Last week I began laying the groundwork for potty training with Edith. She happily sat on the potty, reading books. She didn't produce anything, but I wasn't concerned since that's not what it's all about at this point. Just getting her to sit there is the important thing. (ignore blurriness of photo)
Things were going swimmingly. Until Thursday, that is. On Thursday I went to put Edith on the potty after one of her sisters (who shall remain nameless) finished their own business. Edith sat for a few minutes before deciding she was done. I praised her as I got her off and figured this time around I would let Edith flush the toilet and watch the water go down. You know, to hopefully make it more fun and add some excitement to the experience. Little did I know how much excitement.
I stood half-naked Edith by the potty and helped her flush the toilet, watching her face to see what she thought of the whole thing. After a moment, I turned to the toilet to pull off the potty seat and yelled in shock and dismay-- THE WATER WAS BEGINNING TO OVERFLOW THE TOILET!!!! Little did I know that the nameless daughter had left us with a sneaker toilet clog (you know, the kind where the water level is normal and you don't realize it's clogged until you flush it the next time).
As the water started to rush over the sides of the toilet bowl, I quickly whisked Edith up into my arms and began frantically grabbing towels to sop up what was pouring out so it wouldn't spread too much before I could work the tight knob to turn the water off. (thank goodness I happened to have a pile of towels on the floor of the bathroom waiting to be washed that day)
While I was frantically trying to dam up the water I was screaming at the top of my lungs for the offender to come help. After throwing 3 or 4 towels around the base of the toilet I managed to wedge both me and the baby between the toilet and tub to try to work on turning the water off. Luckily, it took me only a moment to loosen it and give it a turn to stop the toilet water overflow.
It really only took maybe 30 seconds, tops, for all of this to take place, but I was screaming for the offender to come the whole time. I was panicked. And mad (oh, boy was I mad-- toilet clogs happen waaay too often around here. I'm now seriously contemplating making a toilet paper dispenser that alerts me with a loud beep when a child is rolling out too much. And maybe a computerized vocal alert, too, "Toilet overflow imminent. Toilet overflow imminent.").
Unfortunately, that 30 seconds of screaming in panic and anger didn't go over well with the baby. Nope. Not at all. In retrospect, I should have just gently (but quickly) set Edith in the tub where she would be safe from the rushing water and then quietly gone about my business of damming and shutting off the flow, reprimanding the offender strongly once I located them instead of yelling for help wildly. (If only I hadn't been watching dear, sweet Edith instead of the toilet, I could have shut off the water before overflow even occurred!)
I think something about the pooh flecks in the water threw me off. Made me get a little crazy. What can I say? I was wearing new shoes.
Anyway, now not only does Edith refuse to sit on the potty, she won't even go in the bathroom. Even baths are more traumatic for her (she hasn't taken to the big tub). What have I done? On the plus side, I guess I don't need to worry about Edith drowning in the toilet like some other curious toddler might be in danger of. But, my hopes and dreams of having her potty trained by 18 months are most likely dashed on the rocks. Now I'll probably be lucky if I can even get her to sit on the potty again by then!
So, so sorry that I traumatized you (probably for life), Edith. I've put some money in the therapy fund jar.
Edith turned 15 months old today. To celebrate, I followed her around with the camera for a few minutes so you can see what she spends her time doing. It was right before lunch and her nap, so she was a bit tired.
We started out sitting on the fireplace hearth, having a conversation and playing with some sorting blocks. Edith is super drooly because she's working on her molars right now. The top right is in and the other 3 are bulging. I find it a little funny, since she still only has two teeth on the bottom in front.
From there we moved on to the sliding glass door in the eating area. Figuring out how to get it (and the gate) open has become a priority in Edith's life.
She has given up asking for help. Yup. You're on your own, kid.
She came over to pose for the camera...
...then took a quick seat to feel the air coming out of the vent and inform me that it's hot.
Good job saying the word 'hot', Edith.
Then she found some of the new fun rockets we just got. Edith loves them. Well, we all do. Ummm... those two parts don't go together, Edith. Keep trying, you'll figure it out.
All this exploring gets tiring (I was feeling pooped), so Edith decided to take a little rest.
She finally managed to wipe spit on my lens while she was at it. Oh, well. It made her happy.
I guess the floor wasn't comfy enough, so Edith decided to try out a laundry basket full of dirty laundry. Big uses it as an indoor basketball hoop, so it's always handy. It's just so hard to get comfortable. Leg in? Leg out?
Ahhhhh...
After about 2 seconds of that, Edith was ready for something else. Oooh! She found both parts of the rocket. Now we're in business. She really wants to figure out how to do it herself. She's soooo close.
Edith tried and tried and tried to get the little rocket on its launcher, so focused. Finally I decided to give her a little help-- squeezing the launcher to send the rocket soaring really is so much fun, you know. See?
I think she's asking me to do it again.
Then it was time to get pretty for just a minute. That's about how long she kept her barrette in her hair for. She was just so concerned about why those balls were stuck together that she forgot about it for a moment.
Seriously concerning, those balls.
Pulling them apart was proving to be a little difficult.
Pulling out a barrette, on the other hand, is easy. It's the putting it back in that can be hard. A little more to your right, Edith.
Looks like that will take some practice.
I hope this gives you a little sense of what Edith's personality is like and what we do around here. Let's see... what else is she up to?
Edith has a wee bit of a shoe obsession. I guess it's a good thing she got so many pairs of shoes from her cousins. When Edith gets dressed in the morning she insists on picking a pair of shoes to go with her outfit. If I try to put on a pair other than the one she chose she lets me know I'm in error. Quite strongly. She kicks her feet, making it virtually impossible to put the wrong shoes on. When I have the pair she deems perfect for the outfit, however, she sits peacefully and lifts her leg and points her toe to make it easy to slip the shoe on her foot. I have a minor shoe obsession myself, so I completely understand where Edith is coming from.
When Edith fell on her rear end the other day she got up, looked at me, and said, "Butt." Then fell again the next day and said, "Bum". She's like a little baby thesaurus. Her definition of the word 'owie' is a bit broad, though. I have learned an 'owie' is anything that is not quite right. A hole in her pants is an owie. A piece of food stuck to the side of her sippy cup is an owie. Some dirt on the floor is an owie. Maybe it means she'll be empathetic.
We were doing some grocery shopping yesterday when Edith started crying suddenly and inexplicably. And I mean sobbing and wailing. The kind of crying that makes you think something terrible happened or they got hurt. We didn't know what was going on. Upon repeatedly asking her what was wrong, Edith was finally able (after sobbing for 2 aisles) to catch her breath enough to cry out, "I neeeed the ball!"
Rophone retraced his steps back a couple of aisles and Edith promptly pointed out a cute little red ball with rainbow polka dots. As he handed her the ball, Edith's crying stopped. She then proceeded to hug it and pat it, saying, "Ball. Ball. Ball." Clearly, the ball-love that had her sleeping with a basketball a few months ago has not abated. Needless to say, Edith is now the proud owner of a new red ball with polka dots.
This is probably a waaay long enough post, so I'll just say that Edith continues to be smart, funny, charismatic, delightful, opinionated, determined and loving. (And so much more!) We can't wait to see what comes next. We love you, Edith.
Ummm...
1. Saturday morning we participated in a food co-op for the first time. I loved it and I can't wait to do it again. I'm going to make it a goal to use all of the items we receive each week, even if it's something I'm not familiar with. I think it will really expand our culinary horizons. I am totally in love with the roasted red pepper hummus I made with the ginormous red pepper that was included in the basket of food this week. It's exciting that I've found a new favorite recipe already with only one week of co-op food under my belt. Can't wait to see what we get as the growing season progresses.
2. We got a lot of yard work done on Saturday morning. It looks so much better. We're planning on tackling it again tomorrow.
3. On Saturday afternoon we went as a family to run a bunch of errands. Both girls needed Sunday shoes desperately, so we were happy to finally be able to get them shod. (That sounds kind horse-like... horse-ish... horse-y...)
4. Wednesday evening, we had to take Pen up into the canyon for a thing, so we hauled the other kids along so they could run around a bit (in a completely different part of the park so as not to cramp Pen's style, I might add. In case you were worried.). The place we went had some little rock-climbing-monolith-thingies for the kids to try to climb. They were cool. I loved watching Edith walk/run with her hands raised above her head, cheering in delight about being freeeeee! She just lives to be outside, so I was happy we were able to go.
Here are some shots of the kids on the rocks:
Looks like they're on a big cliff face...
..but, no.
Big just stuck to the smaller boulder. Turns out the kid is afraid of heights.
Then I put the kids in front of one of the monoliths and told them we were taking pictures for Grandma's grandkid wall. They were thrilled.
We'll give it another go, Grandma. Attempting to catch Edith in a picture was like trying to catch a chicken. She was at an excited run/walk the entire time we were there. You can tell by the way her cheeks are caught mid-jiggle in some of the photos. (I'm starting to kinda realize that this outing should probably have had its own post, but no matter.)
Those first two were pretty good, but then we head into the mid-jiggle territory. See?
Pictures of Edith mid-jiggle are waaay cuter than shots of me mid-jiggle, I can tell you that. Bottom line is that we had fun. So it's on the list.
5. Since we were up in the canyon when I was supposed to be cooking dinner, we took the kids to our new favorite burrito place for dinner. The kids had never been before and they loved it. We feel good about the all-natural, organic ingredients, too.
6. I think my favorite part of dinner, though, was finding a new way to create a salad. Rophone ordered me a vegetarian salad that contained: lettuce, black beans, pico, guacamole, and sour cream. Sounds pretty basic, right? But then, on the side, there was what looked like a little container of balsamic? Balsamic?? I mixed up my salad and then very carefully sprinkled it on just one little section and tried a bite. Oh, my! Divine.
7. On Thursday morning, Rophone took Bud to an appointment at his back doctor. This was the appointment to see how his spine stayed in place after more than 24 hours out of his brace. According to the x-ray, Bud's spine was only at an 8% curvature. That's totally awesome, by the way! It earns him the summer off from brace-wearing which he'll really appreciate as it gets hotter. We'll probably have to get fitted for the next one in September (unless his spine regresses too rapidly) so it will be nice to have some time off!
8. The kids got out of school for the summer today. They haven't been around long enough for me to determine wether this is really a favorite or not (ha!), but I have found one thing about it to make me smile already. The kids got out at 11:30, came home and had lunch, and then went downstairs to play school. It cracks me up that less than an hour after getting out of school for the summer they were pretending to be back in. I love it.
9. Rophone took me on a date tonight! He's hott.
I feel like it was a busy week, but that's probably all in my imagination.
1. On Saturday, Bud finally got a chance to celebrate his birthday with friends. He chose to have an art party, and I'm so glad he did. It was fun.
2. Mother's day was on Sunday. It was fantastic.
3. Rophone and I were able to take Big and Edith with us to the big city on Monday so we could meet some friends for lunch. The food was great, the conversation was fantastic, and we really like the people we were with. We loved seeing our friends and how they interact with their baby-- such a cute and loving family. We so needed that lunch in our lives right now.
4. After lunch we went to REI to swap out a few of my Mother's Day gifts. It's always a good day when I can go to that store. The switcheroo was a grand success and I love my cute stuff. Thanks, Rophone!
5. We took the kids out for a family date on Wednesday. It's not something we do a lot, so it felt special and fun.
6. Rophone had the morning off again on Thursday, just like two weeks ago when The Teeth Incident happened. I decided not to go play basketball this time around (I'll get back on that horse eventually), so Rophone and I took Edith and went to purchase a lawn mower instead. It's something we've needed, and I can't wait until the lawn gets cut tomorrow!
7. Edith has added tons of new words to her vocabulary this week. I was surprised when she said 'thigh' as she pointed to her upper leg, and I cracked up when she saw that I had a green salad and started hollering for one of her most loved foods, "Beet! Beet! Beeeeet!" I wouldn't doubt, though, that her favorite new word she can say is 'chocolate'.
8. Rophone got off a little early today, so we were able to run some errands. We got a longer extension cord for our hedge trimmer (I'll try my hardest not to cut through this one) and some new work gloves for those who needed them. When we got home we were able to don our new gloves and work in the yard for a little bit before dinner. There is still a bunch to do in the morning, but with the boys working especially hard (I love that they love to work) we got a good start on things tonight. It always feels good to whip things into shape.
9. Edith ate her very first ice cream cone tonight. I didn't put much ice cream in her cone, so quite quickly she was having to stick her tongue way in to try to get any. Then she tried a few bites of cone, not a big fan. When she decided the ice cream was too hard to get to (or just a bore), she stirred it with her fingers and tried to crush the now soggy cone with her great strength. It was really entertaining to watch.
10. Rophone and I were able to go on two dates together this week. We like each other + Fabulous Food = Yay! We tried a new burrito place that we heard about a while back-- they use all-natural, organic, local-if-they-can ingredients and it was nummo. We'll definitely frequent the place again.
Next week is the last week of school for the kids (crazy, I know!), so maybe it will be un-busy like this one was.
I think this just may be a first, but I'm about to post about myself. I mean, I know I've posted of my experiences and feelings before, but this time there will be accompanying pictures. Of me. Unheard of, you say? I know! But I'm really going to try to make this more of a complete family blog from here on out. Get ready, Rophone!
Anyway, I'm not sure how I'll do at this, but we'll give it a shot. Mother's Day was on Sunday. I really look forward to it every year, although as the mother of 5 you'd think I'd learn to temper my expectations. I tried to get the kids to help me more on Saturday night since Rophone was working, but they made it clear that Mother's Day was just that. A day. And that day was on Sunday, not Saturday. Oh, well.
It's a bit tough to have a leisurely, relax-while-everyone-else-does-all-of-the-work type of morning when you have 5 kids to get ready for 9:00 church, so I set my sights on having a dream of an afternoon. I got to hang with the kids and my Rophone and even got to open a few gifts. It was wonderful.
I wasn't expecting Rophone to pull out the camera as I opened the presents, but he did. I'm so unused to it that I pretty much made a funny face in every single picture. But, I love making people laugh, so here you go:
The first gift I opened was a new iPhone case from the kids. I'm so excited to have one, since I always felt like my phone was going to slip out of my grasp. Plus, the kids got me a case with a clear back so I can try out an idea I saw on Pinterest-- you cut out scrapbook paper to line the case so you can give yourself a new look whenever you want. Much better than buying a patterned case that you get sick of and feel the need to replace after a few months. Rophone helped me decide on my phone's first look.
My phone went from looking like this:
To looking like this:
Pretty cool, huh? (Yes, I need a new exacto knife to make more precise cuts around the lens) Bud already has some yellow chevron stripe paper picked out of our stash for my next look. I love my gift, kids, thanks!
Then it took me absolutely forever to get the ribbon off of my gift from Bud.
The way everyone was looking at me while I noisily struggled with it made me laugh.
Bud was pretty excited for me to open his gift.
When I finally got it open, I could see why. And then I got excited, too. Bud's gift included coupons for some fabulous things he wants to do for me! I can't wait to use them, can you tell?
Man, my 'teeth' look weird.
Then I opened some adorable clothes from Rophone. He sure does have good taste.
Then we went to my folks' house and had a fabulous salmon dinner prepared by the men. All in all it was a fantastic Mother's Day. Thanks for making me feel so special, family! I love you!
