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Thursday, August 2, 2012
Thursday Thoughts, Vol. 7
1. THANK YOU for all of your incredible insight and support about our impending decision about placing a g-tube in Brenna's stomach. It has given me such a peace of mind to hear so many good experiences. I am really looking forward to the relief it will provide to our family once we learn how to use it properly. Right now all of our specialists are conferring and figuring out what kind of procedure Brenna's skin will tolerate best to place the g-tube. We will know much more in the next day or two. We may have to travel to Peoria or St. Louis to have it placed, so I'm praying that this will be as easy on our family and on Brenna as possible.
2. Yesterday we popped into Lutheran High School's day camp so that they could present us with funds that they raised for our family last week during their Penny Drive. Seeing all the kids waving to Brenna and cheering for us just about melted me. I did an impromptu Q&A session for them since I figured they would probably be curious about her...which then made me realize that I need to work on fine-tuning my explanations so that kids can easily understand! I was definitely rambling when someone asked what, exactly, is wrong with her skin. But they definitely seemed to enjoy meeting her and learning about her!
3. Along that topic, I was so impressed with the wonderful questions the children were asking about Brenna. They were thoughtful, curious and non-judgmental. They wondered if she could grow hair, if she could go swimming or go in a hot tub, if there was a cure (and their faces all fell when I said no, it just about broke my heart!), if she was "different" mentally too, if her skin hurts, and if it's contagious. I was so glad to be able to educate them about Harlequin Ichthyosis and let them know that it's OK to ask questions about it!
4. I now have more than 4,000 words written for my Blessed by Brenna book. I'm super proud of making it even this far, and I hope I can keep up the momentum!
6. Can I just say that I love watching the Olympics? I feel like a total sap too, because right alongside all of my pride for America and my intrigue about the athletes and sports/games, I get all emotional just thinking about the parents of the athletes and how proud they must be of their children!
6. Warning: TMI topic.
It's safe to say that Connor is completely potty trained (aside from diapers at night still)...except for one major part of potty training...the dreaded #2. Why is that so scary for kids? If anyone has advice on how to overcome this little challenge, I'm all ears :) We're trying to just play it cool and not make it a big deal, but he is so not interested. He will, however, tell us every time he has to pee, which I am a huge fan of.
7. Brenna's latest trick is extreme stranger anxiety. Either Evan or I have to be holding her, or at least in plain sight, or she will scream her head off. No aunts, no grandmas, nobody but mommy and daddy. I am not impressed. This will be a work in progress...
I'm so glad it's Thursday...this week has been a little trying, and Brenna isn't sleeping well and still eating mediocre at best. Hoping that things get a little easier soon...
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Regarding #6: my daughter was 4 1/2 to the day before she conquered #2. I fretted for over a year as to why she wouldn't go without a diaper. Everyone said: it's the only thing that she can control and she will do it when she is ready and low and behold, she is now 8.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love reading every blog you write! You are an inspiration with all of your kindness and patience you have for your situation! I love seeing the pictures of Brenna she is beautiful and I love the faces she makes!!! Bless your heart with the potty training!!! Lol I would take Rylee to the bathroom every 2 hours and I would read Green Eggs and Ham to him and make him laugh with all the funny voices I read to him in! He loved going to sit on the potty and have story time lol. It took about a week of that and he was potty trained! I still had to read to him for a while after but it was worth it! :-) good luck!!!
ReplyDeleteThere is a book called Everybody Poops...maybe reading about it at story time would help allay anxiety? Maybe casually mentioning when you have to poop and that you are going to the potty would help...lol...definitely TMI, but hey...the things we do for our kids, right? I had to chuckle when you stated, "I am not impressed" in relation to Brenna's stranger anxiety. I have never met you, but I imagined it being delivered in a dry and bit sarcastic tone. In the moments you are least impressed, lol, just remember that it is perfectly age appropriate, and take comfort that Brenna is following the norm in that way! This, too, shall pass is one of my favorite mantras, Courtney. This, too, shall pass!
ReplyDeleteHi.... I have been reading your blog for a few months now and I must say you are a gifted writer. I really admire your honesty here, and the love you have for your family really shows. Your sweet children are lucky to have you as their mom. My son also had trouble with #2. He would always go in the corner to go, and as much as I would try to convince him to go on the potty, it just didn't work. He has a twin sister, and when they were a little over 3, we took them to Toys R Us and had them pick out a "Poop on the potty" toy. My daughter came home that afternoon, pooped on the potty, got her toy, and pooped on the potty from then on. My son took another 3-4 months before he finally did. He did just all of a sudden decide one day that he was going to try, and he did. Honestly, he struggled with it for a little while... he was used to bracing himself on the wall when he went, and when he went to the toilet, he had to figure out how to go a new way, but in time he did and relaxed. Connor will go one of these days... my friend always told me to just relax...they would do it when they were ready, and it really did happen. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem with one of my boys, and I'm Mom to 3. Trust that he will do it when he is ready, and it is very likely not due to anything YOU are not doing or doing wrong. When they get tired of the way it feels in their underpants (I used the cotton padded training pants...NOT pullups which feel like diapers except at night), kids will decide they are ready. You do also want to provide for a relaxed experience on the potty......feet not hanging, but planted on a firm surface (step stool) and a book or something that will encourage him to relax his muscles while sitting. I agree with another following....this too shall pass. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, Courtney! I LOVE reading your blog :) Unfortunately, I have no potty advice...but if Brenna has surgery in Peoria, I'd love to bring you and Evan a meal at the hospital or wherever you will be staying! I live in East Peoria and have followed your blog from the beginning and would be honored to meet your family!!! Please keep up posted about what the doctor's are going to do about the g-tube!
ReplyDeleteHi Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain where the potty training goes. Our eldest daughter, who will be 3 in October, likes to deploy the "hide and deny" tactic...no fun for anyone. We just got a book called, "I Can't, I Won't, No Way" about pooping and she is at least talking about it, so it's a step in the right direction. Let me know if you find the magic key :)
And I second what Mommy0710 said: if you happen to come to Peoria, and there's anything I could do to make your time here easier, please let me know. I live about 15 minutes from Peoria and would be happy to make cookies, bring a meal, whatever, I'd be happy to!
I work in daycare, and our teachers basically do the potty trading for the toddlers. They actually make a huge fuss over any bits of progress the child makes -- songs, a cheer, etc. By the time they graduate at 3 years, they're all trained. I think boys tend to lag behind the girls anyway, so Connor is definitely on his way. Does he have "big boy" Spidey underpants? Sometimes that can be an inducement, too. As for Brenna's sudden clinginess, that's a good sign. She's discriminating her mommy and daddy from other people. At a certain point, you want the child to make that distinction. Sometimes around a year old, this kicks in, when the baby isn't an infant anymore, and realizes "Hey, I'm tired of all these other people, I just want my mom." So you're coming up against two developmental milestones at the same time. But they are both signs of progress.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a Mom of a recently turned 3 year old who is in the process of potty training. We have the pee thing down, but trying to get him to poop on the potty is another whole struggle. I'm so glad to hear we aren't the only ones struggling with this. I guess we'll just keeping taking it day by day!!
ReplyDeleteSure hope the g-tube is just what Miss Brenna needs to keep plowing forward. She sure is a blessing!! Always keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers!!!
Love your blog! Prayers to you and your family. Potty training...this too shall pass (pun intended). My daugher used to ask for a diaper to poop. "Mom, I have to poop, may I please have a diaper." We tried praise, postive reinforcement, candy. We tried to ignore it. One day, we were out to lunch with her older girl cousins, Lindsay and Rachel. Dilemma...ask Mom for a diaper or poop like a big girl in the potty. No problem after that.
ReplyDeleteYep, we have an "Everybody Poops" book here - it is pretty good. I keep it in the bathroom for laughs now! Plus, nothing wrong with having a good book around while going "#2." ;)
ReplyDeleteSome potty training ideas that worked for my three sons...
ReplyDelete-Have him sit everytime he goes potty rather than stand that way they are already "in positon" for both. (You'll know when you can stop making him sit everytime.)
-If he is peeing really often it usually means he needs to poop. When this happened I would just tell my boys they needed to pass gas before they got up because I knew that would probably do the trick!
-I use to give them a sticker to put right on the bottom of the lid not the seat!) of the toilet. Mine LOVED to do that.
Good Luck!
Dawn