Life with two kids: everyone moves up a step
Sophia has been going through a bunch of changes recently. Her conversational skills (already good for a 3½ year old) have been doing very well, she's been engaging more with
Gideon (she loves making him laugh), and biggest of all (from impact on my life, in any case), she's now out of nappies!
This happened about a month ago. I'd already been through multiple attempts at getting her to use the potty/toilet every time, with her confirming each time that she really wanted to wear "big girl pants", that she knew that she had to use the toilet every time before she could, and that she would absolutely definitely tell me next time she needed to. And then just not.
I got frustrated sometimes. I read about what happens, and saw that at some point they're just ready, and switch over all by themselves, and that turning it into a fight wouldn't help anyone (and can set things back). And I knew that very few children go to school still using nappies (and that that would be 2 years in the future in any case). And yet sometimes I would still get worked up about it. All to no use, with nursery eventually putting everything into place.
They, of course, have the advantage of wipe down floors. And patience. And peer pressure. They got Sophia and her two best friends ready at the same time, put them in pants the same day, and said "Your best friends are doing so well. Can you do as well as they do?"
And lo and behold she absolutely could. She's had about 6 minor accidents, two larger ones that required trouser changes, and one bed-wetting. Which has been much much smoother than I was expecting. Everything has been easy to clean up after - including the bed, thanks to what are effectively puppy pads with sticky strips to hold it tight to the bed.
I still carry an emergency nappy, just in case we're nowhere near a toilet and she has to go, but I've not needed one in weeks. It all still feels rather miraculous.
And she's been delighted by it too. Both by the pants she now gets to wear and even more since she discovered she was allowed to sleep naked, which she clearly finds both comfortable and exciting.
This week we began another new step. With the start of the new school year the Incredibles room has moved up to primary school, Voyagers have largely moved to Incredibles, and she is moving from her room (Adventurers) up to Voyagers. Where she will presumably spend a year before moving to Incredibles for a year, and then school!
She's been both excited and nervous about this. This has been a transition week, where they spend a few hours each day with the remaining Voyagers before moving up full time next week. She cried the first time they went through, scared of new people and unfamiliar spaces, but was having fun within five minutes. And today she just looked briefly nervous before settling in with them. It definitely helps that her two aforementioned best friends are moving up with her.
The thing I'm most nervous about is sleep. She still sleeps about an hour a day after lunch. It is possible to not put her down for a nap, but in that case by 3pm you're dealing with a drunken imp with no self control and the balance of someone who's just been refused service in the local pub. And the Voyagers room doesn't have "naps" on their schedule. I'm sure they'll work around this in some way. And it may help her transition to sleeping an hour less at lunch and then going to sleep an hour earlier. Which would still be 9pm, but an hour back in the evening would be lovely.
Gideon is also developing nicely. He's now up to Sophia's shoulder height (she's 25th percentile, he's 75th) when he stands up, which he can now do with just a finger to hold on to, and occasionally for three seconds without even that. He loves exploring and climbing, and is delighted by nearly everything about the world. He is settling in nursery this week before he starts full time next week. There will undoubtedly be tears, but I am hopeful that the drop-off crying will last weeks rather than the three months we had with Sophia - he's a much more chilled baby than she was.
In any case we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks. Wish me luck! Original post on Dreamwidth - there are
comments there.
Gideon (she loves making him laugh), and biggest of all (from impact on my life, in any case), she's now out of nappies!
This happened about a month ago. I'd already been through multiple attempts at getting her to use the potty/toilet every time, with her confirming each time that she really wanted to wear "big girl pants", that she knew that she had to use the toilet every time before she could, and that she would absolutely definitely tell me next time she needed to. And then just not.
I got frustrated sometimes. I read about what happens, and saw that at some point they're just ready, and switch over all by themselves, and that turning it into a fight wouldn't help anyone (and can set things back). And I knew that very few children go to school still using nappies (and that that would be 2 years in the future in any case). And yet sometimes I would still get worked up about it. All to no use, with nursery eventually putting everything into place.
They, of course, have the advantage of wipe down floors. And patience. And peer pressure. They got Sophia and her two best friends ready at the same time, put them in pants the same day, and said "Your best friends are doing so well. Can you do as well as they do?"
And lo and behold she absolutely could. She's had about 6 minor accidents, two larger ones that required trouser changes, and one bed-wetting. Which has been much much smoother than I was expecting. Everything has been easy to clean up after - including the bed, thanks to what are effectively puppy pads with sticky strips to hold it tight to the bed.
I still carry an emergency nappy, just in case we're nowhere near a toilet and she has to go, but I've not needed one in weeks. It all still feels rather miraculous.
And she's been delighted by it too. Both by the pants she now gets to wear and even more since she discovered she was allowed to sleep naked, which she clearly finds both comfortable and exciting.
This week we began another new step. With the start of the new school year the Incredibles room has moved up to primary school, Voyagers have largely moved to Incredibles, and she is moving from her room (Adventurers) up to Voyagers. Where she will presumably spend a year before moving to Incredibles for a year, and then school!
She's been both excited and nervous about this. This has been a transition week, where they spend a few hours each day with the remaining Voyagers before moving up full time next week. She cried the first time they went through, scared of new people and unfamiliar spaces, but was having fun within five minutes. And today she just looked briefly nervous before settling in with them. It definitely helps that her two aforementioned best friends are moving up with her.
The thing I'm most nervous about is sleep. She still sleeps about an hour a day after lunch. It is possible to not put her down for a nap, but in that case by 3pm you're dealing with a drunken imp with no self control and the balance of someone who's just been refused service in the local pub. And the Voyagers room doesn't have "naps" on their schedule. I'm sure they'll work around this in some way. And it may help her transition to sleeping an hour less at lunch and then going to sleep an hour earlier. Which would still be 9pm, but an hour back in the evening would be lovely.
Gideon is also developing nicely. He's now up to Sophia's shoulder height (she's 25th percentile, he's 75th) when he stands up, which he can now do with just a finger to hold on to, and occasionally for three seconds without even that. He loves exploring and climbing, and is delighted by nearly everything about the world. He is settling in nursery this week before he starts full time next week. There will undoubtedly be tears, but I am hopeful that the drop-off crying will last weeks rather than the three months we had with Sophia - he's a much more chilled baby than she was.
In any case we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks. Wish me luck! Original post on Dreamwidth - there are
comments there.