Operation Potty training.

Yes, we have started the massive Operation that is potty training. Armed with the essential items that are potty and pants, we started on Saturday. And so far, it's been more of a disaster than anything else.

Here is a small idea of what I'm talking about:

- Saturday: pants on for 10 minutes, I'm sitting on the floor beside Noelie, watching her like a hawk, trying to read her body language. Is she about to go? Yes, no? Several attempts to sit her on the potty have been met with screams of 'no, no, no' and trying to get up. Suddenly, dribbles, quick, sit on the potty, no time to take the pants off. Accident number 1. She is quite happy with herself as we cheer and clap. Not sure she understood why we were clapping and cheering but she dutifully comes with me to empty the contents of the potty into the toilet and wave it goodbye. Time for a pants change. Mr Foodie decides to throw me a clean pair of pants. Unfortunately, these bounce off Noelie and land, I'll let you guess. Yes, in the full potty. Does that count as accident number 2 for Noelie, or accident number 1 for Mr Foodie? 2 pairs of pants wet in a matter of minutes. Good thing I bought a 10 pack!Thinking she won't go again for a while, I relax a little and decide to give her a bit of space. Wrong! 5 minutes later, puddle on the carpet. Oops, she says. She doesn't seem very pleased with herself or comfortable. Time for another change. We are now less than 30 minutes into potty training and I already have 3 pairs of pants to wash. Despite efforts to try and get her to sit on the potty (even for just a few seconds), she is defiant, she will not sit on the bloody thing for more than 5 seconds at a time, screaming no and panicking.  We all take turns sitting on the potty (fully clothed, of course) trying to show her it's ok to sit there. In the process, Mr Foodie nearly does his back in. It is a long way down to sit on the thing and joints you wouldn't even know existed cracked and protested at being maltreated in such a way. Another 2 accidents in another 30 minutes and we resign ourselves. Let's forget about it for today and start afresh tomorrow. And who knew a toddler could pee so many times in so little time? At least, we know that she won't be suffering from another UTI in the coming days!

Sunday: operations resume in the morning. After breakfast, we put a pair of pants on. We also bought some hideous tracksuit bottoms for her, things she can have as many accidents in as she wants. 1 hour in: still no accidents. Good. She won't sit on the potty without having a hissy fit though. She goes off and starts playing with her sister. Less than 2 minutes later, she comes back in. Did she have an accident? I check. Not sure. Feels dry enough. Time for lunch. I grow suspicious 2 hours without an accident. That's not possible not after yesterday when she proved that she could pee 5 times in less than an hour. After lunch, I check. There we are. There was an accident. Bloody stupid tracksuit bottoms are so thick that they just absorb everything. Time for a nap anyway so nappy on. A lot of questions go through my head. Is she ready? Is she not too young? After all, she just turned 20 months. Why does she not want to sit on the bloody thing? She plays with it and puts her dolls on it. Surely she knows what it's for. Is it not comfortable? How come she peed 5 times in less than an hour yesterday? We only put the pants on her yesterday, no tracksuits. Could she have been cold and it made her pee more than usual? I just don't know. Maybe she is not ready to try for more than a few hours at a time. How long do I need to keep following her and watching her like a hawk for? What about things I have to do? Surely, I can't just keep following her like that. What if she wants to sit on my lap, and she's wearing pants? I am not putting her on my lap, just in case! She gets up from her nap and we put another nappy on. Enough for today. I have things to do.

Monday: What do I do? I have so many things to do this morning. Can I run the risk of putting pants on her again? OK, we'll give it a shot. We can't just give up like that. So on go the pants. She is playing around and is ok for a bit. I try to get her to sit on the potty. She manages to sit on it fully clothed for a few minutes as long as I am sitting behind her. I try and get her to sit on it, not fully clothed and the screaming starts again. I wonder maybe I need to research this a bit further before we start properly. Time for lunch in a few minutes anyway so I put a nappy on because then it will be nap time. She has worn pants for about an hour without an accident. So not all that bad really.  While I get lunch ready, Noelie strolls into the kitchen with none other than.... a pair of pants on her head. Oh boy, this is not gonna work, is it?

Any tips or ideas on how we could kick start this thing?

Hurricane Noelie.

Life with a 20 months old is quite something, as most of you know or remember. Noelie will be 20 months old in 10 days and, believe it or not, she is quite a handful.

First of all, she won't shut up! Marie is quiet, she is very independent and most of the time, as people say, you wouldn't even know she's there. She is there but, more than likely, she is sitting somewhere in a corner reading Harry Potter for the umpteenth time. Although she is not quite 8 yet, her reading maturity is the same as a 10 and 1/2 years old child (not according to me but according to the test her teacher got her to take) and she is quite the bookworm. The only problem for us is to find books that are appropriate for her age but do challenge her in the reading department (any ideas, anybody?). But Noelie, well, she is far from quiet. She starts talking the minute she gets up and won't stop until she goes to bed. I have lost count of how many words she has mastered and in which language but she is now able to express herself fairly well. Everybody is 'gone in car' if they are not within sight but she'll happily switch 'gone in car' to 'parti' if she is talking to me. She can imitate a few animals and if asked (either in French or English) which noise does a cow, dog, cat or other makes, she will happily oblige you. She can ask for biscuits, apple or banana or simply 'mange' (eat) and for her 'dink'. She says 'pease' and 'merci' as well as 'hello' and 'bonjour' and 'bye' or 'au revoir'.

She is shoe and hat mad. Her 'chaussons' (slippers) are her most prized possession. They have to be on at all times, even going to bed. And her 'bapos' (which are meant to be chapeau or hats) provide her with hours of fun putting them on and taking them off again. She loves her dolls and will wheel them around the house in their buggies. She also loves pretending to eat (foodie mummies do make foodie babies!). She will order to you to 'sit there' and 'mange' (eat) and pass any plate, spoon, cup, pot to you and will also tell you 'I can cook' (thanks Cbeebies!) and ask you if 'c'est bon?' ('is it nice?). She understands requests in both French and English and will comply with said requests most of the time (unless it requires her to step away from the press she is currently emptying). She loves music and singing and dancing around and reading books and colouring (the wall seems to be a great canvass!).

My baking press is one of her favourites to empty (it must be all the nice colours and funny noises cake decorations make). And the breakfast / biscuit press is her most favourite destination in the kitchen. So, after all the hard work we put in in the past few weeks, tidying and cleaning and rearranging everything, I am very keen to keep everything 'right'. But she doesn't seem to understand my need to keep stuff off the floor and in the presses. So this morning, I took a preemptive action and childproofed the kitchen. There is only one press she can open and that's the breakfast/ biscuit press but at least my baking supplies are now safe, not to mention all the cutlery and medicines / cleaning products that we store under the sink.

Childproofing the Foodie way!



Might not look like much but quite effective.

 She hates her nose being stuffy and will blow her nose, or wipe it with a tissue. She loves eating and sleeping and we are really lucky that she goes down for her nap for at least 2 to 3 hours without a fight. She also loves going to bed at night and will sleep for a good 12 hours straight (she only wakes up if she has a cough and will refuse to sleep if she feels unwell, which doesn't happen too often thankfully). She has 12 teeth and another 3 that just cut through the gums this week. She also feeds herself although she still needs help with putting things on her fork.

And lastly, if you want to make her happy, just put on 'Oui-Oui' (that's Noddy in French) or even better 'Becca Boo' which is the way she calls In The Night Garden.

However, if you make her cross, she will let you know and shout a loud 'No!' and will give out to you. She might even try to bite you if you invade her private space too much or maybe pinch you.

So what's next? Well, potty training is on the horizon. She warns you before she goes for a 'caca' or if she does a 'pipi'. She is fascinated by the toilet and you literally cannot go to the toilet without her following you in and trying to look down to see what you're doing, all the while trying to pull her trousers down. So what do you think? Do you think she's ready? Or is 20 months too young still for her to get the whole concept? When did you start potty training your children?