Resolve

I don't typically make New Year's resolutions just because it seems like you can resolve to change your life anytime you want...not just for a 3 week period in January. So, to properly buck the system, I began my resolution in November. I resolved to be kinder and gentler to my body. This includes getting a lot of the processed foods out of my life (which is tricky, seeing as though I have a toddler who could eat her weight in processed foods). I'm also taking vitamins everyday and, my favorite part of the resolution: I joined our neighborhood YMCA.

Back in our child-free years, we belonged to the YMCA in Downtown Houston. It was ok. I mean, it did the trick, but it wasn't the kind of place where I felt comfortable, you know...sitting on the toilets or anything. But, the Y in our neighborhood is beautiful! It's newly-remodeled and the childcare there is great. The first time that I took Anna with me to stay in the childwatch room, while I worked out, she didn't want to leave when it was time to go home. I had to bribe her out to the car (bribing her with processed foods, in fact).

When I first started thinking about joining a gym, the idea of childcare at the gym never entered into my mind. I'd already planned to just go to the gym when Kevin was home to watch the kids. Well, discovering what a great childcare center the Y has, has totally changed my life. I have no excuses not to go workout now. It's also a great place to take the kids when the weather is bad. The pool will be great to use this Summer as well.

It feels so great to workout again. Even if I just go and spend 30 minutes on a treadmill, I feel more motivated. I've always found that, when I'm actively working out and taking care of my body, I'm more motivated in other parts of my life as well. I've also started a yoga class, which is awesome. Having an hour to myself, in a quiet room, totally focusing on myself is, well foreign mainly, but also luxurious.

We've had some other resolutions come to fruition around here. Paramount among them is the fact that Anna is now potty-trained. We spent the New Years weekend sequestered at home, diligently working on it. She embraced it fairly quickly and has done wonderfully. I'm in no position to write a book on how to potty train, but the things that we did that really helped are as follows:

• Like clockwork, every hour, take the child in the bathroom, sit and try. This helped Anna to recognize the feeling of it "coming".
• Candy reward: Yep, not my finest parenting tactic, but if Anna was promised an M&M, she was much more likely to sit a little longer and try a little harder to push something--anything--out.
• A sticker chart: We had an Elmo potty training book that came with a sticker chart to attach to the bathroom wall. Every time Anna successfully went to the potty, she got to put a sticker on her chart. While the candy was her primary motivation, the stickers were an added bonus and the chart provided a nice visual for her, of her successes.

Now onto Jack's resolutions. He cut both of his top teeth over the New Year and now has a shockingly, toddler-esque grin. He's also sleeping like a champ. The sleep training that I referred to in the last post has helped immensely. I started putting him down awake for his daytime naps. We have a routine, wherein we go in his room and say "night night" to the neighbors from his bedroom window, shut the curtain then read a couple of books. Then, I put him in his bed. It's very seldom that he lays down without a fight, but his crying is fairly minimal. The best thing about this is that now, he's learned to self-soothe and I think this has helped him in the middle of the night. Also, since I'm the one deciding when naptime and bedtime is, we're able to keep him on a schedule.

Now, to reward you for sitting through all of my self-important mumbo jumbo about healthy-living and awesome parenting skills, here's a picture of Jack reading his latest favorite book before bed. This was also Anna's favorite book at about this age.