Bye Bye-Bee Bo!

It is no secret that I was very attached to my special belly button. I was born with a herniated belly button and I loved it. At my 18 month check-up my doctor recommended that I see a surgeon. She was wonderful and told us that she would not perform surgery until I was older and when she could say with confidence that the hernia would not go away on it's own. Well, that day came this summer. My brother had to meet with the surgeon because of a different hernia. While they were there, mommy mentioned that my hernia had not changed and I was getting closer to being three years old. The surgeon wanted to see me again and when she saw me, she determined that my hernia would not be going away on it's own.

At that point, mommy and daddy decided that Oliver and I should have surgery on the same day. The night before the surgery, mommy and daddy decided to make me a cake to celebrate that my old belly button was going away and I would have a new one. I surprised mommy and daddy by proudly saying that I wanted a belly button like Oliver had.

Here is a picture of the cake.

Mommy and daddy sang "Bye bye bee-bo to you" (Happy Birthday tune). Mommy and daddy were going to make Oliver a cake too but felt like "Bye Bye hydroceal" would not really work on a cake. Plus, Oliver could have cared less about his hydroceal:)! I was going to miss my belly button!

We were not allowed to eat anything after midnight so our last meal before surgery was the night before. We had homemade pizza and cake.

We had to wake up at around 4:45 the day of surgery and went to Children's Hospital. When we arrived, we were greeted by a wonderful staff. Everyone was SO nice and made us feel really comfortable. I even got a name bracelet for Blondie who came with me throughout the adventure.

Before the surgery started, the nurses took my blood pressure, temperature and pulse. They also gave us stickers and bubbles to keep us entertained.

Mommy was allowed to come into the operating room with me until I fell asleep. She carried me in to the room and I was given something to breathe in that smelled like strawberries. I played it really cool and was not nervous. I told the people in the room about my cake from last night and then mommy started telling a story about our celebration the day before.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up!

When I woke up, I only woke up briefly and then asked to be held and mommy put me in her arms and held me for almost another hour before I officially woke up. I felt really sick to my stomach. Finally, though, I was ready for a popsicle.

After my popsicle, the nurse put me back in my bed because she wanted to make sure that I could sit up on my own and didn't get sick. I waited a little bit more and then Oliver came out.

True to his personality, he was the quickest person to wake up. The nurses had told mommy and daddy that it might take a while but they rolled him into recovery, took off the breathing mask and he popped up within a minute and asked for his popsicle. After about another hour, we were on our way home! We got to ride in a wheelchair to the car.
It was quite the adventure. Oliver and I are quite the team.

Bath Time!

Oliver and I enjoyed a coconut scrub bath a few nights ago!I don't think we went too crazy with the bubbles, do you?

The Hills Are Alive

While we were up in Maine, we went to Sunday River and went on a chondola ride and hiked up the mountain. We had a great time, as the pictures that follow show!

Adelaide's Response

So, mommy told her side of potty training but she left out one very important part of the story. When I was in the early stages of training, on a Sunday, Oliver and I had been playing with play-doh. We were making all sorts of colors and I was doing this art in the nude. Mommy and daddy were in the kitchen making breakfast when all of the sudden I decided to show them something. At first they looked at my hands and said "You made some really dark play-doh." And then they realized that play-doh should NOT smell. After a quick search they discovered that I had pooped on the floor. The best comment of the day was when daddy turned to mommy and said, "Do you think it could still possibly be play-doh?" They had a good laugh. Daddy was really freaked out by it! Mommy was more used to it because something similar had happened with Oliver. Still, I must admit it was not very lady-like and it hasn't happened since then!

Making Good on a Promise

Dear Adelaide,

Last week I made good on a promise that I had made to you about a month ago. Oliver had to remind me about it but we went to Friendly's to celebrate you being fully potty trained. By fully potty trained, I mean you go pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty and wear underwear at night. The reason why I had forgotten the promise is because you made the transition with such ease and comfort that it was almost as though you had always been wearing underwear.

With Oliver, I felt an enormous amount of pressure to potty train him early. So I tried everything- putting him on the potty every hour, offering stickers and treats and nothing seemed to catch on. He was about 2 years and 5 months when I started. I had heard so many different things about potty training. Some people said it was the easiest thing they had ever done and others struggled with it. I know some parents who had their children potty trained at two and then others had their children potty trained at 3+ years. After doing some reading, I learned that children who potty train around three have less accidents and transition to underwear at night much quicker. I also took a deep breath and told myself that the chances of Oliver going to kindergarten wearing a diaper were slim to none so I just had to be patient and stop putting pressure on him and myself if he wasn't ready. Plus, I didn't want to sit at home for a whole week waiting for him to use the potty. So, at around 2 years and 11 months it just clicked with him. The day actually came where I asked him to use the potty and he totally got it. He started using the potty regularly and while going poo poo in the potty took a little longer, he eventually got there too! It was at about 3 years and 5 months that he stopped using a pull up at night and wore underwear. I am so glad I had the experience with him because it made me feel better knowing you'd hit that point.

Well, similar to everything else you've done (like walking), you felt it out, watched Oliver and then decided one day at around 2 years and 8 months that you were ready for the potty. You told us on a Saturday, we gave you underwear and the first few days you had a few accidents and then you were on your way going pee and poo in the potty. You wanted to wear underwear at night so we told you that you needed to stay dry for seven nights before you could wear underwear. You hit that milestone while we were in Maine and you've been wearing underwear since then.

I am proud of you for becoming a big girl but this whole experience has really made me realize just how different every child is in the potty training process. Some children are ready earlier, some later but everyone gets there. It's just my own experience too, so it can be taken with a grain of salt, but the process is so much more fun for both the parent and the child when the child actually understands the whole process and is ready to take the plunge! I am writing you this note so that I won't forget when you hit this milestone and so that I can remind myself that every child is different and cannot be treated the same way.

I love you,

Mommy

Gone Fishing!

While in Maine, I went fishing. I saw Oliver and daddy doing lots of fishing and decided I wanted to join in.

Low and behold I caught a fish!

I loved looking at it!

After catching my one fish, I decided that I had made my point and went back to the house with blondie.
The other thing that has gone fishing is mommy's camera. While we are on a fantastic whale watch the other day, mommy got too excited and dropped the camera in the ocean. Who knows when we will have another camera. Way to go, mommy!

Let Them Eat Cake!

We got a rainy day while we were up in Maine so we decided it was a good opportunity to bake some cakes. One was a blueberry cake that Nonna recommended and the other was a rainbow cake. For me, anything that involves cake or cupcakes is a good day so I was excited!

After we made the batter, we then divided the batter into bowls so we could make the different colors of the cake.

Daddy even got into making the different colors of the rainbow!

The colors are all ready to be put together.

Do you think I was excited?

Cake is all baked and ready to be frosted and eaten!

Oliver enjoyed the cakes too!

We brought some of each of the cakes over to Mimi and Papa's house to share with them.

Mommy said the best quote of the day was when Oliver said "Adelaide and I made these cakes all by ourselves mommy. We don't need your help anymore!"