Potty Training Take 2 - January 2012

This is a way outdated post - should have gone up in January. Life has been full of craziness and not enough minutes in the day so blogging has not gotten done for quite some time. I have a lot to catch up on.


We decided to tackle potty training again. Aubrey was going to be moving to her new classroom on January 9 and her best friend Natalie had just started the process so we thought we'd give it another go. Well - this time she was ready! We started it with the New Year's Holiday because Brian had a few days off and we figured with both adults home one of us could be ready to drop everything and run to the bathroom whenever nature called. Miss Aubrey ran with it and did a FANTASTIC job! 

We learned that she is crazy for gummy bears. Each time she peed she scored a gummy bear. She learned pretty quickly that if she peed and then held the rest for a later trip she'd get another gummy. She played the system but it worked! It took a few days to get the whole concept of pooping but she mastered that too and now is only in diapers at night! Go Aubrey!

We've Gone Green

This is a very outdated post but an important one non the less. When I was attending the nursing support group with Aubrey a few of the moms had decided to cloth diaper. They went on and on about it and were super excited to show off the cloth. I never really got on that train but thinking about having 2 in diapers got me thinking that maybe we needed to explore cloth.

I obsessed and did a ton of research. Financially cloth seemed the way to go. It would be less expensive and it's better for the environment. Many days were spent on Craigslist and I finally found someone who was selling brand new cloth diapers. We met up with the woman around New Year's and bought two brands of diapers in all sorts of colors.

They needed to be washed before wearing with special detergent. We looked and looked for detergent and finally found some at Whole Foods. It was finally time to get these things washed and worn. In the meantime of all of this hunting for detergent Miss Aubrey decided to potty train (more in a future blog). That left little Miss Ciara to try the cloth herself. I had a picture but we are having issues with our memory card and we lost pictures on one of them. Instead you get a cute picture of the girls and a picture of what some of the diapers look like.

2 Week Stats

Ciara had her 2 week appointment with Dr. Jones. Dr. Jones was impressed with the weight gain! Woo-hoo! Ciara weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces at birth. When she was weighed before leaving the hospital she was at 6 pounds 7 ounces. When she went in for her newborn appointment on December 9 she weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces. At her 2 week appointment she jumped to an even 8 pounds! That meant she had been busy eating - she had been an eating machine. She was gaining almost 1.5 ounces a day rather than the 1/2 to 1 ounce that is typical. That bumped her from the 10%-25% at birth to the 50%-75%! Hooray!

Her belly button stump had fallen off on December 20 at exactly 2 weeks. It had been a bit oozy and yucky so Dr. Jones took one look at it and decided it needed to be cauterized. She took a little bit of silver nitrate and put it in the belly button to seal it up. It was painless and Ciara sat still for it which meant it didn't even make a mess! Once the belly button was sealed up everything looked good and we got the clearance to come back again for her 1 month appointment.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was an uneventful evening for us. We rang in the New Year at home with both girls sleeping. Jeremy and Eunice had come over and we had chinese food for dinner and hung out at home. Aubrey fell asleep very early and we didn't get to take her yearly photo wishing 2011 good-bye and welcoming 2012 in. Hopefully next year we'll be on a better schedule and get both girls together for a picture. We did however manage to get a picture of Ciara wearing her "My First New Year" onesie which was a gift from Katherine.

Christmas

We had a busy Christmas. Christmas Eve we went to Linda's house for brunch. Aubrey had a great time playing with baby Payton while the adults enjoyed the yummy food. Ciara slept through most of the visit. Aubrey had a great time checking out the tree ornaments and opening presents. She got a fun 5 Little Monkey Puppet book and Ciara got a soft cloth book.

Later in the afternoon we went to Don and Laurie's house for dinner. They had made a turkey with delicious sides. Again, Aubrey wasn't too excited to eat but Brian and and I were. Ciara slept through dinner so she missed all of the fun we were having. After dinner we went to the living room to open gifts. Don and Laurie had a whole Santa bag filled for the girls. They each got a music kit which Aubrey promptly opened and tried out. Ciara got a Target gift card which will come in handy very soon. Aubrey got a few coloring/sticker books, a few books about winter and Santa, and an electric dog that she can walk on a leash. The dog was her favorite gift of the day and she walked him all over their house with a huge grin on her face.

We came home and got the girls ready for bed. We had bought Aubrey a pair of Santa pajamas that she liked to look at but was scared to wear. She had been admiring them in her room for a few days but always balked when I pulled them out for her to wear. Surprisingly, on Christmas Eve she decided she was ready.

Christmas morning we woke up and got ready for Church. Grandpa met us there and both girls did well. Ciara slept through most of the service but was happy hanging out when she was awake. Aubrey stayed with us as there was no childcare available. She usually talks and wants to play during the service so we were a bit hesitant but she did great. She played in the aisle for a bit but she sat still for most of the service.

When we got home it was present time! Ciara nursed and then promptly fell asleep. Aubrey got to open her presents as well as Ciara's. Ciara got a few cute little outfits from Nana and Papa. She got a ball from Brian that sings and talks about shapes and numbers. I got her a hand print and footprint wall hanger and some blankets as well as two Christmas ornaments. Aubrey got a paint set, CandyLand, Memory, two Christmas ornaments and silly bands from us. Nana and Papa sent her a whole new wardrobe, some books a puzzle and a pillow pet. She made out like bandit and was super excited about all of her new things.

Later in the afternoon we went to Alice and Bob's for dinner. Aubrey played with Payton and had a few pictures taken with her. After dinner Maddie and her family came to the house and she and Aubrey had a blast. They did laps around the house, shared shoes and shared toys!

We had another chance to open presents and Aubrey had a great time passing presents out and opening her own. She got a cute pink track suit and an electric train. Ciara got some swaddle blankets and a little dress set with a matching sweater. The girls certainly lucked out this Christmas.

We left Alice and Bob's house late and Aubrey fell asleep in the car. Once we got home Brian put her in bed and we sat down on the couch to relax. I said to Brian, "We finally got through one holiday where Aubrey wasn't sick." Just about 2 minutes later she woke up crying so Brian went in to see what was going on. He took her into the bathroom where she vomitted several times. We got her cleaned up and settled and she went back to bed with no problems. We were so close to making it through a healthy holiday!

Coming Home

Aubrey was super excited to take her baby home. We loaded both kiddos (one big and one very little) into the car and had only one hiccup over a shared blanket. Aubrey wasn't too thrilled that we had one of her blankets covering Ciara. Easy fix - I just gave Ciara a new one. It didn't seem worth a fight at that point.

We came home and Osito was excited to see everyone. He sniffed at Ciara and poked around in her seat to get a good wiff of her and then he was done. I attempted to get a picture of Brian and both girls. Aubrey was fooling around with an Ipod and wasn't interested in smiling for the camera. As you can see the after bath pictures are Ipod free and Aubrey was pumped to be holding her sister.

The Sisters Meet

Aubrey had stayed overnight at Don and Laurie's house. Brian and I were both pretty anxious because she's never been without me all night plus she is not the best sleeper in the world. she however surprised everyone and did fantastic!

She slept in her pack and play and went down with very few tears. At one point she started yelling for her Daddy and then for Osito but then went to sleep. In the morning she was a happy camper and Brian joined them for breakfast. After they filed their bellies Brian called to say that they were on their way. I told him to call me when they were outside the door so that I could get a video of Aubrey seeing Ciara for the first time. He called, the camera was rolling but the only problem was Ciara was sleeping so the excitement wasn't at it's full potential. However it is a super cute video but too long to upload here.

Aubrey was so excited to see Ciara. She came tiptoeing over to the bassinet and peeked in at her baby sister. She came up to sit with me on the bed and we leaned over to see Ciara. Aubrey bent over to kiss her on the head - way too cute! Once Ciara woke up Aubrey got a chance to hold her and you can see the HUGE smile on her face. She was so proud! The other two pictures in the chair were taken as we were packing up to go home. Aubrey was still so excited to see "her baby".