Cut 'em off her!

Mrs. H and I have different approaches to potty training.  Her method is far more direct than mine.  She proposes putting on underwear with no diaper and hoping that will teach her not to wet herself.  The phrase, "I wish we could just dress her in saran wrap," was part of this conversation.  I prefer the wait and see method, partly because the mess that results from the direct method becomes my problem after Mrs. H leaves the house to go earn more diaper money in the morning, and I don't like the idea of dealing with underwear-strained poop.

On one particular day recently, Mrs. H decided to try for a compromise, underwear underneath Baby H's diapers, thinking that it would help her realize she was wet.  Unfortunately for everyone, Baby H didn't really care if she was wet or not, or more importantly, poopy.  When it came time for a diaper change, we were in for a tough decision - what do you do with a diaper under underwear?

While I was considering the nastiness that would ensue (and the many ways that this was Mrs. H's fault), Mrs. H suddenly exclaimed, "Cut 'em off her!" and raced to the kitchen to get some scissors so that she could cut off the underwear and diaper.  The thought passed through my mind that it was likely that those scissors would also be going through my pizza in the next day or so, but the deed was soon done.

We're still in disagreement about the best approach to potty training, but it's certainly not been without adventure!

First game

Last weekend was the first game for Baby H.  I think we lost by something like 13 - 1, or maybe it was a complete shutout.  I don't really remember.  Baby H was as large as all the other kids in her U-6 team (6 and under), so could probably have held her own, but didn't understand how the game was supposed to work.

After chasing the ball for a while, she came off the sideline in tears telling me that the other kids wouldn't share the ball with her.  Since she's naturally so aggressive and physical, this is probably the first time we've encouraged her to compete.  After the game, we tried to explain it to her.  We'll see if it stuck tomorrow, when she plays again.

The field they're playing on is astroturf, with a drainage system underneath it.  The "dirt" seems to be shredded rubber.  All last Saturday it was pouring, but when it was time for the games on Sunday, the field was completely dry.  The facilities are great!  I don't think I played on a field this nice until I was in college.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Aggression

Last week, while Mrs. H was doing her contortions on the floor, Baby H got tired of sitting on the sofa, and decided to go on the attack.  She growled, "I'm gonna get you little fella Mommy," and pounced.  It was hilarious, once we figured out that Mrs. H didn't get too squished.

Baby H is now 3' 8" tall, and over 50 pounds.  The days of her sleeping on my chest for a nap are long gone.

Wet pants? No problem!

Here's a tip from the Hausmeister for all you parents who have found their child with a wet backside while you're out, and no replacement pants.  

Find a high-velocity air dryer in a bathroom, hoist the offender up, and use it to dry out their pants.  It's fast, it's easy, and according to Baby H, it tickles.  It also saved our trip to the science museum today.

The Stretchy Mrs. H

Aunt D wanted to see some pictures of Mrs. H doing her yoga poses.  Well, here you are.  She's getting pretty good!  She's working on getting ready for her teacher training coming up later this month.

Fall means soccer!

This fall, we have Baby H signed up for youth league soccer.  She's almost a full year below the cutoff age, but when I went to register her earlier, they looked at her and asked if she could kick a ball and run.  She does both pretty often, so we signed her up.  Last Wednesday there was a U6 soccer clinic at U Mass, but the weather was horrible, so we didn't take her.  I played plenty of games in sloppy weather, but we didn't think that should be her first experience with the sport.  Besides, we didn't have any gear, and I wasn't very excited to send her into the fray without shinguards at least.

Today over lunch, we made a run to the store and got her kitted out.  She knew exactly what was going on and carried the bag out of the store and into our apartment.  As soon as we got home, she wanted to try everything on, and left it on the rest of the day.  Even now, while I'm lying on the floor writing, she's walking around me with her cleats and shinguards on.  So far, I haven't gotten stepped on . . .

Eating Your Vegetables

Baby H isn't a big veggie-eater, which is too bad.  Both Mrs. H and I eat plenty.  However, she's a fruit eating machine.  So, how do we get the green stuff into her?  We cheat.

Surprisingly, she downs Odwalla Superfood like it's ice cream, so whenever Baby H and I make a grocery run, sometime between picking out the milk, and checking out the lobsters, we pick up a Superfood and let her drain it once we get home.

If you've never seen one, they look pretty disgusting - like the color of something you'd find on the beach at low tide - and have the consistency of a thin slurry.  However, they taste pretty good and Baby H always looks into the bottle once she's done to make sure there's nothing left.  If anyone else reading this has trouble getting veggies into their kids, maybe this is worth trying.

Baby H approves.