Setbacks

It's been a trying few days at the Riggs' house. My sweet girl has started having some potty anxiety again coupled with a little bit of encopresis (withholding bowel movements). We're not sure what triggered all of this. Sunday evening she told us she needed to go to the bathroom, we helped her get on the toilet like we normally do, and she totally flipped out. It was like the first time we put her on the potty all over again. She did this again at 2, 4, and 7 am when she woke up. The rest of the day she was fine, and then it started all over again this morning and she hasn't stopped.

Luckily, she hasn't been having any accidents. She does go eventually. But seeing as she'd been holding her BM since Saturday, I did call the doctor and had the unpleasant experience of dealing with suppositories again.

Potty-struggles and resistance are quite normal though, according to the pediatrician. Obviously we have to watch Cate closely because of the constipation issue she had this fall. The struggles can be triggered by just about anything. While it's hard to have a deep conversation with a three-year-old about why she cries when she goes to the bathroom (we've ruled out UTI since she doesn't have a fever and doesn't cry every time she goes), we have our suspicions that it has a lot to do with this little guy: Great picture, huh? My mom took it. Anyway, over the last week or so, we've visited with some family and friends that haven't met Brennan or haven't seen him since his birth. Towards the end of last week, Brennan had a little fussy spell and got some extra lovin'. On Saturday, I had a Power of the Pen tournament (I'm still coaching while on maternity leave for the rest of the school year) and Eric had a spinning event for work. We were both gone all day and my mom watched the kids. B was still extra fussy and my mom pretty much held him the whole day trying to calm him down (unless one of my grandmothers held him since they were over too). So yeah, we're pretty sure that by Sunday, Cate had had it with Brennan getting so much attention and began seeking ours in a very negative way.

We're trying to be "chill" about the whole thing. We don't ask her if she needs to go potty; we wait for her to tell us. We keep reminding her that she is a big girl and that we're so proud of her for all of the things she can do...like dance class (pic from phone, sorry): We've had some other power struggles with her lately as well. Sometimes she refuses to sit in her chair at dinner, getting up and down instead or turning completely around. Sometimes she refuses to eat her dinner. Sometimes she doesn't listen to us (or her dance teacher). So we made a chart at home of all the big girl things she can do and she gets a sticker when she does them (including using the bathroom without crying).

I feel like a failure and like we're at the beginning of potty training again. I know I'm not and I know we're not, but I can't help the feelings. I'm trying to schedule some extra girl time with my sweet girl in the coming week, but it's hard since Eric is so busy at work right now. I'm hoping that when Eric comes home for lunch tomorrow, we can do something special like go up to the part for a half-hour or go get a cookie at the coffee shop. Maybe Friday evening I'll leave my boys to watch some basketball together and can take her to the bookstore (she's a girl after my own heart). And hopefully soon, all of this will be a distant memory. I mean, she won't cry every time she gets on the potty when she's 13, right?

~Melody :-)

P.S. I'm am currently loving a Danish company called Maileg. It's restaurant week in Cincinnati this week, so Eric and I headed out to Lavomatic last night. Dinner was amazing. We stopped at a cute little shop, Mica 12v, a few doors down from the restaurant after dinner and picked up a couple of gifts for the kids made by Maileg (pics from the cellphone again, or should I say, from my new iPhone...I'm lovin' it). For Cate, a little mouse, whom she has named "Penny" that sleeps in her matchbox:
For B, a pirate finger puppet (a nod to the nickname Cate gave him-- "little pirate"-- and no, we don't know why she calls her brother that: