Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Playground
We are all mostly healthy now, except for a bit of cough we have remaining. Today was a beautiful day (yay for no rain!) so we got to visit the playground. It was a much needed running around for the boys.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Progress at last!!
My little Nicholas is so lazy when it comes to potty training. Its not that he can't do it; its that he won't do it. If he gets sick with diarrhea, he will more than gladly tell us and go use the potty, but other than that.... its a losing battle for us. He told us, "Its so easy to go in my diaper" and he is so stubborn that it is hard to get him to budge from that.
With Connor, he was motivated to be a big boy and wear big boy undies. He was further motivated by treats and encouragement and he put in the effort. None of that works with Nicholas. We had just about gotten to the point where we thought we were going to have to start buy Depends for that boy.
A month or two before his third birthday, he said that when he was 3, he would be a big boy and go on the potty. We told him that we intended to hold him to that. Unfortunately, he was beginning to have second thoughts on that bargain as his birthday neared. I brought out the undies on his 3rd birthday and he burst into tears. It was not a pretty sight. Then Connor bought something with his allowance that day. He saved up for 3 weeks to be able to buy a Lego Ben 10 figure. He bought Spider-monkey and Nicholas really liked it. Upon looking through the brochure of other Ben 10 Lego figures you could buy (of course they would include that in there), Nicholas found one that he really wanted. He asked me to take him to Target to buy him the Swampfire figure. I told him that he could have it, IF he was a big boy and went on the potty and kept his undies clean.
Both boys got sick shortly after Nicholas' 3rd birthday, so I had intended to let the potty training go for now and pick up again when he was healthy. Then last night after bath, Nicholas announced that he wanted to wear undies and be a big boy. My first thought was 'yeah right, like I will trust you with undies in your bed all night', but I went with it. I let him wear the undies over his diaper to bed. (Actually, he put them on over his pants even.) When he woke up this morning, he said he needed clean undies. So he put on new undies. He seemed quite determined that he would be a big boy now and I was so relieved. Given that it was HIS choice to do it made me feel so much better because it was a huge step in the right direction.
He managed to stay dry all morning. He would have gone all day except that at lunch he thought he could finish his lunch and still make it to the potty in time and failed slightly. He got slightly wet and we had to change his undies again, but at least he finished going in the potty. It also helped my cause that after his little accident he asked me for a diaper. It just so happened that there were no more diapers left in his container. This helped him even further to accept that he must be a big boy now because there are no diapers left.
We shall see how tomorrow goes. I can only pray that he continues to be so motivated and that it is the end of diapers in this house until Baby arrives in July. :) As our progress continues, I'm sure we will continue to have our Swampfire discussion. He will keep reminding me how much he wants it and I will keep telling him he can have it as long as he is a big boy.
With Connor, he was motivated to be a big boy and wear big boy undies. He was further motivated by treats and encouragement and he put in the effort. None of that works with Nicholas. We had just about gotten to the point where we thought we were going to have to start buy Depends for that boy.
A month or two before his third birthday, he said that when he was 3, he would be a big boy and go on the potty. We told him that we intended to hold him to that. Unfortunately, he was beginning to have second thoughts on that bargain as his birthday neared. I brought out the undies on his 3rd birthday and he burst into tears. It was not a pretty sight. Then Connor bought something with his allowance that day. He saved up for 3 weeks to be able to buy a Lego Ben 10 figure. He bought Spider-monkey and Nicholas really liked it. Upon looking through the brochure of other Ben 10 Lego figures you could buy (of course they would include that in there), Nicholas found one that he really wanted. He asked me to take him to Target to buy him the Swampfire figure. I told him that he could have it, IF he was a big boy and went on the potty and kept his undies clean.
Both boys got sick shortly after Nicholas' 3rd birthday, so I had intended to let the potty training go for now and pick up again when he was healthy. Then last night after bath, Nicholas announced that he wanted to wear undies and be a big boy. My first thought was 'yeah right, like I will trust you with undies in your bed all night', but I went with it. I let him wear the undies over his diaper to bed. (Actually, he put them on over his pants even.) When he woke up this morning, he said he needed clean undies. So he put on new undies. He seemed quite determined that he would be a big boy now and I was so relieved. Given that it was HIS choice to do it made me feel so much better because it was a huge step in the right direction.
He managed to stay dry all morning. He would have gone all day except that at lunch he thought he could finish his lunch and still make it to the potty in time and failed slightly. He got slightly wet and we had to change his undies again, but at least he finished going in the potty. It also helped my cause that after his little accident he asked me for a diaper. It just so happened that there were no more diapers left in his container. This helped him even further to accept that he must be a big boy now because there are no diapers left.
We shall see how tomorrow goes. I can only pray that he continues to be so motivated and that it is the end of diapers in this house until Baby arrives in July. :) As our progress continues, I'm sure we will continue to have our Swampfire discussion. He will keep reminding me how much he wants it and I will keep telling him he can have it as long as he is a big boy.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tub Fun
Yesterday Cathy and Marija stopped by to give Nicholas his birthday presents. We have read some of the books a few times now and used many of the stickers. We also had a great deal of fun with our tub toys! We already had some Spider-man themed ones that stick to the wall when wet and now Marija has given us some cars, trains, stop signs, roads, etc to play with! The boys had a blast in the tub today.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Gummy Tree
This week has been slightly difficult. On Sunday the boys came down with a little cough. Monday morning at 5 am, Connor woke up crying that he didn't feel well. He went back to sleep in our bed and I decided to keep him home because he really seemed to not feel well. By 8 am he had developed a slight fever, so I was glad he stayed home. Nicholas was fine by this point, just coughing a little every now and then.
Tuesday Nicholas had his 3 year check-up, so I asked if we could squeeze in Connor to make sure he was relatively okay. The Doctor accommodated us and saw us a little earlier than we had planned. Connor has a virus and she said he should get over it on his own. She said his ears, lungs, and nose were fine so she was not worried about the fact he had a low fever. Given that he had any fever though, meant that he could not return to school yet; at his school, you must be fever free without medication for 24 hours before you can return to school.
At this appointment, we learned that Nicholas is a bit heavier than he ought to be. I told her it is not due to snacking between meals, just that when he eats, he eats a lot; he LOVES food. Anyway, we have to start disciplining how much he eats which I'm sure will be a battle in and of itself. Other than that, he was healthy. He measured 3 feet, 3 inches tall and weighed 39 pounds. He was apparently missing one vaccination, so they gave it to him at the appointment. Consequently, he slept an awful lot yesterday and even though he has not napped in the afternoon in many months now, he napped today. He looked like he was going to pass out, so I told him to lie down on his bed, but he refused. He went and sat on the couch instead and ended up falling asleep there sitting down. I eventually lay him down since he kept slipping. He slept for an hour and then got up as if nothing had happened and I had been wrong about him being tired. :P
While he slept, Connor and I worked on a school project that is due next week. Since next week will be their 100th day of school, he was supposed to get 100 things and find an artistic and unique way of displaying them. The other prerequisite was that it had to be in such a manner that the students could count the objects by ten. Our solution was to make a Gummy Tree (thanks to all the Gummy Fruit we got at Michael's birthday party!)
I cut out the cardboard tree last week and figured out how to make it stand. Today we made brown and green paint since we only had primary color tempera paint. We painted the tree and the stand; I'm sure this part was the most fun for Connor because he got brown and green paint all over the table. I didn't mind this only because I knew I bought washable paint.
Anyway, we worked on the project all afternoon and were able to finish it. We are both pleased with the results, although one of us is more concerned about when will we get to eat the gummy fruit off of the tree. :)
After finishing our tree project, Connor came down with fever again today.... so no school tomorrow either. He will probably end up missing the whole week. Oh well at least he seems to be getting better.
Tuesday Nicholas had his 3 year check-up, so I asked if we could squeeze in Connor to make sure he was relatively okay. The Doctor accommodated us and saw us a little earlier than we had planned. Connor has a virus and she said he should get over it on his own. She said his ears, lungs, and nose were fine so she was not worried about the fact he had a low fever. Given that he had any fever though, meant that he could not return to school yet; at his school, you must be fever free without medication for 24 hours before you can return to school.
At this appointment, we learned that Nicholas is a bit heavier than he ought to be. I told her it is not due to snacking between meals, just that when he eats, he eats a lot; he LOVES food. Anyway, we have to start disciplining how much he eats which I'm sure will be a battle in and of itself. Other than that, he was healthy. He measured 3 feet, 3 inches tall and weighed 39 pounds. He was apparently missing one vaccination, so they gave it to him at the appointment. Consequently, he slept an awful lot yesterday and even though he has not napped in the afternoon in many months now, he napped today. He looked like he was going to pass out, so I told him to lie down on his bed, but he refused. He went and sat on the couch instead and ended up falling asleep there sitting down. I eventually lay him down since he kept slipping. He slept for an hour and then got up as if nothing had happened and I had been wrong about him being tired. :P
While he slept, Connor and I worked on a school project that is due next week. Since next week will be their 100th day of school, he was supposed to get 100 things and find an artistic and unique way of displaying them. The other prerequisite was that it had to be in such a manner that the students could count the objects by ten. Our solution was to make a Gummy Tree (thanks to all the Gummy Fruit we got at Michael's birthday party!)
I cut out the cardboard tree last week and figured out how to make it stand. Today we made brown and green paint since we only had primary color tempera paint. We painted the tree and the stand; I'm sure this part was the most fun for Connor because he got brown and green paint all over the table. I didn't mind this only because I knew I bought washable paint.
Anyway, we worked on the project all afternoon and were able to finish it. We are both pleased with the results, although one of us is more concerned about when will we get to eat the gummy fruit off of the tree. :)
After finishing our tree project, Connor came down with fever again today.... so no school tomorrow either. He will probably end up missing the whole week. Oh well at least he seems to be getting better.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Happy Birthday
Today is Nicholas' 3rd birthday! :) We had blueberry muffins and sang 'Happy Birthday' this morning before Mass. Can you tell he was excited?
Last night, Connor lost his fourth tooth. It came out when he was brushing his teeth and he didn't even notice it was stuck to his toothbrush. I had to point it out to him and even then he was like 'how did that happen?'
Last night, Connor lost his fourth tooth. It came out when he was brushing his teeth and he didn't even notice it was stuck to his toothbrush. I had to point it out to him and even then he was like 'how did that happen?'
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Birthday Party
Today was Nicholas' birthday party. He had tons of fun and really enjoyed himself. We had people come at different times, so it was never really packed or anything. The kids got to color on the paper wrapped table; this took a little while to convince them it was okay to color on the table. :P They also dug for plastic dinosaurs in the sand, played with toys both new and old, and just goofed around in general. Even some of the 'big kids' played with the toys. :)
Upon seeing this picture, Nicholas declared, "I'm all filthy!"
Happy Birthday to ME!
Michael playing hard to get with his Mommy.
Yummy cake... no fork required.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Birthday Prep
We are pretty much ready for tomorrow's birthday party. Nicholas is thoroughly excited about his Dinosaur Birthday Party. All that is left is to pick up his cake tomorrow morning and some balloons.
We spent this morning making and decorating dinosaur shaped sugar cookies. We just happened to find some dinosaur sprinkles earlier this week, so both Nicholas and I were very excited about that!
I rolled out the cookie dough and Nicholas would press down our dinosaur cookie cutter to create our shapes. Nicholas decorated each with two eyes and a variety of dinosaur sprinkles around their body. In the end, we managed to make 20 cookies. We put them to bake and when they came out-- well, let's just say that some of the dinosaurs now look like they need to join over-eaters anonymous! :P
Either way, upon testing them, we discovered that despite some of them being misshapen, they are quite delicious. :) Mission accomplished.
We spent this morning making and decorating dinosaur shaped sugar cookies. We just happened to find some dinosaur sprinkles earlier this week, so both Nicholas and I were very excited about that!
I rolled out the cookie dough and Nicholas would press down our dinosaur cookie cutter to create our shapes. Nicholas decorated each with two eyes and a variety of dinosaur sprinkles around their body. In the end, we managed to make 20 cookies. We put them to bake and when they came out-- well, let's just say that some of the dinosaurs now look like they need to join over-eaters anonymous! :P
Either way, upon testing them, we discovered that despite some of them being misshapen, they are quite delicious. :) Mission accomplished.
The finished products
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)