undies. She doesn't like them so if that doesn't work, nudie it is!

I know pee will happen.

Last night she told me she had to go while watching Super Why on PBS. I said Let's go to the potty. Then she said, "No mommy not yet." and for some reason I took her seriously. What she meant was, "I'm busy watching tv and I'll just pee here in the undies on my chair." which is exactly what she did.

I learned MY lesson and the tv gets put on pause and turned off, and we go to the bathroom right away.

I have to say, being in light to moderate pain all the time makes me far less ambitious than I normally am. I realized I'm walking differently and holding my butt too tightly. So I think that has a lot to do with the pain. I'm really waddling more than walking to compensate. Not good.

And I "barely" failed the 1-hr glucose tolerance test last week. So now I have to go tomorrow morning, after another full night of fasting, for the 3-hr test. Basically, after dinner tonight at about 8.30, I won't eat or drink anything (except the glucose drink) until about 11am tomorrow. Holy Christmas, I'm going to be shaking, and fall asleep from the lack of eating.

I'm eating more protein and less carbs than usual tonight. Honestly, I can't believe I failed it. And if I fail this one, I will absolutely cry out of sheer frustration.

Naptime has become different again. Many days, she will take her nap like usual. But there are increasing days where she's in there talking to herself or singing for over an hour. I don't allow the talking and singing but the babysitters were. So we had a chat. What's interesting is that she's tired and clearly needs a nap. But what she is really after is more time with me hugging her while she lays down and singing quiet lullabies.

I guess the regression is in part because of my pregnancy and also she is getting older so naps will eventually fade. But not now. She's not really capable of going without a nap and being normal all day. If no nap happens, she basically loses her mind about 5pm.


I've been getting really frustrated with her this week. My god she can talk endlessly. I now understand more and more what my mom went through with me. Just a couple of anxious Chatty Kathies. Whew. It's exhausting.

Got us a big-girl bed, but is my toddler a "big girl"?

The short answer is "yes". We waited, and I'm glad we did. She is as ready as she was going to be for a big bed.

We ended up having someone come to take the old double bed out and deliver the new bed, and that same night we dismantled the crib. So the entire coming and going happened in one day.


As expected, Carolina was very excited about the bed and her new sheets (pink!) and blanket (extra soft organic!) and also VERY apprehensive.

The first night I had to stay in the room with her for about 30 minutes until she calmed down enough, and stopped crying long enough, to relax and start to want to go to sleep. She cried out at about midnight and her papa went in there to rub her back for a bit. She woke up, very anxious, at 6.30 and wanted to basically jump off the bed to be with me when I walked in.

She was clearly tired, and ready for a nap at about 11.30am that morning. HOWEVER, she was still a little nervous about sleeping in the big bed by herself. So I stayed for about 10 minutes and then left to take my nap in my bedroom.

She woke up after only about an hour and 20 minutes. She was yawning about 30 minutes after she got up and was READY for sleep later that night.

All this short sleeping caught up with her as last night, we read 3 or 4 books (usually we read 2) and I stayed with her for about 10 minutes as she had a momentary panic just as I turned off the light and she realized it really was time for bed. I held her for a bit until she stopped crying, then hummed to her for about 10 minutes and she was out like a light.

She didn't wake up until a quarter to 7 this morning, and went down for her nap without problems.

I expect she will get a bit nervous just at lights-out moment again tonight but I think the worst is over.

Just like traveling, Carolina needs about 3 days to adjust and then she's good to go.

Honestly, this is a lot faster than I expected. I was going to give her a week of anxiety, but it seems that as long as we reinforce that her bed is comfortable and nice and her babies in there with her, AND remind her that she is still in her own room, she seems to be okay with it.

I had thought we'd need to start playing dolls in her room every day to get her accustomed to being in there but since it's still her room, I guess we didn't need to. And, I thought she'd mind the bed rail but she seems to actually like that it's there.

Also, I told her that the Warning information in English, French and Spanish (on the inside part of the bedrail mesh) is actually a letter to her saying that her bed is nice and the mesh is there to keep her safe. She then asked if the monsters could get in (this is a new thing). I explained like I always do, "No, we keep the front door locked so they can't get in." She then asked if I'd lock her door, and I told her, "I'll keep it closed like always and the front door locked. So they can't get in AT ALL." She seemed to like the "at all" part and always seems to believe me that if we lock the door, they can't get in.

I have no idea where the monsters coming in came from, but it seems that if I am factual about it and don't bring it up, she isn't too worried. Maybe that can change later.


All we need now is a new step stool so she can get into the bed herself. I got a shorter box spring than normal but it's still a bit high and the metal frame is too pointy to use as a step. I even tried it and it hurt my food. We're using a full diaper box now, and another mom in the neighborhood said I could have hers if I pick it up tomorrow, which I will.

Hooray!

PS And you know the head banging on the mattress or moaning hasn't happened since we switched to the bed. I had hoped this might happen as she did a LOT less of it when we changed her crib padding in August. She might be too nervous to bother but I'm very (fingers tightly crossed) hopeful this might be the end of it.