
Just one big happy island-stranded family...

Glad I did. I enjoyed my visit.
Hope that Ginger had a good day in DC. I live near there myself, but with Michael... who can swing a day with him (solo) in a big city all day? Not me. Someday my hubby and I ought to go do a day in DC, taking Michael along of course. (We aren't right in DC, just sort of near it.) Have a good week!
I've been deleting them and banning their IP addressed, but they keep coming. I guess I'll just have to keep shooing them away and hope other journalers will keep tagging me...
xo

This breed of dog won Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show this year. Here's a link all about it: http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050215045609990026 I grew up with one of these lovable, loyal dogs. We called her Heidi. She looked a lot like the dog in the picture. My Uncle gave her to us, when she was three. She truly was a " good dog. " This was a relief after the previous dog we had, a male Australian Shepherd with a fear-biting tendency, and other problems as well. Heidi did have to be watched around young kids; they made her nervous. We always thought that was because my cousin teased her so much when he was little, but I later learned that the breed is just that way with babies and little kids. Shorthairs are much better suited to teens and adults. That was true in our case, as we were all about 11 - 16 when she came to live with us. She fit in nicely.
I had a whirlwind of a day, consisting of chauffering, Dr. appts, entertaining, and of course, potty-training. I'm relishing the quiet right now, waiting for Skipper to fall asleep so that I can check on him, lock his door ( I don't always wake up when he leaves his room in the morning. ), and crawl into bed myself. He's a night owl, so oftentimes, even though he's only had a short nap, he doesn't go to sleep til 11 - 12. Then, he may or may not sleep past 8am. My older kids napped for 2 hours in the afternoon and slept 11-12 hours every night. The Lord must have known I needed them to sleep well at the time. And then came little Mr. Insomniac. Ginger developed insomnia over the last 2 years, so I guess it's in the genes...
Potty training continues, and I've stepped up the pace. After trying stickers and m&m's, and seeing no results, I've gone to my last resort: the cold shower. Basically, every time the Skipper has an accident in his dry training pants, I put him into the tub, and use a shower massage to hose him down with cold water. I wash and rinse him, and he screams the whole time. I do it quickly, but as I wash him, I tell him, very calmly, " I have to do this because you peed your pants. If you don't pee in your pants, you won't get a cold shower. Then, as I dress him, I continue saying the same kinds of things. When I put fresh underpants on him, I have him feel how dry they are, " See, they're dry! Now, don't pee in them and get them wet, or I'll have to shower you again. " I ask him where he should pee. " The potty! " He has the best of intentions, he really does. I also give him one or two m&m's when he goes in the potty. This routine took three days with the older boys. I think Skipper's getting it tonight, on Day 2, but he's still having slip-ups. I wear rubber pants over his training pants for now, but after he's proven to stay dry for a few days, I'll take them off. Traveling and bedtime present problems, but I have solutions: for traveling, I take his potty chair along in the car, and at bedtime, he wears a Pull-Up until he stays dry overnight. A part of me is a wee bit sad to see my little boy officially leaving babyhood through this big step of maturity, but the thought of all the money we'll save in Pull-Ups is helping me to get over that!