There are a few things that I need to work on with Belli that I have been putting off for various reasons. Most of them are logical reasons but some of it is that I'm kinda lazy. So I am going to write out this to do list so I can hold myself accountable. I really have no reason to put these things of any longer after May so I'm just going to have to buckle down and do it! Ok, so here is my list and my reasons why I haven't done it yet.
1. Potty training.
This one is probably the most logical and reasonable one as to why I haven't done it yet. Obviously since Belli can't walk yet her getting to the potty by herself is sort of out of the question. Our bathroom is upstairs so that means I have to walk up the stairs while carrying her every single time she need to go potty. This isn't so bad now but when she had the halo on for almost 6 months I wasn't really all about that. But then once she got the halo off I started school and working another day out of the weeks so I am never home enough days in a row and since the key to potty training is consistency I didn't think we would be very successful. Lastly, I have always heard that the best way for them to train is to just let them go without a diaper on so they can feel themselves be wet. Since I already have work, school, homework, and doctors and therapy appointments cleaning up pee that Belli has dragged across the floor while scooting was not something I wanted to add to my list. But, I will be finished with this semester at the beginning of May so I will be home everyday except Friday and Saturday so I should be able to do it now. She is pretty close to being trained so hopefully it won't be too hard.
2. Teach her to eat with a spoon and fork.
There are a couple of reasons I have put this off too. I had always planned on waiting until she either got her collar off or she was two. My reasoning behind this is that when a child learns to use utensils it's not exactly a clean experience. Her collar only comes with two sets of pads so I would have to wash and clean them each time she ate because they would obviously get very dirty, and then smelly if I didn't. So I thought that if she didn't have her collar off by the time she was two I would just suck it up and get prepared for a lot of collar pad washing.
Well, as most of you know in August when she turned two she was in the halo and vest so self feeding was again out of the question. The fake wool underneath the vest didn't come out so there was no way to get it clean. So I thought I would just wait until she was out of the halo and collar free. Well that didn't happen either. She came out of the halo and straight back into the collar for what was supposed to be only a few months. So again my plan was to wait until she got her collar off. Well if you read this post you will know that we found out recently that Belli will not be getting her collar off until after her next fusion which will probably be around five. So seeing as that I can't wait until she is five to teach her how to feed herself I guess I will not just suck it up and do it.
She also has some problems with arm and hand strength that is needed for feeding. Also, since she can't look down because of her fusion we are going to have to figure out a way for her to be able to see her food to be able to scoop it up and put it in her mouth.
3. Teach her how to hold an open cup
I have avoided this for all of the same reasons as above. Can you guys tell that I really don't handle mess well?
So there is my to do list for May. Wish us luck!
