Potty Training the O-Man, Day 3

Well, it was day three of the 3-day method.  Improvement was seen all around.

Oscar woke up this morning and everything was damp and smelled faintly (to me, since I don't really have a keep sense of smell), so I'm assuming that he peed the bed and kept sleeping...again.  I wonder if this will become a problem?

Overall, the day went well.  He put on fresh (Elmo) underwear at 6:45 a.m. and had those bad boys on until he was playing in the sprinkler and had to change them early evening.  One funny during the day is that Elsie was on the potty when Oscar had to go, and he stripped off his underwear to wait in line.  Evidently he couldn't hold it.  Elsie, sitting up on the toilet, swinging her legs like she had all the time in the world, yelled to me, "MOOOMMMYYY!  OSCAR JUST POOPED ON THE FLOOR!"  And so he did.  Because there was a line, and he had to go.  Oh, the turmoil of being the second or later potty-using child in your family.  Seriously, I can remember a specific time when I was little and we lived in the house on Zur Weide (Zwei) in Dansenberg, West Germany--so first, second, or third grade--where I really had to go, but one of my sisters was on the potty and I ended up peeing my pants while waiting in line in the bathroom.  But, I digress.

Sometime in the evening, Oscar told me he had to use the potty, and it turns out that his underpants were wet.

So, if we count underwear for today:
1.  Elmo -- in use until after sprinkler
2.  Mickey #1 -- put on after bath, in use until early evening
3.  Mickey #2 -- still on him as he sleeps.

One accident.  Three pairs of underwear, but only two out of necessity.

I call that success.  Don't you?

I'm a little bit nervous about taking him to daycare tomorrow.  I know he'll do fine, but still--I'm nervous. There won't be chocolate.  I'll have to take several changes of clothes.  Elsie didn't have any accidents on day three, so maybe that's why I'm not as confident.

Also, just for anyone else who is wondering about potty-training boys, we've decided to start Oscar with sitting to pee until he can recognize what the difference between his urge to pee or poo is.  Then we'll work on the standing up.  He's so short, and to precariously perch on the edge of the potty is petrifying to this proud parent.  :)

Cheers.

(I mean seriously.  I crack myself up.  A post about potty-training the ends with a [pee] alliteration?!?)

Go here for follow-up post.

Potty Training the O-Man, Day 2

Day two was much better than day one.

I believe that we only went through four pairs of underwear, unlike the 15 or so that we used on day one.  So, progress?

It's vacation, so of course Oscar woke up before me.  Since he had peed in the middle of the night and I had already changed him, he woke up dry.  But, about fifteen minutes later, 7:00, I came downstairs to him sitting around in poopy underwear.  And yes, there was squishy poop in places in my house that I would rather not have it. (We cleaned it up.)  So, we disposed of the poop in the potty (washed that underwear in a load by itself in a not-so-earth-friendly manner), and Oscar got into the bathtub.  It was the only way to get it all.  Toddler wipes be darned.

9:00 a.m. -- Pee in his underwear.
10:30 a.m. -- Pee in the potty!
12:00 p.m. -- Pee in the potty!
1:45 p.m. -- Pee in the potty!

After that, Oscar took a nap and woke up before me.  So we had to change his underwear when I woke up.    Shortly after, we had to change his underwear again, but I'm pretty sure it was because he dumped a whole ton of water on it while playing outside since it was wet all over.  Then, at one point, the boy was running stark naked in the backyard.  Upon closer inspection, so was his sister.  But, he stopped to use the potty.

He was good about using the potty.  He is definitely motivated by chocolate.  He used the potty twice before bedtime.

I checked on him around 11 p.m. and he was dry.

A good day, indeed.

Cheers.


Continue to Day 3 here.

Potty Training the O-Man, Day 1

So, I have a 3-day weekend, and we decided that it would be a good time to do the 3-day potty training boot camp with Oscar.  First, let me just tell you that boys are different.  And O is different than E was.

First of all, E had to pee every 2 hours or so.  With O, it's been every 45-minutes.  That caught me off-guard.  One, because I'm not as focused as I should be on him, and two because I had no idea.  I probably should have been changing his diaper more often.   So, Day 1 looked like this:

7:30 a.m. -- Took off final diaper and put on BIG BOY UNDERWEAR!!  Went pee on the potty (he's been doing this in the mornings when he wakes up and at night before we go to bed).

9:00 a.m. -- Pee in underpants, but when it was discovered, he was able to pee some more on the potty.

9:45 a.m. -- Started to pee in underpants, but was whisked away to the potty, where he finished.

10:30 a.m. -- Pee in underpants.

12:10 p.m. -- Pee in underpants, but was able to finish on the potty.

1:00 p.m. -- Pee in underwear.

1:15 p.m - NAP

3:00 p.m. -- Woke up dry from nap; a little pee on the potty.

3:45 p.m. -- Pee in underwear while playing with the hose outside, found out what happens when exposed to the sound of running water.

4:40 p.m. -- Pee in the potty!  Not a lot, but some.

4:45 p.m. -- Pee in underwear while washing hands. Again found out the consequences of running water.

5:30 p.m. -- Pee on the floor in bathroom on his way to the potty.

6:00 p.m. -- He announced that he had both pee and poop in his underwear.  Flushed the poop and finished peeing on he potty.

8:00 p.m. -- Bedtime -- Pee on the potty.

Midnight -- Went in to check on him and he had wet the bed, but didn't wake up crying.  He just rolled over to a dry spot.  When I woke him up just enough to put on dry clothes and sheets, he asked me if he could put on a diaper.

So, lots of pee.  Day 1 down.  Lots of work to go.

Cheers.

Go here for Day 2.

Four fast years

She's four.  I'm certain now that I'm joining the ranks of parents everywhere in my disbelief of how fast time flies.  Here's a picture history of our girl.

On May 7, 2009, Elsie made her debut.  She was adored by all.

Our new little family on Elsie's birthday

At a year old, we made a transition to a new house, and Elsie was about to be a big sister!  She had no idea what she was in for.

Housewarming and 1st birthday party--Wizard of Oz

At two, she started her year with a full-on tantrum, upstairs in her crib screaming while all the party guests arrived.  That was the precedent for the whole year.

Family of four on Elsie's 2nd birthday--Cowgirl

At three, we began to see sparks of reason, but this little one started to develop passion and perseverance in everything she did, particularly when it came to being upset about, well..anything.

Elsie's 3rd birthday--Charlie Brown

And, at four, she's come to the other side of reason.  Every now and again she'll have a really good tantrum, but she mostly is able to be reasoned with.  She can stop, back up, and try again.  Usually asking nicely.  On the second try.  She's smart and imaginative, and she still has that perseverance that will hopefully turn into a work ethic.  We're still working on that.  She's fiercely independent and extremely friendly--she doesn't know a stranger, and wants to know everyone's names--shoppers at the grocery store, children at the park, people walking in the neighborhood, people sitting at the next table in the restaurant--and she's not afraid to ask.  She loves to change her clothes and would do it a million times if it were humanly possible, and she loves all things girly.  She's also very imaginative.  She loves stories--she loves to tell them and loves to hear them.  She eats everything and is always hungry.  She's growing like a weed.  At the beginning of the year she had to jump to flip the light switch, now she just stands on her tiptoes.  She and Oscar do much more laughing together than fighting, and they race to buckle themselves into their car seats.  Elsie loves to  be outside, and she'll tell you that she loves to play in the rain.

Elsie's 4th birthday--Strawberry Shortcake

Party at Miss Kay's house

Strawberry Girl

She's our girl.  Pride and joy.  Happy 4th birthday, Elsie. 

Cheers.

May 2013 Debt Update

May 2013
Third 10K Chunk, started 1/1/13 Fundraising Thermometer

Slowly but surely, we are making progress.  Not as quickly as we would like, but the longer it goes, the harder it gets.  I have quite a few gigs lined up this summer that are for pay, so this "extra" income will help a little bit.  We'll see.

Opelika's public preschool is by lottery, and since the K-2 school for which we are zoned does not house a program, we are eligible for the lottery in both the other K-2 schools.  Unfortunately, E did not win either lottery.  Doubly unlucky, I guess.  But also a blessing.  So, yes, we are out the money for daycare for another year (which would have been a huge chunk toward loans), but, on the flip side, E & O will get to be together for another year to strengthen their sibling bond, and in putting off the formalized school experience, E & O will maximize their learning by play and development of their imaginations.  All is well.

Cheers.