First Visit to the Children's Museum

When I was a child my father would drag us to any museum he could find - and we hated it.  I swore I would never bore my kids like that - and here we are (joining the Oberts) taking Nate to celebrate his potty training success at a museum, of all places.  

However, I was super impressed with the Children's Museum of Houston!  Perhaps because it was on my level.  I guess I will always be a child at heart! There is so much to see and do there.  What was so great for us was the Tot Spot, an area geared towards kids under 35 months.  It is filled with a variety of activities that the kids loved.  In fact we spent so much time there, we really did not get to see much of the Museum. 

On the way out we were able to stop and see part of "Kidtropolis".  This area mimics a city and is filled with activites of pretend play for the kids.

Nate the grocery shopper quickly became Nate the cashier

Our little news anchor!

Either way, he is cruising!

We actually sent the kids on quite a challenging climbing tower, not realizing it was not designed for the young ones!  Nicci became the hero of the day by crawling through this to rescue both her girls and Nate- who were of course, on opposite sides of the structure.  Thanks Nicci(And thanks Marissa for being my excuse not to go in, I am pretty sure I would be very sore the next day)!

Our cutie patooties were a bit crazy by the end of the day (in their defense, it was well past nap time).  But I believe a good time was had by all!

And yes, Nate continues to be accident free!!!  I am so very proud of him!

Potty Training Update

Update is this.......my kid is super awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday evening we tried undies for a couple hours and had one accident
Saturday morning he had one accident, we put him in a diaper for nap time which he wet and pooped in, and he had 2 accidents that evening.
Sunday we had another total of 3 accidents (again diaper at nap and overnight)
Monday - NO ACCIDENTS and diaper at nap time was dry
Tuesday - NO ACCIDENTS and wore undies during nap time and went to daycare (I wanted to throw in distractions)

So tomorrow we are going to the Children's Museum in Houston to celebrate this success (more distractions).

A few have asked our approach to potty training, I am by no means an expert - or even experienced in this topic.  Just pretty lucky so far!  But there were many tips I gathered from an old book called Toilet Training in Less Than a Day - copyright 1974 - and we repeatedly watched a video I picked up for $2.99 called Potty Power (it is cheesy but it works, I have gone around with songs about being proud to wear my underwear and saying bye-bye to diapers stuck in my head for the past 4 days.  Now he loves to tell people he has POTTY POWER).  I also got inspired by my friend Nicci, who was much more aggressive in her approach and quit diapers cold turkey (I do not have the guts to go overnight yet without a diaper).

Anyway, basically we pumped him full of liquids (juice, chocolate milk, water, and occasional sips of sprite) and had him eat a lot of salty foods (Chips, crackers, pretzels, etc) to increase desire to drink.  Then we  put all our attention on him.  Initially I had him sit on his potty every 15 minutes, then have slowly increased the time intervals (30 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour).  On Saturday we had gotten up to 45 minutes but Sunday morning had to go back to 30 minutes for awhile.  Every time he had successful output he was rewarded with M&Ms or Nemo Fruit Snacks and/or a sticker....and of course tons of praise from Mom and Dad.   He loved it - most of the time.  Sunday morning when I first attempted to get him to sit on the potty he said "no I am done" and refused so we ate breakfast and then took off the overnight diaper and began.  And yesterday (Monday) he looked at the potty screamed and slammed it shut, but again after eating was fine.  I guess he will stay in a diaper until after breakfast and all will be well.

He has not yet told me he has to go potty (nor has he pooped in the potty), I do not ask him if he has to go, I simply tell him it is time to go.  He is at the age where he really wants to be independent so we always work on him donning and doffing his own clothing as well as emptying the potty and washing his hands by himself (or "I do it" as Nate says).

So in case you cannot tell, I am ridiculously proud of my little man- and a little sad because he is growing up so fast.

The after-effects of one too many M&Ms!

Pee-Pee in the Potty

The dreaded childhood right of passage- potty training - is upon us.

I am not going into this war lightly.  I am fully equipped with massive arsenal including: multiple sets of big boy pants in all his favorite characters, snacks and drinks galore, "Potty Power" -a training video, and the beloved plastic throne.  I have intensely studied battle plans, strategies, and techniques.  This stuff ain't for sissies! I am personally terrified, but refuse to show outward signs of weakness to my 28 month old child!  We delayed it due to the arrival of his baby sister, but it is time....wish us luck!

This week we have encouraged him to use the potty in the evenings and rewarded successful attempts with Mickey Mouse stickers.  We also introduced him to undies.  I am not ashamed to have recruited Mickey Mouse, Buzz Lightyear, and Lightening McQueen for the front line positions! 

Friday night Nate was very excited about the Cars underwear, when we introduced him to them.  I thought I had already won my first battle, until he grabbed them, immediately put them on his head, and began dancing around the house!

After getting them off his head and on his bum, we did have some success!

He has the skills, we just need the consistency!

Here he's doing the celebratory pee-pee in the potty victory dance -in his BIG BOY pants!

So today we have gone straight to undies, we are providing reminders every 30 minutes, and we have increased the reward to M&Ms or Nemo Fruit Snacks.  We have had one accident- but no reminder was given (hey, I am in training too!).  I think things have been pretty successful so far.  The day is only half over, we will keep you posted....

Rock Star Pics!

Our Little Rock Star!

We are blessed to have very talented and gifted people in our lives....one being Susie Lee.  Susie and I met at church when I first moved to Galveston.  She and I worked in youth ministry together for years (her hubby is the youth pastor).  Three weeks after Marissa was born, Susie asked if she could come meet the little princess and if she could bring her camera and take some pics.  It had been awhile since Susie and I had seen each other, in fact, it was the first time I had met her youngest child (who is 14 months old!).  I had no idea Susie is getting into photography.  Look at these amazing pics! 

If you are interested you can see more of Susie's work at http://www.loveleemoments.com/.  And be sure to click on the contact me link - we think the model is adorable!

Thanks Susie!!!!

FLAGS

To say Nathaniel loves flags, would be an understatement!  This child will probably need professional counseling if this phase does not pass.  It all began with pointing out every flag he could see when we were driving; he would quickly inform us if it was an American flag or a Texas flag.  Becuase he appeared to love them so much, Daddy bought him a little American flag which quickly became his constant companion - and of course has had to be replaced several times.   

Then his Great Aunt, Peggy, showed him how to make "flags" out of sticks a few weeks ago. Now we can barely pass up a stick without him breaking it at the top and wanting to plant it somewhere. Seriously, it is a sick obsession - and you should see how many twigs I have in my house, in my car, etc.

Look he is at the park and would rather plant "flags" than play on the equipment!

And guess what his favorite picture of Baby Rissa is?  Her laying on a flag in his room.

So here is to my very patriotic kid (I am sure this will be a post he wants to look at frequently!)

Labor Day Weekend 2010

Our holiday weekend was great.  We were able to spend time with family and friends (but were sad to miss out on a visit from my brother and his family).

Sleeping Beauty is now 5 weeks old!

On Saturday night we went to Brandon Coopers Carnival Birthday party, complete with funnel cakes - YUM!

On Sunday Grandpa and Grandma Yancy came to visit - FUN!

And on Monday, we went to a cookout, which the torrential downpour quickly made a cook-in, at the Oberts.

It was a great weekend!  Hope yours was too!

My House Cleaning Abilities

CONFESSION:  I am not a good housekeeper, although I feel like I should be since I am currently staying at home. So I try (in my own way).  Earlier this week I spent hours cleaning.  My house was spotless.  I even mopped the floors (which is one of my least favorite chores)!  It was a rainy day so it was perfect day to stay in and clean.  However, I recently read that trying to keep a clean house when you have young children is like trying to brush your teeth while you eat Oreos!  And here is why......

In the midst of my cleaning spree, while the rain was coming down, I thought to myself, "I have never played in the rain with Nathaniel.  What kind of mother am I?".  Marissa had just eaten and gone down for a nap so it was the perfect time to have some Mommy/son time.  We threw on his rain boots and went outside.  He quickly mastered the ability to run and jump in puddles and to dance in the rain.  We had a blast. 

I however, have not mastered the ability to keep a clean house. So much for those clean floors!

But yay for the memories!