The Mamahood

You Know Your Daughter's Fully Potty Trained...

When she uses the port-a-potty not once, not twice, but three times at an outdoor concert. Even though she was wearing a pull-up, and her mother, who has a serious phobia about public restrooms in general and port-a-potties in particular, would have done just about anything to avoid stepping foot in there.

But our youngest has been doing so awesome with the potty training, I really couldn't discourage her. I'm just a little worried about her insistence on using the potty, since we have a long road trip coming up in the not-so-distant future, and there are only a few potties along the way that I feel comfortable using.

They Don't Know What's Good For Them

My youngest daughter should be wearing a hearing aid, to help her overcome her unilateral hearing loss. But generally, she'll wear it for about a half hour at a time before she says, "All done," pulls it off and if we aren't fast enough, chucks it clear across the room. (Considering this is a $5,000, postage-stamp sized piece of equipment, we don't want it to get lost or stepped on.)

The problem is, she first got her BAHA at the age of 2, when most kids (who don't spend their newborn years in an orphanage) are given them near birth, so they're used to wearing them and accustomed to the feel of the headband around their head. My 2-year-old wants to be stubborn and seems to itch and scratch at it.

We've tried offering incentives (bribing with candy) to get her to wear it longer, but no matter what, it seems like after a half-hour, she's reached her max.

Anyone have any ideas (that don't involve superglue)?

The Queen of Tantrumville

Now that my oldest has started to seem awfully grown up and well-behaved, her sister has taken on the mantle of the resident hothead. She's apparently been warming up all week with mini tantrums...throwing spoons, screaming, flailing, squirming for up to five minutes at a time. But this afternoon, her mac and cheese was apparently either too hot, not cheesy enough, not willing to stay on the spoon well or in some other way did not please the Queen of Tantrumville. And so, I was treated to a knock-down, drag-out, hit-my-head-on-the-floor, whap-mommy-repeatedly-on-the-head-with-a-bouquet-of-fake-flowers tantrum that lasted for well over half an hour before she got too tired and fell asleep. For three hours and counting.

I did not miss this aspect of toddlerhood when our oldest grew (mostly) out of it. And I thought that given our youngest's milder, sweeter personality, we wouldn't have to deal with tantrums longer than a kid's TV show. But apparently, I'll have to adjust my expectations for the new Queen.

Happy Birthday, little one...

Tomorrow, our youngest is turning two...though she's already exhibiting the independent spirit that comes with that hallmark. There's a lot of "I must walk down the stairs myself," and "I absolutely cannot sleep in a crib or sit in a booster anymore." And, of course, a tantrum or two...or five. We're close to being able to get rid of bottles, and the end of diapers may be in sight. (Our daughter actually stayed dry...other than nap and nighttime...all day on Wednesday.)

She's really starting to talk now, sings happy birthday to herself and will tell you "dooo" when you ask how old she's going to be (and hold out a hand with five fingers showing...she hasn't grasped the concept of two fingers yet). She is such a beautiful, vivacious and sweet little girl. And we are so lucky to be her parents. Happy birthday to my beautiful baby...we are so lucky to have you in our lives.

Potty Training, Part Deux

Just six months after we finally finished potty training our oldest, her brand spanking-new sister decided she wanted to be potty trained, too, at the ripe old age of 21 months. So we've been slowly, lazily wending our way toward potty training. Basically, because I'm still exhausted from the enormous efforts I made the first time (enormous efforts like screaming and gnashing of teeth on my part, which I'm sure helped hurry my daughter's training along...right?).

I think in a month or two, when we're off for a few days, we might try a boot-camp type thing with our youngest...she seems to understand about the potty, and I think a few days off might do the trick. When we do it, I think we'll purchase some of these PODS, which allow kids to wear big kid underpants without wetting themselves (but while still feeling the wet). I think that will work better than those damned Pull-ups. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Amazing Progress

Our first daughter came home completely on target developmentally, thanks to a very loving foster family. But our youngest, who spent much longer in China's care,in a less-than-stellar orphanage, had some pretty significant delays, especially relating to speech.

I had heard that kids who lag behind because of institutional delays often make up ground pretty quickly once they're given good, loving care. But until I saw this miracle with my own eyes, I didn't believe it. In four months, our daughter is now fully caught up in every aspect (including speech, despite a mild hearing loss), has gained enough weight that she went from being in the third percentile for weight to the 25th percentile, and has transformed from the very serious little girl we saw in all the orphanage photos (not a smile to be found) to the amazingly cheerful and sweet little girl with a brilliant smile that lights up a room.

It's nothing short of a miracle—that we are lucky enough to be allowed to be her parents, and that we are blessed enough that she survived the orphanage and has thrived with us.

Wonder Time...

We always had nice Christmases when it was just the two of us. But Christmas with kids is like reexperiencing all the joy and excitement you had about Christmas when you were five...though the elation is tempered by all those to-dos that kids add to your Christmas list.

But, oh, it's oh so worth it, when you see the pure, unadulterated wonder of a 22-month-old at her first glimpse of a Christmas tree all aglow. With her mouth agape, our daughter kept pointing at the tree and then at herself, over and over again, as if to ask, "For me?"

And it all is (except the breakable ornaments).

Bye, Bye Babies...

Today, some lucky bidder is going to walk away with the first precious piece of babydom that's leaving our house—a lullaby crib toy that soothed our oldest to sleep for her first months home, until the day she vaulted over the edge of her crib. Hearing that song brings me back instantly to being a new mom, rocking my new daughter in my arms or patting her back, helping her settle into this strange bed, in this strange house, so far from the home she knew.

In the intervening three years, she's become remarkably easy to get to bed—as long as you know the routine. A spray of "magic monster spray" (AKA vanilla extract and water) and the magic words "Bibbidi Bobbedy" (no boo). Dimmer switch just so on the lights. Silk eye mask over the eyes (long story). An army of buddies arranged precisely around her. Blankets completely flat. And ocean sounds on the CD player.

But I digress. We never got around to bringing this crib toy out for our youngest. And that's probably for the best—she'd be up until all hours throwing a dance party in her crib. 

Still, my husband and I are both feeling very sentimental about losing this precious piece of our past. It's like we're just starting to turn the page that closes the baby chapter in our lives. We know our family is complete, and we know that we are overjoyed at the life that we share with these two amazing. But it's still bittersweet to say goodbye.

The Benefits of Two

Now that I've been the mom of two for nearly three weeks, I'm starting to get the hang of this whole two kid scenario. Here's some of the benefits to doubling the child faction of the family:

1. They can (sometimes) entertain themselves. When we were our daughter's only built-in playmates, one of us had to help storm the castle and save the prince (unless the princess was able to take on a solo mission). But now, her little sister is willing to play with her a bit, though at 18 months, she's a little uncertain what to do in many of the play scenarios. (Thankfully, she's rather quick-witted, so I'm sure she'll get the hang of it in the next few months.) Once in a while, my husband and I can actually sit and read for a few minutes...before we have to referee.

2. They can serve as role models for each other. Unfortunately, at the moment, our youngest daughter is serving more as a role model for the oldest...since our youngest is doing a little "catching up" nutritionwise, she's eating anything that's put in front of her, and lots of it. Our oldest is extremely competitive, and doesn't like seeing someone else showing her up by eating more broccoli.

3. Everything old is new again. Our oldest had outgrown the Fisher Price Little People...until her little sister came into the picture. Now, she's building elaborate scenarios involving animals flying in a plane to a nearby castle, and she was fighting to play with the new FP Farm our youngest received as a welcome gift.

Of course, this does mean double (or triple) the laundry, and double the bedtime struggles. But so far, it's been a blast.

Sorry for the Hiatus

I thought I'd be able to post to Typepad from China, but alas, something went awry. And as you can surmise, we just returned home with our darling second daughter, who is pretty easygoing but doesn't quite have the hang of her new time zone yet.

More adventures will ensue.