aardvarks, other pigs, trains, trees, houses and co-sleepers

One of Cubling's favourite books at the moment is Anthony and the Aardvark. I'm not going to particularly recommend it - it's an ok book, but I don't quite understand her infatuation with it, it's not that great. To be honest, I'd never heard of an aardvark before we were given this book. It's one of those nice books that are easy to translate on the read, so it passes as a mummy and daddy book. Tonight, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, an aardvark is not an aardvark in German and that I should look it up for the sake of a decent translation. And I learned that aardvark is an Erdferkel (earth/soil piglet) in German (which again I've never heard of) and that indeed, I need to change my translation. Let's hope Cubling won't object. Because object she does rather a lot at the moment.

On the topic of pigs, yesterday I was finally offered to have my H1N1 jab which I'd put off for the first trimester of pregnancy. It was rather amusing reading though the common side effects, because to be honest, I currently have most of these due to being pregnant. A day later though, I have to admit that my left arm is really quite sore, and as a consequence I slept very badly. Because I slept badly, I have a splitting headache. Because I have a splitting headache I'm short tempered, and yes, I did lose my patience when Cubling timed her poo perfectly while I was cooking after having returned from a longer than usual workday with very little time to cook, eat and do bedtime; and when once again she refused to be cleaned of her poo which once again she had refused to do on the toilet. Of course she more than anything refused to be cleaned by anyone but mummy. Blame it on the swine. I guess at least she didn't hold it in for 3 days this time. No, not the swine. The poo.

Today marked the last official day at the childminder and tomorrow marks the first day in a forest kindergarten. The thermals are out, although I failed to source toddler sized thermal socks and waterproof gloves. The first lunchbox ever is packed and I'm nervous that the promised pack of waterproofs may not be waiting for her. I'm nervous about the finality of it all, the way she still asks to go to a different nursery, the crabbitness at the end of a long day at nursery because she fails to nap. Will I ever get my cheerful girl back in the evenings? Or will there be many days like yesterday, when she was so tired that she cried inconsolably for one hour, and after that still clung to me like velcro with occasional whinging, making any attempt at preparing dinner futile.

In preparation for tiddler, I've got my mind set on the Arms Reach Co-Sleeper. No, this is not a sponsored post, I'm simply keen on having this ridiculously overpriced product. Basically, it allows you to have baby beside you without actually co-sleeping. I'm not opposed to co-sleeping and did so extensively with Cubling, but for the first months I'm also very worried about the safety and I hope that this co-sleeper will be a perfect compromise. Not that I can afford it, but hey, sometimes you get lucky and there's one near me being sold second hand and I'm incredibly excited about this.

I'm also considering Hypnobabies. When I was pregnant with Cubling, I used Hypnobirthing which did wonders in getting me to overcome my overwhelming fear of childbirth. It didn't get rid of the pain as it promises, but considering my attitude change from being mortified at the thought of giving birth to looking forward to the process with excitement and joy was definitely worth it. I'd quite like to try something similar yet different, to see if it could help me go the whole way without intervention this time. If only it wasn't so expensive... So any second hand offers, do let me know.

I've also managed to source a beautiful traditional wooden doll's house which will be Cubling's surprise present. It's full of potential, with both the house and the furniture unpainted, and none of the pink dreaminess of your average ELC et al. wooden doll house. What Cubling really wants, and she's more than clear about it, is a train set. Which of course she'll get - as long as I get my doll's house. Party plans are in full swing, and to make up for lack of party or any sense of wanting to celebrate her birthday last year, this year there shall be two parties.

Finally it's carnival time over at Baby Baby. Grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy.

Poop!

How many chapters does potty training have? I guess I've still got to find out.

Cubling will be three very soon, and last week was her settling week at nursery. Since we started potty training in late December, we've bribed her with going to nursery, insisting she could only go to nursery once she was using the potty/toilet. After a rather unsuccessful start, Cubling did magically decide to want to use the toilet. However, on the behest of the childminder (who goes out a lot and couldn't guarantee a toilet when one was needed), she was still in pull up nappies. Which was fine. Some days, the nappy came home wet. Mostly, it was dry.

Then came the runs. Not in a bad bad way. Cubling is not someone who poos a lot at the best of times - I still remember her every 10-12 days routine when she was a baby, which freaked me out big time. Since we started potty training, she's been holding the poos in. Not too bad, we're not in the realm of constipation, but she was sore and uncomfortable doing the business, and there were tears and the need for big mummy cuddles before the jobby would find its way into the toilet. Three attempts were the norm, usually during dinner - yes, we were back to mummy having to eat cold dinner. I was loving it.

So diarrhoea. Not sure if it was a bug, but considering that both childminder and I came down with it too, it probably was real. I lasted long, but the frequency made any GP laugh. I know my daughter and yes, twice a day, explosive liquid, for her, is diarrhoea. I understood that it was hard making the toilet. I understood that the cramps preceding the explosion were scary and didn't make the toilet attractive. However, I didn't exactly find cleaning up such explosions that would make their way, well, everywhere, attractive either. Remember, I'm pregnant and still rather pukeish, especially when presented with .... Better not think about it.

So, runs have been and gone, we're back to alternate days pooing and a certain degree of holding in. Just that now, she refuses to go anywhere near the toilet when a poo is imminent. I can smell it. She complains of not feeling well hours before the deed. Tummy rubs are requested. As are cuddles. And the poo still goes into the pants.

I can't exactly say that tomorrow there will be no nursery because she's not pooing where she should be pooing. More immediate bribery won't work - yes, she wants the chocolate, badly even, but when given the choice of chocolate if poo in loo, or poo in pants and no chocolate, it's the latter.

So I've tried to get to the bottom of the problem (imagine the following exchange in German):
Me: why are you crying?
C: I no want to do poopoo in the toilet.
Me: why not?
C: I no like it!
Me: why don't you like it (now I feel a lot like her, copying her endless why's)
C: I no like it!
Me: Yes, I know, but why don't you like it?
C: I no like it whoobaaaahhh.
Me: Do you prefer to poo in the nappy?
C: Yes!!!!

Ok. That was rather profound. To summarise, she doesn't like pooing in the toilet. I think it may be sore. I think she may have some fear. I think but I can't be sure.

I've heard that this is a normal stage and will pass. Which leaves me with the question if nappies are on or off for nursery. The staff have said they're happy to deal with accidents, but if I ever get my child back again with dried poo all over her legs and clothes (as happened one day when she was at the childminder) and a nappy rash that makes her scream when touched, I think I'd rather go back to nappies.

However, when asked by fellow mums if I was doing night training yet, I almost sprayed my juice all over the gathered mummy crowd. One step at a time, my loveys. This is not a competition, right?

Perfectly Happy Mum and Irish Mammy on the Run are potty training right now too. Just in case you are slightly obsessed with the topic like I am at the moment.

Time to watch and listen

We had one amazing weekend with Cubling. At the end of it I'm exhausted as well as anxious about the week ahead, yet it was so worth it. I'm anxious because Cubling will be starting nursery and I have no idea how she will settle. She is a confident and inquisitive child, yet not comfortable with strangers or groups of children. And we've had a serious tummy ache and diarrhoea episode, including visit to GP and call to NHS 24 without any diagnosis, so I'm blaming it on poo anxiety issues - which makes me worry how she'll deal with it in new surroundings with new people.

For tonight though, I'll enjoy looking back on

::two cousins chasing each other full of delight through the Tramway and Hidden Gardens::

::being chased by orange hands and getting two sets of clothing covered in paint::

::making origami daffodils and failing::

::Cubling's surefooted exploration of trams, trains and buses at the Transport Museum::

::Cubling's utter delight at finding the bear and much more at Kelvingrove Museum::

::shopping in the yellow shop (aka Morrison's) and the disappointment when Cubling realised that the "purple yoghurt" (aka chocolate mousse) had not made it home::

::fishing the poo snake out of the bath (you'll be pleased we didn't take a picture this time, I think we were all a bit too scared of that monster)::

Oh there are pictures of our adventures, but sorry, too tired. Foetus doesn't fancy me sitting at the computer any longer.

Roll on big girl nursery then.

Going potty over the potty

How do working parents potty train?
This is not meant to be an odd question. I have a real conundrum. And I'm sure I'm not the first, A Mums Survival guide has a few tips in the potty training for working parents' department. Now, I've never fretted much about potty training, it's not something I've ever looked forward to, while I always thought it would be easy peasy. Cubling is now 33 months, and ticks all the boxes for readiness.
Apart from the one that has something to do with actually wanting to use the potty/toilet.

She's funny with that. She knows what potty and toilet are for. She saw her cousin being potty trained about 4 months ago. She sometimes wants to sit on the toilet and really wants to do a wee in there, but nothing ever comes out of it, and I have to drag her off the toilet. However, whenever I try to use those magic 3 days at the weekend to use the potty or toilet, she initially likes to sit on it, usually on day one we have one success and the rest accidents, and from day 2 she becomes very.reluctant.indeed. She begs not to go to the toilet, but also doesn't want nappies. Also on day 2 and 3 there are no more successes, only accidents.

While I'm not particularly pushy with potty training, I've tried three time so far to reach some degree of potty training in my 3 days off work, because I believe she's ready. You see, if I'm lucky, I don't work Fri-Sun. Recently though, I had to do a considerable amount of weekend work, which meant that I hardly ever even got 3 days in a row. Now, I can't exactly potty train for three days with maybe one success and then hand Cubling over to the childminder. That's cheeky. Even so, I'd reached the point of considering cheekiness, but asked her first to have a guilt free conscience. She said no sorry. I don't blame her.

Her tip was to do it when I'm off work for a week. That didn't really happen this year as I took individual days off before and after my niece was born. So I left it a while. Now I'm off work for 3 weeks, and this has to be the time. Because, to be fair, I won't get any week off work until Cubling starts at nursery and I really want her out of nappies by then. Another motivator is the fact that she now regularly gets a very sore bum in cloth nappies (something that never had been a problem until she turned 2) and we're using many more disposables than I'm happy with.

So then, round 4 of potty training has been called. It's not been going well. While at home, in the evening, she'll happily sit on the toilet for 30 minutes until I drag her into bed, at my SIL's house she had no inclination to cooperate. Yes, I'm bribing her with chocolates. Anything at this point to get her to be cooperative, I don't care. Yes, she does want chocolates. Oh and she does understand that she'll get them if she manages to do a wee or poo on the potty or toilet. Yet her interest in doing so wanes with every hour. We've done the potty dvd, role play and books. One (German) book, Der Klokoenig (loo king) has a great example of how to unroll a toilet roll into a heap of paper. So she does that bit on the toilet with great joy and says she's a loo king now.

Two days in and she hadn't pooed at all. I got rather worried. Her all day complaint about a sore tummy didn't make me feel any better. We had curry in the evening, surely curry would yield some BM? With plenty of cajoling, cuddling, singing, story reading and even feeding while sat on the potty we got her to at least sit for a long time. It was clear that she needed to poo. I even got the chocolate out, unwrapped it and held it in front of her like a carrot to cajole a donkey. Jee. This was getting a bit much. She alternated between big grins (I very happy! - at the prospect of getting chocolate) to a very worried face caused by fear that it might be sore.

Then finally, and please avert your eyes if this is too much information, that was what got her not one, nonono, but TWO pieces of chocolate:

Needless to say we had a big cheer and a little girl who was jumping for joy and proudly presented her turd to her auntie and cousin (the latter even shared her enthusiasm at the sight).

I very happy now. I know it's only a start. But it's a start, right?