Potty Training!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted here. Life with a two year old is pretty busy, I guess! Sassy's speech evaluation turned out to be fruitless. She was so close to qualifying for help, but didn't. We were advised to have her evaluated again at 2, but in the last few weeks her speech has absolutely taken off. We even get sentences now, and she's become quite the little parrot. My favorite phrase of hers lately is "____ weh ah yooo?" This started about 10 days ago when we were at the beach with my sister's family. We all got back in our cars and were heading to meet our aunt, and Sassy kept calling out, "Bitbit (Elizabeth), weh ah yoooo?" "Mlahmlah (Grandma), weh ah yooooo?" Sadly, she's also taken to calling me, "Mommy" instead of "Mamma." :-(

Potty training is going VERY well! We bought one a few months ago after we moved, and left it out for her to explore for a while, but it was nothing but a toy to her, so we put it away. Then a couple of months ago we bought the Elmo potty training DVD, but she showed no interest in that either. Thankfully, that was put away, too, because it's probably the WORST DVD ever. I'd rather watch 24/7 Barney. Last week when we came home from vacation we put the potty in the bathroom. She knew what going potty was from us talking it up and seeing us go, so she sat on it, fully clothed, right away. After a few tries at that I took her diaper off and let her try. The first time she went, I think was complete luck, but we praised and clapped and "good girl!"ed it up. She did it a second time the other day. Today she told me she had to to peepee, so I sat her down. We'd been having a bad day all around, so I didn't buy it, and didn't have patience for it, but within a few minutes she told me, "Peepee coming!" and a minute later, there it was! No rewards, no bribes, she just seems to be getting it!

My biggest fear after potty training? Brining her in public bathrooms. *cry* I thought about that more than once on our vacation. The railroad station where the stall was up a step and barely had room for a roll of tp, the rest area bathroom on I-95, the public bathroom in Ptown, the bathroom on the harbor cruise boat. Ugh. I don't want to go in some of these places, let alone deal with a toddler in them.

Words!

Miss B hasn't be very quick to talk. In fact we just had her evaluated last week after putting it off until we moved. She had maybe 5 words then. All of a sudden she's got a ton! Off the top of my head she says:

hi
bye
momma (omg! makes me cry! she said daddy for the longest time but no momma)
daddy
dog
bird
snow
Elmo (or really, "mo")
bowl
light (dight)
eye
nose
hand
baby
bath
butterfly (comes out as bye-eye)
night night
yes
book
ball
no

Wow! It's even more than I thought now that I list them. She hasn't been very receptive to signing, either, even though I started teaching her at 6 months. She's a funny little bugger, too. We have conversations like this:

"Did you toot?"
*nods* "Doot!" (She hasn't said "doot" since, so I don't count it as a word.)

Cracks. me. up!

Leaving my baby!

April is going to be a big month for leaving Miss B behind. We're taking a much-needed three night trip and leaving her with my mom for 4 nights. An early flight necessitates the extra night. I'm a little worried about my mom having her for 3 full days because that's a lot of running after her. I'm also going to miss her so much! I've only been away from her twice overnight and it felt so weird. Both times she was with my mom and we were just a half hour away at home. This time we'll be a three hour flight away. Yikes!

The week after that I'll be away overnight again... by. my. self. I am going away for a girls' weekend. Getting on a plane. Meeting a friend as soon as I land at 8am waiting for another friend to land an hour later, and then the insanity begins. Sassy is staying home with her Daddy. I suspect they'll both be going to sleep at the same time, especially since I'll be leaving before they're up in the morning. I wonder how many texts/phone calls I'll get. ;)

Moving Day is Near!

Do you know how hard it is to move with an 18 month old underfoot? Holy crap! We're moving locally, so we've had the luxury of being able to go back and forth between the two places for the last 10 days, but it hasn't really been easy. I spend a few hours here in our old place packing, then head over there after B's nap to clean and put stuff away. I can't really bring anything between the two while I'm alone because once I get to the new place it's a flight up, and who knows how far away I have to park, so I can't just leave her in the car or inside while I run back and forth. I have to wait for the hubs to come home, or for my mom to come over.

But, the pressure is on. The movers are coming on Saturday. I just spent some time packing, and I think I need to run out for more boxes in the morning, then come home, and pack like a crazy woman. Friday morning I'll be over at the new place waiting for cable to come.

I think the people underneath us at the new place complained about us already. Bitches. The rules of the co-op (like a condo, but a little different. They're pretty much only popular in NYC.) state that we have to have 75% of the floor covered with carpets. The previous owner left his carpets, and they are pretty much covered, but a baby running around in an empty apartment with no furniture is going to make noise. I called the management company for some issues, and when she asked me what unit number it was, she snapped, "Oh! You know you need to have those floors carpeted!" I felt like she was accusing me of something, and why mention carpet when I was calling about a broken window and a door that isn't up to code unless someone said something. It was her tone. Whatever. I told her the previous owner left the carpets, and if it was fine while he was here, it's fine for us.

Who could be hating on this kid, anyway?

A Heavy Heart (Very sensitive)

This has been a rough week in my circle of friends. One friend lost her mother unexpectedly, another lost her mother-in-law after a long battle with cancer. There is one loss, however, that I just can't, in my worst nightmare, grasp.

My friend M lost her sweet daughter today. L was 14 days old and died of congestive heart failure. I just cannot wrap my head around this. I cannot imagine how I could go on. I can't stop picturing my own child in a scene too awful to even describe, yet it just keeps playing in my head. My heart is broken in a million pieces for M, her husband and their son.

Sadly, M isn't the only friend I have that's lost their child. Another friend lost her 3 month old to SIDS. Another lost her newborn to Trisomy-18. Just this summer my friend A lost her son in her 20th week of her pregnancy to a cord accident. And Heidi, who lost her son Blue at 17 weeks gestation. My heart breaks for all of these wonderful women who have been there for me through my fertility struggles, and watch my daughter grow.

My heart was heavy as I put my daughter to bed tonight. I hugged her a little more, kissed her a few extra times, and had a bit more patience as she cried. I hope I never have to see her go, and I hope it's a very long time before she says goodbye to me.

Much love to all my friends near and far tonight.