Potty Training is No Picnic: Part 2

Urinary tract infections aren't pleasant and as an adult when you get one, you know. This is not so when you are a 2 year old just learning how to use the potty. When you are a 2 year old just learning how to use the potty you are constantly announcing your bathroom visits to your parents. You're giving them constant updates about your, well, let's just call her Gina (pronounced Geena). Gina normally doesn't have any problems, but then halfway into the training process you start telling your parents that Gina hurts. The incessant updates begin to make your parents wonder if maybe there really is something wrong, but how to check and know that there is an issue? If your mother is Tawnie Wong, you Google it. And this is where I found out that potty training may make you act like an insane person, but suspecting that your daughter has a U.T.I truly makes you a lunatic of a person.

I have done things that I never thought I would ever have---or would ever---want to do all because I am now a mother and it all began with Googling Toddler U.T.Is. Thank the Lord I decided to opt out on looking at the picture portions of my "research". I am ashamed to admit that I followed Google's advice and promptly began taking at home urine samples, inspecting that urine and even, yes it's true, getting up close and personal with Lennon's friend Gina (and it is here that you should be glad I am not providing too much detail). After all my efforts all signs pointed to something being amiss with poor little Gina. Finally I could warrant calling the doctor (God forbid that I actually listen to my intuition and do that to begin with).

Of course our pediatrician wanted to see us right away and I promptly got an appointment. Being the "always be prepared" type mother that I am I of course had a few questions to get answered prior to our appointment. Would Lennon need to give the Doctor a fresh urine sample? Yes. So keep her extremely hydrated. Would the doctor be extracting this sample via a catheter? No. Not unless Lennon could not give one in the course of our appointment, and since she is doing so well potty training this shouldn't be a problem. Riiiiight.....

I am very blessed to have a daughter who loves going to the doctor. This could be because she has a hypochondriac for a mother, but I choose to think it's because she has an inkling to be in a medical profession (preferably a high paid, highly recommended and highly lauded surgeon). So getting Lennon to the doctor is never ever an issue. She loves showing off at the doctor's office to all the receptionists, nurses and pediatricians. She loves asking questions about the medical tools. She is even a fabulous listener and follows all the doctor's and nurse's directions. This day, however, was not just any other day.

Lennon refused to follow any of my or the doctor's directions. She flipped her lid at every tool the doctor brought out and cried bloody murder if it came so much as a foot away from her. No sticker and no treat could pry my kid's will. Then came the request for a urine sample. Well, to cut to the chase--after almost 25 minutes of clawing, scratching, wiggling and screaming in the bathroom and generally refusing to let her pee go, as my hand searched for just one drop of pee to put in the cup, she pees (and probably out of sheer terror since I hit a new low and began threatening her). Where does the small bit of pee she was willing to let go end up going? Down my arm. As I tried to pool some of this "sample" into the sterilized cup this was the one and only time I ever wished to have a son. The two of us then left the restroom covered in three major bodily fluids: tears, sweat and urine (I brought most of the urine).

As we broke free from our toileted prison I got "the look" from all the nurses. You know "the look". It's a look of dogged pity and harsh criticism combined. Pity for Lennon and criticism for me. Poor Sweet Lennon on the one hand, and Evil Pee Extractor Lady on the other. Then the cherry on top of this shitty sundae: Lennon did not provide ENOUGH pee to test. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! So, what do they ask me to do? I must stay and coax the pee out of her for as long as it takes. Uh-uh, no way, no how. Catheter? Nope, that may make the situation worse by traumatizing her more. So now my punishment for my past deeds is to lock myself in a bathroom with my toddler and make her pee into a cup, providing she give enough pee to put in said cup. Where's Daddy when you really need him??

Thank the Lord there was one light at the end of this tunnel: Grandma Sweet's house. Grandma Sweet's house is right around the way from our pediatrician's office and of course Lennon loves, loves, loves, Grandma Sweet's house. It's a house full of fun, constant attention and treats. The perfect place to potty. I was able to convince the staff to give me a pee package to go: 1 sterile swab, 1 sterilized cup complete with Lennon's name on the label and 1 bio-hazard bag. We are allowed to go to Grandma's, a relaxing and pleasant environment, package in hand and collect Lennon's sample there.

It only took about a half hour of Uncle Cody (age 6) to make Lennon laugh, Grandma supplying a constant supply of drinking water/bribes and my hand crushed beneath Lennon's rear and in a toilet to collect a full and adequate sample. A sample which I quickly ran to back to the office, only to be re-routed to the Hospital's Lab. With all the money we pay for insurance and money given directly to the pediatrician's office, I had to deliver the sample to the lab myself. Oh motherhood! How I love thee!

Now the really funny thing about this story is that Lennon's lab results were inconclusive. She had a higher level of abnormal cells in her urine, which COULD indicate an infection but not such a high level of abnormal cells that indicate a full infection. You may be asking yourselves, so what does that mean? Well my friends, that means I had to experience this all over again!

Two year olds are twice the fun!

Beastie the Homemaker

Here is Lennon modeling her brand new, hand made apron from G-ma Lawrence that she got for Christmas. G-ma Lawrence (Grandma Sweet/Barb's mom) loves to sew and make gifts for the grandchildren for Christmas. She has made the grandchildren all sorts of gifts, from quillows to hats to purses. I love the idea of homemade gifts (if only I could sew!), there are the ones that come from the heart and these are things we will keep for generations (or as long as they stand the test and wear of a toddler).

Lennon loves to cook in her kitchen and thank goodness she has an apron her size because she is a messy cook (just like her Daddy).

Thank you G-ma Lawrence for the perfect gift!

COOKIES!!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! You can smell it a mile away. Grandma Sweet's Annual Sugar Cookie Baking/Decorating Day. WOO HOO! I think this day is the most looked forward to during the whole Christmas season, and more so by the adults than the children. : )
When I first joined the Sweet family I heard many great things about this day. Barb makes tubs and tubs of sugar cookie dough and invites everyone over to cookie cut, decorate, bake and get into the holiday spirit. An essential family tradition. I have to say out of all the family traditions, this one is becoming one of my favorites and is something I hope that Lennon begins to look forward to every year.
This was Lennon's first year of participating in this family get together and boy did she ever enjoy it! It took a lot of effort to try and explain to a 22 month old why she can't eat cookie dough (but her Mommy can) and that she should be extra careful when decorating. As you can see she is a true artiste. It was so cute to watch her concentrate on each detail of cookie making. The painting and the sprinkles were her favorite part of the event, of course. And she didn't once pick her nose while handling the food. SUCCESS!!! It is true that some cookies get some extra tidbits of love put into them (thankfully they are usually eaten by their own makers). But that's part of the fun. Think of it as an added surprise.
I only had the energy and patience to let Lennon decorate about 4 cookies (two of which I was able to get pictures of), but I figure by next Christmas we may be able to double that number.
Hopefully by then I can get a copy of Barb's recipes and try it out myself at home. I hope to be the envy of the neighborhood with all of my perfect Christmas treats.
Thanks to Michelle I am well on my way. We spent a few long nights trying out new cookie recipes, so that we could make treats for family and friends. Next year I am sure we will get the hang of the whole "timing" thing (Who knew how long it took for dough to get firm in the fridge? Lesson learned.), but all in all it was a success. We were able to gift: Chocolate Crinkles (the favorite of all the cookies), Cheesecake Bars, Gingerbread Pinwheels, Candy Cane cookies and even a few professionally decorated sugar cookies---When I say professional, I mean the adults got a chance to decorate. : ) Thanks to Julia for showing us how the "Queen of Sugar Cookies" creates the perfectly decorated angel and gingerbread man.
On top of all that I actually spent a day at home experimenting with my own creations. Thanks to my Mom for cluing me in on how to make her pretzel treats (they were a huge hit) and to John for giving me instructions on how to make his delicious white chocolate covered pretzels. I wasn't brave enough to try that one on my own, so I
had Josh lend a hand on that one. I should have had him shop for the chocolate for that recipe too, since I am hopeless at reading directions. We now have enough Almond Bark white chocolate to last us till next Christmas! Any ideas on what to do with the extra, please send them my way. : )
In case you want to make your own special treats here is the fave recipe of this year:
Chocolate Crinkles
4 tbsp unsalted butter
8 ounces of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of baking powder
Topping: 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Directions:
1. In the microwave or double boiler slowly melt your chocolate and butter together. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale and fluffy. You want to see slow ribbons falling back into the bowl when you lift your beaters. Then beat in vanilla and stir in your chocolate mixture.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients into the
chocolate mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate
until firm enough to shape into balls (3-4 hours or overnight).
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and place your rack in the center of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set those aside.
5. Place the powder sugar into a shallow bowl. With lightly greased hands roll the chilled dough to form a 1 inch diameter ball. Place the ball into the powder sugar and roll until covered completely. Tap off excess sugar if needed.
6. Space cookies about 2 inches apart on your baking sheets and bake the cookies 8 to 10 minutes. I like to bake them for 8 minutes so that they come out a little more soft, kind of like a brownie bite. Do not over bake, this will cause the cookies to become very dry.
7. Remove them from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

These cookies are best when eaten the day they are made.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Trimming the Tree

Our first Christmas in the new house! Wow, it's hard to believe. We weren't quite prepared to decorate a whole house this year, so our Christmas trimmings were a bit on the light side. (Thanks to the Volkerts for loaning us their regal Nativity set!) Hopefully our Christmas spirit made up for our lack of Christmas decorations.

We used our small artificial tree this year. Neither Josh nor I was willing to brave the Christmas tree hunt out in the wild this December. Hopefully by next December that will change, because I sure did miss the smell of a real tree in the house. Although I think our artificial one was much sturdier than we thought, considering Lennon was all a flutter when she saw it and couldn't keep her hands off of it. Thankfully there were no Christmas tree casualties.

This was Lennon's first year participating in decorating the Christmas tree. As you can see she was very meticulous in where she chose to hang her ornaments. Thank goodness I am no Martha Stewart, expecting absolute perfection and symmetry. Lennon took a quick liking to the

Christmas balls that we had bought at Target. I suppose they were the exact size for her petite hands, which couldn't resist them. Lennon's clustering technique was a bit unconventional, but I think it could catch on. Her Christmas Cluster is rather cute.

With Lennon growing like a weed no ornament within her reach was safe. Thank goodness I learned right away Mommy Christmas Tip #1: All cherished ornaments need to be exempt from the tree or else placed high, towards the top. Her little mittens loved touching and exploring each ornament. Many of them were shuffled and found in new places. A little surprise for Mommy every day.

Lennon is much like a squirrel, she loves to hoard, pile and hide objects. Many a hook, ribbon and string were lost this year, making many of the ornaments unusable. Towards the end of the month the tree became very top heavy and bare bottomed.

Kudos to Josh for using three strands of lights on our tree. Don't worry Mom--he strings the lights just like you do! We are carrying on that Christmas tradition. We also used Grandma Sweet's (Barb) homemade tree skirt, which is beautiful and fit perfectly, aside from Lennon slipping and sliding on it as she tried to fit herself under the tree. Next year we may have to put some sort of gripping underneath the skirt so our little miss doesn't "schwip fawl".

Josh and I can hardly wait until next Christmas! We hope to rival the Griswold's in spectacular light displays and I will attempt some Martha Stewart like touches inside the house. Most of all, we can't wait to see how Lennon's face lights up with excitement as the decorations come out and how she beams with pride as she helps carry-out new family traditions.