Too Soon

When you have two children it is hard not compare milestones. For instance, how much did Xander weight at one year old versus how much Josie weighed at one year. Or how old Xander was when his first tooth popped through compared to when Josie's first tooth made an appearance. But things can make a difference such as the differences in boy tendencies (harder to potty train) versus girl tendencies (loves pink and sparkles). And don't forget how birth order makes a difference, such as the first born being constantly watched over by a helicopter mom versus the second born who readily follows the older sibling up onto the big slide at the park.

Now that Josie is nearly two, there are two milestones that I knew were on the horizon but I kind of wanted to put off. The first milestone is potty training. I'm in no rush because I figure moving in two months will just throw her off and make us start over. Besides, looking at the milestones, Xander didn't start until he was two and took nearly an entire year to become completely potty trained. So why rush?

Unfortunately, Josie did not get the memos. Or maybe she just couldn't read them and instead drew on them and then balled them up to throw them around.

We've had a toddler potty in the bathroom here the entire time we have lived here and a few months ago she started showing interest. There were even a few deposits. Then she lost interest.

I did invest in some Pull-Ups for her and she loves them. "Princess Pull-Ups!" she will loudly insist. And she does like to put them on and change them herself.

I was going to wait until her birthday and get her some training pants and underwear but Chris said "Why wait?" and picked up a pack. She loves them. She is much more willing to sit on the potty when wearing them. Well, there is the raisin incentive that we've again instituted. There isn't a lot progress but it's a start. An early start.

The second milestone is converting Josie's crib into a toddler bed. We had such a good routine for nap time and bed time that I didn't want to mess with it. Also we will be moving back to Ohio in a couple months where she would have to sleep in a Pack'n'Play for about two weeks before her bed returned. So why get her used to a bed just to to put her in a crib?

I put her down for her nap on Monday and within minutes she was giggling and opening her door. What? I called fluke and put her back to bed. Again she got up. She never does it when I am watching but she is quiet as a mouse. There's a reason we call her a spider monkey. Anyway, I considered letting her stay up but she clearly needed a nap (and I clearly needed a break).

So began an hour long process of trying to get her to stay in her crib, sleep in Xander's bed or even sleep in my bed. All to no avail. I finally put the door lock on her door and stuck her in Xander's bed. She'd knock on the door and I'd tell her to go to sleep. Repeat for about 15 minutes. She finally listened and went to sleep.

Repeat this for bedtime, except she had to stay in her crib since Xander was in his bed. Repeat on Tuesday. Repeat for Wednesday nap time. Finally I grabbed the allen wrench and pulled off the front part of the crib. There is supposed to be a cross bar but it's in Ohio, so she'll have to make do.

We had to put her back to bed repeatedly last night. There were also a few fights between the kids involving Josie being in Xander's bed and Xander not returning Sparkles. Finally they both fell asleep and slept blissfully until 5:30 am. Ugh.