Sunday, November 29, 2009

My child is a nudist.

Amor Chiquito has been able to take all her clothes off for almost a year now. She used to do that a lot when we first started putting her in her crib at 13 months. After a while, she stopped doing it.

Once Amor Chiquito began using the potty consistently, her nudist tendencies returned! She just loves being naked. I don’t know how else to put it! She is often only wearing a shirt, or socks, or simply nothing. The funny thing is that when we tell her we are going to put a shirt on, she complains about the shirt being cold! Kids…!

Personally, her being naked does not bother me, as long as it is just us, obviously. I do want her dressed if we are at someone else’s home or if we have guests, of course.

It is my job to teach her that some behaviors are acceptable in certain settings but not others. From what I have read, this is a controversial topic. Some parents think it is a non-issue; others feel strongly that a child being naked at home is a bad thing. To be honest, I am torn on what I should be telling her about this.

I am curious. How do you feel about this? If you have kids, do they do this? Is it common? Let’s have a conversation, so to speak, about a controversial topic. I am confident that we, as grown-ups, can do this respectfully. If someone gets a little crazy, there is always the delete button!

Something else I have noticed is that Amor Chiquito does a great job going to the potty if she is naked from the waist down or if she is wearing only underwear. If she is wearing pants, she has accidents almost all the time. Any experiences with this? Is there an explanation for it? It is only a matter of time, is my guess.

My goal is to help her get better about this, but, in the meantime, I started buying dresses! They proved particularly useful when we spent the weekend with the in-laws. Amor Chiquito was dressed and did not have accidents.

Mischief and cuteness...!

Amor Chiquito does many silly things and gets into interesting mischief often. So much that I would like to remember, many memories I would like to keep. But I quickly forget, so I will write about it so that in the future we can look back and laugh.

Ink on microfiber, anyone?! While I went to the bathroom this morning, she wrote on two of our dining chairs. This I could do without, really. But the next few stories are pretty funny, in my biased opinion.

Amor Chiquito stole one of my Activia yogurts. She was doing a great job eating at first. At one point, I got busy on the computer and, suddenly, I realized it was too quiet. That is always a sign that serious mischief is taking place! Her arms were covered in yogurt, from her shoulders to her fingertips!

Amor Chiquito has recently decided that she loves cats, stuffed ones and real ones. She named her stuffed cat Anna. She brings the cat everywhere.

Amor Chiquito loves going to see her uncle’s cat. She mentions him every day. “Tat, meow, Bobby.” She pets him and any stupid thing the cat does makes her smile.

We just came home from visiting my mother at the hospital. Amor Chiquito said “oh no, tat, Bobby.” Who wants to go home when there is a cat to see and pet?

The irony in this is that I could care less about cats. Heck, I will be honest; I hate them! They almost have the ability to kill me! I have ended up in the ER thanks to them. I remember one time we went to see the in-laws. We ended up running to a walk-in clinic because I could not breathe and the swelling on my mouth was extending, getting closer and closer to my throat. I ended up getting a Benadryl shot and a Pregnazone script. Basically, if I want to spend a long night with asthma, I need only spend 30 minutes at a place where there is a cat.

But, back to stories on the little one… She is obsessed with Elmo and Barney, Barney more so at the moment. She grabs our hands, starts to sing the “I love you” song in her own little way, and starts to dance with us. She much prefers that the three of us dance together. The song gets old fast, but I love the moments when the three of us spend time and laugh together. It’s the little things in life, as they say.

Amor Chiquito knows the alphabet now. She likes to look at signs and name the letters she sees.

Amor Chiquito recently learned the difference between shoes and boots. The other day she insisted that all three of us wear boots! She has been wearing her new boots every day since then.

Like every other parent of a two-year-old, we go through the “put your coat on” fight every day. The minute we put our coats on, she starts saying “hot, hot.” The ironic thing is that she loves her hat and mittens. Silly kid!

More later… A child is looking for some before-bed mommy milk...

Potty Training Update

We realized that we got used to her going to the potty. We were not providing nearly as much positive reinforcement as we provided at the beginning. Positive reinforcement is back, big time!

Also, with all the running around I have been doing lately, I have not spent a lot of quality time with her. Working on that.

So far so good.

Thanks Mol for your comment/suggestion.

Also, yay for emails from Love & Logic with tips (on potty training this week, what a coincidence) that my husband forwards!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Review: BabyBjorn Little Potty

I got this potty chair for car trips and for the times when we spend the night away from home.

For a picture and reviews, check out this link:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2309032

Pros:
small, portable

easy to clean

feels sturdy, does not feel like it will break easily

only $13, rather than $28 like the other two potties

Cons

The splashguard is useless, despite the fact there is no penus involved! I guess this means I would not recommend it for boys? I guess it depends on how well your little one knows how to point, as my mommy puts it!

It is extremely low and does not have back support, so it doesn't look comfortable. Then again, if you only plan on using it two or three days a month when you go to grandma's, this is not a big issue.

Overall, I am happy with it. I have had an intimate relationship with baby poop for over 15 months thanks to cloth diapers and being visually impaired, so a few drops of pee do not scare me! :)

Suddenly, two steps backwards...

Amor Chiquito peed on the rug just because... Weird... Not sure how to deal with that.

Do I remind her to go on the potty? Do I not make a big deal out of it and hope for the best?

Do I sing the ut-oh song? What consequence would I deliver? Something about that approach does not feel right with potty training... Can't put my finger on it...

Another alternative is to completely avoid the potty subject and pretend like going to the bathroom is exciting, just huge. Silly, I know! But positive reinforcement does work well for us.

Not a big deal... I am not going to stress out over an accident. Mostly just thinking outloud, I guess. Comments/suggestions are welcomed, of course.

Early Intervention Update

Wow, I neglected my blog again… I just realized I had not posted in over three weeks. I hope to make up for it in the next week!

Here is the early intervention evaluation update.

The re-evaluation took place yesterday. Three people came out: the woman who comes every week, a speech pathologist, and an occupational therapist.

Amor Chiquito did very well. She was not extremely shy at the beginning, as she typically is. I am guessing this might have been because she knows one of the three people well.

We are continuing services because of a delay in receptive and expressive language. Amor Chiquito has many words and says two-word phrases. However, at this point, she should be saying three or four-word phrases. She is able to answer some questions, like “what is that?” But she is not able to answer questions like “who is that for?”

Another thing we will be working on is motor planning. Basically, Amor Chiquito knows what she wants to say, but the words either do not make it out of her mouth or, if they do, they are hard to understand. Also, she has a hard time repeating unfamiliar sounds.

We will be getting a hearing test to find out if there is a hearing issue. Hearing loss could affect language development.

Amor Chiquito has a strong personality. In other words, she is one stubborn kid! So, if she does not feel like doing something because she wants to do something else, she just won’t! For example, she was asked to hug her stuffed animal. We know she understands “hug” and “kiss.” But she did not feel like it, so it did not happen! She lost some points, so to speak, due to her stubbornness! To be honest, I cannot throw stones!

Amor Chiquito did well in the other areas. Here is the quick version:
Receptive and expressive language: 21 months
Cognitive: 23 months
Social and gross motor: 26 months
Fine motor: 31 months
Self care (average of toileting, bathing and feeding): 34 months

We will be seeing the woman we have been seeing next week. I will get some tips from her on how to help Amor Chiquito with cognition. The speech pathologist will give us yet more tips on how we can help Amor Chiquito.

Apparently, early intervention shares our info with our town’s school system and a spot at preschool is held for Amor Chiquito in case she still needs services after she turns three.

I must go on a rant about how difficult it is for a child to qualify for services, but I will do that at another time. My mother just had surgery and I want to make her a chicken soup before Amor Chiquito wakes up.