I think Christian has officially said ADIOS to his bottles. He hasn't used a bottle in a couple of days. We have switched him to the soft spout Nuby cups (pictured left), which in my opinion, are more like bottles then sippy cups, but it's a step in the right direction.

I really didn't mind him using a bottle, but he started getting into the habit of turning the bottle upside down and making milk "art". These "sippy's" don't spill, which was the motivating factor of switching him.

I plan on gradually switching him to regular spout sippy's in a month or two. I was on the Nuby site and found these sippy's that look awesome (pictured right). The spout is shaped the same as the soft spout, but with a harder plastic. PERFECT!

The thing I like about Nuby is that they make replacement spouts and valves for their cups. This is extremely convenient.

Today is day 2 of trying a modified version of elimination communication with Christian. He still hasn't urinated in the toilet, but he seems to be getting really comfortable just sitting and chilaxin'. I've had him sit on the toilet several times today without incident.

Unfortunately my idea for a bit of sibling competition has been shot down. I showed Manny that Christian was learning to use the potty, and he couldn't have cared less. Man my child is so friggin' stubborn....wonder who he gets that from **cough-cough JOHN cough-cough**.

My next idea is to go to the dollar store and by about 15 toys. He is super motivated by toys. I'll place a new toy by the potty and tell him that he won't get that toy until he uses the potty. No more of this just sitting on the potty crap (nice pun). He actually needs to use the damn thing (can you tell I'm getting frustrated...haha).

If this doesn't work, we'll just need to wait until he starts Preshool in the Fall. I have a feeling he'll do better taking direction from someone other then John and myself. Plus, he'll be seeing other kids doing it, and [hopefully] get the hang of it that way.

Either way, Manny is definitely winning the "potty battle".

I know it's insane, but I'm thinking of potty training Christian. He's only 14 months, but I believe he was the right temperament for elimination communication. What is EC you ask? Here is a brief description:

The trickle treat method begins with conditioning and can be approached in a rational and scientific manner as well as an intuitive and spiritual one, or a combination of both depending on what works best for you and your baby. The rational approach involves timing and observation of elimination patterns and baby body language. The more spiritual approach involves intuition and "tuning in" to your baby in more subtle ways.

Infant potty training is based on an elimination training technique used in much of Asia and rural Sub-Saharan Africa. The method has been adapted to the Western lifestyle in various ways, including the use of a sink, potty, toilet or other container; variations in elimination positions; part-time use of the technique; and, where desired, part-time use of diapers.

Synopsis of the elimination communication method
Observation Lay your undiapered baby in a comfortable, warm and safe place, then observe her:

1. timing (how long and how frequently she goes after waking or feeding)
2. body language (such as twisting or grimacing while defecating)
3. sounds (such as grunting while defecating

It is suggested that you start this particular method around 4 months. Well, I didn't have the patience nor the time to do this with a 4 month old, but I'm going to be doing a modified version with Christian.

When Christian woke up from his nap this afternoon I sat him on the toilet just to see how he would respond, and he loved it. We sat there singing songs for a good 10 minutes. When I told him it was time to go, he started throwing a fit. So all signs are pointing to that he might actually enjoy this.

My plan going forward is to take this slowly. I'm going to start with trying to eliminate his morning diaper. First thing I'm going to do when he wakes up in the morning is take him to the toilet. I'll do that for a couple of weeks until he is comfortable. Then I'll start with the afternoon diaper.

I know this is going to be a long process, and if I'm not consistent it could totally backfire, but I'm hoping that Christian will be fully potty trained by Christmas...could possibly be wishful thinking, I'm fully aware of this.

I'm also hoping that Christian potty training will light a fire under Manny's butt. Perhaps if he sees what Christian is doing, he'll want to do it too. I've noticed a bit of sibling rivalry already between the two; whatever Christian does, Manny must do.

I'll keep updates with progress (or lack there of).

When Manny gets really excited he has the habit of stuttering. This has caused John and myself to channel Eddie Murphy in The Golden Child.

To see clip, click --->here :)

When he starts to stutter, John and I simultaneously start saying, " I-I-I-I want the knife!" Manny responds with, "pleeeeeeeeeeeease." It's hilarious.

Christian's follow-up staph appointment was today. We got the results back from the culture sample, and it's been confirmed that he does, in deed, have MRSA. Dr. Z assumed that's what he had from the get go (given John's culture results from his staph infection); as such, he prescribed the proper antibiotics, and his infection looks tons better.

Dr. Z again praised my awesomeness for catching it so early (I never said I was modest ). He told me that they usually hospitalize kids with MRSA because it's caught too late. We won't be going back unless things take a downhill turn. I just have to keep an eye out.

John and I wanted to make sure that this never happened again; to anyone in our family. So we sent the kids away Saturday to do some MAJOR Spring cleaning. We rented a steam cleaner, and tackled (or I should say John tackled) our entire house. The carpet really should be replaced, but unfortunately we don't have the funds for that, so this will have to do in the meantime. We also vacuumed the couches, dusted every surface, and sanitized the door knobs, handles on our dresser drawers, light switches, etc. It was an exhausting day.

Sunday was Mother's Day. We took the kids to the zoo (along with everyone else in the Bay Area - admission was free all day), and had dinner at John's mom's house. John and his brother made dinner: pot roast with carrots and mashed potatoes. It was delicious.

Some photos from the zoo:

We are currently on day 3 of antibiotics. Unfortunately the infection hasn't gotten any smaller, but it hasn't gotten any bigger either, which is a good thing.

Christian seems to be in better spirits today. I didn't need to give him any pain medication until this evening. He is still running a bit of a temperature due to his teething, but his cough is getting better.

So things are starting to look up. We have a follow up appointment with Dr. Z scheduled for Monday.

I am extremely traumatized by Christian's doctors appointment today. And if I'm traumatized, Christian must be....well, whatever word means more then traumatized; if there is such a thing.

I told John last night that there was a possibility that Christian's staph infection would need to be drained today. As such, I asked that he accompany me to the appointment as I was sure that I would not be able to handle something like that on my own.

Sure enough, as soon as Dr. Zaglin saw Christian's infection he told a nurse outside of the room to prepare to have the infection drained. I could feel the color drain from my face. I immediately started to sweat and my heart started to race. One would think that I was the one going under the knife. I told John that he would need to hold Christian during the procedure.

Christian was taken to the observation table. His pants were taken off and his diaper pulled down. He was injected with a numbing agent which sent him reeling. At that point I focused my attention on Manny who was doing a good job of keeping me distracted (before Christian received the shot I warned Manny that Christian was going to start crying. I didn't want him to think that something was wrong).

I knew immediately when Dr. Zaglin started draining the infection. A loud cry filled the air, followed by several seconds of silence. Christian took a deep breath, saturated his lungs with oxygen and pierced the room with a blood curdling scream. It is the worst sound I've ever heard. I could hear his voice starting to shake. Part of me wanted to jump up and save my child. However, I knew what was taking place was necessary, so I turned inward and started to stare at the floor.

Several moments later I looked over to see how things were going. John and Dr. Zaglin did a good job of blocking Christian, but I caught a brief glimpse and saw dark red blood streaking down the side of his stomach. I didn't look back again.

Moments later Dr. Zaglin said he was done. He quickly got a culture swab and bandaged up the wound. John changed his diaper while Dr. Zaglin filled me in: Christian had several infected pockets under the surface of his skin. Each of the pockets was punctured and drained. Dr. Zaglin was able to remove a lot of infected puss and blood from those pockets, and his infection should start looking better. Tonight, after a warm soaking bath, we're suppose to gently put pressure on the wound to drain it further - I'm not looking forward to that.

FYI...we got results back from John's culture swab from his staph infection and it was MRSA.

I feel so badly for my littlest man. He just passed out on the couch. He's had a rough couple of days.

Last Friday at dinner I noticed that Christian's left eye started turning red. It was a late night, and he had been rubbing his eyes so I assumed it was because he was tired. The next day - Saturday - that same red eye started to get goopy. Then Sunday his right eye started getting goopy.

I thought he might have pink eye, so I called his doctor on Monday. Unfortunately they didn't have any appointments available until Tuesday morning - fine. He would be seeing Dr. Zaglin at 9:30 a.m.

Later that day (Monday) I noticed that he had a bump on his pubic area. It looked like a small pimple. Since John had gotten staph several weeks earlier, I know what the beginning signs look like. I pressed the bump and noticed that it was starting to harden. I immediately cleaned it, and covered it with a bandaid.

I kept a close eye on it all day Monday, and started giving Christian Motrin because I know how painful these things can become. By Monday night the entire infected area was hard (about the size of a dime). On Tuesday morning it had gotten extremely red, but it didn't look like it had gotten any bigger.

Before we left to go to the doctor I noticed that his left eye was no longer red, and that neither of his eyes were goopy (thank goodness, must not have been pink eye). However he is teething so he now has a low grade fever, and a horrible cough **insert eye roll**

At the doctors office Dr. Zaglin inspected Christian's infection and said that he is 90% sure that it is staph. He had me hold Christian down while he squeezed it to see if any puss would come out. I felt so horribly for Christian. He was in so much pain. We have to go back today so that Dr. Zaglin can look at it again. There is a slight possibility that it will need to be drained.

I had mentioned to Dr. Zaglin that John is still recovering from his bout of staph (almost 3 weeks later). He requested that I get the culture results back from John's doctor to see if John was treated for MRSA. It turns out that he was **insert frown** So there is a possibility that Christian has MRSA **insure HUGE frown with teary eyes**

Dr. Zaglin gave me a verbal high five for spotting this infection so quickly. He said that most parents aren't aware of what staph looks like and wait far too long to get treatment. He said that because I caught it so early we're able to treat it aggressively, and things should be okay.

So lets recap...Friday night Christian had a red left eye that started getting super goopy. On Saturday his right eye started getting goopy. Between Friday and Monday he also started a low grade fever and horrible cough - which made sleeping nearly impossible. Monday I noticed a staph infection that hardened to the size of a dime by Monday night.

He is now on antibiotics for his staph as well as a combo of tylenol and motrin for the pain (I think we'll be sticking with tylenol as it is easier on the stomach. Last night we gave him motrin as well as his antibiotics and he puked all over John). He will probably be put on more antibiotics once Dr. Zaglin hears that John had MRSA.


BTW...I hate that MRSA sounds like Marisa...just sayin'.