McDonald's Baby Dolls

Annabelle loves the "baby dolls" that come in the McDonald's Happy Meals. It first started with the Wizard of Oz Madame Alexander dolls back in September. And now, it is the Barbie collection.

If we tell Annabelle that we are having McDonald's for lunch or dinner, she will immediately say, "baby dolls," as she nods her head yes. Then, constantly during dinner, she will say "baby dolls" over and over again.

On her birthday, we took her for dinner to McDonald's since she loves the "baby dolls" so very much. She gets so very excited.

When asked what she wants for dinner from McDonald's, she will say, "Chicken Nuggets, Fench Fies." Then, "Baby dolls?"

Well, as we were leaving McDonald's on Annabelle's birthday, we stopped and asked her if she wanted to look at the "baby dolls" in the showcase they have standing with all of the Barbies and Hot Wheels. Of course, she did! And, after she stood there for just a few seconds looking at them, she turned to me and said, "Pictur Mama," and then posed perfectly in front of the showcase of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels. Naturally, I didn't have my camera with me, so I asked hubby to take a picture with his camera phone. He did, but he has not downloaded a copy as of yet.

We both laughed a lot that night at how silly we must have looked trying to take a picture of our daughter in front of the showcase of Barbies and Hot Wheels. And, it was even all that more funny when she decided she needed to stand in other spots around McDonald's (such as in front of the front counter) to have her "pictur" taken. Do you think Annabelle has any pictures of herself?

This evening, we took Annabelle to McDonald's yet again. It seems we have taken Annabelle to McDonald's quite a bit lately, but it is mostly because of the "baby dolls" and special occasions. I promise that my child does not eat fast food all of the time!

So, as we were leaving again this evening, Annabelle stopped to look at the showcase of "baby dolls." And yet again, she turned to me and posed in front of the showcase and said, "Pictur Mama, Pictur." This time, I had my camera, and I captured the cutest shot ever. Enjoy!

What do you see?

We visited some old college friends in Clayton, Georgia this weekend, some that we haven't seen since we got married in July 2000. Most all of us have children now, and the children are all very close in age, so everyone had a blast, including the children.

Hubby, Annabelle and I spent the night at the cabin. After Annabelle was dressed on Sunday morning, we caught her peeking out the bedroom window right next to another little girl. This other little girl just happened to be one of those baby dolls without facial features that props against windows. I guess Annabelle was just curious about what that baby doll might have seen.

So, here is a picture of Annabelle following her lead! Is this not precious? She stood there long enough for hubby to say, "Are you not going to take a picture," and for me to then pull the camera out of the diaper bag and camera case. I was lucky enough to actually capture a great shot!

By the way, if I can remember, I am going to start posting the dates and times for some of these pictures with the exact date and time that the pictures were taken. This picture was actually taken on October 26, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. This is just one of the many benefits of a digital camera (knowing the exact date and time the photo was taken after it is downloaded to your computer)!

Buttermilk?

I spent Monday running all of my errands so that I could stay home and officially start the potty training on Wednesday (worked out to be Tuesday afternoon though).

So, Annabelle still won't drink whole milk, so when I went to the grocery store Monday afternoon, I bought some vanilla soy milk as my best friend recommended it because it was the only milk she could get her son to drink (while breastfeeding).

Well, Monday night, we stayed for dinner with Grandmama and Granddaddy. Grandmama had bought herself some buttermilk while we were grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. Keep in mind, Grandmama is the only one I know that actually drinks buttermilk because she likes it (or in her case, she loves it)! Granddaddy does not like it, Uncle Ken does not like it, and I definitely do not like it!

So, after dinner, Grandmama asked Annabelle if she wanted to try some buttermilk. "Uh huh!" she said. So, Grandmama gets a spoon out, and she spoons Annabelle some buttermilk into her mouth one spoonful at a time. I completely expected her to turn her nose up to it completely. I am pretty sure that Grandmama had given her a taste of buttermilk as a baby, and I don't think she liked it then.

Granddaddy and I were watching with disgust. I turned my nose up in complete disgust every spoonful she took. That stuff is disgusting!

I suspect that this defiant little girl actually knew that it disgusted me. Maybe she saw my disgusted looks, I don't know. But, she continued to take the spoonfuls one at a time, and she would just look at me and smile. I think I actually remember her licking her chops too.

Grandmama finally offered her a cup of buttermilk, and she took it all too willingly! Then, she proceeded to offer both me and Granddaddy some of her supposedly yummy buttermilk. I acted like I was taking a sip, and I said, "Oooo, yummy!" Granddaddy wouldn't even play her game. Grandmama said, "Don't you want to try some of Annabelle's buttermilk Granddaddy?" "No!" he said.

So, what do you think? Do you think she only liked it because she knew I was completely disgusted or did she really enjoy herself some buttermilk?

Perhaps breast milk tastes like buttermilk? Uuuwww! Gag! That's disgusting!

Potty Training 102

Annabelle is so very independent. Maybe that is normal for a two year old? But, this seems to the extreme to me.

So, we've been working on the potty training since Wednesday afternoon, and so far, she is doing great! Of course, we haven't left the house, so only a trip to the grocery store with a two year old in panties (versus a diaper) will tell the true story.

But, Annabelle has been using her "big girl potty," and she really seems to like it. Only tonight did she decide that she also needed to try and tee tee on the big potty as well as the "big girl potty." I was afraid that this was going to be a problem, but I am surprised that she has not requested to do so sooner since she was ready to potty train using the big potty long before I ever bought the "big girl potty." Maybe I should have never introduced the "big girl potty," but I thought it would make things more fun.

So, as most of you know, the "big girl potty" comes with a pot to be emptied. Annabelle insists every time after she has tee teed in the pot that "NO! ME!" must empty the pot herself into the toilet, and she also insists that she must rinse the pot out in the sink herself.

Well, yesterday, she was taking too long rinsing the pot, and she was wasting way too much water, so I took the pot away from her and placed it back into the "big girl potty" myself. "NO! ME!" she said. She stepped down off of her stool, grabbed the pot out of the "big girl potty" where I had placed it, and then stepped back onto the stool where she only stepped right back down onto the floor to put the pot back into the "big girl potty" where she had gotten it.

Oddly enough, I had taken the pot away from her while she was standing on the stool with the pot in hand (out of the sink) ready to step down to place it into the "big girl potty." She had just taken too long rinsing it, and I was already annoyed with the time it took to rinse the pot. She was determined to not skip a beat, and this is exactly why she stepped right back onto the stool where I had taken the pot away from her originally.

She wanted to replay every single move herself! Can anyone say independent? I think I may have a Chief on my hands. What do you think? I'm also afraid that we are going to very badly butt heads in 10 years or so (if not sooner)! One stubborn, independent woman in the house is enough, don't you think?!?!

Tucking all the babies in at night

Fortunately, over the past few days, Annabelle seems to have gotten better with her bedtime routine. It still takes me forever to get her ready for bed because she turns into a wild woman at bedtime, and she is great at finding ways to stall. However, her bedtime routine consists of the following in the following order:

1. Bath (every other night)
2. Dry hair (after bath)
3. Tee tee in the potty one last time (at least I hope it is the last time...sometimes she decides that she needs to tee tee in the potty again after she has her diaper on)
4. Put diaper on
5. Last sip of juice
6. Brush teeth
7. Read two books (I stay strong on only reading two books for bedtime now. I think this was one of her stall tactics until she learned that I meant business. She still tries to negotiate for more books, but she gets over it pretty quickly).
8. Tell Annabelle to pick out books to place in the crib so she can read to her babies and Teddy
9. Nurse
10. Sing "Hush Little Baby" once while rocking Annabelle in my arms
11. Give Annabelle a hug and a kiss and tell her it is time for her to go night night, but that Mommy will sing one more song to her while she lays in bed
12. Place Annabelle in the crib
13. Annabelle turns her "fish" on (this is her Fisher Price Aquarium that she has had since she was a baby)
14. Cover Annabelle, Teddy and her "Baby Datties" with her Annabelle blanket
15. Make sure that her other blue, white, green and yellow blanket hangs over the outside of the crib
16. Sing one last tune of "Hush Little Baby" from the rocking chair while Annabelle lays in the crib and watches her fish (and sometimes counts them...one two free)
17. And LAST, but certainly not least and very, very important, tuck all of the babies in for the night!

Tucking the babies in at night includes picking up each Baby Adie, Teddy and Lorraine and giving each and every one of them a hug and a kiss. I then hug and kiss Annabelle last where she meets me somewhat halfway (on some nights) for me to give her a hug and a kiss.

Oddly enough, Annabelle knows that she has to remove her paci in order to give anyone a kiss. So, if I try to kiss the Baby Adies when they have their doll pacis in their mouths, Annabelle insists that I remove their pacis before I am able to kiss them and lay them back down in the crib. And, before I lay them back down, I must put their pacis back in their mouths! She started this particular routine earlier this week. Can anyone say OCD?

Speech Therapy?

Annabelle had her 2 year well check up on Tuesday. I voiced my concern to the doctor that Annabelle was using some consonants in place of others, such as "dorse" for horse or "durse" for nurse. He said that he would make a recommendation to me on how to assist her with the pronunciation, but if it did not get better in 2-3 months, then he would recommend she see a speech therapist. I have actually been concerned about it, but I actually had not mentioned it to anyone because I didn't want other people to assume that she had a problem (if maybe she didn't). I didn't even mention it to hubby as I didn't want him to worry about her. He (the doctor) recommended that I focus on the consonant sounds that she has trouble with such as "ha ha ha" for "horse." He said that is what a speech therapist would do.

So, all that being said, this is just another thing that makes me feel like the worst mother in the whole wide world. I feel like as a mother I am constantly judged and compared to other mothers. It makes this job that much harder. Why are men not judged and compared as much as fathers? Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how Annabelle turns out), I feel like her intelligence and behavior is a direct result of my parenting since I am the primary caregiver with her the majority of the time.

Before I had Annabelle, I honestly did think that a "late talker" was often a result of the parents not spending enough time with their children. However, I changed my view on that over a year ago! I think I expected Annabelle to start talking shortly after birth or something and when she didn't start talking fluently or clearly by 12-15 months, she was definitely "behind" in my eyes. Of course, no mother wants their child to be "behind" as we all think our child is the smartest.

Maybe I should completely disregard the even tiniest thought of homeschooling! That is scary to think that public schools could do a better job at teaching my child than me. No offense to my best friend who is a teacher in a public school as I know she must be a wonderful teacher because she's a wonderful mom!

So, all of that being said, I'm sure I'll get over this "pity party" tomorrow or the next day or maybe the next and move forward. But, in the mean time, I wanted to document all of the words that I know Annabelle knows as of 2 years of age. I'm hoping it will make me feel better.

I read somewhere that a toddler should have 50 words in their vocabulary at age 2, so it looks like she's right on target (or above target) with her vocabulary. It also said that "late talkers" were considered to be those toddlers who did not have 50 words in their vocabulary at the age of 2. They apparently know more than the 50 words they say, which I know is true with Annabelle because she can find and point out just about anything I ask her to find. She understands everything I say. For those who know her well, please comment and let me know if there are other words I am missing.

Dr. Calk said she should be 80% understandable between 2 - 2.5 years of age by other people. However, I read on the internet that at age 2 she should be between 50-75% understandable, and I think that was only by the primary caregiver. Maybe I misunderstood the doctor?

1. Annabelle (I have no clue how to write out the spelling on her name!)
2. Mommy
3. Dattie (Daddy)
4. Ganmama (Grandmama)
5. Gandattie (Granddaddy)
6. Nonnie (Nonnie)
7. A-am (Adam)
8. Pierce (Pierce)
9. Baby Attie (Baby Adie)
10. Baby Ella (I don't know how to write out her pronunciation of this word.)
11. Juice
12. Apple Juice (pronounced correctly now)
13. Gasshopper (Grasshopper) (new word over the last few days)
14. Bilk (Milk)
15. Durse (Nurse)
16. Dorse (Horse)
17. Kit Cat (Kitty Cat)
18. Boon (Balloon)
19. Bird
20. Cow
21. Dog
22. Pick Fowers (Pick Flowers...Annabelle has a book she loves called Once Upon a Picnic where Little Red Riding Hood picks the flowers in it for the big, bad wolf. We ask her what the big bad wolf is doing, and she says "Pick Fowers.")
23. Batum (Bottom)
24. Baby Doll
25. Paci
26. Balk (Walk)
27. Down
28. Doctur (Doctor)
29. Ball
30. Bite Bater (White Water)
31. Baterball (Waterfall)
32. Pictur (Picture)
33. Mickey Douse (Mickey Mouse)
34. Sing (Swing)
35. Side (Slide)
36. Sitch Sides (Switch Sides while nursing)
37. Shooz (Shoes)
38. Socks
39. Boo Boo (Boo Boo)
40. Bow (Bow)
41. Money
42. Chair
43. Sit
44. Hold You (as in "Hold you Mommy, hold you")
45. Oer Dare (Over There)
46. Dose (Those)
47. Dis (This)
48. Ont (Want)
49. Park (This was a new word she said on her birthday. It sounds sort of Bostonian.)
50. Bowl
51. Boon (Spoon)
52. Pork (Fork)
53. Book
54. Reed (Read)
55. Peas (Please)
56. Tank You (Thank You)
57. Yes Mam (Yes M'am)
58. Potty
59. Tee Tee (Tee Tee)
60. Poo Poo (Poo Poo)
61. Ticker (Sticker)
62. Hot
63. Tea (Tea)
64. Bup (Cup)
65. Ice (She actually started pronouncing this "dice," but I think she pronounces it correctly now.)
66. Nana (Banana)
67. Cado (Avocado)
68. Pear (Pear)
69. Booberries (Blueberries)
70. Orange
71. Pink
72. Purple (as in "Purple Beads")
73. Boo (Blue)
74. Big, Big, Big, Big, Big Piece
75. Sungasses (Sunglasses)
76. Teas (Trees)
77. Choo Choo Bain (Choo Choo Train)
78. Stower (Stroller)
79. Beads (Beads)
80. Biper (Diaper...although, I think she may actually say "diaper" now.)
81. Keen Up Mommy (Clean Up Mommy)
82. Butterbye (Butterfly)
83. See Outside Mommy
84. Dattie Home (Daddy Home)
85. Bye Bye
86. Hi Dare (Hi There...although, I think she may be saying "Hi There" now.)
87. Shooz Off (Shoes Off)
88. Sirt On (Shirt On)
89. No, Me! (No explanation necessary!)
90. Bash Hands (Wash Hands)
91. Rinse Off (Rinse Off)
92. Purse
93. Me Too
94. One, Two, Free (One, Two, Three)
95. Deese Fingers Down (These Fingers Down...she says this when she's trying to hold her fingers down to show us that she's two years old.)
96. Talk Dattie, Talk Nonnie, Talk Ganmama
97. Toofbrush (Toothbrush)
98. Toofpaste (Toothpaste)
99. Cheese
100. Fags (Flags)
101. Atch TV (She started asking to do this after she got sick with her bladder infection. We introduced the movie, and she loved it. Fortunately, she doesn't ask me very often, and I normally refuse.)
102. Movie (Ditto # 98)
103. Dies (Eyes)
104. Diebrow (Eyebrow)
105. Dose (Nose)
106. Boo Boo Hurt Mommy
107. Fog (Frog)
108. Bus
109. Barn
110. Cover Up Mommy
111. Wuv You (Love You)
112. Gas (Grass)
113. Tetty Bear (Teddy Bear)
114. Highchair
115. Hat On
116. Big Bird
117. Elmo
118. Help Mommy
119. Kit Kat Stoo (Kitty Cat Stool...She requests the "Kit Kat Stoo" when she wants to help Mommy in the kitchen.)
120. Butt (Butt...yes, we aren't quite sure who she learned this word from, but when we pointed to her bottom this pasty Sunday, she told us it was a "butt," "bottom," and "Heine." She said each word at a separate time, but she used them all.)
121. Heine (See # 117) (Did I spell "heine" correctly?"

The above words are not in the order they were learned (by any means)! I just listed them as I could think of them. And, I am sure I have missed some!

Okay, now (after compiling my list) I am trying to understand why I was having a "pity party." Annabelle knows a lot of words (more than the "norm"). She needs to learn to pronounce some of them better, but she is honestly getting much better with her pronunciations. As you can see, I've already noted on some words where I think she has actually improved her previous pronunciation. I think my problem is that I constantly feel that Annabelle is judged and compared to other children. Annabelle is her own self. She succeeds in other areas. And, she is NOT behind on her words even though she needs some assistance with the pronunciation. Most people do not know how much Annabelle actually does talk because they aren't around her on a daily basis, and she tends to be shy and quiet around other people besides her Mommy and Daddy.

I do think we have a VERY independent child, but I think it will serve her very well in the future. Of course, it drives me crazy on some days! She insists on doing almost everything herself (including emptying the pot to her "big girl potty" every single time she tee tees in the potty).

So, here is hoping to hear 10 or more new words every day! That is what the experts say they'll start doing around 2 years of age! Holy cow!

Potty Training 101

And the fun officially begins! Annabelle has actually been interested in using the potty to go tee tee and poo poo since September 21st, but I have officially started the forge ahead battle of potty training.

I cannot believe it has already been a month since she became interested. And, honestly, I did not mean for a month to fly by before I encouraged her to continue potty training since she was already interested in the potty. As she's asked to go "tee tee potty mommy," I have taken her to the potty and removed her diaper for her to tee tee in the potty, but I haven't pushed her to use the potty during the day when she was already wearing a diaper.

Interestingly enough, I started allowing her to walk around naked with only a shirt on once she started acting interested and started using the potty. Whenever I kept her in a diaper, she would not tell me that she needed to go potty, and instead, she would just tee tee in her diaper. However, when I allowed her to walk around naked, she was very quick to tell me that she needed to go "tee tee potty mommy" whether that meant tee tee or poo poo.

She did have several tee tee accidents, and only one poo poo accident, but it worked fairly well. Of course, the poo poo accident was disgusting to clean up, but she tried several times to go potty as she knew that her tummy was telling her that she needed to go, but she just didn't make it that third time on the way to the potty. And, yes, she was naked. But, fortunately, the prize landed on my wood floors instead of my carpet.

So, on October 11th, hubby and I took Annabelle to Wal-Mart to pick out "big girl panties." On Monday, October 20th, Annabelle and I met my parents at Babies 'R' Us to pick out a "big girl potty." And, today, October 21st, we officially started our three to four day potty training escapade. We will be going nowhere as of 2:00 p.m. today through Saturday morning.

I can already tell it is going to be a long few days. From 5:00 p.m. on, I started the potty training by reintroducing the "big girl potty" and "big girl panties." I told Annabelle that she does not want to tee tee or poo poo on the princesses on her "big girl panties" because it will make the princesses very sad. As her reward for going tee tee or poo poo in the potty, she gets a sticker, one sticker for tee teeing and two stickers for poo pooing.

Annabelle learned how to dump the "big girl potty" pot the first time she tee teed in the potty, and she has insisted "me" ever since which is her way of telling me that she wants to empty and rinse the pot all by herself. Lovely, right?!?! This child is so independent! I try really hard not to discourage this independence though. She loves to help me, and she is learning how to be assertive which will serve her well in her future.

Also, whenever she washes her hands after going potty, she insists "me." If I try to help her get the soap out of the soap dispenser or scrub her hands, she'll say, "me!"

Then, I made the mistake of letting Annabelle choose her sticker. Therefore, we probably spend 5 minutes deciding on the perfect sticker. She is already a little negotiator as she'll try to negotiate for "two" stickers instead of the one. "No, two mommy," she'll say. So far, I've been able to persuade her that she only gets one sticker instead of two stickers unless she goes poo poo in the potty. I have explained to her that she'll get two stickers when she goes poo poo in the potty. I'm still wondering why I didn't just give her a sticker instead of giving her the option, but my thoughts are that I am teaching her to make decisions and to learn that even though there is a jar full of stickers, she can only have one for tee tee and two for poo poo.

After she chooses her sticker, I have a small notebook that she places her sticker into. She seems to love using the "sticker book" as she calls it to place her sticker. I have then so far written the date and time next to the sticker. Of course, the time used is the time that we finally make our way into the kitchen to choose a sticker. It doesn't account for the 15-20 minutes we spent in the bathroom pulling down Annabelle's panties, dumping the pot, rinsing the pot, deciding that we need to try and go potty again, running away from Mommy as Mommy says, "No Annabelle, you have to wash your hands before you get a sticker," and then finally starting to struggle of "me" washing her own hands and drying her own hands.

So, this is lots of fun, and I am still trying to figure out who in their right mind would decide to start potty training their child the week that their husband is out of town! Oh yeah, that would be me!

But, I am afraid to wait any longer because Annabelle has already been interested in potty training for a month! I am afraid that if I wait that she'll decide she is no longer interested, and it is easier to just tee tee or poo poo in her diaper.

I am not expecting to have her potty trained in three days, by the way! I know this will take time, but I feel that she needs as much consistency as possible to get this potty training rolling. And, then, maybe I can save $30-$40 per month on diapers!

So, wish me luck! I know I am going to be at my wits end by Friday night when hubby gets home late after Annabelle is asleep, but who knows, maybe she'll be on her way to never wearing diapers again. Ha! Wishful thinking, I know!

Big Girl Potty

Annabelle and I met Grandmama and Granddaddy around 12:00 p.m. today at Babies 'R' Us in Duluth for Annabelle to pick out a "big girl potty."

I told Annabelle on the drive up our plans to pick out a big girl potty. She seemed excited, and she knew that she was going to pick out a big girl potty. When Grandmama asked her what she was doing at Babies 'R' Us, she said, "big girl potty."

As we neared the section of Babies 'R' Us where the potties normally are stored, I said, "I don't see them. They must have moved them." Annabelle darted ahead of us, and she was the first to find a "big girl potty."

She apparently fell in love with the first potty she found. It looks like a frog, and it is the Fisher Price Precious Planet Froggy Friend Potty. She pulled it off the shelf, and she started walking away with it as if that was it.

In the mean time, we found the other potties. Grandmama and I spent time looking over the other potties while Annabelle tried out the Froggy Friend Potty in the middle of the aisle. They did have the Sesame Street potty that I had seen previously, and I liked, and once I showed it to Annabelle, and I asked her which potty she wanted, she said, "dat one" as she pointed to the Sesame Street potty. I think she liked that you could give Elmo a high five.

Well, it didn't take her long before she changed her tune, and she was interested again, without turning back, in the Fisher Price Froggy Friend Potty. In the mean time, she shopped for Gerber Toddler meals and juice boxes and potty liners. She pulled these items off of the shelf and placed them with her new found "big girl potty."

She also ran back over to the Fisher Price Froggy Friend Potties, and grabbed another one. She then told me, "two Mommy." I really think she knows how many potties actually make two. She wanted to take two potties home.

We finally left with the Fisher Price Precious Planet Froggy Friend Potty, and Annabelle carried it all the way from the back of the store to the front checkout counter to purchase it (with her Mommy's money).

Along the way, she found a jumper that looked like a horse, or "dorse" as she likes to call horses. She was intrigued by this horse, and she wanted to climb in the jumper, but we persuaded her to do otherwise. When we finally told her it was time to go after she had already walked away from the horse, she ran back over to the horse and gave him a hug and a kiss without us even telling her to do so. Of course, after she did it once, we encouraged her to continue with her hugs and kisses in hopes that we could snap a picture of her kissing the horse with Grandmama and Granddaddy's slower and cheaper camera. I haven't seen the pictures yet, so I don't know if I actually captured one that wasn't blurry.

Fortunately, Annabelle picked the cheaper potty. There was not a price listed where the potties where stored, so I had the cashier do a price check. It rang up as $14.99! Excellent! The cashier said that they had just gotten those in, so they are apparently a new product. I actually did not encourage the Sesame Street potty any more than the one time I showed it to her originally because I thought maybe the Fisher Price Froggy Friend Potty was the cheaper one, and she seemed to like it too. I think the Sesame Street potty was $24.99 plus.

I also purchased the Sesame Street Folding Potty Seat for $9.99 to use for potty training on the go in public restrooms. I'm not sure if this is really the best option, but it looks like it covers the entire toilet to keep her bottom from the nasty germs without me having to worry about placing toilet paper on the seat while she runs around the bathroom touching every germy object in sight.

Big Girl Panties

Hubby and I took Annabelle to Wal-Mart today to pick out "big girl panties." I had actually planned to buy her "big girl panties" earlier in the week, but the weather was rainy and nasty, so I didn't want to get Annabelle out in all of the rain. So, we had groceries to buy on Saturday, so it seemed like a great time to buy Annabelle her "big girl panties."

We, of course, took pictures of our hunt for the "big girl panties." I was afraid that we weren't going to find any in her size, but we did! I actually found the last two packs of Hanes size 2T-3T panties with Disney princesses on them. We now have 14 big girl panties total. I purchased each pack of 7 panties for $7.99 plus tax. That's pretty expensive if you ask me, but I guess in the long run it will be a lot cheaper than diapers! I, honestly, do not see how people afford having more than one child in diapers. Yikes! That's expensive, not to mention stressful!

Annabelle pulled the panties off the hangers at Wal-Mart as I searched for the right size. She naturally pulled panties off that were a completely wrong size. Fortunately, she liked the Disney princess panties the best. That is definitely a good thing because the Disney princess panties were the only design that Wal-Mart actually had in her size.

I pulled a few panties out to show Annabelle, and she took one pair and reached down and tried to put the panties on. It was precious, and I think I did manage to snap the picture as she did it.

Hubby, at first, refused to take pictures because he didn't "want to look like a pervert taking pictures of his own daughter looking at panties." What? Are you serious? Men!

On the way home, I asked Annabelle if she was excited about her "big girl panties." She, of course, wanted to hold a pack on the way home. Hubby said, "Do you really want to get her interested in wearing her big girl panties when we have to leave right after her nap for Adam's birthday party?" I thought, "Hmmm. Probably not." So, somehow, on the drive home, we managed to kidnap the panties from her when she wasn't looking.

However, after we got home, she discovered them again while she was searching through my purse, and then again (after the panties from my purse were confiscated quietly) from a diaper box where hubby had hid them. We, fortunately, did not have a problem with her wanting to wear either pair though. She really just wanted to look at them.

10:00 p.m. bedtime?

I'm getting overly frustrated. Since we got back home from Jacksonville, Florida near the end of July, Annabelle has been struggling with going to sleep at a decent time. I think it has something to do with her realizing that her Daddy would be traveling full-time again (before I or her Daddy even knew). She pulled this trick back in February, March and April, and I finally decided to let her cry it out when she was 18 months old.

Well, now it is a completely different struggle, and I am getting more and more frustrated every single night. It has become a vicious cycle, and just when I think I've figured her out again, she decides to let me know that I'm wrong!

She normally wakes up anywhere between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. She goes down for a nap every day by 2:00 p.m. (sometimes 2:30 p.m.), and I try to wake her up between 4:00 and 4:15 p.m.

Well, today she woke up at 8:45 a.m. We had breakfast, and I then got her dressed so we could go to the library. I had planned to leave the house by 10:30 a.m., but as usual, Annabelle was on her own schedule, and I was lucky to get her fed, dressed and out the door by 10:45 a.m. She fights me tooth and nail to get her diaper changed and to get her dressed. She cannot stand to have her diaper changed any more. But, yet, she is very anxious to change her Baby Adie's diaper (and brush her teeth). Which, by the way, she fights me every day and every night when I try to brush her teeth. This is so very frustrating when hubby is out of town. It takes forever to get anything done!

So, this evening, we finished eating dinner around 6:45 p.m., and then we played and cleaned until 7:45 p.m. She had grabbed her paci and Teddy at this point, so she seemed like she was getting pretty tired. I've already come to the conclusion that bedtime needs to be later, so I shoot for 9:00 p.m. now. So, from 8:00 p.m. until 8:45 p.m., I dressed her for bed, brushed her teeth and read her at least 5 books that I can count from memory. I laid her down in her crib at 9:15 p.m., and I left her in her crib as she asked me once again to "durse, mama, durse." I told her that she had already nursed, and she had her chance, but I would be back to check on her again in 5 minutes, and if she still needed to nurse then, that she could. Of course, she's crying at 9:17 p.m., so I nursed her, and I then laid her back down. I tried to use my new method which worked for only a few days to tell her I'd be back to check on her.

To make an already long story short, I left her room at 10:15 p.m., and it is 10:41 p.m., and she hasn't cried again. However, when I had checked on her last, her Fisher Price Aquarium had died, and she was crying because she wanted it "back on, mama." Does anyone know what a pain it is to change the batteries in that thing? I had to pull the crib out from the wall, find the screwdriver (which I had to call hubby to ask the whereabouts), unscrew the plate, and then find D batteries. Naturally, we didn't have any D batteries that actually worked! So, I had to persuade Annabelle to let me sing to her instead. I don't want to get in the habit of singing her to sleep, so I sang two songs, and I then told Annabelle I'd be back to check on her later this evening. Hopefully, she will be asleep when I check on her again!

I should mention that when I told Annabelle that the Fisher Price Aquarium was not working properly because it needed new batteries that she stood up and pointed to the plate on the back of the Aquarium where you change the batteries. She knew where the batteries needed to go because she saw us change them last time. It is amazing the things they pick up on. She hadn't used that Aquarium for a long time until just recently (over the past several months) when I decided that I needed another crutch since lying her down to let her fall asleep on her own just wasn't working any more. I guess I should have made sure I had more batteries on hand, huh?

So, my days and nights seem to become one when hubby is out of town. This is very frustrating to me because I feel like any spare time I have needs to be spent cleaning (while Annabelle is sleeping). Hence why I haven't blogged in awhile.

And, I know a lot of people think I should wake her up earlier in the mornings. But, believe me, I've tried many different times and methods. It doesn't seem to work with her. Even when she wakes up early, she still stays up late! So, that leaves me with even less time to do those things I need to do while she's sleeping, so why bother to wake a sleeping toddler early in the morning, especially when she's not a morning person? That's another wonderful trait she got from her mother! She's never been very happy in the morning. It takes her awhile to get going. That probably has something to do with why I cannot get out the door in the morning before 10:30 a.m., and 10:30 a.m. is on a great day!

So, I'm trying to be patient as I know I have another month and a half (at least) of dealing with a toddler on my own who doesn't like to sleep, Monday through Friday! I'm trying to stay positive. I am just very thankful hubby still has a job! I know deep down that this "shift work" was actually a blessing since work had been so slow for him for many months. Let's just hope that work in the ATL picks up again so that he'll be home again full-time after the New Year!

Not to mention, I know that traveling is really tearing him up inside because he doesn't want to leave "his girls" on Sundays. I try to also remind myself to be thankful that I'm not the one traveling. As he told me this past Sunday, "Jenn, I know you probably don't feel this way, but you really do have the more fun job." Well, he said something like that. I am sure I probably quoted it wrong. He was saying this because I get to enjoy all of her silly moments. Of course, I think I enjoy these moments more when he's around at night because it gives me an opportunity to watch them play together.