Monday, December 7, 2009

Can a 2 year old understand death?

Just a little background...

On November 24th my grandpa passed away. He was a great man and we were all very close to him. It broke my heart to see him go, but I know it was for the best.

They day he died we went to my Grandma's house to offer her support, followed by a day of visitation and a day of funeral. We brought Rylan and Tatum along with us, and my cousins also brought their children who are all around the same age as mine. I really didn't think anything of it.

At the funeral, Tony, Rylan, Tatum and I were there about 20 minutes before anyone else (that's a first!). We stayed in the entrance way as I wanted my Grandma to see Grandpa first. Rylan was running around as any 23 month old would be and went into the room with the casket. She came back out with her finger up to her lips and said, "shhhh, Big Papa sleeping". Of course I broke down. It was so sweet, I was super emotional and I couldn't be strong any longer.

Throughout the day she would say it again and again and we would just agree with her.

Now on to this weekend and again today. Tony and Rylan were flipping through a book and there was a picture of a baby sleeping in a bassinet. Rylan looks at Tony and says, "shhhhh baby sleeping" and had the saddest look on her face. Then she started crying, just quietly. Little tears were streaming down her cheeks and she just kept repeating it again and again. We tried explaining to her that the baby would wake up eventually. We finally just distracted her with some crayons and a colouring book to cheer her up. It was so sad.

Today I put her in a pair of pants that were too big so that she could take them off easily by herself if she had to go pee. They were quite big, so I put a little clip on them like the ones they use on Say Yes to the Dress to hold them up. She got annoyed with "clippy" and I took it off and was using it as a puppet with an insanely annoying voice. I got tired of playing with Clippy so I set it down on the couch and told her that Clippy was sleeping. BIG MISTAKE! She started with the sad little face again and then the tears started again. I picked Clippy up as fast as I could and kept saying, "I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm awake!!!!!".

I don't know what to do. I tried to explain to her today that Big Papa died and that he's not sleeping. Have I ruined my toddler? I didn't know a 2 year old could be sad over something real and not just over dropping a jelly bean! I didn't think she would be able to understand death or that taking her to the visitation and funeral would affect her like this.

I hope I can get her to like the word sleeping again.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

All potty, all the time... ok most of the time!

So Rylan has taken well to the potty. We tried the 1/2 naked method where she just runs around bottomless for a few days. It really worked well. By day 5 she wasn't even telling us she had to go, she would just sit on the potty, pee/poo and then tell us about it after! It was great!
Yesterday we tried incorporating underwear into the equation. It wasn't accepted as well as we had hoped. I think Rylan thought they acted like a diaper and just kept peeing in them! Today she peed a little then would tell us, so we'd help her get her get to the potty in time to finish. I guess it's progress? I'm really starting to wonder how to get my kid back into pants without a diaper! Any suggestions?!

I feel like I never chat about Tatum! She is such a wonderful baby... so calm, quiet, eats, sleeps, she is a dream! Rylan was also a dream at this age (still is)... I guess I'm just lucky or I will really pay for it when they're teenagers!

Tatum smiles so often and could cheer up the gloomiest of people. It melts my heart!
We tried her out in the Jolly Jumper this weekend for the first time. She really seems to like it. She taps her feet but hasn't mastered jumping yet. Rylan tries to help her jump... it's cute! They seem to really love each other. And I can't begin to tell you how much I love them! <3

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

It's my potty and I'll cry if I want to!

It has begun. The dreaded chore of potty training. I have been talking about starting potty training Rylan for a few months now and finally decided to bite the bullet and start.
We start our day off by watching "The Potty Movie for Girls". Today is day 2. So far we have had 11 pees and 2 poops in the potty and 6 pee accidents total.
Pretty good for our first 2 days I think. I decided to try something I read a long time ago. I have been letting Rylan run around like a crazy woman with no pants on. No diaper, no underwear, no pants. Just the cutest little bare bum running around. I have also been bringing the potty into whatever room we're in and giving out Smarties as a reward. To get her on the potty every hour or after a drink I ask her what colour of Smarties she would like. To which she replies, "purple, black". So I put a purple one in one hand and a black (brown) one in the other hand. She sits calmly on the potty and finishes her Smarties. When she does her business on the potty, I let her grab a handful of Smarties out of the box to celebrate along with numerous hugs, kisses and high fives. Rylan is still sporting a diaper for naps and night time. I am hoping to get her out of a diaper for naps in the next 2 weeks and then we will work on the over night thing.
Anyway, I'm tired and off to bed. We have Christmas photos in Stratford tomorrow... hopefully they turn out fantastic!