Potty Training

Oh, the joys. If only we were born with this ability! We've taken a very laid back approach to potty training so far. With John being strong willed (and me being just as bad), I don't want to get into a power struggle. I know it's a battle I'd lose. So really the only reason we started was because he was waking up and his clothes were soaking wet. One morning sometime between 3 and 5 he woke up soaked from his shoulders to his toes...shivering. The only think I could think of was to encourage him to go before he went to bed. This has turned into a couple of times a day, sometimes he's excited to go and other times he refuses, which is fine. We started giving M&Ms as incentive, but that didn't really change anything, although it's fun for us to go and have him tell us we can get a piece of candy! This weekend we bought big boy underwear with Bob the Builder on it. He's been very excited. We've let him wear it a few times when we were at home, nothing going on, and watching like a hawk. He is so darn cute in them! I also thought he might like stickers, so I bought some of those this weekend. Well, this plan has just backfired on me. He certainly enjoys the stickers. He just went 11 times in a row. And he actually went every time! It was a revolving door with not even a few seconds pause between going, flushing, washing hands, getting a sticker, and going again. I finally got worn out and had to put a diaper on him and put him down for a nap! We'll see if this works the miracle of getting him to poop on the potty. We have some special spiderman stickers reserved for that special occasion. What a hoot!

Hide and Seek

I keep hoping that early motor development equals athletic scholarship. If so, we're in luck. Eve is now quite comfortable crawling wherever she pleases, so we have to look around to find what room she's ventured into. Last week she found her way to the kitchen, pulled up onto the cross pieces at the bottom of her favorite chair, found a marker, took the top off, and was coloring on the chair. We're in for trouble. I also caught her putting her knee up onto a step. She's been pulling up to standing at the bottom of the stairs, but has started to realize that she may be able to get her knee up onto one. I think this week she'll figure that out, then we're in big trouble. She's pulled her knees up onto a few things that are almost as tall as a step. She's also frequently pulling up to standing in her crib and on the side of the couch. I suppose it's time to fix the cabinet locks and gate that have broken.

While typing this John was playing with his scissors. They're kid scissors, so I'm not too worried. Thank goodness he was wearing the shirt he already cut a hole in. It now looks like Freddie Crougar attacked his shirt. I really feel like we're going to end up shaving his head soon because of a bad "hair cut". Hopefully it's his and not Eve's!

Earlier this morning he did the sweetest thing. Eve has been fussing in her room trying to take a nap. He went upstairs to try to go pee pee on the potty (no luck, although we've bought Bob the Builder big boy underwear and cool stickers as incentive). Anyway, he went into her room, gave her a kiss, and said night night Baby Eve, then came out and shut her door. He really does love her. It's so sweet. Unfortunately most times when he's trying to be sweet and hold her, she cries. I know she'll grow to love him, too...once the fear factor is gone.

What happened to your face?

I just took this picture. I was playing around on the computer while John was coloring and playing with scissors (what a great Mom I am!). He came to see me at the computer. I looked at his face with his big grin and asked "What happened to your face". His response with a big grin "I colored it". He has really enjoyed trying scissors. Two days ago he tried for the first time. After an hour and a half I had to set a timer to stop in 15 minutes so he could eat lunch and take a nap...it was already 1:00! He absolutely LOVES it. He's been cutting with two hands (good if you ask me because at least he can't cut his hand), but he's starting to try to use one.

Eve went to the doctor yesterday to ask the doctor about her eating. I've made the appointment twice because I wasn't sure if it was worth going in. She's actually started to get a bit better over the past week. We went anyway, and he's going to refer us to a speech therapist. He said if there is a tongue issue it could affect her speech later, and it would be easier to work on and fix now. Of course, she ate more than half a pancake this morning, so clearly it's not so bad. Still, we'll have it checked out just to be proactive rather than reactive.

I better go and see what's been cut! I learned my lesson the first day to get all the books out of the vicinity!

The more to bite you with!

Eve's second tooth finally emerged today. I've been feeling it just under the gum for a while now, but it's out...and it's SHARP! Bottom left.

We have a few funny things that John has said. It's tough to narrow them down. He says all sorts of crazy things. Anyway, the first needs a background story. We took a class at church on raising toddlers. One thing they talked about was for dads. They said sometimes discipline gets to the point where Dad has no choice but to step in and let them know that there is a bigger lion in the house...and he will eat you. Sometimes we joke at home that the lion needs to come out...other similar jokes. John was talking back to Buck the other night. We weren't being too strict because he was really tired and slap happy, so we were more joking. Anyway, he said something, to which Buck responded "John, I'm the lion", to which John responded "I'm the tiger...ROAR". I don't think he intended for it to be such a smarty comment, but it sure was funny.

Also, yesterday I was changing John's poopy diaper while Buck was in the room. John all of a sudden said "Mama, don't eat it!". Buck immediately asked what we've been doing at home while he's away. I took his advice. Heck, he's tried it before. He should know. I really don't know why he felt the need to say that. The only thing I can think of is that recently there was a really nasty diaper and the dogs were too close and I was telling them to get away. Who knows, but good advice on any count if you ask me.

The rest of the pictures

I couldn't get all the pictures onto the previous post for some reason, so the explanation is on the previous post.

Naptime

Today we looked at the first preschool! I'm not ready for this! Eve has been napping, so John and I have been busy. This morning John asked where his party hat was. I can only guess he was thinking about Bella's birthday (it was yesterday). Anyway, we don't have party hats, so I told him we could make some. I told him it was a good idea. I think I may have already mentioned this, but he now like to say "I have an idea", so I like to tell him when he has a good idea. Anyway, with Eve asleep, we got busy making party hats, then John enjoyed the timer on the camera, so we continued with the photo shoot. I tried to make funny faces, but almost always said CHEESE right before it clicked. I'm also downloading Eve's 7 month picture (taken a while ago...took me a while to post) and a picture of Buck and John cooking fish. He had a blast!

Escapee!

Eve is really developing her motor skills a little too quickly for my liking! She's just hit a "growth spurt" in that area. She's crawling around with a purpose. She ventured into the kitchen yesterday. After I picked her up, I decided it was definitely time to vacuum and mop the floors! She's also been pulling up on things quite a bit. She pulled up onto the first step of the bonus room today (feet still on the floor, thank goodness). Training to be an escape artist already. I also caught her going from crawling to sitting today. Lots and lots of things going on with her. She's been playing with a cookie jar for a long time and really enjoying it. She's having trouble eating, but seems to know exactly where to put the cookies. I called the doctor (because he said to) about her still not eating solids, and we're going to have to make an appointment to "discuss her eating dilemma". From day one she's always been sticking her tongue out, and I think that may be the problem. I'm hoping she's not just that picky. If she won't eat apples and sweet potatoes, she's even worse than me! She's doing the eagle screech a lot, and it's quite amusing. John went through the same phase, and I remember it lasting a long time.

I started looking for a pre-school for John. Aaaaaaahhhhhhh! I'm not ready for that! I think he'll do well with the structure and with getting out of the house on a regular basis and seeing other people. I really think he got stir crazy over the holidays.

John and Eve have both been loving the play room.

John has really started to enjoy coloring. Before he'd scribble a few lines and be bored with it, but now he's wanting to color all the time. He's doing really well with his colors, although he almost always misses red and green. It's funny. He'll often change the subject if you ask about those colors. He's really good with yellow, blue, and orange, and often gets pink and purple, too. He can spell his name. It sounds like "jo" "h" "n", but if you tell him to slow down, he'll say j and o individually. He also knows a few shapes.

I sure wish I had the same learning curve!