August 11

Another month has just flown by, and again I am baffled by how quickly time goes and how much we manage to do in a month!

In our never ending quest to get him to float, Little Buddy started the month with a week of survival swim lessons with our good friend, Ms. J.  Although he was pretty vocal about NOT wanting to float on his back, by the end of the week he was definitely showing some progress.  Daddy even got to get in with him at his last lesson to practice some of the techniques. 

Thank you again for everything, Ms. J!

Another big part of the month was spent working on our handyman skills.  There's a lot of projects going on around here between the bathroom and Baby Sister's room, and Little Buddy just wants to be Daddy's shadow.

Not sure why we buy him toys when some PVC pipe seems to suffice!  Happy being a junior plumber and having his own pipes and valves just like Daddy.

 

Little Buddy was so excited to help paint Baby Sister's room!

There was even an opportunity to take him to a Kids' Project Day at Home Depot.  Little Buddy was so excited to use tools to make his own truck!  We were so proud of him.

Hammer time!

Using wood glue...

Painting on the finishing touches...

Ta-Da!  The finished product!

So, so, so proud of our little guy and his first project!

Back in the bathroom, it was tile time!  Little Buddy was very intrigued by the shower "puzzle" and loved helping Daddy fit some of the pieces in to place. 

Monkey see, Monkey do.  So glad that Little Buddy will grow up learning these skills!

Lots of other fun times this month!  Right now, Little Buddy is very content to play at his train table.  We can spend hours up there playing with his trains and cars.  It's amazing to watch his imagination develop!

Playtime in the playroom

Of course, My Gym always remains a favorite activity.  So glad he enjoys it so much!  It's been great to watch his skills develop.

Balance beam!

Visits from Uncle C are always especially enjoyed.  I love this picture of Daddy, Uncle C, and Little Buddy reading stories before naptime. 

Such a sweet moment.

It's not all fun and giggles though.  There were some difficult things this month.  Our good friends, the C family, were moving back to Ohio.  We got to go over to say goodbye with a bunch of our other friends and have one final playdate.  We are going to miss them, but can't wait to see them each time we are back in Northeast Ohio!

Playing with friends

Little Buddy trying to steal N away.  We are going to miss our friends!

We also had some other projects going on around the house, including having painters come in to paint several of the rooms upstairs.  Because of the paint smell, Little Buddy had to sleep down in our room for a few days.  The nights went much better than expected, but the naps...well, the naps didn't happen.  It was a very tiring time for all of us!

  

Sleeping on his "moon bed" (aka toddler air mattress).  He looks so grown-up!

To go along with his "growing up," we've really settled into a whiny, temper tantrum phase lately.  This face says it all.  He's all about testing boundaries, which is normal, but also very tiring for his Momma!  Living with a toddler is so crazy; he goes from sweet and loving to crazy and demanding in an instant.  We're working on using our words to discuss why we're upset and using our listening ears to listen to Momma and Daddy.

A bird is going to poop on that lip!

But we very quickly go back to this after a pouty phase!

Height and Weight 

Still measuring in at 41 in. and about 47 lbs.  At least he hasn't had another growth spurt (yet!).  He can reach way too high on the countertops as it is!

Personality

Getting to be very sure of what he whats and when he wants it!  My cool cucumber is getting a bit of a temper when things don't go how he thinks they should go.  Definitely working more on self control and awareness of others, as well as listening.  We may not have had a terrible two stage, but the three stage is starting off a bit more challenging. 

Developmental Milestones

We are a full week into a nearly diaperless life.  It's not as glamorous as one would hope; we still have accidents as we work on potty awareness and a diaper is necessary during nap and bedtimes, but we've definitely made a lot of progress.  It's actually a little adorable when he apologizes to the floor or his underwear if he has an accident! 

He is going to be a rock star in social studies class one day!  He has nearly half of the "Fifty Nifty United States" song memorized, can name four presidents, and is enthralled by saying the Pledge of Allegiance.   Obviously he's going to be a history nerd like his parents!

Fun Tidbits

Creates lots of stories where his "kids" (wooden people from his playsets) interact and play with one another.  So fun to watch!  

 

Little Buddy has finally reached a stage during which he can actually pay attention long enough to watch a movie.  Therefore, we have made the Sesame Street movie, Follow that Bird, a potty reward.  We may have to rethink that, though, because he gets too emotionally involved with Big Bird needing to get back to Sesame Street!  There are crocodile tears and lots of comforting from Momma and Daddy that Big Bird will make it home and be ok.  I don't think he is going to be able to handle Bambi or the The Lion King any time soon!

 

He also sings songs constantly and is really interested in music.  To that end, he loves playing on Daddy's guitar.  His interest in the guitar was so strong, we bought him a ukelele as a potty reward this week.  The excited, "Oh boy!" that escaped his lips the moment he saw the Little Buddy-sized guitar was so sweet. 

 Adorable!  (Granted, not long after getting the ukelele, we did have an accident on the floor.  Just too excited to stop playing!)

Even though it's absolutely crazy right now, I love my little guy so much!

Love you always, Little Buddy!

Momma

Potty Boot Camp: Day 5

Potty training week is over!  Yay!  Honestly, it went better than I thought it would.  We still have a ways to go, but we've made a significant start.  It may have even been more for me than for Little Buddy, to strip me of the comfort of diapers.  I know now that I can handle him diaperless and handle what accidents will result every once and awhile.  Out of 7 potties today, one was when he woke up, three were accidents while we were playing outside, and 3 made it into the potty.  And he's actually becoming more aware of what is going on with his body, which is really what needed to happen.

He had done so well this week, that Daddy and I decided to reward him with his first official ride in the Mustang to go get some ice cream!  Two of his favorite things; he was so excited!

Surprisingly, he let Daddy drive without much argument for "Will drive it!"

Pure joy!

It was a great week hanging out with him.  A lot of the time we get so busy with activities that we don't get to focus on each other, so it was fun (but a little tiring, I will admit!) to just be one-on-one.  We only have a few more weeks together by ourselves before little sister joins us, so I hope we can maximize our adventures together!

Good night all, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Potty Boot Camp: Day 4

Lots to report!  Let's start it with a good news/bad news breakdown:

Good news:  Made it through the doctor's appointment, an errand, and lunch with no accidents and one potty in a public potty!  Yay!

Bad news:  The morning was not active enough and therefore Little Buddy was not tired enough to take a good nap.  A 20 minute respite is not enough for a tired Momma.

Good news:  He's not longer holding his potties in.

Bad news:  Out of 7 potties, only three made it into the potty. 

Good news:  I was expecting a lot of this, so I am not discouraged!  And all I wanted was a public outing without an accident, so I consider today a success!  Extra laundry and carpet cleaning is annoying, but not enough to drive me crazy. 

Again, it actually has been pretty fun to stay at home with him all day, every day, but it was nice to be out in the world again for lunch.  It's been hard missing Baby Boot Camp, playdates and conversation with adults, but I think we've had a lot of fun with each other.  We've certainly talked a lot more, if for no other reason than we're not driving anywhere!  And Little Buddy's had lots of fun having more time with his toys!

Toy nest!

Looking forward to seeing what tomorrow will bring in our last day of exile--I mean--stay at home potty training.  :)

Good night,

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Potty Boot Camp: Day 3

Well, today was an interesting day.  Besides sleeping times, Little Buddy had no accidents, but he also only had four potties.  Though I was proud of him for not having any accidents, I am worried he is going to through a "holding stage" to avoid the potty as much as possible.  Just have to make sure he stays as hydrated as normal with lots of fruits too.

Otherwise, we had a fun day together.  It's actually been pretty nice not to have to rush anywhere in the mornings and to just enjoy our day together.  We've also had fun wearing our pajamas all day!  Definitely looking to instate a "stay home" day during the week once this is all done, especially since he still seems to be napping okay.

During our days at home, we have been taking time to prepare for baby sister.  I have been getting out all the baby items and organizing them and Little Buddy has been reclaiming all his old baby toys.  It's funny to see him playing with them so intently after having forgotten about them!

My "baby" and his baby toys.

We've also been playing outside quite a bit in an effort to wear him down for naps.  Unfortunately, Momma is a bit too pregnant to handle playing hard in the Texas heat, so we have been relying a lot on the sprinklers. 

Water fun (in our pajamas and underwear, of course)!

Tomorrow is our first outing because I have my 28 week OBGYN appointment.  We'll be trying out our new cloth training pants and praying for no accidents!

Good night, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Potty Boot Camp: Day 2

Ok, today was much rougher at first than yesterday.  That was mostly my fault because Daddy and I stayed up much too late working on the baby's room, meaning I was not the most energetic person once Little Buddy woke up at 6:30 AM.  Lesson learned.  Going to bed earlier for the rest of the week.

There was a lot of good news for today.  Besides being wet when he woke up in the morning and the start of an accident on the floor (we rushed quickly to the potty and made it), Little Buddy had no real accidents today!  Yippee!  It was a little difficult for me to adjust for today, because he ended up only having five potties as compared to the nine from yesterday.  I was expecting more, so I think he became annoyed with me for constantly asking him if it was time to go.

We still need to work on him being aware of it enough to tell me about it before it happens.  Normally right after meals he is good at this, but during playtime I really have to watch his body signs because he gets so busy playing that he forgets to tell me.  The downside to this is that I can't leave his side to do anything else, like clean up the house or brush my teeth.  It's very time and attention-consuming and it really can wear a person out quickly!

Another downside to training is staying at home all week.  I think we area both getting a bit stir-crazy already, which doesn't bode well for the three remaining days!  He tends to get destructive which make me a bit grumpy.  Like when I left him for two minutes so that I could go to the bathroom only to find when I returned that he had broken the back safety gate, gotten into the "childproof" cabinet, and was pouring Tide into the washer (and everywhere else).  Argh!

"I help you, Momma!"

I tried to focus on the good, like on the fact that he WANTS to help me with laundry, but I was still a little distracted by the extra mopping and other clean-up I had to do, as well as attempt to fix the child-proofing devices!

On a bright side, his new cloth trainers arrived and they fit!  Makes me feel much more confident about taking him out of the house in diapers.  Which is good because I have an OBGYN appointment that he has to come to with me on Thursday.  Hoping for lots of progress by then!

Training pants!

 

No more diapers during the day for us!

Because he had no accidents today, he got to play the guitar with Daddy and watch the Sesame Street movie, Follow that Bird.  Unfortunately, he both loves and is devastated by the movie (can't stand Big Bird being away from his friends on Sesame Street).  He was very emotional and didn't want to settle down to go to sleep when it was time.  I think we've decided no more movie right before bed!

Singing silly guitar songs with Daddy!  One of his favorite things!

Anyway, I am looking for continued success tomorrow.  And hopefully some more sleep tonight so that I am as patient a momma as possible!

Night all, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Potty Boot Camp: Day 1

Ok, so today was a solid first day.  Nothing terrible, and nothing I wasn't expecting.  I recorded all of Little Buddy's potty behaviors today.  He had nine potties, two of which occurred upon waking from night and nap (which I don't count yet.  That control will come eventually), four of which were accidents in which we didn't make it to the potty (mostly because he didn't seem aware that it was happening) and three successful trips to the potty!  Yay! 

Overall, it was a good day.  We played inside and outside (while I could stand the heat!), took a quick run together, and generally had a good time.  The last twenty minutes before Daddy came home was the most trying just because there was an accident while I was cooking dinner.  Not fun to try to handle those two things at the same time with a three-year old who won't stay still!  If I did get frustrated, I just had to look at the sweet smile on my boy's face to realize that, if nothing else, I was blessed to be able to just be with him and and hang out with him this week.  He's a pretty cool kid!

Wish us luck tomorrow!

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Potty Boot Camp

This week, I am ready to go boldly where no one has ever gone before...a full week without diapers for Little Buddy.  That's right, it's time for potty boot camp.

And it is time.  It's been a bit of a rough road to this point.  Although he's shown steady improvement over the past few months, the concept has still not hit all the way home yet.  Besides the reality that he just wasn't showing any true potty readiness until lately, I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that, though we are usually in underwear at home, it's been the safe route to stay with diapers in public.  It's hard to go diaperless on errands when you have a child who, when he has an accident, causes more than just dampness...it's a lake.  It's not his fault, big boys just have bigger bladders.  But I think we've been confusing him going back and forth with diapers.  Even though we had switched to the Underjams pull-ups, it still sends the mixed message that sometimes its still ok to go in your pants.  Because he has school coming up in a month, baby sister coming in three months, and the fact that they don't make diapers bigger than size 6, the time is upon us to really work on it.  We've also been lucky because I finally found cloth training pants in a size that will fit his big hiney!  Yay!  That will make me more comfortable going out without the diaper safeguard.  So this week, Little Buddy and I are going to stay home all week (the idea already fills me with dread) and ditch those diapers!  I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Always,

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma