Potty Training Day 1

Knock on wood, we are having some potty success! I started this morning at 9 a.m. after breakfast and some playtime and had him teach his “potty monkey”  how to use the potty , had the monkey throw his diaper away and put on his underwear and tell him we like dry pants. Over the last couple weeks he has already learned all the steps to going (pull down own pants, sit for a minute or 2, pull up pants, open big toilet, dump pee from potty chair into big toilet, flush, wash hands, get sticker and M’Ms!) and had peed on the potty lots of times so that part was actually easy.

So today was the big day where I said the diapers are going in the garbage and we’re putting on big boy underwear. I bought some of those training pants from Babies R Us. They are a little thicker than regular briefs, but he’s been wearing the briefs today too. He had about 4-5 accidents within the first hour to hour and a half  I think, but then once I started reminding him and getting him to sit on the potty every 10-15 minutes, he hasn’t had any accidents. The hard part for him is telling me or actually going to the potty without being asked. There were actually a couple times where he initiated going potty (we were already in there and I wanted him to teach the monkey) so I think that is progress! I have been praising him a lot and giving him plenty of juice and water to giving him opportunities to go. Here’s some more TMI for you…The last time he went he was sitting there for a while, which is unusual for him and once he stood up I realized he had pooped, but it was still hanging off of him! Ha! I was really excited because he’s actually able to sit and do poo-poo on the potty too.  

He went pee again before and after lunch and now it’s naptime. I decided to put a Pull-Up over his underwear for nap. He can’t be trusted yet! We are actually going out tonight to the pumpkin patch so we’ll see how this goes. I am going to keep telling and reminding him to go and hopefully he does OK. I know this is going to take time, but I hope he can slowly progress.

Just like swim class, he seems to be really proud of himself and realizes I am proud of him with my constant excitement and praise, etc. A whole morning of potty talk and training was A LOT, but Potty Training Day 1 I will check off as a success! Yay Andrew!

Sorry Andrew, I couldn't resist!

TMI

TMI, but I can't wait to see my little man wearing these ;-)

Potty Training Time!

That time is here and I'm half excited and half not. As a friend on FB recently admitted, diapers are just easier aren't they?! I have to agree. But I AM starting to get more ready for this. He's way too big to be changing his diaper and he doesn't like to get changed, so it's TIME! Since it's mostly taboo to discuss potty issues of your children on FB (I have to agree), you get to read about it here ;-)

For a couple weeks I've been preparing him for the switch slowly by introducing the potty more and getting him to sit on it and he has actually gone #1 on it many times--yay Andrew! At least he's not scared of it or wants nothing to do with it like some horror stories I've heard! He likes to flush, he likes pulling his pants off and on by himself and he likes washing his hands. Oh, and I will admit he likes the M'Ms I give him ;-) Really I should have held off on those because the sticker chart was working pretty well with him. Now that this relaxed mode of potty "training" has been going on for a bit, I'm ready for the hard-core switch to training underwear!

Jeff is going out of town on Friday and I will have time to try the tactics in this book that was recommended by many friends. Toilet Training in Less Than a Day was written in 1976, so I had to get past the outdated drawings and sexism ("Mr. James was thinking of what a nuisance he found it to take his turn changing Mickey's diapers when he returned home all tired out from work") No joke...but otherwise it's gold! Had to laugh at the comment about saving over $200 a YEAR in diaper costs once he's trained :)

I'll report back with my trials and hopefully lots of success! Send Andrew happy potty thoughts and prayers. hehehehe....

Fall Frenzy

Today is 10/1/11 and I have already started a Christmas gift list for my family and a list of handmade things I’d like to do for Christmas gifts. If you know me, you know the new SAHM Lynn is still pretty busy because she can’t sit still very long (ohhhh….that’s where my son gets it…dang it!). That makes it hard for me to work on crafty things sometimes, because I don’t always have the patience. When the mood strikes though, I get on a roll!

With the start of fall, there is a lot more going on in our lives…

• Swim lessons for Andrew
• Rec center class for Andrew
• Mommy group outings (Children's Museum was awesome!)
• Heading up the MOPS crafts
• Taking a women’s ministry class
• Serving as a small group leader for the children’s ministry
• Trying to save money couponing

etc, etc…

Fall always brings even more extra fun things to do because there are pumpkin patches, corn mazes, trunk or treats, fall festivals, events at the zoo, holiday  baking and so much more! Now if it could be under 100 degrees I would be a *tad* happier. Lately, I am also online and on the phone with my sister constantly talking about my TWIN NEPHEWS arriving next year! I will have NO money if I don’t watch myself. Now that I know it’s boys, I can start shopping—it’s going to be so hard NOT to buy everything I see. I’ve already tagged favorites on Etsy like there’s no tomorrow. They are going to be spoiled for sure!

With all this, I am also really trying to be a better wife and mommy. I think I need to slow it down a little, but I probably won’t

J If I’m not talking, typing or going, going, going, I’m probably sleeping! But I like it that way and you’re only “young” once right? ;-)

Look—I give the illusion of relaxation! OK so I did really relax recently at The Sanctuary Resort spa and it was amaaaaaazing! Here I am lounging in the spa waiting room.

 
P.S. True confession time: I've already got through half a bag of candy corn and it's just today October 1. Ugh.

Glad I read the Sunday Comics today...

:-)

My Little Swimmer of the Month!

The most exciting news for Andrew this month is he earned Swimmer of the Month at his swim school. He is he’s doing so well in swim lessons and really learning a lot I think. He got Swimmer of the Month this month and was featured in the newsletter. They did a really cute article and included his photo and video. I love it! Jeff is so proud of him J

Andrew talks sooo much more every day! My favorites lately are "hold on mommy, I be right back" and he holds up his pointer finger. LOL! This is usually when he wants to do something he's not supposed to or wants to try and go get a snack. It's like he's trying to be polite and tell me what he's doing, but then still doing what he's not supposed to. Oh, too funny! Jeff loves that he repeats everything lately and he has definitely got him to love baseball and the Cubs. He wants to watch it with Jeff and I swear he picks up little things that the players do. When he goes to bat, he has a stance, a face and he pulls his hat down over his eyes! How do they pick up this stuff? It’s hilarious.

 It's also amusing how he says "I can't like it." instead of "I don't like it." :-) That's usually in reference to food. Still not eating the best, but I'd say pretty average for his age. They are SO picky and not willing to try new things! He takes after me ;-)

Speaking of me, this time of year means the start of my MOPS group again and today was our second meeting. We’ve got a lot more moms joining us this year—yay! Last year we had 10 regulars maybe and today we had 25 moms there! I’m excited to meet some new people and take on the responsibility of Creative Activities Leader. We have some fun things planned that I’m excited to share with them. I’ll post my finished products on here. Our first one was supposed to get started today, but our speaker ran long…we had the idea of each mom doing a scrapbook page that tells the group a little more about herself. It will be a simple craft, but fun to read everyone’s pages about their families.

Since the Arizona kids are back to school it kind of feels like it’s starting to be “fall” around here, but not really. Record heat of 115 this week. Ick. I am DONE. Bring on the jeans and long sleeve shirts!

Great "end" to a great summer

I think our visit with our Army friends (currently stationed at West Point) was the cherry on top of a new, different and fun summer for me. Kellyn and I got to meet each other's children that we've never met before (but felt like we already knew!) Playing at the pool, relaxing with a cookout and spending some quality time together was great ... too bad we can't do it every few months! Thanks for letting us share in your vacation Wilsons!

Fun times at the Arizona Grand Resort Water Park

Look, they're already acting like brothers!

Andrew was scared of the wave pool at first.

Backyard fun at our house for a cookout.