Potty Training in Just One Day

Really? Is this it?


Liam went all day yesterday with dry pants. Not only that, he ran himself into the bathroom to go. He'll hold his pee if I tell him to go, but if it's his choice - he goes.

This morning he pooped in the toilet. With some tears/fears, but really, not that bad. He didn't want to poop in his diaper. Didn't want to poop in his pull-up. Really, he just didn't want to poop.


Could we be finished? He went all morning with dry pants and again, went into the bathroom when he needed to.


Last time I did this I swore the method of "one day" was a joke. It took six days to get us to this point. I think Liam is almost there.

Tomorrow we venture out of the house so we'll see how that goes. Of course, we going to a friend's house and we'll be bringing our own potty. Who would have thought 10 years ago that we'd be going to a New Year's Eve party that's BYOP?

Here We Go Again...

So, this is the week I've decided to potty train Liam. To remind you, or let you new readers know, I used a "Potty Training in One Day" method - the same method I used with Quinn. You can read about my first experience with this right here.

I knew Liam would be different. He is different than Quinn. Here's a few things that surprised me this time around:

1. Liam has come to love Potty Scotty - a doll that pees. And has a penis. We used Scotty to demonstrate going pee on the toilet, and then Scotty peed in his underwear and had to practice. Liam will say "Scotty go potty" whenever Liam has to go potty himself. At one point he even said, "Scotty has to poop." So I quickly broke off a piece of leftover Christmas chocolate and plopped it into the toilet for Liam to see that Scotty did, in fact, poop. And it worked. Liam pooped right after that - but first he cheered for Scotty! Remember how much trouble I had getting Quinn to poop?


2. Also - you need to squeeze Scotty's leg to get him to pee - so the first few times Liam sat on the toilet today he wanted me to squeeze his leg. "Squeeze like Scotty."


3. Anyway - Liam insisted on sleeping with Scotty in his crib. He calls him, "My Scotty" except for when I think he's saying "Daddy" in which case he points to the doll and says, "him."


4. When I trained Quinn he would hardly ever tell me he had to go, but would go anytime I told him to sit on the toilet. Liam only goes when it's his decision to go. Any time I ask him, he sits and nothing happens. This is the best way to compare those two. Quinn is Mr. Agreeable - and Liam is Mr. IfIWantToandWhenIWantTo - and I love them both.

Anyway - Day One went much better than I thought. 2 poops and 3 pees in the toilet. 3 pees in underwear.

We'll see how the week goes - I'm planning on staying home with the boys until Thursday. That should give us time to get this all figured out.

Coooookies

This morning I spent some time with the boys making cookies for Santa.

Of course, there are pictures...

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

When we were finished, Liam said, "Let's go!"

Where?

"To mall."

No, we're not going to the mall today.

"Give cookies to Santa."

Also, you can totally judge me for buying the pre-made sugar cookie dough. But seriously, between the rolling, the cutting, the baking, the decorating, and the washing of the dishes - who wants the mess of also making the dough? not me.

Slowing Down

That title doesn't really fit our family, but anyway...

Saturday I was wishing Mike and I had a grown up party to go to. One where I could put on a dress. I mean, really, what's the use of working out if you never get to wear a dress. (Somebody, please, get married, so I can wear a dress.)

So, there we were with nothing to do. We have a lot of days like this. I usually love it, but for some reason, I was being a bit of a sourpuss about it Saturday.

That is until the boys started playing "Santa". Each had a pillow case and would approach Mike and I asking, "What would you like for Christmas?" And then, magically pulling that item out of their Santa Sack. Then they took turns playing Santa with each other. Then, they took turns being Rudolph and pulling the sleigh of the other, Santa. (This was funny and involved the use of a jump rope and "Santa" scooching on his buttom while "Rudolph" crawled in front.) Anyway, this pretend play with my two boys lasted a good 40 minutes and totally made me realize how lucky we were that we weren't out doing last minute shopping, or spending the day cleaning the house for a babysitter, or trying to keep them out of our hair while we got ready for a grown-up party, or stressing about how I looked, or...

Soup of the Day

I like soup.

Potato

Tomato

Cheddar Broccoli

Chicken Rice

Chicken Noodle

Vegetable

Pumpkin Bisque

Lobster Bisque

I like soup.

With Ritz

With Saletines

With Goldfish

With bread

I like soup.

When I'm sick

When I'm cold

When I'm happy

When I'm sad

I like soup.

Happy Hannukah!

Although, we don't celebrate Hannukah over here at the Tub - Quinn and Liam have put together a special dance to wish you all a Happy Hannukah.

Be sure to turn your volume up!

That song is from my favorite Christmas album, or I suppose I should say Holiday album, Barenaked for the Holidays.

He's Such a Trooper

Today I took Quinn to the doctor to have his neck checked out.

He started complaining about it hurting yesterday around lunch time (to my friend who was watching him), but played and had fun all afternoon, but still complained... finally at bedtime he was in tears crying about it. But honestly, he was so overtired I figured he'd cry about just about anything - so I gave him some tylenol and put him to bed. This morning he was crying about it again and clearly favoring it. So we went to the doctor.

The doctor was very thorough in checking him out. She even consulted with her partner, which made me nervous. Then, she called up to radiology to discuss either doing an xray or a CTscan, which, yeah, made me nervous. They decided on an xray - so we all went upstairs to the radiology department. The lady told me Liam wouldn't be able to come into the room, so before I could even think of what to do Quinn said, "Okay. You guys wait here. I'll be right back." Uh, okay. So off he went for his neck xrays. Of course, he's had xrays before (on his feet) and he even joked on the way up, "Do you think I'll have to stand on my head like when they took xrays of my foot and I had to stand on one foot?" Then he laughed. Then he said, "OWE!"

Anyway - I texted Mike about that and he replied, "He's such a trooper."

And he is.

So long as he gets a sucker and a sticker when it's all said and done.

Also - turns out the diagnosis is: torticollis. Which is involuntary contractions of the neck muscles. Go ahead and google it if you want. But be careful, because even the packet of information the doctor sent me home with said it could be life threatening, especially in children 2-4 - which is why she was so thorough in her examination. Anyway, we're treating it with motrin and bendryl and expecting it to be gone by Saturday.

Of course, I couldn't help but think about his surgery (which hasn't been scheduled yet) - as he walked away with the radiologist and it made my stomach ache.

What Are the Chances?

So, last night I showed Mike the above picture - that my sister sent to me via email. Sorry, I have no idea where it came from. But, that, is somebody's Christmas decorations. A fake man holding onto the roof with a fallen ladder.

Anyway... due to circumstances beyond our control we had to ask a friend for a favor and have Quinn go somewhere different today for child care. Mike was to go to work late and drop Quinn off. I had Quinn's school bag and "playing in the snow" bag all set and ready and I think I reminded Mike to leave the booster seat at least 5 times in the morning.

So, he forgot to leave the booster seat. My friend called me to let me know (good thing she wanted to put the seat into her car right away) and I called Mike, who was able to turn around and go back to deliver the booster seat. The street he turned down was closed, so he followed the detour. And saw a house just like the one in the picture! He was going down some street he's never, ever, been down before, and would never, ever, need to go down - and voila. There's that scene.

Wait. He then goes to work and decides to check his uncle's blog (which he will check maybe every few weeks) (oh - and also - that's what he gets to do at work? read blogs?)... anyway, he goes to check on his uncle's blog and sees this.

How crazy is that????

Interview With a Toddler

You've seen the Interview With a Preschooler

Could it get any cuter than that?

McCathy's Tub Proudly Presents:
Interview With a Toddler

Oh - and that part? Where I couldn't figure out what he was saying. He was saying, "party." He likes to go to parties.

Also, I'm not saying Liam is any cuter than his older brother, just, well, Quinn's was so cute I'm sure you all were wondering how in the world anything could be as cute if not, possibly, cuter. That is up to you.

Interview with a preschooler

coming soon:

An Interview with a toddler

Nobody Told Me

There was a lot I knew about child birth before having Quinn. I knew about the blood, the stitches, the stitches falling out into the toilet, the possibility of pooping on the delivery table in front of a room full of nurses (and your husband), the possibility of an epidural not working, your baby looking like an alien, and oh so many other lovely things.

What nobody told me about is this:

After being in labor with Quinn for 23 hours and then pushing for 3 hours - I woke up in the middle of the night and felt like I had been hit by a truck. And then that truck went into reverse and ran me over again. Every muscle, every fiber, every inch of my body was sore. Sore beyond belief. I was not prepared for that at all.

Also? I woke up in a puddle of sweat. Shivering, hot, and soaking wet. Nobody told me about that either.

The first surprise - I blame myself for. Before I got pregnant with Quinn I was in pretty good shape. But, after finding out I was pregnant I was scared that my workouts might cause me to have a miscarraige (which, I know, I know, is so not true). Anyway, I stopped working out for those 9 months. I also took that whole "eating for two" to heart. I was pregnant - let me have it. I gained way more weight than I should have.

When I was pregnant with Liam - I continued working out, up until just weeks before delivering him. My workout was also my break from a busy busy toddler. Quinn would go into the child care center and me and my pregnant self would spend 45 minutes on the eliptical. (My doctor did advise I not take any classes for fear of me falling!) I gained just the right amount of weight and if I remember correctly - I didn't feel quite as sore after giving birth to Liam. Of course, labor with him lasted about 8 hours and I pushed for 30 minutes. So, I'm sure that made a difference too.

But that sweating thing? What is that? It happened with Liam too. I would sleep with a towel underneath me so I could easily get rid of it in the middle of the night.

What surprised you the most about labor/delivery?

Dear Body

Dear Body,

Thank you for waiting until the craziness that is known as Thanksgiving/Quinn's birthday was over to get sick.

I really appreciate it.

Really.

Of course, you could have waited just one more week, but that's okay. It'll all work out alright.

Also, I'm sorry you hurt so much. I don't remember ever hurting this much before. It sucks. The doctor said you'll feel better soon - like tomorrow.

Yours truly,
me