Toddler Bed Woes

We converted Scarlett's crib last weekend to a toddler bed, and I'm regretting it quite a bit! But there's no going back now. We probably could have waited longer because she never tried to get out of her crib; I just thought she would enjoy a big girl bed now that she's two. She also loves big beds so I thought it would be a fun transition for her. Um, not so much. 

She's doing great at nap time. I put her down, she doesn't make a peep, and she doesn't get out of bed. I've been bribing her some though, and she gets a Starburst when she wakes up if she doesn't cry and doesn't get out, but hey it works, and if it weren't for naptime I might have lost my mind by now.

But these last few nights have been full of drama. She likes the bed; she gets right in and snuggles up. But she wants us to stay in her room with her. She pats the floor by her bed and directs us to "Sit here!" and "Mommy, go get your pillow!" When I put her down and leave, she freaks out, gets out of bed, and pounds on the door in hysterics.

We've been giving in and have sat in her room until she falls asleep. One problem with this is that sometimes we're in there for 20 minutes and sometimes it takes over an hour. My hope is that after a week or so, she'll get used to the bed, and we won't have to sit with her anymore, but this could also become a big problem.

We have one of those saftey knobs on the inside of her door so she can't get out. I'm thinking we may have to try putting a gate up and leave her door open instead; maybe then she won't feel so alone. But we've always shut her door when she sleeps, and it doesn't bother her at naptime so I'm not sure what the deal is. I don't think I'll feel so bad making her cry it out if she's crying at a gate instead of a closed door though. We're also still letting her have her paci when she sleeps so it's not that. 

Right before bedtime at night she's all smiles. She takes her bath, and then we read. She likes to get a chair for herself and then one for T Boone, her zebra.

What makes me crazy is the DRASTIC difference between naptime and nighttime. Because of how well she does for her nap, I know she can do the same at night, but she just will not give in.

I am thankful that I had an easy time with potty training. Dealing with both of those right now would just be too much! Thank you Lord for the free potty training pass! Much appreciated!

Antsy

I'm an anxious person by nature.  My mind is always racing with plans and schedules and ideas.

But I've been extra anxious lately.

This time of year makes me anxious. It's when I have to decide if I'm ready to go back to my "real" full time job as a school librarian. I really miss working in the school environment. As a school librarian, I was always busy. I had to run the whole library myself which meant I did everything from ordering books, teaching classes, checking books in and out, shelving books, running book fairs, giving book talks, helping teachers with lesson plans, and on and on.

In public library land where I work now part time, I don't have nearly as much to do. Half of the time I'm working at the reference desk which is very boring. I thought I would be bombarded with difficult scholarly questions, but instead patrons ask how to print, if they can use the phone, borrow a Kleenex, will I go out with them on a date, how do they get into their email, where the bathroom is, or can they have more time on the Internet because they promise they've got an important project to finish (of course it never fails that I look up later and see them playing on Farm Town.)

We deal with homeless people, angry people, drunk people and lots of weirdos (but that's a whole other Blog I guess....) So needless to say, I'm antsy to get back to my nice little secure school library world.

But.

Working part time allows me to be home with Scarlett a lot. My job pays good. Scarlett has never had to go to day care because of it. I enjoy the people I work with. So I've decided to deal with the public at least one more year. It's just not about me right now. Hooray.

I'm also anxious about Scarlett starting an early preschool class in the fall at church. I had to enroll her now to guarantee her a spot so I've got it on the brain. She's going to go 2 days a week from 9-2. It's not a full blown day care facility, just a Mother's Day Out and Preschool, so I'll have to pack her little lunch and get her a nap mat. My niece already attends and love it; she has learned so much. I know Scarlett will really benefit since she's talking so good and learning so quickly and doing fabulous with potty training. She loves to learn and play and sing, and she has so much curiosity and energy that I know this will be good for her. But I also know at first she'll be upset when I leave her since she's not used to that. I just worry it will be too overwhelming for her. I just worry in general. At least we've got some time....

I'm also anxious in a good way for our upcoming move! We've found a house to rent which is getting us out of this THIRD FLOOR apartment. You might remember when we sold our house almost two years ago. Again, we did it for Scarlett, but seriously, enough is enough. Did I mention we live on the third floor? We'll start moving in a few weeks, and I cannot wait. I can't wait for Scarlett to have a backyard and for me and Chris to have a garage and just more room in general. Scarlett can actually push her wagon and ride in her cars on the street instead of around inside. Our new neighborhood has several parks, a pool, and a splash-ground so this summer will be so much fun. Oh, I'm so excited and relieved. Thank you Lord!

And while Scarlett is doing so good with potty training and rarely has accidents while we're at home, I doubt she'll be so willing to adjust to me taking away her paci. My goal was to take it away right before she turned two, but I chickened out. She knows she can't have it during the day, but she sure wants it a night. And she's very volatile at night so I'm afraid to take it away. My firm goal is to take it away some time soon like tomorrow before we move. I know there's lots of tricks and tips, but none of that fluffy stuff will work on her. She's going to be down right pissed off, and I seriously fear her wrath. 

I'm also thinking about changing this Blog some. A lot of people make their blogs private which I've considered, but I really don't want to do. I'm pretty sure only friends and family would want to read this, but you just never know. So instead, I might just change the title again and take off our last name especially since Chris is in school administration now. A crazy parent found our address and knocked on our door the other day so if they can find that, they can probably find this. So you've been fairly warned that things might be changing up again soon!

And now I've gotten all that off my chest, and I feel much better!
today

Poo Poo Scawy!

Tacky title maybe, but it sure is funny when Scarlett says it! Today is definitely a day for the record books. Potty training is going pretty smoothly so far, and Scarlett had no accidents all day!  And she actually told me every time when she needed to go. Before today she was doing a good job going #1 in the potty. No big deal anymore with that, but she refused to go #2. She would hold it until I put a diaper on her at naptime or would just go in her “big girl underwear.” When she does do that in her “big girl underwear” she gets very upset even though I don’t scold her. I just try to tell her where that is actually supposed to go, but she gets so upset and says, “Mommy, poo poo scawy!!” I kept thinking oh great, my daughter is afraid of poo! How will I ever get her to go in the toilet!


Well, yesterday we transitioned from the potty chair to just using the ring on the actual toilet. She seemed fine with that change. Today, she actually told me she needed to go #2, and she went in the toilet! She was almost in tears though, and she kept saying, “Poo poo not scawy” the whole time she was going as if to reassure herself.  I had to hold her hands too, but hey, she went! She also surprised me several more times today. When we came home from grocery shopping, her pull-up was still dry, and she woke up with a dry pull-up after naptime. Way to go baby girl! I can’t wait to quit buying diapers, but I am most looking forward to not changing dirty diapers anymore! Whoo Hoo! At least we're on the right track...

Potty Time

Every time I think of the word, potty, which is quite often these days, I think of the song Eddie Murphy recorded back in the 80's. Instead of, Party all the time, I thought he was saying, My girl wants to potty all the time, potty all the time, potty all the tiiiimmme! And never once did I question the randomness of the lyrics either; I just sang along! And I could have swore that Mandy was in on that with me, but she says she doesn't remember...

Well anyway, my girl actually does want to potty all the time, Scarlett that is. For a little over a week now, she has used her potty chair at least once a day, usually twice. She goes for Chris, and she went for Mimi this weekend. And now, for the past few days, she goes very easily, right when she sits down. So now what? What's the next step? I don't think she's ready to say, Hey mom, I need to pee! And I do have to ask her if she needs to go, then I help her sit on the potty for her to actually go, but she's doing so well, there must be a step 2 to this process....