Darin taught Zoe to go put her socks away this last week. First of all, let me say that I had a tonof laundry that I had gotten behind on. Headaches and exhaustion just sucked me dry last week. But he helped get me back on track by washing and folding just about all of it. In the process, he showed her how to carry a couple of pairs of socks to her bedroom and put them into her chest. He even showed her how to open and close the chest drawers by herself.
Here's what my Saturday surprise looked like. When I woke up, the first thing I saw is Zoe carrying folded pairs of socks to her room with her daddy behind her with a load of clothes to be hung in her closet. He told her, "put your socks away, Zoe". She marched straight into her room and over to the little chest that's attached to her crib. She opened up the second drawer which is in reality her sock drawer, dumped the socks inside, and closed the drawer. Seriously...was I dreaming? Was I even awake yet?
I've always known she loved to "help". She puts groceries in the cart, puts some small items into the dryer when the washed load is finished, and "helps" me undress and dress her. But I certainly underestimated her capabilities of helping. If I can, I'll get a video of her doing it this afternoon. I just want to see it...just one more time! Just to make sure I wasn't really dreaming.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The week of 15's...
Zoe is now 15 months old.
Have I mentioned before that time flies? For those of you who don't see her much, here are her 15 month stats. We went to the doctor yesterday for immunizations and a checkup. She is 22 and a half pounds, is 32 inches tall, and has a head circumfrence of 18 and 3/4 inches. In laymans terms, she is 50th percentile in both weight and head circumfrence and 90th percentile(yes, 90th) in height. There is height on both sides of our family...we just weren't blessed with it. She'll surpass us in height by the time she's 4. But this is why she keeps outgrowing her clothes just 2 months after we buy them. And this is why she's in 24 month clothes that swallow her but are just barely long enough for her.
Here are a few things that are going on at this stage in her life.
1. She has a rapidly expanding vocabulary. She knows a few names for people (besides mama, daddy, jedi, and zoweeee) and knows most of the words that we use for her on a regular basis. Most of them are object words like diaper, potty, light, nap, etc. She is just starting to put together two words like "Zoe seat". She did that today for the first time. Her favorite words for the week are "seat", "sit", "bib", "potty", and "NO"..not too crazy about the last one.
2. She is in the process of potty training - though we're making it a ssssllllooooowww process. She is interested sometimes and sometimes not. She's had about 5 successes, two or three of those where she came and told me potty and did one or the other soon after we put her on. This week, she's not so interested in it.
3. She loves her daddy. When he comes home, the first thing she does is run to the door and squeal "daddy daddy daddy". Then she'll turn and run away from him wanting him to playing chase. Sometimes she'll run to him to show him something she's doing...sometimes she'll run give him a hug. But most of the time she runs away. She loves to wrestle with him on the floor at night and jump (literally leap) on him.
4. She is fascinated with any toys that come apart where she has to put them back together. She's a really visual learner, I think, and loves to work or play with her hands. She has also learned to build with blocks and stack 3 or 4 at a time. She usually accidentally knocks them down once she reaches 4.
5. She's a pro walker and is now running most places. She has unfortunately learned to take off running when she hears her name being called after she's done something she knows is wrong.
6. She loves the park and loves to slide down the "sly" (her word for slide). She also loves just to be let loose at OBU's campus to wander. She has discovered "ticks" (sticks), "leafs", and "lights" on campus.
7. She thinks she is invincible. Especially when it comes to climbing and decending. Stairs? No problem. Takes them sometimes two at a time...or tries unsuccessfully. It's going down that's the problem. She tries to go down steps as quickly as she walks...doesn't quite work that way. She loves climbing on the couch (learned that this week), but we're working keeping her seated once she's up there.
8. She loves her nap time. We dropped down to one nap/day this last week. She does fine if we're out and about doing things. But when we're home, I found that putting her down for a 20-30 minute catnap helps tremendously. She has a special square blankie (really small one) that she uses only for nap and bed time. She has learned that when she's ready for bed, she can go to the foot of her crib, try to climb in the crib, and say "bap" - her strange word for nap or "night night" to signal it's time for bedtime. Usually, it's right on schedule with when she's actually supposed to go down that she does that.
9. She loves the games peek-a-boo, chase, and "hide-and-go-seek".
10. She loves books, reading on her own or having you read to her. If she's "reading" on her own, she'll go sit in her little rocker - Darin's rocker as a child - get a book from her bookshelf, and just flip through the pages. It's funny to watch.
11. Her favorite show on TV (really the only one we consistently watch) is the Backyardigans. It's a singing and dancing cartoon...and she'll dance to it the whole time.
12. She likes to "play fetch" with Jedi. She'll run get his ball and hold it above her head like she's going to throw it. Then eventually she'll toss it a few feet away from him. He happily obliges to her game and will often take it back to her to throw again. They really are a pair.
13. She loves to have me name body parts and she point them out. Her new favorites are daddy's belly button, and all facial parts. She was at one time obsessed with the nose. Now it's the "syes" (she always a plural name followed by eyes, so she picked up syes). She pokes very hard at your eyes, so you have to squint hard.
14. She loves to tell you what animal sounds certain animals make. She currently knows doggie, kitty cat, duck, cow, sheep, monkey, lion, and fish (bub bub). Her favorite is the quacking sound.
15. She's just a ton of fun with lots of personality. She is a good communicator when she needs to be, whether through sign language or verbal. And best of all, she minds us...most of the time. She's starting to test those limits a little more, but knows her boundaries.
I'm sure there's more I forgot, but you know how those braincells disappear during pregnancy. :-)
15 weeks pregnant
As for me, I'll give a quick update. I'll try to post a picture sometime soon.
1. I'm almost 15 weeks...I think. Maybe I'm only 14. I lose count obviously.
2. I've gained about a pound - maybe two. It's all in my ever-expanding belly.
3. Sickness this time has been very minimal. The Lord blessed me with a relatively easy first trimester...though I still felt like I had to pee every 30 minutes.
4. My belly feels and looks huge. I'm in only maternity clothes now. I look like I did when I was about 25 weeks last pregnancy...but the OB-GYN assures me that you grow at a much faster rate after your first b/c your muscles are...well, let's just say quite stretched!
5. I'm now officially in my second trimester - already over a third of the way there!
Have I mentioned before that time flies? For those of you who don't see her much, here are her 15 month stats. We went to the doctor yesterday for immunizations and a checkup. She is 22 and a half pounds, is 32 inches tall, and has a head circumfrence of 18 and 3/4 inches. In laymans terms, she is 50th percentile in both weight and head circumfrence and 90th percentile(yes, 90th) in height. There is height on both sides of our family...we just weren't blessed with it. She'll surpass us in height by the time she's 4. But this is why she keeps outgrowing her clothes just 2 months after we buy them. And this is why she's in 24 month clothes that swallow her but are just barely long enough for her.
Here are a few things that are going on at this stage in her life.
1. She has a rapidly expanding vocabulary. She knows a few names for people (besides mama, daddy, jedi, and zoweeee) and knows most of the words that we use for her on a regular basis. Most of them are object words like diaper, potty, light, nap, etc. She is just starting to put together two words like "Zoe seat". She did that today for the first time. Her favorite words for the week are "seat", "sit", "bib", "potty", and "NO"..not too crazy about the last one.
2. She is in the process of potty training - though we're making it a ssssllllooooowww process. She is interested sometimes and sometimes not. She's had about 5 successes, two or three of those where she came and told me potty and did one or the other soon after we put her on. This week, she's not so interested in it.
3. She loves her daddy. When he comes home, the first thing she does is run to the door and squeal "daddy daddy daddy". Then she'll turn and run away from him wanting him to playing chase. Sometimes she'll run to him to show him something she's doing...sometimes she'll run give him a hug. But most of the time she runs away. She loves to wrestle with him on the floor at night and jump (literally leap) on him.
4. She is fascinated with any toys that come apart where she has to put them back together. She's a really visual learner, I think, and loves to work or play with her hands. She has also learned to build with blocks and stack 3 or 4 at a time. She usually accidentally knocks them down once she reaches 4.
5. She's a pro walker and is now running most places. She has unfortunately learned to take off running when she hears her name being called after she's done something she knows is wrong.
6. She loves the park and loves to slide down the "sly" (her word for slide). She also loves just to be let loose at OBU's campus to wander. She has discovered "ticks" (sticks), "leafs", and "lights" on campus.
7. She thinks she is invincible. Especially when it comes to climbing and decending. Stairs? No problem. Takes them sometimes two at a time...or tries unsuccessfully. It's going down that's the problem. She tries to go down steps as quickly as she walks...doesn't quite work that way. She loves climbing on the couch (learned that this week), but we're working keeping her seated once she's up there.
8. She loves her nap time. We dropped down to one nap/day this last week. She does fine if we're out and about doing things. But when we're home, I found that putting her down for a 20-30 minute catnap helps tremendously. She has a special square blankie (really small one) that she uses only for nap and bed time. She has learned that when she's ready for bed, she can go to the foot of her crib, try to climb in the crib, and say "bap" - her strange word for nap or "night night" to signal it's time for bedtime. Usually, it's right on schedule with when she's actually supposed to go down that she does that.
9. She loves the games peek-a-boo, chase, and "hide-and-go-seek".
10. She loves books, reading on her own or having you read to her. If she's "reading" on her own, she'll go sit in her little rocker - Darin's rocker as a child - get a book from her bookshelf, and just flip through the pages. It's funny to watch.
11. Her favorite show on TV (really the only one we consistently watch) is the Backyardigans. It's a singing and dancing cartoon...and she'll dance to it the whole time.
12. She likes to "play fetch" with Jedi. She'll run get his ball and hold it above her head like she's going to throw it. Then eventually she'll toss it a few feet away from him. He happily obliges to her game and will often take it back to her to throw again. They really are a pair.
13. She loves to have me name body parts and she point them out. Her new favorites are daddy's belly button, and all facial parts. She was at one time obsessed with the nose. Now it's the "syes" (she always a plural name followed by eyes, so she picked up syes). She pokes very hard at your eyes, so you have to squint hard.
14. She loves to tell you what animal sounds certain animals make. She currently knows doggie, kitty cat, duck, cow, sheep, monkey, lion, and fish (bub bub). Her favorite is the quacking sound.
15. She's just a ton of fun with lots of personality. She is a good communicator when she needs to be, whether through sign language or verbal. And best of all, she minds us...most of the time. She's starting to test those limits a little more, but knows her boundaries.
I'm sure there's more I forgot, but you know how those braincells disappear during pregnancy. :-)
15 weeks pregnant
As for me, I'll give a quick update. I'll try to post a picture sometime soon.
1. I'm almost 15 weeks...I think. Maybe I'm only 14. I lose count obviously.
2. I've gained about a pound - maybe two. It's all in my ever-expanding belly.
3. Sickness this time has been very minimal. The Lord blessed me with a relatively easy first trimester...though I still felt like I had to pee every 30 minutes.
4. My belly feels and looks huge. I'm in only maternity clothes now. I look like I did when I was about 25 weeks last pregnancy...but the OB-GYN assures me that you grow at a much faster rate after your first b/c your muscles are...well, let's just say quite stretched!
5. I'm now officially in my second trimester - already over a third of the way there!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Jack-O-Math-Lantern
As a family, we decided to start a new tradition...carving a jack-o-lantern. We're not big Halloween people, but carving a pumpkin is just good ol' fashioned fun. I taped a few trash bags to the table and we went to town. Well, the real story is that Darin went to town while Zoe watched and played with the seedy goop, and I took pictures. Here are some pictures of our pumpkin carving journey.
The Carving Phase -
The Amazement Phase - my favorite!
The Finished Product - The Jack-o-math-lantern containing a triangle, circle, square, parallelogram, pentagon, and hexagon. We're really not that nerdy, I promise!!!
The Carving Phase -
The Amazement Phase - my favorite!
The Finished Product - The Jack-o-math-lantern containing a triangle, circle, square, parallelogram, pentagon, and hexagon. We're really not that nerdy, I promise!!!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Zoe Buscher to the starting line - On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!!!
Have you ever thought about how God has such an incredible sense of humor? I can remember times when it felt like He was just looking down going "Sorry, I needed to play a good practical joke today and you were it."
Like the time we were on our way to Illinois for Thanksgiving and a really large wreck had happened just up the highway from where we were. I'm an impatient driver and just want to get to where we're going as quickly as possible (not to say that I speed...much). We ended up sitting for two hours behind that wreck until they got it cleaned up. After loudly grunting and sighing for a while, I finally resolved to putting the car in park and unbuckling my seatbelt to become a little more comfy. Seconds later, the traffic moved. - Prank #1 Of course I thought the wreck had been cleared by that time. Less than 50 feet of traveling, the traffic stopped again. - Prank #2 More grunting, more sighing, and after 5 minutes or so, I repeated the putting the car in park and unbuckling. Hmm..again, seconds later, the traffic moves....again. Sceptically, I put the car back into drive and buckled up...only to find that just a few feet down the road again, traffic stopped. Hmph...just happened twice, but Darin laughed the whole time at me...even more so as I continued getting more impatient.
So this prank? Not really a prank, really, just need a scapegoat heavy sarcasm intended there). Of course my daughter would learn to run away from me at every call right about the time that anything more than fast walking makes me breathless. Yesterday, it wasn't just any old fashioned running away, it was running away right after a bath...completely naked and able to pee all over our carpet. Thankfully, that didn't happen....but it could've. She ran, and she ran....and she ran. She ran anywhere I wasn't...but all with her hooded towel still on her head.
I videoed the final moments of her sprint...just too funny not to capture on video. She was worn out by this point so she didn't really run until the end of the video when she realized I was right behind her. What stopped her? Well, you'll notice that Jedi is following behind her with his ball wanting her to play with him. He accidentally stepped on her towel and made her fall.
.
Like the time we were on our way to Illinois for Thanksgiving and a really large wreck had happened just up the highway from where we were. I'm an impatient driver and just want to get to where we're going as quickly as possible (not to say that I speed...much). We ended up sitting for two hours behind that wreck until they got it cleaned up. After loudly grunting and sighing for a while, I finally resolved to putting the car in park and unbuckling my seatbelt to become a little more comfy. Seconds later, the traffic moved. - Prank #1 Of course I thought the wreck had been cleared by that time. Less than 50 feet of traveling, the traffic stopped again. - Prank #2 More grunting, more sighing, and after 5 minutes or so, I repeated the putting the car in park and unbuckling. Hmm..again, seconds later, the traffic moves....again. Sceptically, I put the car back into drive and buckled up...only to find that just a few feet down the road again, traffic stopped. Hmph...just happened twice, but Darin laughed the whole time at me...even more so as I continued getting more impatient.
So this prank? Not really a prank, really, just need a scapegoat heavy sarcasm intended there). Of course my daughter would learn to run away from me at every call right about the time that anything more than fast walking makes me breathless. Yesterday, it wasn't just any old fashioned running away, it was running away right after a bath...completely naked and able to pee all over our carpet. Thankfully, that didn't happen....but it could've. She ran, and she ran....and she ran. She ran anywhere I wasn't...but all with her hooded towel still on her head.
I videoed the final moments of her sprint...just too funny not to capture on video. She was worn out by this point so she didn't really run until the end of the video when she realized I was right behind her. What stopped her? Well, you'll notice that Jedi is following behind her with his ball wanting her to play with him. He accidentally stepped on her towel and made her fall.
.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
October 15 - Day of remembering
As you may know, October 15th is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. This includes all babies who have died because of miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any other infant death.
I actually had no clue that this day existed. I found out while reading another blog this morning. But after reading about it, I thought it was a great day to "remember" since this day applies to me too.
Most of you probably don't even know about this, so I won't go into great detail. It wasn't something that we really cared to share about much at the time because it was such a surprise to us. Six months after Darin and I were married, I had a miscarriage. But the only surprise wasn't just that I miscarried, but that I had been pregnant. I was about 8 weeks along and had no symptoms other than two missed periods which we just chalked up to the new birth control pill that I started. I never had any clue.
That day is one I will never forget. Not knowing that I had been pregnant before made it much easier to deal with, but knowing that I had a baby inside of me that died was tough - hard to wrap my emotions around. I still think about it every once in a while and wonder what he or she would have looked like or what they would be like. But it is comforting knowing that baby is and will always be resting in Jesus' arms and that maybe one day I'll get a chance to meet that son or daughter that I never had the chance to meet on earth.
Now, back to today. This post wasn't meant to be about me. My experience is very minute compared to most that I know and never would I try to compare my hurt to theirs. This post was solely meant to focus on those who you know who have lost little ones in the past by miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any other kind of infant death. Just take a moment and say a quick prayer for that family now and during the times they come to your mind throughout the day today. And if you're one of those who has lost a baby in years past, may the Lord grant you peace and gladness. That baby is safe in heaven's arms.
I actually had no clue that this day existed. I found out while reading another blog this morning. But after reading about it, I thought it was a great day to "remember" since this day applies to me too.
Most of you probably don't even know about this, so I won't go into great detail. It wasn't something that we really cared to share about much at the time because it was such a surprise to us. Six months after Darin and I were married, I had a miscarriage. But the only surprise wasn't just that I miscarried, but that I had been pregnant. I was about 8 weeks along and had no symptoms other than two missed periods which we just chalked up to the new birth control pill that I started. I never had any clue.
That day is one I will never forget. Not knowing that I had been pregnant before made it much easier to deal with, but knowing that I had a baby inside of me that died was tough - hard to wrap my emotions around. I still think about it every once in a while and wonder what he or she would have looked like or what they would be like. But it is comforting knowing that baby is and will always be resting in Jesus' arms and that maybe one day I'll get a chance to meet that son or daughter that I never had the chance to meet on earth.
Now, back to today. This post wasn't meant to be about me. My experience is very minute compared to most that I know and never would I try to compare my hurt to theirs. This post was solely meant to focus on those who you know who have lost little ones in the past by miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any other kind of infant death. Just take a moment and say a quick prayer for that family now and during the times they come to your mind throughout the day today. And if you're one of those who has lost a baby in years past, may the Lord grant you peace and gladness. That baby is safe in heaven's arms.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Darin's "kidnapping"
Hopefully the quotations around kidnapping made you realize that Darin wasn't really kidnapped in reality. His birthday is coming up next week. He's never been one for surprise parties or anything like that, so to respect that, I had a different idea. I called up a good buddy of his a couple of weeks ago and asked him if he could round up a few guys to come "kidnap" Darin and to take him out for a night on the town. He needed a good guy night. From there, Kelly (the guy I originally called) took the reigns and planned with a few of Darin's other friends to go and get him at work before he got home that evening. They wanted to, according to Kelly, "scare the pee out of him". So I called one of the other professors on Darin's floor and began scheming with him. The plan was for Kelly to call me when he and the other guys got to Darin's office floor. I would in turn call this professor who would then call Darin into his office to talk to him about something. Meanwhile, the guys planned to sneak by and hide in various places in Darin's office. Eventually when Darin came back in, they would jump out to scare him, grab him (hence the kidnapping) and take him out for the evening. All that to say...that plan busted. Of all days, Darin decided to go play racquetball that afternoon.
So...backup plan. The guys all met up at the gym where Darin plays and I met them up there with my trusty camera to get a video of the action. Here's where it got complicated. When he and whoever he was playing with finish a game, they come hang out in the hall. I went in first to make sure was still in the court. Turns out he was. Just as the guys were shuffling in behind me, guess who steps out. Yeah...so I turned around and told them to jump back behind the wall out of sight. It actually worked. I went ahead and walked in with Zoe and as Darin bent over to talk to Zoe, I pulled his opponent aside and told him to get Darin to go get a drink of water with him. He gave me a funny look but obliged. So as the two rounded the corner, I motioned for Darin's friends who were still glued to the wall outside to come in. They ran and found spots in the court to go hide. A minute or so later, Darin came back and as hoped decided to play another quick game. The rest can be viewed on the video. It totally caught Darin off guard...funny to watch. So once the "kidnapping" was over and Darin had changed, they headed to Hot Springs to go to some place called Buffalo Wild Wings. Just the place for four guys who all have bottomless pits for stomachs. Monday night is an all you can eat on about 14 different styles of buffalo wings. And to top it off, there are TV's all over the place. Three words...MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. What a recipe for testosterone.
Darin's not the kind of guy who just shows his excitement like girls tend to. You have to search for his. Over the last 5 years, I've been able to pick up on the fact that you can find his excitement in his stories following whatever event it was. If he is full of stories to tell me, he had a great time (which was the case last night). And I think he was proud of the fact that between the 4guys, they ate a total of 125 wings...and amongst those were blazin' wings (the hottest of the hot). What a night...
(don't forget to pause the music player on the left side to hear the video)
He never saw anyone hidden. Buddy - the guy who grabbed him from behind - remained anonymous until he let Darin down. That's what made it so good. Kelly is the one that you see come grab his legs. Dave - the unseen guy just laughed through the whole event.
So...backup plan. The guys all met up at the gym where Darin plays and I met them up there with my trusty camera to get a video of the action. Here's where it got complicated. When he and whoever he was playing with finish a game, they come hang out in the hall. I went in first to make sure was still in the court. Turns out he was. Just as the guys were shuffling in behind me, guess who steps out. Yeah...so I turned around and told them to jump back behind the wall out of sight. It actually worked. I went ahead and walked in with Zoe and as Darin bent over to talk to Zoe, I pulled his opponent aside and told him to get Darin to go get a drink of water with him. He gave me a funny look but obliged. So as the two rounded the corner, I motioned for Darin's friends who were still glued to the wall outside to come in. They ran and found spots in the court to go hide. A minute or so later, Darin came back and as hoped decided to play another quick game. The rest can be viewed on the video. It totally caught Darin off guard...funny to watch. So once the "kidnapping" was over and Darin had changed, they headed to Hot Springs to go to some place called Buffalo Wild Wings. Just the place for four guys who all have bottomless pits for stomachs. Monday night is an all you can eat on about 14 different styles of buffalo wings. And to top it off, there are TV's all over the place. Three words...MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. What a recipe for testosterone.
Darin's not the kind of guy who just shows his excitement like girls tend to. You have to search for his. Over the last 5 years, I've been able to pick up on the fact that you can find his excitement in his stories following whatever event it was. If he is full of stories to tell me, he had a great time (which was the case last night). And I think he was proud of the fact that between the 4guys, they ate a total of 125 wings...and amongst those were blazin' wings (the hottest of the hot). What a night...
(don't forget to pause the music player on the left side to hear the video)
He never saw anyone hidden. Buddy - the guy who grabbed him from behind - remained anonymous until he let Darin down. That's what made it so good. Kelly is the one that you see come grab his legs. Dave - the unseen guy just laughed through the whole event.
Pebbles
The proof exists! She's finally growing hair!!! Zoe's 15 months old and there's not much more hair on her head than what existed when she was born. BUT...the last month, we've seen some growth. At this point, it looks really funny because it's all coming from the crown of her head. So she looks like she has a mop on her head. I attempted to put a rubber band in the long strands and it actually stayed. She looks like a mini-me version of Pebbles in the Flinstones. But it's proof...there really is hair there!!! Maybe by the time she's two I'll be able to put a clip in it!
She was intently coloring a picture
Here is her final result (minus the blue right arm).
She was intently coloring a picture
Here is her final result (minus the blue right arm).
Monday, October 13, 2008
Sights to see
The Buscher household right now is peaceful and quiet. The little one is napping. 30 minutes ago, however, that was NOT the case. Let me give you a glimpse into our morning. We had just gotten her off her potty (with another pee success) and I had her in a diaper and a Halloween shirt that her grandmother had bought for her. The pumpkin lights up when you move. She loved it when I first put it on. Her jeans were in the dryer being dried. ...So here's the scene
She has learned to run now - so she ran around the room in circles with a string between her legs pulling a singing porcupine pull toy in one hand and holding a large Tupperware bowl in the other that we used as a distractor toy while I was cooking one night. No pants on yet...just shirt, diaper, and socks. In addition to running in circles, she's singing to herself and saying "Zoweee Zoweee". Periodically she'll stop to look at the lights on her shirt and say "light" only to resume running with the porcupine toy bopping along behind her...often not on it's two wheels as it is supposed to be.
Ah the joys of parenthood.
She has learned to run now - so she ran around the room in circles with a string between her legs pulling a singing porcupine pull toy in one hand and holding a large Tupperware bowl in the other that we used as a distractor toy while I was cooking one night. No pants on yet...just shirt, diaper, and socks. In addition to running in circles, she's singing to herself and saying "Zoweee Zoweee". Periodically she'll stop to look at the lights on her shirt and say "light" only to resume running with the porcupine toy bopping along behind her...often not on it's two wheels as it is supposed to be.
Ah the joys of parenthood.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Pumpkin Days
More pictures from the photo obsessed. So if you've ever tried to get a toddler to stay still for pictures, you know the struggles and how many people it takes just to get one picture with a smile. We have the pumpkins that we bought last week at the pumpkin patch and some other decorations on the fireplace, I decided to put a backdrop up to eliminate the glare from the flash and try to get some good pictures. Not the greatest, but I got some pretty cute ones. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with taking pictures of fall things...I guess they just make great backgrounds. I'm looking forward to when the leaves fall and I can get some action shots in the leaves. The fact that she's "posing" cracks me up. With as much as that poor child has seen the camera, she very well may be posing on purpose.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A true accidental potty success!!!
I'm sad to say that the sight of seeing something legitimate in Zoe's potty after she gets up from it is a truly exciting thing. For those of you who didn't read my post yesterday, you might want to glance at it before you read this one...although I'm sure after reading this you'll pick up on what it was about.
As I did yesterday, right after Zoe ate her breakfast, I changed her out of her diaper and put her on her potty seat. I sat next to her and I got her favorite book...an ABC book with about 5 items on a page per letter. She's gotten really good at picking out a select few items for just about every letter, so we go through and I'll ask her to show me those, and then go back through and she points at ones she doesn't know while I say the name for them. Depending on her mood, this can be anywhere from a 5 minute process to over 20. Yesterday afternoon she sat on her potty seat for 20 minutes when I finally, against her will, pulled her off and put on her diaper. This morning's was about 10 minutes.
And to my surprise, she had peed in her potty at some point during our reading. I didn't ever hear it. I cheered and clapped and did everything that would give a pedestrian walking down the street cause to think I was insane. But as I have figured out, she learns best that way. When I go nuts over her doing something good, she knows will usually try to do it again so she can get that response again. So intentionally, we do a mini celebration. But this was HUGE! Totally unintentional I'm sure...but HUGE! I'm so excited. I think after yesterday's "success" and today's true success, she has a good idea of what her seat is really used for. With a few more accidental successes like these, she might begin to figure out the cues that cause those urges.
As I did yesterday, right after Zoe ate her breakfast, I changed her out of her diaper and put her on her potty seat. I sat next to her and I got her favorite book...an ABC book with about 5 items on a page per letter. She's gotten really good at picking out a select few items for just about every letter, so we go through and I'll ask her to show me those, and then go back through and she points at ones she doesn't know while I say the name for them. Depending on her mood, this can be anywhere from a 5 minute process to over 20. Yesterday afternoon she sat on her potty seat for 20 minutes when I finally, against her will, pulled her off and put on her diaper. This morning's was about 10 minutes.
And to my surprise, she had peed in her potty at some point during our reading. I didn't ever hear it. I cheered and clapped and did everything that would give a pedestrian walking down the street cause to think I was insane. But as I have figured out, she learns best that way. When I go nuts over her doing something good, she knows will usually try to do it again so she can get that response again. So intentionally, we do a mini celebration. But this was HUGE! Totally unintentional I'm sure...but HUGE! I'm so excited. I think after yesterday's "success" and today's true success, she has a good idea of what her seat is really used for. With a few more accidental successes like these, she might begin to figure out the cues that cause those urges.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
And so the adventure begins....
Well, here we go...we're about to embark on a looong journey. Ok, whatever, it's not that big of a deal just yet...I just wanted to start a post that way. Here's what's really going down in the Buscher household. If you remember, I wrote a post a couple of a weeks ago about Zoe telling me she needed a diaper change right after doing her business behind the table. I seriously thought that was just an isolated event, but apparently not. She didn't tell me again for about a week, but then she told me all the time. She would tell me even if her diaper just got too wet. One time, there was a clean cloth diaper on the couch somewhere and she brought it to me. When I changed her, she was dirty. So.....here we go. We went for our weekly store run yesterday afternoon and bought Zoe her very own potty. Hers is a nifty (yes, I know I just used the word nifty) 3-in-1 potty that converts from a potty chair to a potty seat that you can put on the big toilet and then to a stool that they can use to step up to the big toilet. Too cool. Sadly, I remember my potty chair as a child was a plain Jane white wind up potty that sang the song How Dry I Am. Sad...first memory??? Odd!!
ANYWAY...moving on. When we got home, I just sat it in the living room and let her look at it. I decided to just "try it out", so after cleaning it, I stripped her diaper down and sat her on it. She, however, was NOT eager to sit on it. She, as I figured out yesterday, is a baby who likes to study things before she does anything with them. And I apparently didn't give her enough time to "study" her new potty chair. She's like her daddy in that. So, we ate dinner and after dinner gathered together in the living room where the potty chair was. I started talking to her about it, but not making any big deal out of it or trying to put her on it. I wanted her to make the first move, or I would have shyed her away for good for awhile. Instead (and this may seem strange but it worked) I took her carebear and put in on the potty to show her what it was used for. Fortunately, she was quite interested in it. She at one point looked at me, pointed at the chair, said "potty......sit". I watched in amazement as she proceeded to turn around and sit on the seat. Clothes on at this point, but Darin and I both just decided to take a REALLY slow approach to this whole thing since she's still so young. My goal is just to have her potty trained by the time baby #2 is here. So this then is what I got for several minutes. The dog always finds his way to the camera so you'll notice him pass by two or three times.
After my last post regarding this, my mother-in-law e-mailed me to say that she started with her first at 15 months and he was trained at 19 months by the time Darin came along. Apparently she succeeded with never having two boys in diapers at the same time. So if four kids can be trained before 2, I have hope. I may be nuts, but I have hope.
Here's my plan. First of all, when she sat on her seat for the first time last night, I intentionally went overboard with cheers. I usually do that intentionally so she'll realize quickly that she did something good. For the first few days, I'm just going to leave the seat out in plain sight for her to sit on whenever she pleases. For the first month or so, a few times during the day... mainly after meals when I would normally change her, I'll put her stripped on her seat. We did this this starting this morning and she sat on her own will for 5 or 10 minutes both times. I sat with her and she "read" a book and played with her carebear. She was thrilled. Then after the first month or so, I'll increase the time on her potty to once ever couple of hours. Hopefully over time and with a few accidental successes, she'll figure it out.
She actually already had a VERY accidental success this afternoon after lunch. This was not at all by her leading..don't get me wrong. She had spent about 10 minutes on her potty just reading and jabbering. When she was ready to get up, I changed her diaper and let her go. No more than 5 minutes later, she started doing her business. So quickly I asked her and took her to her potty where I quickly stripped her down. She's still in the middle of the act at this point. I positioned the diaper under her but over the seat so however far along she was it would just go straight into the seat. And "plop". I of course again and intentionally went nuts cheering and clapping. She stood up and I showed her what "she had done". She then followed by clapping and pointing at it (meanwhile the room is starting to stink REALLY BAD). We made another "celebration" with the disposal and I cleaned the seat out again. I think she may have gotten a big hint, but I don't expect anything to come of it for quite some time. I'm just thrilled an opportunity like that came so quickly.
Here are some pictures of her excitement last night. No nudity, no worries.
So if you have any tips, please comment. I'm clueless here, and know she's very young to even start this process, but I felt like she was starting to make connections with being dirty and diaper changes. I'm expecting for this to take at least 6 months or so....so I'm not in any rush.
ANYWAY...moving on. When we got home, I just sat it in the living room and let her look at it. I decided to just "try it out", so after cleaning it, I stripped her diaper down and sat her on it. She, however, was NOT eager to sit on it. She, as I figured out yesterday, is a baby who likes to study things before she does anything with them. And I apparently didn't give her enough time to "study" her new potty chair. She's like her daddy in that. So, we ate dinner and after dinner gathered together in the living room where the potty chair was. I started talking to her about it, but not making any big deal out of it or trying to put her on it. I wanted her to make the first move, or I would have shyed her away for good for awhile. Instead (and this may seem strange but it worked) I took her carebear and put in on the potty to show her what it was used for. Fortunately, she was quite interested in it. She at one point looked at me, pointed at the chair, said "potty......sit". I watched in amazement as she proceeded to turn around and sit on the seat. Clothes on at this point, but Darin and I both just decided to take a REALLY slow approach to this whole thing since she's still so young. My goal is just to have her potty trained by the time baby #2 is here. So this then is what I got for several minutes. The dog always finds his way to the camera so you'll notice him pass by two or three times.
After my last post regarding this, my mother-in-law e-mailed me to say that she started with her first at 15 months and he was trained at 19 months by the time Darin came along. Apparently she succeeded with never having two boys in diapers at the same time. So if four kids can be trained before 2, I have hope. I may be nuts, but I have hope.
Here's my plan. First of all, when she sat on her seat for the first time last night, I intentionally went overboard with cheers. I usually do that intentionally so she'll realize quickly that she did something good. For the first few days, I'm just going to leave the seat out in plain sight for her to sit on whenever she pleases. For the first month or so, a few times during the day... mainly after meals when I would normally change her, I'll put her stripped on her seat. We did this this starting this morning and she sat on her own will for 5 or 10 minutes both times. I sat with her and she "read" a book and played with her carebear. She was thrilled. Then after the first month or so, I'll increase the time on her potty to once ever couple of hours. Hopefully over time and with a few accidental successes, she'll figure it out.
She actually already had a VERY accidental success this afternoon after lunch. This was not at all by her leading..don't get me wrong. She had spent about 10 minutes on her potty just reading and jabbering. When she was ready to get up, I changed her diaper and let her go. No more than 5 minutes later, she started doing her business. So quickly I asked her and took her to her potty where I quickly stripped her down. She's still in the middle of the act at this point. I positioned the diaper under her but over the seat so however far along she was it would just go straight into the seat. And "plop". I of course again and intentionally went nuts cheering and clapping. She stood up and I showed her what "she had done". She then followed by clapping and pointing at it (meanwhile the room is starting to stink REALLY BAD). We made another "celebration" with the disposal and I cleaned the seat out again. I think she may have gotten a big hint, but I don't expect anything to come of it for quite some time. I'm just thrilled an opportunity like that came so quickly.
Here are some pictures of her excitement last night. No nudity, no worries.
So if you have any tips, please comment. I'm clueless here, and know she's very young to even start this process, but I felt like she was starting to make connections with being dirty and diaper changes. I'm expecting for this to take at least 6 months or so....so I'm not in any rush.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Buscher Moments
News from the Buscher Household.... Lots of new things. Never a boring moment. Among those things:
Darin is about to have a birthday. He's not much of a party or gift kind of guy, so I try to be creative with what I get him. It never fails that the older he gets, the more he looks the same. Yeah, I know, didn't make much sense. But seriously, the man doesn't look like he's aged a wink since he graduated college. Maybe that explains why kids he taught in the 7th grade pick him out of a crowd in Walmart still. My old man...although I would have to say that he may be older than me in age, but his body is about 20 years younger than mine. And although I'm younger than him by number, my poor arthritic body is about 55 in reality.
Heck...my own doctor hinted at the fact that I was getting old when he told me that the pain I was experiencing at night was just arthritic changes. And when I asked about the preexisting condition I was diagnosed with when I was 21, he said, "well that's the name we give to those who are young. When you age, we call it arthritis." I laughed and said back to him, "oh, so you're trying to tell me I'm old, huh?" No worries...I know him pretty well. We go to church with he and his family. So I may make fun of Darin about getting "old" but my body is much older, so poking fun is equal in this household.
Me, well, I just feel big sometimes. I'm not yet really, but I feel that way. I'm still in the "looking fat" stage. Actually, I haven't really grown much at all from the last picture I posted. Here's how I'm feeling at the moment. Now only half of this picture is accurate. I pretty much feel like I could inhale a hippo at any given moment, but I've only gained a pound...maybe. That's probably because most of what I choose to buy in terms of snacks are healthy. Otherwise, I'd have gained 10 pounds or more by now.
Zoe is learning new things every minute of every day...even in her sleep. I swear, that child comes out with 5 new words every week. This week, her new words are "potty", "bap" for nap, "sits" for seat, "socks", "up", and "wawer" for water. Obviously, the correct pronunciation is a ways away...but we're making huge progress. Her favorite words by far are still "baa" for ball and "shoose" for shoes. No idea why those are her favorite, but half of her day are spent walking around with a ball in her hand or a shoe..sometimes one in each hand.
She also started building blocks this week. She had been stacking two large blocks or two items several months ago. But this week, she started stacking 3 and 4 small blocks on top of one another. I got a video of her diligince in building.
Darin is about to have a birthday. He's not much of a party or gift kind of guy, so I try to be creative with what I get him. It never fails that the older he gets, the more he looks the same. Yeah, I know, didn't make much sense. But seriously, the man doesn't look like he's aged a wink since he graduated college. Maybe that explains why kids he taught in the 7th grade pick him out of a crowd in Walmart still. My old man...although I would have to say that he may be older than me in age, but his body is about 20 years younger than mine. And although I'm younger than him by number, my poor arthritic body is about 55 in reality.
Heck...my own doctor hinted at the fact that I was getting old when he told me that the pain I was experiencing at night was just arthritic changes. And when I asked about the preexisting condition I was diagnosed with when I was 21, he said, "well that's the name we give to those who are young. When you age, we call it arthritis." I laughed and said back to him, "oh, so you're trying to tell me I'm old, huh?" No worries...I know him pretty well. We go to church with he and his family. So I may make fun of Darin about getting "old" but my body is much older, so poking fun is equal in this household.
Me, well, I just feel big sometimes. I'm not yet really, but I feel that way. I'm still in the "looking fat" stage. Actually, I haven't really grown much at all from the last picture I posted. Here's how I'm feeling at the moment. Now only half of this picture is accurate. I pretty much feel like I could inhale a hippo at any given moment, but I've only gained a pound...maybe. That's probably because most of what I choose to buy in terms of snacks are healthy. Otherwise, I'd have gained 10 pounds or more by now.
Zoe is learning new things every minute of every day...even in her sleep. I swear, that child comes out with 5 new words every week. This week, her new words are "potty", "bap" for nap, "sits" for seat, "socks", "up", and "wawer" for water. Obviously, the correct pronunciation is a ways away...but we're making huge progress. Her favorite words by far are still "baa" for ball and "shoose" for shoes. No idea why those are her favorite, but half of her day are spent walking around with a ball in her hand or a shoe..sometimes one in each hand.
She also started building blocks this week. She had been stacking two large blocks or two items several months ago. But this week, she started stacking 3 and 4 small blocks on top of one another. I got a video of her diligince in building.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Pumpkin Patch '08
So surprisingly enough, the pumpkin patch was rescheduled for today following church. I was thrilled needless to say...I wanted Zoe to experience all of the sights and the sounds of a community pumpkin patch complete with hay rides, games, pumpkin picking, etc. etc. etc. And of course I wanted to get pictures...lots and lots of pictures. But because it is only scheduled for one day out of the year, they just had the pumpkin picking and served lunch...no hay rides, fire truck rides, or games. But for a one year old, it's still paradise (for an hour).
We took a big chance on taking her right after church. Normally, her nap times are at 10 and 2. Church days are thrown off b/c she doesn't nap in the nursery anymore, so her nap time on Sunday is right after lunch. She's a cranky one if she doesn't get her nap...unless she's captivated by something. She did get a small 15 minute snooze on our way out there. Just enough to give her a boost of energy.
Here are some of the better pictures. The sun was so bright that there were lots of shadows and squinting...and sadly, few smiles since she was so tired...or maybe she was just too distracted.
We took a big chance on taking her right after church. Normally, her nap times are at 10 and 2. Church days are thrown off b/c she doesn't nap in the nursery anymore, so her nap time on Sunday is right after lunch. She's a cranky one if she doesn't get her nap...unless she's captivated by something. She did get a small 15 minute snooze on our way out there. Just enough to give her a boost of energy.
Here are some of the better pictures. The sun was so bright that there were lots of shadows and squinting...and sadly, few smiles since she was so tired...or maybe she was just too distracted.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Rain out
Well, this was supposed to be my post dedicated to really fun and cute pictures of the pumpkin patch. However...notice that there are no pictures. No, that doesn't mean that I forgot my camera...we'd have gone back for it. :-) What it does mean is that Arkansas weathermen were sooooo far from being correct on what the weather was supposed to do. Last night when I checked it, we had a 2% chance of rain...yes, 2. The air in the morning was supposed to be cool and crisp, but be at about 65-75 while we were there. BUT...this morning at 7:30, I awoke to the sound of distant thunder. Thirty minutes later, the rain started and the storms hit. It was a random patch (that covered half the state) of thunderstorms. It's now 3:45, STILL raining, and barely 60 degrees. So I'm a little (or a lot) bummed that the perfect fall morning was a rain out. I had hoped for a perfect fall day to celebrate the yearly event us small towners like to call Pumpkin Day at the Pumpkin patch.
Yes, and I do mean a real pumpkin patch...not the grocery store's patch of pumpkins that sits outside of the store. A small community near Arkadelphia has a pumpkin patch that is located on their Christmas tree farm. It's always been fun just to go and get your own pumpkins, but this year was going to be even more fun. We have a kiddo that I'm sure would run from one corner to the other shouting "dis dis" and pointing to things that she'd never seen before. It's a picture taker's "paradise"...and a great place to make some memories.
If it's stopped raining this afternoon, chances are that they might still have some of the festivities. We might try to go out there about 5 just to see. I doubt they would reschedule it, but they might do that too.
Yes, and I do mean a real pumpkin patch...not the grocery store's patch of pumpkins that sits outside of the store. A small community near Arkadelphia has a pumpkin patch that is located on their Christmas tree farm. It's always been fun just to go and get your own pumpkins, but this year was going to be even more fun. We have a kiddo that I'm sure would run from one corner to the other shouting "dis dis" and pointing to things that she'd never seen before. It's a picture taker's "paradise"...and a great place to make some memories.
If it's stopped raining this afternoon, chances are that they might still have some of the festivities. We might try to go out there about 5 just to see. I doubt they would reschedule it, but they might do that too.
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