Sophia's First Christmas

Sophia & Santa


Gerritt & Sophia


Gerritt's 1st pee in the potty - November 26, 2009



Praising from grandma



Gerritt's 1st "big boy" haircut - November 21, 2009

It has been more than a month since I've written - it is amazing how busy my life is! I am happy to report that Gerritt has made a big progress in the potty training department. It is all just "clicked" over Thanksgiving Day weekend. I've noticed him waking up with a dry diaper for a couple of mornings in the row, so I put him on the potty chair right after getting out of bed. My husband's Mom visited us for Thanksgiving, so she was pleasantly surprised when Gerritt peed in the potty on Thanksgiving morning (the best present ever!). We all cheered & praised him loudly. We also gave him hugs & kisses, & I even took a photo of Gerritt with the potty chair. He was so proud of himself, he walked around with a smile for the rest of the morning. He used the potty AGAIN at lunch, so we were over the moon! For a few days after Thanksgiving Gerritt used the potty in the mornings, however, refused to do it in the afternoons by yelling, "No, no, no, no!" As eager as I was to potty train him, I had to take a step back since I didn't want to turn the potty training into a power struggle. My husband forced Gerritt to sit on a potty chair once & it was a disaster. Gerritt fought & resisted & ended up peeing on the carpet because he was so upset. Again, my goal was to keep the potty training process pleasant & happy, so we've decided that no force would be used ever again. Now Gerritt uses the potty every morning upon waking up & sometimes 1-2 more times during the day (depending on his mood). He uses it every 2 hours at his Russian daycare since there are other potty-trained children there & everyone sits on the potty at the same time. We've dealt with diapers for more than 2 years now (plus 7 months & counting of having 2 kids in diapers), so it is nice to see some light at the end of the tunnel. :-)
On the day after Thanksgiving we bought a Christmas tree. This is the first time I cared about getting a Christmas tree so early in season. We didn't get one last year since Gerritt just started to walk a couple of weeks before Christmas so he was into everything. However, what a difference one year makes! This year Gerritt knew what Christmas tree, Santa, toys, & presents were (thanks to reading our It Was the Night Before Christmas book so often). This is his first Christmas where he understands & appreciates the holiday's traditions. We were planning to get him only one Christmas present, however, couldn't help ourselves & bought more. He has 4 presents waiting to be opened under the tree & more presents are coming from Chris & Gerry who will be spending Christmas with us.
I had so much fun decorating the Christmas tree with Gerritt! He is old enough to understand to be gentle with the tree ornaments & even put a few on the tree all by himself. Within a week he knew all of the ornaments' names including mittens, snowman, Santa, star, bell, angel, pinecone, heart, & reindeer among others. We have a few special ornaments including the white glass heart embellished with Swarovski crystals given to us as a present for our wedding & as well as the pink one given to us for our 1st Valentine's Day as a married couple by our dear friend Judy Lawson. Gerritt has attempted to open Christmas presents a couple of times, however, put them back after being reminded to wait until Christmas. He knows what presents are, however, I am not sure whether he knows there are fun toys inside, otherwise, I don't think he would have been so patient.
Last week I went to the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood with Sophia for her first Santa photo (our annual tradition). There were Santas in Bellevue, however, none of them offered a photo CD for purchase. Since photos fade over time, I chose to take a longer drive to Lynnwood to create another precious memory for our family. We were the first ones in line & even managed to capture Sophia's smile. I skipped the Santa photo with Gerritt this year since he refused to come anywhere near him. I have the last year's Santa photo with crying Gerritt, so I chose not to repeat this experience. Hopefully, next year both Gerritt & Sophia will happily sit on Santa's lap.


It has been over a month & Gerritt is still sleeping in our master bedroom with me. I am so used to it, I can't imagine sleeping separately from him. Gerritt does not demand that I go to bed at the same time as he does like he used to in the beginning of our cosleeping experiment. Now I just tuck him in, kiss him & his dog & bears good night, turn off the lights, close the door - and he is asleep a few minutes later! When he wakes up in the middle of the night, sometimes he touches my face & hair just to make sure I am there. I reassure him, "Mommy is here, honey. Go back to sleep." Gerritt initiated sleeping alone all by himself. One day I was home alone with both of the kids. It was Gerritt's nap time, however, Sophia was crying so I needed to attend to her needs first. It took her about half-an-hour to calm down & fall asleep, & when I came out of her bedroom, Gerritt was already asleep in our bed. He took matters into his own hands, which made me very happy.
Sophia's sleeping habits are still just getting established. The longest she sleeps is 5 hours at a time. It is getting better however. I was elated last week when I put Sophia into her crib with her crib mobile & found her asleep a few minutes later. No rocking or bottle were required. Hopefully, this is the start of her learning how to fall asleep on her own. I am working on putting her to sleep while she is sleepy but still awake, which does not go well when she is really tired. But it works better during the day for naps, so I'll keep on trying. One time we both laid down for a nap, however, Sophia woke up half-an-hour later. I was too sleep deprived to get up right away, so I let her fuss for a while. She talked to herself & then fell asleep all by herself. So getting adequate rest is a hit or a miss for us. Sleep deprivation is the hardest part of the motherhood for me, along with aching shoulders, neck & back since both of the kids are so heavy. I am usually so tired after an outing with Gerritt & Sophia, I count the minutes until my husband gets home from work. It is not the outing itself, but lifting Sophia & Gerritt in & out of their car seats, getting the double stroller ready & later putting it back in the car along with carrying 2 diaper bags. Once we get where we are going I usually carry Sophia and/or chase Gerritt. I didn't realize before I had children how physically fit you have to be to be a Mom.
Speaking of being physically fit, I renewed my 24-hour Fitness gym membership recently. It has been months since I've exercised & I feel an urgent need to get my old shape back. The gym near my house even offers childcare for a reasonable price of $3.50 for 2 hours while I exercise. Even though I bought the membership 2 weeks ago I haven't been back to exercise yet since none of my old workout clothes fits anymore. I need to go shopping again soon! It is hard to believe I used to wear size 4 just 2 years ago (I currently wear size 8). Actually I look great compared to the photos of some women I've seen on the Shape of a Mother - a website showing what real women look like without airbrushing & plastic surgery. I miss my "before-kids" body, but would not trade being a mother for anything!