All Done Potty

We've started pre-potty training Addison... this consists of making her take potty breaks to sit on the potty, even though we don't have expectations of her actually producing anything; using pull ups instead of diapers at all times except overnight and nap times; talking about the potty and what it's for; and yes, even taking her into the bathroom with us while we go potty so that she can see it's normal for others to use the potty as well.  Although she's still very insistant that she does NOT need to go potty, she seems to enjoy the novelty of the whole thing, and definitely likes keeping track of everyone else's progress.

Today I took Addison to McDonalds for a mother-daughter lunch time... I enjoy these trips largely because I KNOW she'll actually eat food, even if it's not the healthiest food, which is more than I have any other time (she's exercising her toddlerly right to refuse food at any given time, which she does more often than not.)  I chose the booth closest to the bathroom for no other reason than the fact that it was empty and looked mostly clean; however, this is a mistake I'll never make again.

Every time another customer went into the restroom, Addison would look at me and loudly ask, "POTTY??"  to which I would whisper "yes, he/she is going potty, but we don't have to talk about it."  Nonsense, she must think-- we talk about it all the time at home!  Which is why she then, loudly, would ask the stranger "All done potty?" when they emerged.  Luckily, Addison embarrasses me enough in public that I hardly feel any shame anymore, but this was ridiculous-- they were all laughing it off, but most of them also gave me very strange looks.

I can't even IMAGINE how this is going to escalate once she actually gets a grip on what actually goes on in the bathroom...

Walmart, here I come!

I was hired at Walmart today... I will be working 10pm-7am 5 days a week, doing stocking/inventory... Not sure what all that entails but am just happy to be employed :)

Overdue Update

For those of you who need to know...

Dan is finished with his surgical rotation and has started on his internal medicine rotation, which happens to be in geriatrics.  He travels from nursing home to nursing home each day, which can be stressful as he still doesn't yet know where everything is, but the hours are WAY better than surgery, so the trade-off is in his favor. He will be finishing this rotation on March 20, at which time he will be coming home for a week-long break (yay!!)

I am currently job-hunting, and am ridiculously stressed out... not only am I looking for a job, but I'm trying to find one that would be late evening or night shift, enabling me to work without putting Addison in daycare (expensive!!!).  So far I've had no luck, but I'm trying to stay optimistic... The biggest concern is that I can't apply for CHIP for Addison until I have a job, so we are BOTH currently uninsured.  

Addison is learning new words every day, which she mostly uses to argue with everyone... she also has become the proud owner of two fish, which she named "mine" and "bebee".  Mine and Bebee live in Mommy's room, as everyone is afraid of what would happen if they were alone with Addison...

Not-So-Secret Admirer

Addison randomly decided to be Haley's best friend yesterday... unfortunately, Haley wasn't entirely on board with the whole idea.

"I crawled back here to get away from you, kid... please go away."

"No, seriously, I don't want to talk about it... just go away."

"HELP!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!! THIS HAS GONE TO FAR!!!"

Too Big, Too Fast

Addison is turning into a big kid and it's as adorable as it is difficult for me.  She's learning more words and sentences, and imitating behaviors like never before.

As always, when I went in to get her up this morning, I sat in her bed with her while she showed me all of her animals.  Then, abruptly, she said "Mommy.  I wah eeee.  NOW."  (Mommy, I want eat.  Now.)  It still takes me off guard when she uses sentences, and the "NOW" made it even more surprising... although I suppose I'm not entirely shocked she learned it so quickly, as I feel like I have to use it a lot with her.

When I picked her up to take her to the kitchen, she gave me a big hug.  Then, to my surprise, she grabbed my face with both hands and planted sloppy kisses very deliberately on my mouth, cheek, and nose... she said "teee?" and when I showed her my teeth, she tried to kiss those too (I closed my mouth though, because...ew).  Grabbing her face and kissing her is something I've done since she was very small... and now she's doing it right back to me.  I love it :)

I'm suspecting, though, that I'm going to grow to hate the word "NOW".....

No Hat, No Sleeves... No Cooperation

I figured I'd retell this story on my blog, as it was a hit retelling it to my family....

I took Addison to the mall yesterday to burn off some of her energy.  We walked around for awhile, largely guided by her every whim-- I only had a couple destinations in mind, and those were brief, so I just let her take us where she wanted us to go.  This took us to the Children's Place, where she stumbled upon an adorable pink hat with blue flowers that she ABSOLUTELY had to have... it was very loud-looking, considering she was also wearing a bright magenta velour track-suit at the time.  The clerk also gave her two stickers, which she placed upon her cheeks, proving that if you are 21 months old, you can never over-accessorize.  As we made our way to the mall exit, I reminded Addison that we had to put on her coat which, as it was mild outside, was a puffy vest instead of a winter coat.  This is how that conversation went:

Addison:  ha?  haaaaah? (translation: hat?)

Me:  I can put your hat on you (extends hands to put hat on Addison's head.)

Addison: NO!! NO-WAH-HA!!! (t: no!  no want hat!)

Me: Ok, fine!  You don't have to wear your hat. (puts hat down.)

Addison:  ha?  haaaah? (t: same as above)

Me:  Would you like me to put your hat on you?

Addison: NO!  NO HA!! (no! no hat!)

Me: Ok then! (puts hat down, picks up vest) But we have to put your coat on so we can go get in the car.

Addison: Ah-doh-wa-coh. (t: I don't want coat)

Me:  But you have to wear a coat!  It's not even really a coat, see?  It has no sleeves!

Addison: Ah-doh-wa-seevs (t: I don't want sleeves).

Me:  It doesn't have sleeves!  (Finally manages to get Addison to put on the coat)

In case you couldn't tell, Addison has entered a new phase of speech-- she is learning to speak in sentences.  Unfortunately for all of us, her first and favorite sentence-beginning phrase happens to be "I don't want."  This morning, when I went in to get her out of bed, she thumped her chest and said "joooo?" (thumping her chest is her way of communicating that her tummy is empty, and "joo" is juice (or milk, etc.))  I took her to the kitchen, where she loudly exclaimed "AH DOH WA EEEATTT!"  before polishing off her entire bowl of cereal and then a fruity-cheerio snack.

Not afraid of the little girl, no, not me....

Don't look at me that way... you'd hide from her too if you were her size.