We spent the weekend with Nana.

Saturday afternoon, we spent some time with my father and then drove to the in-laws’. Ari did very well on the car ride. She slept most of the ride.

Ari has been doing very well in the potty training department, but I opted to leave the potty chair at home. No good reason, simply because I did not want to bring yet one more thing. Bad idea! When we were at my dad’s, she asked to use the potty. When Amor Chiquito realized there was no potty, she was unsure about what to do. She was very intimidated by the toilet. Saturday, Amor Chiquito opted to wear diapers, but, by Sunday morning, she was ok with using the toilet at Nana’s, as long as someone held her, obviously.

We had five bags for a 24-28 hour trip!
Small diaper bag in case we went out somewhere for a few hours
Large diaper bag full of cloth diapers
Lunch box full of snacks for Amor Chiquito
Tiny backpack with clothes for Geeky Entrepreneur and I
Backpack with my laptop

See why I did not want to bring yet one more thing?! But I will next time. I am thinking of buying a portable potty.

Back to the trip, everything went well. Ari had tons of fun with Nana. We co slept Saturday night and Amor Chiquito did so, so well. She slept for over six hours before she woke up looking for mommy milk. Once Amor Chiquito realized Nana was awake, there was no way to get her to go back to bed. So off with Nana she went. And, we got to sleep in, for real! We stayed in bed until 10am. Wow! It has been a very, very long time! We decided we ought to go see Nana more often!

Everyone kept complementing Amor Chiquito because she says please and thank you most of the time. Some people were surprised at how well she is doing in the potty training department.

Every child has her/his strengths and weaknesses, if you will, so do not get discouraged if yours is older than mine and is not potty trained. Yours probably has been saying phrases for ever and Amor Chiquito just started saying a few, for example.

On a different topic, Amor Chiquito’s great-grandmother told me how the way to get her used to the toddler bed is to hit her and she will do great after that. I politely listened and ignored every word she said. Perhaps, I should/could have shared my opinion on this and how we successfully discipline our child. But I figured what was the point? She is 80; she will not be disciplining kids. Actually, come to think of it, I am wrong because she does babysit from time to time and she loves to give people advice and I am sure some people listen/take her advice. What is done is done, but I do think I will respond differently should the topic come up again. Part of me feels that I should not say anything. I hate confrontation, particularly when it is someone who is very set in her ways and who has parented many children, for much, much longer than I have. But, part of me feels that I should because, you know what, I am a mother and I do have valuable thoughts/opinions. Most importantly, I parent in a way that is respectful, considerate, and generates results.

Off my soapbox now…!

Back to the trip, Sunday night, we drove home and, again, Amor Chiquito slept most of the ride. We got to celebrate Nana’s birthday and everyone was happy. The only bad thing is that what little progress I had made in the weight loss department was gone, just gone! Back to eating well and getting on the elliptical every day!

We are so happy that we can travel again, even if it is only a weekend at a time.