StrongStart - Attempt #2

With my Mom being in Ontario for two weeks I've realized I need to be more intentional with making plans for what activities Matthew, Kayla and I are going to do during the day otherwise they get bored of just playing at home.  No more playing each day 'by ear'!

Today, we went to StrongStart again.  Last September I took Matthew and Kayla once, but quickly realized that it would be too difficult for me to attend with two 1.5 year olds as they strongly encourage cleaning up after yourself before moving on to the next activity.  When you have a room full of toys/activity stations, that's really hard for two 1.5 year olds to do - and hard for me to do when they both are at different stations!  So we only went once last year.

Today, we went to the StrongStart program at Langley Meadows as it's now the closest program to our house...a 4 minute drive away.  There's definitely something nice about living in Clayton Heights - you're close to Langley!  The program runs from 9am-12pm, so we arrived nicely at around 8:50am because I know there is a maximum number of participants that they can accept each day and so you don't want to be late.  We were nicely on time and were allowed in.

Matthew and Kayla did great!  They stuck together at the same stations, cleaned up after themselves, and nicely shared with the other kids.  At 10:15am they had to clean-up all the toys and wash their hands, and then a snack was served (provided by the program).  Matthew and Kayla were great at sitting at their table, patiently waiting.  After snack time was circle time, where we sang some songs and read one story.  After that, it was free time outside.  We stayed until 11:30 and then packed up and headed home, much like the other parents there.  I definitely foresee us attending on a weekly basis.  Something different, and something FREE!  I would love to have Matthew and Kayla involved in more community activities...they just all add up with having to enroll two at the same time always.  The more free opportunities we can take advantage of, the better!  

Potty Training - Matthew - Day 1

Day 1 of potty training for Matthew turned into being only a half day.  I wouldn't necessarily say it was as failure...it just wasn't a success.

My plan was to get him to sit on the potty as soon as he woke up, but he didn't want to and I didn't feel like forcing it because I didn't want to start the day with him being forced to sit on the potty.  I changed him into 'big boy underwear' just before breakfast, and he managed to keep them dry all throughout breakfast.  After breakfast Matthew and Kayla had a bath...which I'm sure Matthew must have peed in.  After bath-time he went back into his big boy underwear.  I tried to get as much liquid in him as he would allow, and then I had him sitting on the potty every 10-15 minutes.  He didn't like to sit on it when I told him to, so I started setting the timer on the microwave and he knew that when it beeped he had to try to do pee, which he willingly tried, for the first bit.  After about 10 times he was no longer fascinated with the idea of sitting on the potty "just like Kayla does" and must have felt quite defeated over his inability to produce pee.  Around 10am, he was standing in the living room at the table and all of a sudden I look over and he has his underwear and pants halfway down, and he's mentioning in a confused tone that they are wet.  He had no idea why they were wet.  Oh man, that was my clue that he definitely has no idea what is going on.  After that, I kept him in his underwear until after lunch, at which point he got changed into a diaper again in anticipation of nap time.  And then he stayed in a diaper for the rest of the day, and we haven't tried potty training again.

So, what's my plan of attack right now?  Well, I'm home from work for the next week and a half so I hope to (maybe) keep trying to get a pee in the potty in the mornings, but then switch to diapers when either he or I are losing enthusiasm, whichever comes first.  I'm not going to force him to be ready for this because I don't want him to feel stressed over it, and I definitely don't feel like being stressed over it either.  He'll learn when he's ready...I was just hoping for this sake that he would follow shortly behind Kayla...and for my sake that I would only have one kid in diapers going forward.  Oh well, at least it's cloth diapers he uses and so it's not costing me a ton!  Just a little in water and electricity...which I have to pay for now that we're in a house and not renting :(.  Keep the bills a coming!  Kidding.  They can actually stop whenever...I'm actually a little sick of setting bill payments in my bank account.  I can't even enjoy making deposits because both of our employers do direct deposits!  There's something to be said for a paper cheque...

34 Weeks

Time is really going fast now.  Seems like I'm almost done...but then I realize that so much has to happen between now and October 9th that it's still a ways away.  Maybe I'm in denial?  Still have a name to choose, clothes to wash, Matthew to potty train (fingers crossed!!).

This pregnancy has really begun to be a fair bit different than with Matthew and Kayla's.  Baby Struik is one strong baby.  The other night I was getting really frustrated because Baby Struik kept stretching out in me, and holding the stretch.  It was getting so sore I felt like punching that little baby.  (Don't worry, I didn't).  With Matthew and Kayla's pregnancy I never experienced any of the massive baby moves I guess because they were squishing each other and just didn't have the space.

I've gained 38 pounds so far which freaks me out.  My goal was to have my weight gain less than the number of weeks pregnant I was...which I obviously failed to do.  People are shocked when I tell them, so I don't really know where all the weight is.  I've definitely noticed my butt/thighs are larger...but other than that, I don't really feel like I notice the weight anywhere else.

I've really started noticing my skin pulling at my sides.  Baby Struik is now growing faster than my skin can prepare for, and so I'm sure stretch marks are in my near future.  I've avoided them thus far, but with Matthew and Kayla I didn't start getting them until a few weeks before they were born so this is right on track with that too.

Matthew continues to LOVE Baby Struik.  He is always hugging my belly or putting his hand on it and looking at me with such a hopeful expression, hoping that Baby Struik isn't "aseep" (asleep) and will kick him.  I would say it happens a few times every day.  He has also become obsessed with where Baby Struik will sit in our car.  He doesn't like it if I put things on the empty seat that will be the baby's because then Baby Struik will have no where to sit.  Really cute.

Kayla and I will have discussions on what Baby Struik will be like - what baby will eat, what baby will play with, where baby will sleep, etc.  She doesn't have the same emotional connection to it that Matthew does though.

Anyways, time for bed!  And Laura - here are some pictures for you!!!

"In My Space"

You know Kayla is definitely my daughter when you hear her tell Jon (on numerous occasions) as he goes to hug her that he's "in her space".  She definitely listens to what we say!

32.5 Weeks

Such a random time in pregnancy to do an entry, but I feel if I don't record a couple of these things I'm going to forget to do it...and Matthew and Kayla are still sleeping (yes, still sleeping at 8:26am!) so I was taking advantage of that and doing my 'internet-stuff' in bed.

Baby Struik has started to have the hiccups this week, right on schedule.  I know s/he is still head down because I can feel his/her head bouncing in my pelvis.  S/he is lying in the exact same position that Kayla was (to my knowledge)...head down, curling around my right side, feet up.  When I have a braxton hicks contraction (which are fairly frequent), you can see that there is no baby on the left side of my tummy.  At least when it's not contracted it looks round-ish (except for my belly button area, that area is lower than the rest of my tummy for who knows why).

Matthew and Kayla both felt Baby Struik kick yesterday afternoon, and understood what they were feeling.  They love to put their hands on my tummy if I tell them that Baby Struik is kicking...and this time it all made sense to them.  Matthew's face lit up and he had the biggest smile on...so cute.

I've been asked if carrying a singleton is different than carrying twins...and up until now, it hasn't been.  However, at this point in my pregnancy with Matthew and Kayla the movement changed and became more 'rolls' than 'kicks'.  With Baby Struik, s/he just goes crazy sometimes.  Sometimes it's almost hurting me because s/he is kicking/stretching/punching/rolling around all at once.  It's seriously nuts.  Jon laughs at me because I'm always telling him to watch my tummy, and it looks wild.  Last night Jon asked me how I could even sleep with all that movement going on.  It will be interesting to see if the movement continues like this, or at what point s/he will run out of room.

7.5 weeks left.  Crazy.  So much has to happen in the next 7.5 weeks...but I'm sure it's just going to continue to fly by.  Jon and I better agree on a name soon...he's completely axed down my favourite name, saying "over my dead body".  But it's perfect!!!!  Sigh.

Mega Bloks

Matthew and Kayla absolutely LOVE Mega Bloks right now - that's all they play with, day in and day out!  It's great!  All I have to do is ask them to build me a tower and they are happy for 30 minutes.

The Struggle with Nap Time

Oh my gosh, Matthew is so frustrating...and I pick on Matthew because he is the instigator to the nightmare which I call nap time.

When Matthew and Kayla are at my parents' house while I work, they go upstairs for a nap and are asleep instantly.  No lies.  I've witnessed it myself.  They go to their separate rooms, are lifted into their play pens, lay down, and are instantly asleep.

When they have to nap at home, well, that's a completely different story.

They eagerly go upstairs, so that's the same...but they go to the same room, and climb into their beds, which are not cages.  Within seconds of me leaving the room they are jumping from one bed to the next, doing somersaults over the end rails, and playing up a storm.  So frustrating.  So frustrating that I want to separate them into separate rooms permanently, but I know that once they are separated, the chance of them ever sharing a room again is practically zero.

As I just typed that Matthew, who was jumping and talking up a storm while Kayla slept on her bed, woke Kayla up.  Sigh.  So I've taken Kayla out of her room and 'rewarded' her for sleeping by bringing her to my room with me (where I was monitoring their naptime, not napping myself!), and left a crying Matthew in his room because he hasn't slept yet so he can't come out.  And I've brought him back to his room over 100 times.  Sigh.  And now I've closed the door to his room so he can't get out.  Is that bad?  I'm at a loss for what to do with this child.  He doesn't listen, unless he wants to, and you can threaten/punish him all you want and he could care less.  At least with Kayla, if you threaten or punish her her feelings are hurt and she corrects her ways.  Matthew doesn't care.  And I know he's not ready to give up his nap yet because on the days that he doesn't nap, he falls asleep during dinner.

We've got two months (the Lord willing) to figure out this nap time issue...