Parenting Success

 As a woman I have so many different roles (mom, primary president, friend, wife, housekeeper, cook, and the list goes on...) and there are sometimes days where I feel like I haven't succeeded at even one of my roles. Every once in a while I have a day where I really feel successful in my roll as a parent.

In the last week I have had two balls rolled at me (potty training and weening) and I was not sure I was going to be able to tackle them, but surprisingly it has not been as bad as I thought it would be.

I decided at the beginning of last week to start potty training Jack again. We started it a few months ago when he was motivated but then he got sick and all of his motivation went out the window so we didn't push it. I decided to just go for it even though he was now fighting me a little bit. I just kept thinking about how great it would be to have him potty trained by the summer and he was waking up with a dry diaper every morning and nap so I knew he was able to control it well enough. The first two or three days were not so great. He had an accident pretty much every 2 hours during the day. I actually think most of it was my fault because I was not queuing him like I should have been. I got busy and then forgot and then of course just as I thought about it, it was already too late. On the first day he was in the corner for throwing food on the floor and was singing "I am a child of God" at the top of his lungs, obviously not bugged at all by being in the corner.  When I went to get him out I instantly noticed the smell and of course he had pooped while standing there singing. Cleaning that out was not pretty, but it is a story that still makes me laugh. That is SO Jack.
I finally got smart and started using plastic pants this time around to save my carpet and my arms from the scrubbing. By the 4th and 5th day he only had maybe one accident a day. Then the moment of truth was when we decided to send him to church without a diaper. As we walked to church we realized what a risk we were taking because we didn't have a car to drive him home, nor did I think to bring an extra pair of clothes. Turns out we shouldn't have worried so much. He went pee in the big potty at the church (his first time in a public restroom) with no problems and came out of nursery completely dry. I am actually pretty lucky with my boys because they seem to have this amazing bladder control that I know they did not get from me. They can hold it for hours on end and I have it pretty much down to a science the times of day that they go. Pooping is the tricky one to time, it differs from day to day. However, today Jack told me his tummy hurt and I knew it was time to poop (it had been a few days, I think potty training keeps it in there longer.) He sat on the potty, read a few books to himself, and low and behold, there was a poop. Today was the first day with absolutely no accidents! I think the trick with Jack was something Shad discovered midweek last week. I was at a point with him where he would sit on the potty for 20 minutes before he would go, even in the morning when he first got up with a dry diaper. He had a really hard time just letting his body release it. It was super frustrating so I turned him over to Shad. He discovered that if he put a little piece of toilet paper in between his legs so that he didn't have to watch himself go, didn't have to point it down himself, and he didn't feel like he was going to get the seat wet, he was good. It works every time now and he'll go instantly once the toilet paper is there to block everything. Whatever works right?!
Anyway, that is probably TMI for everyone who doesn't want to know about potty training...but maybe it will help someone else somewhere down the road. Here's to many more days of dry "Thomas the tank engine" underwear. I'm not holding my breath yet for sure.

Our other mountain which will hopefully turn into more like a molehill is weening Gracie and getting her weight up. Last Wednesday we went for her 9 month check up and found out that she is not even on the charts at all anymore. At this point her Dr. was concerned because she had actually dipped down from her own little curve on the 1-3% line. I knew weening was coming soon. She just wasn't really interested anymore and it seemed like she had to eat a ton of solids to get full. She was still sleeping great, but eating wasn't her strong point. My milk supply was down and by the end of the day she would down a 7 ounce bottle of a formula/breast milk mix. The Dr. recommended we concentrate her formula to pound the extra calories. For every 2 ounces of water, mix 1 1/2 scoops of formula. I didn't know you could do that, but apparently you can actually buy concentrated formula if you want to, it is just more expensive. I knew this would be a challenge because just getting her to take a bottle a few months ago was tricky. She only liked a certain kind and even then it had to be mostly breast milk for her to take it. So, after the Dr. appointment we pretty much went cold turkey with the exception of topping her off after the bottle (which only lasted 2 days). She fought me a lot at first and really spit it out every time I would try to give her a bottle. It was like a wrestling match. She went a few feedings with nothing at all, but then finally gave in, probably out of thirst. Now she doesn't fight me hardly at all except for me to get that last little ounce in her at the end of the bottle. I'm determined to fatten her up, so I fight her to get in as much as I can. It sure is easier to make her eat with a bottle than with nursing. I don't know yet if she has gained any weight, but she already looks bigger to me. Maybe it is just my imagination? She doesn't eat as much of her solids, but I don't mind it because I know she is getting pretty full on all of that milk. She is doing really well with picking up table foods so that is mostly what she eats with a little baby food mixed in here and there.
Today we also had a big success with her taking a straw! I love using straw cups with my kids because then I have access to a sippy cup nearly everywhere I go. All restaurants have straws, but selected few have sippy cups if I happen to forget mine (which happens often). Teaching a baby to take a straw is usually kind of tricky, although Jack took to it like it was second nature. With Gracie I had to suction it with my finger and put it in her mouth and after a few times of doing that and having her suck it out, she started doing it out of the cup on her own! I was pretty excited about that. Now the trick will be to get her to hold onto it on her own. She has yet to hold the sippy cup or a bottle on her own because she has been so used to nursing and not having to hold anything.

Let's not forget my sweet Haken.... Today I felt like a successful parent as we were having family home evening. We take turns teaching the lesson and tonight it was Haken's turn. He has been so fascinated with money lately so he decided to teach a lesson on tithing. He sat down and made up a game all by himself about tithing and how it is used. It was a matching game and he was so excited to have Jack play it. Here are the cards that he made:

I know you can't really really read what they say but they all say ways our tithing is used and then the back of them have numbers that match each other. He loved watching Jack play the game he had made. After that we took Haken's money jar (filled with $30 worth of change from Grandpa) and paid his tithing on it. He was so excited to pay his tithing on his own money. We had done it before, but I don't think he really got it until now. Filling out the form and counting out the money was right up his alley. He was such a perfectionist in filling out the form. He counts his money nearly every week and has gotten really good at it. Maybe one day he will grow up to be an accountant? In addition to his tithing he also decided to contribute to the missionary fund since President Monson asked us to in the last General Conference.

Needless to say I am feeling pretty good about being a parent tonight. It is a good thing that these kind of days come around every once in a while to keep me motivated to keep on going. Being a parent is one of the hardest, and yet rewarding things I will ever do in my life. Everyday my sweet kids make it all worth it.