The Potty Chronicles Begin

The Pea has been interested in the potty for a couple of weeks now. She loves to sit on it and 'read' books, and in the past few days has become quite fond of not wearing a diaper, we've had to resort to chasing her down and forcing her into one. It seemed she was ready to try potty training, and Mommy was certainly ready to let her. And, it was with that, that our mission began. Find panties to fit her teeny wittle baby bottom. It wasn't long, however, when our mission became clearly impossible to complete. After scouring store, after store, after store, and even the internet to no avail we were forced to get creative. We bought a package of cloth diapers and a package of vinyl pants (for when we're on the road, or out of the house for whatever reason), cloth, we decided is the way to go. They're not too absorbent so she'll be able to feel the wet immediately if, no when, she has an accident just like with real big girl panties. Which, ofcourse, will help her identify the feeling that preludes the actual wetness, the feeling of needing to eliminate. Or so we hope.

It wasn't until this evening when we tried them out for the first time that we realized it. Neither of us know how to fold a cloth diaper to get it ready to diaper the baby, let alone actually, successfully, diaper the baby in it! Luckily the package of diapers came with instructions, and even drawn diagrams on the back panel. So, I studied the diagram, folded my diaper just as it was shown, laid the pea on it, folded the sides around her Buddha-belly, pinned it snuggly, and stood her up. Prepared to admire my handiwork. Much to my dismay, however, my 'handiwork' much more resembled a sad attempt at a native/tribal Halloween costume than an actual cloth-diaper bottomed baby. We, ofcourse, laughed, and took pictures, and laughed some more, and then we digressed. Thank goodness for bedtime, when we could, without too much guilt, resort to the comforting zone of the wonderfully velcro-ic Huggies.

Enter, the hero of the story, the world wide web and it's never ending supply of valuable information ofcourse. Whom else could it be? Silly. Apparently the designers of the handy-dandy prefold cloth diapers over at Hanes don't actually know how to use the aforementioned handy-dandy diapers. No siree, according to this seemingly knowledgeable website (I didn't awaken the pea to try their tactics out, but I'll have you know they worked a charm on her stuffed teddy bear) devoted entirely to the art of cloth diapering they (over at Hanes) have it all wrong.

It's probably much to the pantie maker of America's demise (can't they just make size 18 months panties??) that luck is once again, thankfully, on our side. Tomorrow is another day, another try. Well, luck and my stubborn persistence. Hopefully it'll work this time. Cross your fingers for us!

Zoo Day Fun. Hold the Cancer, Please!

The Princess's preschool class took their year-end field trip today. I can honestly say it's one of the best visits to the zoo I've had in many, many years. Maybe it was the weather; the temperature was warm, but not too warm, the sky cloudy, but not drearily overcast, the air moist, but not at all humid. Just, comfortable. Whatever it was, the animals were wildly active. The Great Horned Owl, whom in all my years of visiting that zoo throughout both my childhood and adult years I have yet to see move from the very back branch of his cage, spread his great wings and jumped from branch to branch while we looked on and even humored us with a few Whoo, Whooo, Whooots in response to our oooohs and aaaaahs. His ear tufts perked right up in all their splendor the entire time. The Binturongs rolled around batting at each other on the rocky bottom of their habitat, the monkeys swung from rope to rope, pausing only to peer out at their on-lookers with what seemed to be great curiosity, and even the meerkats exhibited a little extra spunk. Still, even with all the hub-bub it wasn't tough for the little guy up top to steal the show! He was one of many babies in the zoo this year, among the ranks of three year-old tiger cubs and two red kangaroo joeys he had some tough competition, but it didn't take much for us to fall in love with his super soft curly dark brown fur, and his inquisitive looks. We decided his mom had a face only a son could love, but him, well we couldn't imagine who wouldn't love him. Atleast, for now.

The only damper to the day, however, seemed to show up at about 80% of the exhibits. Just, ofcourse, as we were beginning to enjoy ourselves at a great majority of them. Which brings me to my rant of the day. Smoking in crowded public places, not to mention crowded with CHILDREN public places. It's unacceptable. It's disgusting. It's rude. And quite frankly I do believe it should be against the law. At the Llama exhibit he blew his nasty toxins all over a little girl's head as she was trying to get food from the dispenser. At the Lion exhibit I ushered my daughter quickly away, despite her only having had a short time to enjoy the view, just in time for his toxic aura to engulf the area. At the Bingturong's habitat I began to get annoyed, and sick, at his persistent and nauseating habit. By the time he sauntered up next to us at the Meerkat exhibit, with yet another cigarette in hand, I was ready to lose my temper, and trust me I would have, had I not been busing choking back the vomit that was welling up in my throat.

So, to you, Mr. Smokes-A-Lot, next time you feel the urge to blacken your lungs and burn out your esophogus do us all a favor and do it on your own watch.

The Stream

Countless days have been spent as this one was. A mid-morning walk to the creek, hours spent splashing, walking, and discovering in the shallow ever-changing water. The familiarity of the scene despite it's constantly evolving appearance is what probably makes it the most appropriate of backdrops for the ironic revelation of a mother captured by the moment, enchanted by the glistening of the sun's rays against the flowing water, and taken aback by the obvious parallels of the world around her.

As I sat watching you carefully, yet deliberatley dip your feet into the chilly water of the creek, patting the rocky bottom, gently at first, feeling out the best places to step memories of the many times I had done the same in the uncertain terrain of life flooded my thoughts and at that moment I knew just one thing for sure:

Someday, when life's twists and turns bring you to the edge of the stream of opportunity I hope you step in without hesitation, just as you did today. The tiny pebbles, sometimes sharp, will still await you at the bottom, and the water will still feel icy to the touch but the unbridled enchantment will also return to you, this time with renewed vigor and broadened horizons. And, it is, because of this... I hope you're never too scared to get your feet wet.

About Us

Welcome to OPP (yes I'm assigning myself an acronym - admit it you wouldn't want to type this blog name out all the time either!) I'm Diana, author and overall ruler of everything herein. My hubster, The Knight, and I have been together for seven years. We have two daughters who will be known here as The Princess and The Pea. They are five and two respectively. We live way out in the middle of no where in the Midwestern US and love it (for the most part).

I am: Wife. Mom. Student. CHO (chief household officer). And, resident dog hair vacuumer-upper.

Yep, that about sums it up.

Welcome to my world. If you let the door close behind you, you will be trapped. Trust me, I've been trying to escape for years!