Day 48

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 11 weeks

Today was one of those days were you recover after vacation. We had to get back to our normal a bit. Liem had to do a detox from all the attention and leeway, and get back to the day-to-day real life rules and routine. It was fun.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Do not just limit, monitor all outdoor activity during potty training.
Liem, once again, dropped his drawers and pooped outside. I had just checked on him, so this was an on-the-sly deal. This time, though, he didn't tell me. Which leads to lesson #2.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Explain what potty training is to Liem.
I had told Liem not to poop outside since, as previously mentioned, he needs specific, frequent reminders. He obviously ignored this instruction. So when I told him he was in trouble he immediately said, "I get on the potty train!!" Well, I laughed and the "in trouble" part was over. He's obviously heard me talking about potty training, and came up with that. We cleared that up, but I hated to since it was so cute.

Mommy's Lesson 3: Kisses + rambunctious boy = disaster.
We kept Liem up late watching the debate and the Tigers game at my brother & sister-in-law's place. So by 9:00, his 2nd wind was hitting. He asked for a kiss, I leaned in and I got a massive head-butt to the nose. Owwww! My right eye is still blurry.

Liem's Lesson 1: Priscilla is getting a little better/cooler every day.
Prissy just giggles and coo's when Liem talks to her. So he, in turn, talks to her more. Today, he picked a flower and brought it in. He does this for me regularly, and it warms my heart. But today when I asked, "Did you pick a flower for Mommy?" he replied, "This is for Priss. She's the baby sister." Then, when he saw she was asleep, he laid it next to her and went back out to play. It was way better than a flower for mommy.

Liem's Lesson 2: Mommy is Daddy's baby.
The word "baby" is used a lot in our house. We talk about "the baby." My husband and I call each other "Baby." I call Liem "Baby." So Liem has begun to use it, too. He calls Prissy "baby" all the time. But now he calls me "Baby." This morning it was, "I need crackers, Baby." Then, "I want some juice, please, Baby." Then, "I need to go pee pee, Baby." And when he thinks he's going to get in trouble, "Baby, I need to obey" or "I need to obey Baby." You try keeping a straight face through that one. We've tried to explain that mommy is only daddy's baby. But he's not getting it yet. We'll have to keep working on it.

Finally, and off-topic for my usual direction: I just want to say "thank you" to people who stop to help the mother of two small children. I know that an offer of help cam be taken wrong these days, and so it takes courage to even offer. But I really appreciate the holding of doors, helping with groceries and kind smiles. You're an encouragement to me.

Priss and the flower Liem picked for her:

A Family Day

Liem: 30 Months
Priscilla: 10 Weeks

A day with family can be just what the doctor ordered, or it can be disastrous. Thankfully, it was just what we needed today. We got to sleep in a bit, be with my fabulous in-laws, and enjoy a wonderful dinner.

Liem's lesson 1: Anatomy
Liem is learning the differences between boys and girls. He displayed his knowledge this morning when he told my husband and I, "Daddy has pecks, Liem has pecks, and Mommy has boobies."

Liem's Lesson 2: The care and feeding of babies.
I am a nursing mother, and this is something my bright boy can't miss. Shortly after Priscilla was born, he made an observation, "Priscilla's eating Mommy's milkshakes." I was impressed with his very astute observation for a two year old. But I got a little worried recently when he came to me while I was nursing and said, "I want milkshakes, too." I needed some clarification so asked, "You want Mommy's milkshakes?" I was thankful when he said, "No! I want McDonald's milkshakes."

Liem's Lesson 3: You just have to ask the right person.
Liem has recently begun to ask me for something if he didn't get the answer he wanted and vice-versa. We're teaching him this isn't okay. But today, it served him well.
He loves to ride the riding mower. And he'll ride for as long as his pilot will take him. No one said he wasn't allowed, just that they were done. So to continue riding when one said, "I'm done," he just went from Daddy to Grandpa to Uncle for quite some time. The only way we were able to get him to be done was to tell him the "mow mow" was tired and needed to sleep.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Boys mark their territory.
Liem has a few bug bites from playing outside, and he has a very hard time not scratching them. So we put fun bandaids on to help. I am beginning to think we need to reconsider the types of bandaids we're using, though. He seems to think of them more as stickers than bandaids. He puts them on his things and says, that's Liem's. This was taken one step further when my sister-in-law found Donald Duck on her fridge after we left today.

Daddy's Lesson: Some things just aren't funny.
Our day had two oddities. 1) I felt sick to my stomach all day for no apparent reason. 2) Prissy had a huge crying fit, and became nearly inconsolable---very unusual for her. My husband tried to help me explain these things. 1) You're pregnant again. 2) She's just teething. Thankfully, the answer to both of these is "No!" But he almost found himself sleeping on the couch.

Liem with Grandpa on the mow-mow:

Day 47

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 10 weeks

This week has been fabulous and crazy. When there is company, you learn how you're children would really behave if you had never provided any training.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Get Liem some more socialization time.
Good friends of ours are in town, and staying with my parents. This means all of Liem's toys are being shared and the attention is split between he and his "cousin." Liem has overall done well, but still has a lot of learning to do. His lessons are the reasons for my lesson.

Liem's Lesson 1: Don't hit.
Liem doesn't play the same as everyone else. He collects things, lines them up and organizes them, groups things; but just because he put it down doesn't mean he's done. It just means he's gone to get something else and will "be right back," as he says. But his slightly younger playing companion doesn't understand this playing style. So when Liem gets off his riding toy and gets his play wrench to "fix" it, K (his cousin) takes off on the toy. Liem's response is to bop K on the top of the head. I don't know where he got this, because that is not a behavior modeled in our house. But this has been a reoccurring incidence this week. Mommy is helping Liem learn not to hit.

Liem's Lesson 2: Share.
As I said, Liem loves to group and organize things. He'll line them up according to size and shape. But again, this is not K's style. So if Liem has put it down, K views it as fair game. Liem doesn't see it this way; and being a little bigger, he tends to win. Liem also likes to see toys that are new to him. And his "collecting" style of playing really lends itself more toward hoarding. So all of K's toys tend to end up in front of Liem. Mommy will win the battle on this one. Sharing is a must.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Taking professional pictures of Liem just isn't going to be fun.
I am very blessed to have some wonderful photographers and editors in my family. This means that I frequently have beautiful pictures of my children at no cost, except the printing. Liem does not enjoy this as much as I do. He doesn't mind getting dressed up; he likes looking "handsome." In fact he's quite proud of the way he looks. But once it comes to the actual picture taking, he has no intention of cooperating. In order to get a good picture, I bribe him. This is something I do under no other circumstances. But even with bribes, and a very patient photographer (my mom, in today's case) Liem is not going to make it easy---or even difficult; he's going to make it next to impossible. And if I put Priscilla in the picture next to him, he's going to carry it all the way to impossible. After hours (quite literally) of trying, taking breaks, and trying again, I believe we got one good picture. I can't wait until he really starts to like his sister. It will bring the process just back down to difficult.

Mommy's Lesson 3: There are no bed times when Grandma is in town.
Also in town this week are my husband's parents. They are wonderful in-laws. I am very blessed that way. But juggling visiting with two sets of guests has been difficult; Liem was very distraught that he didn't get to see Grandma and Grandpa today. We even considered taking him over late tonight. We have decided that for the remainder of their time here, we're just going to have to flex the routine and get Liem some good Grandma & Grandpa time. And he's falling asleep very quickly once he does go to bed because he's staying up so much---that's a great perk!

Liem's Lesson 3: No diaper, no wetness protection.
Guests make potty training difficult. But while we are home, it's on. He is still having trouble remembering to go when he's playing, even with me reminding him to use the potty every 20-30 minutes. So he's been surprised and upset a few times this week when his clothes have ended up quite wet. He's making great progress, though. I am sooo thankful we seem to be getting this down!!

The money shot of my beautiful children:

Day 44

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 10 weeks

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Dramatic? Yes. Accurate? Most definitely---as any mother of young children will tell you.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Remember the foods that upset the baby's stomach, and don't eat them.
Prissy screamed for over an hour, which is very unusual for her. And she cried on and off all day. I can only conclude that I ate something that upset her stomach. I'm going to have journal my eating habits so I don't repeat this mistake.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Remember to put training pants on the potty training two year old before you get in the car.
Liem is just wearing lose shorts and pants so he can go use the potty quickly and easily. But it doesn't need to be that easy in the car. He was standing in the car and I heard, "Uh oh! There's poop. There's a big poop and a little poop." He had gone poo, and it had fallen right out the bottom of those loose fitting shorts.

Mommy's Lesson 3: Be careful about pet names.
Liem has been experimenting with the English language. His latest venture into speech is his use of pet names. Such as calling my good friend "Honey" repeatedly yesterday. She and I both loved it. But I won't be calling my husband "Hot Stuff" in front of Liem any more.

Mommy's Lesson 4: Every day has a silver lining.
My nerves have been on end all day, but Liem has made each and every minute of hard work worth it. Completely unsolicited (I was actually in the middle of a conversation with someone) Liem came to me and said, "I love you so much, Mommy. So much" and accompanied his declaration with a hug and kiss. He came to me later and said, "I need a kiss, Mommy" and held my face with both hands and kissed me repeatedly. Then tonight, he came to me and said, "Good night, My Love. I love you. I have to go to bed."
And finally, during one of Priscilla's crying spells today, he came to her and said, "It's okay, Sissy. It will be okay" and gave her a hug. He has melted my heart all day today. What a blessing he's been to me.

My sweet boy comforting his sissy today:

Girls' Weekend

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 9 weeks

The final day of our girls' weekend was great. We took some baby pictures, had coffee, did lunch, talked and did a little shopping. But finishing conversations, eating my food hot, and going to the bathroom alone was getting too weird.

Liem pretended not to care that I got home, but betrayed himself by being cuddly and clingy. It was nice :) He even played with his little sister---that was the major give-away. We had a good evening and it was a great cap-off to my trip.

The best part of my night was putting Liem to bed. We sang together and prayed. Then I got to eavesdrop on his time with Daddy through the baby monitor. He pulled out some pennies he had and told daddy that they were for going to get coffee together, which is his favorite thing to do with Daddy. I am pretty sure that is the sweetest thing EVER. I just love my little man; I really missed him.

Liem trying to give Prissy her pacci:

Day 42

Liem: 30 Months
Priscilla: 9 weeks

Today I left for a girls trip with my mom and little girl. We went to visit my aunt and cousin, who live 4 hours away. A break is fantabulous! But it teaches you some things, too.

Mommy's Lesson 1: There's no such thing as going away.
I left at 6 o'clock this morning for one night away. And as I left, all I could think was, "I won't get a hug or kiss from my Liem today." And all day, my thoughts were consumed with how he was doing. The time away is refreshing and good for me; but I miss my little man. I have no antic-filled stories and did not have to clean my floor of pee or poo because he wasn't with me.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Relax and enjoy the time off.
Today I sat and read a magazine. I held my little girl and talked and enjoyed her coo's. I finished a conversation. I put on my makeup start to finish in one sitting. All in all, I had a fantastic day. I am thankful for my time off. And tomorrow will be good, too. But I can't wait to hear about all the things my Liem did while I was away.

My mom with Prissy today:

Alone with Blessings

Liem: 30 months
Priscilla: 9 weeks

This morning, the first words out of Liem's mouth were, "Don't pee on Mommy's couch." I was immediately skeptical for the rest of the day, as is my nature. This could be fantastic! Maybe he's getting it! Or maybe not. Or maybe he's got his own variation.

Mommy's Lesson 1: Limit the outdoor time while potty training.
Liem has figured out that he doesn't really get in trouble for peeing outside. And when he goes out, Mommy doesn't say, "Don't pee outside." As I've stated before, I have to be very specific with him. Today he took it to a whole new level. While playing outside, he dropped his shorts and pooped. He came inside to give a report, "Mommy there's poop outside." He like to tell me about the dog "leftovers" so I didn't think anything of it. I just reminded him, "Don't touch it." Then he replied, "I pooped outside. That's Liem's poop." Upon inspection of his behind, I found the report to be true. Gross! I cleaned him up, explained that poopoo is only for the potty and sent him back out. He soon returns distraught. His problem? The dog ate his poop. Liem spent the rest of the day inside; the dog spent the rest of the day outside.

Mommy's Lesson 2: Being a mommy is the highest paid job in the world.
I am a strong believer in verbal affirmation---it's one of my love languages. So it is a big part of my parenting style. Because of this, my children hear that I love them (and my husband, too) several times a day. Today, for the first time, Liem responded, "I love you, Mommy." When he's talking to others, I coach him to respond to their "I love you's." But because that's my job, and I'm not the kind to have him tell me he loves me, I don't get the same responses. Today, though, he gave it all on his own. I just got paid---big time. I'm richest woman in the world. Donald Trump has nothing on me.

Liem's Lesson: Being big brother is kinda' cool.
Today Liem was much more interested in Priscilla. He even said, "That's my little sister. I'm the big brother." Every day is a new blessing.

In Priscilla news, her best times are her night time times. From 9 to 10:30 p.m. she is talkative and smiley. But I think that's because she has her daddy. She is definitely a daddy's girl. Below is a picture of them "talking." I just love it!!