IG {Fav Foto Friday}

I have not had my big-girl camera with me too much this week - "Bad Mama!" (as Milo now likes to say)!
So here are some InstaGram pics I've taken over the last couple weeks.

I've been slightly obsessed with sunsets (& one sunrise) the last few weeks.
My mom *loved* beautiful skies.
I guess she passed it on to me.
Every time I see it, I think of her, and know that she would appreciate it.

This one is just too cute not to put in here.
He'll probably be very upset with me one day for publishing this.
Oh well.
Potty training is not going as well as I'd like...
He sort of understands it, but is still totally cool with going in the diaper.
It's usually after the fact that he wants to go "try."

A certain little girl discovered a loose tooth this week.
So the tooth fairy has been busy making a special box for her tooth to go in when it finally comes out.
Although Xandra loves the box... she is petrified of that tooth actually coming out.
She will not let a soul near her mouth right now- not even to brush teeth (I usually just do a quick once-over when she's done anyway, just to make sure she got everything... but no more).
She barely lets me look in her mouth, even with my hands completely behind my back & promises that I will NOT touch.
The adult tooth has already broken through, and is trying its darndest to push that little tooth out.
I imagine we only have another week or so before it comes out, though I don't know for sure just how loose it is (see note above about the no touching!).

Daddy's Little Helper

A future mechanic? Maybe not that far... but hopefully a girl who can fix her own car! Xandra has discovered a new love for hanging out with Daddy in the garage. I think Daddy might like it even more than Xandra does. He's been looking for something they could do together, although Xandra usually just ends up playing games on the Ipod while she sits out there. It's still some nice time spent together. 

Xandra & Daddy really needed this quality time together tonight- Xandra's minor illness yesterday somehow resulted in her being really cranky today. Couple that with our on-going project of working with Xandra to stay dry during her nap time (yes, she still takes one almost religiously). It's been an icky day. 

Daddy decided a major bribe was in order. Xandra had found a snow cone machine in a catalog & showed it to Daddy a few days ago. So he promised her he would get it for her if she could stay dry. Here's where the communication broke down between them. This is a major bribe - we're coming from M&M's & H*rshey Kisses. Matt told Xandra that she would need to stay dry consistently (like she knew what that word meant!) for 6 naps. Another big communication breakdown: we're only talking about weekend nap times. At school, she's perfect- always dry. It's only at home that we have the issue. 

This was all way too complicated for Xandra to understand. It's even hard for me to describe! Xandra totally believed with her entire being that Daddy had said if she stayed dry today, she would get that snow cone machine. She stayed dry today & was devastated that that machine was not waiting for her! She's been very mad at both of us (even though I was not a party to this deal!) for most of the day. It's been a frustrating day. 

She finally perked up when she got to join Daddy in the garage. She was even cooperative getting ready for bed! YEA, garage time! :)

Middle of the Night Moments

For the past couple weeks (ok, months) we've been trying to let Xandra know that it really is ok to get up out of bed at night... if she needs to go to the bathroom. We've been struggling with being fully potty-trained for quite some time. I tend to blame myself most of the time, but also her old sitter at other times. We left Xandra's old sitter when she was about 3 1/2 years old. She wasn't even close to being potty-trained at that time. I had tried. Many times. But every time I tried to use pull-ups or (God forbid) regular underwear, I would get a lecture from the sitter that it was just too much work for her to try to potty-train Xandra with all the other kids in the house (red flag anyone?). Without walking too far down that ugly path, let's just say, that was one of many reasons we parted ways with the sitter & not on good terms.

Anyway, within about a month of being at her new daycare, she was pretty much "day-trained." God bless the people that work at the daycare (I LOVE them!!). But we have not, no matter how much we try, been able to keep her dry during naps/rest time or nighttime. It's becoming very frustrating. She's finally, in the last couple months, started staying dry all day at school- even through nap time. Unfortunately, this new skill has not come home with her-- meaning on weekends & breaks from school, she wets every day during nap time without fail. I've been thinking that part of the problem may be the fact that once she's in bed, she Will Not Set Foot Out of Bed EVER until one of us comes to get her.

So, back to the original story-- we've been drilling in her head that she has permission to get out of bed to go to the bathroom whenever she feels the urge to. She's tested us on this the last few evenings. She's very stealthy - about 10 minutes or so after I say goodnight to her, she will sneak her way down the steps & sit there until daddy or I find her. Then she quickly says that she just needed to go potty. Last night, same story, only I caught her before she made her way down the steps. I told my little fairy (she always looks so innocent at those later hours) sitting at the top of the steps to go potty & get her little butt back in bed.

Later when I was on my way to bed, I stopped in her room to take her for another bathroom break. After I'd tucked her in and was headed out the door, I heard her whimper. I came back & asked what was wrong. She said, "I sad Mama. I want my movie." "What movie?" "No!! No movie! I want to see the snow!" I tried really hard not to laugh out loud. Instead, I calmly took her hands, realizing she was most likely half-asleep & told her everything was ok & we would talk about it in the morning. She quickly drifted back to sleep.

Unfortunately, she ended up getting up at least 2 more times through the night (it may have been more, but I was too exhausted to count). Thank God for Matt- I've said it before & I guarantee I'll say it again about him - he saves me. I'm not really great in the middle of the night. Who is? Matt. He went in & rocked her until she'd calmed down from whatever it was that woke her - hopefully not the want to see the snow.

**On a parting note: If anyone out there has any really great potty-training advice, I'm all ears! We've tried most of the "tried & true" methods, but at 4 1/2 years old... we're still awaiting the day when Xandra can be pull-up free (Milo will be another story).