Potty Update

A few people have asked me how the potty training (or EC [elimination communication]) is going with Gracie. So here's a little report on that.
Let me first say, Gracie is a very contented child.  The biggest thing with EC is the Communication part.  Mommy is supposed to communicate with baby the potty cues, then baby is supposed to communicate with mommy (somehow) when she needs to eliminate. 
I'll boldly say I've done my part.  Gracie has definitely learned that pssst psst means "go pee now" (unfortunately we failed with the poop cue, so psst means both)  Gracie is really good at actually pushing her  little muscles and making herself go when I put her on the potty and tell her to go, even if it's just a tiny little teaspoon she's able to eliminate.  So in that sense, we're doing great and I'm really proud of her.
However, on Gracie's end, where most babies have some sort of cue as to when they need to poop (the pees are less obvious for most kids) I have found nothing with Gracie.  She doesn't grunt, fart, smile, cry, nothing.  She'll just be playing one second and pooping the next.  I try to catch her poops immediately and put her on the potty (after it's too late) and tell her where she should do that, but she just laughs at me, and sometimes she'll give me a little pity pee.  Of course there are some days where I do have motherly intuition and I'm able to catch her poops in the potty.  Those are really good days. 
And of course some days are better than others.  It all depends on how much effort I put into helping her.  For example, today, our washing machine is broken, so I'm trying not to dirty any diapers since I don't know when it will be fixed and it's almost 2:00, and she's only had one dirty diaper (pooped while I was eating breakfast, the little stinker).  Otherwise all of her elimination has been in the potty. 

 

 She's a good girl.

Pretty Baby

This is me being a braggy mom.
Isn't my baby pretty?

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

This post is a book review.  If you're anything like me, you'll see that's the case and click on to the next blog without even skimming.  That's fine.  But I just have one thing to say before you click away.  I wouldn't be writing a book review unless I thought the book was really interesting and had some affect on my life view.  With that being said, I will proceed.

 Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua tells her personal story about how Chinese parenting is better than Western parenting.  So, if you've ever wondered why Asian kids are always the ones who excel the most at music, math, science, and pretty much everything that they do, it's not because of any special Asian gift, it's because their parents force them to be nothing short of better than awesome.  The parents are extremely critical, high strung, slave drivers.  But what is interrupted as cruel in Western society is showing love in Chinese.  Chinese parents push their children so hard because they know that their child can be great and it's not loving to let them be mediocre.
I'm a fan of discipline.  And I want my daughter to feel good about herself, and while I know there is no way that I could not be a "Chinese" mother, I am definitely more determined to do whatever I can to help my little girl, and future children, be successful.
I had a great mother, and I know that she tried her best, but she either trusted me too much to make my own decisions or was always too busy and tired that she didn't fight me when I wanted to quit.  She didn't push me to do anything.  So while I "won" as a child and got out of ballet lessons, or practicing the piano or play any sports, or do anything other than play with my friends and watch TV, I ultimately lost big time as I am now a talentless adult with little achievements to speak of from my youth.  I don't want that to happen to Gracie. Having her hate me is a small price to pay for her to learn to be a hard worker and excel. 

If you want to read a synopsis of the book and get a better idea of what I'm talking about, click here

I really enjoyed the book, it was a quick fun read even if you're not a parent.  Often times I caught myself laughing out loud. 

I broke

I didn't grow up with video games.
I hardly even had friends that had video games.
I stink at playing video games.
I hate video games.


I admit that I am one of those people who believed that video games are evil, plain and simple.  They are mind sucking, time wasting, loser making toys that are not necessary for anything.

Then I met Nintendo Wii.
And it was L O V E

Here's why I love the Wii
You actually move around while playing Wii games.  My first exposure to Wii was Wii Bowling, and I won, and I loved it.  Then we played all sorts of Wii Sports and I worked up a major sweat, and I loved it.
Also, all the Wii games I ever played were family friendly, so it was more like sitting down and playing a board game.
Of course I learned that Wii does have certain games that I hate, which I will not name because the list would be too long, but let's just say, if it's not family friendly and or not making you move around, then I have very strong negative feelings for it.

So (more story telling before I get to the point) during Christmas break while Skylar and I were visiting Utah, we spent much of the time playing the Wii because we did not have a vehicle and no one was very keen on either chauffeuring us around or letting us borrow their car, and there wasn't much else to do as our families left for work or school or whatever else they did during their normal lives.
And we had fun, and I truly realized that maybe some video games are not so bad. And maybe it might be nice to play a Wii game instead of Rumikub, Scrabble or Monopoly (because those are basically the only games we have). 
We got some money for Christmas.
But I'm still too cheap to cave in.
So the deal maker was this:
Skylar gets points on Lexis Nexis (a law search engine).  Every day that he does research he gets 15 points, plus more bonus points for other various and random reasons.  He can buy things with his points through Lexis Nexis.  So, we saved up enough points to buy an Amazon gift card to pay for our Wii (we did have to supplement a little with our Christmas money, thanks Grandma and Grandpa).

So, it came in the mail today.  And we've bowled, and played tennis, and I lost everything, and I laughed.


The end.

Running Report

I'm training for a half marathon which will be on May 7th. 
I'm ashamed to say that I've known about it for 3 months now and I am still behind on my training schedule.

I have some excuses
1. It's cold.
2. I have a baby to care for and a husband in law school.
3. It's cold.

Skylar came home early yesterday so I could go to the gym, I was so excited I ran out of the house and forgot to tape my leg, so I was only able to run 1 mile then had to do the rest of my time on the elliptical.
Boo.

Skylar came home early again today so I could try again, I did remember to tape my leg this time, but my car was so covered in ice and it took me so long just to leave my driveway that I lost about 10 minutes of my precious running time, then I had to wait another 5 minutes to get on a treadmill at the gym.  (lame!)
So there's good news and bad news about tonight's run. 
Good news, I was able to run!
Bad news, I didn't run my goal of 4 miles.
Good news, I did run 3.8 miles at my fastest time yet.

Mind you, my fastest run is rather pathetic to one who truly may call themselves a runner.  My average speed was 9:30 m/m.  I usually run at about a 10:40 m/m.
So, being short legged, overweight and inherently slow, a 9:30 minute/mile average was pretty freakin awesome for me.