Wednesday, December 2, 2009

December 1, 2009 Christmas is coming soon....the big girl

Christmas 2009 should be more fun than the past because Sophia is starting to understand what is taking place. At two years old she has an amazing perception of the world around her. She was so excited about putting the tree up that she danced around the family room to the Christmas music Scott had playing on the piano. Not only has the house begun to look a little more like Christmas through our efforts, other signs Christmas are happening as well.

One such family tradition is our annual visit to the North Pole where Santa Claus lives. This year we have had to make several visits with Santa to familiarize Sophia with him. Although she has met the jolly old elf in years past, two year olds seem to have a huge fear of a large man in silly red pajamas with white cuffs and a huge beard. Any other day of the year we would be telling Sophia to stay away from a person she didn't know dressed in clothes like that. At Christmas however, we tell children to go up and sit on the lap of a complete stranger who is dressed very oddly. You can understand the fear. So far, we have visited Santa more than 5 times and I think she is warming up to him a bit. She willingly sat on his lap at the mall on Monday. So we may be close to taking that photo with Santa like we do each year.

My hopes for this year is that Sophia is fully potty trained before Christmas. She has been wearing big girl panties not Pull Ups, for almost a week now with very few accidents. My husband exclaimed to us the day before Thanksgiving when he returned from Costco with the huge Pull Ups box that this was the last box of diapers her was going to buy for her. Who would have thought she understood what he said, but maybe something clicked in her mind. I would love to stop buying Pull-Ups since it has been a year, Thanksgiving last year that we have been training. The day after Thanksgiving Sophia said to me as I was getting dressed, "Mommy, I want wear pretty panties too!"

"Well, great, let's go get a pair in your drawer in your room!", I replied with way too much enthusiasm. We went straight to her room and I let her pick out a pair of pretty panties that she wanted to wear while shopping on Black Friday. Of all that days a toddler would choose to wear big girl panties instead of wearing Pull Ups, Black Friday was not the day I would have chosen with long lines winding through the stores and limited access to public restrooms. Amazing how nice people can be when you mention potty training toddler with a very polite but slightly urgent voice. I was nervous about shopping in the crowds and packed six more pairs of panties and plastic pants in my purse and diaper bag and several Pull Ups just in case. The good news I have to report is I came back from an entire day of shopping with most of those panties still in the diaper bag and my purse. She was dry all day until 8pm that night. She had an accident when we were shopping for her surprise or shortly thereafter. She was very upset. We had gone out to the Meadows for our last shopping mall of the day. During the day I wanted to put some urgency and meaning into the staying dry all day thing so I upped the ante by promising her not only that Santa would bring that kitchen for "big girls who use the potty" but that she would get a surprise at the end of the day if she wore panties all day. We kindly reminded her several times that daddy would call Santa Claus and tell him that she had been good all day and that he could bring that kitchen. So, we walked into the Gymboree at the Meadows and my daughter runs toward the cutest hat and gloves I have ever seen. She plops the hat on her head and starts sliding the mittens on her fingers.

The mittens had little dolls on each finger so that is what she wanted for her surprise. She said to Scott and I following cautiously behind her. "I want it! I buy it!" I looked at the pricetag and looked with concern at my husband. He said, "How much? That is fine because she was a big girl today. She can have it." He has that girl wrapped around his little finger, I might add. I was amazed that not only was the matching pair on sale but I also got 25% off just for signing up for their rewards points program there which costs me nothing. Yippee! I made it out of the store for less than $13.00. I was super excited. Originally, I had planned to buy a toy of $5 or less at Target or Walmart on the way home, so this worked out just fine.

Sophia has stayed dry the last 5 days so maybe she gets it now. I can only hope. This year I have a lot to be Thankful for especially a sweet two year old who suddenly seems to be motivated to be a big girl. She is really excited about everything related to Christmas and getting that kitchen from Santa Claus just might be the reason behind her motivation to be a big girl.

Mommy loves her big girl Sophia. Let's keep up the great work.

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