Potty training update

Okay, Mia has done incredibly well this week ... I am so proud of her.   Although I felt very uncertain, we ventured out on Tuesday in panties and she rose to the occasion.  In fact, we followed our normal routine for the week and Mia never once had an accident when we were out and about.  As to be expected, she's had a few here and there, but literally less than a handful since Monday.  She's still very uncertain and hesitant about #2 ... we've had markedly less bowel movements this week, so that's still "in progress."  She is napping in a pull-up (which is often dry when she wakes up), and sleeping in a diaper (which is always wet), but if she needs to go and she's awake, she's been calling us to come get her out of her crib.

I honestly cannot believe it.  SUCH a big girl!

Memorial Day Weekend 2012 ... and potty training

It was a "big" weekend ... yet, we didn't go anywhere. It was the weekend I have had set aside on our calendars for months now as the 3-day window to potty train Mia.  A friend had recently sent me a copy of The 3-Day Potty Training Method.  I knew I needed to try something different this time around (after the potty training that went on and on and on with Luke), and after reading her potty training "manual," I decided to give it a try.
So, we got started right after breakfast on Saturday.  I explained that the diapers were going away so that the other babies can use them, and that she needed to wear panties going forward.  Mia, not surprisingly, had several accidents on Saturday, but we just continued to follow the instructions (which, by the way, include wearing panties with a shirt and no pants - hence you can see that she had no pants on in any of the photographs from this weekend).

By evening on Saturday, we were happy to accept my parents' offer to have dinner at their house.  Although the plan suggests not going ANYwhere, I figured that going so close and still having easy access to the potty would be fine.  Interestingly, Mia seemed to really "get it" while we were there and had NO accidents that evening!  She even initiated going to the potty and was successful several times (and there were several ... okay, probably 10-12 ... times when we went to the potty but nothing came out!).

Coloring at Day & Paw's with her panties on

Sunday was not quite as lucky.  I don't think she went in the potty even once :(  ... and I have no photos from that day because, frankly, all you would see would be me in my dirty pajamas cleaning up accidents and running loads of laundry.

Monday we executed on a project in the yard that we've been talking about for quite a long time now:  planting a garden.  It's a small plot, but a great amount of space for us to start with.  Michael worked the previous days to clear the plot and frame the bed.  I figured it was a good idea to have Mia outside.

We planted tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, strawberries, various herbs, and still have a space designated for some arugula.  So excited to start growing some of our own fruits and vegetables.

On the potty-training front, Mia did very well on Monday.  We had a couple of accidents, but also many successes.  She is very proud of herself and seems to want very much to make it in time to the potty - so much so that she has many false alarms where we are all running to the bathroom only to have her tell us after sitting down for 2 seconds, "all done."  Oh well, better to be safe than sorry!





In other exciting news:  Trader Joe's peonies are in!  Which makes Mommy ridiculously happy!

Potty Training (again)?

Over the weekend we took the little potty out just in case our little house guest decided that she would like to use it :). On Sunday evening, after our guests had traveled home, I took the kids up to the bathroom for our regular routine (potty, tubs, stories, etc.). Luke will often sit on the big potty if he has not "gone" yet that day, which was the case on this particular day. Since Mia is very much into doing anything and everything that Luke does, she followed suit and sat down on the little potty across from him. I didn't think much of it until....

... she went!

And I'm not just talking about a tinkle either!

I could NOT believe it ... I mean, we haven't talked about it, I figured she was too young, and she hasn't really even explored the little potty or anything. She just sat right down and went about her business.

Needless to say, we are leaving the little potty out. I have no inclination to potty train her right now - honestly, I feel like we just finally finished potty training Luke and I was hoping for more of a "break." Just goes to show me (yet again) that in this particular area I have absolutely NO control ... and we'll just have to follow Mia's lead on this one.

Three and a half

Our little guy is three and a half. Time is flying. He is growing like a weed. His imagination and vocabulary are out of control. His naps are sparse. And we're more and more in love with him and feel so grateful to be able to watch him grow. Here's the mid-year recap on Luke:

The first half of 3 was "challenging," as many told me it would be. Several mommy friends warned me. I wasn't sure that I needed to worry ... I did. I can't put my finger on exactly what was the challenge. I guess because it was just EVERYTHING. Luke spent several months testing all of the limits and just being difficult in general. The good news is that we seem to have come through it and for the past few weeks he has been the most pleasant, agreeable, patient, kind boy. I hope that boy hangs around for a while :)!

Imagination and make-believe are the main parts of Luke's days. He LOVES to pretend. He has all sorts of scenarios playing out at all hours of the day. Some involve real people and real things, others involve things and characters that are most definitely not real (the pack of 10 dogs and 10 cats, for instance, who apparently live in our storage loft). Sam, Luke's pillow pet, is also a main player in all of the make believe. It is pretty cute and amazing to hear some of the stories that he comes up with ... then again, I don't find it quite so "cute" when he blames the shove that he just gave his sister on Sam.

After meeting with the social worker at Luke's school in November, we have completely figured out the potty situation. We basically gave the potty power back to Luke (since he had it all the time anyways) and it essentially "fixed" the accidents that he was still having. So, I can now say with complete confidence that he is potty trained and hasn't had an accident in 2 months! Woo hoo!

He's still the pickiest eater I know. In fact, things that he used to like have started to fall of the list - leaving an even shorter list of Luke-approved foods than before. I've decided that I'm giving Luke the power back on this one also (after all, he's in control - I can't force him to eat anything). So, I cater most meals to his tastes, adding in a non-approved food from time to time just to expose him to it. I sneak vegetables into fruit dishes and juices. Whatever ... hopefully he'll grow out of it. In the meantime, his growth is right on track....

Speaking of which, he seems to have grown a tremendous amount in the past month or two. I have no idea how tall he is, but I took one look at him a few weeks back and was shocked to notice that his 3T shirts are no longer fitting. They are all too short in the torso and arms. Amazing! 3T pants still seem to fit well. As of this month Luke weighs 34lbs.

Napping has been slowly dwindling down. For a while he was "resting" and falling asleep on most days, but we're down to a real nap about 1-2 days a week now. He takes a "rest" everyday from about 2/2:30 - 4:00, which means he's in his bed during that time with some books. The nice part of him not actually sleeping is that (after a short period of complete insanity before bedtime) he is 100% ready for bed at 7pm. He doesn't complain and there are no late-night antics. He just passes out immediately. :)

In terms of health - he's been relatively healthy this winter. Only one ear infection! One tube is out (right ear) and the other is still in. We'll just see how he does, but we are optimistic. Luke's speech sounds to us like it has improved dramatically. Most people seem to understand what he says the majority of the time. We'll double check with his teachers next month during our conference, but I'm hoping that he has made some progress and will continue to do so until he has caught up with his peers. He's at no loss for vocabulary! Some of the stuff to comes out of his mouth amazes me. This month his teachers at school did notice Luke having some trouble focusing his eyes and one of them wandering a bit, so he will be seeing a pediatric opthamologist in a few weeks to have them looked at.

At 3 and a 1/2 Luke has a full schedule - school 3 mornings a week, a pre-soccer class/program on Tuesday evenings, and swimming lessons on Thursdays. Although there are times when he tells me that he doesn't want to go (his favorite thing to do is to stay in his pjs all day long!), he really loves all of his activities once we get there. He's becoming more social at school, but overall is still pretty quiet in a group setting and takes a while to warm up. I say he saves all of his talking for Mommy and Daddys' ears!!!

What a sweet, sensitive, energetic, curious, loving, imaginative, silly, cute boy we have ... so lucky!

A Potty Party

It is with great excitement (and relief) that I announce that Luke is now "almost" officially potty trained (I say "almost" because, as is to be expected, we still have a few random accidents - usually with #2)! The crazy thing is that, just as so many mommies who have come before me have said, it really just happened on its own. That's not to say that we weren't still trying. We had just sort of settled into this "new normal" routine that included very regular questioning on the topic, "Luke, do you need to use the potty?" To which he nearly always replied, "No," and then we would end up taking him to the bathroom anyways, and he would go.


I'm not really sure what happened, - maybe it was just maturity and the abilty to recognize the feeling that comes along with having to "go"- but I started to notice Luke just heading to the bathroom on his own more regularly. It was then that I suggested that if he could go a full week without an accident that we would celebrate with a "Potty Party." He was super excited and decided that all he really wanted for his party were chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles and a candle to blow out.


SO, after a full week without any accidents, we celebrated the (little) man of the hour!

Yay! Not sure who is more excited about this achievement, Luke or Mommy & Daddy (umm ... probably the latter!). Luke is still wearing a diaper or pull-up at night and nap, but he seems to wake up dry now as well. I suppose I'll have to get really brave one of these days and let him go to bed in underwear - YIKES, still sort of a scary thought, so for now we'll just enjoy this HUGE accomplishment!

Just because you're cute

Luke, you just make me melt with how cute you are these days. AND, these freaking adorable underwear from Gina don't hurt either (they may be the cutest ones I've ever seen!).

So, of course, we had to have a little photo session...

You like the monkey underwear also, and were happy to dance around for the camera!

Potty training ... take 2!

This week we are revisiting the potty training. I have been watching you, Luke, and I KNOW that you can physically do it. Now, whether you care enough to do it is another story. Nonetheless, I have decided that this may not be easy now, but it is going to be even harder when I have a newborn in the house ... so here goes ....

• Monday was a disaster. I think we went through 6 pairs of pants.


• Tuesday was a bit better, with less accidents.


• Today, Wednesday, you had NO accidents! A few weeks back you spotted some very special Thomas the Train underwear while we were shopping. I told you then that we would come back to get them when you were using the potty. I picked them up recently just to have on hand when "the time" arrived. Tonight, you were rewarded with a pack of Thomas underwear - and you couldn't have been more pleased!

Keep up the great work :). We're so proud of you!

Big boy ...

...UNDERWEAR!


Day #1 had some hits and some misses.

The day started off well, although paranoid Mommy must have asked him about 4 million times if he needed to use the potty (I'm not looking forward to scrubbing carpets), to which he replied each and every time, "No."

Then, as I am switching laundry, I hear him fumbling in the bathroom - he already had his seat on the potty. He promptly tells me that he needs to go pee pee, and we have our first success (and of course, I'm thinking that this potty thing is going to be NO problem!).

Then, during lunch, we forget to tell Mommy that we need to go and have an accident in our chair (better than on the carpet as far as I'm concerned). Several pee pees in the potty later and we're back in the high chair for a snack and the same thing happens (although, this time the chair has no pad to clean because it's already in the washer - nice).

After dinner and some encouragement he decides to try for a #2 in the potty and is successful!

So, what I've learned so far is that:
1) this probably won't be as easy as I would like
2) I will eventually have to scrub the carpet
3) we need a jumbo pack of training pants, not just three
4) girls HAVE to be easier to train because at least they can't direct their pee just any which-way like it's a fire hose, and
5) the whole potty training thing is definitely more work for the parent than it is for the child.

We'll keep you posted!

Luke's BIG news...

...is that he has started to use the potty!

This came as a complete surprise to Mommy and Daddy, but it made us very happy and excited.

It all started in Mass. after Luke watched his cousin Jacqueline. He decided that he would try also ... and was successful on his first attempt. Since then, he has gone pee just about every time he sits on the potty, and when asked, he usually answer enthusiastically that he wants to try.

I guess the next step is getting him to let us know when he needs to go (?).

We are not forcing the issue, but think it would be great if we could just take Luke's lead on this one ... we'll see what happens!