The Cat's Out of the Bag (or box)

At Christmas time, Walmart had some cats in the toy department that meowed, blinked their eyes, twitched their ears, and did nearly everything else but cough up a hairball.  They're a little bit freaky, kind of like Pet of Chucky. Riley loved these cats so we had to go see them every time we stopped by the store. They were rather pricey so there wasn't one under the Christmas tree, but there were a few left in January that went on sale. I bought one for Riley in the hopes that I could persuade her to use the potty. We named the cat Mr. Tinkles and left him in his box in a conspicuous place with the promise that he could come out and play when Riley was potty trained. Poor Mr. Tinkles sat in his box for six months until this week when he was finally liberated by a proud little three year old. 

I've decided that most of the potty training experts are idiots. I tried everything I could find to potty train Riley (except the "let your child run around naked" method which is only practical if every surface in your home is covered in linoleum.) While the articles I read said not to push the reluctant (or willful) potty trainee, after a year of attempts I decided to employ my own method. I call it the "You will pee in the potty because Mommy said so" method. This involved a lot of of screaming (Riley, not me) and cleaning up bodily fluids for five days. On the sixth day, Riley realized that the diapers were really gone for good and started using the potty. On the seventh day, Mommy rested - OK, Mommy never really gets a rest.

 

Riley has done great. She's only had two accidents in the last week. I still have her in pull-ups at night, but she seems to think these are underwear. When I got her up the other morning, she saw some of Colin's diapers sitting close by and got concerned. She said, "Don't put a diaper on me. I'm a big girl. Diapers are for babies." Music to my ears, especially since I'd repeatedly told her the week before, "You don't wear diapers anymore. You're a big girl. Diapers are for babies." I have successfully brainwashed my child. 

Colin has had a really good week. He's still just as ornery as ever but he's doing better at accepting the boundaries in the house. There is a side table in the living room that is off limits to him. It has a lamp, the baby monitors, and some of Riley's book on it. He likes to try to get his hands on these things when my back is turned. On Friday, Colin and I came downstairs after nap time while Riley remained in her room for a few minutes for disobedience. Colin immediately went for the forbidden table. I gave him a raised eyebrow, and he smiled his devilish grin and retreated. I headed for the kitchen, and he went for the table again. Just as his little fingers brushed Riley's monitor, Riley was overcome with the injustice of her punishment and let out a gut-wrenching scream that scared Colin right off his feet. For the next fifteen minutes he clung to my neck. He hasn't tried to touch the monitors since. Perhaps this week I should put the monitor in one of the kitchen cupboards and get Riley to yell again. 

Colin really loves doing high fives and "knock the rock." Today, Hobbes, the cat, was sitting on the back of a chair when Colin walked by and gave him a little poke. For once, Hobbes responded and took a swipe at his hand. Colin interpreted this a high five and squealed with delight. He went on to give the cat alternating high fives and fist bumps which were returned with more swipes from an increasingly irritated Hobbes. I wish I would have had a video camera rolling.

And now I'll leave you with a couple Riley quotes. 

Me: Hey, there's a great big tree trunk sitting in Buehlers' parking lot. Where did that come from?

Riley: It came from a tree, Mom.

Jeff (at a restaurant): Riley, Let me know if you need to go potty. They have a potty here.

Riley (wide-eyed):There's potties EVERYWHERE!

Presenting Colin Patrick

I know I'm way overdue for this post, so here it is. Here is my new son, Colin. We arrived home three weeks ago but things have been crazy around here so this will be fairly brief. My dad and I left on Saturday. We had a ten hour layover in Chicago so we took the train downtown and spent the day there. We arrived in Russia on Sunday and immediately drove out to Tver. On Monday we go to pick Colin up and had him with us the rest of the week.

It was a rather rough week. Colin had a hard time transitioning and would not eat or drink much. I tried a lot of different foods and used a bottle, sippy cup, and regular cup, but it was a struggle to get enough in him. I don't know if he was just so upset by all the change, his food intake was the only thing he felt he could control, or if he just wasn't used to having much food and liquids. He also had some terrible tantrums that lasted up to an hour and a half. I wish I could say I will look back fondly on this special time, but really we all just tried to survive the week. I am so thankful that Dad was with me. He was such an encouragement. 

We arrived home the following Saturday.  Colin got sick on the way home and couldn't keep anything down. We spent Sunday, our first day together as a family, in the emergency room trying to get him rehydrated. What a welcome home! The IV and medicine helped Colin recover quickly and once we added Nesquick to his formula, we didn't have any problems getting him to take liquids. He also started eating better. The tantrums continued (and still show up occasionally) but got shorter and less intense each day. Little by little, Colin started opening up and trusting us more.

Last week, Jeff's folks came out to meet Colin, and we had a really nice visit. They were a great help as I was adjusting to caring for two kids.  Riley was happy to have some extra attention from her grandparents as well. Speaking of Riley. She seems to be adjusting well to her brother. She loves pushing him around in the stroller and introducing him to anyone who come within 20 feet. She has noticed she doesn't get all of mommy's attention now, but she doesn't seem to blame her brother. Colin is crazy for his big sister. He loves to copy all her behaviors and will randomly come up to her to give her hugs and zerberts.

I have so much more to tell but not much time so I will leave you will some pictures and prayer requests. 

- Please pray that the doctors figure out what is causing problems with Colin's digestive tract. He is still spitting up food frequently, although this seems to be improving, and he's had daily problems at the other end. I suspect a parasite. We have done repeated testing for this but so far nothing has shown up.

- Please pray for significant growth for Colin. He is barely on the growth charts for height and weight. He only weighed 19 lbs. when we came home, but he has developed a healthy appetite and has probably gained at least two pounds since then.

- Please pray for Colin's continued attachment to us. Every day we see new evidence that he is figuring out what it means to have a mommy and daddy. When he first came home, he could run into something and seriously bang his head and have no reaction to his injury. He had no need for the comfort we offered. Now, if he trips as he's chasing a cat through the house, he immediately whimpers and reaches for me. He is also seeking us out for hugs now, which is a huge step.

This is Colin and I together on the second trip.

Colin and his Pop-pop.

This smile didn't last long. Right after this picture was taken, I gave him his first bath. I don't have any pictures of that since I needed both hands to pin him down. I can only imagine what other hotel guests thought of the screams coming from our room.

"Hold my other calls, I've got my agent on the line."

Colin is completely fascinated by phones. His caregivers must have used cell phones in front of him because he knew what to do with one from the first day we had him.