I called around noon to see how things were going. The report was good. Millie not only had a baby that peed but also a potty watch. The alarm would sound with a potty song every half hour to let Millie know it was time to go use the potty. Grammie reported to me that Millie had one accident in the kitchen but when she was rushed into the bathroom she finished off her wee. Then Grammie pulled up her wet panties and boy was that bad. She said Millie insisted she didn't want to wear those, but task master had to keep practicing so that Millie would remember that sitting in wet panties was not nice.
After about 5 runs from the living room to the bathroom, trying to show Millie she needed to hurry, Grammie asked her if she wanted a dry pair of panties on, which she did.
There were no more accidents all day and she was always very excited when her alarm went off. She rushed straight back to the bathroom and dropped her drawers. Now if she was just tall enough with the step stool to get on the toilet, all would be awesome. Sadly, she is not much bigger than she was when we left 7 months ago. Still a little peanut!
These were the dresses Grammie made for Millie and her baby doll. They were them most days for potty training. And if you will notice, Grammie has on an apron with treats in the pockets for Millie when she goes to the potty. So crafty, my mother is. I am the recipient of her creativity as well because when she leaves I will be getting those aprons. She has one made in each of the fabrics.
Towards the end of the evening she was exhausted from her normal day as well as the new task of potty training and she fell and hurt herself. As she was crying her watch alarm went off. She looked at me with an open frowny face, clearly confused as to whether to continue her dramatic bawl or go to the potty. The potty lost!
Tuesday Stuart had training in town so I was able to sleep a bit longer and didn't have to take Jack to school. Millie and Grammie continued with their quest for a day of dryness, which I am happy to report was a success. Millie started dance class on Monday which was better than 4 year old soccer teams, and then we headed to the mall to buy Jack's friend Louie a birthday present as well as eat at the food court.
At least she was dressed appropriately. She did cling to me for the first 10 minutes, but then started to get her dance on about halfway through the class.
Stuart didn't go with us to dance. He stayed behind to Skype his mum. Stuart's granddad, who has been ill for quite some time, passed away on Monday morning. We know he had a full long life, but no matter when someone goes it is still very sad. Stuart has always spoken so fondly of his grandparents and I know he spent loads of time with them as a child. He admired his granddad and always wanted both of them to be proud of him. He has wonderful memories of his times with his grandparents, which is priceless. When I got home I asked him if he was okay. He said he was, but I was very sad for Stuart and for his entire family. Stuart's mum has done a great deal for her parents over the years, and especially since Granddad Tom became ill. Please say a prayer for the entire family. They will need the comfort that only God can give during the days ahead.
Once we arrived at the mall after the dance class, we attempted to have Millie use the bathroom. While I was putting her on the toilet, I threw out my back. Really? You know when you do the same thing you have done a hundred times before and there is that one time that your back goes wonky? Yep! That's what happened. I thought I was going to die. I had to call Grammie into the stall to hold Millie. Needless to say, Millie got a bit nervous and decided she didn't need to pee after all. So instead of insisting, we moved on to the toy shopping.
After of toy purchases, we ordered our food and the kids were sitting, eating while Grammie and I waited for our baked potatoes to be prepared. That's when I saw Pop and Millie walking toward me, Millie with her tutu almost up over her head. She was holding it up as not to get it wet. From what, you ask? Surely you have guessed. It was the pee that should have come out when we went to the bathroom a mere 20 minutes earlier, or it could have been released in the bathroom when I asked her if she needed to go just 5 minutes prior to the puddle.
As I walked her to the bathroom in her wet panties, she started crying....that super-hurt-feelings cry that makes you feel a little bit sad for her. We think she was so upset because for two days she had done so well and then being in an unfamiliar place with big toilets, a mother who couldn't hold her on the toilet and had to call for back-up, and the dancing, it was just too much.
Hey, but thank goodness for chairs with a dip in the butt section. Not one drop of pee hit the floor.
When we finally reached the bathroom she was beside herself and could not be consoled. I put dry panties on her and, as patiently as I could, explained that she was going to have to tell us when she needed to go pee pee. We tried to regroup, but think Mama may have messed her up.
My dad had joked that if she hadn't learned to use the potty by day two it would be time for a spanking. When we got back in the car I reminded him of that joke and my mom said that maybe the spanking should be for his own daughter. This, my friends, is why God sent my mother to potty train Millie. God only gives us what we can handle, and handling potty training is not what I can handle.
Both kids fell asleep on the way home from the mall, which was just fine with me.
Tuesday morning, as you would guess, I was virtually immobile. I got dressed as best I could, but with much pain. Because I was walking super goofy, Stuart insisted I not go to work and go to the doctor instead. So, not loving the pain, I decided to go with his suggestion.
After a shot, X-rays, 2 other pain medications and struggling to get in and out of the car, I was back home attempting to rest. However, with the new potty training regimen, resting was not going to be possible.
I am proud to report that on Day 3 of potty training not a drop of pee or poop happened outside of the potty. Well done Millie and Grammie.
After we ate dinner, which Grammie fixed, we headed to the top of Jebel Hafeet, the highest part of Abu Dhabi. We were able to see the lights of Al Ain, which made us aware of how big this city actually is.
When the wind got the best of us, we ducked into the little restaurant at the top to have an ice cream. On the way up the mountain Millie had a 20 minute car nap. So since that is plenty for her to rebound for a few hours, coming down the mountain she was wired for sound. Neither kid went to bed until well after 9 pm.
I stayed home on Wednesday as well. My back was better, but I was still in pain. It seems me staying home put a wrench in the potty training plans, at least in the morning. But by noon we seemed to be back in track. For whatever reason Millie would not pee pee in the potty right after she woke up. She had a dry pull-up form the night before but kept saying she didn't need to go. Eventually she did go and happened to pee on Jack's bucket of dinosaurs. She sits on the bucket because it has a lid and makes a nice little stool for her. However, the lid has holes. So liquid would seep through it should it get in the bucket. And that is exactly what happened.
At this point Grammie told Millie she had to 'practice' so they started the routine. I chimed in but am much less patient than my mom so I did the best I could and shut my mouth, mostly. Well, Millie had a meltdown. She cried and cried and refused to sit on the potty and cried and cried some more. She behaved similarly to Monday when we were at the mall. I think her tears are her frustration at the fact that she didn't make it to the potty.
The rest of the day she pooped 3 times in the potty, going all on her own. However, she still refused to follow her potty watch when it went off. Therefore she peed again....in Jack's dinosaur bucket. I'm pretty sure the second time was on purpose. Fortunately for her I was headed out the door to pick up Jack. The first time I cleaned the bucket and the little characters. The second time Grammie made Millie help her wash up all the toys.
When I returned from Jack's school we decided to take the kids up to the soft play area at the co-op connected to our apartment complex. Because Millie had not peed one time on the potty by 3 pm that day, only on the dinosaurs, I told her she would not be able to play with the other kids if she did not go. She complied by sitting on the potty twice before we left, but with no results. Then when we got to the co-op she went and sat on the potty then immediately came off. We went out and I made her watch the other three (Jack, Thalia and Penny) play. She was mad at me and started throwing a fit. I told her when she peed on the potty she could go in there. She decided she would go back into the bathroom and wouldn't you know it, there was pee! She got to play and all was well. She complied the rest of the evening and seemed fine with everything.
Both kids had an early night Wednesday and Grammie and I sat and talked. Stuart and my dad went night golfing under the lights, so didn't get home until after 9 pm. It gave my mom and I a chance to talk, and we (mainly me) might have had a bit of wine. It was really great to be able to talk with no one else around. I do miss those times with my mom.
Our kitchen faucet lost its gasket on Tuesday. I called the maintenance man who sent over Zimal, the guy who normally comes and fixes and issues we have. He came with another guy and replaced my faucet with a faucet that looked to be older than the one I had. As he tightened the bolt I knew it wasn't going to last. The last turn he made was the one that caused the problem. When he turned the water on it sprayed from all points at the gasket. He told me it was fixed. What? I told him, laughing the entire time, that if he thought I bought that he was super silly (yes, I said hose words). He kind of laughed, not really understanding all I said. I told him I needed a brand new faucet the next day. After me making him laugh and continuing to insist he bring me a new faucet the next day, I called the maintenance man again and old him the same thing. Zimal asked to speak to Ehab, said something in Arabic, and handed the phone back to me. I was told I would have a new faucet the following day. As Zimal was leaving I said, 'Zimal, I have to have that new faucet tomorrow. No Inshallah, yes faucet'. I have come to realize that often time when 'Inshallah' is said, the true meaning instead of 'Allah willing' is 'if we want to get to it, we will'. Wednesday morning guess who showed up with a new faucet? Yes he did.
I returned to school on Thursday but probably could have done with another day off. By the end of the day my back was a mess. When I got home we decided to go to the mall and eat at the Lebanese Flower, which is in the Al Ain Mall. We love Lebanese food and there is a lot of it here.
Jack begged for a donut and because we are trying to spoil him and ruin him as a person, we complied:) Naturally we had to get coffee as well. I have now decided that I like Dunkin Donut coffee better than Starbucks. There. I said it.
Before we ate, we took the kids to Action Zone, one of Jack's favorite play places. Millie had a great potty day with no accidents, and because threatening her seemed to work the day before (although 'the book' spoke against it) I tried it again. I told her if she didn't potty before we went into Action Zone she couldn't play any games. It worked! She's a star!
Fortunately I remembered Millie's jammies and put them on her before we left the mall. Nighty night to all.
Friday morning we got up and went in different directions. Jack and Stuart went to Louie's super hero birthday party. Being the stellar mother I am, I forgot to remind Jack to wear his Spider-Man costume. Luckily, Louie has a million so Jack borrowed one, but not until after a meltdown.
The 'rents, Millie and I went to the Good Friday service at our church. It was a nice service but strange to think we will be working on Easter Sunday.
We reconvened at home and went to the Hilton for an Easter brunch. It wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. In fact there might have been more locals there than westerners. The food was amazing and there was an endless supply of it, all kinds. We were there for almost 2 hours, with children, eating. It was awesome!
On the way home from the brunch the air conditioner in our car went out. Hello! It was already 104 degrees at that point. Ugh! So needless to say, it being a Friday and holy day, there was no way of getting it fixed. So we decided we would stay in for the evening and head to the pool for a bit. We didn't stay long because the pool was cold and the sun had gone behind the trees and made the water feel even colder. Even Millie and Jack were shivering. Once home, the kids showered, ate, and passed out.
Our hope for Saturday was to get up and go to Abu Dhabi and visit the Grand Mosque, but the car threw a wrench in those plans. We took the car to the dealer right when they opened and still we were #12 in line. Once we did get to the service desk we were told they would call us by 4 pm to let us know whether the car was fixed or not. We attempted to get a sever-seater rental car for the day, but rental car companies do not have a fleet of cars accessible on a moment's notice. So we ended up spending the day at the mall. Pop stayed home so we were able to fit in the car. Millie had two accidents, but in the scheme of things she did rather well. She just hasn't quite caught on to when she feels she needs to pee. But thank goodness she knows when the other is coming. She hasn't had one of 'those' accidents since the formal potty training began. And let's be real, she is doing wonderfully for someone who started training a week ago. I need to really focus on that part.
After the mall, the purchase of a few items for the house, and a grocery store run to Lulu's, we got back to the house. The kids showered and ate. Jack watched 'Frozen' for the hundredth time, ignoring his dad when he called it a 'girl's movie'. And we all kind of just sat around. Another week and my folks will be heading back to Arizona. My the time has really flown. We discovered today that there are still things we need to do but we are running out of time. We will get it all accomplished, I hope. Inshallah!
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