Dani had quite the busy week. To start, she got a haircut. The at-home kind. I was putting on my makeup Wednesday morning, with Dani and Tori "helping" me as usual. Dani informed me she had to go do her hair and headed off to the bathroom. She came back with a few hair clips haphazardly placed in her hair, and I thought nothing of it. Later that morning, we were getting the girls ready for a day at Miss Ruth's. Big Man was combing out Tori's hair, and I sprayed down Dani's and started to comb. Huge pieces of hair were coming off in the pick. A lot. Like the way people describe their hair coming out after a few rounds of chemo. I got Big Man's attention and held up a chunk so he could see, all the while standing behind Dani so she wouldn't panic. Upon closer inspection, I realized the hair wasn't coming out at the root, but had been cut. After breathing a sigh of relief that my child didn't have some mystery illness, I asked Dani whether she had cut her hair. An instant, "NO!" followed by a follow up question by me and then an embarassed admission that she had used the scissors. (And then the Big Man's question to me...."And why were the scissors accessible, mommy?") Ugh. I made a little pile of all she'd cut--good thing her hair is curly so it's hard to notice that there's a ton missing from the right side of her head. We could have made Grandpa a nice little toupe with all there was!
We've been really struggling with Dani and the potty. She's been in underwear for a few months now, but has steadfastly refused to poop on the potty. She holds it all day, and then at night, sits on the potty and cries and begs for a diaper. It is a battle that she always, eventually wins. As bedtime creeps up, I just cave--we put them in overnight diapers to avoid nightime wets, and she will just wait until bed and poop into the (way pricier than a regular diaper) overnight diaper, which keeps her and Tori up, and drives me batty.
Last night, she had a little accident in her underwear, and I put her on the potty and told her to finish the poop there. Tears, crying, and no more poop. She admitted she had to go, but was scared. So, mommy decided it was time for some tough love. I put her to bed in her underwear, and explained that if she needed to pee or poop she should get out of bed and get me. I knew that the odds were very good that she'd wake up wet, at a minimum. This morning, she was soaked, but she didn't poop in her bed--that was my solace as I stripped her bed and gave her a quick bath in Tommy's toddler tub. A few hours later, while I was in the basement folding laundry, Big Man opens the door and says, "Your eldest child is pooping on the potty and I think we're out of flushable wipes." And she was! And she said it was easy! And that she wasn't afraid anymore. For months she has been asking for this pink picnic basket toy, and I promised her that once she pooped on the potty, we would go get it. So when Tori went down for a nap, Dani and I went to Target to pick up the reward, and a slushie (of course).
We came home and Dani reveled in her big-girl-ness! We made cupcakes, and she helped me decorate them. They were blue cupcakes with red frosting. We all had one after dinner.
The red frosting was intense. Tori looked like she was wearing lipstick, and Dani looked like she had walked into a door and was bleeding from her mouth. At one point, she remarked, "Look mommy, it's like I have nail polish on." She has absolutely no idea what this means:
Meanwhile, during Dani's big week, Tori provided much-needed comic relief.
And tonight, at bed-time, Dani was suddenly afraid to poop on the potty again. Fingers crossed that she was over-tired and tomorrow she's back on track.
I'm feeling much better. And a shout out to the Target pharmacy. I filled my antibiotic prescription there, and it was the first time I'd ever used their pharmacy. Today the pharmacist called me to confirm that I was feeling better, and to ask if I had questions, and finally to remind me to take all of the antibiotics, even if I feel better. Although I knew all that, it was very nice to get the call from them. I <3 Target!