Potty Training Update

Will is doing SO great on his potty training. He's 100% trained at this point, I would say. We have not worn a diaper since June 5th! He tells us when he needs to go potty and poop. He tells other people he wears big boy underwear, and he sometimes says "Member, I used to wear diapers?" and "Only babies wear butt paste and I'm a big boy. I don't wear diapers or butt paste". He's funny. The poop part has been the hardest for him and he really is getting the hang of it. He gets a "big surprise" still for pooping and he asks for them most days. They consist of $1 bin toys and large marshmallows. At night he is not wearing diapers, but can only hold it for about 7 hours. We usually get him up before we go to bed and he goes potty while he's still asleep. And then Chris gets him up at 6AM when he wakes up and takes him again. He goes right back to bed. Often he doesn't even really wake up. We're considering pull ups at night but just taking it day by day still.

We are so proud of our big boy! He's growing up way too fast!

Swim School Show Off Day!

Will took a 2 week swimming class. It is hard to believe he is big enough to just drop off and pick up, but he is. Each day we'd pull up to his instructors home. They would open his door, unbuckle his car seat and take him out of the car. He'd take his towel and go sit on the "magic carpet" (aka beach towel) until his other classmates arrive and they'd all head back to the pool together. Each day I'd pick him up and he'd tell me about class and his Dolphin Treat (starburst, peppermint, sucker, smarties, etc). I think he liked the treats the best! :) The instructors would give us an update of how the day went at pickup and our homework for the night. Will's homework was always to practice hiding his face in the water. They said he was a bit scared to do this. We ended up getting him goggles during the 2nd week and it made him much more comfortable with "going under". We went to watch on his last day of class and we were SO impressed. I really didn't know what to expect but knew what they'd told me the past two weeks. Well...he was so happy to show us his skills and he even received a few more skills marks (meaning he completed them) during that day! He put his face in the water, jumped off the side, swam across the pool and back with the noodles, floated on his back, and did several other skills.

Here are pictures from the show off day! We are so proud of him!

Getting his skills band - how they track which skills he has accomplished.

Goggles? Check! Swim Shirt? Check! Little sister ready to watch? Check!

waiting to get in the pool

Here we go! Getting in the pool by himself.

Submarines

Swimming with noodles

floating on back with noodle

Swimming

Watching his classmates. I love this picture

floating on his back in the 'x' position

About to jump in with Luke and Collin

With Ms. Robin and Ms. Linda, his teachers

Maddie is 8 Months Old!

What a sweet little thing she is, too! Month 8 has been as busy as it could be. With big brother's school ending and the summer starting, we've been doing a lot to keep busy. Lots of play dates with friends, trips out and about, and Chris and I took our first trip away since Maddie was born. Maddie and Will stayed with DeeDee (my mom) for 3 nights. That was a first for DeeDee - keeping them both overnight for multiple nights!

Maddie is getting so big. She weighs around 17lbs and seems to be getting longer. She loves to jump in her jumper, rolls all over the place, pushes off of things with her feet and can really get around the room scooting, rolling and inching her way. She isn't crawling, yet, but I think it'll happen around 9 months or a little after. She's seems to be a little ahead of where Will was on motor skills, but it is hard to tell. I remember that he seemed to be on the verge of crawling for FOREVER and it didn't happen until 11 months.

Maddie also got her first tooth!! It is her bottom, right one. And she has a great smiley face with chubby cheeks that she makes often to show it off! We continue to add food to her diet, slowly. I have been cautious because we are not sure what her "allergy" was early on. We just know it was something I was eating. She is still on her "special" formula, however we are going to try to change to regular formula during month 9. Maddie eats apples, pears, peaches, prunes (poor things needs these often), mango, bananas, carrots, peas, green beans, squash, spinach, rice cereal and oatmeal. Some of these straight, others combined. There are some great baby foods out on the market. They didn't all exist when Will was a baby. I would like to make her more food, but the hours in the day don't seem to be there all that often. So far it seems that Maddie likes veggies more than fruit, but eats both. I think sometimes the fruit is too tart for her. But after she gets a couple bites down, she usually gobbles up an entire bowl. We will try some finger food and teething biscuits in the next month or so. She loves to grab everything around her and food off our plate has become a target.

Maddie really is a joy and is a sweet baby. She continues to think her brother is the funniest person on earth and loves to play with him. I feel so blessed to have 2 sweet babies that love each other so much!

Here are some fun pictures from month 8!

Bathtime!

Just hanging out with big bro

Love those big blue eyes! I think I might have surprised her just a little here...

Yum! Prunes!

Bath time for 2

Maddie is getting better at sitting in the bath ring, although it is still a bit slippery. Will thinks it is so much fun to bath with his sister, too. We don't do this everyday, but sometimes. Aren't they cute?

Days after the 3 Day Potty training

I am going to keep an ongoing post for the next few days (until things are uneventful, really) to track how Will is doing. For us it is going to be a longer process than 3 days, but it is amazing how far he's come so far!

Day 5

Will woke up wet today. I was a bit bummed, but we changed the sheets and went on with our morning. He went to bed earlier last night, so that may have been the problem. We should have gotten him out of bed to potty before we went to sleep.

We went to Chick Fil A today and met our friends for lunch. Will was SO excited to leave the house and I was too. I don't think Maddie even minded getting in her car seat because it has been so long! We like to be out and about, so 4 days in was a lot of home time. I was so nervous, but we went anyways! Will started out great. We ate food, he played, and all seemed to go well. I reminded him multiple times to tell me if he needed to go. He finally ran out of the play area and told me he needed to potty. We went and he was quite scared of the public restroom at first, but I sat him on the potty and he did go. He was amazed that it flushed itself, that the water came on "on its own" and that the paper towels did too! WOW! Funny the things he never paid attention to before. We got some ice cream as a reward for his efforts and praised him a lot. Then he went back to play for a while. He came running out again and said "Mommy, take me home , take me home" in a panicked voice. Well...he had pooped in his underwear. I scooped him up, with a fresh pair in tow, and we went to change them. He was screaming "No potty, no potty". Not sure if he was scared of the public potty or the idea of me making him poop in public. I told him we were just going to change his underwear. We cleaned him up and changed them. I tried to not make a big deal about it but also reinforce the fact that he needs to tell me if he needs to poo poo. He kept saying "poo poo at home". We talked about the fact that he has to poo poo on the potty wherever we are. Sometimes that may not be at home. So...we have some work there. He'll get it, though. You know, I was so proud of him for pottying in public. It is a big step. And he'll get there with the rest. He just unfortunately tends to poop mid day, so we'll have to figure that part out.

Other than that it was a good day. Lots of telling me he had to go. Lots of going. Some false alarms - telling me he needed to and nothing happening. Other than how bad I felt for him on the poop front, a good day!

Day 6

I am so lucky to have a baby sitter that helps out on Wednesdays. We hired Marta when Maddie was going through all her tummy issues early on and she is just a wonderful addition to our week! Usually I let Will play all day with her - because he LOVES her. But today I figured it would be a great way to test being out with Will. Before Marta arrived, Will did wake up wet. He was barely damp, so I'm not sure if he let him self go or not. But we just talked about it and moved on. So...once Marta arrived, I let Maddie stay here and nap, play, etc., and Will and I went out and about. We went to playgroup and to the mall for lunch. Before we left he asked to potty - sometimes needing to, other times not. At our friend Erin, Claire, and Cullen's house, Will asked to go once and was so proud he did. He also liked that Ms. Erin has M&Ms in the bathroom for rewards! Before we left their house, I suggested he try again and he did. Off the the mall we went. We did a little shopping, ate Chick fil A and just hung out. He never asked to go. I wanted to take the opportunity of being out and in public to get him to go, so we went to the family restroom and I showed him the little potty. He said "Will's potty?". I of course said, "ABSOLUTELY!". So he went and was proud. He was scared of flushing the LOUD potty. But I showed him he shouldn't be and then he did it and giggled. We came home for nap and I was worried he was going to poop while he napped. But he woke up dry, so I let him play until he asked to go. I was downstairs and he was upstairs playing in the playroom with Marta. I heard running and then the toilet flush. I ran upstairs and he was running out of the bathroom screaming "I poopoo'd on the BIG potty!" He was so proud. We went to dinner at MiCocina tonight to celebrate him being a big boy and he held it the entire time. All and all we had a great day. More of me asking him to try because we were out and I didn't want to get stuck with a problem, but he still is asking and telling us he needs to go. He's also so proud when he wakes up from naps dry. Good day. It is exhausting, though. Diapers do seem to be so much more convenient, but I know it was time to move on!

Day 7

Wow! 7 days without changing Will's diapers. He is doing pretty good. I found myself a bit frustrated today at times. We went to a friends to play and he did great. We came home around 12:30 and he watched a TV show. During the show he said he needed to potty and then "Mommy, I'm wet." He had a small accident that went thru underwear and shorts. Still did some on the potty too. Nap time came and he asked to potty twice thru the monitor. I went up and he did go a little both times. Put him back in bed. He talked and then I realized he wouldn't lay or sit down. Went back up and yes, he'd pooped in his underwear. We changed them, cleaned him up, went back to bed. He slept. Woke up dry (yay!!) and then the afternoon was pretty good. He still doesn't love telling me. He prefers that I ask or just tell him to try, I think. But he is getting it and I still remind him constantly to tell me. We are staying home tomorrow for a day in after the last few out and about. I'm hoping it'll refocus him a little. I'm also going to do some sort of poopoo reward to get that to happen. I did read that I should remind him every time he goes potty that he should poopoo, too. So that will start tomorrow. And I'll probably have him sit a bit longer to see if we can help it happen. I think he needs to learn that feeling. Fun times, fun times. I find myself hating potty training a lot and I am tired of thinking about pee and poop constantly. But we've made so much progress and tomorrow marks the end of week 1.

Day 8 - One week ago today we threw away the diapers!

And it has been one long week! Whew. I thought that I obsessed a lot about poop and pee when the kids were newborns. That is nothin' compared to this! We had a great day today. Will had a great day! We stayed home. He asked to poop and did. He asked to potty a lot and did potty a lot. We played outside with friends in the afternoon. Great day. Can't beat it!

Our Little Angel

(picture taken by big brother during one of our days "in" during potty training)

In all the craziness that is potty training, Maddie has received very little face time on the blog. I wanted to make sure she gets her "moment" but more than that I want tell everyone what a little angel she is! She is just the sweetest little girl. She is learning to roll with the punches so much (like they say the 2nd does) and I think the 4 days we spent cooped up, focused on Will's bodily functions taught her how to do that even more!

She is loving playing and rolling everywhere. Today she rolled from one side of Will's room to the other and back. Every so often she'd push up as high as she could to see Will and I sitting in the chair, reading before nap time. She then came downstairs with me and rolled all over my room. She just explores. Touches things, kicks things, and sometimes tastes things (yuck!).

Speaking of putting everything in her mouth - she also woke up with her first TOOTH this morning! Her bottom right front tooth is just peeking through her gums. She's had an ear infection for four weeks and her nose has been pouring snot for 2 days. So all of you that believe the old wives tales on teeth cutting - she has them! We knew they were on their way because she has been chewing so much and she loves for me to rub her gums with my finger, but I didn't expect it to get here that fast! I looked back and she is just a few weeks earlier than Will on his first tooth.

She loves her big brother and he is really good with her. They make each other laugh and she loves for him to push her in the bouncer. I'm afraid she is going to be our child with "no fear". Not sure if that is good or bad that the girl is the one not scared of anything...

Maddie loves to smile and loves for people to talk to her. She has started interacting with the world around her constantly and wants to pick up everything, play with everyone, and just soak it up! I love this stage and I love my baby girl so much! She is such a joy!

Day 4 - 3 Day Potty Training

Day 4 went really well. Will woke up around 7:30am and was dry! 3rd morning in a row. He asked to go potty. I still reminded him a lot but I tried to give him his space some. We didn't leave the house but we did watch a couple TV shows (which we haven't done the last 3 days). He had a few incidents where he asked to potty and his underwear were a tad bit wet, but by the end of the day when he asked they were still dry! YAY! He also pooped this morning. He is still hesitant on going #2 and he asks to potty a couple times before he actually will poop. But he is so proud when he does! He called Daddy and DeeDee to tell them after he did it today and then pretending he was calling other family members to tell them as well. SO cute!

I have realized he pees a lot more in the morning than he does in the afternoon/evening. SO...I think we are there. I have a potty that I plan on keeping in the car but the logistics of leaving the house still bother me a bit. I would just hate for him to have to go and us not be in the position to stop. He is holding it much better and today we talked about holding it until we get to the actual potty. I think we'll be good soon. I hope so! We might run a quick errand tomorrow to test the waters and then go play at a friend's house on Wednesday. Chris and I also told Will we'd take him to dinner to celebrate that he is a big boy! He asked to go to MiCocina, of course! We've trained him well! :)

Thanks for all the encouraging words and advice over the past few days! I'm sure I'll have more questions for many of you as we figure this out! Thanks to M&Ms for being such tasty treats for little ones and thanks to the inventor of the sticker! Both were critical in our process. And thanks to Clorox wipes, because Will thinks it is really great to dump the pee into the potty. So even if we make it there, we end up cleaning up something after all. You pick your battles, right?

Will - we are SO proud of you and love you so much! You are such a BIG BOY now, but you'll always be our little man!

Day 3 - 3 Day Potty Training

Day 3 started out well! Will woke up at 6AM. I heard him cough, so I looked at the monitor and he was standing in his bed. Chris went up and when he walked into his room Will said he needed to potty. Chris took him to the potty and then sat in the chair with him for about 10 minutes. Will then got back in bed and went back to sleep until 9am. Maddie woke up around 8am, so we actually got more sleep than usual in our house! And another DRY night!!!

The rest of the day with quite a bit rougher! One, I think Will is getting a cold. Two, I think he is so tired of us reminding him to tell us if he needs to potty. He started ignoring and testing us almost right when he woke up. Around 10, I put Maddie down for a nap and Chris ran some errands. Things were okay for the hour or so that Chris was gone. Will told me when he needed to go, but every time there was a small amount of pee in his underwear. But he was telling me, so we just changed them and gave rewards. He also pooped, which again was a little scary for him. But he did it and I was so proud. I have some hidden "big" prizes for times we need them and Will got one for that. He needed something, it seemed. He got a Plex Keytar. Only a Yo Gabba Gabba fan can appreciate it. And it is LOUD, so now I'm questioning that purchase. He loves it, though.

After Chris got home I ran to get us some sandwiches for lunch. Will didn't tell him he needed to go, but was dancing around so Chris took him to the potty. He went. But he is supposed to tell us vs. us asking. We don't want him to depend on us to go. He then started his "stand off". He didn't want to tell us and was being quite stubborn about everything. We stayed positive and kept reminding him. After lunch we were playing and he had a FULL BLOWN pee down the legs accident and all over me. Now, for day 3 this was VERY frustrating. But we went with it and reminded him (yet again) that he HAD to tell us. It was time for nap so he napped and woke up DRY from that. He then continued the stand off. I just decided to pump him full of fluid and see what he'd do. Once he kinda 1/2 told me he needed to go, so we went. It was before dinner and he needed to go. It had been 3 hrs. After dinner I took Maddie up for her bath and he told Chris on his own that he needed to go! YAY! What a good way to wrap up the day. I was so relieved. I just didn't understand why he was being such a "toot" and I know he knows what he needs to do. He was just testing us, I guess.

So, Chris bathed him and I put Maddie to bed. I then took a walk by myself. I needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air. It was finally cooler outside and the quiet was nice. When I got back Chris said that they read books before bed and Chris asked him if he needed to tell him anything. He said he needed to potty before bed and he went! YAY again!

I believe that it has clicked with Will. I think he'll have some accidents and we need to work thru the little bit of pee in his underwear. He knows when he needs to go but waits until the last minute to tell me.

I have also realized that he is learning to hold it! The first day he probably peed 16 times because he was used to peeing whenever he wanted to without thinking about it. Today (and yesterday) it was closer to 9 or 10 times. At first I was thinking he just wasn't telling us and holding it but I realize he is learning to control it vs. going when he barely needs to go.

We're going to take a day 4 tomorrow and just give us a day at home. I think that when Chris and I are both here he acts different. When it is just me, Will, and Maddie, he listens more and is more agreeable. So...we'll see how it goes. My only concern at this point is how we will ever leave the house again??? We are all feeling couped up, but I am scared to death to leave right now!

Day 2 - 3 Day Potty Training

Will woke up DRY!! D.R.Y!!! I can't believe it! I woke up around 7:10 this morning and he was still sleeping. I debated to go in and wake him up and then decided to just let him be and we'd see what happened. Well...at 7:45 he started moving, so I went in and got him out of bed. First thing he said was "I have big boy underwear on!". I asked if he needed to potty. He said yes, but we tried and nothing. So, we went downstairs for breakfast and about 20 minutes later he said he needed to go! What a great start to the day!!!

Today was harder than yesterday. I think we had an amazing Day 1 and today was just harder. My friend, Melissa, told me she thought it was harder when her husband was home when she was doing this process with her daughter. I totally agree. Not because Chris isn't helpful - he definitely is a big help. Will just acts different when we're both here. He's tested us a lot more today (than he did me yesterday) and we've had to discipline him more. The discipline is really hard when you are so focused on being encouraging and upbeat about the potty.

The day still went very well. Will had 3 small accidents. And I only call them accidents because he would tell us he needed to go and then by the time we'd get to the potty his underwear were slightly wet. He'd still go in the potty...so still a success. I just need him to tell us before it starts! He seems to not want to tell us anymore or he has to start going in his pants to tell us. He also did not poop today, which stresses me a little. But he has to go eventually, right?

This method focuses on the child telling the adult when they need to go vs. the adult continuously asking if they need to potty. I just keep reminding him "Tell Mommy or Daddy when you need to go potty". Chris and I feel like broken records. But this morning I know Chris and I both asked him if he needed to go at least once and I told him he should try when he woke up. I'm afraid that may make him take a step back because he thinks we'll ask him to go vs. him telling us. So that is what I am focusing on right now. Being very specific on my wording.

We did do some fun things today. We made MORE lemonade, which he loved stirring. We also baked cookies, played outside, walked around our house outside, read books, and danced. Will did not ask to turn the TV on at all! That is still surprising to me because he loves his TV shows.

I feel a bit frustrated because I feel like we've gone backward. But like I said before, we just had such a good day yesterday. And tomorrow is a new day!

Day 1 - 3 Day Potty Training

Will threw away all his diapers this morning! Every one of them! And he was so proud of himself when he did it. We started the 3 Day Potty Training method today. The first step is to throw the diapers away. We've been talking about it for a while and he knew that on Friday we would throw them away.

We started the day a little off - Maddie woke up after Will. She is usually up by 6:30 or 7 and he waits until around 8. Not today. He was awake at 7:15 and she didn't wake up until 8:00. Chris also had to be downtown for work today, so he was home later. That was nice! We both went into Will's room around 7:30am to see him and start his day. We got him out of bed, talked about throwing the diapers away, and had him pick out a pair of big boy underwear. He chose a Yo Gabba Gabba pair, of course! We put them on and then grabbed the trash bag to bag up the diapers. We went around the house to all the spots we keep them - even the diaper bag - and collected them all. Will then put on his crocs (with his t-shirt and underwear) and headed out to the alley. It was a pretty cute site. He threw them in the dumpster, gave Chris and I both a high 5, and screamed "I threw my diapers away!!". So cute. So we now have no diapers Will's size in the house.

We came back in, started having breakfast, and it was time for Chris to leave. He told Daddy bye and he loved him and sat down to have breakfast with me. He had cereal in a new bowl with a straw - which he thought was so cool. I kept reminding Will to tell me if he needed to potty. He started dancing around a little and I asked him if he needed to go and he said "YES!". So we ran to the bathroom and he went on the potty! I was so proud of him! He got some M&Ms and a sticker for his sticker chart. He was proud of himself.

Maddie woke up, so we went and got her out of bed. We came back downstairs and 3 more times he told me he had to potty and we would run there together and he made it! We played, danced to songs, ate some snacks, and made lemonade. He LOVED helping make the lemonade and was so excited to get a glass of it in his Thomas the Train cup with a straw. It was then time for Maddie to nap, so we took her back upstairs and then we headed outside to play. We had several false alarms while we were playing outside. I think he knew he needed to go #2 and couldn't figure it out. He kept saying no "poo poo" and that it hurt. We came in and out several times. Sometimes he would pee, sometimes he would do nothing. He wanted an M&M every time, that is for sure! :) And I gave him some for asking to go and making it to the toilet. We came back inside and Maddie woke up. I was making her a bottle before we headed up to get her and all of a sudden I heard a gasp. He was standing by the kitchen window and just started peeing. I scooped him up and we ran to the potty. He was done by the time we got there, but he sat anyway. We put on some dry underwear and a new t-shirt and talked about telling mommy when he needs to go. We played more and then had lunch. After lunch he told me he needed to go, so we ran in there. He kept saying "No poo poo". And then he'd say, "I tooted". I knew he needed to go #2. So, I said "Will, just sit there and let all the toots come out". Well, that resulted in poop and he was AMAZED! He couldn't believe he'd done it. He got a goodie bag with a Thomas the Train, some mini M&Ms, a sucker, and bouncy ball. He told Maddie he pooped in the potty, too. SO cute! We had a couple more trips to pee before naps and one small accident that just made his underwear damp. After we played more and fed Maddie, we went up for nap time. He tried to pee twice before nap, but nothing happened, so I put him in bed. I told him to call to me if he needed to potty. I got back downstairs, turned the monitor on, and heard, "Mommy, I need to potty". I ran back up and we tried again. Nothing. He then asked if we could rock in the chair for a while. SO...he's already figured out it is a way to delay naps. But I told him no and we went back to his room and he got in bed. He was asleep in 5 minutes.

Will woke up after about 2 hours of napping. I heard him say "big boy underwear" on the monitor and I bolted up the stairs to see if he was wet. HE WASN'T!! Dry as can be. I asked if he needed to potty and he said "downstairs?". So we came downstairs and he went. He made it through the rest of the day with no accidents, told us when he needed to go, and was just great. He just bathed and is now upstairs reading Runaway Bunny with Chris. The 3 day books says to make him go twice before bed. He did before his bath and I'm hoping he will before he goes to bed. If not, we'll wake him up before we go to bed and get him to try. That will help him get through the night, I hope!

I am EXHAUSTED! I think I mentally exhausted myself before we ever started by worrying about it so much. I barely slept last night! I'm amazed at how well Will has done today and I am extremely proud of him! He seems to be getting it and I just hope tomorrow goes as smoothly as today did.

Here is the rundown of the day:

Successes (asked to go and went) 13 times

Accidents 2 times

False Alarms (asked and nothing happened) 7 times

Poop 1 time

The goods - plenty of M&Ms, suckers, stickers and Clorox wipes!

Will with his sticker chart

I love this picture - this was his mood a lot of the day - happy and silly!

I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how the night went!