Archive for January, 2008

• Oops, I may have manipulated

  Date: 2008.01.20 | Category: Twins | Response: 1

  Most of the world knows that twins age 18 months and up are susceptible to potty training.  Whether the child or the parent initiates it, doesn’t matter. PT suddenly becomes the topic of many conversations.  Parents try to force the matter so that there’s that extra $100 monthly disposable income so they can buy that next big person toy (aka boat, snowmobile, bigger house, new car, flat screen something).  Of course this monthly savings is often spent and respent.

  I think I am finally going to be “able” to claim I have ONE PT’d child.  Last Sunday, I went to our new church for the first time (ahefc.org) and because Rachel had a diarrhea blow out diaper, I was paged and asked to leave.  Of course, I was disappointed because I was feeling that I would Never get to meet anyone at this new church. So, I cried all the way home. 

  Now, I did not just wipe a few scant tears from my eyes and peacefully drive home the 1.6 miles to our apartment. I bawled. I sobbed.  The girls tried to comfort me in vain.  I told them I was sad because we can’t go to church if they poop in their diapers, and that they need to start going on the potty and they need to get well. All week they kept asking me to go places with them: YMCA, etc.  I kept telling them No, they have pooppy diapers and we can’t go anywhere until that goes away. 

  Well, Rachel took me literally.  She has potty trained herself.  Seriously.  She has put on the panties. She announces that she needs to go. She tells me when the pee and the poop is coming.  I am amazed and skeptical, yet simultaneously hopeful.  She had NO accidents today and pooped on the toilet twice. She was happily rewarded with a swim at the Y. Plus lots of wonderful verbal praise from me and Rob.

  Now, what kind of hysterical reaction or ridiculous manipulation will work on Alexis??

• We are PKs

  Date: 2008.01.15 | Category: Twins | Response: 0

  After nap, I re-did Rachel’s hair and changed her diaper into a pull up.  I left the girls in the bathroom playing with a baby-wipe each and a small stream of water.  Alexis learned how to “stop up” the sink. So Rachel sat on the counter and they washed the sink, faucet, mirror, countertop, etc. 

  When I started to hear complaining about how wet they were, I terminated the water play time.  After removing Rachel’s shirt, I noticed that she had removed her pull up as well. 

  Me: Where’s your pull up? Why’d you take it off?

  R: It got bath-tized, so I threw it down there.

  I picked up the pull up, completely soaked from the cold water baptism, and tossed it in the trash. Note to self: of course everything is “baptized” when it is immersed in water.

• Conversations over play-doh

  Date: 2008.01.07 | Category: Twins | Response: 0

  R: there’s a knife.  Here’s one knife.  Look there is one knive.

  A:  Not one, Rachel.  There are ONLY TWO…

  Me: Which is bigger? 1 or 2?

  A: This knife is bigger (holding up the clear plastic picnic knife) and this one is smaller.

  Me: Which number represents more — 1 or 2?

  A: (matter of factly) Two!