More & more changes.
I am not one to usually embrace change. Which is why instead of being really excited about the impending summer I've sort of been dreading it a little. We've had a great little routine going over the last nine months with Pee Wee School and BSF and then bam! 2 weeks ago our calendar emptied and we officially have nowhere to be for 3 months. I am planning some fun adventures for us to do, but not needing to be out of the house by 8:30am is really playing with my head because it seems like on days where we don't need to be out of the house by a certain time are days where it takes us 5 hours to actually leave the house. If only I had the self-discipline to get myself up at 6:30am when I don't have to...that half hour of alone time before the kids get up is sure going to be missed. I would so kill to be a natural morning person!
So what does one who doesn't so much like change do on the first week of our completely freed up schedule? Well, besides turning the house upside down organizing closets, packing up baby gear, and working on some projects around the house, I also decided to potty train a toddler and wean a baby. I am quite the overachiever!
Potty training has been going well...sometimes. He's gone on the potty a lot over the last 6 months or so but I haven't pushed it and hadn't attempted to take away diapers because I wanted to wait until our schedule cleared up. If it were just Harrison I wouldn't have minded but with 2 little ones the thought of dealing with potty breaks and accidents while out in public by myself was really overwhelming. The biggest issue we're having is getting him to tell us when he needs to go. He can go on command but if he's busy playing he won't stop and it doesn't bother him in the least to go in his underwear. Anybody have any good tips? He does well going the naked route but that's not always practical. This is my first potty training experience and for some reason I thought we would be good to go after 2 days...obviously I was a little naive, yikes!
Another issue that's complicated things is he also learned how to climb out of his crib and so we had to turn it into a toddler bed (read: TOO. MUCH. FREEDOM). He uses the "Mommy, I need to go potty" excuse a million times to get out of bed and stall during naps. And of course when I finally put my foot down he had an accident and yelled for me to come clean him up. Then he learned that if he pees in his bed it means 5 minutes out of his bed while I'm changing sheets, clothes, etc., so then he started peeing in his bed on purpose. He did it 3 times in 15 minutes at one point and I'm sure you can imagine how happy that made me. So now he is sleeping in pull ups during naps and bedtime which I was hoping to avoid, but thanks to a power struggle they seem to be necessary for now. Like I said...anybody have any good tips??
And I have to share a story about weaning Harper. I've been so sentimental about it and honestly, it's a good thing that Time cover of the breast-feeding 3-year old came out when it did because I needed all the motivation to wean her as I could get. Ha! She didn't want to wean which made it all the more difficult, so I told myself that Monday was going to be the day. Well, Monday was also the first day of potty training (I clearly didn't think this through). I took Harrison to use the restroom and got him situated with his tv show and settled in with Harper for our last nursing session. In my mind I would rock her, soak her up, and probably shed a few tears that our time of bonding was coming to an end. Well, we did rock for a few minutes but I didn't get to the shedding tears part because we were interrupted by a naked little 2-year old shouting, "MOMMY, I NEED TO GO POOP!" Except that he had already pooped and his hands were covered in it. So I jumped up to get him on the potty and locate the missing turd, which I found and picked up with my one free hand...all with a baby attached to me because she was not about to let go. I had to laugh...God really does have the best sense of humor. While I never thought I'd have poop from one kid in one hand and a desperate baby attached to my boob in my other arm, in that moment I was reminded that there's no room for sadness over time gone by when I have so many new and exciting adventures in my horizon. (And THAT'S how you know you're a mom when you consider an experience like this an exciting adventure, ha ha!)
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| Growing up! |
So what does one who doesn't so much like change do on the first week of our completely freed up schedule? Well, besides turning the house upside down organizing closets, packing up baby gear, and working on some projects around the house, I also decided to potty train a toddler and wean a baby. I am quite the overachiever!
Potty training has been going well...sometimes. He's gone on the potty a lot over the last 6 months or so but I haven't pushed it and hadn't attempted to take away diapers because I wanted to wait until our schedule cleared up. If it were just Harrison I wouldn't have minded but with 2 little ones the thought of dealing with potty breaks and accidents while out in public by myself was really overwhelming. The biggest issue we're having is getting him to tell us when he needs to go. He can go on command but if he's busy playing he won't stop and it doesn't bother him in the least to go in his underwear. Anybody have any good tips? He does well going the naked route but that's not always practical. This is my first potty training experience and for some reason I thought we would be good to go after 2 days...obviously I was a little naive, yikes!
Another issue that's complicated things is he also learned how to climb out of his crib and so we had to turn it into a toddler bed (read: TOO. MUCH. FREEDOM). He uses the "Mommy, I need to go potty" excuse a million times to get out of bed and stall during naps. And of course when I finally put my foot down he had an accident and yelled for me to come clean him up. Then he learned that if he pees in his bed it means 5 minutes out of his bed while I'm changing sheets, clothes, etc., so then he started peeing in his bed on purpose. He did it 3 times in 15 minutes at one point and I'm sure you can imagine how happy that made me. So now he is sleeping in pull ups during naps and bedtime which I was hoping to avoid, but thanks to a power struggle they seem to be necessary for now. Like I said...anybody have any good tips??
And I have to share a story about weaning Harper. I've been so sentimental about it and honestly, it's a good thing that Time cover of the breast-feeding 3-year old came out when it did because I needed all the motivation to wean her as I could get. Ha! She didn't want to wean which made it all the more difficult, so I told myself that Monday was going to be the day. Well, Monday was also the first day of potty training (I clearly didn't think this through). I took Harrison to use the restroom and got him situated with his tv show and settled in with Harper for our last nursing session. In my mind I would rock her, soak her up, and probably shed a few tears that our time of bonding was coming to an end. Well, we did rock for a few minutes but I didn't get to the shedding tears part because we were interrupted by a naked little 2-year old shouting, "MOMMY, I NEED TO GO POOP!" Except that he had already pooped and his hands were covered in it. So I jumped up to get him on the potty and locate the missing turd, which I found and picked up with my one free hand...all with a baby attached to me because she was not about to let go. I had to laugh...God really does have the best sense of humor. While I never thought I'd have poop from one kid in one hand and a desperate baby attached to my boob in my other arm, in that moment I was reminded that there's no room for sadness over time gone by when I have so many new and exciting adventures in my horizon. (And THAT'S how you know you're a mom when you consider an experience like this an exciting adventure, ha ha!)
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