A Little Potty Training Update

Daniel made it clear to me after the first 3 days that he was going to be potty resistant so I put him back in diapers and will give him another go at it in another 6 months or so.  He still goes and sits next to his sister on his potty (in his diaper) to get an M&M reward.  He goes running to admire her productions and tells me about them as though they were his.  He’s just not quite ready to actually do anything on the potty.

Gloria, on the other hand, seems to be taking to it well.  She hangs out at home in just a dress so that she has the air on her bum and no pants to worry with.  She goes whenever the urge strikes her, or whenever an M&M sounds good at the moment.  Several times over the past few days I’ve heard, “Mommy, you gotta flush my pee pee so I can make some more.”  For the most part, she’s the one deciding when to go.  I do suggest that she go in certain instances (before leaving the house, right after she wakes up) but I do NOT make it a requirement.  Most of the time she tries anyway, but she’ll tell me if she’s not interested. 

I load her up in the car every morning and set her in her car seat on a towel to take Thomas to school.  She stays as she is in the house (nothing on the bum) for the short car ride.  If we go out anywhere she’d actually have to get out of the car, she goes in loose pants and nothing underneath.  I think she’s only had 3 pee accidents since the first day of potty training and these were all while she was wearing pants.

We’ve been up to church to set up and copy bulletins in loose pants with no incident.  We even managed to make it all the way through Sunday school in loose pants with no issue.  Granted, she did have a little accident in the first pair of pants before we left the house, but she did stop herself and managed to finish in the little potty. 

Speaking of potties, the princess will only go in her own, so it goes with her wherever she goes.  Once she used Daniel’s potty because her potty was in the same room with her sleeping aunt and uncle and she didn’t want to make her cousin cry by waking her up.

She’s doing pretty well with number two as well.  She had one accident with that on the floor in the kitchen while no one was looking.  She was very vocal about it and shooed her little brother and her aunt’s dog away from it until her mother managed to clean it up.  She even redeemed herself that same night by sitting on the potty before bed and producing something a grown man would be proud of!

The thing that has surprised me the most about this experience is that Gloria has woken up twice with a dry diaper and announced that she wanted to use the potty.  She has yet to have a nap accident.

I think I’m just lucky.

Potty Training Boot Camp: Day 3

Gloria had a wildly successful day.  She had no accidents at all and took her nap without a diaper.  She still protested a bit at the first morning removal of her diaper, but it gets to be less each day.  She even pooped in it again!

Daniel, on the other hand, has pretty much told me that he does not want to go on the potty.  He is ok being without a diaper and will go hang out on the potty with his sister, but does not want to actually use it.  He is going through a stubborn streak right now, so it does not really surprise me.  At least he is learning his lower case “m” from all of the M&M’s that have been doled out in honor of his sister’s accomplishments.

I think Gloria might make it through church this Sunday!  Daniel will be in diapers unless he suddenly changes his tune.

For those of you interested, here is a link to the basic “method” that I am using.  Don’t let the title fool you though.  Potty training isn’t a 3 day thing, but the initial learning process is.  I think of it like learning to walk.  Babies take a few steps here and there before they start to seriously toddle around and once they are toddling, they then still have plenty of spills as they learn how to really use their legs. 

And, yes, they will be going around without pants on at home for a good month.  The more success they have with a bare bottom translates into less accidents with pants.  I would rather look at their behinds than clean up mess anyway!

And now, for a couple of “action” shots! 

Notice the strategically placed dress and book.  No, I’m not worried about the book as Daniel just doesn’t want to go on the potty quite yet.

Yes, that is chocolate on Gloria’s face!

Potty Training Boot Camp: Day 2

Day 2 started out in much the same way that day one began.  Gloria protested at the lack of bum coverage but got over it much more quickly this time. 

This time, however, we had to leave the house long enough to drop off Thomas and our carpool friend at school.  It’s about a 30 minute round trip including the waiting.  I suggested to Gloria that she go potty right before we left.  She refused.  I let it go.  She asked to sit on a towel in the car and I happily obliged.  Right after Thomas got out, she unhappily announced, “Mommy!  I made pee pee on my towel."  It was her only accident of the day!  In case anyone is wondering, the restraints in the car seat protected her modesty and no one knew she was hanging out in a dress with nothing under it.

Since Daniel sprinkles I put him in a diaper for the car ride. 

Once we got home, I made up some blue Kool Aid and waited for the fun to begin. ( It turns out that the orange yesterday was lacking in sugar.  Yuck!)  This time, Daniel didn’t sprinkle.  He power washed!  I pretty much heard it before I saw it every time.  He was fascinated with watching the stream come out.  One time he was standing next to an air vent and that’s right where it went.  Thankfully there is no strange smell when the air comes on!

Tinkle, tinkle in the pot.
Boy, my kids can pee a lot.
In the potty Gloria went.
Daniel just peed in the vent!
Tinkle, tinkle in the pot.
Boy, my kids can pee a lot.

Somehow I managed to catch him in the midst of a bowel movement, not once, but twice, and got him on the potty in time for him to finish.  We made a big deal about that and had a flushing ceremony.  He seemed a good bit unhappy during the process but proud of himself afterwards and talked about it a good bit.  I didn’t manage to get him to actually wet on the potty this time.  He did go and sit down next to Gloria every time she sat on her potty without prompting, so that is some progress on his part.

Tinkle, tinkle in the pot.
Show me how much pee you’ve got.
Potty training is such fun!
I can’t wait until we’re done!
Tinkle, tinkle in the pot.
Show me how much pee you’ve got.

Gloria on the other hand would periodically go sit on her potty.  I didn’t keep close track, but I am thinking that she actually produced about one time out of five. 

When Thomas came home and finished his homework, he went into the living room to play his video games and the princess begged to go in there with him.  Since she has been doing so well, I told her that she could go in there only after she went on her potty.  She promptly sat, got a thoughtful look on her face, and did just what I asked her to do.  So I put a towel down for her, at her request, and let her sit next to Thomas.

A few minutes later she came to the kitchen and asked to be let back in and pretty much went straight to the potty, sat down, and announced that she was pooping.  Based on her general attitude about it prior to this, I really figured she would save it and go in her night time diaper.  Upon seeing Daniel’s earlier achievement Gloria gasped , “I NEVER poop on the potty!”  She proved me wrong!  So now Gloria has achieved both pooping and peeing in her potty! 

Now this song is stuck in my head!  I started making up lyrics to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and decided to google it and see what popped up.  I found it in my search.  Let me stress that it is NOT me or my children, but they sure have enjoyed watching it.  Even Thomas gets a big kick out of it.

We may make it out of the house this week!

Potty Training Boot Camp: Day 1

With Thomas at his father’s, the grocery shopping done, and Michael in the basement for back-up, Gloria and Daniel braved the first day of bare bottomed, kitchen confined, potty training boot camp.

We got off to a bit of a rough start as Gloria was NOT happy about going in just a shirt and leg warmers.  There were serious tears and fussing and wailing about the fact that she had no diaper on.  During breakfast, she sat on a towel in her booster seat an bemoaned the fact that her beloved diapers were upstairs and her bum was uncovered.  Daniel, on the other hand, seemed thrilled to be able to visit his little friend so easily.

After breakfast, I didn’t hear another complaint from Gloria as she was too busy racing trains around the train table to notice her wardrobe was lacking.  Michael had brought the train into the middle of the kitchen and built a simple, toddler friendly  track around the edges.  The suspension bridges, tunnels, and drawbridges are sitting in the playroom pouting about how they were replaced with boring old straight tracks.

Daniel did a great job of setting the example by sprinkling on the floor every 2 minutes so that I could put him on the potty and explain that he could get some M&M’s if he put pee pee in the potty.  He wasn’t interested in it and protested a bit, but it helped get Gloria in the right frame of mind as she would come sit on the potty next to him.  My personal favorite sprinkle was the one where he stood at the gate and peed on the carpet.  The whole point of spending the day in the kitchen was to avoid this!

I made up some watered down Kool Aid to give them extra ammunition for practice and spent a good deal of time putting Daniel on the potty and cleaning up his sprinkles.  Pretty soon, it was obvious to me that he had a full bladder but wasn’t sure how to do it in the potty.  A time or two he would go over and look at the potty and then walk away and sprinkle a bit.  We tried hanging out on the potties and reading for a while to no avail.  I gave up on that and had them play some more and the sprinkling started again.  So back to the potty Daniel went.  I sat him on on it and tickled him until I thought for sure he would leak.  On a whim I pressed on his tummy a little bit.  Naturally this helped him to produce and we were able to celebrate and hand out M&M’s! 

After the initial breakthrough, Gloria went over of her own accord and produced on a grand scale.  After her first success, she would periodically go sit in the hopes that there would be more and thus more M&M’s.  Several times before lunch she went on her own.  Daniel on the other hand, just watered our tile.  Not that I was really expecting him to get it at this age.

After lunch Gloria went another time without prompting!  Then it was nap time and somehow I managed to convince her to sleep in panties and loose pants instead of a diaper and she woke up dry!  Michael was getting ready to make a run to Sam’s Club and the little princess wanted to go.  Now this was NOT in keeping with my plans and philosophy, but I gave her the chance by telling her she had to actually pee before she went.  Surprise!  Surprise!  She did!  Michael kept calling me to ask about things on my list while they were out.  Each time the phone rang I was sure he would be calling to tell me they were changing clothes or something, but apparently he really needed help with my list. 

When she got back, there were groceries to put away, dinner to make, and a big brother to welcome home.  In all that no one thought to take her pants off and she had her first and only accident of the day .    After that it was back to bare bum and sitting on towels!  (And peeing in the potty!)

We shall see how day 2 goes!

Gloria’s Newest Dresses

In my quest to come up with a long sleeved dress for Gloria for the chilly weather, I came across a tutorial for a short sleeved peasant shirt.  I made a short sleeved one, then a long sleeved one, then another long sleeved one that was a bit too narrow, so I turned it into a dress for Little Miss Kinley Jo, the daughter of one of Michael’s co-workers, who is about 18 months younger than Gloria.  This is how it turned out.

The fabric is “patchwork” so, no, I didn’t sew a bazillion squares together to make this.  It was in the remnants bin at Wal-mart and looked fallish. 

After that, I took 2 yards of fabric that was originally intended to be part of my quilt that Mom made us.  It just didn’t quite fit in right with the other fabrics I had selected so we left it out.  I basically did the same thing with this one I did with Kinley’s.  I just did the sleeves a little differently and added about 5.75 yards of eyelet lace to the bottom tier and sleeves.  Gloria sees it and asks to put it on so she can “dance her dress.”  She has learned to twirl in it!

And to get a better idea of just how much fabric is around the bottom:

It hasn’t been washed yet.  It probably won’t ever stand up like this again!

Then this little girl from church showed up in a short sleeved peasant dress much like this next one.  I picked out some fabric that looked fallish and did long sleeves and this is what turned out.

It looks much cuter on the toddler than in the picture.  She’ll be wearing it tomorrow for Thanksgiving and I will try to get a good action shot of her filling it up.

And lastly, I fell in love with this Christmas fabric.  By the time I had decided exactly which fabric to pair it up with, it was time to feed the toddlers and get them in bed for a nap, so I did a really quick guestimation of how much of each fabric I wanted.  With the odd amounts I had cut, the dress practically made itself.  It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the fabric with red on green had a bit of metallic gold thread in the design that gives it a bit of sparkle.  I haven’t tried it on her with the red ribbon around the waist yet.  It may be too thin, but I sure like the way it looks on the hanger.

I have one last style kicking around in my head that I would like to sew up this season in a fabric I saw while picking out the Christmas fabric.  Then, I promise, I’ll be done with dresses.  Until summer.

Two Bits?

So I have been pestering Melissa for about 2 months now, saying that we should get Daniel’s hair cut.  So finally today she decided it was time to get everyone’s hair cut (except hers).

So Daniel went first:

In the chair…

The preparation:

The Cut (shock the mommy)

Just keep that candy coming:

I have her right where I want her:

That was easy!

Gloria was supposed to go first, but bumped her head on something while we were waiting so we thought we would give her a break and let Daniel go first.  She didn’t want to go second either though, so Thomas went next:

He, of course, was just fine with having his hair cut, but he did request to keep his sideburns (like Indiana Jones).  I didn’t get a picture, but I think his haircut now looks like Spock.

Gloria didn’t want to go after Thomas either so I got my hair cut.  Nothing interesting there, except that for having no hair on top, she sure got a lot of hair off of my head somewhere.

And finally Gloria:

Can you smile? (Daniel did!)  I recommend click on this picture to see the full size version.  That way you can see Daniel smiling in the background:

Oh you were talking to me?:

Look in the mirror:

But the only way this was possible…

She had to sit in daddy’s lap:

Thank you Miss Amanda for being so patient with us:

And just so you know, haircuts cost a lot more than two bits and you don’t even get a shave with it.

Another phone picture

A picture of Gloria at bed time, in her “80′s hairband” look:

The Day After

So this morning, the day after the party, Thomas got up at 6am, got fully dressed and then came to snuggle in the bed with us.  At about 7:30 this is what my bed looked like.

The boys were sound asleep and Gloria was saying, “Please, wake up, Thomas, please.  Pretty please.”

Gloria and pictures…

Gloria has gotten it into her head lately, that she should decide when pictures are to be made.  And mostly that means that she has decided that she doesn’t want me to take pictures of her.  So when I took this great picture of her wonderful dress:

she was saying “No daddy.  No picture.”

And trying to hide…

Gloria’s 2 Year Check-up

Friday morning, I took Gloria to her 2 year old check-up.  My little princess was NOT happy about it one bit.  First of all her mother put her BROTHER in the stroller that SHE is supposed to ride in.  That got the entire visit off to a bad start.

Then when they called her back into the exam room this strange lady wanted to put this cold measuring tape around her head, lay her on the exam table for a measurement, and tape a urine collection bag to her little girl bits without even saying hello. 

And forget about standing on the scale.  She was NOT going to do that.  However, she did let Mommy hold her and stand on the scale and then sit in a chair while Mommy stood on the scale all by herself.

Then there was the finger prick.  The same lady who had already upset the little princess took her finger, poked it, squeezed it, and then, horror of horrors, put a BANDAGE on it  “Off! Off!” she demanded as she tugged at the offending article and bled all over the place.  Mommy grabbed a couple of tissues and held the finger to stop the mess.  “Mess, Mommy!  Leg!  Mess!”  So Mommy got a wet wipe and began cleaning up as much as she could find.  Gloria got in on the cleaning, too, but was still beside herself about something.

There was a bit of waiting time before the doctor himself came in.  During this time Gloria repeatedly explained that there was something wrong in her diaper and that she wanted it fixed, but she did NOT want Mommy to put her on the exam table to do so.  After much explaining on the part of her mother, Gloria anxiously allowed Mommy to place her on the exam table to get that horrible bag out of her diaper.  After that was gone, she was MUCH happier-and quieter.

By the time the doctor got there she was able to handle things better.  It probably didn’t hurt that she ate a good bit of cereal in order to keep her brother from eating it.  (We have a hard time getting her to eat breakfast these days.)  She was a bit suspicious of him, but was ok with him looking her over and checking her out as long as she was touching Mommy.

Then ANOTHER lady came in and laid her down on the exam table.  Gloria was not terribly upset by this until she felt something happen on her leg that made her eyes open wide with shock.  Something had STUNG her and she was so hurt.  Then she noticed there was ANOTHER evil bandage on her leg! 

Once she calmed down enough, Mommy was able to unwrap her legs from her torso and ask her if she was ready to go home.  “Home!  Yes!  Home now!”  It took less than 2 minutes to get her fully dressed and out the door.  This time her mother wisely put her in the stroller, but didn’t buckle her in, something that greatly offended the princess yet again.

After an hour filled with tears, Gloria came out of the clinic with a clean bill of health (duh), a couple of pokes (ow!), and some interesting yet ultimately meaningless statistics on her present size.  (Height 32.25 inches-11%.  Weight 30 pounds-85% Head circumference 19 inches-69% for those interested.)  Thankfully, we won’t be doing that again for another year.  At least, not with her!

And through it all, her little brother sat peacefully in the stroller eating cereal and only occasionally shedding sympathy tears for his sister.