Merry Christmas!

From The Franklins

Potty Talk

Amelia switched from diapers to undies right around her second birthday. But, she's still in the stage where many conversations revolve around going to the bathroom. Come to think of it, so is Marley. And Jeff. Hmm...when, exactly, does this stage end?

Anyway, here are some of Amelia's recent mots de toilette.

The other day Amelia was dressed up like a princess, and Jeff was trying to get her to take a potty break.

Jeff: Time for the princess to go pee on the potty.
Amelia: No, princesses don't go pee on potties.
Jeff: They don't? Where do princesses pee, then?
Amelia: (thinks for a while) On snowflakes!

Jeff was reading to the kids before bed one night, when Amelia mused, "It's so easy to pee in my night time diaper."

Amelia: (randomly announced while coloring) I'm not pooping.
Me: Do you need to go poop?
Amelia: No.
Me: Are you sure?
Amelia: I said I'm not pooping.
Me: (skeptically) Okay.
Amelia: (one minute later) I'm pooping!

We often tell her to 'listen' to her bladder to know when it's time to use the bathroom. I guess we haven't been very clear on what a bladder is, because the other day she told us, "My bladder is telling me I have to go poop."

At first Amelia wasn't too keen on pooping on the potty, so she would ask for a 'poop diaper'. Her favorite place to poop was in front of her dollhouse. I think, because it put her in a squat position that was
perfect for pooping. Thankfully, it wasn't long before she transitioned out of the poop diaper and onto her little potty. Unfortunately, the poop location remained the same.

Now she's about 50/50 with the little potty/regular potty, when it comes to pooping. But, when we're out and about and she has to go, her first question is always, "Do they have a doll house here?"

Now, off to print a copy of this post and stick it in her 'to-be-read-at-graduation' file.

The Big Oh-Five!

Stay tuned for more about five-year-old Marley. In the meantime, here he is growing up WAY too fast!

Grammy and Grumpy

We just finished a lovely week-long visit from my parents.  Now, it's back to watching my own kids. And doing my own laundry.  And making my own food.  And taking out my own trash.  And wrapping my own Christmas gifts.

We miss you already, Grandma and Grandpa!

Gummy Grin

Milestone: First Social Smile
How Old: 5 weeks
Who: At Daddy
Where: On the plane to San Diego

Just in time, too. He's going through that awkward baby acne stage, and the smile really goes a long way toward helping him out in the looks department.

Burp!

I tend to be a really lazy baby burper. Honestly, I thought burping your baby after a feeding was mainly a formality anyway. With Marley and Amelia I would give a few pats on the back (if that) and call it good. They would be asleep by the end of the feeding half the time anyway, and I never wanted to disturb them too much.

Samuel, however, actually needs to be burped. I may have mentioned before that he is a very aggressive eater. He gulps down his meal, along with LOTS of air. And he hardly ever falls asleep while nursing. Seriously, what newborn doesn't fall asleep at the boob?? He is generally really fussy and uncomfortable after a feeding. This is SO not what I'm used to!

Not only does he actually need to be burped, he's also kind of difficult to burp. It takes almost as much time to burp him as it does to feed him. Plus, I can never get the patting on the back thing to produce a burp. So, I've developed my own method that involves sandwiching him between the palms of my hands and bouncing him on my lap. It sometimes works. Of course, if it doesn't, there's always the other method, where I wait for the 'burp' to make its way out the other end.

Dinner Hour

Sometimes, while I'm making dinner in the evening, everyone is contentedly doing their own thing. I might even have a chance to sit down at the kitchen table with a magazine and a cup of tea. On those nights the house looks something like this:



Other times, however, things get a little more chaotic. They usually start off well enough. Samuel's upstairs sleeping, Jeff's on his way home from work, the big kids are coloring at the kitchen table. Then, things begin to go downhill. Sam wakes up. I go up to change him and put him in a carrier (I've been practicing my back carry just for this purpose!). By the time I get back to the kitchen the food is usually burning and the big kids have managed to get into some sort of trouble. On those nights, it looks something like this: