BellaBlog

Archive for January, 2011

Potty Training for Bedtime

A few months ago, we started getting up with Bella in the middle of the night to get her out of the diapers/pullups.  Ever since she moved to the 3 yr old class at school, she had been pull up free for naps and at home, with only about 3 accidents in 7 months (not bad at all Bella).   At first, we would make sure she used the potty right before bedtime, then make her wear panties, then get up with her at 1am and 5:30am to take her again.  A few times we didn’t get up exactly when the alarm went off and she would surprise us by having an accident.  We went thru a few accidents before we got on a good schedule of swapping who got up and when and making sure we did it on time.  Then we transitioned to making sure she didn’t drink very much before bedtime, then only getting her up once during the night.  That seemed to work out well also.  Then we noticed she didn’t go to potty immediately after waking up so we figured if we just took her to potty before we went to bed (sometimes 10, sometimes 12), that was enough.  That too worked well.  She even came down with the flu and even thru all that, she didn’t have a accident. 

After the 1st of the year, we have switched to making sure she doesn’t drink a ton right before bedtime, making sure she goes to potty (and actually does something) as the last thing before we tuck her in for the night.  Now we’ve committed to not getting up with her at all.  It’s the 14th and so far no accidents, knock on wood:).  You’re a big girl Bella-now quit cutting your lovely hair or Mommy will cry her eyes out…

Uncle John

Bella and I were reading a story in the Highlights magazine she got in the mail the other day.  This was only her 2nd issue but I think she was more excited about this one than she was the first one.  I guess she knew what it was all about by now and ready to roll with hit.  Anyway, the story we read was a cute one about 2 little monkeys making different things for their Grandpa who was having a birthday.  The last page showed their final gift, a big double hug showing how much they loved him.  When we got to that ending, Bella said ‘Ahhh, I love my Uncle John’.  I asked about loving her Grandpa and she said, ‘Yeh, I love my Grandpa Lee too’.  When I recounted this story to Paul, he said she had talked with her Uncle that morning so his name was fresh in her mind.  Still sweet though…

Time Out

So I was just picking up my computer to note a few things about Bella’s progress and some sweet stories. By the time my computer booted up, Bella came running to me with an odd smile on her face and her kid scissors in her hand. My first thought was ‘you know what’ but instead of jumping to conclusions, I asked her what was going on. She smirkly replied, ’nuffin’. To which I continued asking what did you do. Finally, I caught a glimpse of some loose hair hanging on her shoulders. My heart stopped beating and I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds. I couldn’t tell if it was anger or hurt (not sure why though). I asked Paul to handle the punishment on this one because I was not able to think clearly but she needed a ‘talkin to’ now versus waiting til I calmed down. He handled it beautifully. Her excuse was wanting her hair out of her eyes. After he talked with her a bit more, he got a ponytail holder and pulled her hair back. When she walked back into the room to see me, I realized she had cut off a lot more than I initially found. She wouldn’t say where she had committed this atrocity but following the trail of red hair, found she at least did it in the bathroom in front of the mirror. However, my heart stopped again when Paul pointed out the large pile of beautiful red locks on the top of the trash. At this point, all we can do is talk in a low tone to her reminding her of how bad this was. Neither one of us know exactly how to handle it but you can tell each of us are so astonished by this act that we are clueless as to whether or not we spank her, send her to her room or just let it lie hoping it won’t happen again. ‘But she’s only 3′ keeps running thru my head in wonderment…