Janey Lee

Pablo and I are planning a 3 week vacation in Spain in August. We are going to spend the entire time with Pablo’s family at the summer house. It should be great. We will be staying with Pablo’s parents and brother’s family — Jaime, Maria Jose, Ivan (almost 10 years old) and Elena (4). Pablo’s cousin Francisco from Granada is also coming to town with his wife and 4 daughters, Maria (i think she is 12), Anna (I think she is 10), and the twins Julia and Lucia (3). And of course, Pablo’s cousin Carmen also has a house nearby and will be there with her husband and kids Marina (11), Nico (9), and Patricia (5). So I am steeling myself for an all out kid fest and a month of shrieking and screaming. Matilda will either love it, or be totally traumatized.

I am hoping to take advantage of the change of scenery to get Matilda to make some changes. We have been unable to get her to give up her beloved bottle. And of course, there is the pacifier. And I also want to get her on some sort of schedule that involves one afternoon nap. I am also planning on using the extra time that we have together to begin potty training her. She is showing some signs of readiness, like letting me know when she is peeing and having dry diapers for a couple of hours at a time. Perhaps it wont be much of a fun vacation with all the crying and whining that I am expecting, but hopefully being around the big kids will inspire Matilda to make the leap to toddlerhood.

PS The cherry at the top? When we get BACK from vacation, she will find that we have replaced her crib with a toddler bed! Hopefully, she will have forgotten her crib after 3 weeks of traveling.