three

The Sprout's third birthday has come and gone.  It was really fun because he is finally old enough to realize that it is HIS birthday.  Family came over, we opened presents and had cake.  We also did the inevitable ..cut his hair.  Nanny lined up with the scissors and the curls fell to the ground.  I will let you know that the Sprout wanted his hair cut.  He kept telling me "Mommy, Nanny cut hair?"  So, I had to let it happen.  He looks like a little boy, and it is really hard to get used to.

He has grown so much this year that you really can't write it all down at once.  I will sum up what he is like now.

He talks, and asks "why?" with a Yorkshire accent.
He runs and jumps and hops.  He is good at kicking the soccer ball.
He sings.
He can be bossy and still throws tantrums.
He can sit still for short periods of time.
He understands a little too much.
He is almost fully potty trained, we still have some accidents.
He really likes cars, trains, and air planes and luckily he got all three for his birthday.
He has friends.

He is going into pre-school next week.  He has been slowly introduced the past week and he is very excited as all of his friends are there.

On Sunday, we are going to have a small birthday/Halloween party with pumpkin carving.  And yes, we have the famous Halloween tree.

This year I am going to take the Sprout Trick-or-Treating.  He is going to be a monkey.

That is about it.  Happy birthday Sprout.

Rain, rain, go away.

Rain, rain, rain. That is all this Summer has been. July 4th began three days of intermittent downpours that brought a seasons worth of rain all at once. Floods everywhere.



On the plus side, I have been doing allot of dancing in the rain. The air has been quite warm, but doesn't reach above 70 degrees often.  Our back garden is a swampy jungle, but this has not been a good year for the garden I had started.  The strawberry plants are huge and trying to produce strawberries,but they rot before they turn red.  The peas were successful, but then the snails got to the pods before we did.  Our corn is tiny and the leaves are shredded.  We have two corn plants growing inside to see if we can get something.  I am still waiting on the success of a cauliflower plant and some slow growing onions.

My sunflowers, on the other hand, are blooming and are at least 5 feet tall.  Our fushia bushes, which were tiny last year, are huge and bushy, and the roses are finally full of blossoms.



But let's talk about snails.  I am amazed at the quantity and size of this years snails.  Today I found a snail whose home was 1 inch in length. and about that in height.  I do not come from a place where snails are common place.  I am used to huge slugs in mass quantities, snails are almost a welcomed guest.  My mom is an amazing slug hunter.  I have this vision of her in her garden impaling slugs without a second thought.   Last year, after dark, I would go snail hunting.  I would smash any snail of a small to medium size and throw large snails over the fence into the road.  I felt awful.  So this year I put out poison.  The only problem is that you are left with hundreds of snail shells all over the garden and then I still feel awful.  The recent rain has made it difficult to keep the poison around, so the Sprout and I routinely scour the garden collecting snails and throwing them over the fence.

This Summer has been a total bummer in terms of weather.  It is a good thing that so many cool things (the Jubilee, Wimbledon, and the Olympics) are happening to detour us from the weather.

Rosebery Gangs

The 3-9 year olds in the neighbourhood are looking for new recruits.  The warmer weather has brought all the boys out to the street to ride their bikes and have water fights.  The Sprout looks longingly at them all.  You can tell he wants to play, and they can tell he is watching them.

We keep getting little ones coming into the garden (without asking may I add) to show the Sprout things and asking if the Sprout can play.  I am very uncomfortable with the situation because I do not come from a neighbourhood background.  I don't know how to interact with other people's unsupervised children and I am shocked by the shear number of little boys who want to play with the Sprout.

The Sprout still doesn't communicate through speech very well, and though the majority of the children are from households of 3-4 children (so they know what it's like to have little siblings), I don't like that he can't fully say what he means. I also don't know these children, but I know the kind of parents who are raising them, and though the wars between the parents of the children don't keep the boys from playing together, I am still wary of the kind of people the Sprout may be interacting with.

This is all the next stage of single child mom jitters.  It doesn't help that this is not the way that I made friends when I was little.  It also doesn't help that the children play on a road that taxis use as a shortcut.  More than that, the age range really freaks me out.  The Sprout is 2 1/2 and I just don't think he is ready for playing around in a group of boys ranging from the ages of 3-9.

Recently there has been an increase of birthday parties.  We went to one last week and we are attending one this Sunday.  This is more like it.  Children the Sprout's age, from his nursery class in fact, running around together for a set amount of time surrounded by their parents.  The only thing that would make this perfect would be if it was outside my house.  I am not a fan of the "playdate," but it would be nice for the Sprout to be able to play with other kids.

Easter

Another candy holiday is upon us, Easter.  Easter and Valentine's Day seem to be "sugar holidays" in my mind.  Mixed chocolates, jelly beans and (in England) HUGE CHOCOLATE EGGS.

In England, it is customary to give everyone a huge hollow chocolate egg that is filled with one kind of candy or another, like a huge chocolate egg filled with M&M's or a huge chocolate egg filled with smaller Cadbury eggs with the goo in the middle).  This is a far removed tradition for me, as because I am American, any hollow chocolate item means really bad tasting, cheap chocolate.  In England this is not the case, they take their chocolate seriously and therefore all these chocolate eggs are worth eating.

The thing is, when you are a little kid, you may end up with 3-4 eggs (or more!), because EVERYONE gives you one.  When I was little, my Easter Bunny gave me a basket full of plastic eggs filled with jelly beans and M&M's, some of the little solid chocolate eggs (yummy chocolate), and maybe a Cadbury Egg.  There was also a soft toy, a little bit of cash (the GREEN egg) and the hard boiled eggs we decorated.

This is the first year we have taken the Easter Bunny on board.  Knowing that the Sprout would get at least one chocolate egg, I had to steer away from the chocolate.  I went with some jelly beans and gummy candy in plastic eggs (it is hard to find plastic eggs here).  We also got a stuffed toy and a spade for the garden (the Easter Bunny wants the Sprout to plant him some lettuce).  Of course, within an hour all of the jelly beans and gummy candy was gone, and the chocolate hollow bunny his great nan gave him (Smatries) had been gutted.  Needless to say I have a pixi on crack running around the house.

What I would really love to do, is make my own hollow chocolate Easter Egg as our holiday tradition.  it would be a fun thing for all of us to do and to give them to each other.

Big boy

We have taken the plunge into potty training.  In the past few months we have been doing it on and off, but yesterday marked the beginning of "hardcore" potty training.  The Sprout is helping by refusing to wear a diaper, which is a bit annoying.

Yesterday, he spent the whole day naked and did quite well.  He even pooped.  Last night he refused to wear a diaper to bed, so I loaded up his mattress with towels and cloth diapers.  He was dry for most of the night, which was impressive and when he woke up, the bed wasn't as wet as I had expected, or at least the layers had done their jobs.

Today was a bit different.  The Sprout had to wear clothes as we had to go out in the morning.  We went through 3 pairs of pants before we had a poo and then he refused to wear clothes any more.  It seemed that when he was wearing clothes, he had no interest in using the potty.  It seems that we need to work on wearing clothing, at least underwear, and using the potty.

Again tonight he refused to wear a diaper to bed and before he fell asleep, he had already wet the bed, but I don't think there is a need to push it.  I am just happy we had to buy a new washer/dryer, which is the most awesome thing ever.


Other big boy things:

I must also add that the Sprout has become quite the little helper around the house.  He loves to sweep up messes and help with the vacuuming.

We have been keeping up our seasonal tree and have just started decorating it for Easter.

Bumpy Ride

Wearing Wellies

Not wearing Wellies

Everyday is a roller coaster with a toddler.  There are many times of awesome fun, funny, cute and horribly frustrating moments.

We are coming upon 28 months (or about 2 and a half) and lately the fun moments have been out-shined by the horribly frustrating moments.

The Sprout, like any toddler, is a handful and I fear it is bringing out the stressed and frustrated side of me that I really don't like.  We have been struggling for power for awhile and my little Sprout is a worthy adversary.  He is one of the most head strong people I know and would rather not go outside than put on his jacket or boots.  All of these battles make me furious and frustrated because I know they are upstaging my enjoyment of this period or the enjoyment of 5 minutes ago.

It finally snowed, meaning it is cold and wet outside.  The Sprout usually sports his skull Wellies proudly however, for some reason, he wants to wear his canvas space shoes (also beloved as we have them in 5 sizes now).  Wearing these shoes would mean cold, wet feet.  After 20 minutes of me trying to sound like a calm social worker who is stupidly trying to reason with a 2 year old, admittedly, I gave in.  Richard had his Nan on the phone, who now thinks we are degenerate parents who lets their child do whatever he wants.  I just wanted to go outside and play in the snow.  I figured, when his feet get cold, he will know what I meant.

I guess his feet don't get cold, because later that night, he still wanted to wear his canvas shoes for moon gazing and a snowball fight.  We fought and I held firm and he took off his hat and shoes and sat in the living room.  About 5 minutes after the stand-off, he brought in his boots.  We could now enjoy the moon and a late night snowball fight (he didn't have a coat on, but I didn't feel like making it a big deal).

Here is the question I pose, do I have to stand firm when every fibre of my being doesn't care or even doesn't believe in the fight at hand?  If no one is going to die and I don't really care, why do I have to pretend to care.  If I know his arms won't fall off from frostbite, why do I care that he doesn't wear a jacket?  I can get one for him when he realizes I was right.  More than that, why should I fight when it makes me a worse person?  Why should I ruin the moment if no one is going to get hurt?  Why should I end up the mother everyone stares at in the Supermarket because I have just called my child a horrible brat and the on lookers aren't sure if I'm going to give the toddler a smack (this has never happened as we don't go to the Supermarket. However, I have seen these parents many times and now I know why they have acted this way in public.  People without kids...shut up, you don't know).

To me it isn't exactly about letting him do what he wants.  He is still sent to his room when he hits, his pens are taken away if he uses them inappropriately.  If he decides he wants to be carried on a walk, we don't get to stop at the park (we actually did this, it was the most horrible thing to stay strong on). This is about the little things.  If I know he will wear his coat when he gets cold, why should I care he doesn't want to keep from getting cold by wearing it?

Should I be allowed to parent the way I want?  Most of the people who have had kids say no, and I hear you.  But I am tired and I am especially tired of these toddler years (which everyone says I should cherish because they don't last long) being ruined by small things.

Tiny steps

I didn't realize it, but as of the 23rd of November, the Sprout has been walking independently  for a year!!  Here is a video to remind us of his very first independant steps.




And now:




It is amazing all of the little milestones that were involved in the development of his movement this year.

• Stomping
• Shuffling
• Running
• Leaping
• Hopping with two feet
• Jumping

He has just developed galloping and chasse(ing).  The fun never ends.

That's so funny!

Revisiting Britmom's prompts of the week

• One thing I do that makes my child laugh is…
• One thing that my child does that makes ME laugh is…

The Sprout is sooooo funny (as I am sure most little ones are, but mine is funnier...).  We are going through a rough patch, not only because we babied him whilst he was sick, but also because he is 2.  So we need to do things that make us laugh.

He loves tickles!  Richard and the Sprout can tickle each other till the cows come home.  He also enjoys jumping from the table to the couch and anything dangerous.  But his favourite thing is to be chased.  He will run in circles for ages and laughs and laughs and laughs.  A commercial that ALWAYS makes him laugh is the IAMS cat on the IAMS cat food commercial.

He also likes the Pedigree Dentastix Doggie Denture commercial

There are a million things he does that makes me laugh.  But what gets me every time (and he knows this) is when he gives me this little mischievous look.  I wish I could describe it.  He squints his eyes and gives a little mischievous smile...it is so cute.  He knows it makes me laugh because he does it when I am mad at him, or thinking about something seriously or when I look concerned in general I think.  He tilts his head into my view and gives a little "Puck Smile".

Another thing that makes me laugh is his little dance.  He seems to dance to everything, from my ringtone to a commercial jingle.  We have recently incorporated Nick Jr. into our TV watching (moving up from Baby TV).  They have allot of energetic songs on the shows they play.  Besides Dorra the Explorer, they also have a program called Bubble Guppies (link to one of the songs, Outside song) and Umizoomi.  They are full of annoying songs that kids love.

Although we seem to be playing allot of tug-o-war of wills, there is allot of laughter to help balance it all out.

The plague, again.

I haven't been keeping up with the daily prompts, but I have an excuse, I swear.

The Sprout has been sick for the past week.  Richard got his first "please come pick up your child" from the nursery last Friday.  He has had a horrible cough that has sparked two incidences of projectile vomiting (luckily in the kitchen). He had a high fever for a couple of days and he has reverted to infant status.  He only naps if he is lying on me, wakes immediately if I put him down.  He won't eat, always whines and wants to be carried everywhere. He wakes up every hour at night with a horrible cough. Needless to say, I can't get anything done.  I have many crafts I want to start!

So there you go.

I have had a little one for 2 years and we are still trying to figure out how we are supposed to balance husband/wife time with parent time.  Luckily, we both have the kind of jobs where there isn't much to bring home except all the stress that has formed through out the day, and the physical exhaustion that comes with it.  

The Sprout is a huge job.  At 2 he wants 100% of my attention 200% of the time, and when he goes to bed, I want to go to bed.  I think Richard and I spend about 2 hours alone together each day and then I go to bed.  Those 2 hours are usually filled with watching TV or browsing the internet or maybe I actually do some sewing.  The last time Richard and I spent REAL time together was in June when we drove to the Washington Coast for the day while my dad looked after the Sprout.

I am stuck in marathon mode.  As soon as the Sprout hits the pillow, I am off doing all the house work I can before he wakes up.  At night it is the same, only I feel that if I don't get to sleep then I won't be sleeping.  Not only am I not paying attention to Richard, but I give no time to myself.

However, yesterday we went into Bradford to go to the book store (Waterstone's) to get the Sprout some books with his birthday money.  The Sprout has little experience in stores because I get everything on-line.  He was everywhere, which I knew he would be.  It was such a good idea to have Richard and me go together.  Richard went after the Sprout whist I looked for books (we ended up with Fox's Socks, Rabbit's Nap, and The Odd Egg).  Then we went up to my old work (Kirkgate Costa).  We got to see Santa's reindeer!  Then we went back to Shipley to have Sunday Dinner.  The Sprout was really good (although all over the place).  No real tantrums.  It was so nice to do something as a family.

Music and Lyrics

Can I listen to music and write?  What song did I hear today?

Here is the kind of question I don't like to blog about because it is silly and doesn't require a long answer.  Yes I can listen to music and write. Most of the time I am watching TV and writing.

The only songs I hear now a days are songs from Babytv, CBBies and commercials (the Halifax ones are driving me crazy and I always get the Timmy Time song in my head).  The only time I listen to real music is when I am walking to work, and while I am at work.

 I want to listen to more music at home because the Sprout has taken an interest in dancing and he dances to everything.  One reason I haven't been listening to music at home is because UK radio stations drive me mad (mostly because I hate this new pop and dance music).  They don't have stations dedicated to one kind of music (except classical), so you have to listen to ALL music over and over again.  The other reason is because I don't really consider my music to be appropriate for a little one.  I have a couple of things I don't mind trying out such as Jamiroquai, The Beatles and disco type music (I suppose some Scissor Sisters would be ok, as long as he doesn't listen to the lyrics) You know things that are light hearted and fun to dance to (totally opposite to the majority of music I listen to).

What kind of music do you think is appropriate for a toddler (please don't say nursery music because that is a given)?

Dancing

We like to dance

Dancing to Timmy Time





Puddle Dancing

Happy birthday

The birthday song



You may have to go to Youtube.com to see this.  I put the link above.birthday song

Favourite TV

The Sprout watches allot of BabyTV.  But recently we have branched out to CBeeBies and we have found a few good ones.  I hope these play in the US (you will actually have to go to my site to see the videos if you are just looking at my email).

Timmy Time is one of the new favourites (he loves most things clay animated):






My personal favourite, Peppa Pig



I am trying to get my head around the Northern Irish version of Sesame Street.  They use clips from Sesame Street to answer the question of the day...and it is all done in a thick Northern Irish accent.

In went 2.5

Two years ago 2.5 of us went into the hospital.

24 months

Sept 2011

Sept 2010

I can't believe we have one month until the Sprout's birthday!  The amount of development over the past year is amazing, and although humans develop slower than other mammals, the amount our brain changes and absorbs information is worth the slow development.

I will go over the list that the "What to Expect..." book goes through and some other things I decided to add.

He :

• Takes off his shirt, jacket, shoes, socks, and tries to take off his pants.
• Puts on boots and tries to put on his jacket, shirt, shoes, socks and diaper.
• Pretends to eat things and feed others.
• Builds tall towers with blocks and other things.
• Throws balls over hand and tries to catch them.
• Can ID cats and dogs in pictures.
• Can ID cats and dogs by name in pictures.
• Knows that cats "meow," dogs "bark," and lions "roar."
• Can draw vertical lines in imitation.
• Knows what "yes," "no," and "more" mean.
• Follows commands.
• Matches colours.
• Gets under his coves when it is time for sleep.
• Tells us when he is tired.
• Sleeps in a real bed and stays there.
• Sits on a real chair for meals.
• Can run, jump and gallop.
• Jumps off things and climbs all over.
• Can count to 3, though I don't think he knows what 3 is.  I am sure he just thinks of it as the sequence before you get to do something exciting.
• Tries to brush his teeth.

Favourites:

• His favourite toys are balls, trucks and ride on car.
• His favourite games are chase, peek-a-boo, kiss and ride away and catch.
• His favourite activities are going down the slide, walking to the park, drawing, puddle jumping and putting things in other things.
• His favourite sayings are: "UH-OH", "There he is", "What is that?", "bye-bye", and "more".
• His favourite books are, "Dear Zoo" and "Peter Cottontail's Easter Surprise".
• His favourite food is spaghetti and sauce, chilli and Dad's pizza.

Mommy's favourite things:

• The Sprout's kisses, hugs, giggles, and "tap dancing".
• Her favourite toys are balls, little Happyland figurines, and the drum.
• Her favourite games are chase, peek-a-boo, and catch.
• Her favourite activities are walking to the park, drawing, and puddle jumping.
• Her favourite books are "Room on the Broom", "Harold's Purple Crayon", and "How to Catch a Star". 

My big boy!!!

It has been a week since we took one of the sides off of the Sprout's cot-bed and he is doing an awesome job.

We decided to take the side off because the Sprout was wanting to play in his bed more often and I was tired of putting him in and taking him out. He also decided he didn't want to use a sleep sack and started putting covers on himself; copying how Richard and I sleep in bed.   We were also hoping that he may play in his room by himself in the morning.  Unfortunately, that hasn't happened, but that is ok because we have no problems putting him to bed at night or putting him down for naps.

The first and second nights we had a small amount of resistance when bed time came because he was so excited to be able to get in and out of his own bed.  We stuck to the Supernanny technique and we only ended having to put him in his bed 3 times at the most those 2 days.  The Supernanny technique is the same as when you let your child cry it out.  When the child gets out of his bed the first time you tell them it is time for bed and you put them back.  Then on subsequent times you quickly put him back in his bed with no talking or any kind of communication.  And you do it until they stay.  Yes, you maybe up all night doing this but eventually they know you mean business.  Luckily we didn't need to do it for hours, it only took 3 times and 2 days and now he puts himself to bed.  I think he does feel like a big boy, and every night I am sure to tell him how proud of him I am for being able to stay in his bed.

On the first night, it became apparent that he needed a guard rail because he rolled out of bed.  He barely noticed he was so sleepy.  So we got a rail and he has been fine.  We also put a baby gate on his door, that way, we don't have to worry about him wandering the house in the middle of the night (I did not like the idea of shutting his door all the way because he can't reach the handle).  I don't really think he would do that; he is more likely to wander into our room.  However, if we were to leave the computer room door open, he would bee line for it.

He put himself down for a nap the other day.  I was in the kitchen and realized he had disappeared.  I went upstairs thinking I would find him playing, (we moved all his toys to his room), and he had gotten under his covers and was lying down...So cute!


So my little baby is becoming a little man, talking can't be too far behind.

New favourite things 18-24 months

This is the new list of things I have loved for the Sprout's 18-22 months.

• Crayola's washable Supertip pens, Beginnings coloured pencils and washable finger paints.

• Chalkboard paint.- We now have 2 chalkboards in our house that I painted directly onto the wall.  The Sprout was really taking to drawing on the wall, which was really fun, but unfortunately, we can't have Sprout originals all over the house.  The boards a somewhat a success, at the moment he really likes breaking the chalk, but we do manage to do some drawing on the new boards.

• Balloons.  I bought a bunch of "Happy Birthday" balloons (because that is all ASDA had) and we had a ball popping them, and bashing them around, especially when I filled the tent with them.

• Popcicle moulds.  The Sprout really loves popcicles, but have you noticed that the majority of the popcicles you buy are nothing but humming bird food (sugar water).  I remembered that when I was little, we used to make our own popcicles, they were usually frozen orange juice, but we still made them ourselves.  So I parused on Ebay, and found a popcicle mould.  We usually have smoothy popcicles.

     Vanilla yoghurt
     1 banana
     A fruit of your choice, we usually have strawberries or nectarines
     Some vanilla extract
     Enough milk to fill the blender to 500 ml

That's it.  The possibilities are endless.

• CARPET SWEEPER!!!  I love my cheap £13 carpet sweeper.

Potty training: step one

I am so tired of trying to pin the Sprout to the changing mat, so here we go.  I read the book, and now I am ready for potty training the EC way.  I know I said I was going to wait until we came back from the States but I just can't.

The theory of Elimination Communication (EC) is that you can train even a new born to use the potty.  Third World countries do it, so why can't we?  Ever noticed that your new born cues before or while it pees?  I did, the Sprout pursed his lips together like he was a fish.  Eventually he stopped doing that because he didn't need to let me know he was peeing, it didn't matter.  Now I have noticed that he rarely gives any notice when he has to go number 1 or 2.  I feel really bad that I changed from reusable to diapers that have the ability to hold pee for 12 hours.  My little Sprout has been sitting in his waste for at least 4 hours a day!  Isn't that horrible?

Step one:  Let your child experience wetness and recognize when he has peed or pooed.

Because the Sprout doesn't cue and we stopped using reusable diapers, we have to find out what he does when he goes, if he has a routine and to let him be aware of what is going on.  We do this by ample amounts of diaper free time and a return to reusable diapers without the cover.

Luckily we still have all of the reusables, but yesterday when I used the shaped nappies, he pulled them off because they have Velcro and he got a rash around the edges.  So we ordered some training pants that will hold one pee and I am hoping that will be enough (I may get some diaper squares, depending on how the training pants go).  We have enough pre folds to put on the ground when he goes diaper free and until the potty comes, we have a bowl.  We are going to be using the ASL sign for toilet (the "T" sign with the wrist waving).  He already knows the drill for what I do in the potty because he has been following me in for the past month or so.  He even knows what the toilet paper is for!

I don't want to jinx myself, but I have a feeling once I can get him to know he is peeing, he will be receptive to the routine.  He has become quite the imitatior and loves to do what we do.  He has started becoming obsessed with putting his diaper in the trash.  I am super excited to not have to wrestle him to the floor whenever he needs a change.

I guess we will need to invest in a carpet cleaner.

On another topic, he finally said his first sentence, "Hi kitty." It is soooo cute!

What I am doing.

I don't usually go looking for parenting books.  I have three "What to Expect..." books but that was it.  I decided to look into a toddler book just to see what kind of tips people had for dealing with the little monsters as I have been feeling quite incapable lately.  I had heard that the "Happiest Baby on the Block" by Harvey Karp helped many people deal with their babies, so I decided to get "Happiest Toddler on the Block: How to Eliminate Tantrums and Raise a Patient, Respectful and Cooperative One- to Four-year-old" and although I find this book interesting and don't doubt the science and practise behind it, I find the techniques the most uncomfortable and unnatural thing ever.

According to Karp, our toddlers are little cavemen (no argument there), and so when they are upset their mind goes prehistoric (like adults).  The reason side of the brain shuts down and the non-verbal side opens up.  They stop listening and so the parent has to speak simply and to somewhat mimick the emotions of the child to make them feel understood which calms them down and once again be open to communication.

I have a super hard time saying :
"Sprout want outside...now, now, now.  Sprout mad, mad mad," in a tone that reflects 1/3 of the anger he is feeling over and over again until he looks at me and is calm, only to follow with, "but no outside now.  It is raining and cold.  Let's go play with blocks instead."

I get that we often try rationalising to a being that is not open to rational thought because of their emotional state at the time, and more importantly, we tend to make a tantruming child feel ignored by walking away or even worse feel unimportant when we just try to soothe them (which, I guess, allows them to bottle up frustrations creating all the resentment we feel against our parents later on in life...yadah, yadah).  This method tries to do away with the common belief by children that "parents just don't understand" by proving that we DO understand, and here I will show you.  But man, for me this is a hard technique to use, even in the privacy of my own home.  I haven't finished the book yet and haven't been trying the techniques too hard.  We'll see how it goes.

I am planning on starting down the road of potty training when we return from the States.  This decision is based on being tired of the Sprout's leaks (due to him pulling "himself" out of his didy leaving the didy untouched by pee) and his tantrums caused by diaper changes.  I came to the belief that I could do this now when I found the book called "The Diaper-free Baby: The Natural Toilet Training Alternative for a Happier, Healthier Baby or Toddler"  I have not read the book yet but they claim that all this milarky about waiting until your baby shows you the signs that they are ready to be silly; that babies are born knowing when they have to go and that we have trained them to WANT to go into a diaper.

I am excited to read this book and hopefully get rid of the didies, though I already know it will be challenging.

I am reading these books because I am tired of the advise given in the "What to Expect..." books and on babycentre.co.uk (babycenter.com respectively).  Allot of the information I feel is either common sense, or just not the way I want to parent my child.  For instance, though they are not against sleeping with your baby, they would rather you not and they will tell you why you shouldn't vs. why you should.  But I do have to ask my first time mothers out there with these books ans sites...do you feel as stupid and inadequate as I do when you read these?  Most of the time I feel like I have been keeping my child in a closet and not teaching him enough, which I know isn't true.  Every time I look to see where my child's development should be, the only part that makes me feel better is the side note that premature babies mature at a slower rate than that of babies born on time and that (of course) every child develops differently.