Our kid (who just turned two) has expressed a lot of interest in the potty as of late. Off the top of my head, some of the signs are: beginning to tell me when his diaper's dirty; trying to "pee" standing up in the bathtub; asking the daycare workers if the potty is in the bathroom; etc. etc. So. The daycare employees suggested to me that I start training while he has an interest -- apparently if you don't jump on it the interest abates, and then it's hard to get them out of diapers.
So yesterday -- an half an hour after the day care people told me about interest abating -- I picked up a potty. I figured we would open it up Saturday, talk about it a little...
No. The kid saw the box as I carried him in the door, and immediately, "potty! potty!" Let's take it out of the box. OK, I figure -- I can show him how it works. Oh no. Kid already knows! He pulls out the plastic removable cup that holds the goods and pretends to empty it in the kitchen sink (yuck, day care! Is this what you do? Surely not. Too "Big Love" for me.). Then he wants to try it out, RIGHT NOW. So I strip him in the kitchen and watch while he sits on the pot. I can't help it -- I'm pregnant -- I grab a slice of the pizza I'd baked that was cooling off on the counter and eye him.
He says he's peed. Oh reallly. But by golly, HE HAS! Just a couple of drops, but still -- success! OK, now we really do need to go upstairs. Except that kiddo is leaping on and off the pot to see if he can have any more success.
An half hour later, we make it upstairs and empty the potty. It turns out the kid is like our family dog -- he can really make a bladder last a while. (My mother made a game of counting how many times our dog peed on her walks -- the record was 28.) I explain that he'll make more pee.
Suffice it to say, we have been spending a lot of time in the bathroom the last two days. He still has to figure out that he can hold it, and then have one long whiz, instead of just sitting there and trying when he doesn't really have to go. I have kind of tried to explain, but this wasn't one of our best days, even with the excitement of the potty, and his screams kind of drowned me out. (Caillou first! Bottle! More potty! No outside -- cold! Want Daddy!). But I think he will get the picture soon, and then I will be in HEAVEN...
... until June, when the next one arrives.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wall(s)
As in, "hitting a wall."
Gee, guys, I do wish I had lots of good news to report. But sadly, no. Instead I am stuck digging our family out of a hole.
Fiscal prudence is something I am really not that great at. My dad is used to thinking I am good at it, but that's not really true. He's basing his understanding on the fact that when I was younger I scraped by on very little and then I inherited some money, so I've never had to ask him. Well, once, I was in desparate straits (like, virtually homeless) and I asked him for a loan, but he said no, I had to suffer the consequences of my actions, blah blah blah. So what does he know?
Anyway, that inheritance I mentioned was big. It paid for my law school and living expenses, it paid for my wedding, it paid for a wicked safari to Africa (I think the best money I spent), it paid the down payment on our house and has been supplementing my husband's income while he worked his way up the ranks and while I get established as a solo attorney.
And now? It's almost gone.
So, I decided to sit down and have a really good look at our finances. Query: will the money last until our joint incomes are enough to support us? Answer: if everything went our way, and we dramatically cut our expenses, ... maybe.
So, after some sleepless nights, much pencil-waggling, and tearful conversations, my husband and I decided we'd have to sell the house. The one we bought about a year and a half ago.
The good news is that the realtors think they will be able to sell it for what we paid for it. The bad news is that we'll still lose a lot of money. Another "pro" is that we will finally be living in a house that we can afford, which means we will have discretionary income, for stuff like maternity clothes and vacations. (Give me a bone. A modest vacation later this year is all that's keeping me going right now.) Maybe our gas bill won't be over four hundred bucks in the winter (and that's with a house at 67.)
A "con" is that it will be work. A lot of work. For me to do, mostly by myself, as my husband works overtime during the actuarial busy season and studies for his next exam in May. For me to do after I do all the cooking, errands, and child care, plus the daily cleaning tasks. So pretty much, what I can't fit in during the day, in between, oh, practicing law, I will be doing after 9 p.m.
AND I CAN'T WAIT!
Seriously, I've been throwing a major pity party for myself over here. And the day-to-day stuff of life hasn't been easy, either. For example, I think my toddler has hidden my car keys. I think I remember seeing him this morning with them and thinking "oh.." right before I had to do something else. Aaanyway, they are in his intestinal tract (not really), or another dimension, or something. I looked for them for four hours today, scouring the house, searching all the toy bins, all the drawers, all the trash cans, everything. Nada. But of course this was AFTER I locked us out in the snow, and had to break one of the panes of glass in our back door to get in. And had to summon my husband home to let me borrow his car keys, since we have a keyless car (with a keyless thing that's $100 to replace). And screamed at my kid, causing him to follow me around, saying, "Mama? Mama?" pitifully.
So, there's a piece of cling wrap keeping out the icy icy draft, and there's another project for me to do! (I was thinking of replacing the pane -- it was cracked -- but it would be nice to choose if and when, you know?)
Ugh.
Gee, guys, I do wish I had lots of good news to report. But sadly, no. Instead I am stuck digging our family out of a hole.
Fiscal prudence is something I am really not that great at. My dad is used to thinking I am good at it, but that's not really true. He's basing his understanding on the fact that when I was younger I scraped by on very little and then I inherited some money, so I've never had to ask him. Well, once, I was in desparate straits (like, virtually homeless) and I asked him for a loan, but he said no, I had to suffer the consequences of my actions, blah blah blah. So what does he know?
Anyway, that inheritance I mentioned was big. It paid for my law school and living expenses, it paid for my wedding, it paid for a wicked safari to Africa (I think the best money I spent), it paid the down payment on our house and has been supplementing my husband's income while he worked his way up the ranks and while I get established as a solo attorney.
And now? It's almost gone.
So, I decided to sit down and have a really good look at our finances. Query: will the money last until our joint incomes are enough to support us? Answer: if everything went our way, and we dramatically cut our expenses, ... maybe.
So, after some sleepless nights, much pencil-waggling, and tearful conversations, my husband and I decided we'd have to sell the house. The one we bought about a year and a half ago.
The good news is that the realtors think they will be able to sell it for what we paid for it. The bad news is that we'll still lose a lot of money. Another "pro" is that we will finally be living in a house that we can afford, which means we will have discretionary income, for stuff like maternity clothes and vacations. (Give me a bone. A modest vacation later this year is all that's keeping me going right now.) Maybe our gas bill won't be over four hundred bucks in the winter (and that's with a house at 67.)
A "con" is that it will be work. A lot of work. For me to do, mostly by myself, as my husband works overtime during the actuarial busy season and studies for his next exam in May. For me to do after I do all the cooking, errands, and child care, plus the daily cleaning tasks. So pretty much, what I can't fit in during the day, in between, oh, practicing law, I will be doing after 9 p.m.
AND I CAN'T WAIT!
Seriously, I've been throwing a major pity party for myself over here. And the day-to-day stuff of life hasn't been easy, either. For example, I think my toddler has hidden my car keys. I think I remember seeing him this morning with them and thinking "oh.." right before I had to do something else. Aaanyway, they are in his intestinal tract (not really), or another dimension, or something. I looked for them for four hours today, scouring the house, searching all the toy bins, all the drawers, all the trash cans, everything. Nada. But of course this was AFTER I locked us out in the snow, and had to break one of the panes of glass in our back door to get in. And had to summon my husband home to let me borrow his car keys, since we have a keyless car (with a keyless thing that's $100 to replace). And screamed at my kid, causing him to follow me around, saying, "Mama? Mama?" pitifully.
So, there's a piece of cling wrap keeping out the icy icy draft, and there's another project for me to do! (I was thinking of replacing the pane -- it was cracked -- but it would be nice to choose if and when, you know?)
Ugh.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Date Day
Today for the first time since our child's birth my husband and I spent an entire day alone together.
Our kid's day care reopened today after the holidays. They had asked if we would be bringing kid in, and my first thought was, "Oh yeah!" My husband had the day off. Apparetnly most people wanted to keep their kids with them. I checked with my husband to make sure I wasn't being totally insane, wanting kid to go to day care while we spent the day having fun, but ... he was on the same page.
What a great day. It reminded me of the weekends we used to spend together when we were dating, or first married ... before I graduated law school and we moved to Philadelphia.
After we dropped kid off, we went to a breakfast place in Philly that is just like all the breakfast places in Portland, OR, where we lived before. Glorious. I got the huevos rancheros, over medium, and they were over medium! They had condiments other than katsup! It wasn't really grasy and gross! Ahh. So many things to miss about Portland. In Portland we knew of ten or fifteen great places like this, little neighborhood restaurants with kick-butt gormet food. Here in Philly, we've found one.
Afterwards we went to Philly's main library, which is totally amazing. It's downtown so I don't go much, but it's really about ten regular sized libraries in a huge building. I browsed the classics section (classics section!). Our local branch seems to specialize in Af-Am chick lit, a la How Stella Got Her Groove Back. They got rid of their classsics section. :( And usually I go with the Kid, who loooves to pull books from the shelves, so -- I haven't been reading a lot of good stuff lately. So this was great.
Next we went to get our first ultrasound for baby 2. When I first went to the doctor, I thought I was eight weeks. They said ten or twelve. Now, two weeks later, the ultrasound shows sixteen. Boy am I bad at math. It's funny, though. I feel like every time I go in there I miraculously advance in gestation. I can't wait for the visit on the 5th, when I hope to be told I'm almost done (oops, I mean due).
So baby is now scheduled for mimd-June. No gasps or eerie silences from the ultrasound tech so it looks like things are OK. And lots and lots of baby movement. Kid 1 just laid around in there, but 2 is kicking up an storm. So... maybe no number 3!
Finally we went to see a movie together. The only thing that looked interesting in our time slot was Frost/Nixon. I like Ron Howard so it was fun to see one of his movies. It was creepy to see Nixon's rtionale of presidential power, so much like Bush's -- "When the President does it it's not breaking the law." And yet people then had the sense, en masse, to decry it as undemocratic and anti-American. Now we just mutter to ourselves and move on, right?
Anyway, it was great to see a movie together (though we have done that since kid was born). So nice to spend time together and reconnect. I felt really refreshed and ready to be a mom again.
Our kid's day care reopened today after the holidays. They had asked if we would be bringing kid in, and my first thought was, "Oh yeah!" My husband had the day off. Apparetnly most people wanted to keep their kids with them. I checked with my husband to make sure I wasn't being totally insane, wanting kid to go to day care while we spent the day having fun, but ... he was on the same page.
What a great day. It reminded me of the weekends we used to spend together when we were dating, or first married ... before I graduated law school and we moved to Philadelphia.
After we dropped kid off, we went to a breakfast place in Philly that is just like all the breakfast places in Portland, OR, where we lived before. Glorious. I got the huevos rancheros, over medium, and they were over medium! They had condiments other than katsup! It wasn't really grasy and gross! Ahh. So many things to miss about Portland. In Portland we knew of ten or fifteen great places like this, little neighborhood restaurants with kick-butt gormet food. Here in Philly, we've found one.
Afterwards we went to Philly's main library, which is totally amazing. It's downtown so I don't go much, but it's really about ten regular sized libraries in a huge building. I browsed the classics section (classics section!). Our local branch seems to specialize in Af-Am chick lit, a la How Stella Got Her Groove Back. They got rid of their classsics section. :( And usually I go with the Kid, who loooves to pull books from the shelves, so -- I haven't been reading a lot of good stuff lately. So this was great.
Next we went to get our first ultrasound for baby 2. When I first went to the doctor, I thought I was eight weeks. They said ten or twelve. Now, two weeks later, the ultrasound shows sixteen. Boy am I bad at math. It's funny, though. I feel like every time I go in there I miraculously advance in gestation. I can't wait for the visit on the 5th, when I hope to be told I'm almost done (oops, I mean due).
So baby is now scheduled for mimd-June. No gasps or eerie silences from the ultrasound tech so it looks like things are OK. And lots and lots of baby movement. Kid 1 just laid around in there, but 2 is kicking up an storm. So... maybe no number 3!
Finally we went to see a movie together. The only thing that looked interesting in our time slot was Frost/Nixon. I like Ron Howard so it was fun to see one of his movies. It was creepy to see Nixon's rtionale of presidential power, so much like Bush's -- "When the President does it it's not breaking the law." And yet people then had the sense, en masse, to decry it as undemocratic and anti-American. Now we just mutter to ourselves and move on, right?
Anyway, it was great to see a movie together (though we have done that since kid was born). So nice to spend time together and reconnect. I felt really refreshed and ready to be a mom again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)