Bonus points

In the first few days, alone with the kids I have accomplished few and I have accomplished a lot. Unfortunately, I had to do more house chores than playing with the kids or taking them out. We just came back from a long overseas vacation. Taking care of 7 loads of laundry, settling back, getting into a routine while feeding the kids and putting them to their nap so that they don't suffer from jetlag kept me busy all day long. So when daddy came home, everyone was free to roam around the neighborhood.

I admit, I was really pampered. I was working from home office but I was employed full-time. So I always had help for my son and my daughter. Mostly, I and my husband share the housework. However, until recently my mom was taking care of cooking and cleaning as well. That was real pampering.

My biggest bonus point for the week was to convince my son, who is 3, to eat his meals by himself. Let me rephrase that. I convinced my son, that unless he eats by himself, he's going to stay hungry because his grandma and great grandma are not around to feed him to his mouth anymore. He was pampered more than I was and that era is gone with the wind.

He still resists potty training, which eats up all my bonus points. I hope preschool will help as everyone suggests. Otherwise, I am not sure how to go around this. Nothing works when it comes to potty. He knows everything. He deliberately wants to pee and poo in the diaper. He notifies us to be changed once he's done. Even worse, he goes to a private corner and tells us to look the other way when he needs to go. Routine, Potty books and DVDs, candy, small rewards, big rewards, changing the lead (instead of me, dad and great grandma etc) , taking the diaper away, nothing worked. Once in a while he tells us, "I peed, dad is going to give me a popsicle" as we always tell him. We ask him if he peed in the toilet. He responds, "nooo, I will not pee in the toilet. Change the diaper."

My daughter's sleep schedule is terribly off. It was not like this with my son. He was like a swiss clock and he has been sleeping through the night since he was three-months old thanks to Baby Whisperer. This vacation threw us off. My daughter woke up every two hours, the first two nights we came back. Sometimes I let her get back to sleep by herself but most of the time I had to breastfeed her. Finally, I gave her supplement formula. That night she woke up only once. She's almost eight months old and she has to sleep through the night already. This waking up at night is not for me, I am not used to it. I am not sure how other moms put up with it until their kids are 1.5-2 years-old. Because I am tired, my milk supply has gone down as well.

My other bonus points: she poos in the toilet (at 7.5 months).

I don't feel its terribly hard to keep up with two kids. I just need more sleep and get the house straight so that I can play with the kids. I need to find some games to make them (a preschooler and a baby) play together at least once or twice a day. Also next week's to do item is to go and see preschools around the neighborhood.