Caíthlyn's Blog

Blogging about our Little Miss. Family 2 pregnancy

Monday, August 22, 2005

Our holidays (Sans pictures... :-( )

My Holiers. ( Holiday's for all ye Non-Oirish)

Initially Darren was meant to have holidays for a week during my two week holiday. He has started a new job however and so it was just Little Miss and I.
I had been looking forward to some quality time as a family and was disappointed when those plans fell through. But, no use dwelling on what can not be. Darren would SO have been with us if he could!

I decided that these 2.5 weeks would be the ideal opportunity to introduce a few new things in Little Miss' life. The list consisted of the following:

Potty Training
Cutting out the soother
No more non-spill cup


Ambitious or what? I figured that this way at least it was just ME that had to deal with the consequences/side-effects.

The soother had been doing my head in for a while. The idea of having my daughter doing a Maggie Simpson at 2 or 3 years old was making my skin crawl!
I figured that "Cold Turkey" would be the best approach. So, from one day to the next, the soother was "gone"
Little Miss has The Cutest phrase. When she is looking for something, she will tilt her head to the side, raise her hands next to her head and ask:
(for instance) " Mammmiiieeee, where aaaaarrreee youououou?? : It's just toooo sweet!
When she started looking for her soother however, it nearly broke my heart! She was walking from the kitchen to the sitting room all the while calling
out:" Doooooodi (soother) where aaaaarrreee youououou??
At this stage, she could be distracted however. We went to the beach and had our lunch at the seaside. It was lovely. Right up to the walk home...... She was tired, she was cranky and she WANTED HER DODI! It was so hot, and she was SO LOUD and still I didn't give in.
When we got home, she tripped and fell. Normally this would not phase her at all, she is well used to falling over, but for some reason this one brought on the sobs!
The tear streaked face and the little arms around my neck. The shuddering breaths...... Those big blue eyes, shiny with tears, she tilts her head to the side and asks "Dodi?"
People, I am THIS close to crying just thinking about it........
To cut a long story short, we managed to keep the dodi at bay for a week (except at bed-time) but had to give in.
It had some fabulous benefits to be dodi-less. For instance, her speech has come on leaps and bounds! She articulates much better and has discovered that this talking thing is a great way of conveying your wishes! I am simply amazed at her progress. The flipside however was that I think she is cutting her incisors too (ze krijgt haar hoektandjes) and the combination of that and not having her dodi was just too much for her. She was a completely different child. She got these really bad cranky moods and would shout "I don't wannnnaaaaaa" at everything! Even things she would jump at normally!
So, the executive decision was made to phase the dodi out. She will only get it when she is really tired and at bedtime. So no more just walking around for hours with the thing in her mouth. I am sorry that Cold Turkey didn't work but am delighted to have my happy and cheery daughter back. (Even though the "I don't wannnnaaaaaa" seems to be sticking around a bit)

The second week was a lot easier, what with the dodi being available again and all.
However, we decided to put the potty training on the back burner for a bit.
When you become a parent, all privacy is out the window. Even the most shy person will start going to the toilet in under 15 seconds with the door wide open to keep an eye/ear on the Little Munchkin. Caíthlyn finds this extremely interesting! So much so that she took her dolly and sat her down on the lid of the toilet, flushed the toilet, pretended to wash the dolly's hands and then dry them on the towel! I couldn't believe my eyes! She also indicates when she has a dirty nappy (diaper) and so we though the time had arrived for Potty Training. Even went to the big toy store and got her a potty that's called " A Throne of their Own" ( I know.......) which makes a music when they sit down and there's a little fanfare when they "do the business".
However, after the whole dodi debacle, I decided I wanted to have my second week of holidays' stress free and fund. Also, I feel she might just be a little bit to young still. Maybe in a about two months. Meanwhile, the potty stays in the downstairs toilet where it can greet me with a royal tune (it's only right) every time I step passed it!

Right, will leave ye for now. Have lots more to tell but will ease you all back in to it!

Love always!