Late Night Date

Each night I have a date. About 11 o’clock or so I go see my Katie Girl. My sole job is to get her to go to the bathroom and then tuck her back up in her warm covers. Sometimes she is awake and other times not so much. She has said a few funny things in her sleepy state that lead me to believe I had woken her from a dream. (The dreams tends to involve one of the older siblings whom she is either scolding or asking something. : ))

My Katie Girl is the first of our kids who has struggled to stay dry during the night. She had been wearing a pull-up to bed for more than a year after she was fully potty trained and I would like to say 5 out of the 7 mornings a week she would wake up wet. Then one day she wanted to go to bed in her underwear. Of course she would ask just when the washing machine broke and I had to tell her no with the promise that when the new washer arrived we’d give it a go.  It was a few weeks between when the washer broke and when the new one came but she hadn’t forgotten. That very night we started wearing underwear to bed and our nightly dates began.

I really want her to succeed at staying dry and a family member had mentioned this was what their family did for them when they struggled with staying dry during the night. So, each and every night I stay up and make sure she goes potty. We have had 2 accidents in the almost 3 months we’ve been “dating”. : ) Some day she’ll get up on her own and won’t need me anymore but until then I’ll enjoy my cute, quiet and cuddly date.

How You Know She’s Truly Sick

This one hasn’t really been sick much. I think this is one of the few times (second time?) she has had a stomach bug of some sort. See, with the boys’ I know they aren’t feeling well because they stop their constant motion and will sit still. With the Katie girl I knew she wasn’t well because she didn’t talk. : ) Her days are filled with talk. It starts the moment her feet touch the floor in the morning until sleep claims her at night.
It was nice, in its own way, to have a little extra quiet. To be honest though it just didn’t seem right.

She stayed on the couch resting near her bucket. It was hard to believe she fell asleep in the middle of the day and I had to capture her sweet face. She also went into our bed and took another nap later in the day. (Clue #2 something was amiss.) Thankfully the bug only lasted 12 or so hours and then she started to feel her normal self. Well, at least that is what we surmised since she start talking and eating again just before she went to bed that night. : )

Poop-tastic

Oh, he’s cute alright. A little sweetie pie. That is until you get him into the tub. I’ve had bathtub poopers but this one is the champion. I can count on one hand, between both girls, the number of times they went in the bathtub. Isaiah, well he was a little more relaxed, shall we say, in his bathing habits. But Zeke? Lord, give me patience! I mean the kid doesn’t even need the water in the tub. The tub will have just been drained and he’ll squat and go.

Every one has their limits, right? A few weeks ago I had reached mine. I put him in the tub and within 5 minutes we’ve got company. I just wasn’t having any of it. Drained the tub, removed the offending party and promptly let Zeke know it was shower time. : ) Under the shower he goes and we are out of the bathroom with no further incidents.

Turns out I gave him a little bit of complex with that shower. The next time I mentioned bath my bath loving son cried. Oh dear, what have I done?

A little more time has passed and he is back to his bath loving self. I will say he hasn’t returned to his poop-tastic ways. Yet.

Her Royal Highness

I think I could keep most people entertained on what Katie alone says at home each day. All kids say some pretty clever, funny things but being as Katie most definitely talks the most in our house it stands to reason I have more stories to share about what she says.

The other day I was putting clean sheets on Kiersten’s bed using the step-ladder. The ladder is a must now because I simply cannot pull out Isaiah and Zeke’s beds to make the upper bunk. Those beds are far heavier than the girls’. All that aside, I am making the bed when Miss Katie comes up the stairs and parks herself on the top step of the ladder.

“Call me your Highness,” she says to me. (Thankfully I am on the phone to my mother so I have a witness that can testify to the fact that I DO NOT make these things up! : ))

“Call you my what?” I ask, because I am sure I did not hear her correctly. I did have my one and only good ear attached to the phone after all.

“Your Highness,” she replies. “I am the Queen.” (Well,well. I knew she thought so but to have her admit it out loud? Interesting.)

We chat just a little bit more and then Katie gets on the phone with Grandma who is already tickled about the way the conversation has been going.

As I am listening to Katie’s responses I can tell my mom is telling her she isn’t the queen but rather a princess. As much as Katie is in to princess’ she was having none of it. I am not sure what argument my mom was using but at one point Katie says to her with a hint of tease to her voice, “I don’t know…it sounds a little sketchy to me.” : )

Sweet Mother of Mystery that girl keeps my mind sharp. She isn’t physically exhausting…she is mentally exhausting!