An old co-worker of Eric’s gave Lucy this Disney Princess learn-to-write book with an attached magnetic drawing pad. It’s a perfect travel companion for the car — highly recommended for the 2-year-old set once they learn how to clear the screen by themselves, if you’re looking for something that will keep them occupied more than 0.2589 seconds.

One day, Eric was putting Lucy into her car seat, and when he handed her the book, she asked if he could draw her an octopus. Eric’s a good drawer, and Lucy was enamored with his creation.

“Oooooh! What his name?” she asked, wide-eyed and grinning.

Eric blurted out the first octopus-related name he could think of: “Pussy!” And scrawled the words across the top of the board.

Lucy, in the obsessive, repetitive way of toddlers, now demands Eric draw her an octopus — and write *ahem* Pussy’s name — every. single. time. we get into the car.

So, now we have Eric standing at the open car door, lightening-quick sketching an octopus on a pink Disney Princess magnetic drawing board, and Lucy excitedly yelling to the world: “I LIKE PUSSY!”

On the advice of my friend Other C, a few months ago I picked up The Potty Book for Girls.

Other C said it really helped connect the dots for her daughter — who is just a month older than Lucy — and solidify the concept of potty training.

I have to say she was absolutely right.

The little girl in the book, Hannah, is about Lucy’s age, loves hot pink, and is still quite content to do her business in her diaper. But once she starts sitting and trying and having accidents, she realizes how great and freeing it is not to wear diapers anymore.

And then — oooohhh, the climax! — Hannah goes pee-pee AND poop on the potty and her parents take her to pick out her own underwear! Eeeee! Can you feel the excitement, people?!

Lucy loves it. Whenever we talk about the potty and being a big girl and wearing underwear, she always says, “Like Hannah!” or, “Lucy did it just like Hannah!” Obviously the book has really made an impression with her.

The book came with an animated version of the story on DVD, along with a bunch of great songs (there’s one for boys, too). We watch this a lot, as well as Elmo’s Potty Time. The Elmo movie we’ve had forever, and certain parts have really stuck with Lucy: The boy trying hard to pour milk but making a mess until he finally gets it, the kitten climbing up the big stairs, the girl washing her hands. A great tool.

As for the type of potty, we had one misstep along the way. The first potty I bought a year ago had little handles on the top to help toddlers…hold on? brace? push? and Lucy’s chubby little butt would get stuck when she tried to stand up. The poor kid would be all hunched over, staggering, with a plastic seat stuck to her arse. It was absolutely hilarious, but obviously not working. Thankfully the good ol’ people at Sprawl-Mart took it back no problems — albiet with some shared snickering as Lucy sat in the cart looking at us blankly.

I broke down and invested in much more sturdy, multi-use, no-handled one with a padded seat no less: The Comfy Cushy from Safety 1st. It comes apart to go onto the toilet, and can also be used as a step stool. The padded ring has a built-in, uh, splash guard for the male species, but flips over for girls.

Well worth the money — I think I paid around $30? — for its ease of use, functionality and longevity for multiple kids of both sexes.

Any books or tools or tips to share? We are by no means settling on just this. I’ve liked that so far we haven’t had to use any “things” — treats, candy, stickers — to get Lucy to use the potty. Talking about being a big girl who doesn’t need diapers anymore — unlike her soon-to-be-born little sister, who will — is a huge help. We just haven’t reached that level of coercion need yet, but lordhelpus we have yet to broach the subject of pooping…

Lucy spent a lot of time at the cottage like this:

Not just standing on the bench exclaiming, “Look, Mommy, grass! Look, Daddy, water! Look, Spence-ah, sand!” but wearing big girl underwear (with no pants, of course).

Operation Get The Child Potty Trained Before the Next One Arrives has begun.

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Watching Elmo movies at Chez McDougall-Foster doesn’t just involve watching the 45 minutes or so of furry red manic monster (insert object Elmo is thinking about today!) love, but also previews of other Sesame Street films.

For who knows what reason (seeing as her mother rather, ahem, dislikes country music), Lucy picked up on this cowboy song from the preview of Elmo’s World Wild Wild West! Travis Tritt sings about Pecos Bill:

This has become The Song That We Brush Our Teeth To. Except we never sing about Pecos Bill. We sing about Pecos Everybody Else in the Family, Including Friends and Daycare Buddies: Pecos Mummy, Daddy, Spencer, Papa, Aunte Jenni, Uncle Marky, Auntie Michele, Gramie, Eirinn, Pearl, Julia, Mac, Tyler and Joshie. Recently, she’s moved on to inanimate objects, including toothbrush, toothpaste and pink cup.Oddly, my parents — Nana and Grandpa — are never part of Pecos Everybody. I think it’s because they have the Kids’ Favourite Country Songs DVD at their house — Lucy calls it “Chicken Elmo” — and Lucy knows they are already rootin’ tootin’ enough.

(One time, that movie made it to our house, and we watched it, and I almost died. Elmo + country twang = head explosion. As much as we sacrifice and do stuff for our children, the line has to be drawn somewhere. That movie is banned from here, and remains a special Nana/Grandpa House treat.)

What needs to be immortalized is the image of either Eric or I sitting cross-legged on the carpet in front of the bathroom door (blocking any escape route, you see…), singing “Pecos ________” in deep country voices, while Lucy perches on her white and blue Ikea step stool, toothbrush protruding from her lips, shaking her chubby butt to the beat.

Another completely unfathomable aspect of parenthood. Priceless.

…she’s pushing inanimate objects in the swing.

Enough people have emailed and written about this now that it must be true: Zellers is giving store credit if you return any Avent products because of the issues surrounding BPA. You don’t need a receipt or packaging or anything.

Rumour has it the store is only doing this until Friday.

Has anyone done this yet? And what are your thoughts on breast pumps? I have an Avent one, and really liked it for what small pumping I did (and plan to do after the Parasite2 arrives). I plan to just pump into a bottle, then transfer straight into freezer bags or BPA-free bottles for feeding. I don’t know if it’s worth it to find and adjust to a brand new one for the few minutes the milk will be in the bottle?

Lucy has never been a big fan of loud noises such as blenders, the hairdryer or electric beaters. When she was a newborn and we used one of these, her eyes would literally bulge out of her skull, her head would start frantically shaking side-to-side, her tiny fists clenched in terror.

It didn’t get any easier as she got older, and we just adapted: I’d only blow dry my hair if she was downstairs with someone, or I pureed her baby food when she was out of the house.

The one task that was always difficult, however, was vacuuming. We did a lot of it when she was sleeping at night, but it made it very difficult to do the upstairs carpets. We usually resorted to taking her all the way to the basement or out of the house while the other did housework.

Now that Lucy is older, more rational (hahaha…she IS a toddler, after all) and can understand us better, we’ve been introducing loud objects in her presence. She can’t hide from them forever, and has to learn that they aren’t going to hurt her. So as long as we give her some notice (”Mummy’s going to use the beaters now and it might be loud!” Lucy: “Big noise!”), she is much better.

The vacuum, however, has been more problematic. She’s still quite wary of it (must pick it up from Spencer Dog, whose ear press down as soon as the “whoooosss” of the central vac starts, and bolts to whichever floor you’re not on) and was still getting quite upset when she saw it come out. One afternoon I had an inspiration that I thought might ease her: I asked if Dora or Elmo wanted to help.

This, I do say so myself, was a brilliant idea. Both stuffed dolls took turns holding the power head while I pushed it, all the while calmly telling Lucy how easy it was, how much they were enjoying it, how it wasn’t hurting them, and just making a lot of noise while it made everything all clean. She cautiously followed along, trading dolls with each room, but happily chatting.

Yesterday morning, I was vacuuming the house getting ready for Jen O.’s shower, when Lucy suddenly appeared from the living room. Without saying a word, she climbed all the way up the stairs, rifled around in her bedroom, then came back down with…Dora.

“Dora help?” she asked, handing her to me.

And so it was that if you peeked in my dining room window around 10 a.m., you saw a pajama-clad, wild-haired woman swishing the vacuum across the hardwood floors with a 2′ Dora doll clutching the handle. Grinning, of course, at the absurdity of it all, but also bursting with pride that my wee girl is getting over her fear.

While at the Green Living Show this weekend, I picked up several cards that list cosmetic and personal care ingredients in big and little kid products to avoid. These are synthetics that are potentially harmful — especially to vulnerable, developing babies.

(For the record, I’m SO not saying these ARE harmful or cause cancer or make your arms fall off or or will kill us all tomorrow. They are thought to be harsh or not environmentally-friendly or come from nonrenewable resources. And yes, this information comes from companies that sell naturally-based products with their own agendas. Which is why I’m linking to Wikipedia or Google for definitions, where you can find all sorts of links on your own.)

While I knew of some of these (parabens and phthalates) I thought you might like to see what other things to look for on an ingredient list. As with food, if you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably not good for you…

• sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate — a cleansing agent that creates foam and suds (which is why many natural products are not near as “soapy” as we’re used to)
• parabens — preservatives used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Controversial studies have linked it to cancer and increased estrogen.
• phthalates — used in plastics to make them more elastic, and found in everything from shower curtains to sex toys to nail polish and perfume and iPods. Controversial studies have linked it to hormonal imbalances (especially in fetuses) and allergies.
• petrolatum — a greasy, film-building skin protector widely used in cosmetics. Byproduct of petroleum (duh).
• phenylenediamine (PPD) — used in hair and textile dyes, printer ink and photographic products. A known allergen.
• coal-tar colours (FD&C or D&C) — synthetic food and cosmetic colour dye.
• diethanolamine (DEA) — used to create a creamy texture and foaming action. Linked to cancer, decreased brain development and miscarriages.
• dimethicone — a silicone oil used in shampoo to make hair slippery and shiny.
• formaldehyde — too. much. to. process.
• phosphate — commonly added to dishwasher detergent to help soften water and boost cleaning power. Excessive amounts in our water can create excess algae.
• oxybenzone — organic compound used in sunscreen and cosmetics as it absorbs UVA rays. A known carcinogen that penetrates the skin and creates free radicals (this one scares me, because I’ve been wearing sunscreen cream for years, and regularly slather it on Lucy. Need to look into it more and find alternatives.)

FYI, two of my favourite Durham retailers (who also happen to advertise, yes) carry wonderful natural baby bath products. Tamarra of Lollipops & Lizards (online) now carries the Little Twig line, and Shelby of Natural Earth Tones (Oshawa) has the All Things Jill line. Both are great priced (the higher cost of natural and organic products is always an impediment for people, myself included, which is why these are great).

President’s Choice had a HUGE booth at the show and was really promoting its Green products. We got a free, full-size sample of their floor cleaner and cleaning putty. Currently, we use the laundry soap, toilet paper and paper towels, and will switch to the dishwasher detergent when our stock is up. I love that these are so accessible and reasonably priced.

A company called Live Clean gave away tons of mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner to promote their eco-friendly body care line. Their stuff is 96% plant derived, and they gave out this neat bookmark that you can plant to make a wildflower garden (what clever, clever marketing).

This post is huge, so I’d better stop before your eyes roll back in your head from too much info or you click screaming away from the hippie-ness. Hope it all helps!

The CBC is reporting Health Canada will label bisephenol A “a dangerous substance,” making it the first regulatory body in the world to do so.

BPA is used to make hard plastics, including baby bottles, toys and food containers. Recent studies link it to breast cancer, obesity, infertility and insulin-resistance.

Here are my favourite links about it, from the February Durham Region Baby newsletter: CBC in-depth,  Z Recommends report on bisephenol A in bottles and in sippy cups, and the Centre for Environmental Health, Environment and Justice on Baby’s Toxic Bottle.

This development is huge. It means companies that make products with the compound will finally be forced to admit it’s dangerous, and start making safe alternatives.

Stay tuned!

p.s. — we lost our beloved SIGG bottle, and are currently using the Thermos Foogo. It’s an excellent sippy; I’ll do a review soon. 

You don’t know what you’re missing.

(Notes: This will be Lucy’s bedroom, and is currently called The Ball House Room, AKA The Room We Use to Bribe Lucy Upstairs With, AKA The Spare Room Where Guests Sleep Among the Balls. Don’t you love the Pepto pink walls? The wavy foliage wallpaper? The cable cords? That’s Sparky, the LED, colour-shifting dog, and Lucy’s sleeper she spontaneously ripped off. Oh, and yes, we’re still reading about Christmas, but at least it’s only eight months away now. The bathrobe, it lives on. Also, Eric hates those ultra-comfy-stretchy pants with the army of snowmen; he thinks they are planning an attack.)