 | Diary Navigation:
|
April 3, 2003
April 3, 2003
Potty Training
Virginia is doing amazingly well in this area. She still hasn’t had a bm on the potty, but the fact that she can go all day and not wet herself is amazing to me! I still put her in a pull-up at naptime and at bedtime because she does not always wake up dry. I figure this will come in time. She has gotten increasingly better at letting us know when she has to go to the bathroom. And boy does she love the praise! She has even started to praise me when I go. She is so funny. She still gets an ice cream treat, but now it isn’t every time that she goes. Usually only once per day. I also bought a Graco folding potty for our trips out. I didn’t want to go out with her wearing only underwear because she didn’t want to use the public toilets. I think they are scary for her since they are so big. The folding potty is GREAT and I highly recommend it (it’s only $10).
In my last entry I asked for advice on the fact that Virginia has torn up many of her books (cardboard and paper ones). Well the day I wrote that entry I ended up taking all of her books away after she tore up her favorite (I patiently taped it all back together, but this is the only one I’ve done it for). The next day, she tore up an 8x10 baby picture of Karl that was sitting on her dresser. My baby picture is there also, but she didn’t touch it. Luckily Karl’s mom has another copy so I will scan it in and print another copy. In the mean time I’ve removed all paper products from her room. We still read her a book at bedtime but she no longer has the privilege of unsupervised book time. I hope this phase ends soon, because I hate the fact that she can’t sit up at night and look through her books.
I also asked for advice on taking Virginia to the new Piglet movie. Well I decided to take her and am so glad that I did. We had a blast. I took her to the 11am showing, which is not only matinee priced but discounted further (what a bonus!). We showed up a little early so we could get our popcorn (I know choking hazard, I watched her like a hawk the whole time), get our bottled water and find a seat. We soon found out she doesn’t weigh enough to keep the seat from folding up. Luckily I spotted the booster seats and that problem was solved. I then explained to her that the lights would go down, the volume would go up and that if she was scared to let me know and we would go for a walk. I also told her we couldn’t talk loudly during the movie. There were maybe 6 other children in the theater, so it was nice that it wasn’t packed. Soon the movie started and Virginia grabbed my hand because she was scared (movies are so loud!). But within 5 minutes she was totally glued to the screen and loving every moment. She talked throughout the whole movie to the movie. “Oh, no!” “Is piglet okay?” And tons of laughing. At one point a little boy behind us asked his mom and question and Virginia turned around and shushed him. This of course was amusing since she had been talking herself. When the movie was about to end, and everything turned out happy, she reached over and gave me a big hug and told me she loved me. I just melted. As we left the theater she asked to go see another movie. I told her the next time a “big girl” movie came out we would for surely go see it.
Virginia ended up with a cold toward the end of last week. Or it could have been allergies, whatever it was it passed her quickly. Just a few doses of decongestant helped. Karl didn’t get by as lucky. Usually I am the one who catches Virginia’s illnesses, but not this time. Karl rarely gets sick, and every more rarely goes to the Doctor. I knew he was feeling bad when he went to the Dr. yesterday (he started to feel ill on Saturday) and he is actually home today. He’s now on antibiotics and has an upper respiratory infection…No…not SARS (thank goodness). Hopefully he will start to feel better soon. I know Virginia has enjoyed having him home today. It’s nice having a change of pace.
Virginia and I ventured out to the Fort Worth Zoo yesterday. The weather forecast said it was going to be very windy (30mph) so I was hesitant but I had promised to take her so off we went. It turned out to be a gorgeous day. About 80 degrees, very little humidity and the breeze was nice. I think because the Zoo has so many large trees and paths it kept the gusty wind out. We arrived around 11 am. I debated bringing in the stroller, so I asked Virginia if she wanted to walk. She said yes, so we left the stroller in the car (I knew we could go back out and see it). I asked her what animals she wanted to see and she has a long list: elephants, lions, tigers, bears, zebras, giraffe’s, and monkeys. I think we saw the monkey’s first and she loved seeing the babies. She would look at each exhibit for about 30 seconds to 1 minute and then would say, “I want to see MORE animals!” We walked through about ¾ of the zoo before she said she wanted lunch. So I searched the map for the closest place and of course since it was lunchtime, it was packed. We quickly ate our cheeseburgers and off we went again. We passed by a carousel, and she asked to ride so I bought a ticket. Turns out if you are less than 45” tall an adult has to stand by you. I get very sick on rides that go in circles, but I braved it. I found that if I focused on her I didn’t feel ill. I also got a few good pictures of her on the carousel. As we got off the ride, she saw the train and asked to ride that. How could I resist her “Pllleeeaaasse!”. So I bought the all day ride ($1 more than a one-way ticket) and we rode it round trip. It’s a short train ride (it only goes by about ¼ of the zoo). We then stopped at the petting zoo. Virginia got kissed by a calf, pet a goat, saw a few chickens (what are those momma?), and looked eye to eye with a lamb (which she then started to sing Baa Baa Black sheep to). I could tell she was getting tired at that point and then realized I never asked her if she had to go potty (we had been there for 2.5 hours). She said yes, so we walked to the ladies room. I pulled out her never portable potty seat and placed it on the toilet. I placed her on it (I really don’t want her to touch public toilets) and she went potty! Yahoo! So I did potty dance and praised her and said we could go get an ice cream cone. We had our ice cream cones and then she asked to ride the train again. I thought that was a great idea because it would drop us off by the zoo entrance. We ended up riding it 3 times, and this enabled me to get a few more. pictures of Virginia. If I get a chance today or tomorrow I’ll upload them. Just let me know on my TTM board if you want me to email you the link to see them (of if I get ambitious I’ll start a babies online website for her). On our last train ride, the train workers sat with us. We passed by a longhorn steer, and Virginia called it a cow. I told her that Daddy wouldn’t be happy if he heard her say that (he went to the University of Texas in Austin). The zoo employees thought that was funny and immediately mentioned UT. They then told us the Steer’s name is Alamo. So Virginia said Hi, Bye Alamo. I love you. And then blew him a kiss. The zoo employees laughed at her, so this caused Virginia to say this to every animal we passed. We then walked to the car and she told me she didn’t want a nap today. I knew after all the sun and walking she would surely take one. Not 5 minutes into our car ride she fell asleep. When we got home, she woke up as I got her out of the car. I placed her in her bed and took of her shoes and she told me that she didn’t need to nap anymore. I said okay, but just stay her for a moment while I retrieved all of our items from the car. She was sound asleep by the time I returned. We really had a wonderful time.
We have decided on a vacation. We are going to playa del Carmen to the Gala resort. This is the one with the kids club down to age 2. We are all excited and waiting in anticipation for our vacation to start (less than one month away). So I am now in the process of buying a few summer clothes for Virginia. Sunscreen and miscellaneous stuff like that. Virginia has enjoyed picking out a new swimsuit and water shoes. I still need to find a pair of sandals for her to wear.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and don’t forget to “spring forward” your clocks!
Love,
Katrina and Virginia
 |  |
|
want to keep a diary on iParenting?
Authoring a diary on the iParenting network allows you to chronicle your family's story, preserving it for years to come. It's also a great way to get the most out of the iParenting community. Click here to start...
|
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families. 
