As They Grow Up

As most of you will know, September 8th was the first day of school. Some boards went back earlier, and Monkey's cousin was one of these unfortunate students. We got off to a grand start for grade one though and Monkey has a terrific teacher. They've made cupcakes to illustrate their birthday calendar (which he couldn't eat so she brought him cake in a mug the next day)! They've mixed yellow, red, and blue playdough to discover colours! And most importantly in my mind, she is supportive of our efforts to have a great year!

I called at 10:00 to check in on Kanga and not only was she napping, but one of her caregivers had caught a pee! Stay tuned for more information.

Edit:
They caught more pees after I posted! Kanga didn't want to eat much at daycare today, but frankly if she doesn't want it, they can't make her and that goes for when I'm nursing her as well! There's only so much a caregiver can do to get a kid to eat! :) When I picked her up she smiled and then let me know I should pick her up more quickly. I strategically gathered up all her stuff before she saw me this time, and once I was 'organized' (go in; grab laundry, cleans, potty, pack that; get lunchbox, soother, cuddly, pack those; get outside clothes, shoes, etc., finally get my baby girl!) I grabbed her and she told be all about her day. The ladies said she had a riot with the mirror, 2 good naps, and was happy all day. YAY!

Monday was Kanga's 1st day at daycare. I dropped her off (well took her and hung out for an hour!) at 8:20 and went to get her at 12. The gals got a little catch, and dunked a onsie (which I have now hemmed up). She ate her milk, and had a 40 min nap, so I guess she is going to be just fine and had a good day! She was mad at me when I got there though. She didn't want to stop playing, and then decided she wanted more milk and a nap. I missed my baby, but a success I think!

Good news and bad news. Kanga got a call on Tuesday that she has a spot starting Mondays, on Monday...her 5mos birthday. Really, this is good news, but less than a week to get ready for the idea! I grabbed the forms Tues, dropped em off on Wed, and hung out in the room Wed morning.

Her teachers (3 for 11) are great. She's not the first diaper-free baby, they're going to take her to the potty and I can bring in cloth so her trainers I'm making will be fine! Yay!

She was sleeping when we got there, so I watched her teachers with the other kids, who were painting with jam and applesauce. They were signing to the kids too. When one needed a diaper change, I followed her into the washroom, and Kanga had a big pee and was still dry. I was glad because her teachers saw that she really does pee on the potty!

I am so excited! Kanga's ecaWare pants have arrived, and so far they are awesome! Granted she's not feeling 100% with a stuffy nose (yay allergy season) and we're having misses galore, I'm loving how easy they are to change too! Check em out!

Well, another year has begun. I dropped Monkey off at school promptly at 8:45 and waited for school to begin. He met up with his buddies, played tag, got upset when they wanted to play cars, and then wound up playing cars anyway. He had is regular bit of crying when the teachers came because he had to stop playing, but lined up quickly just the same.

I went for a good long walk with two of the mums of his friends, and it was nice to have a walking buddy (or two). When I got home I went to run errands. That errand was the always exciting trip to Cheeky Monkey! I got Kanga some Retro BabyBanz sunglasses just like D's. I had hoped to find a pink, green, anything but black. There was also blue and white, but I don't like the look of white, and even baby blue would have folks saying what a cute baby boy I have! Kanga went potty at Cheeky Monkey and we headed back home.

I made it back in perfect time. Kanga was asleep in her carseat so we went to school with the buggy. Of course she woke up as we were arriving so I moved to a corner to wait for the kids and fed her. Most of the mums started coming around 11:25 and she'd eaten for about 10 min so she was happy again.

Anyway, Monkey had a great first day, as per his teacher's report, and off home we went to grab some lunch!

Day 2 was a little more stressful as the JKs started filtering in. Tuesday was just the SKs so there were only 5 or 6 of them there. Monkey got the whole class, mostly boys and a lot of Nov/Dec birthdays so still 3 years old, barking. His teacher was not amused so I had a chat with him about being a big brother and showing the other kids how to behave at school.

We're going to get a communication book going this year. We had talked about it last year and it just didn't get implemented. I wrote a note (today) letting his teacher know how we do things at home as she had asked for consistancy. At home we use a planner and I check off his chores, activities, etc as he does them. If he has more checks at the end of the week than x-es, then he gets a sticker. If he has a tempertantrum he get's a sad face on that day, and 5 min on the timer to cool down before we talk things through. I got him a school planner, and sounds like things are going to work out!

I'll keep you updated!

Surprisingly EC continues to be 'easy.' That is as long as I listen to my gut and get her to her potty quickly after sleeps. The books, sites, articles and such all agree that a mum knows when her baby needs to go. Either by thinking suddenly "it's been a while since (baby) went potty" or thinking "(baby) needs to pee" mum and even other caregivers at times just know. That is starting to happen, and while I may think I'm being paranoid sometimes that a wet diaper is going to happen (even though I don't care! (really!)) sure enough, she'll pee. Infants afterall go pee every 10-20 min for a while since their bladders are so small. This is why disposibles are so absorbant. If you went pee every 10-20 min and only got changed every few hours, you too would need to feel dry!

EC (Elimination Communication). Infant Pottying. I was a sceptic when Monkey was young, and found out about the idea when he was about a year. We tried (him and me) to find a pattern, signals, etc. for about a week with absolutely no success. I figured this isn't going to work for us; we'll try again in 6 months. Then another six months, another, and when success was obtained his daycare robbed him of it by sticking him in a diaper when he didn't need it at nap. This same diaper would be left on all day. Dry or not, what was wrong with his underwear!? That said, I stopped sending diapers and he decided he was trained at 3. February 2nd to be exact.

Kanga seems to be a different story. In preparation for a discussion seminar, I did some research on Thursday. I tried to catch a few pee's and poo's on Friday, and caught about 4. That got me thinking that this may just work. She's a whole lot younger, so she doesn't fight, and so far when I say "go potty" she tries her darndest to get that big hug, excited good girl response, and a dry diaper to boot! Now for a little explanation.

EC is a process by which the mother (and caregivers i.e. BOTH parents, siblings, babysitters, etc.) listen to the infant. Yeah, listen. A baby will tell you when s/he is hungry. A baby will tell you when s/he is tired. A baby will tell you when s/he needs a clean diaper. And yes, a baby will tell you when s/he needs to go! It is just one more thing to listen too, and once you figure out his/her schedule (not the one you want, their natural one), you feed, sleep, potty at around the same times!

Today Kanga had only 2 wet/dirty diapers. She went potty in the morning for her "big" poo, pee several times, caught her afternoon "big" poo again, and caught her little pee's thereafter while at my friend's. I missed one when I got home and was getting the kids ready for bed, and the second one while tucking Monkey into bed and she was relaxing in my room. Still, that's a pretty good success rate, and frankly, this is easy! I know it's not always going to be, but so far I think we can really do this! Too cool. Nature prevails again!