When you're a new Mom, you're just flyin' by the seat of your pants. You read all the books, get all of the solicited and unsolicited advice, you have a new found Saintlike wonder towards your Mom and your husband is just way out in left field looking at the fence. It's tough. My kids have been born 800 miles away from any other family. Our support system when baby came was each other. And my Saint of a Mother who flew in for two weeks after Monkey #1 was born and the week before and after Monkey #2 was born. (God Bless her!) M #1 was an easy baby, or so I thought. Looking back I probably would have tried to make her sleep in her bed a little harder. She was great in the crib until just before she turned one and we went on three long trips during which she slept in the port-a-crib or in the hotel bed when she woke up screaming not knowing where the hell she was. So when we got home, I tried to put her in her crib and do the whole cry it out thing (which kills me) and she'd puke. It got to the point that the second I got her feet on the crib mattress, she'd vomit at me. I'm pretty sure she did it on purpose. Even though she had a really, really sensitive gag reflex which disappeared around the time she turned two and a half-ish. At any rate. She'd rest in my arms or in my bed until she fell asleep and then I'd move her to the port-a-crib which was in my room. When she was 15 months old, I was 2 months away from having M #2, so we decided to put her back in the crib because she no longer fit in the port-o-crib, and we bought another crib that could be converted into a toddler bed. She wasn't havin' it. So I decided... convert it. I converted it to a toddler bed with the little safety rail that comes with it. What a joke! That thing was 12 inches long and went on either side of the crib, not the middle. Like she's not gonna fall out of that. Which she did, twice, onto the hardwood floor. So my genius decided, put the mattress from the full bed under the crib and she'll not only have something to land on, she'll be able to get in and out of the crib easily. And since I had to lay in there until she fell asleep, she'd crawl down and lay in the bed with me. Now it was off to Sam's to get a full sized bed frame. What the hell were we thinking. We gave the crib to a young girl in need and set up the honest to God big girl bed, which I slept in every night. Finally M #2 came and #1 had to sleep with my husband while I was at the hospital. A night by myself? What? That was blissful. By an act of God, my little tiny M #2 would not sleep unless she was in her crib. Oh what a blessing is this? I still had to juggle between getting #1 asleep in her bed and feeding #2 and getting her to sleep first. If #2 started crying, my night was screwed. Of course #1 was only 18 months old. It now blows my mind how tiny she was. I finally decided on a twin bed, get her back in her original room, put M #2 in the no longer guest room and try using the tot clock with fingers crossed. The voice on the Tot Clock scared her but she understood the lights, not that it had any affect on her behaviour. Now, Monkey #1 is one month shy of her 4th birthday and she still can't fall asleep or get herself back to sleep without me. It sucks. Monkey #2 will sleep in her crib until the day she says, "Mother, I'd like to sleep in a big girl bed now please." Which means we'll be buying our third freakin' crib in five years. At least I'll be smart about it and get the $70.00 jobbie from IKEA. #3 can move into the big nice expensive crib when Monkey #2 is done with it. I went ahead and bought the super cheap changing table too because, I mean really, a bed'll do but changing tables are nice in the middle of the night. I am going to paint them Pinterest white though. While we were living in the apartment for seven months (each month a separate circle of hell) during our state to state transition, M #1 would not sleep in the same room with #2 for all the chocolate in the world. She slept on the couch. And so did I. Sooo fun. So tonight, on the fourth of July, 2012, I will dress up the little couch in the master bedroom for her to sleep on if she so desires. She cannot sleep in my bed and she's more than welcome to sleep in her own. Maybe Monkey #3 will urge her in the direction of her own bed.
Bottle to sippy cup transition? Don't ask me, I'm totally hopeless. The bottle fairy did come and take #1's beloved sippy cups away and that's helped some. I'm horrid at consistency. I tried to transition #2 to a sippy cup and just broke down over it. It'll happen before the baby comes though. I should have done what all the books say and just sucked it up and taken them away but I'm a pansy.
Potty Training: my absolute worst nemesis. Today is the day I decided to just get rid of any all diapers bigger than a size 4. I was going to do them both at the same time but #2 is not quite ready and if I've learned anything it's, "Wait until they are READY." #1 acts like she's not ready but I know she is. She's used the potty before, she just relishes the control she has over me. Any kid who will scream at you for almost two hours to get a sip of milk at 3:30am will not go quietly unto the will of her mother. And I'll be damned if I have 3 kids in diapers come October. We bought candy, undies (dora and princesses), Resolve Pet with Oxy-Clean Carpet cleaner (awesome stuff) and the little one was hell bent on Cars so she has some little boy briefs. So we'll see what happens. She's been holding it for about two hours now so she's bound to pop soon, I just don't know where. Hmmm.
Picky Eaters: Screw it. Vitamins and pediasure. You can't force feed 'em.
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