So, yesterday was fun!

i met a friend online. Her name is MadameFancyPants, but i have seen her twice and neither time was in pants. What's up with that? But otherwise, she's awesome! lol. Anyway, her son is a few months younger than Charlotte and just started part-time at the same school. And she's going to be watching Char on the evening after month-end close at work, which this month will be Wednesday. So we played at her house and had a good time. Char seems to really like her, and likes her son also.

i also had a playground committee meeting yesterday, and it went well. They are really pushing the timeframe on this thing, wanting to get Phase 1 done this Fall/Winter, and wanting to get Phase 2 done next Spring. Phase 1 are things like willow tunnels, boulders, climbing/balancing stumps, a bridge, a rain garden, and some fencing changes. Phase 2 is a lot of work on the hillside including 2 slides, a climbing wall, a music wall, and things like this that are more costly and time consuming. i'm skeptical, but from what i've seen of the director so far, she'll plow through a mountan if she has to!

Another mixed day

Well, i've been sick. Again. Damned weak immune system. i did get the stomach bug and have been pretty incapacitated. Charlotte has been fine aside from the one vomit on Wednesday night, so she went to school today and came home with mixed reports.

First, she was bitey today. She's been biting at school a lot lately, more than she ever has at home. And she did it a lot today, and also pulled a child's chair out from under them :(. They even called her "aggressive" today. i wish i knew how to handle it, but if i'm not there, what can i do?

But the good news! The "oh my gosh i'm so proud" news! She went potty today at school! She said, "Potty" and then followed through. Bless the teacher who took her, too. i know it may not seem like that much, but for some reason i'm soaring. i had a feeling she was turning an EC corner and headed or PL (potty learning; hate the word "training" in reference to kids), and now i really think so. And it seems like her teachers may think so, too.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time she's said "potty" or gone potty at school. So, so proud of that. And a little ashamed of the biting.

Nosedive of a day

Started off geat. i lingered a little to play with Char, and we cuddled in bed for a minute. When i said, "i love you," she said "lalu". Alan was there and agrees that she was saying "love you". Yay!

Then it kind of leveled off for a while. Work was fine, still like my new job, but for a couple of days i've been feeling a little "off". Not really sick, but kind of like i was fighting something off.

Then i picked up Char to discover that she had bitten 2 kids, one breaking skin :(, and "there was some hitting involved." i hate this because obviously i hate that she misbehaved, but also i don't know what i'm supposed to do about it, you know? It's not like she's 7 years old and we can really have discussion after school. Sigh. The teacher even made excuses, saying it was a hectic day (the 2 teachers there are new and the Montessori-trained teacher called in sick, plus several kids have stomach bugs), there was a new kid in the nursery next door who cried all day, etc. She said, "Charlotte's a very bright child, always has that twinkle in her eyes, and i bet she picked up on the mood of the day." And she may be partially correct; we have definitely noticed that when the day starts out positively and happy, Char has a better day, and when it starts out grumpy, hectic, etc, she's fussier all day. Still sucks to hear, though.

And then we got home, and she wouldn't eat too well. She's getting a new tooth that's being problematic, and once again she doesn't like chewing. Anything (even her favorite fruit) that requires chewing, she would spit right out. i was saying, "Charlotte, we don't spit our food out" for the eleventy-thousandth time, when she puked up her whole dinner. Poor girl.

And then i was talking to Alan and rinsing the cloth i used to clean the mess in the sink, and the smell overcame me and i puked also. And then puked and puked some more. i think it's fair to say that we BOTH have the stomach virus that's been going around the school.

i hope i don't have to call in to work tomorrow. i've only been there 8 days so far for goodness sake. i did mention to my coworker that i didn't feel well, and brought my computer home, but i hope it doesn't come to that.

Still, i keep thinking about that "Lalu" this morning. It makes my heart sing even when my stomach doesn't.

Science Museum Pictures

i love these pictures! Char ran around like a crazy woman at the Children's Museum and was getting tired so i wore her at the Science Museum. That's my new wrap, a Vatanai Solsbury, in a Back Wrap Cross Carry with Chest Belt carry. Alan helped and the result was the best wrapping job so far with this wrap, which is narrower than my BB Slen woven wraps.

One of my favorite memories is when my oldest sister had swim meets at what i think is a small college next door or very close to the AMSE (American Museum of Science and Energy; i had the name wrong slightly), and my other sister would take me to AMSE through this little trail. Honestly the museum is kind of old and small and not that impressive but when i was little i thought it was tremendously cool. i hope Charlotte got a little something out of it, too :).

Museum Pictures

i was having computer problems yesterday and didn't type any words, sorry. Mostly i was having patience problems.

Alan and i are on a trip (right now i'm on the little sofa in the hotel room whilee sleeps; slept probably 11 hours and it's so cool we can both sleep in!). Charlotte spent the night with my sister last night. Alan and i will go get breakfast (or lunch, depending on when he wakes up lol) and then get her and go home.

We live in Nashville and we're in Knoxville now, so only a couple of hours and only for the one night, but it's a good way to get our feet wet since we've never left Char overnight before.

Anyway, these pictures are from the Children's Museum in Oak Ridge, TN, "the Secret City" aka the "Atomic City". The museum is nothing to write home about, especially with a toddler who doesn't give you time to read the writing. Much of it was about life in the Secret City in the 40's and beyond, which wasn't especially good for her to learn, but she loved the part at the beginning that had artifacts from different cultures.

They said "everything is hands on unless it's roped in or glassed off", so we let her go!

Lookie! A giant African xylophone! She sure knew just what to do with it, too!

Check back with this post as i'll probably be adding more pics as my patience improves. We also went to the National Museum of Science and Energy, and i'll post a special post for it.

"Bob Bob" Revisited

Who remembers that a few months ago Charlotte started calling Alan "Bob"? She was consistent for a good while, too. Today she explained who "Bob Bob" is...

Please ignore that hideous green bruise on her forehead. We had some "family" photos this weekend and she had to fall and hit herhead first. It's a law, naturally.

Talking

Charlotte continues to astound me every day. About a week or two ago she dragged my woven wrap to me and said "sigh ow" which i interpret as "outside". (Ha! Take that, mother-in-law! Tell ME she doesn't love being worn lol. The stroller has NEVER been dragged anywhere.)

This weekend she started saying 2 word phrases, "Go up", "go out", etc. Amazing! i don't know when this is supposed to happen, but clearly she's a genius :).

Mommy wars

i think i'm losing at the mommy wars. Last night i met for dinner with the other women from Char's school who have volunteered to help design and build the playground at the new school. It's a Montessori school, so the families tend to be a little on the crunchy side. Two women had their toddlers (14-16 months) with them, and of coure i had Char. And those two women are still nursing, which i totally support. That's one of the very few things i feel like i'm missing out on by growing our family through adoption versus biology.

Anyway, at one poing Char was in my lap and pulled my shirt up. i joked that she shouldn't flash everyone. Then one of the nursing moms asked if we nurse. i said, "No, she was adopted." Please! What is wrong with me that i felt like i had to justify why i am not still nursing her? Of course there wasn't the slightest bit of judgment in what she asked or how she asked it. She just thought Char might be asking to nurse by pulling my shirt up. But there's something totally wrong with me feeling the need to justify why i don't nurse.

i'd like to say it's because 2 women said something negative about me bottle-feeding in public when she was very young (until they found out i was her foster mom and suddenly i was their hero), but really i think it's all part of apologitis. i have chronic and severe case of it. i've been known to apologize when someone else came late to a meeting.

i'm so going to lose the mommy wars lol.

Some very cute Charlotte-isms

1. (Mommy points to a picture of a cow) "What is this?" "Cat." "No, it's a cow. Here's a picture of a cat." (Mommy points to a picture of a cat). "What does a cat say?" "Moo." Hmmm...

2. Char has started singing the Alphabet Song (in tune), mostly just humming or babbling, but putting the correct letters in the correct places in a few spots. Today she said, "H-I-J-K-yesterday." She's a genius! Yesterday rhymes with K where L-M-N-O-P certainly does not ;). Who knew she even knows the word yesterday, but it seemed clear as a bell!

3. And this may be the funniest of them all. i got a picture message from Alan yesterday. Apparently i left the baby lock off my bathroom cabinet and she got in it on the way to the potty and grabbed something. Alan didn't notice what it was until she was seated and doing her business. He sent me the picture with the caption, "Sure, it's funny NOW."

P.S. i always swore i'd never post a picture of my kid on the toilet on the internet, but i mean, really, how could i not?

Let's Talk Poop!

It's been a while since i've AW'd Char and her EC'ing. Mostly because there hasn't been much to brag about. Charlotte started signing for "potty" about 8 months, but that only lasted about a month. From 9-12 months or so it felt like we were just coasting along, same-old-same-old, you know? She would grunt when she had to poop, and i would take her to the potty. Off times i would take her to pee, and she would often go, but there was no signal at all that she would go before she actually did. And we had more poop misses, too, as she sometimes wouldn't grunt at all, or only after she'd started pooping and then it's just easier to change a poopy diaper. Also, the more fully solid foods she was eating, the more often she would go. From 1-2 times a day it became more like 5. Eek!

Then around a year old, she figured out that if she grunted, i stopped what i was doing. And yes, i took her to the potty, but she figured out that if there was something she didn't want to do, she could get out of it by grunting. Nice. Like, meal times. Fingernail trimming times. When mommy isn't giving me all her attention and is, say, making my lunch for tomorrow.

So, we took a little bit of a potty vacation for a while. If she had the poop look in addition to grunting, we still went, but we didn't go every time. And eventually i found that she was usually wet right after "fake" grunting. And a few times i noticed it after i'd recently done i dipe check and she wasn't wet. And sometimes the diaper would feel warm, as if the pee had JUST come out of her warm bladder. So we ended the potty vacation.

And now it seems like she's "telling" me again that she needs to go. Primitive, yes, but still cute. She will go up to the baby gate and shake it and grunt. Or grunt then run to the baby gate and shake it. So i say, "Do you want to potty?" and she runs right to the potty (if she doesn't get distracted by her love of the stairs).

And lately, more and more, she's making it to the potty before she's either peed or pooped, and going on the potty. Now, if i had it to do all over again, i never would have allowed/encouraged the grunt to be her "cue". Sigh. But, live and learn and keep repeating the word "potty" lol.

So, i'm still in the position of really not having a clue what to do now, potty-learning-wise. At this point, she can apparently tell me she needs to go (at least some of the time, not all of the time for sure). And she can go to the potty even. But she cannot manage to pull her pants down or her diaper off by herself. And we're still using the donut insert in the regular potty instead of a little portable potty. If i have to place a wild guess, i'd say she'll be using panties or at least training diapers (we're going to use cloth instead of Pull-Ups if i have my way) within maybe 4 more months. But i'm not sure. Language-wise i think she's on target in expressive language but not ahead, and i do wonder if she's a little behind in receptive language (but she could just be a little... well, whatever the euphemism for stubborn is this week). i'm not worried about it, but if that is the case then i'm not sure she'll be ready language-wise at that point. Anyway, tips from BTDT EC'ers much appreciated.