Potty Training, "What's That?"

Daniel is only 33 months, but we went ahead and started Daniel potty training. I've read all about (and heard from many) how boys tend to train later than girls and they are usually at least 3 years old or older before it "clicks". We also have the added concerns/trials with Daniel medical history (urinary reflux, enlarged bladder, etc. which I talked about here).

However, at out last appointment with the urologist, I specifically asked them whether or not we should even bother with potty training or if we should hold off. He told me to go ahead and move forward instead of holding him back and hopefully everything will be fine and we'll be headed in the right direction.

What prompted us to do this was the fact that Daniel's daycare sent a letter home to us a couple of weeks ago stating that Daniel had shown enough interest in the potty, even to the point of ripping off his diaper and running to the potty, that they wanted to take him and 4 or 5 other little boys about the same age and begin potty training them. First of all, Daniel ripping off his diaper and running to the potty made me laugh. At home I have to beg him to go before bath time, depending on his mood, but I assure you he has never, ever just taken off for the potty before! Second of all the twist is that they would jump right from diapers to underwear, no pull-ups in between and we were to also keep it up at home.

After considering this fully, especially given Daniel's medical condition and the fact that he is on a bladder relaxer, and going back and forth in my head and out loud to anyone in the family who would listen, I kept coming back to what the doctor said. Move forward, not backward.

So, we did it. I started Daniel in pull ups while he was home with pneumonia. We weren't under any pressure, we couldn't go anywhere, and I just wanted to introduce it, not force him to go, not be mad if he didn't go, and reward him when he did. We are now completely in underwear, except for long car rides or out shopping, although I keep close tabs on the pull ups and we run to bathrooms constantly. The verdict:

It's sortof working.

What I mean by sortof is this: If I take Daniel to the potty every 30 to 45 minutes, he goes, he stays dry and we're all happy. If I don't and Daniel's busy, he wets his underwear and pants and everything in between and keeps on playing. He could care less about being wet. So even though we've made progress the last week and barely used any diapers or pull ups (YAY!) I'm constantly in the bathroom with him. The other problem is that I don't really think he gets it. He only doesn't wet himself because we go so often. So, I'm going to slowly take the 30 minutes and turn them into 45 minutes and then 1 hour to see if he'll start notifying me when he needs to go potty. I'm beginning to believe he just isn't ready yet, but after all the work we've done, and money saved due to not buying diapers/pull ups, we might as well keep it up. And in case you're wondering we have M&Ms as a reward and stickers with a chart. While he enjoys those, so far it's not enough to warrant him stopping play and announcing the need to go to the bathroom!

Oh and he doesn't want to use his little potty anymore and he doesn't want to use the ring from the little potty seat on the big potty so now we use only the big potty and he sits all the way at the back and goes with his legs straight forward over the front. Too funny!

As for the "What's that?" (I bet you thought it had to do with the potty training, but it doesn't)!! It's just something that Daniel constantly says now. Any sound he hears, he stops, looks at me and says "What's that?" Any thing he isn't familiar with, he stops, looks at me and says "What's that?" It's very amusing and the way he says it is rather cute!

Last night he grabbed the sugar bag on the counter while I was unloading groceries and pulled it to him and hugged it. Then he looked at me and said word for word, "Mommy, I looooooveeee sugar." "I just bet you do," was all I could say while laughing.

Lately I'm also getting a lot of "Mommy, hold you" and he reaches for me. He's been putting his arm around me and kissing the top of my head when we sit together on the couch to read and treating me like I'm his baby now. It's so sweet. He's been having me carry him into day care each morning and last week he cried when I left one day. It's interesting the phases he goes through.

His latest favorite toy is a pillow. He takes pillow cases off all the pillows in the house and then wanders around carrying at least one, if not more, pillows. He then sits on it, lays of it, puts it on top of his riding toys, he even takes it to the potty with him. Just another thing I find amusing!

I'll leave you with my favorite potty training picture of Daniel – you know the one us moms plan to blow up at their wedding – well, here it is, when he used to use the little potty!! He's not really asleep, but it was entertaining while we waited!

Chat 'n Play at the Library and Progress Report (long)

Today we went to our first Chat 'n Play at the local library. This is something, along with Mother Goose Time, that I have been wanting to do for some time. The programs just started back up since school is back in session so today was our first day. I wasn't sure what to expect so off we went. I was pleasantly surprised by the room we had to play in. There was a mat with lots of soft shapes to build things with, a tunnel to crawl through, cushions to tumble on, books and a rocking chair, a trampoline with handles for the child to hold on to, blankets with toys, tables set up with puzzles, ink stamps and paper, and my personal favorite, shaving cream. What a great idea. We smeared shaving cream on the table and used popsicle sticks to draw in it, and of course our fingers too!! It was loads of fun. Daniel played with several children and I got to talk to several moms and just be a regular mom myself. With me being the fabulous mother I am, I forgot my camera so at the end of the post you'll just have to settle for pictures from the other day!!

As for progress I thought I would try to list out some areas of improvement.

Attachment:

Just today at the library Daniel fell backwards on the mats where we were all sitting and right into another mother's lap. She instantly put her arms around him and swung him side to side being playful and he started arching his back pointing at me going, "Mama, Mama". They all thought it was sweet (and so did I), but also secretly I was cheering him for only wanting me. He also backs away from other women now when they want to hold him unless he knows them (family).

Speech:

"Fantastic" is his new favorite word and mine. He is starting to initiate conversation now for basic needs and to tell me something he sees. He still doesn't understand the concept of answering a question (just repeats the last few words I say), but we are working on it. Just today I pointed at something and said "How about that?" to which he repeated the same words perfectly! We also taught him how to ask for help with something by saying "help, please" instead of crying when he wanted something. Now he'll run around the house saying "help, please, help please." It's pretty amusing!! We are still working on colors and numbers but we think he's come a long way.

Potty Training:

We've just started and so far we are not getting anywhere very fast. He will go when we put him on the potty to which he gets an M&M, a sticker to put on his chart and he gets to (are you ready for this) flush the toilet. Flushing the toilet is great incentive. Of course the M&M seems more important because when I ask him if needs to go potty he instantly says "M&M?" Wish us luck!

Sleeping:

Still a good sleeper although we're figuring a few things out. The biggest thing is he hates to be woken up. Talk about not a morning person!! I only wake him up on the days I have to go to work and even then I try to bang around and make alot of noise so he'll technically wake up on his own. He likes to wake up and play then he's ready to get up. If he isn't totally awake and done playing when I go in there, he pretty much gives me the evil eye and crys when I take him out of the crib. I guess it's too bad for me, who is a total morning person!! His naps are getting shorter but still decent. I usually have a couple of hours to get a few things done in the afternoon.

Eating:

Hmmmm....this goes back and forth. Since trying the tea with milk I've been able to transition him to just milk at mealtime and he drinks it!! Although he drinks it slower than juice it still goes down and he tends to eat a little better. We still have days where he decides he doesn't like anything. We're also having days where he just wants to play with his food. I don't mind a bit of playing but lately he's been banging his fork alot and squishing his food up. Yuck!! Table manners are cinsidered an ongoing learning process and of course he is only 2!

So there it is! The update I've been wanting to post for a while but just had not gotten to it!
The pictures below are of Daniel on our new play toy that I picked up a yard sale for a whopping $10.00~~I was so excited to find it and couldn't believe the price when I saw it. I even had to go home, get Troys truck, go back load it up, tie it down, get it home, spray it off and then I put it back together again all by myself!! I don't think before becoming amom that I could have done all that!! It was worth all $10.00 and then some!!

Right or Left?

Is Daniel right or left handed?? Well, we just can’t decide. He tends to eat with his right hand, but we wonder if he was taught that because when he scribbles or works with toy, he tends to use his left hand. He also seems to have more strength in his left hand. I suppose he could be ambidextrous, but I really think he will begin to use only one hand after a while. For now it’s interesting to see which hand he uses more.

He is now pretty consistently saying the words “up”, “juice”, “knock, knock”, “rock”, “light”, "scoop, dump" (Water play) and “boo boo” on his own. He also says "Ruby" one of our dogs name. Pretty much all the animals are Ruby now, but he does know the difference if I tell him to give Elka a pat, or Jerry, or whichever one. He also loves to feed the dogs. I make the bowls and he gives each dog their bowl. It's too cute!! With help he will say “please”, and “thank you”. Last night something must have clicked with him because at dinner when he finished his plate he pushed it to me and very clearly said "all gone" and then he repeated everything I said including “Woo Hoo!” “Uh Oh”, and when I said “I love you” he responded with “la lu”. I have it on video camera and if I ever figure out how to get it on the computer I’ll share!!

We find that he understands tremendously more. He knows where to head when I ask if he wants a bath or to brush his teeth. He even does the teeth brushing motion with his hands that I used to do when we first started. He understands all the basics like stand up and sit down so I no longer use the Russian versions at all. He also knows when I ask him if he wants to put on shoes to go find his shoes and then he pines a way by the front or back door waiting for Mama to be ready.

He will say “cheese” when I pull out the camera but inevitably will say it when the camera isn’t quite ready. He also knows how to fake snore sleeping and he is such a comedian with it. I took him into his room to rock for nap and as soon as he got comfortable on my shoulder he started fake snoring and I just had to laugh. He also plays a game with Papa that Papa isn’t to thrilled with. I got to listen to it over the monitor last night and it cracked me up. He pats Troy when Troy rocks him at night and says “Mama” and Troy counters with “Papa” (Daniel smiles when he does this) and this went on about 6 times when finally I hear Troy say “I’m not your Mama boy!!” followed by a giggle and then Daniel’s out. It is so funny!

We go for our first set of vaccines on Thursday – Yuck!! I have to go by myself and am not looking forward to it. We are only doing two shots at a time though. Everyone thinks I’m crazy but I really don’t want to overload his little system with 4 or 5 shots in one day. It means more doctor visits, but hopefully less reaction!!

Finally on Saturday night Troy gave Daniel his bath while I changed sheets in our bedroom. I heard him get Daniel out of the tub and then “Go find Mama.” This is what greeted me in the bedroom. It was so cute I had to run for the camera!!

Here’s a few more pictures from our week.







Lastly – I’ll be watching Becky and Keith’s blog all day to hear about their referral!! I can’t be happier for them to finally be in Russia!!