read this
http://finslippy.typepad.com/finslippy/2006/01/speaking_of_ban.html

Now pretend that I wrote it about Ally. It's so true (Well, except for the chicken nugget part)

help
Can anyone help me remember what I wanted to say here? I started a new entry for a reason, but can't for life of me remember why.

My train of thought seems to have been de-railed. (Stupid pregnancy brain)

potty training
Twice yesterday Ally and I had the same conversation. She said "I want some candy". I tell her she only gets candy if she pees in the potty. I ask if she needs to pee. She says "Yes" and she sits and pees. Then she gets candy. It's actually been working out okay. If I could just get her to say "I need to potty" instead of asking for candy...

leftovers
I threw the last piece of pizza in the microwave for Ally last night, and she threw a fit. She was screaming "I don't want it hot!" So, Rob stopped the microwave and gave the pizza to her. He told her he doesn't like it hot either. It had been warmed up for about 10 seconds. She ate the whole freaking thing (Well, except for about 2 adult bites) and was happy. She also ate a Pop Tart and some strawberry yogurt. How's that for healthy? She didn't eat anything for lunch at day care yesterday again. They're having hot dogs today, so I'm not expecting her to eat today either. Maybe we can get a habit of eating supper started? As long as the day care keeps having things she doesn't like for lunch...

sleeping
Remember how I was just going on and on about how well Ally has been sleeping lately? How she's been going to bed with a minimun of hassle and not waking up until we're ready to leave in the morning? How great Rob and I have felt when we wake up in the morning and realize that we didn't have to drag our butts (haha - my butt) out of bed in the middle of the night to attend to her? How much in a better mood it has left her? What!?! You don't?? Well, that must be because I didn't write about it since I knew it was doomed to stop at any time. That time is here once again.

Ally has developed a snotty nose and cough again. Which means she's not sleeping again. Which means I'm not sleeping again. I've pretty much gotten used to it. It has happened so many times before, but there's a monkey-wrench been thrown into the mix this time. I lay down and go to sleep. I get up at 12:30 to go put her back to sleep. She goes to sleep for 15 minutes, I go to bed, and can't get back to sleep because I have heartburn from getting up and sitting by her bed. Then, I get comfortable. then she wakes up and I have to do it again. Then I feel like puking, because the heartburn is worse. If I go upstairs to get a glass of milk, I wake up the dog, who wakes up Ally. If I don't, I might wake up Ally if I puke since the bathroom is right across the hall from her room. So I just try to get as comfortable as possible on a huge stack of pillows I prop myself up with. Heartburn sucks.

Anyway, I have hope. She has slept before. She will sleep again. I just have given up on expecting it to happen more than a week in a row.

update on the car conversation
It's entirely possible that Aden did throw a ball at Ally. Ally went to a teacher complaining that Aden hurt her fellings, so they told him to say sorry and all was forgiven. Nobody saw anything. Sammy, however, was not even there yesterday. He's innocent. Maybe he pulled her hair another day, and she's still holding a grudge? Maybe she made it up. We'll never know...

the countdown
The countdown to the c-section is currently 20 days. I am not going to update my ticker though, because that's not really when she's due, per se. The development stuff is still based on the first due date they gave me which is April 29th. And it's just too much trouble to change it to May 1st, which is my actual due date. It's close enough.

APRIL 25th here I come!

Perhaps starving the kid was a good idea
OH MY GOD!!! I can't believe it. You've got to see this! Okay, go look. I'll wait.
It's a video, so be patient and let it load.

la de da, la de da.

You back?

My daughter ate pizza last night. Almost a whole piece! I gave her a piece. She said she didn't like it. I turned it over so she could see the "bread" (crust) and she picked it up and ate it. Then she even ate the part with sauce on it. Almost a whole piece!!!

Conversations from the car
We talk a lot on the way home from day care. I try to ask her about her day. She sometimes tells me things that I wouldn't know otherwise and sometimes we talk about things I know she did. Yesterday, our conversation went something like this

A: Where are my guys? I don't see them?
M: I don't know honey, where are they?
A: At school.
A: Singing songs
A: by the door.
M: Yep, that's where they were when we left.
A: What's that Aden doing?
M: I don't know. What was he doing?
A: He hurt me.
M: He did? What did he do to you?
A: He hurt me.
M: Did he say he was sorry?
A: Yeah. He hurt my feelings
M: Did he push you?
A: nope
M: did he pull your hair?
A: nope.
A: Sammy did.
M: Sammy pulled your hair?
A: Yeah
M: Did he say he was sorry?
A: Yeah.
M: It's not nice to pull hair is it?
A: My guys hurt me.
M: They did?
A: 2 of them.
A: Sammy and Aden.
M: What did Aden do?
A: He threw a ball at me.
A: He said "Watch out"
M: Oh yeah? (giggling)
A: He hurt my feelings.
A: My 2 guys hurt my feelings.
M: well, that's probably going to happen again. You'll have to get used to it
A: Yeah
(I wonder how much of what she told me is true. She has a pretty vivid imagination sometimes)

A: How's a gonna find my Daddy?
M: He's home. We're going to go home right now and see him.
A: How many daddy's does Ally have?
M: Just 1 Daddy.
A: I have 6 grandmas.
M: yes. that's a lot
A: Yeah, and 6 grandpas too.
M: How many baby sisters do you have?
A: 1 IN. YOUR. BELLY.
M: that's right.
(She's gonig to be confused when the baby leaves my belly and comes into the world)

The fine line between...
...raspberries and spitting is lost on my daughter. Where exactly is that line anyway? It's really hard to see. I blew on her belly the other day, and she told me "You don't spit on me, Mom!" I told her I was blowing raspberries. She started spitting another time, and I told her not to. She told me she was blowing raspberries. I stopped her anyway. She was just spitting.

So I guess the line is all in the intent. It's just a matter of time before she starts telling me "It's not fair"

Mom
Let me introduce myself. My name is Mom. I thought it was Mommy, but I have been renamed. I thought it was a phase, but for the past week, Ally has been pretty determined to change my name. I guess I have to accept it. But I don't have to like it. at least it's not just me. Daddy is now Dad too. (Sometimes Puppy is even Pup) She's insisting on growing up, and I don't like it one bit. I had a baby, and now she's not anymore. Good thing I'm having another one. Haha, just (mostly) kidding.

She's going to learn...I'm just not sure what
Last night, I decided that Ally MUST try 1 bite of something new before getting her usual supper. I ate a ham and cheese sandwich, so I gave her a little bitty piece of ham to try. She didn't want it. She wouldn't eat it. She's stubborn. So am I. It was a battle of wills. Rob was at school, so we had the house to ourselves, and I stood my ground. She didn't have to eat it. But, she wasn't getting anything else until she did.

She tried many different gambits. She wanted a plate. I gave her one. She told me she needed food. I gave her the ham. She gave it back. She played with the dog for a while. She jumped around the living room for a while. She wanted to potty, but her potty seat was too rough to sit on. (Stupid dog is teething) So we went downstairs and she peed. I gave her a tootsie roll. That's our deal. (I'm more interested in potty training than starving my kid after all). She helped me sand the rough edges off her potty seat so she could sit on it next time. She told me it was supper time. I told her to eat her ham. She told me that I should put it on my sandwich. She didn't like it. I told her to try it. She decided she needed a different plate. She threw hers on the floor. She got in trouble. She played a while. She thought she could outlast me. I wasn't going to let her.

Rob came home. he played with her a while, and I went down to the bathroom. As soon as I went down there, I heard her telling him that it was supper time. I had to rush out and yell upstairs for him not to feed her. (That just sounds horrible) I said "She can't have anything to eat until after she eats 1 bite of ham." He was amused. He said "How's that working out for you?" and had a good laugh. Then he asked if he could eat the garlic cheese bread that was sitting on the stove getting cold. I wouldn't let him. I made it because Ally loves it, and thought maybe it would entice her to relent. Nope.

Ally said she wanted some candy. I reminded her that she doesn't get candy until after she pees in the potty. So, she went over to her potty and waited for me to pull her pants down. She peed. I gave her a caramel. She loves them.

Bedtime came. She got her vitamins and went to bed.

Rob pointed something out to me that I had not yet considered before implementing this plan. What if the kid just learns to pee for food?

When she peed the first time, I had to decide what to do pretty quick. Candy is our standard "reward" for using the potty, but we were in the middle of a standoff. I decided that I don't care. Either she learns to eat new foods, or she gets potty trained, either way, I win. Rob agrees (or at least, he's not going to oppose me). Besides, when using bribes positive reinforcement for potty training, you gradually have to up the stakes anyway. (first candy for peeing, then candy only if they stay dry and pee, then only for poops, etc)

She woke up this morning, sat up in bed, and said "It's eating time." I gave her some Cheerios.

Spring forward
Screw this 1 hour at a time crap. I want to spring forward a couple weeks. Do you know how hard it is to manage a wiggly 2 year old, when you can't pick her up and carry her much, because it makes your right leg go numb?

ohm, ohm, 23 days, 23 days, 23 days, 23 days, ohm, ohm

Braxton-Hicks
I'm pretty sure that I was having contractions with Ally before I knew what they were. When I got to the hospital and had the real ones, I thought "Oh, duh. Maybe I was having these before" My stomach was always tight, but I just thought it was because the baby ran out of room in there. Now that I know a little better, I'm pretty sure I'm having contractions with this baby too. Very weird.

The Mommy Wars
Everyone has been talking about the Mommy Wars on the internet lately, so here's my thoughts, in case you cared:

It's none of your freaking business how other people live their lives. Who are you to pass judgement? I truly admire anyone who is able to stay at home with their little snot-monsters/darlings (depending on the day). Not just for the time they spend together, but also the fact that they stay sane. I'm not sure I could do it. However, I also am glad to be able to send my daughter to day care. They give her much more variety day-to day than I ever could. They have more resources, and kids to play with. So - Everyone has different lifestyles, and different personalities, and if you don't agree with someone else's choices - don't butt in. It's none of your business.

I know that the Mommy Wars aren't just about SAHM vs working women. Any "Mommy" choice is under fire from someone who has a dissenting view. No one is wrong, though as long as everyone is healthy and being taken care of. I firmly believe this. I rarely comment on other people's blogs about issues like this because, frankly, they don't need my advice, and probably don't want it.

That said: It's hard to reconcile my feelings with a scheduled c-section. I know that it won't make me any less of a mother, or anything like that. The end result is all the same. But there's this little nagging voice - maybe not even a voice, because I can't put into words what it says - in my head that makes me hope I go into labor earlier and don't need surgery. Is that weird?

girly stuff
I got a manicure last night. from my daughter. I've been painting her fingernails occasionally for a couple weeks, and she's getting pretty good at painting mine too. For some reason, she likes blue though. Not on her fingers, but on mine. Oh well. I go through a lot of polish remover. I'm glad I have a little girl. I can let her paint my fingernails and make let her brush my hair. She kind of likes to play dress up too. We don't have much of it at home yet, but they say she likes it at day care.

well, I did it
I scheduled a c-section. This baby will be leaving my body sometime around 7:15 Tuesday, April 25th. Unless, of course, she gets in a hurry and comes before that - which probably won't happen, as that's already a week early.

baby shower
I think I forgot to mention that I had a baby shower at work. A very small one. It was a surprise. I missed it. Seriously. I called in that day. That was the week from hell when we had just gotten the dog. Amy called me and told me that they were eating my cake without me. They left me a big chunk of it, and I ate it pretty much all by myself. Yummy.

Anyway, I was very surprised, because I don't really need a shower or anything. A second child gets screwed over in the present department. We just have umpteen million toys already. A couple people have asked me what I need, and I tried to go online and create a registry, but there's really not all that much missing. We kept everything of Ally's. Most of her 0-3 months clothes were puked on, so I replaced a lot of it with new ones. I think a lot of clothes are going to be off-season, but I really won't know until I manage to get them all out of the attic. I'm not planning that until I need them. So, I guess if you want to get me something it can be 3-6 month or bigger clothes. Or diapers.

(And I'm only posting this becase people have asked. I really don't need much, and can probably afford to get it myself - I'm not that broke yet. We haven't had to start paying for the second kid in day care yet. LOL. )

Here's what we still need to pick up:
GEAR
a crib mattress
a bouncer
a playmat
a couple packages of non-stained cloth diapers for burp rags

Little crap that we'll go to Walmart for every other day
playtex drop-in 4 oz bottle liners
Pampers diapers
Pampers Sensitive Skin wipes
any cute clothes that are irresistable

See, that's not so bad. We have loads of blankets, and bibs, and washclothes, and hooded towels, and 2 bathrobes (1 duck and 1 frog), and socks, and sheets, and lots of stuff.

Ally would really like to have the green (We've got the orange and blue ones) dinosaur Little People set, or anything Dora related if you're curious about that. Or stickers. She loves stickers and markers and art stuff.

And I really need a 3T short-sleeved "I'm a big sister" shirt. Know where I can find one? I may just buy some iron-on and make one if not. Let me know.

Blogging
hey, take a look at that calendar over there. Do you see it? I've posted almost every workday (weekends don't count) this month. How wonderful am I? I even put out (get your mind out of the gutter. I have not put out in recent history) a bonus weekend post. Do you know what this means?

Yep. Works sucks again. You can only do so many sudokus before your eyes start crossing. Please give me some work to do, people! So, now is the time to ask if any of you have anything you're just dying to know about me. I've got plenty of time to answer, and promise to do so.

Trek
A member of my (extended) family passed on recently. His name was Trek, and he was a damn fine dog. My friend Jill originally trained him to be a seeing eye dog, but because of health issues (joint problems?) he couldn't continue in the program. Which was just great for the family. He had a wonderful life and was loved by everyone who met him. We'll all miss you Trek