Our 3rd Christmas in Moncton

A little glimpse into the O'Connells' life as it leads up to Christmas:

Christmas party at Eileen's (sitting with her "boyfriend", Felix)

Our nightly walk to check out the Christmas lights in the neighbourhood.

Cleo's new fave spot (I think she's hoping to catch Santa in person, and maybe be the hero leading his sleigh -- no more Rudoph books for you!)

Our little Christmas baking helper.

Our girl is SO EXCITED for Christmas to come! I love seeing the newness of it all through her eyes. From Santa to the "real" Christmas story, she is lapping it all up. Although it's actually her third Christmas, it's the first Christmas where she seems to really understand what's going on and that she's interested in all the festivities. Despite her fear when confronted with him directly, "I love Santa" is a familiar phrase in our home these days; and she was quite disappointed not to see "Baby Jesus" at church last Sunday.

I love this time of year so much more, just having her to enjoy it with us.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

The "P" Word

A topic my friends and family are tired of hearing about, but I need an outlet or I'm going to go berserk!!!

The "P" Word. It's the first thing the docs want to see from your babe before you leave the hospital, and forever after becomes a big deal in the life of a momma. What colour it is, its texture, and how often your new little cutie is making one. Then there comes a point when you want your LO to put that "P" word in the other taboo "P" word, hoping that, at least eventually, life will become easier. HA!

In our house, you can use either "P" word separately without much ado; however, using both "P" Words anywhere near each other and the tiniest member of our family will go into hysterics.

The "P" Words of which I speak are "Poop" and "Potty". Two seemingly normal words which, when training a 2-year-old, can wreak havoc on the lives of an entire family.

I am so incredibly frustrated with this situation and am feeling so alone in my struggle to find the answer. You would think SOMEONE out there has gone through this, has dealt with a little anti-poopster who squeezes her little bum cheeks together so tightly when she needs to go she makes herself blocked up to the point of needing enemas. Everyone's situations are different. I've been told/read everything from "don't talk about it" to "hold her down on the potty when she's holding it in and she won't have a choice" (which, in dealing with a child with a stubborn streak that matches only my own, only serves to strengthen the muscles of her little sphincter!). In other words, so far, nothing is working.

I have promised (and delivered) sweet treats, have rewarded little successes with great events and fabulous presents; I have sat with her for seemingly endless periods of time while she sits on the potty reading her books & singing songs. I have bought a special "magic" Dora potty seat that doesn't "allow" it to hurt; I've kept my lips shut for weeks on end, saying absolutely nothing; I've changed her diet (a diet that was already pretty good) to help things "move along"; I've offered for her to sit on the potty with her pull-up on; we've done panties full-time and pull-ups full time ... and here we sit after having had to give her yet ANOTHER enema over the weekend due to an intestinal blockage.

I want to cry.
I want to scream.
I want to (and have unsuccessfully tried to) explain things to her at her level.
I want to do it for her.

And, ultimately, I want to give up ...

Unfortunately, in our situation it's not a choice of giving up and just allowing her to poop in her pull-ups. Because she's holding it in DESPITE the fact that she's wearing a pull-up. She won't sit down to poop, she needs to stand and hold it in. Even after administering the enema, she wants to stand and tries desperately not to let it out. She hates the enema and I tell her that until she learns to poop on the potty, she's going to end up having more and more "bum medicine" (as she calls it). She agrees to do whatever it takes as long as she doesn't have to have more "bum medicine" ... until the time comes that she needs to poop. Then it's a major tantrum and she doesn't want to cooperate, no matter what the outcome.

This thing is obviously bigger than I am ... I'm at a loss.

There's gotta be something SOMEONE can tell me that will help. SOMEONE MUST have gone through this exact situation before. I'm ready to take out a full-page ad nation-wide just to get an answer and resolve the problem once and for all!

Maybe next time she gets a blockage, I'll drive the 3.5 hours to the IWK Children's Hospital in Halifax and see if THEY can help me. I'm desperate!!!!

Sunday Search

Can you find the cutest little mouse amongst these snuggly stuffed animals?

Saturday Snowfall

Snow silently arrived while Maaike napped on Saturday afternoon. When we opened the blinds in her bedroom after she woke up, sheer awe and amazement flashed across her face, and she said, "The Big Snow came!" We had to run downstairs and put her snow suit on right away, and there was no dilly-dallying allowed ... we had to get out and enjoy the white stuff.

I am still in shock at how different our world is seemingly overnight, how quickly seasons change, how quickly time goes by. It's so exciting to see it from Maaike's perspective. She doesn't remember much about last year's snow, so this is like the first time for her. Fresh snow, fresh outlook ...

Reading

Maaike loves reading. From the time she was a small baby, we have read to her before bed time. And for as long as I can remember, we have left books in her bed after we've read them and turned off the light, only to hear her through the monitor reading them back to herself by the light of her "spoka" night light. This week, Maaike has been "pretending" more than ever, especially with her dolls, and I caught her going through our bedtime routine with her baby, which included reading many, many books! I'm so proud.

I also caught a magic moment between father and daughter during their evening reading session ... the look on Maaike's face was so priceless, so interested in the books Daddy was reading. She loves going to the library and getting new ones to read. I thought this latest book was perfect for a photo op, given its title ...

And finally there is a new book in town ... on top of all the books we brought home from the library: the Toys 'R Us Christmas catalogue arrived on our doorstep this week. Yes, it has started already, and she's not even 3 years old. But its a new fave in our household. Maaike will sit for hours flipping the pages, pointing out toys and saying, "Maybe I can have an [insert toy]?" It's a riot and I'm totally enjoying every moment of it. Bring on Christmas!!! :o)

Internal Review

In the last weeks I:

~ went to three Halloween parties for my child (only one of which she agreed to wear a costume to);

~ have been worried I may never be able to explain in toddler terms how important it is to not hold in her poopy;

~ have been CRAZY tired;

~ couldn't quite get warm;

~ have been thinking about going back to work;

~ was envious of people getting new vehicles when my little red "lemon" (???) is once again giving us grief;

~ put my family (read: me!) on a spending moratorium. Where does the $$$ go every month???

~ realized I have two months until my little girl turns 3. THREE! Wow. That seems so old;

~ came to the conclusion that keeping one step ahead of my housework will never happen. I scrubbed this house crazy yesterday and already I see tumbleweeds of fur on the floor;

~ had to scare monsters out of my girl's room for the first time. They were stuck in her blanket so we shook out the blanket and danced the "run away monsters" dance. Fortunately, they listened and promised to never come back;

~ added another exercise day to my workout routine;

~ have, for the most part, kept my paws out of the Halloween candy ... save and except that little bag of Nibs. But I think there were only 10 of those delectable little red bites in there anyway, so that doesn't count ... right???

~ got into a jean skirt I haven't worn in MANY years, and found a pair of jeans at VV which is 2-3 sizes smaller (depending on brand -- why can't they be consistent?) than I was wearing just 6 months ago. Yay, running!

~ realized I've been with Andrew for 7 years already. Time seems to be going as fast as $$$ around here ... ;

~ have enjoyed how much more animated Maaike is becoming, participating in things, pretending, reacting to and acting out her videos, and calling her Momma on things she misses or makes mistakes in. Yes, it's started already;

~ was again reminded that certain people enter and exit your life for good reason, and some you'll miss more than others;

~ have been looking forward to the snow, if only to see the excitement generating from my daughter's eyes. She asks to make a snowman every time she sees a semblance of a flake;

~ haven't been able to find a good final point to this internal review, so am just going to let it be at that ... if only I could do that in all aspects of my life!

"A cat's eyes are windows enabling us to see into another world." - Irish Legend