Call off the search parties

We are alive. Can I pretend that I was doing the Anti-NaBloPoMo? Unlike past absences that were usually due to rough times, this month has been lots of goodness.

There isn't much to report on Isa over the last month. Her language skills are developing at shocking speed. She speaks in full, reasonably long sentences all the time now. Often the sentences are even grammatically correct. I don't need to translate for her as much anymore because everyone else can understand her as well. I'll try to capture some conversation on video although she tends to clam up as soon as the camera comes out.

I think we've also started turning the corner between babyhood and childhood. Tantrums are down to a respectable limit (hey- she's still 2!). I don't need to worry about her getting into all the "off limits" things the second I turn my back. We have even started doing simple craft projects which I'm thrilled about. It's nice to have some options for filling the cold, wet mornings when we're stuck inside.

The big changes this month have been for me. I've felt for the last year or so that my life is slowly spiraling out of control. I'd gained a lot of weight, had been struggling with lots of fatigue due to my crazy work/Mommy schedule, and generally felt like crap much of the time. I was struggling to keep up with work and finances were a big mess. The house was rarely clean and we ate quite a bit of unhealthy, easy to prepare food. I felt like I was failing in ever aspect.

A very good friend of mine recently finished school to become a registered dietician and I asked if she'd take me as her first client. I figured that it would be beneficial to both of us, but honestly never expected to have it be this successful. We've made lots of little changes that never feel like too much work and after only 4 weeks I feel like things have turned around.

I now make a monthly dinner menu plan so I don't have to stuggle with what to cook/eat each evening. Funny how something so small can be revolutionary in my world! It took away the stress of "Oh my God- it's 15 minutes until dinnertime and I have no idea what we have in the fridge!" (which usually resulted in a meal of noodle with butter and parmesan). It means that we're eating healthy, balanced dinners and I'm cooking again, which it turns out I really do enjoy.
My parents gave me their ancient exercise bike and my sister gave me some free weights that she no longer uses. So now I have a simple home gym down in the basement. There really isn't any excuse for me to not get down there and exercise during her naptime. Plus, heading down to the basement means laundry gets done on a regular basis. Woo-ha!

My nutritionist also started me on an adrenal fatigue supplement which is GLORIOUS! I feel awake during the day now which means I don't want to stay collapsed on the couch all the time. It's the next best thing to truly being well-rested, which is something I sadly can't make happen with my schedule.

This week in our session, we decided it was time to start working on weight loss and I'm feeling very motivated. My sister finally set a date for her wedding- August of next year. I'd like to lost at least 40 lbs by then, which I think is realistic but will require me to be pretty motivated.

So.... that is the LONG version of what's been going on this month. And if you actually made it all the way through this wordy post, here is your reward:

Frick or Freat!

Isa has finally started to understand the concept of holiday, although she doesn't quite understand that they're separate events. Thus, when asked about Halloween she would sometimes respond "Santa!" or "Happy Birth-o-ween!". The idea of dressing up in a costume and getting candy- that she totally understood.

Isa had a glorious time going trick or treating (or, as she would say "frick or freating"- haven't quite gotten the tr sound down yet). It was touch and go at first. A few children showed up really early and so Isa got to see the huge stash of Tootsie Pops I had hidden in a bowl up high. She flipped when I wouldn't let her eat one before some dinner. She finally choked down about 1/4 of a quesadilla and I decided not to push my luck.

The rest of the evening was wonderful! As usual, she charmed the pants of most everyone. A few blocks over one house does a huge haunted house experience which Isa wasn't too keen on. We (obviously) didn't go in, but even the scary music coming from the house was too much for her, so we quickly moved on. She even enjoyed helping hand out candy to others after we got home and amazingly didn't flip when I took the bucket of candy away after her allowed 2 pieces.

Let the candy-eating begin!

My little ladybug

The take!

And now the sugar has kicked in....

... only to crash back down, along with Auntie Autumn & Uncle Ben.

Move over June Cleaver

Not only does Isa clean the house while wearing heels, she does it in the (nearly) nude! All she needs now is a string of pearls.


On a more serious note, 2 years ago I was sitting in my office when the phone rang. It was an area code that I didn't recognize, but I got calls from cancer registries in other state, so I thought nothing of it. Turned out to be my agency calling. I started to get a tingling feeling in my stomach when Tami said "Are you sitting down?" I asked if I needed to be and she said "I know who your daughter is." Just thinking about those words still brings tears to my eyes. From that point, I think the only words out of my mouth were "Oh my God." Over and over again. A few minutes after hanging up the phone, I got to see the most beautiful photo I've ever seen:

And here she is now, shouting "Tada!" and looking shockingly like the big girl she is rapidly becoming:

Why I need a nap

Wanna see something cute?

All I could get her to make was one of her funny faces and my camera batteries died soon after, so this is the only pic of her first time in her new real ballerina leotard, tights, and shoes (which you can't see). I'm bummed that we can't take photos or video in our Mommy & Me class because she is beyond precious. She ADORES it!

(And yes, that is a single ponytail on top of her head. As if you needed further proof that she has an overabundance of hair....)

Potty training part 3/4

Sooooo........

Last Thursday was a total bust. In hindsight, I should have scrapped the idea of potty training altogether after the morning started off on a horrible note. Yep, hindsight and all that.

The morning started at 5:15 when Squiggy came into my bedroom and projectile vomited all over the floor. As I was cleaning that up, Isa woke up yelling "Mama! Mama!" I went in to her room, she stood up in her crib and promptly asked "Mama's room?" Ordinarily if she woke at that hour, I would throw her in bed with me but there was still kitty puke on the floor, so that wasn't an option. After some rocking I got her back down and continued to mop up the floor. Fun, fun.

By 6:30 Isa was up for good. It was a cranky morning (for both of us). Finally, sometime around 10, she was in a good enough mood to change into the big girl underpants. We had a good hour or so of sitting on the potty every 15 minutes and checking for dry pants in between. Then she had an accident in the kitchen. Cleaned Isa and the floor, changed her into clean underpants, and we practiced multiple times hurrying to the potty the next time she had to go pee. Less than half an hour later- huge flood on the living room floor.

And that was the end of potty training. Mama was just not ready to deal with any more bodily fluid clean-up. (Or so I thought- the cat puked all over the bathroom about an hour into naptime and I got to clean that up too!)

I thought I had two big aces up my sleeve for potty training- Isa LOVES her big girl underpants and she HATES to be messy. For example, I have to keep a washcloth at the table because she wants her hands cleaned numerous times during each meal. So I thought that she would really dislike having an accident and that would help motivate her to use the optty. Alas, while she has mentioned quite a bit that she got her big girl underpants wet, it doesn't seem to bother her.

Honestly, if she didn't try to scratch my arms off on every other diaper change, I wouldn't be so motivated to try potty training this early. But she does, so we'll give it some time and try again. (Hopefully the kitty will cooperate as well!)

Potty training part 1/2

Today after ballet class, we headed to Target. Initially the trip was to get a few things for me and try to find a leotard and tights for her. No dice on the leotard or tights, but I decided it was time to buy big girl underpants so we could start the potty training process on Thursday.

Isa was THRILLED with her new big girl underpants. She clutched them the entire way through the store, on the ride home and then carried them around the house. I had explained to her that she would get to wear them tomorrow and kept harping on the fact that you have to use the potty when you wear big girl underpants. I planned to re-read the potty training book I had tonight and be all ready for training in the morning.

Isa B had other plans. As soon as she woke up from her nap she demanded to wear her big girl underpants. So I decided to go ahead and try. She did great when we were at home- sat on the potty on regular intervals (although nothing happened) and in between we would check the underpants to make sure they were still dry. Unfortunately, we had plans to have dinner at a friend's house and (obviously) Isa wasn't taking those underpants off! I asked her every minute on the car ride over if the pants were still dry- happily, they were. They remained dry from 3:30 until 6:30, when an accident happened. By that point, we had both gotten distracted and I hadn't reminded her to try the potty in quite a while.

Tomorow we have nothing planned, so we can stay home and really focus on using the potty all day long. I already have pull-ups to use at nap time and she'll probably stay in diapers at night for quite a while as I have no plans to move her out of the crib anytime soon. But I'm hopeful that we'll be able to move to big girl underpants during the day from now on.

Isa B has been throwing major fits during diaper changes for a while now, so I'm looking forward to being done with them. At the same time, diapers are the last real "baby" thing we have and I'm kind of sad to be officially moving into little girl-dom.

Here she is- in all her big girl underpant glory!