The Potty Training Cronicles..

Oh the tales we tell. Well my son originally started potty-training at 16 months. This was not forced, he wanted to, and so Mommy and Daddy went along with it, buying the Elmo potty and Mommy even making a neon yellow chart & using stickers. From 16-18months things went well until we got the call in Germany that my DH's Father was critically ill and probably wouldn't make it and so we all hopped on a plane and took ER leave to FL. Before we could get there Lance's Father did pass away. So, we grieved and spent time with family all the while celebrating the Father who was now in heaven with Jesus. This couple with stress from losing our daughter, Arianna, four months before that, and finding out we were moving to North Carolina, as well as pregnant, and subsequently moving created a revolt within my son and he stopped going cold turkey.

So, last fall,I just took my Husband aside and said we would stop until we moved and indeed we did. As I have posted before, potty-training is a battle of will and not just a child's will. I have come to realize it is also parent's will as well. Things get easy, comfortable, you know what to expect - both child and parent(s.) And we are an on the go family, such is life of a military family. But finally last week after being yelled at by my 2 and 1/2 year old that he was "pooping," and also finding him in the church nursery hiding while he was going "potty," this Mommy found her resolve and I told myself," We will be going nowhere next week and doing this training thing for real!"

Well today is day:3 of the serious training and previously my son had two stars on his chart, mainly because Daddy had got him to the potty in mid go. So, last night knowing I needed to keep to motivation going we went out and got candies and various plastic toys and stuck them in what I fondly call,"The going Potty jar," and as his chart has things in rows of 10 we decided that after every 10 goes we would let him get in the prize jar. So, as of today, there are 9 stars on the chart to go with the 2 from the entire month of April. That equals 11 starts, 9 in 3 days and Logan got his first prize. He chose a piece of candy and was more than thrilled as he "high 5'ed" me. I am just amazed and happy this journey is finally on it's way. I know my son is thrilled and is even noticing his body's signals. What more can a Mom ask for? Not much! : )

As of May 4th, How things are looking!

I guess we're not failures after all. There is growth here. What I failed to read at first was it takes at least 70 days for the Cherry tomatoes to sprout. Good things come to those who wait though I guess. I guess God is working on Mommy's patience. Above the sprouting Cherry Tomatoes is our homemade Chiya Pet we got from an Earth Day Fair we went to. It has really grown since we started it as nothing but soil and seedlings in an old stocking..now He's looking like a real rock-star! Here's to our small garden, maybe next year we can do more!

Then that night came,"Elmo!"

I had a feeling Cookie Monster Kit wasn't going to go well just by my lack of understanding of the directions. I am surprised my son wasn't telling me how to do it, since children often get things before their parents. So, after I set that aside, next that night came the Elmo kit! (Cherry Tomatoes in case you were wondering.) This went more like gardening is supposed to go. I felt fairly sure we were going to succeed.

April 5th, 1st We tried,"Cookie Monster."

So, they had Sesame Street garden kits and since I am not a gardener by any means and my son was interests, his Father & I, splurged on two. One was this Cookie Monster kit which, I hate to say we killed on the second day. I don't think I was ready to grow Baby Watermelons.. Luckily we got more than one kit. Next would come, ELMO! More on our gardening adventures tomorrow..

Teaching Letters..

I went and bought a package of these letters and numbers at Walmart, it was $5 but came with multiples of each and seemed like a good thing to start with. I could have made these letters myself, but I thought the sparkle and shine of these would grab my son's attention and trust me, he needs all the help with that, that he can get. I also thought the fact that these letters are different colors would help with continued color recognition, something he's pretty much mastered. So, basically our "schooling" has gone something like this,"What letter is that?" "What color is that letter?" "Where is the same letter?" And if my son feels like it, he answers. And that is how I am going about teaching letters and later numbers. For now, we are just doing A-C. Today was the first day I brought them out and Logan seemed excited to do "class" as he says, so hopefully this will continue to inspire him!

Daddy Helps..

For the past few nights this has been the sight on my couch: Father & Son. Never underestimate technology I am learning lately. I am typically very leery of too much T.V. or too many gadgets for children, but, Logan, at 2 years and 8 months old is learning a lot from his V-tech laptop that he got as a gift for his 2ND birthday. The main thing is letter recognition. I love watching from our adjacent couch as my Dear Husband sits and goes over the letter game(s) with our son. It's such a precious moment and I know my husband is glad to help in any way with our son's education.

Toddler Life Lessons: Potty Training.

Diapers may be expensive, disposible or cloth.
But as a mother I must admit they're easy.
You know what I am talking about, right?
You wait, check 'em, and if they have gone you change them.
Over time you're checking less..
Then comes the moment you where your child is screaming at you that they are going in their diaper.
Well mine will either scream or hide against some wall.
So, take one family emergency (last year when he first was training from 16-18 months), a move from Germany to North Carolina, and being on the go to see family and it makes for one stubborn potty trainer.
But I told myself this week we are going nowhere and we will really do this "thing."
Well today I made Logan move the potty chair to the living room, go bare, and turned on Nick Jr. and we've had one accident and 4 stickers added to the chart. Also, going down to a 4 oz cup is also seeming to help the overall situation.

It is just day one, but I am so proud of my little man!!
Tomorrow will be a post about gardening and school, promise. For now I just had to share..how awesome my son is!