First off, I can’t even express how much my heart goes out to all of the runners, observers, locals, and their families who were affected in yesterday’s tragedy. I can’t imagine what they are going through. I just can’t stop thinking about how someone (or a group of people) could inflict harm on innocent people. Why would anyone do that?
With that being said, I’m keeping everyone in Boston in my prayers and giving extra cuddles and hugs to my loved ones. Instead of running errands this morning, Keenan and I decided to stay home and play, reading books, playing piano, and cuddling on the couch; truly appreciating our time together and being grateful that we are safe.
Play time today was all about making a house for “Baba,” setting the table and serving him and his Lego men lunch! They all ate the same lunch as he, turkey rolls with carrots; it was too cute!
On another (more positive) note, I am anxious to update you on our potty training adventures. It has been a few weeks since I talked about potty training and since then, things have been going very well! Keenan has been wearing his “big boy” underwear for three weeks and so far, so good. He has been doing a great job of telling us when he has to go potty and keeping his underwear dry (even on our long car ride to the beach and back last week!). Over the past few weeks, he has only had a couple of minor accidents.
Going number two in the potty, though, is still a challenge and something we are continuing to work on. I thought we had made headway at my parents’ house last Friday, because he had been antsy all afternoon and his tummy was bloated, so I knew he needed to go number two (especially since he usually holds it for a couple of days, waiting to make it in his pull up during his naps). After his bath, he stood up and said his tummy was “ouchie,” so I asked him if he wanted to try and make a poo poo in the potty and he said yes, but with Nonna. I asked my mom to come in and she brought a book that I loved when I was a child, “The Wild Baby,” and read it to Keenan while he FINALLY made a poop in the potty! We were all excited, doing the happy dance, praising and telling him how proud we were! My husband’s co-worker sent a little package for him to open once he went number two in the potty, so he was beyond thrilled to open it and find more Elmo underwear! As my husband and I promised, once he made a poo poo in the potty, we took him to get a chocolate peanut butter milkshake the next day at a local bakery/produce stand that makes shakes and sells gelato. He was ecstatic to drink his very own shake!
Since last Friday, he has only made poops in his pull up, so I’ not sure if he truly feels comfortable making them in the potty on a regular basis. We have told him that if he makes two more poo poos in the potty, he gets to pick out a special chocolate treat at Ginger Elizabeth or get another special milkshake, so we’ll see. I have to remind myself that he will go number two in the potty when he is truly ready and celebrate the wonderful progress he has made in wearing his underwear and staying dry!
I know this post is getting long, but before I go, I also want to share some additional changes or developments in our household with Keenan. He officially can climb out of his pac n’ play and crib, EEK! We found out last week while we were on vacation when he climbed out of his pac n’ play and walked down the hall to our room. I almost died! We talked to him very sternly about the importance of staying in his pac ‘n play and not climbing, as he could severely hurt himself. After that, he pretty much didn’t attempt it again. But, when we got home on Sunday, he climbed out of his crib that night after I put him to bed. We told him again how he could hurt himself and to not do that ever again, but he attempted it last night, again, ugh! So, it is definitely time to transition him into his toddler bed. It’s hard, because with the potty training and now the transition to a real bed, my baby boy is definitely not a baby anymore. It’s crazy how things tend to happen all at once, but I know he is ready and I can’t hold him back.
Also, we have been having some bedtime issues the past few weeks where Keenan refuses to settle down and go to bed after having his bath and story time. It seems like he gets a second wind and is ready for play time. After singing him a song, putting him in his crib and tucking him in, he starts crying or calling for me, asking for another song, a drink of water, to go pee pee, wipe his nose or to be tucked in again. I hate getting frustrated with him, but I just don’t know what to do. I try not to go in there, but it is SO hard! Finally, after a good 20-30 minutes, he falls asleep (making it way past his usual bedtime!). I have no idea why bedtime is so hard these days when he used to go right to sleep. I’m at a loss on to what to do, but hopefully this is a phase that will pass soon (keeping my fingers crossed!).
Sorry for such a long-winded post and all of the potty and bedtime talk, but they seem to be the only things (in addition to moving) that are on my mind these days!
Questions:
For all of you veteran moms out there, do you have any tips for helping Keenan go number two in the potty? What worked for your kids?
How do you deal with bedtime issues?
I’ve only been following your blog for a couple months now, and Keenan has just been growing up way too fast!!! =(
I know, tell me about it! It is crazy how fast he is growing! He is definitely turning into a little boy and I guess I just wasn’t prepared for it quite yet. I can’t believe that we register him for preschool tomorrow!!
Yes, I do have some tips for you!! OK..at my house we say “bye bye, poopie!!” super loud in a really, really low voice as we flush. You can start doing it with your own or daddy can do it.
Part 2: (for when he poops in his pull-ups you say in a voice like brer rabbit while you’re changing him) “awwww….now we can’t say [low voice] ‘bye bye, poopie!’…instead when the poop is in your pants it’s like it’s saying: [brer rabbit voice]: Hi, my name is poop! and I LIKE YOUR BUTT!! and Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii STINK!!!” [I should record this…..you emphasize every single word and really ham it up. then talk about how much better it is to say “bye bye, poopie!!!”]
We’ve had excellent results – let me know how it works for you 🙂
♡ Jill
Ooh, I like this a lot! We are going to start doing this first thing tomorrow morning! I love the brer rabbit voice! 🙂 I’ll definitely let you know how it goes.
Noah earned his whole Disney Cars diecast collection by pooping in the potty. It seemed to work for him. Bribery at its best! One thing I would be concerned about is the constipation cycle… if he is holding it in for a couple (or more) days, then as you know, the stool hardens and pooping becomes painful, and so he will avoid doing it. I used prune juice when Noah got really bad to help keep his stool soft; apple juice was enough for Naomi. Since we don’t do juice daily, they likened it to a special treat and were none the wiser 🙂 Also, our pediatrician always emphasized how important it is for their feet to be flat on the floor, but since you use the Bjorn potty and not a big potty, that solves that problem! Good luck!
Thanks, Sarah! I have been thinking about the same thing in regards to constipation and being painful to poop. I think that is what is happening. I just might get some prune juice tomorrow and see how that works.
It would not have occurred to me if I hadn’t read it somewhere, but kiwis are great for avoiding constipation. I found that if Jay had at least one kiwi and a serving of Greek yogurt a day, everything kept moving as it should. Such lovely topics of conversation mothers have!
Oh, I didn’t know that! I just bought prunes and prune juice today, so I’ll pick up some kiwis, too! Thanks!
For our little climbing “monkey”, we put the mattress on the floor (no falling), reduced nap time during day, lowered lighting, no electronics 1 hr before bedtime. Must remember that potty training is stressful – they may try to stay awake to not “make a mistake”!
Thanks for the tips! I have been thinking about reducing nap time. Interesting…I never thought about the connection with potty training and sleep; it could definitely be a reason since he usually is a good sleeper.
One of my children potty-trained herself because she wanted to be a big kid like her sisters. The poop thing, though, took longer. We thought she’d mastered it, but come to find out, she’d poop in a ziploc baggie then store them underneath her dresser. Really. When we found the stash, we talked to her about going on the potty. And that was that. For my other two, we bribed them with candy/soda (I know, I know, it’s so bad for them, but it helped!). We also got a doll that sat on the potty so I just made pretend it went poop. I think you were on to something with his grandmother and book–sit him there and distract him while he’s bloated, ready, and relaxed. By the way, I tell all my friends that the potty-training time was the hardest (and I have 4 teens!). If you can make it through this, you can do most anything!
Oh, wow, stashing poop under the dresser; I can’t even imagine! We have been trying to read books while he is on the potty to distract him, but no luck. We stay on the potty anywhere from 20-30 minutes, but he still doesn’t go. Hopefully, it will just click one of these days.
Yay for Keenan’s potty training progress! That is awesome! I heard just the other day this woman talking about how her son would only go number two in his pull up and that they would rip it off him and put him on the potty when they saw him starting to go. I guess that would be hard for you since he goes at nap but I thought it was interesting. We told Ayden how yucky it was and really emphasized that is was disgusting and belonged in the potty. I’m sure you’ve done the same and like you said he’ll get it some day 🙂
That is interesting. I wish we could do that with Keenan, but he consistently waits until he goes down for his nap to go number two! We always say how yucky and disgusting it is to go poop in his pull up, but I really don’t think he cares at this point! 🙂