Dancing Drama

We started Gigi in dance class two months after she turned two years old. 
Her sister had been diagnosed with leukemia just four months prior and we thought that dance class would be a great distraction for her. 
But as it turned out, leukemia was the biggest distraction of all. 
Grandma had to take Gigi to a lot of her dance classes. 
I was busy with Zoe either in the hospital or Zoe couldn't leave the house.
Hence, I couldn't leave the house 
Gigi was very reluctant to participate. 
All of it seemed interesting, but she just couldn't take that first step. 
She always talked about dancing on stage like Zoe, but when it was right in front of her, it was just too much. 
When she had finally and bravely decided she could join the other girls, it was fun for her. 
But then I would be able to take her to class and all of her progress went out the door. 
She would cry.
Hide behind me. 
Disaster and despair took over her two year old self. 
So, we stopped going. 
We thought, next year will be better for her. 
So, in September of 2011, we tried again.
She started off eager to dance. 
She loves the leotards and shoes. 
But once we got there (I have been able to take her to all of her classes this year) it was a repeat of last year. 
Reluctance. 
Crying. 
Hiding. 
It was about a month into classes and I had made my decision to stop being nice about her non-participation and delusional antics. 
It was just a Gigi-ploy to get attention.   
I bucked her up and firmly said "You have one more chance.  Either you dance today, right now, or we leave and never come back!"  
I declared "No more tears!" 
I also threw in "If you don't start dancing today, then you will NOT get a fancy costume and get to dance on stage like Zoe!" 
I didn't coddle her. 
I didn't even act nice about it. 
I was firm and forceful and she needed to realize that last year was last year and leukemia was not keeping mom away from her and what she thought was fun. 
She has been the star of her class ever since...  

Not For The Squeamish - You Have Been Warned...

I'm going to make this post short, but there's nothing sweet about it...

Life with a toddler and a dog who goes by instinct only is rough.

Life with a toddler who is learning to poo in the toilet and a dog who goes by instinct only can be disgusting.

Incident number one:

Gigi is outside in a dress with nothing on underneath.  

She's supposed to tell us if she needs to go to the potty.

She's found naked, smeared in something brown.

When I ask her "what happened to you?" she responds with "I go poo poo outside like Lola!"

Great. 

My next response is "Chad, get the hose out!"

Incident number two:

Gigi is sitting in the living room on her portable plastic potty seat.

She has a poo in the potty!

YAY!

She and I rush to the bathroom to do the whole wipin' thing.

We return to the living room approximately 1 minute later.

Poo is gone.

Lola is licking her chops.

So, when you feel like your life has gone to crap, just remember...

mine actually has.  

                                     

Gotta go.  Gigi is wearing underwear and is in the living room on the rug.

That Time of Year...

The air has turned warm, the trees have leaves again, the grass is green and the flowers are blooming.  It's that time of year...the time for potty training.

Things have finally settled down a bit in the leukemia department...knocking on wood...and Zoe has been feeling really good and she's going to school at 8:00 in the morning like other kindergartners. 

So, it's just me and Gigi. 
All day long. 
Alone.
Together. 

The first thing she does when she gets up in the morning, which can be as early as 5:30 on some days, is to go to her potty seat and have a pee while mom or dad gets her a cup of chocolate soy milk. 

Then the diaper stays off!  

Often times the potty seat is brought out into the living room or dining room to remind her where she's supposed to go if the urge strikes her. 

I find putting on panties makes the task harder for her and sometimes the feel of cloth on her body tricks her head into thinking she's wearing a pull-up...then we have peed in panties. 

If she poops in the potty, which has been the hardest thing for her to do, she's gets some chocolate. 

Poop, chocolate, brown...ewww. 

Anyway, she really loves candy.  A lot. 
So far this has been working in the morning. 

If I have to go somewhere with her I am still putting a pull-up on her and if I forget to remove it once we are home, she just pees and poos in it to her hearts content.  ugh.

Zoe was potty trained by this age.  Gigi is now 2 1/2 years old and I'm hoping by the fall we can put daytime pull-ups into the far distant memories of our brains. 

Night time potty training is always scary. 
That's a whole different trial and error system.  
A whole different set of rules. 

I feel for Zoe.
She shares a bed with Gigi.    

Sugar and Spice...

She did it...

Gigi made it to her second year in one piece!

She's a bit of a nut, I'm surprised she hasn't "cracked" yet.

In keeping with her tradition of looking cute and girly and innocent, we went with a cat themed party this year.

She was having a great time until she got feverish and was then sick for the rest of the week...poor kitten.