It's official! Miss Mouse is officially, totally potty trained! Bye, bye diapers!!
Last week, Miss Mouse came rushing into our bedroom around 2 a.m. laughing and saying, "I don't have a diaper on!!!" Sure enough, in the hubub of getting both girls to bed and trying to do so without anyone having a meltdown (alone - it was a work night for Mr. T), I forgot to put a diaper on Miss Mouse. Oops! We ran into the bathroom, found the diaper I had lying out, and got her diapered up. The exciting part had been that she was dry at 2 a.m.
The next day, we talked about how soon she won't have to wear diapers at night because her "body would understand to hold potty until waking up". She thought this idea was ultra cool. Monday night when Daddy had to get her to bed (it was a late night at the grief group I help facilitate), she refused to put on a diaper....she even went and got the pajamas I had suggested for "when we try without a diaper". Apparently, she had decided Monday night was to be the "when"! I got her up to go at 10:30 before I turned in and couldn't help myself; I put a diaper on the half-sleeping tot.
Yesterday I looked online for cloth overnight training pants. There seem to be very few as far as selection, so I found one that looked decent (pull-up style, absorbent, functional but plain) and called Miss Mouse to the computer to choose a color. She wanted orange at first, but when we found her size didn't come in orange, she chose bright pink. She can't use regular pull-ups; they cause, well, she can't use them. We'll leave it at that.
Fast forward to last night. Obviously, we don't have the cloth training pant, and in truth, I had forgotten my credit card upstairs when we were looking at them online, so I hadn't even ordered the silly thing. As she was getting ready for bed, she commented about how she is such a big girl and doesn't need to have a diaper at night. Um, yeah. Think fast, Mommy. Sure, I agree. We'll use a thicker-underwear and line it with an old-style cloth diaper. Miss Mouse looks at me confusedly and says, "Did the new one come in the mail???!! Is it pink? Pink? Pink?!!" Broke my heart to say that no, it didn't come in the mail yet, and this is just a short-term, creative measure until "the real pink one" comes (better get downstairs to order it for real now....).
Poor Baby Mouse was asleep last night at 6:49 p.m., up from 11:00-1:00 with gas (perhaps from all the crying she did to let her dense mother know that babies can indeed have dirty diapers even if they don't smell like it), and then up again for a small snack at 4:00. It wasn't a bad night, but considering I had gotten up at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday and wasn't in bed for the night until 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday.....I was pretty dog tired. I entertained the idea of putting Miss Mouse in the bathroom at 4 a.m., but I guess I decided against it (I don't remember consciously making any decisions other than "sleep, sleep, bed, bed, bed").
What to my wondering eyes greeted me at 7 a.m. but a dry, happy Miss Mouse! I think I'll probably be holding my breath most nights for a few weeks, but she's been consistently dry during any naps she may take (she's been taking them again during her quiet time the past week).....so maybe this is it?!! It's been just a wonderful process with her. I'm hoping for a repeat of this the second time around; their personalities are very different, but perhaps their experiences with this type of thing could go similarly....I hope!
Anyway - I write this long post about nappies not because I think most people actually are interested in the potty behavior of my children but because I'm afraid my feeble, permanently sleep-deprived mind is not going to remember this in a few years, and I sure would hate to forget. Speaking of not forgetting, I'd love to have a camera just to record these girls' everyday moments. We have a camera, but I'd like one to catch the spur-of-the-moment escapades. Like tonight, Miss Mouse was getting ready for bed and suddenly decided to give me a "tending lavder sajge" (i.e., pretending lavender massage) on my face, complete with dipping a finger on one hand into the other hand which was held in a fist to symbolize the cup of oil with lavender (Miss Mouse gets lots of massages to help stay calm and happy). So sweet. Or perhaps the camera could have caught Baby Mouse when she ran, literally ran, over to her big sister and wrapped her little arms around Miss Mouse's back to give her a full-body hug from behind. So sweet. Life just can't get better than this.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Butterflies with and without Sprinkles
Miss Mouse and I spent a great deal of time in the kitchen together this weekend. A great deal of time, in both senses of the word "great". Friday night I baked two butterfly cakes. What could be better than one butterfly cake? Two butterfly cakes! It was spectacular, magnificent, super-dee-duper! It also took four hours.
I was preparing for around thirty people to be at the girls' birthday party on Saturday, so I thought two butterfly cakes, each serving ten people, would not be enough. That's why I also baked one dozen full-size cupcakes along with two dozen mini ones (that's what one cake mix makes). As it turned out, the weather and illnesses kept quite a few people home. We have almost an entire butterfly and two dozen mini-cupcakes to be frozen for an Easter celebration.
Miss Mouse picked a white butterfly with sprinkles in the batter to be frosted with pink frosting. Pink neon frosting, that is. I didn't know such stuff was made, but it is terribly fun! Little girl colors are fun enough as it is - neon girl colors are even better!
We got Miss Mouse's cake baked and had it cooling on the counter and were mixing up Baby Mouse's cake when I happened to ask Miss Mouse, "Do you think Baby Mouse should have sprinkles in her cake batter, too?" I just assumed she would answer in the affirmative, but she sat there for awhile (she sat in her highchair for hours that day, helping) and then answered "No. Hers should be plain."
I was rather taken aback by what I thought was a sudden change in my sweet girl. Why would she want to one-up her sister by having sprinkles in her butterfly and not in Baby Mouse's?
Not ten seconds later, Miss Mouse added her thought process: "I do not think she should have sprinkles. I think Baby Mouse might choke on sprinkles. They are a little bit hard. I think she might choke on them. I think her cake should be plain." Wow. I'm continually amazed at the sweetness of my Miss Mouse.
We decided Baby Mouse's cake should be neon green with purple frosting. No sprinkles.
I didn't have terribly great luck getting any good, clear pictures of my Mice, but this shows a general idea of them on their birthday party day.
Baby Mouse in her birthday dress. This dress has been worn for first birthday pictures by our God-daughter, Miss Mouse, and now Baby Mouse. Beautiful girls, all of them, in our opinion!!
I was preparing for around thirty people to be at the girls' birthday party on Saturday, so I thought two butterfly cakes, each serving ten people, would not be enough. That's why I also baked one dozen full-size cupcakes along with two dozen mini ones (that's what one cake mix makes). As it turned out, the weather and illnesses kept quite a few people home. We have almost an entire butterfly and two dozen mini-cupcakes to be frozen for an Easter celebration.
Miss Mouse picked a white butterfly with sprinkles in the batter to be frosted with pink frosting. Pink neon frosting, that is. I didn't know such stuff was made, but it is terribly fun! Little girl colors are fun enough as it is - neon girl colors are even better!
We got Miss Mouse's cake baked and had it cooling on the counter and were mixing up Baby Mouse's cake when I happened to ask Miss Mouse, "Do you think Baby Mouse should have sprinkles in her cake batter, too?" I just assumed she would answer in the affirmative, but she sat there for awhile (she sat in her highchair for hours that day, helping) and then answered "No. Hers should be plain."
I was rather taken aback by what I thought was a sudden change in my sweet girl. Why would she want to one-up her sister by having sprinkles in her butterfly and not in Baby Mouse's?
Not ten seconds later, Miss Mouse added her thought process: "I do not think she should have sprinkles. I think Baby Mouse might choke on sprinkles. They are a little bit hard. I think she might choke on them. I think her cake should be plain." Wow. I'm continually amazed at the sweetness of my Miss Mouse.
We decided Baby Mouse's cake should be neon green with purple frosting. No sprinkles.
I didn't have terribly great luck getting any good, clear pictures of my Mice, but this shows a general idea of them on their birthday party day.
Baby Mouse in her birthday dress. This dress has been worn for first birthday pictures by our God-daughter, Miss Mouse, and now Baby Mouse. Beautiful girls, all of them, in our opinion!!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Three
We had a happy birthday around here on Sunday. It was so fun that the day Miss Mouse turned three landed on a Sunday so that we could relax and celebrate on the actual day! We'll be having a bigger party for both Miss Mouse and Baby Mouse on Saturday, but last Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa were able to come in to celebrate with us. The Mice and I went to church; we all had a late lunch of spaghetti (a favorite of Miss Mouse, though she was a bit too excited to eat much...); had some "quiet time" (an important habit for Miss Mouse); opened a whole bunch of presents; dressed up as "Fancy Nancy" (just Miss Mouse); and then went ice skating! There was a quick bite of cake, too, before Grandma and Grandpa had to leave.
We were the only ones at the skating rink...I've decided everyone else around here is wimpy. The warming house wasn't open, which was nearly a catastrophe for my poor city-boy husband, accomplished skater though he is. As kids, we always put our skates on in the vehicle after driving the short trip up to the slough for skating north of the farm. I'm still not really sure what a warming house is for.....Then there were some complaints about the ice - it wasn't scraped off, meaning that we skated through several inches of snow, and it was a fair bit bumpy. Again, I'm not really sure how that was any different than what I learned on other than it was a little less bumpy than the good-ol' slough.
In truth, I jest at Mr. T's expense. It was darn cold out; the wind was biting; there really were several, several inches of snow on the ice; and it was truly bumpy. But Miss Mouse had a grand time skating with her Daddy, her Grandpa, and her Mommy. This was her third attempt at skating, and she has progressed from basically being drug around the ice to pretty much going on her own, just holding our hands for balance. I'm so proud of my girl! I've also fallen back in love with skating and am looking forward to Grammy and Grandpa Bob's arrival this weekend so that I can go more (Baby Mouse did not seem to enjoy her trip around the ice strapped to a booster seat on a folding chair a few weeks ago, so it's best that she has a babysitter). It's a fair bet that our neighbors will be being called up increasingly often, too, through the rest of the winter so that Miss Mouse and I can go practice!
On Monday, Miss Mouse and I made our first trip to the local library satellite to do Valentine's crafts. We made an adorable caterpillar and a cute heart with tissue paper, glue, and scissors. It's going to be a challenge with my little lefty to figure out certain things like scissors; I'm so right-handed. Thankfully, I know quite a few lefties that just might help us out! :) Mr. T stayed with Baby Mouse so that Miss Mouse and I could have this be a "little girl/Mommy" activity. I was excited about this fact, but when we got in the car, Miss Mouse told me that she "would like Baby Mouse to be a little girl soon so she can come with us, too!" So, I'm guessing that the aforementioned issue about Miss Mouse being alone while I get Baby Mouse to sleep has much more to do with just wanting to be with us than wanting to be with me alone. There is still the issue of wanting Baby Mouse to be back in my tummy, but I think that, as Baby Mouse is getting more playful instead of purely destructive, that desire is waning.
Miss Mouse had her three-year well-child check today at our doctor's office. Her stats are: 39.5 inches (94th percentile) and 28.6 pounds (24th percentile). This is exciting since she hasn't been above the 12th percentile since she was 4 months old. :) A string bean we have.
We had a good appointment, though, I wonder about the value of a screening where a shy child is instructed to copy a line on a paper, and then her ability to draw a line or her lack thereof is evaluated at that time. Really, truly, we think that a child is going to perform like a trained monkey? I know, I know, the screenings are an overall picture of how a child is doing, and missing one thing (like drawing the line three minutes too late...ahem.) doesn't skew the overall picture. I know these things because at one point in my life I was trained to do screenings and assessments. It's just irritating that it was judged that she is not able to copy a line when I know firsthand that she has been drawing lines for going on two years now (she started at 15 months with a piece of chalk on the driveway). Errr. After she didn't get the line challenge, the nurse asked her to copy a circle that she had drawn on the paper. Miss Mouse looked at her strangely (again) and proceeded to fill in the nurse's circle to make it look like a smiley face. I pointed out that the mouth was a line if she was interested in seeing that she is capable of drawing one. The nurse about fell out of her chair when Miss Mouse drew the smiley face, but the line didn't get much response. I'm thinking perhaps that part of the screening deal might be the willingness of the child to copy the proposed item. Oh well. It really was a nice appointment, and the nurse (who also was really very nice) gave Miss Mouse a box of crayons that she buys at Walmart when they are on sale so that she can have "something to give to the kids"; she really was super sweet, and I'm thankful that the three nurses we interact with regularly there are extremely nice people since they are the ones that we have the initial contacts with at our visits.
It's good having a three year old around. Miss Mouse amazes me continually with her loving nature, her kind heart, her excitement to learn. These are good days.....and I've thought that since February 7, 2007.
We were the only ones at the skating rink...I've decided everyone else around here is wimpy. The warming house wasn't open, which was nearly a catastrophe for my poor city-boy husband, accomplished skater though he is. As kids, we always put our skates on in the vehicle after driving the short trip up to the slough for skating north of the farm. I'm still not really sure what a warming house is for.....Then there were some complaints about the ice - it wasn't scraped off, meaning that we skated through several inches of snow, and it was a fair bit bumpy. Again, I'm not really sure how that was any different than what I learned on other than it was a little less bumpy than the good-ol' slough.
In truth, I jest at Mr. T's expense. It was darn cold out; the wind was biting; there really were several, several inches of snow on the ice; and it was truly bumpy. But Miss Mouse had a grand time skating with her Daddy, her Grandpa, and her Mommy. This was her third attempt at skating, and she has progressed from basically being drug around the ice to pretty much going on her own, just holding our hands for balance. I'm so proud of my girl! I've also fallen back in love with skating and am looking forward to Grammy and Grandpa Bob's arrival this weekend so that I can go more (Baby Mouse did not seem to enjoy her trip around the ice strapped to a booster seat on a folding chair a few weeks ago, so it's best that she has a babysitter). It's a fair bet that our neighbors will be being called up increasingly often, too, through the rest of the winter so that Miss Mouse and I can go practice!
On Monday, Miss Mouse and I made our first trip to the local library satellite to do Valentine's crafts. We made an adorable caterpillar and a cute heart with tissue paper, glue, and scissors. It's going to be a challenge with my little lefty to figure out certain things like scissors; I'm so right-handed. Thankfully, I know quite a few lefties that just might help us out! :) Mr. T stayed with Baby Mouse so that Miss Mouse and I could have this be a "little girl/Mommy" activity. I was excited about this fact, but when we got in the car, Miss Mouse told me that she "would like Baby Mouse to be a little girl soon so she can come with us, too!" So, I'm guessing that the aforementioned issue about Miss Mouse being alone while I get Baby Mouse to sleep has much more to do with just wanting to be with us than wanting to be with me alone. There is still the issue of wanting Baby Mouse to be back in my tummy, but I think that, as Baby Mouse is getting more playful instead of purely destructive, that desire is waning.
Miss Mouse had her three-year well-child check today at our doctor's office. Her stats are: 39.5 inches (94th percentile) and 28.6 pounds (24th percentile). This is exciting since she hasn't been above the 12th percentile since she was 4 months old. :) A string bean we have.
We had a good appointment, though, I wonder about the value of a screening where a shy child is instructed to copy a line on a paper, and then her ability to draw a line or her lack thereof is evaluated at that time. Really, truly, we think that a child is going to perform like a trained monkey? I know, I know, the screenings are an overall picture of how a child is doing, and missing one thing (like drawing the line three minutes too late...ahem.) doesn't skew the overall picture. I know these things because at one point in my life I was trained to do screenings and assessments. It's just irritating that it was judged that she is not able to copy a line when I know firsthand that she has been drawing lines for going on two years now (she started at 15 months with a piece of chalk on the driveway). Errr. After she didn't get the line challenge, the nurse asked her to copy a circle that she had drawn on the paper. Miss Mouse looked at her strangely (again) and proceeded to fill in the nurse's circle to make it look like a smiley face. I pointed out that the mouth was a line if she was interested in seeing that she is capable of drawing one. The nurse about fell out of her chair when Miss Mouse drew the smiley face, but the line didn't get much response. I'm thinking perhaps that part of the screening deal might be the willingness of the child to copy the proposed item. Oh well. It really was a nice appointment, and the nurse (who also was really very nice) gave Miss Mouse a box of crayons that she buys at Walmart when they are on sale so that she can have "something to give to the kids"; she really was super sweet, and I'm thankful that the three nurses we interact with regularly there are extremely nice people since they are the ones that we have the initial contacts with at our visits.
It's good having a three year old around. Miss Mouse amazes me continually with her loving nature, her kind heart, her excitement to learn. These are good days.....and I've thought that since February 7, 2007.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Play Therapy
Play therapy: something I was moderately interested in at one point in my life....about five years ago....until I looked at cost of certification, specialized training, etc.
To my surprise two days ago, Miss Mouse started telling me that her friend Piglet (yes, she has two imaginary friends - Piglet and Charlie) was getting very sad when she (Miss Mouse) had to go get Charlie (who apparently is a nursing baby?) to sleep in his room. Yes, sirree, Piglet was so sad that he couldn't come in the room with them, and he had to watch his video (Miss Mouse watches a very, very young Baby Einstein video while I get Baby Mouse down for her naps in the nursery). Piglet was glad that Miss Mouse left the bathroom open for him so he could potty (yep, several times I've pointed out that the door is open for her to use the bathroom if she needs....), but he was so sad that he had to just sit and watch his video. Ugh.
Ugh. What to do. What to do. I just listened that day and then gave it some thought that evening. I thought and thought. I also thought about different ways of getting Baby Mouse to sleep, but I've come up dry on that so far.
Yesterday morning, during Baby Mouse's short nap, while Miss Mouse and I were doing "preschool" downstairs, Miss Mouse brought up the Piglet deal again. This time I engaged her in conversation about Piglet's emotions; interestingly, she shies away from naming any of her own, but she was pretty good at pinpointing Piglet's - lonely and sad. Immediately this breaks my heart, but then I remind myself that for these few minutes each day Miss Mouse has to give me completely to Baby Mouse - difficult, yes; cruel, probably not. But we definitely processed a lot of emotions.
Then I asked if I could talk with Piglet and explain the situation to him. She agreed. Piglet and I talked about the necessity of giving Charlie his naps, about all the fun things Piglet and Miss Mouse like to do when Charlie is asleep, about how Miss Mouse loves him and loves to be with him but that now that Charlie is around, she has to be available for Charlie alone sometimes, too. I asked if Piglet understood and felt better, and Miss Mouse said with a smile that he did. She brought it up again before bed last night, so the issue is not closed yet. I'm glad and comfortable, though, knowing that we are addressing it. Who knew that I would be able to practice play therapy unlicensed with my own little Miss Mouse?!?! I love my job!!
To my surprise two days ago, Miss Mouse started telling me that her friend Piglet (yes, she has two imaginary friends - Piglet and Charlie) was getting very sad when she (Miss Mouse) had to go get Charlie (who apparently is a nursing baby?) to sleep in his room. Yes, sirree, Piglet was so sad that he couldn't come in the room with them, and he had to watch his video (Miss Mouse watches a very, very young Baby Einstein video while I get Baby Mouse down for her naps in the nursery). Piglet was glad that Miss Mouse left the bathroom open for him so he could potty (yep, several times I've pointed out that the door is open for her to use the bathroom if she needs....), but he was so sad that he had to just sit and watch his video. Ugh.
Ugh. What to do. What to do. I just listened that day and then gave it some thought that evening. I thought and thought. I also thought about different ways of getting Baby Mouse to sleep, but I've come up dry on that so far.
Yesterday morning, during Baby Mouse's short nap, while Miss Mouse and I were doing "preschool" downstairs, Miss Mouse brought up the Piglet deal again. This time I engaged her in conversation about Piglet's emotions; interestingly, she shies away from naming any of her own, but she was pretty good at pinpointing Piglet's - lonely and sad. Immediately this breaks my heart, but then I remind myself that for these few minutes each day Miss Mouse has to give me completely to Baby Mouse - difficult, yes; cruel, probably not. But we definitely processed a lot of emotions.
Then I asked if I could talk with Piglet and explain the situation to him. She agreed. Piglet and I talked about the necessity of giving Charlie his naps, about all the fun things Piglet and Miss Mouse like to do when Charlie is asleep, about how Miss Mouse loves him and loves to be with him but that now that Charlie is around, she has to be available for Charlie alone sometimes, too. I asked if Piglet understood and felt better, and Miss Mouse said with a smile that he did. She brought it up again before bed last night, so the issue is not closed yet. I'm glad and comfortable, though, knowing that we are addressing it. Who knew that I would be able to practice play therapy unlicensed with my own little Miss Mouse?!?! I love my job!!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
One of those "Youch!" days....
Today has been a "Youch!" day. Things were going fine until around 4 p.m. when I was downstairs sending an email. Mr. T is putting in yet another 16-hour day, so in the middle of it, he came home for a run to relax. I took advantage of his putting on his shoes to leave for work again and ran downstairs to the computer. As I was pressing "send", I heard "No! Watch out!" and then a loud CRASH. I listened for a moment for baby screaming, but nothing happened. I assumed, great, disaster averted! Not so.
Upon entering the living room, my eyes were pulled immediately to a large, black pile of dirt next to the table/plant stand. Uh-oh. Next thought: Where's the baby? Where's the baby? Where's the baby???? Panic nearly ensued because I didn't hear crying which led to all sorts of terrible worries about poor Baby Mouse.
Mr. T looks at me with a chagrined look suddenly realizing that Baby Mouse must have headed down the hall as he was trying to figure out how to clean up the plant mess. I dash for the bathroom just in time to prevent her from stuffing a handful of garbage in her mouth (we have a humidifier in the bathroom; otherwise the door would be shut; I don't get to run much these days, but having the bathroom door open is not my idea of "indoor marathon training"...though perhaps it is working considering how quickly I get myself to the bathroom when Baby Mouse is MIA....).
Baby Mouse and I head back out to the living room to survey the damage and decide whether it was purposeful or not. Apparently it wasn't deliberate but was an accidental collision among Rody Horse, Miss Mouse, and the plant stand. Poor Miss Mouse was embarrassed and trying her best to be helpful which, with shards of clay pot and mounds of potting soil, wasn't so helpful. Mr. T actually was, I believe, truly feeling bad that he had to leave at that moment....or maybe that was relief I saw on his face....
I have sort of a penchant for accomplishing tasks with items which are not typically used for said tasks. Hence, I ran to get my "Haley's Cleaning Hints" book and, after a quick skim of the "carpet cleaning" pages, ran for my shaving gel. This is a bit amusing since I have not used shaving gel for several years now, opting instead to use hair conditioner for the job (like I said, accomplishing tasks with different items). I had a coupon the other day, though, so I now have shaving gel - apparently both for my legs and for my carpet. I have some more scrubbing to do tomorrow, I'm afraid, but I think it did a fairly good job.
I wonder how it would have done on a puddle of green paint. Hmmm....but that's another story.
Anyway, back to our day. Plant is safely ensconced in another pot; carpet is as clean as it will be tonight. Mommy is reading different uses for tin foil, and then, THUNK, Baby Mouse smacks her head on the table/plant stand. Poor little Mousey. I could have kicked myself for reading a book while she must have obviously been in a precarious position. However, since I couldn't see the damaged spot, nothing even remotely reddish, pupils were equally dilated, I figured maybe I wasn't such a terrible mother.
Not a terrible mother, that is, until bathtime. Baby Mouse was not scheduled for a bath tonight. That's why I finished up with Miss Mouse's bath before supper; we get squirrely after supper, close to bedtime, which makes bathtime a bit dangerous when I'm flying solo for the evening. We had done pretty well, until I was drying off the Baby Mouse. She was looking at me, talking in her baby babble so sweetly. Miss Mouse was playing with my bath towels. Suddenly, out of nowhere, came a flying kiddie toilet seat. It landed smack dab around Baby Mouse's head. Yep. It couldn't have landed better if she was a horse shoe stake and the seat was the horse shoe. If Miss Mouse had aimed she wouldn't have been able to plan that landing.
If it hadn't been so horrifying to see my baby on the floor, cuddled in her little, pale yellow towel, now with her sweet face sticking out of the middle of a toilet seat, it might have been funny! As it was, I ripped the thing off, lectured her poor shocked sister about the dangers of flinging toilet seats in a crowded bathroom, and cuddled poor, shocked, little Baby Mouse. There really are few things I like better in life than cuddling a naked little baby in a towel, so that part was okay. It just was so unfortunate that she was screaming in pain and shock. She was actually quite red on her neck and her chin, and her little forehead was scratched! Miss Mouse felt awful. What she'd been doing was trying to hang my towels up since she was done playing with them; she had to climb on the toilet to do so, and, therefore, had to get rid of the toilet seat. Ugh. I cringe about this one, but I don't feel as much guilt because there was no way I could have seen a flying toilet seat coming.
I have grown eyes in the back of my head, but so far I'm no good at predicting flying toilet seats.
Upon entering the living room, my eyes were pulled immediately to a large, black pile of dirt next to the table/plant stand. Uh-oh. Next thought: Where's the baby? Where's the baby? Where's the baby???? Panic nearly ensued because I didn't hear crying which led to all sorts of terrible worries about poor Baby Mouse.
Mr. T looks at me with a chagrined look suddenly realizing that Baby Mouse must have headed down the hall as he was trying to figure out how to clean up the plant mess. I dash for the bathroom just in time to prevent her from stuffing a handful of garbage in her mouth (we have a humidifier in the bathroom; otherwise the door would be shut; I don't get to run much these days, but having the bathroom door open is not my idea of "indoor marathon training"...though perhaps it is working considering how quickly I get myself to the bathroom when Baby Mouse is MIA....).
Baby Mouse and I head back out to the living room to survey the damage and decide whether it was purposeful or not. Apparently it wasn't deliberate but was an accidental collision among Rody Horse, Miss Mouse, and the plant stand. Poor Miss Mouse was embarrassed and trying her best to be helpful which, with shards of clay pot and mounds of potting soil, wasn't so helpful. Mr. T actually was, I believe, truly feeling bad that he had to leave at that moment....or maybe that was relief I saw on his face....
I have sort of a penchant for accomplishing tasks with items which are not typically used for said tasks. Hence, I ran to get my "Haley's Cleaning Hints" book and, after a quick skim of the "carpet cleaning" pages, ran for my shaving gel. This is a bit amusing since I have not used shaving gel for several years now, opting instead to use hair conditioner for the job (like I said, accomplishing tasks with different items). I had a coupon the other day, though, so I now have shaving gel - apparently both for my legs and for my carpet. I have some more scrubbing to do tomorrow, I'm afraid, but I think it did a fairly good job.
I wonder how it would have done on a puddle of green paint. Hmmm....but that's another story.
Anyway, back to our day. Plant is safely ensconced in another pot; carpet is as clean as it will be tonight. Mommy is reading different uses for tin foil, and then, THUNK, Baby Mouse smacks her head on the table/plant stand. Poor little Mousey. I could have kicked myself for reading a book while she must have obviously been in a precarious position. However, since I couldn't see the damaged spot, nothing even remotely reddish, pupils were equally dilated, I figured maybe I wasn't such a terrible mother.
Not a terrible mother, that is, until bathtime. Baby Mouse was not scheduled for a bath tonight. That's why I finished up with Miss Mouse's bath before supper; we get squirrely after supper, close to bedtime, which makes bathtime a bit dangerous when I'm flying solo for the evening. We had done pretty well, until I was drying off the Baby Mouse. She was looking at me, talking in her baby babble so sweetly. Miss Mouse was playing with my bath towels. Suddenly, out of nowhere, came a flying kiddie toilet seat. It landed smack dab around Baby Mouse's head. Yep. It couldn't have landed better if she was a horse shoe stake and the seat was the horse shoe. If Miss Mouse had aimed she wouldn't have been able to plan that landing.
If it hadn't been so horrifying to see my baby on the floor, cuddled in her little, pale yellow towel, now with her sweet face sticking out of the middle of a toilet seat, it might have been funny! As it was, I ripped the thing off, lectured her poor shocked sister about the dangers of flinging toilet seats in a crowded bathroom, and cuddled poor, shocked, little Baby Mouse. There really are few things I like better in life than cuddling a naked little baby in a towel, so that part was okay. It just was so unfortunate that she was screaming in pain and shock. She was actually quite red on her neck and her chin, and her little forehead was scratched! Miss Mouse felt awful. What she'd been doing was trying to hang my towels up since she was done playing with them; she had to climb on the toilet to do so, and, therefore, had to get rid of the toilet seat. Ugh. I cringe about this one, but I don't feel as much guilt because there was no way I could have seen a flying toilet seat coming.
I have grown eyes in the back of my head, but so far I'm no good at predicting flying toilet seats.
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