{This Moment}

{This moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Via

I mean, seriously, A looks just like Boo from Monsters Inc when she has her hair in pigtails. 

Just melts my little heart :)

Potty Training {Part 2}

Day 2

We increased the time between me having him sit on the potty to 30 minutes. I was incredibly nervous about more than doubling the time between I reminded him to go potty but H was amazing. He has actually started coming to me and telling me that he has to tinkle and then says "own". He wants to go on his own and take care of everything.  He is such a big boy it blows my mind.

I didn't tell JJ that I was using the Publix cookies as a treat so while I was out having a girls night with my sister, he finished them off. I can't really leave the house and go grocery shopping right now so I had to improvise. We ended up having a boxed chocolate chip muffin thing in the pantry so I added a mashed banana to it and made mini banana chocolate chip muffins as treat. 

We played outside for a while but always made sure that the potty was close to us in case something happened. We finished the day with NO accidents!! I do have to say that H is still wearing a diaper at nap time and to sleep because I think it is just too much for him to take on all of it at once. This seems to be working for us. 

Here is a photo dump from Day 2:

our lego creation (a crane truck) from our potty time

Making the muffins first thing in the morning

A watching all the actions

Beautiful E playing with H

A's first pigtails

A hanging out while we play outside

H was making A laugh which made him feel like the coolest person ever

He wanted to play chase so bad. I couldn't deny him it.

Just love that handsome face

Day 3

This kid is killing it! We have increased our time to 1 hour between when I remind him and we have had no accidents. This is 2 days in a row. We decided to put underwear on him today to get him used to pulling them up and down and they have not caused any problems. Sometimes he needs help getting them up and down but other than that he loves it!  We bough Mickey Mouse and a blue variety pack of underwear from Target and he got to choose which underwear he got to wear.  He is loving his underwear!

Since the time was spaced out to an hour between "seatings", we decided to go to my Moms to play with C & E. We spent the day in the pool with H wearing a swimmy diaper (just to be on the safe side). He got really tired of me asking if he had to go potty but he did tell me when he had to go so we didn't have any accidents in the diaper at all. 

We finished Day 3 without any accidents. I am sure I am going to jinx it by saying that I think this kid has really gotten the hang of this whole potty thing. 

KK

Potty Training... kill me now! (said the very proud Mama)

So, this past week, H woke up and decided that he did not want to wear diapers anymore.  This is all well and good except I was not prepared to start potty training at all.  I don't/didn't think that he was ready. He hated having his diaper changed and showed no forewarning of when he was going to potty. 

Day 0.5

We managed to try potty training until lunch on the first day and then H freaked out when he had an accident in his underwear and begged for his diaper back. I was happy to oblige since I really didn't think that he was ready to start potty training. 

Day 1 (when potty training started for REAL)

We were not going to start potty training again for a few months to a year but while I was working out, H disappeared. I found him with his diaper off and on the potty. That was it for me. There was no going back. Once he decided to take his diaper off himself, he had made that decision. I let him know right then and there that potty training was happening and we were going to follow it to completion. 

So they day started in a pair of underwear. We played outside and sat on the potty every 10 minutes. I plied him full of juice and set off on the adventure of day 2.  We had 1 accident about 3 minutes after sitting on the potty and I decided to do away with the big boy underwear.  I think that the underwear felt too much like diapers so he didn't feel the need to use the potty.  So, we took the underwear off and spent the rest of the afternoon in the playroom like this:

So far we have had much success for only the first real day of potty training.  I have decided to give him a treat whenever he goes on the potty. He gets a quarter of a Publix chocolate chip cookie whenever he goes on the potty. He gets so excited about getting a treat because he doesn't really get cookies around our house. 

The face of a proud little boy (with chocolate chip cookie on it)

We did switch potties because the potty from Day 1 (blue potty) didn't have a lip on it and the first time H went to the bathroom in the potty, he peed all over me. We have switched to a frog potty that my sister lent me that has a nice lip/guard on it. 

New Potty

I didn't realize how mentally exhausting potty training could be and how much I could miss going into other rooms in the house. 

One thing I did do, a while ago, was stock up on some books and Duplo Legos for him to use only when he is on the potty. I also downloaded some Fisher Price apps to my phone to entertain him. These have proved very helpful because he has something special to play with while he sits on the potty. The apps encourage him to sit on the potty a little longer when I think that he has to go #2. 

Here is to hoping things go as well as they have so far!

KK

Amy & my nieces in town

Me & Amy at dinner in Rome, Italy

My sister, Amy, and her 2 girls, C who is 3 and E who is 1 1/2, came into town this past week. Amy & her husband Brian were going to St Augustine for the weekend to celebrate their 6th Anniversary so my Mom & Dad were watching the kids. Amy decided to come down from Atlanta early to give C time to go to Moms preschool and to let the kids play together. 

(Side note: My parents waited impatiently for 29 years for grandkids and got 4 in under 3 years. C is the oldest, then H came 12 months later, then E 11 months after that and then A in 10 months. Kinda a fun trend but very overwhelming. Moral of the story: more often than not you get what you wish for just not in the way you want it.)

I love my sister. Like love her so much that even though, growing up, I made it my mission to annoy her, I try to emulate her in all aspects of life. That is a story for another day. I hope some day that H loves A as much as I love Amy. 

H loves his cousins. From the moment we tell him that they are coming down he will wake up saying "Soon?". He thinks that both C & E are the bees knees. 

Look that that face! He was so excited to have his cousins at his house.

C bosses him around but he can't get enough of it.  C's language comprehension and use is beyond that of a normal 3 year old. This can get her in trouble but we love it because H always comes away from spending time with C using new words and increases his language comprehension. I love that at the age of 2 and 3 respectively, H is already learning stuff from C. 

H & C playing together

He is very lucky to have cousins close to him in age. He has always loved playing with C but now that E is old enough to walk around the participate, H has fallen in love with her sweet, gently, mischievous spirit. 

H & E playing on Balou the Bear

I think that she is teaching him how to relax and enjoy the small things because E has the ability (at 1 1/2) to make a game out of anything. Her laugh and smile are infectious. 

Then there is my sweet A who just sits there in the midst of all the chaos and observes what the big kids do. 

I love that in the above picture, she is just sitting there watching C swing Darby around. 

I got to have some sister time with my sister at The Grotto one night. 

It has been a while since she and I have had a chance to just hang out alone. It was great to visit with her and talk in a quiet place over a glass of wine or 2 without husbands or kids running around. 

Here is a photo dump of our visit with them:

Amy and the girls were in town starting Monday and left Sunday morning. H got some good quality cousin time in and can't wait to see them again on July 4th weekend. 

KK