Klingon

 

Lariska is my little Klingon (cling-on). She does not let go of her mommy because she needs my fingers in order to walk everywhere. She is also now pulling up and cruising occasionally. She even took a step toward me today before realizing there was nothing there to hold on to. I grabbed her up, but it was a crazy moment. Ugh. Silly children. They never cease to amaze me.

Little Pooper

 

Despite my last blog entry Kyrie's decision to potty-train is actually going really very well. Within 1.5 weeks of her first success she filled up her potty chart with 25 stickers and earned the right to a trip to Stonefire Pizza. She had those two accidents on the third(?) day in and then went an entire week-and-a-half with no accidents. Wow! I couldn't believe it. She began wearing underpants all day (even during naptime) and now is more often than not making it through the night with a dry diaper. She had a bit of a setback yesterday when she had her third and fourth accident since those first two now a few weeks ago, but today she had none, so we keep moving forward.

The best part is that she is even pooping on the potty. Halleluia. I have heard this is the hardest part about potty training and so far it is going very well for us. The worst part is that Kyrie tends to decide she has to make a "tinkle" or "poopy" after the lights are already out for naptime or bedtime. But, generally when she says she has to go, she goes....eventually.

Lots of you told me that one day Kyrie would make up her own mind and that would be it. I believed you, but was completely frustrated at how long it was taking for Kyrie to make up her mind. Now that we are here, it is great and for anyone reading this attempting to potty train and hitting a wall (despite knowing in your heart that your child can do it) have patience. We are proof that good things come to those who wait (okay, so not patiently, but we did wait, didn't we?).

And, to be straight with you, these past two-and-a-half weeks have been some of the roughest, most trying weeks of my life, however they have also been filled with a lot of joy and pride. I am beginning to realize more than ever that my baby is growing up. Her three-year birthday is on the horizon and I see now how my child's life will have been measured first in months, then years for maybe three short birthdays. The next thing will not be her fourth birthday, but rather kindergarten, then middle school, then high school and hopefully college. Maybe I am fast-forwarding too much, but I can truly see how this is how life is going to go. I turn thirty in a few months and I know I am going to blink and have grandchildren. It is exciting, scary, wonderful, and sad.

I guess for now I will just enjoy my little pooper.

Potty Training

Ugh.

Yattai!

 

I took this photo Saturday morning after Kyrie's second success. You may notice the red mouth from eating Skittles. Potty-training is not good for the teeth.

These Are The Days

This is how my day went today:

Around 4:30pm I was standing at the sink making Lariska her rice cereal. Lariska is in the high chair whining - she's hungry and can see the food being made in front of her eyes. I'm speculating, but surely her mouth is watering. Kyrie is standing behind me (in nothing but a shirt and some Dora underpants) and says, "Mommy, can I have some water?"

Dinner is sizzling on the stove. Perogies. (No,I didn't make them. They are from a box.) While staring at my hand stirring water into an ever-thickening bowl of (like my brain) mush I say to Kyrie, "Kyrie where is your cup?" I rack my brain. I know I saw it somewhere.

I filled the cup after lunch (water and ice, spoiled child) and she had it in the playroom by the dollhouse. Then we watched some TV (LeapFrog video actually) and it was on the chair in the family room. Oh yeah, but after that we were dancing (to "Beautiful Day" by U2) and it was on the fireplace mantel. But then we made a mad dash for the potty (woo hoo) and it got moved back to the playroom. Afterwards, she got a treat (WOO HOO!) and it was in the family room again. Lariska desperately wanted some, so I let her sit on the floor and gulp it down (mistake). When I finally noticed how much gulping was being done, I took it away because Lariska also sucks air down and it gives her gas. I put the cup out of Lariska's reach. (Aahhh).

Ah yes, it finally comes to me. Kyrie's water cup is on the couch. "Kyrie, run and get your water cup off the couch." No answer. I turn around to see my eldest chugging down my bottle of water.

On the brighter side:

So yeah. My brain is turning into Mommy-mush, but I couldn't be any prouder. Kyrie pooped twice on the potty chair and peed once. That, my friends, is an unbelievable miracle and worthy of the shot of Cherry Pepsi I did after the above. It was just too much to take.

The good news is that we are making definite progress. She peed in the potty four times over the three-day weekend (Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, people). Had two accidents yesterday. Followed by her banner day today. If this potty-training stuff doesn't exhaust me to death I may just live to see Kyrie officially become a "big girl". Sigh...

Heroes

Ordinary People Discovering Extraordinary Abilities
This blog entry is dedicated to Jake McDowell and his mother, Dena - our heroes.

Sometimes all it takes is for one little person to do a completely ordinary thing and it turns into something absolutely extraordinary....or at least that's how I feel about what Jake McDowell did yesterday. Jake visited us for a playdate and though he is only 28 months old he went potty twice at our house. The best thing about Jake going potty was that his Mom gives him Skittles for doing the deed. Jake got to eat his potty treat in our playroom right in front of Kyrie and you could just see her mouth watering. She even asked if she could have one. But, Kyrie's Mommy held firm - "Those are treats for people who go potty!"

I won't going into the truly gory details, but something like just seven hours later Kyrie had her first triumph in about nine months. I screamed. I cried. I jumped for joy. I sent Matt to the store to get Skittles. It was wonderful.

Kyrie also received the following prizes: One "Happy Feet" movie with her Nana and Pop-Pop (cashed in today at her first-ever trip to the movie theatre). One-half M&M cookie from her Mommy who was so overjoyed she would've given Kyrie just about anything she asked for. Dinner in front of the TV. A Potty Parade around the house. And probably something like 2,000 hugs.

Even better - she had a repeat performance today in exchange for more Skittles and some popcorn at the movie theatre. It only took about 3 hours of pleading, begging, and finally ignoring the child before she went "tinkles", but I feel as if it was worth it. I hope it gets easier from here, but I have been here before and know that the road to success is extremely slippery. I will keep you posted.

Thank you, Jake, for getting us back on track!

 

Here is a photo of our hero taken several months ago at the zoo horse class that he, Jack and Kyrie took together.

Not Till She's Thirty!

Lariska drove the Dora Four Wheeler around the playroom this evening a la Nana. Here is my first attempt at adding some video to the blog for your enjoyment :-)



Thanks, Andi, for helping me to figure this out!

Eight Months Old

Lariska turned eight months old on Sunday...and it is has taken me till now to blog about it. Sad. Well, my Little One has gotten quite big. She gets around these days mostly via her mommy-walker (also known as holding on to my fingers and walking). She refuses to scooch around or crawl most of the time in favor of whining until I give in and walk her around. She loves her rice cereal and everything else we feed her, including some Puffs and Cheerio pieces. Her favorite thing to do is grab hair, so watch out! And, we are pretty certain she is saying a couple of words including: Dada, Mama, up, and all done (ah duh). She will also do "So Big", wave, attempts to clap, and she can even do the sign for "milk". Once she decides it would be interesting to pull herself up on something other than me life is going to get very crazy (as if it is not already)! We love that Lariska-kisker, Guber.

Conversations with Kyrie (cont.)

A conversation from this morning -

Me: Kyrie, lay down. I need to change your diaper.
Kyrie: Mom, I'm not done pooping.
Me: Okay...so when do you think you will be done pooping?
Kyrie: At nine-thirty-six.
(I was a bit surprised by her answer - I was expecting "In a minute" or something.
Me: (A few minutes later.) Okay, well it is 9:36 now.
Kyrie: Actually, I'm not going to be done until nine-thirty.
Hmmm...what do you say to that?

This evening when putting Kyrie to bed she also told us all about how the giraffe is downstairs getting her a snack (chocolate, apparently) and how it was going to bring it up to her. I asked her how the giraffe was going to get in since I planned on closing the door. She said that the giraffe had keys...not just to her door, but to all the doors. This, by the way, is the same giraffe who was born this morning out of Kyrie's tummy (her belly-button to be more precise). Yes, you heard that right. Kyrie finally had her baby. And, it wasn't a penguin. Nope, a giraffe. A giraffe that loves chocolate, milk, and doing Kyrie's bidding. My daughter is incredibly lucky to have such a nice giraffe. It reminds me a lot of my poor husband.

 

We sent photos as thank you cards for Christmas gifts. This is one of the photos we did NOT use.

K is for Kyrie

I recently ran across another woman's poem dedicated to her two-year old. It harkened back to the days of 3rd grade English when you had to write a line for every letter in your name, but I liked it nonetheless - so much so, that I decided to write my own in honor of Kyrie.

K is for Kangaroo - the marsupial you remind me of; A pretend baby in your tummy and always jumping around.
Y is for Yogurt - the substance you dumped on the floor, smeared in hair and rubbed all over the table when I left you alone for one minute.
R is for 'Riska - the sister whose head you love to squeeze one moment and pet the next.
I is for Injury - as in "Are you just hurt or are you injured?"; Something we probably ask you on a daily basis.
E is for Elastic - what you believe yourself to be as you bend and twist in the chair and get stuck as it tips over.

M is for Milk - the liquid you drink as if it were water, and cry over if ever it spills.
I is for Imagination - something you have plenty of as you run around and talk incessantly while we try and keep up with you.
K is for Kilter - what I sometimes think you are off of when you get going a bit too fast with the imagination.
A is for Alligator - one of the many imaginary friends that can put you off-kilter as you tell us about her. Sometimes she is red, sometimes she's a he.
Y is for the question you ask me most often these days; As in, "Why did you turn the light on?" and "Why is it time for dinner?"
L is for Listen - as in "Yes Mommy, next time I will listen to you."
A is for Always - the length of time I am going to love you.

Conversations with Kyrie

It is pretty obvious to us that all of the pregnant women are having an effect on Kyrie. Here is an amalgamation of several conversations I have had with Kyrie in just the last couple of days -

Kyrie: Mommy, I have a surprise for you.
Me: Oh?
Kyrie: I have a baby in my tummy.
Me: Really?!
Kyrie: Yes, it's a girl. Her name is Pooky.
Me: Okay.
Kyrie: She's my sister.
Me: Mmmhmmm...
Kyrie: You can feel my tummy. The baby is there. It's soft (amazingly, just like her pajamas). But, the baby isn't ready to come out yet. Don't make the baby come out.
Me: Okay, we can wait.
Kyrie: The baby is a penguin. She's brown and white.
Me: Ohhhhh?
Kyrie: Yes. The penguin is soft and brown. She's just a baby. Look at the baby in my tummy, Mommy.
Me: Kyrie, hon, it's time for a nap!

And, here is a bonus photo of Lariska attempting to read some books.

UW - Christmas Party

We held our Annual UW Christmas party on December 26th. All of the women present were pregnant...except for me. (Thank goodness! I love my children, but no more for the time-being, thank you very much.) I wish I had remembered to take more photos. There were kids running everywhere and it was lots of fun. Next year, if everyone makes it (which it sounds like will not be happening - sigh) there will be eleven kids and six couples. Currently, there are six children (four girls, two boys ranging in age from 2-3/4 to 7-1/2 months)

I told you, everyone I know is pregnant. Here are Beth (due April 4th), Sarah (due May 4th) and J.J. (due August 4th?) The large gap in between Sarah and J.J. is for Jen (due May 21st?) and Heather (due May 27th?). We forgot to take a photo with everyone - darnit!

Oh yeah, I guess it is obvious from above that my sister is prego, too. She announced her pregnancy on Christmas, though I have known for quite some time (it has been a tough secret to keep!). J. and Dan's second child will be due right around Jackson's second birthday. Ahh...too much fun. Next Christmas there will be five munchkins reeking havoc on the Berrall Family Christmas. Crazy!

Three of the five pregnant ladies

Tom and Beth; chocolate and cheese

Christmas Photos

I totally forgot to take photos of the Berrall Family Christmas. If anyone has some, please send them my way. It is sad not to have a better record of Christmas 2006.

I think Lariska likes this Christmas stuff!

Will and Lariska walking around

Kyrie likes the map.

Santa Claus looks at the new world map he has left for the girls on their playroom wall.

Kyrie leaving cookies out for Santa

Kyrie and Lariska opening a gift from Gma and Gpa Kons - Fisher Price Nativity Set. Very cool!