Potty Training: Take 2

Since the novelty of the sticker approach has worn off, it's time for a tactical change.  I've upped the ante big-time to Tess' all-time favorite treat:  M&M's (or "MM's," as she calls them).

So we buy the "MM's" this morning and I explain the "MM Potty Game" to Tess, as follows:

"Tess, it's your job to tell me when you have to go potty.  So, if Tess tells mommy, 'Mom, I have to go potty!,' she will get MM's!  If she puts pee in the potty, she gets 3 MM's.  And if she puts poo-poo in the potty, she gets 5 MM's!  Yes, it's exciting, I know!"

To test her comprehension of the "MM Potty Game" rules, I ask her:

"So, Tess, can you tell me what the magic words are to get MM's?"

Her response:

"Trick or treat!"

Training Day #8

I'm getting really tired of pee and poop.  I'm not sure we're making any progress.

Nobel Prize Awarded to IVF Pioneer

The scientist who pioneered in-vitro fertilization, Robert Edwards, has been awarded this year's Nobel prize in medicine.

Professor Robert Edwards, the British pioneer of IVF treatment, sits with two of his 'test-tube-babies', Sophie and Jack Emery who celebrate their second birthday in London in this file photo dated Monday July 20, 1998.

Robert Edward wins 2010 Nobel prize in medicine for in-vitro fertizilation 
By KARL RITTER and MALIN RISING
The Associated Press
Monday, October 4, 2010; 8:02 AM

STOCKHOLM -- Robert Edwards of Britain won the 2010 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for developing in-vitro fertilization, a controversial breakthrough that ignited sharp criticism from religious leaders but helped millions of infertile couples in the last three decades have children.
Edwards, an 85-year-old professor emeritus at the University of Cambridge, started working on IVF as early as the 1950s. He developed the technique - in which egg cells are removed from a woman, fertilized outside her body and then implanted into the womb - together with British gynecologist surgeon Patrick Steptoe, who died in 1988.
On July 25, 1978, Louise Brown in Britain became the first baby born through the groundbreaking procedure, marking a revolution in fertility treatment.
"(Edwards') achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large proportion of humanity, including more than 10 percent of all couples worldwide," the medicine prize committee in Stockholm said in its citation.
"Approximately 4 million individuals have been born thanks to IVF," the citation said. "Today, Robert Edwards' vision is a reality and brings joy to infertile people all over the world."
Steptoe and Edwards developed IVF from the early beginning experiments into a practical course of medicine and founded the first IVF clinic at Bourn Hall in Cambridge in 1980.
Today, the probability that an infertile couple will take home a baby after a cycle of IVF is 1 in 5, about the same odds that healthy couples have of conceiving naturally.
Prize committee secretary Goran Hansson said Edwards was not in good health Monday when the committee tried to reach him. Bourn Hall said Edwards was too ill to give interviews.
"I spoke to his wife and she was delighted and she was sure he would be delighted too," Hansson told reporters in Stockholm after announcing the 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award.
"Louise's birth signified so much," Edwards said at Brown's 25th birthday celebration in 2003. "We had to fight a lot of opposition but we had concepts that we thought would work and they worked."

September 2010 Tidbits

When I pulled out the turkey for Tess' lunch today she asked, "Mom, you like turkey?"

"Yes, I like turkey. Do you like turkey?"

"I like turkey, I do. Dad likes gummi bears!"

I know Tess has to go to the bathroom when she turns to me and says, "Mom, I playing!"

Tess found an empty paper towel roll, held it up to her eye and said, "Look, Mom, I a CAPTAIN!"

Tess, pointing out a fellow toddler having a fit in the store: "That girl a little ornery!"

Tess came home from playschool with a picture she made using apple stamps. She was very proud to show Dad her picture, and he suggested we hang it on the fridge. "Yes," she agreed, "It look nice there!"

Tess had her first day of playschool with a few other friends. Before heading to her friend's house, we discussed how one of the rules was no crying in school. On the way home from picking her up, I asked how school went and if she was a good girl. She said, "I a good girl, Mom! I played outside and fell down on the grass. I did no crying." Aww--my boo-skee-boo!

"Cranes and planes, cranes and planes, cranes and planes. Mom, words a-rhyme!" (Cranes and Planes is the name of the book Curious George checks out from the library.)

The other night at dinner, Tess was being quite the card. Pleased with the reaction she was getting, she started handing out laughing assignments. "Dad, you wanna laugh? OK, you laugh." Then she'd tell her joke and Ry would laugh at the appropriate time. "Mom, you wanna laugh?" She'd tell her joke and it was my turn for laughing. Then we had to take turns telling jokes. "Tess, you wanna laugh?" Nothing like organized humor.

Tess at dinner tonight: "I wanna go to my Nana-Papa's house. Have dollhouse downstairs and upstairs and downstairs have snowman."

Tess in the bath tonight: "I wanna go to I-a-ho and see Dipsy's Papa and Dispsy. I do. Have bedroom for me and bedroom for Lauren downstairs."

"Tess what should we have for dinner tonight?"

"A-boo-ba."

"What?! We can't have a-boo-ba for dinner! Do you even know what a-boo-ba tastes like?"

"Tastes like chicken!"

This morning Tess & Ryan were looking at all the things in her Nature Display box from Cousins Camp. When they got to the pinecone (which she calls a "pinecorn"--she mixes up "acorn" and "pinecone") Ryan said, "Did your pinecone come from the Wild Woods?" She responded, "No, it came from the swimming pool!" He corrected her, "No, remember, we found your pinecone at Dipsy and Papa's Wild Woods." Finally I had to fess up--she was right. Her Wild Woods pinecone fell out and we replaced it with one she found near the swimming pool. I think she was about ready to explain to Ryan that this variety of pinecone is not native to the Wild Woods of Idaho. So much for authenticity and provenance.

Tess was examining one of the flowers in her display box and asked, "What's that, Mom?" I told her it was the petal of the flower. Her response: "Oh, I see! Like the pedal on my bike!" Sort of.

Yesterday Tess was on her bike, and when she backed up Ryan started making a "beep, beep, beep" noise. Tess chided him: "Dad, it's a bike not a car."

Tess is going through this phase where she obsesses over random objects. She latches onto them and has to carry them with her everywhere she goes. Recent obsessions: a pair of headphones that she calls her "microphones;" an old camera (pre-digital era) that she trails behind her on a cord and calls her "puppy"; a paintbrush; and various lids to random bottles (which she calls her "shapes"). It's getting a little old trying to keep track of these things.

I have no idea why, but Tess has a new name for the mall: "The Parents." She loves to play on the ride-on cars at the mall and will ask, "Mom, let's go to The Parents to ride on the cars. Pl-e-e-a-a-s-s-e?"

Another new funny phrase that Tess picked up from both Ry & me: "Sounds good?" She'll propose her idea for a plan and then add a very upbeat, "Sounds good?" at the end.

Tess: "How about chocolate milk and a show a me? Sounds good?"

Tess: "How about we go a The Parents and ride the fire engine and the pink car and the airplane and the roller coaster and the laughing car? Sounds good?"

If Tess' proposal gets shot down, she's learned to employ the "After" technique of negotiation.

Tess: "How about we go to The Parents and ride the fire engine and the pink car and the airplane and the roller coaster and the laughing car?"

Me: "Well, Tess, right now it's time for a little nap."

Tess: "How about The Parents after? Sounds good?!"

Tess also doesn't like it when I use delaying tactics.

For example, If she wants a popsicle and I say "Not now" because it's too close to dinner, she'll respond:

"Mom, you no say 'not now!' You say 'yes!' I say 'yes!' No 'not now!' Sounds good?"

Tess has very much internalized the difference between "escalators" and "elevators." Everywhere we go, she wants to know which one they have. If I tell her they have an elevator, she'll say, "They have no little moving stairs. They have anelevator."