Diapers and Schooling

It's been forever since I posted. I'm so bad about that. I really need to try to get better. Props to all those bloggers who have multiple children in the preschool years and still get a daily blog up. I mean, really. It just boggles my mind. Blogging time used to come easily when it was just Adrien...just turn on some telly and I was good for like 20 minutes at least. Jude just doesn't get that whole zone out to the t.v. thing yet.

Speaking of the telly, I'm quite sure my kid(s) watch too much...you see, I'm already anticipating Jude watching too much as well. I was the mom who was never going to let my kid watch that much television. Really, I was. Then, when Adrien was a few weeks old, I discovered that he'd stop crying for a few minutes to let me get some dishes done if he was in front of the moving color box. Call me a bad mom or whatever, but I really needed those few scream-less minutes. And then it was that easy. Not that I let my infant really watch t.v...but when he was a little older we'd put it on Disney every morning. Oh how I miss the days of watching the Today Show...

And now it's like just the norm. We turn on cartoons in the morning, and since I've had Jude, it's sort of like my crutch. At least a few times a week (if not every day some weeks) I catch myself turning on Wow Wow Wubbzy reruns I've TiVo'd just to catch a cat nap while Jude takes his morning nap. And then some days that ends up turning into an all day occurrence (not the napping part, unfortunately). It's like ohmigoodness I need some breathing room, LOOK! there's Spongebob, finally I can get a minute of sanity. So I am really trying to work on that whole using the television as a crutch thing. You know I'm not the only mom. Don't look at me like that. Judge me, bitch, just try.

In jest though. But seriously, I got my new cloth diaper order today! Can we say exciting? I can. Exciting. I ordered some new covers because Jude's chunky little self moved up into a new size quite a while ago, we've just been stretching by with what the had. I decided to try a new kind of cover since the others I had were bulky (and expensive). I tried these ones out and I'm so happy so far! They're not bulky at all, and best of all you get TWO for only FIVE BUCKS!!! (That's compared to only one cover for close to $12 or $15). I also ordered some new prefolds for him since he's long since outgrown his infant sized ones (we've been living on some hand me down fitted diapers). They're absolutely GINORMOUS! And best of all, I finally broke down and ordered a BumGenius 3.0 one-size diaper. These are like cutting edge in the cloth diaper world. I've so coveted them, but have been too cheap to order until now. I finally allowed myself to order one because it was on sale and it was Black Friday. I sense an addiction coming on.

I've also been starting to think about schooling. I can't believe that in just two and a half more short years we'll be starting Adrien in school. I want to start the whole preschool experience soon. He's at an age where he's picking up on new concepts easily, and I feel now's the time to let that budding genius loose. In all seriousness though, I'd like to start him in a preschool when he's closer to three, but I realize we most likely won't have the money to put him into one I'd like. So I was checking around town for a preschool co-op. There is one that is ran through a homeschool co-op, and I was very excited to learn that...until I found out you have to have at least one school-aged child to enroll your children into the program. So that stinks. So I could enroll Adrien for Kindergarten when he's old enough and Jude would get the preschool benefit. That doesn't exactly do much for Adrien. So I'm going to keep checking. But I was talking to Andi about it and telling him how excited I was about the co-op thing and he asked me if I wanted to homeschool. So that set off a spark in my head. And now I'm researching that too. I am eager to get my adult life back, complete with a job and all, but education is very important to me. I don't want my children to be poorly educated by the public school system. On the other hand, I don't want them to miss anything socially by not going to public schools. I would adore a private school, but I'm being realistic and we probably won't be able to afford that either.

Get excited! I have my MOPS meeting tomorrow. We've started attending the church I got to the MOPS group at and we love it so far. It's quite a bit larger than what we're used to, and we're attending the contemporary worship which differs greatly from the strongly liturgical Presbyterian church we'd been attending in Dallas. But the music at the service is superb, and unlike some contemporary worship services we've been to, the music doesn't stretch on and on. I'm feeling like I'm missing something in my life right now and I can't quite put my finger on it. I'm thinking it's a strong sense of church home. Hopefully we'll be fully settled in the new church soon. We're trying out a Sunday School class this Sunday. Let's see how that goes.

We're going to be going back to Dallas this weekend to see a friend and go to the big Christmas parade they have there. I hope the weather's mild and not too terribly cold. I can't wait to see my friend! It's been too long already and I miss her a great deal.

Dallas, here we come! :)

Wakey, Wakey, Eggs and...wait that's no bacon!

Nothing says "Rise and Shine" like...poop.

The last three nights Max the infamous beagle has woke my husband and I up with the sound of his pee hitting our carpet (in our semi brand-new home). Three o'clock a.m. on the dot pretty much...the last three nights. The first night it was poop and pee. The second night two pee puddles. And last night, just pee. Before he had the chance to poop, we put him outside...followed by some woeful beagle howling. We let him back in so as to not wake Adrien or the neighbors. That was followed by incessant licking. We put the e-collar on.

I was never able to really ever get back to sleep successfully any of the three nights. I generally go to bed at 11pm or later, so that means like four hours of sleep. Not fun. Well this morning was particularly great. Around 4:30am or so, Adrien woke up. His diaper had leaked. His thighs have thinned quite considerably due to the recent stomach illness and general growth, that his size 4 diapers are a little gappy around the leg area...but size 3s just do not do the trick. They really need diaper half-sizes. Anyway, poor Pookie was wet and not happy. After a diaper change, I rocked him but to no avail. About 20 minutes into the rocking session I asked him if he wanted to go watch cartoons. He immediately crawled from the glider and went to his door as if to say "Come on, Mom. Cartoons!" I generally don't do such things in the middle of the night. But what the heck, he was awake, I was awake. I've become so accustomed now to waking up at 3am. It's pathetic.

So in we went to the living room and we watched something on Animal Planet for a little while and then switched it over to JoJo's Circus. He fell asleep laying with me on the couch. Although I hate that I was awake that early, I love that I got to cuddle with him. Such a sweet baby...and he's fast becoming less and less of a baby each day. I think that's why I'm lingering with the binky. It's really the only thing that keeps him from being a full blown toddler. And it's a tether I'm willing to deal with.

So he went back to bed around 6:15 or so and as did I. I got to sleep until almost 9am this morning. Despite the middle of the night waking session, that's the most I've gotten to sleep all week I think. Now if I could just get the 11pm-9am sleep sans dog and toddler pee break, I'd be golden. But let's be serious here, I'm not holding my breath.

9am: I hear Adrien in his crib making his usual "eh, eh, eh" noises. I dragged myself out of bed and popped cheerfully in his room. I was greeted by the harsh aroma of poop. Nothing out of the ordinary -- he generally poos in the morning. But it was unusually pungent. Just before I picked Adrien up I noticed little brown blotches all over his crib. They were on his poom (pillow), on the sheets, on his blanket, on the bumper. Everywhere. Oh. My. Gosh. His diaper had exploded into a cacophony of stench and stank. It looked like Mr. Hankey had come to visit.

I'm sure Adrien was wondering why he got his bath before breakfast today.

I can handle cleaning up the feces of my toddler. He's my offspring. Plus, Adrien generally tries not to go directly on my carpeting. But the dog? Suffice it to say, I'm not happy about his new found love of peeing in my bedroom at any time, let alone 3am. I called the SPCA yesterday morning and they asked if I would like to speak with the behavioral specialist. Sure, I say. I mean, I guess so. Do I have a choice? So I'm on the phone with the behavioral specialist -- who I've already been in contact with via email once about Max's disdain for food. Okay, I explain to her that he's refusing to go to the bathroom outside. And for the most part, he is. He doesn't potty in the house during the day..randomly just at night. That leads me to believe that he's fully aware that he's supposed to do it outside, yet just doesn't for whatever reason in the evening. We had been letting him run free in the back yard, but he's already gotten out of our fence. So Andi went and bought a tether type thing. He still has full range of the back yard, he just can't get out. So the hippy-dippy touchy feely behavioral lady suggests that he's not wanting to potty in the back yard now because it's a "negative experience". Okay, so I can see that. But, when I take him for walks on the leash, if he potties at all, it's just pee (and pee when I'm lucky) -- he refuses to poop on the leash. He's always pooped in the back yard, but since he's an escape artist, he must be on the tether -- negative experience or not. He's gotta get over it. It's not like it's being cruel. The line is quite long...he can roam the back yard completely. Oh, she says, they just outlawed the tethers a few days ago. It's not like I have him on a 3 foot rope. There's a shaded area he can lay in. He can roll in the grass. He can even run around. But, no...she says it's a negative experience. Yes, I'm sure it's not fun. But I don't see it being dangerous -- not in this case. I know that there are horrible people who leave their dogs tied up for days at a time, etc with little to no food or water or shade, but that's not our family. I see the dog chaining ban to be very effective at lowering the level of animal neglect and cruelty cases...but blah! In my opinion, it's vital that he's tethered, because if not he'll dig out of the back yard. I cannot keep using my garage as a kennel for him...and I think crate training (which she suggests as a great alternative) to be even more cruel than having him tied up in my back yard. He's already proven that I can't leave him alone in the house. I'd come home to animal poop and pee everywhere, not to mention what all would be chewed up. The animal can get on top of my kitchen table for goodness sake! And if he whines just being left outside at night, imagine what he'd do if he were left in a tiny crate all night! That sounds very exciting and positive indeed. Her other solution was an electric fence in the back yard. Once again, how is shocking a dog more human than just having him tethered outside while he pees and poops. I mean, isn't he technically tethered while he's on a leash?

In all actuality, I was calling to say that this was a behavioral problem that was most likely not able to be corrected. After all, he's 2 years old. If he's not potty trained by now (which, I've spoken to the previous owner he tried to potty train him as well to no avail), I doubt he ever will train. He's obviously a smart dog. He's just defiant. And in my experience, that's something that no crate or tether can ever change. I was calling to ask if we could bring him back and get our voucher for another dog (which you have the option of doing if there is a behavioral problem within the first 14 days of adoption). But apparently every behavioral problem has a solution. If I told her he'd snapped at Adrien (which he did for the first time last night) she'd probably say that Adrien was just being a negative experience.

So anyway, walk him outside, she says. Give him treats when he pees, she says (which I was doing). Get him to potty on command, she says. The latter two are great ideas. I've tried the treats. Obviously not working. And as for taking him for walks? That's great...and I can do it every once in a while. But I simply cannot take him for walks every few hours. Can you just imagine Adrien and I in the stroller out and about every 2 hours for 30 minutes at a time, waiting for a dog to pee? If I had no child, it may not be a problem. But I do have a child. It's not forever, she says. Just until he learns, she says. Will he learn? Andi took him for a walk before bedtime last night. He was outside with him for a good 20 minutes. He refused to pee. Yet he'll pee in my bedroom at 3am.

She suggests that it's possible that he heard a loud noise or something that startled him while he was doing his business outside...and for that reason he is now negatively impacted by doing his business outside. Hippy dippy touchy feely gaga. He's a dog. Accuse me of being cruel -- whatever. He knows he should pee outside -- he just doesn't. Exhibit A: No pee or poo on the carpet all day long. I guess peeing at 3am is just better?

And as for the beast getting on top of my kitchen table? Her solution is to put either foil or double sided tape on my dining room chairs. She's obviously never had children. And what am I supposed to do with the tape while I'm using said chairs (multiple times a day)? She launched into some anecdote about her dogs, in which she refered them as "my first" and "my third". Obviously has no children. She's one of those my dogs are my kids people. That's great.

But I don't want piss all over my effin' carpet, lady. My carpet is not his personal toilet. Negative experience or not, he has to use the back yard. Since when did pets becomes mini humans? She probably wants me to give him lullabyes at night as well.

Can I just have one night's sleep where I'm not awakened by anyone's pee or poo?