Grooves

If it weren't for the lack of pooping, Lightrunner would be the easiest baby I have ever had. He caught on to the Eat, Play, Sleep routine really quickly. He sleeps in his crib (or cosleeper at night). When he has good days I can predict when he will need to sleep pretty easily and I usually have to wake him up to feed him. Yes, I wake him up (during the day).

When he doesn't poop, which is often, the whole thing can get out of whack. 2 hour naps become 45 minutes. He cries. He's gassy and cranky. I gave him brown sugar water a couple of times and it worked but it seems to have stopped. Today is day 4 of no poop, after 2 days of brown sugar water. BUT he is happily sleeping in his crib. I will have to go wake him up in 10 minutes or so. He doesn't seem to be quite as bothered as he used to be. The only change is that I'm cutting down on my dairy. I seem to be able to have milk in my tea and cereal in the morning. But a big glass of milk--or two--before bedtime will result in a night of gassiness. I bought American cheese from Organic Valley and it's SO GOOD and I've had that at lunch time and a few times the following nap was less than stellar... I'm still trying to figure out what our limits are... can I have ice cream before bed? Yogurt seemed okay.  Is it just whole milk? It's possible that all those times he was crying and I thought it was not pooping it was actually just dairy-related gas. He's not constipated--breastfed babies are rarely constipated and the signs are more about what's coming out than how often it comes out. So for now I need to forget about big glasses of milk, double up on my Vitamin D, and hope he gets over this soon!

Other than this little hiccup, everything is going swimmingly. The big kids have adjusted to school (well, I shouldn't say swimmingly, homework with SkyWalker is still a battle. He does his math work without hesitation, but he has to write a paragraph a week and it's THE WORST THING EVER.). The Princess is doing well in kindergarten and it feels like she's been in school forever. Chewie is doing GREAT in preschool. It's just what she needed. She's happy to go and listens well and enjoys it. She loves gymnastics and is often one of the best listeners in the class. When we go out she stays in the stroller with Lightrunner and is helpful and listens. It's insane. But once the big kids are home, she once again becomes the little kid and the screaming/crying starts. If she's going to misbehave at any point during the day it is most likely when they are home. Which gets really annoying. Our mornings together are quite nice though... I can run on the treadmill and shower and she entertains herself with Reading Rainbow on the iPad or her toys. She behaves. Doesn't whine or cry for me. It makes things a lot easier to get done.

We're all fitting into our grooves.

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Chewie had her first spoonful of cereal at Thanksgiving dinner and followed it with the whole bowl. You know how they say start out with 1 tablespoon and go slow? No such thing with my girls. She did not gag once, she did not refuse once, she ate and ate and ate and finished a full serving. The next day she did refuse it at dinner because she was tired so it's not like she doesn't know how to say no. She's been doing good with it, except she started getting a little constipated and was up at night again (to put that in perspective, she was up at 10 and then again at 4/5. So really, who am I to complain?). I started oatmeal yesterday morning to try to help in that area. Last night was the worst in that she was crying quite a bit and then this morning during breakfast she was crying A LOT. She had poop when she woke up this morning and I don't think she's stopped since. I decided to skip the cereal this morning and give her a rest. I gave her oatmeal at lunch and might just stick with that today instead of doing the rice for dinner. She is at least smiling now and she was NOT doing that this morning. I think she really needed to get her poop out and now that's it coming all at once her little heiney is getting sore. And this sounds SO FAMILIAR does it not? I'm going to start fruits soon and hopefully she will balance out and get regular again.

Speaking of balance--the Princess started gymnastics today with her usual "Hold my hand/pick me up/help me" attitude but when it was time for the bars and a new young teacher she told me she didn't want my help, she wanted "someone different." I sat on the floor next to Chewie and the Princess did all of the bars with the teacher (a girl in her 20s I think) and didn't even look at me. It was amazing. It was exactly how I thought she would be when I signed her up in September. Unfortunately the teacher was just a sub, but the teacher who would normally be there on Wednesdays (we just switched to Wednesdays because 9 am on Fridays was too hard) is her best friend so I am hoping she is also young and able to bewitch my daughter.

I have officially given up on the Couch to 5k. I gave it up a while ago actually. It's just too hard when I have no idea if Chewie is going to wake up after 45 mins or take a whole nap. And sometimes all I have is 45 mins before I have to get SkyWalker off the bus. I can't be on the treadmill that entire time. Not to mention the fact that I just don't like running. Well, I don't like distance running or running for any length of time. I discovered when I had to chase after SkyWalker's school bus that I actually like sprinting. I'm not sure how I can really do that on the treadmill but maybe when it's warmer I can sprint down the damn driveway. Anyway, for now what I have been doing is just 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill. But to make the most of those 10 minutes I use the incline feature and walk uphill. It's working out well. I can feel that I am actually doing something and I have enough time to do other things. 

Speaking of other things-- I need to figure out how to show 3 toddlers how to make a fireman's hat. Which means I need to figure out how to do it first. I might need Vader to decipher the instructions for me.

OH and one last thing--if you used to see pictures of the jedi children and now you don't, well sucks to be you. I decided to make them viewable by neighborhood only. My husband had me sign the form at SkyWalker's school saying he can't be photographed because he's in law enforcement--my husband, not SkyWalker. And here I am with pictures on the internets. So if you were a lurker before but you know me and want to see any pictures I may post of them you'll need to get an account and make sure I add you to my neighborhood. Then you can just make sure to always be logged in when you read this blog. If you're a lurker and I don't know you, well, you're who I'm trying to avoid.

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Graduation

Yesterday was SkyWalker's preschool graduation. I fully expected that at some point during the ceremony he would have to come sit with us because of stage fright. I fully expected no participation at all. Which would have been fine because, quite frankly, I wouldn't want to sing This Land is Your Land in front of a bunch of grownups taking pictures either. It started out with the kids walking in two-by-two and his teacher was smart enough to pair him with his lovely Juliet (this girl has him on a short leash). I'm pretty sure the only reason he made it down the aisle to the front was because lovely Juliet (yes that's what he calls her) was pulling him there. When they got to the front they had to go their separate ways and the teacher had to physically separate their hands because lovely Juliet was determined to just pull him along her way. Luckily he went where he was supposed to and sat where he was supposed to and stayed there. He didn't sing all the words to all the songs or do all the silly hand movements but he did *some* of them and that is a major improvement for him! I really wasn't expecting him to do anything and would have been happy with him just sitting up there the entire time. When it was time to get his diploma I thought he wouldn't come but he did and he waved to the grownups just like he was supposed to. I was really really surprised. I was also really surprised that I had to repeatedly bite my lip to keep from crying. I am seriously sleep deprived and there were lots of moms crying and Grama was crying (Vader also graduated from this preschool a million years ago) but I don't cry at these things. But seeing him actually participate and not being so shy... it was very nice to see.

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It wouldn't be a blog post from me without some mention of poop. Really, look at my tags. I bet poop is the largest one. Anyway, I am happy to report that SkyWalker has been pooping normally for months now without the aid of daily miralax. I thought the new baby might set him back but it hasn't! It's such a relief. We still have the September kindergarten hurdle to get through and I still have the bottle of miralax just in case, but I remain cautiously optimistic that we won't need it. 

The Princess is doing fantastic on the potty. I'm not going all out with the underwear yet. She still happily pees in her diaper/pull-up but she's told us a few times now that she needed to poop on the potty and did it. Every morning when she gets up we put her on the potty and she does her morning poop. If she had a cup of coffee too I'd think she was my father. She almost always produces something when she sits there. I'm not sure if she can physically hold it in yet, but I'm happy enough to have her in pull-ups and have MOST of the dirty work wind up in the potty.

Speaking of diapers, I discovered something amazing the other day. The newborn diapers, the Pampers Swaddlers that actually say newborn with the umbilical cut out part, have a yellow stripe down them. Do you know how long it took me to realize that the yellow stripe turned blue? Far too long! Apparently when there is urine it turns blue! An easy way to count wet diapers. I wish I had realized this last week when I was trying to guess whether there was just too little urine or none at all. Seriously, that's frickin' cool.

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Conversations with a 20 month old

"Did you have a nice nap?" (This was yesterday when she napped. She did not nap today).
"yes"
"Did you dream?"
"yes"
"What did you dream about?"
"poopie"
"You dreamt about poopie??"
"poopie"

I don't think she did dream about poopie, but was instead telling me that she had a poopie in her diaper. A rather smelly one at that.

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Insane in the membrane

Insane in the brain. 

Sigh.

In a fit of insanity I decided to take the jedi to Denny's for lunch. I've been wanting to go to Denny's but I didn't feel right going without SkyWalker when he's in preschool. So after his preschool Thanksgiving "feast" which consisted of popcorn and some fruit, we went to Denny's. We didn't leave preschool until 12 so I knew I was pushing it, but the Princess is always so good when we go out... as long as there is food, she is happy. SkyWalker was excited to go and told me how to get there in case I forget. "remember Mommy, it's on the same road as Wal-Mart and Target and the orange Home Depot. Daddy goes there. I do too. But not you, or [the Princess]." 

We got inside and sat down and much like the Anchorman in the bear pit I said  "I immediately regret this decision!". The Princess did not want to get into her booster seat because she wanted to clip the belt straps. Why? I don't know. I distracted her with something, I don't remember what, probably dangerous, and I finally got her in the seat and strapped in. We ordered. The Princess ate crayons and mocked me. Shaking her head and saying "No" very softly much like I do to her. After 3 years or so the food came. SkyWalker got mac and cheese and grapes and the Princess got the little dipper sampler--chicken nuggets, mozz sticks, and fries. (I had a club sandwich if you really need to know). SkyWalker gave his grapes to his sister. And proving that he is the best brother ever he gave her half of his mac and cheese because that is ALL she wanted. Usually she wants a little bit of what everyone is having but she will eat everything on her plate. Not this time. She nibbled her food, but she very loudly asked for the mac and cheese. I thought that they would share so it would all work out, but SkyWalker didn't want any nuggets or fries (!) so he just gave up spoonfuls of his mac and cheese (on his own, no less). 

They were actually both well-behaved, but it's just a pain in the neck when you have two. Going potty, getting all of our stuff together, keeping an eye on both of them. It's just a pain. Which is why I don't do it often and will probably not do it again for a long long time. 

In good news--SkyWalker pooped before preschool this morning and when I told him that it was great that he got that out of the way so early he said "yes, I didn't want to hold it in. I like pooping now. It's not hard anymore." Yay laxative. I actually didn't even give it to him yesterday. I've been tapering off and trying to do every other day. With the holidays coming up he could easily have a relapse though so I'm not cutting him off until I know for sure he's done with that holding crap. 

The Princess pooped on the potty THREE times on Saturday. Her sticker chart is almost full. She peed at the library today. When I say "Do you want to sit on the potty?" she usually runs for it. It would be SO nice to have her trained early. And easy. After all the nonsense with her brother... 

I need to fold laundry and wash dishes and straighten up the kitchen and I have no desire to do anything. Oh and pay bills too. Crap on a stick. I need an assistant. And a shower, but that's another post.

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Jekyll and Hyde

My son was a whiny piece of crap this morning. We fought getting dressed, we fought brushing teeth, we fought getting out the door, we fought over the storytime craft, we fought over lunch. And then, while I was changing the Princess's stinkalicious poopy diaper, I heard "Come see my poopy!!". I put her down for a nap and ran downstairs and SkyWalker had done another huge poop. He had spiked apple juice this morning and spiked PBJ for lunch. Someone normal would probably have diarrhea, but he doesn't. He did have a rather loose one yesterday--in his underwear because he was trying to hold it in (so bad I had to throw them out). And once he pooped--even though he hadn't expressed any difficulty this morning--he was a changed boy. Completely and totally changed. Happy, smiling, singing, kissing me and telling me he loves me. 

He does this a lot. 

I think moms get a bad rap for being bi-polar. Really it's our rotten unbalanced children who scream and cry over not being able to have a piece of bread before lunch--which consists of FRIGGIN BREAD--and then tell you how much they love you and want to cuddle you. It can drive a person nutty!

By the time I am done with all this birthing of babies I am going to be completely and totally crazy. I will probably wear old bathrobes with holes in them--to storytime--and wash my hair once a month instead of the every other day--or so--that I do now.

Good times my friends. Good times.

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Lazy sunday afternoon

More meetup drama for those of you who just unlurked yourselves. Who knew all I had to do was have a locked post and you'd come out of the woodwork. Tee-hee

SkyWalker has worn pull-ups the last couple of nights. The first night it was a little wet. The second was dry. The third was soaked. Sigh. He's been trying to hold his poop in but since I'm giving him the laxative every day he can't do it. I think another child would have diarrhea, but he's just having soft poop like a normal person. It's tough giving it to him though because he should have it in juice or water and all he's been wanting is milk! I put it in the milk anyway, but I have a feeling it's a little counterproductive. 

The Princess has horrible diaper rash and it might be from the pull-ups. I'm not sure, but maybe they're not as absorbent and she's been sitting in her pee too long? Oops. 

SkyWalker took a lovely nap yesterday and then was up late and a couple of times at night. The Princess woke up crying in the middle of the night. Haze scared the crap out of me sticking her cold wet nose on my face in the middle of the night and then walked around the room bugging us. In conclusion, I am tired.

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Defeat

I accept it. 

SkyWalker is just not ready to stay dry at night. Despite the fact that he has done it numerous times, I don't think he really *wants* to do it and that's the key... Last night he peed in his bed BEFORE he fell asleep. He was awake. He said he "forgot." Maybe he's just trying to get our attention? He peed AGAIN less than 2 hours later. And then again this morning. I told him that if he couldn't stay dry he would have to wear a pull-up. I thought maybe he would be motivated. Nope. His response? "I want to wear a diaper like the Princess." I am not putting him in a diaper. I still want him to pee on his own and a pull up is easier for that. So tonight he will wear a pull-up and perhaps we will all get some sleep. He slept until 8:30 this morning. He has dark circles under his eyes. He's refusing to nap during the day but he's clearly so tired. Maybe pull-ups will help.

He also hasn't pooped since Tuesday. He told me yesterday that he was going to poop but then thought it was going to be a bad one so he decided not to. WTH? I am ignoring it and just putting the laxative in his drinks. It hasn't worked yet but he hasn't accepted a full dose yet! I am definitely going to give him the laxative every day now to try to prevent this from happening again. Hopefully he will grow out of this nonsense!

The Princess is also wearing a pull-up right now. The other day I put her on the potty before her nap and she peed and we clapped and then I said "Try to squeeze out a poop so you don't wake up cranky" and lo and behold people she SQUEEZED out a poop. Immediately. It was amazing. 

My house is full of yin and yang.

The Princess is awake after just an hour of napping... SkyWalker didn't even let himself fall asleep. I probably should have taken a shower since I have that whole work thing tonight, but why should I start to care now? You know those moms who wear makeup and look nice? Screw you. I'm proud of my unwashed hair and my hairy toes.

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Wow

Man poop does not even begin to describe the massive amount of poop that just came out of my son--amidst loads of painful screaming. More like gorilla poop. Or dinosaur poop. Three days worth of backed up poop. Dude, it filled the toilet. No wonder the kid slept for HOURS today. I wouldn't be able to move with all that in me either.

And that has been your poop update, brought to by PBJ spiked with pureed prunes and lots of apple juice.

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Balance

Lest you all think that things are going smashingly grand in the Jedi house... As the Princess continues to poop on the potty (6 times now), her brother is on day #3 of holding it in. He is sleeping now, didn't have lunch, and has been off and on screaming in pain for the last couple of hours. I'm going to fill the miralax prescription, despite my husband's disapproval, because I cannot go through this again. 

The end.

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I need a synonym for progress

Joy! 

The Princess and I dropped SkyWalker off at preschool this morning and he was the first one in the room and barely looked back. He wanted to show the teacher the alligator he made at the library storytime yesterday. I don't know if that was it or if something just clicked with him, but whatever it was, he was happy and fine. He asked me to sing our goodbye song* but that was it. I got out in 5 minutes instead of 10. It was amazing. He claims he pooped there on Monday and since he was chock full of laxatives and suppositories I think I believe him. Maybe he just needed to poop there to find his comfort zone. 

The Princess and I went to Wal-Mart where I found a black long-sleeve onesie ("creeper") for her for Halloween instead of having to buy it online. There was a time when you couldn't find black clothes for kids. I'm glad I don't live in that time. And I found washable dry erase markers that will hopefully save her sheets and clothes from any more permanent damage. At Target I got an umbrella stroller with a canopy. Score!

She was happy in storytime, although still not as enthusiastic as I thought she would be. She smiles a lot and enjoys it but I really thought she would be up dancing the whole time. She's pretty tired by the time we get there though. I don't know what I can do though. If I took her home for a nap she'd get less than an hour--assuming that she fell asleep the minute we got home. Which she wouldn't because she's not tired at 9:30. If gas wasn't so damn expensive I would drive around and let her fall asleep in the car before storytime. BUT, I am happy to say that she is sleeping now and I had no problems getting her down for a nap today. Is it possible that we've found our rhythm? 

We picked up SkyWalker and I had to pee like a racehorse so we used the potty. I made him pee like I always do before we get in the car and he surprised me by pooping there. JOY. (for reals) He's watching Hard Hat Harry right now instead of napping but I don't think the napping thing is working so I don't care. 

It's so nice when things just work out.

In the funny files, this was our one-sided lunch conversation:

"When my room is dark and downstairs is dark I'm scared but in the morning when I'm in my room and downstairs I be fine but when it's dark in my room I'm scared but I'm okay. Was I a little boy when we went to North Carolina? A long time ago when I was a little little boy I pooped in my diaper at night and peed in it and it didn't get in the bed and that's why I love you."

There was even more but sadly I can't remember it all. I wish I had surveillance cameras on him because he is hilarious. And then I would have seen him cutting his sister's hair the other morning. He only did the back and top and it's not even noticeable. But I'd love to know if she just sat there for him. He was in her crib in the morning and used baby nail scissors so it's not as bad as it could have been. He said that her hair looked funny and he thought she should have hair like him. He's right, it does look funny, but I don't think she needs his cut. 

*(To the tune of Frere Jacques)

Mommy loves you.

Mommy loves you.

Yes I do.

Yes I do.

There's no need to cry now.

There's no need to cry now.

I'll be back.

I'll be back.

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Poop! On the Potty!

SkyWalker seems to be back to "normal" and has pooped a few times without me forcing him to try. Yay. 

This post is not about him. 

After letting the Princess cry and cry, I finally went upstairs expecting to see a poopy diaper as the cause of her sudden wake-up and refusal to go back to napping. There was none. I put her on the potty just for the hell of it, read her a book, asked her if she was going to pee and then... and then.... I saw the face. She pooped (and peed) on the potty! SkyWalker and I clapped and screamed and the Princess clapped and seemed to be more interested in her brother's reaction than mine. If only she would tell me when she has to go, we'd be on our way to potty training!

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Really? Again?

SkyWalker is holding in his poop again. For the 3rd time in as many weeks. I have spiked his peanut butter and jelly with pureed prunes. I have spiked his grape juice with liquid laxative. I have given him a suppository. He pooped a little bit after that, but not 3 days worth, and he's "leaking" again so it looks like he's right back to where he started. I need to find something that will work immediately, regardless of whether he wants it to or not, so that on that very first day that he doesn't poop I can get it out of him. He needs to go every single day, and all it takes is him holding it in ONCE, to screw everything up and get him caught in a vicious cycle. 

I think I might scream now.

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Two steps forward, one step back

Since his sister's surgery SkyWalker has pooped in his underwear 4-5 times. Today, however, he outdid himself. He pooped outside. In front of the swing. I was inside and he was entertaining himself and when I got out there he said "Don't step in any [SkyWalker] poopie!" and I said "Huh?" And then I saw. I asked if it came from his underwear and he said no, he peed and then decided to poop there too. 

What the dilly-o people?

On the one hand I'm glad that he's pooping again and not holding it in anymore, but what the hell?? 

Of course his sister's surgery coincided with the start of preschool. I don't think that it is preschool... 

His sister has officially become a big girl. It's not the walking, or drinking out of a big girl cup and sitting at the table with us, it's not the way she laughs when she does something naughty, it's not that she's not sleeping with the pacifier anymore*, it's not that she likes to bring me her shoes, it's going up the ladder on our playset and then down the slide. By herself. While poor Mama tries to quiet the voices in her head and not have a panic attack. How do I know this makes her a big girl? SkyWalker. He's been asking for a few weeks now why the little jobber is a big boy but the princess is still a baby. Apparently going down the slide without Mommy is the only criteria needed. 

Last week, the day after the Princess's surgery I took the pacifiers away. I put her down for a nap and told her no more pacifiers. She pointed to the top of her dresser. They were not there. She pointed to the floor but none had fallen under the crib. She pointed to the dresser drawer. They were in there, but I wasn't getting them. She cried and cried and I left. Less than 10 minutes later she was asleep. She has not had one since and has slept just fine. What was I waiting for??

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Goofballs

I am completely lacking in focus right now. I intended on making a bookmark on discipline books or doing some other work-related work but I just can't focus. I am tired beyond tired and the only thing I can attribute it to is spending all day at the hospital yesterday. And thinking about all the things I still have to do. Like clean and bake cupcakes and more cupcakes and more cupcakes.

The Princess was amazing yesterday. They delayed her surgery so she had to wait even longer with an empty tummy and she was SO GOOD it was just, well, amazing. I did let her have her pacifier towards the end because she was getting tired as well as hungry. They took her away and she didn't cry, just calmly let them hold her. The surgery itself was only half an hour. She came out of the anesthesia crying and screaming and really unhappy. She refused to drink any water. She finally just screamed herself to sleep in my arms and slept for at least half an hour and then when she woke up she was much calmer. She cried when they took out the IV and the blood pressure thing, but got over it quickly. When we got home she drank water and ate chinese food and jumped on Mama and went to sleep without any medication. Today she has been a complete goofball, jumping on the bed, sticking her hand in the toilet, and wrestling her brother whenever she got the chance.

We won't know if it was successful until November when she has her VCUG and Ultrasound. The surgeon sounded confident but couldn't commit to anything. So now we just wait and see.

SkyWalker seems to be doing just fine in preschool. He's talking about some of the kids and while I'm sure he's not playing with them yet, he's willingly going there and doesn't seem traumatized. He's having a hard time with his poop again but I think that's because of the Princess yesterday and not because of preschool. It's possible it's preschool, I'm pretty sure he's not going to poop there and once he holds it in it's never good, but I would bet that it has more to do with worrying over his sister. Hopefully he'll get it out tonight.

Today my son said: "You need to see my butt crack", bent over, dropped pants, and showed me his butt crack. Good times.

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The Princess

We took the Princess to the ER for her second round of shots today. Her last fever was at 7 pm last night (another 103.1) but it went down quickly and hasn't coming back. She's eaten today and barely napped and smiled and played and banged her spoon against the plate at Denny's and I think she'll be okay. Aside from some really stinky diarrhea from all the antibiotics she has in her tiny little body, she is doing well. She's just eaten her yogurt so hopefully that will start to counteract the diarrhea. She played outside today and went to the mall and only did a little fussing from being tired. 

So now the next step will be to go to the urologist and figure out if anything went wrong with her surgery. I'm really starting to think that it was just a fluke--the UTI she had/has was full of ecoli... I think with all of her massive pooping she's done lately eating big people food that she just got some poop up her pee-pee. Because when she poops, she POOPS. Her last ultrasound was a month ago and was great. How could there be something wrong now? I am going with the poop in the pee-pee theory until I am told otherwise. 

And now we know that *I* am okay as well since I have managed to once again bring poop into a post.

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The Poop Wars

Today's game was "Who's heiney needs to be wiped the most?". SkyWalker pooped once requiring LOTS of wipage. He pooped a second time while I was in the shower and didn't tell me. There was LOTS of toilet paper and wipes in the toilet. I can only hope that some of them actually made contact with his anal region. The Princess, not wanting to be outdone, pooped three times before 2 pm, each one messier than the last.

Neither of them won.

The winner, hands-down, was Isaac. He did not poop once today. Not at all. But he still managed to get icky stainage all over his heiney. He tried to wipe himself on the floor. And he's clearly wiping himself outside since he's all green as well as poopy. I had to use the kids' wipes on him numerous times today and he is still filthy. I doubt he can get a bath until his stitches are out. He didn't try to roll over when I was wiping him, like the Princess does, but he did growl a bit and didn't really cooperate.

Good times.

The Princess randomly nursed during soccer this morning. She must have been really thirsty/hungry. She even did it with big brother sitting right next to her because he refused to play at all. Again. He's paying for this session. He didn't want to leave the house, didn't want to stop playing with his toys. If he continues like this I might stop it for the summer. I'm not paying all that money for him to just sit there next to me. He wouldn't even play with me out on the field holding the Princess.

I have eaten a lot of munchkins in the last 15 minutes.

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The power of poop

JD was right man. It all comes down to poop.

This morning SkyWalker told me that he didn't feel well and that the "poop was not coming". I thought I was in for it since he had only pooped once yesterday. I didn't make a big deal about anything since I'm pretty sure it was in response to the fact that I had to take the Princess to the ultrasound yesterday (he did not want her to leave) and that she now has a cold and needed more attention this morning. So I just said "Okay, well, we'll have some apple juice today and see what we can do." and other than that I didn't say anything or pressure him at all. We played Memory and I got him to eat blueberries. He had apple juice for lunch and his normal PBJ--spiked with prunes again. Because this was only the first day he was still in an eating mood so he asked for a second sandwich. I spiked that one too. He pooped right after lunch. I think I need to pay attention and when he only poops once I'll have to be on the lookout the next day and start giving him the extra stuff. If he goes a whole day without pooping ... that's when the crap starts. Ha. I think I averted a problem.  As long as he gets one out then he can do more... when he can't do it then he starts holding it all in.  We wound up having a happy day playing together and being in a good mood. He kept telling me "I feel well now."

I can't believe my kid poops that much.

As mentioned above, the Princess has a cold. Her first undeniable cold. She's had congestion before, but this is runny nose, sneezing, coughing, sleeping a lot, cold. Naturally, because we'll be going to the wedding this weekend. Besides being tired and coughing while sleeping she seems okay. She's cried out a bit during her naps, but she's not acting horribly ill and there's no fever. I guess going 10 months without a real cold is pretty good...

I'm having shoe angst. Why can't I just wear sneakers to everything? The world would be so much nicer without so many fashion rules.

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Progress!

The Princess refused to nurse on the left side again this morning, so I waited 20 minutes and tried again and she still refused. I offered the right and she at least took that. The left side was the one she bit me on so maybe she was having some post traumatic stress from when Mommy yelled at her. At least she took the right.

We went to soccer despite SkyWalker's earlier claim that he did not want to go. It was iffy at first with him clinging to me and not wanting to play but we managed to coax it out of him and he did run around and play and drink lots of water. We went to Linen's & Things after and by the time we got home it was lunch time. SkyWalker peed so he could watch Dora and lo and behold he pushed his poop out! I think the exercise and the water helped. He has since pooped once more. The Princess was so hungry she nursed on the left side while we were sitting on the couch next to big brother (impossible these days) while he was watching TV! Not only TV, but her favorite show. Yes, my 9 1/2 month old has a favorite show. SkyWalker recently started watching Dora and the Princess loves it whenever I let her look at it. Her little booty shakes to all the singing. 

AND... I talked to someone at soccer. There was a mom there with a baby and she asked how old the Princess was (hers was 8 months). After class she was giving her kids lunch there (great idea) and I stopped and asked how much she was eating and breastfeeding and all that and had an actual conversation with a stranger. Go me. And there are now 11 moms who have joined the new meetup I started less than a week ago. Go me. 

So, progress. 

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The jedi drive me crazy

It has not been a good week for the jedi.

Monday SkyWalker was a little more whiny than usual. Monday is cleaning day and I barely got anything done. The first time your kid says "I want you to play with me" in a tiny little voice it's sweet and sentimental. The 20000 time he says it when you've been playing with him all day and what you really need to do is clean his piss off of the damn toilet, it's not so sweet and cute anymore. On top of that the Princess napped like crap and was cranky.

Tuesday started out okay. Aside from the Princess vomiting on me at storytime, it went well and one of the clerks (that I don't know) told me they won the award for the best behaved children in the library. We went to Target and SkyWalker screamed "I am a Mr. Pirate!" which was hilarious. But when we got home it was clear that we were entering another non-pooping episode. He didn't poop. The Princess didn't nurse. I fed her at 1:30. At 6 I tried to feed her, she bit me, I yelled, she cried and REFUSED to nurse the rest of the day. She had a bottle this morning and then I finally got her to nurse at 1:40.

Today was HORRIBLE. I tried to be non-emotional about SkyWalker and his poop this time and not sound like I thought it was his fault, but rather that we would work together to help his poop come out. He had bran flakes for breakfast and apple juice. He refused prunes so I spiked his PBJ with them (pureed prunes). I only hope that they are working right now and that he will be okay for soccer tomorrow. Otherwise he will be a big whiny pain in the ass. He cried and screamed over ridiculous things today. I finally couldn't stand it anymore and when the Princess went down for her nap (crying), I told him he had to stay in his room so I could take a shower. He screamed and cried. And fell asleep. And was still asleep 2 hours later when I left for work. They were both asleep. So my last interaction with them was telling them both to just lay down and go to sleep as they cried. Good times.

On the plus side SkyWalker's bed was dry last night (he's been wearing underwear the last 3 nights).

I always feel weird complaining here. Like I don't have the right... because I wanted to be home, I wanted to stay with my kids. But even if you love every second of your job you can still look forward to the weekends right? I'm still where I want to be. Some days are just harder than others.

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