Ladies Man

It's been interesting raising an almost teenage boy. I met Montre when he was 5 years old and in my kindergarten class. He has such a sensitive soul and tries hard to please everyone. Even at 12 he is wise beyond his years and you can talk to him about pretty much anything. He is also turning into quite a handsome young man. Over the years I tried to show him how to dress and match clothes. Nothing serious, we are on a Target budget, but at least I showed him what colors go together. This year he has really been into what clothes he wears and has developed a great sense of style. I think he has worn a polo shirt almost everyday since school started. He is also talking to the girls at his school more.

On the 2nd day of school I picked up Evelina and was looking for Montre. The girls and I walk over to where the junior high kids get dismissed and there was Montre talking to 3 girls. I tried not to embarass him in front of the ladies, but told him it was time to go home. Later that day he tells me that the girls at school are paying more attention to him this year. I told him that he is a kind, intelligent and handsome boy and the girls are smart to want to talk to him. On another day when I was dropping the kids off at school, I saw the way the girls looked at Montre when he walked up to him. Last year he attended almost all of the school dances and was excited to tell Brian and I how many girls he danced with. It's crazy to think that he'll be in high school in 2 years and in college in 6. It'll be hard when he has a girlfriend, especially with two nosy younger sisters constantly watching over him. I am curious as to how the next few years will pan out!

Update: Nighttime Potty Training

Kiara must have read that I was going to put her in Pull-ups until she is 10 because she has been doing awesome on the nighttime potty training! We decided to stop the nighttime wake ups and just make sure she goes to the bathroom right before bed. Out of the last 16 nights she has only had 2 nights when she had an accident. Those 2 nights were special occasion nights where we were at parties till late and she was drinking juice all night. On the way home, she would fall asleep in the car and put up a fuss about going potty when we got there. We are very happy and relieved!

Nighttime Potty Training

Kiara has been having a hard time getting the whole nighttime potty training down. She rarely has accidents during the day and during nap times, but at night it's a whole different story. We have tried limiting fluids before bed, we've had her go to the bathroom before bed, and we have a chart where she gets stickers for going to the bathroom before bed. There are some nights she stays dry but there is no pattern to it. Brian and I have been so frustrated trying to figure out what to do. To make matters worse, Kiara sleeps on the top bunk and anyone with bunk beds knows what a pain it is to make the top bunk. Brian and I hate washing her sheets and making the bed. We didn't have this problem with Evelina. I think she was fully potty trained by 2.5 years old.

After talking about it at work, one of Brian's coworkers suggested we wake Kiara up in the middle of the night to see if she will pee. The first 2 nights, Brian woke her up about 3 a.m. Kiara cried the whole time and tried to go to the bathroom, but said, "It won't come out!". To our amazement, though, she was dry in the morning. Since then the results haven't been so positive. She still cries heavily when woken up and refuses to sit on the toilet. A couple nights ago, Brian's patience had been growing thin, so after Kiara threw a fit and refused to sit on the toilet, he left her in the bathroom to cry it out. Being 8 months pregnant and having the bladder of a mouse, I had to use the bathroom a little later. As I walked to the bathroom, I saw my little girl had fallen asleep on the bathroom floor. Her undies were still down from when she tried to go to the bathroom earlier. I quietly called her name and she put her head up and looked around like she didn't know where she was. I asked her if she wanted to go potty and she said yes. She sat on the potty, did her business, and then I called Brian to put her back to bed. The next morning when she woke, she was still wet. The jury is still out on the "Wake-the-child-in-the-middle-of-the-night-potty-training-technique." It's pretty tortuous to hear your little girl crying in the middle of the night after being woken up to use the bathroom. I hope it gets better soon or I might resort to using pull-ups until she's 10.