Maryn Update

We seem to have gotten in to a pretty good rhythm with Maryn lately. Or maybe I should say we've gained a greater understanding of her and how to deal with her effectively. Being the strong-willed child that she is, sometimes we have power struggles with her that can be quite frustrating for mommy and daddy. Well the first thing we figured out that she is still desperately in need of a nap everyday. We were getting to the point where we thought maybe she was weaning from her nap, but it is now clear that she isn't. If she doesn't nap, I will guarantee you that we will have at least one meltdown in the evening and most likely a few instances of not being able to cope as well and a much sassier child. Thus we are liking Maryn's newer sleep schedule... she gets up a little earlier than she used to (around 7:00), takes a nap in the afternoon for about 2 hours, and then lays in bed a little longer at night until she falls asleep. The beautiful thing is that she still goes to bed at her regular time, now she just lays there and reads books and very rarely even comes out :)

Maryn has really made remarkable strides with her behavior and we are very proud of how much she seems to have matured lately. In addition to realizing how much a nap impacts her behavior, I think the extra one-on-one time with mommy while Makenna's at school has helped as well as all of the classes she has been taking. She now attends Flyers at church on Wednesdays nights and took a music class and swimming lessons this fall and loved them both! She told us that she wants to be Miss Paula (her music teacher) when she grows up and tonight she thanked God for Miss LuAnn (her swimming teacher) in her prayers. She does so well in instructional settings and the teachers thoroughly enjoy her. And I love watching her. She always has a huge smile on her face!

And on to the big topic... Maryn's voiding dysfunction. We had an appointment at UIHC in November that went very well. We gained a lot of insight into what's going on with her and made the appropriate changes. We were told her bowels were playing a significant role in her bladder problems so we needed to solve her "constipation" issue (which we were shocked to find out she was constipated... if you knew how much this kid goes, you wouldn't think so either). We made all the appropriate dietary changes, but it only worked for a few days and then went back to "normal". We were prepared to take the next step when Maryn decided she was tired of diapers and wanted to use the potty again. Not knowing how difficult it would be for her given her voiding dysfunction issues, I was a little tentative (afraid she would fail and get frustrated). But I supported her and we went about like she was a typical kid potty training. Thank God for the blizzard we got last week... seriously! We were trapped in the house for 3 days straight and I think that helped the situation! I am happy to report that Maryn only had five accidents all week long and most of those were instances where she started to go and caught herself and finished in the potty. She is so proud of herself and I must say I am to! It is honestly an answer to my prayers that somehow the dripping issue seems to have disappeared. I'm going to pray that it stays this way, but we have a back-up plan if it doesn't. The big thing to celebrate right now is that she is potty-trained again and loving it!

And of course with it being Maryn, there has to be a hilarious story to share. She was in the bathroom finishing up her business and I walked by to check on her. She had her pants up and was walking out but then suddenly turned around. Went over and pulled some toilet paper off the role, pulled her pants open in the front, stuck the toilet paper down the front of her pants, wiped, put it in the potty and walked out again. She remembered all the steps, she just needed a refresher course for what order they go in!


Now that Maryn's on a more regular nap schedule again, I'm not too picky about where she naps. As long as she is in her room and quiet, she can pick the spot. These are a few of the places I've found her in the past few weeks. One day I also found her sitting upright in her laundry hamper. Luckly she wasn't sleeping yet so I could move her!