What's New with Tallu!

In this issue:

BIRTHDAY!!!
Potty Training
Bedtime Rituals
Cats and Dogs are Fun (again)

BIRTHDAY!!! Tallu is three years, nine days old today. She had three little celebrations instead of the massive birthday party: a dinner party at Grandmaman and Papa's house, with her aunt, uncle, godfather, and cousin; blueberry pancakes with candles in them and a shopping trip on her actual birthday, and lunch with her Grandpa and Nana on Saturday. All celebrations were exciting for her, as she received gifts at each. I enjoyed the birthday breakfast because we ate at the same cafe where the baby shower was held. Thanks to everyone who celebrated and recognized our child's birthday!

Potty Training I think we're doing well on this front. Tallu wears panties during the day, and Pull-Ups at night. There have even been a few nights that she's woken up to pee. She gets herself to the potty in time, even for bowel movements. A friend cautioned that once number two gets here there may be a regression, which I pray doesn't happen. I've already lived through the Thanksgiving regression, and it's taken this long to recover. We took the train to NJ for the birthday dinner, and I realized too late that Tallu was wearing panties for the two hour trip. She also fell asleep on the longest leg of the trip. I prayed that she wouldn't pee in her sleep, and she did wake up dry. I'm glad I made her use the potty before we left the house, and that Trenton's train station has a public bathroom.

Bedtime Rituals Sometimes she goes to sleep without a fight, sometimes she does the run into the room after tuck-in. The worst are the inexplicable 3 am wake-ups that last for two hours. If she wakes up at 5 and can't get back to sleep, I will turn on a light in her room and let her play for a little while- she's awake, but she's contained in her room so her dad and I can sleep. That's harder to justify at 2 or 3 in the morning. One night she woke up complaining of leg pain, but hasn't done that since. Who knows what the hell is going on. Maybe she's being prepared for the random wake-up times her little brother will have?

Cats and Dogs are Fun (again) We drove to Connecticut to visit with Tallu's great-grandfather last Sunday, a week after his third wife, (Tallu called her Gubby), died peacefully in her sleep from cancer. We spent time at the house before going into town for lunch, where Tallu sat on the floor and played with a doll house. Gubby and Papa B are animal lovers, and there are four cats in the house. I took her around to say hi to all the cats- Tallu giggled and waved, no tears were shed. She was even sitting on the floor playing with a doll house when the youngest cat, Mittens, came to see what was happening. Tallu kept on playing. She did not freak out when he sniffed at her, and even gave Mittens the little Elmo toy to play with. Gubby would have been very pleased to see that; Papa B, Tallu's dad and I enjoyed it very much. This bodes well for the future, because her dad and I would like to have a cat in this house, as soon as we clean this place up and can afford to take care of two children AND a cat...

Tallu's even doing better with her big dog friend, Doolin. Doolin's doggy parents and I joke that it's ridiculous that they don't get along better, since they are so much alike. Sunday Doolin was excited to see Tallu and jumped in her face to sniff and lick Tallu. There were no shrieks of terror! I think Tallu even called Doolin to her, and Doolin looked at her doggy mom and me as if to say "Can I really go over there?" I said "Yes, Doolin, you can go. She's fine!" Sure enough, doggy and toddler were, indeed, fine.

Well, that's all I can think of...