Monday I decided to begin the torture of potty training Ruby. The journey ended up being just as unpleasant as it has been with other kids. We set the timer for every 15 minutes and she was pretty good about sitting and trying and reading books. She had no pees in the toilet and no accidents until I went and took Ben to the orthodontist around lunch time. When I came back I found out she had peed on the carpet. Thankfully Tyler was working at home so he helped clean it up. Ben was nice and gave Lucy a ride to her friends house so I could stay home with Ruby. While he was gone, Ruby peed on the floor again (and on a doll in her room). But she did better the rest of the day and mostly got all of her pee in the toilet. However she would start screaming and crying when she had to pee and continue to be upset while I held her on the potty.
Tuesday I spent another day at home working on her potty training. She had an accident, but then pooped and peed on the potty for the rest of the day. But once again she would start screaming when she needed to pee and I would have to hold her on the potty. She had no problem sitting on the potty if she was just "trying" but she had a big problem when she knew the pee/poop was coming. I think she was just scared of that feeling of "letting go". Ben was my big helper again, and took the girls to meet friends at the mall while I stayed at home dealing with Ruby and all her crazy. Ben brought his friend AJ with him but the girls ended up spending 3 hours at the mall with their friends (Lucy spent $75 of her own money, and Penny $30 of her own money). Needless to say, Ben and AJ got pretty bored for that last hour. I am so grateful he took that bullet for me.
Tuesday evening I hosted book club. The book we discussed was "The Little Italian Hotel". We had 8 people there: Carli, Cherish, Grace, Sandy, Becky, Mandi, my mom and me. I don't think anyone really loved the book but it did provide for a good discussion. Carli brought homemade bread and I provided fruit. We ate and then I put on my powerpoint with facts and questions. Nerdy? Absolutely! But it keeps things from getting awkward and keeps the discussion moving- although I also think it makes me talk too much. We talked about the unrealistic aspects of the book, the frustrating characters, what might be on our own bucket lists and things that we might do when experiencing heartache. After our discussion Carli and Cherish had to go. The rest of us played BINGO (they had played Bingo in the book). Mandi won and I had a pint of gelato for her prize. She was nice and shared it with all of us and then book club ended. Grace was kind of quiet the whole time and seemed uncomfortable. I feel like the Grace I know is totally different than the one she presents to "church" people.
Wednesday the screaming at the potty continued so by Thursday I was ready to give up on potty training. I ended up letting her pee all over the bathroom floor because I didn't want to hold her down on the potty. I felt like I was just causing her trauma. I ended up spending the rest of the morning brainwashing her with various potty training videos (daniel tiger, catie's classroom, baby shark, etc). There were some good song about being excited and proud to pee on the toilet so I started singing these with her.
At this point, I was done with not leaving the house, so Ruby and I went swimming with Kara and Amelia at their neighborhood pool after lunch Thursday. Lucy came with us which was really helpful because the water was freezing and I did not want to go in, but Lucy was willing to go in with Ruby. Lucy can be so helpful with Ruby and I really appreciate that. It was a nice outing until Ruby started screaming and then got out of the pool and peed. I awkwardly rinsed it off with cups of water. We pretty much wrapped things up after that drama.
But that night things took a turn, I think the positive potty songs had worked because she peed for the first time without any drama. She celebrated with a popsicle.
Friday we officially turned the corner and Ruby was peeing and pooping without melting down. I am glad I didn't give up when I had wanted to. Our morning was spent with a quick outing to the park while Lucy mowed and then an errand to Costco. No accidents or drama! That afternoon Mimi came over to hang out with Penny. They were nice and played with Ruby for a bit and I had a nice chat with Nahoko when she came to pick up Mimi. She is so different as a mom of 1. Apparently she felt sad after Mimi was potty trained. I am not at all sad about not having diapers to change anymore.
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She spent the morning hopping from new toy to new toy and then Tyler and I took her to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. The rest of our kids went to a Stake Picnic instead because that sounded like lots more fun to them. Going to the hands on Museum made me miss the days when we could go somewhere as a whole family and everyone could have a fun time. Still it was nice to have some special time with Ruby. Her favorite part was probably the room with lots of water play. She could have probably spent the whole day there. The 2nd floor of the museum was pretty loud and noisy so she didn't last too long there- although she did have some fun with some parachute guys and some magnetic tiles. We really liked the top floor because it was much less peopley and she enjoyed the things they had up there.
On our way back from the museum we got Culvers. Then we chilled at home for a bit. That night we sang "happy birthday" to Ruby and had cake(a beach themed cake that Lucy decorated). Ruby had a hard time smiling and holding up 3 fingers.
After cake, Poppy took everyone out for ice cream at DQ. I think it's safe to say that Ruby had a pretty great birthday
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