Ellie's First Wee in the Potty!!

On Wednesday night I took Ellie's nappy off and popped her on the potty, like we do every night before her bath. I told her to do a wee, so she sat there a moment before getting up to put her ducks in her bath. Once I finished running the water I noticed her crouching down, which is what she does, we've known for awhile when she's going but at first she wasn't into sitting on the potty and once she was we were never near the potty when she did it and she was wearing her nappy. I was waiting for an opportunity just like this, to give her something to associate going to the potty with as opposed to sitting there making "Pss" sounds.

She was so very proud of herself.

Since then she has not gone again, she will happily sit there, but we just need to catch her again. Now that she knows exactly what I'm talking about when I say "Do a wee" she might be able to start letting me know that she needs to go potty.

Ellie also said "Mummy" for the first time this week, instead of just calling me mum :)

Kahlei has started making cooing sounds, which is very cute and a nice change to her crying. She really does not like the heat, it makes it very difficult for her to sleep properly, sometimes she will spend all day waking 10 minutes after going to bed. It gets very draining for us all. We've had one of those days today. She is finally sleeping well now, thankfully.

 

Still Alive!

If anyone was actually wondering, I am still alive!

We had a busy week and a half, firstly in Sydney and then in Bathurst with my family. It was nice to get away! Especially, to see my fam, who I miss soooo much!

I hope to start writing in here daily soon, I am very attached to this blog but it's so hard to find the time to update with the girls! I plan to start making special time for me throughout the week, where I concentrate on something I really love and want to do - it's something I need to do to keep me sane especially now that going out is more of a drama than a nice change. Apart from more regular blog updates here I also hope to complete a digi layout a week, or at least mostly complete one. I love to scrap and if I don't start doing it I will have so many pics to use I will get too far behind!

Anyway, I will pop back in tomorrow for a better update. I am too tired today for much thinking.

Milestones!

Kahlei has reached her first milestone!

Yesterday Kahlei smiled at me! At first I wasn't sure that it was a real smile but everytime I kissed her she did it again and then she gave me another smile this morning!

Her sleeping seems to be getting better - last night she slept for 6 hours before waking for a feed, so that's another milestone for her baby book (oh, wait, we haven't bought it yet!).

I have made a point of checking out some forums while the girls sleep to remind me that what Kahlei's doing is normal newborn stuff, so that if she goes back to constant crying, being hard to resettle or a pain to get to bed I will know that other people experience this kind of thing and it's not a reaction to my parenting. It's normal.

Ellie has started saying "Dood dirl" (good girl), especially when she's being gentle with Kahlei, she'll say "Ge tle. Dood dirl." Instead of Ta she now says "Tant Too" (thank you), which made a Woolies worker tell her she has beautiful manners yesterday. So proud. I was starting to worry that she wasn't saying Ta anymore, as I am pretty big on manners - especially Please and Thank you.

She is also really good at understanding and following simple directions, like "Put it back/away" (which I am forever saying), sometimes she really doesn't want to, so I tell her to look at me and repeat the instruction, which she will then follow.

She can point to eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, tummy and feet on herself and others and can say all but mouth and feet. It's one of her favourite games at the moment. 

Another game she likes is colour sorting the blocks from her shape sorter. She started this one all on her own on the weekend. James nudged me, whispering "She's colour sorting", and indeed she was, she had a neat little row of reds, greens and blues on the table! 

I am so proud of both my girls :) 

Call to Ban Smacking

A study linking smacking with child killings has led to a call to ban smacking. As is usually the case when such highly charged moral issues are brought up, many a great debate has broken out as to whether we agree with the move or not.

I have touched on the smacking issue in a previous entry, Free to a Good Home: 1 Toddler and am obviously against smacking in our family life, however, I do think there is a vast difference between an adult smacking to discipline and an adult smacking out of anger and frustration. A tap on the bottom does not equate to child abuse and violent attacks on an innocent child is not a smack. There is a distinct line between the two, in my opinion.

Apart from the fact that a ban such as this would be very hard to police, the kinds of people this would be targeting are not people who would pay it any mind, instead loving parents who choose to discipline thier children with a tap on the hand or bottom will be effected. I don't believe parents should be told how to discipline and raise their children, there is no universal 'way', we all have to find our own path. Each family and child is different, sometimes a smack works.

I was smacked as a child. I have suffered no ill effects, no permanent emotional scars, no violent tendencies. I was naughty, I got smacked and I turned out okay.

 

A Month Has Passed

Kahlei is already a month old. Where has the time gone?

We had a full-on weekend. Saturday we spent at Mogo Zoo with James's mum and his Aunty Helen.

Ellie loved the animals and watching all the people wandering around. I think her favourite animal of the day was the meerkats, just like her Daddy. They were putting on a bit of a show, compaired to most animals who were lazing around in the shade!

I was disappointed to miss out on the Tiger talk - too many people standing in front of me!

Kahlei slept practically the whole time we were there - she woke just long enough to drink the bottle I had expressed for her.

I came home to discover I was VERY burnt! I guess I was too busy making sure Ellie wasn't getting burnt to realise I was...

Saturday night and yesterday, we paid for Kahlei sleeping through the whole zoo experience. She cried for what seemed like all day and all night. We had to have her in our arms if we wanted her to actually sleep for any amount of time and even then she wasn't always happy. After Saturday night, I was feeling particularly frazzled and upset about Kahlei's constant crying so I am lucky that James held her for most of yesterday so I could have a sleep and a rest. I really needed it, too.

For some reason, I find Kahlei's crying spells very hard to deal with, harder than I did with Ellie - despite fact that Kahlei is practically an Angel compared to Ellie in those first few weeks and months. I feel like I've done this before, so I should be able to pacify Kahlei quickly and painlessly, yet she still crys for no apparent reason, which I do actually know is normal for newborns. Somehow, I still manage to feel like I am failing as another sleepless night passes, melting into a day of full-on toddler wrangling and newborn settling. The fact that we have survived these first few bumps in the road may be part of the reason I am feeling so overwhelmed right now, I am starting to think I am putting too much pressure on myself in an effort to avoid the horror that was Ellie at the start! She really was pretty bad. And maybe I think that if I can't settle her now, it will be 8 - 13 months before we get any real permanant change. I am not saying this is how I am thinking, just putting some ideas out there.

What I am finding hardest is feeling lonely. It's too hard to get out with both girls (to just *see* that other adults exsist!), honestly, Ellie is just too stubborn at the moment on top of the fact that I shouldn't be lifting her - which means I can't put her in and out of her car seat. I spend all day at home talking and playing with littlies, then after a few hours spent with James I spent most of the night feeding, changing and settling Kahlei with a few added settlings for Ellie at the moment as she has been sick.

The only people I know in and around here are my mother in law or our neighbour, who isn't all that pleasant and I would rather not be social with due to some negative experiences. Surprisingly, doing coffee on my own isn't all that thrilling, I find the conversation doesn't really go anywhere as I already know everything I have to say :P

Well, I am going to make some paint for Ellie and take her out the back...

Safe and Easy Toddler Paint

Place 2 cups of flour into a bowl
Mix in cold water until you get a smooth paste (no big lumps)
Slowly add boiled water, stiring constantly until it forms the consistancy you want
Split mixture and add food dye to each paint pot