Random Pictures and Why I Took Them

This is a picture of Thomas' owie from earlier today. Before I got him all cleaned up, I was really worried that he might have lost a tooth or something, because of where the blood was coming from. I was relieved it was just his lip, though I felt guilty enough as it was!

These are some of Zaylee's new panties. We bought two packages of 12 today. I have finally gotten tired of my lax approach to potty training. Up to now, I've kept Zaylee in diapers full-time, and had her sit on the potty one or two times a day hoping that she would pee. Today, I bit the bullet and put her in underpants all day long. She wet five pairs and soiled one, but the number of times she peed in the potty (I was constantly reminding her) very much outnumbered the times she peed in her underpants.

I fast learned today that using jelly beans as a reward for every time she pees in the potty, while it has been okay up to now, isn't that great of an idea. She probably ate about 10 to 15 jelly beans today, one for every time she peed in the potty. Too much sugar! So when we went to the store to buy more underpants this evening (we only had six pairs, that wouldn't last long!) we bought some stickers to use instead. I think we'll do a chart - for every five stickers, she'll get a small handful of peanuts. They're healthier than jelly beans, and she really likes them.

Hopefully it won't take too long for her to learn that it's no longer acceptable to pee in her pants, now that she's not wearing a diaper. She did pretty good today, for it being her first day. I hope she continues to do well, and improves quickly!

This lamp doesn't have a bulb in it. Here's the story: As I was sitting in the bathroom with Zaylee today, I suddenly heard a crash and the tinkle of broken glass. I told Zaylee to stay put and go potty, then rushed out to the living room to find that Thomas had finally accomplished what he's been trying to do for months - he pulled the lamp off the coffee table by the cord. The pricey, energy-efficient light bulb was shattered.

I buckled Thomas into Zaylee's booster seat (it was closer than his) to keep him away from the mess, and got to work sweeping up the broken glass. When I glanced at Thomas to make sure he was alright, he had wiggled out of the buckle, and was standing in the seat, ready to topple over onto the hard floor at any second.

Panic! Down goes the broom, and I run to the rescue!

I got him buckled into his own seat, with a tighter belt, and was about to start sweeping again when I heard Zaylee pouring her pee into the big toilet. So I ran in to help her clean up (rinse out her potty bowl, help her get her underpants up, help her wash her hands, etc.). When that was done, I came back out to the living room to finish sweeping. This time Zaylee was out with me, and I had to keep yelling at her to stay back, because she really wanted to see what the fuss was about, and kept trying to walk on the area with the broken glass!

Anyway, it took a few tries, but I was finally able to get the glass cleaned up and thrown away, and no one got hurt!

These next few pictures are some cool free things that Jeff got from the Red Cross stuff he did yesterday and today.
First up is the biggest calculator I've ever seen! I have it next to a regular calculator, with my hand, so the size is obvious. It's huge, and awesome!

We also got this great mouse pad. The back is sticky, so it doesn't slide around, and it has the gel wrist rest to prevent carpal tunnel. The illustration on it is the Coagulation Cascade (whatever that is, some medical thing).

This one is really neat - it's a microscope slide with a digital clock inside! Way cool!

Tomorrow Jeff has a workshop at a big hospital in the area. There are several times during the workshop where there will be vendors, which means more free medical-type stuff. Awesome! I don't know why I get so excited about this stuff, it's kind of silly, but I think it's fun to get free stuff. I mean, a microscope slide with a clock in it? Where else would you get something like that?!