Seven (Not) Quick Takes

 1. Not surprisingly, I did just keep the tunic from my first Stitch Fix. I also ordered another one, set to arrive next month! Ann Taylor Loft was having a 40% off sale over the weekend and I couldn't resist (virtually) picking out a few things to try on. While I was at it, I ordered a nursing-friendly dress from Land's End, as well as floral tee that just might be cute. And then a coat from ASOS. Shopping tends to lead to more shopping for me. I currently have five tabs of more coats from Nordstrom and Macy's open in my browser. Once you upon the floodgates, man. Thank goodness for free returns!

(navy skirt, lace sweatshirt, black cocktail dress, purple dress, floral tee, coat)

2. Well, we tried potty training Claire last weekend. It was not a success. On Saturday night, we had a special treat of chocolate ice cream after our usual pizza dinner. We'd stuck all the potty training accessories (seat, books from the library, sticker and candy rewards) in gift bags, so she unwrapped those. Then we read all the books and watched the Daniel Tiger potty episode. When she woke up on Sunday morning, we had her naked from the waist down and plied her with lots of (normally contraband) apple juice. Three hours after she woke up, she started to pee a little on the couch, stopped herself, ran to the toilet and finished her business. She got a sticker and a "chocolate bean" and LOTS of praise. We put a diaper on her for Mass, lunch, and nap. When she woke up, we stripped her down again, but she just held it for the three hours until it was time for bath/bed, despite drinking significantly more than usual. On Monday morning, she held it for about three hours, peed on the carpet, then wore a diaper for music class/lunch/nap. When I got her up, she cried about needing a diaper and cried every time I asked her to sit on the potty until she just completely freaked out right before baths. Oh, well. I think we'll try again over Thanksgiving or Christmas, when Adam is home for a few days.

3. However, Claire did go horseback riding on Saturday morning and that was most definitely successful. She had been asking to ride a horse whenever we visited the farm park, but you had to be 2.5 to sign up for a lesson. She went on her half birthday! We thought there would be a 50% chance that she'd freak out when it actually came time to ride the horse (okay, it was really a pony) but she loved the whole thing.

4. We don't plan on encouraging her in the equestrian world, though, because I am terribly allergic to horses. I wore Maggie the whole time and did not touch the pony at all, but after an hour I felt like I might die via itchy eyes and runny nose. The last time I rode a horse (while we were studying in Provence) I looked like this:

TWENTY FOUR HOURS LATER.

5. Okay, enough about our eldest daughter. Maggie has been crawling for two weeks now! One day she just decided she was tired of sitting around and took off. She is also cutting four teeth at the moment but it has not disturbed her sunny disposition at all. Oh, gosh, she's the sweetest.

6. I feel like I've read lots of advice for stay-at-home moms that recommends really just staying at home almost all the time. Running errands one day a week and that's it. I am most definitely a get-out-of-the-house mom though! Usually just for a couple hours between the baby's naps, but I don't know what I would do otherwise. During the school year, our weekly schedule is:

Monday - music class (at our little outdoor mall, so it often includes popping into Baby Gap, Gymboree, or Janie & Jack for a quick browse of the clearance rack)

Tuesday - groceries (alternating between Costco and Whole Foods, the two stores with double carts)

Wednesday - play group at church

 Thursday - other errands (Trader Joe's and the library next door are our most frequent spots, but there's also Target, the post office, the craft store, returns at the big mall with the fancy play area, etc)

Friday - something fun (during the rainy months, it's usually the children's museum where we have a membership, but there are tons of other indoor playgrounds as well and visiting Daddy for lunch at work is always a great special treat)

We're members of the Y now too, so when Maggie is down to just an afternoon nap and over her sudden stranger anxiety, I'm hoping to combine a trip to the gym with grocery shopping on Tuesdays. Childcare opens for the evenings at 4:00 pm, so I'm sure there will be plenty of rainy days where we're waiting outside at 4:00 on the dot. The last time we went, a few weeks ago, I got paged to get an inconsolable Maggie ten minutes into my workout. I'm still psyching myself up to try again...





7. I'm leading the play group at church this year, which mostly just means sending reminder emails. We meet in the parish nursery from 10:00 to 11:30. The moms chat and the kids play/fight/eat goldfish. Pretty simple. Those of us who are able meet for daily mass beforehand at 8:45. We also have a children's holy (half) hour from 9:30 to 10:00, where babies and toddlers are welcome to pop into the adoration chapel for a few minutes. In previous years, we tried to have a book discussion during our morning meetings, but this year we're going to try meeting once a month in the evening instead. We're reading Parenting With Grace because the authors are coming to speak at our parish conference later in the fall. Attachment parenting is not really my jam (I could rename this blog Sleep-Training in Seattle) so it's not the first book I would have picked. But, you know, open minds and what not.

 Whew, I think those were the longest takes ever. Have a wonderful weekend and go see Jen for more!