Sorry about the lapse.

Yeah, my last post was September 12th. Sorry about that. I’ve been really busy changing our lifestyle around. Old habits die hard.

Well, we still aren’t potty training. We finally got a new regular schedule down for Aidan. He was waking around 9:30am and going to bed around 8:30p. He got sick last week and his schedule is all of balance now. I’m thinking that we may start potty training around December, but then again getting through the holidays and our income adjustment sounds like a better idea. I would like to have him potty trained by the time he turns 3 (Jan. 27th)  so that I can get him into Head Start or something. They have to be potty trained for that, right?

He has started showing more interest in dressing him self and insists on doing it alone most of the time. He has also been forming sentences and saying all kinds of new words he has never said before. And I mean oodles of words. He is no longer resistant to repeating after us. I’m sure they’ve been in there all along.

So right now Aidan is sick with his yearly sinus crud. He seems to be getting better as he isn’t as snotty; just coughing a lot. I was sick last week from Monday-Thursday and have gotten a lot better since then. Mike started getting sick over the weekend so hopefully he’ll start feeling better in the next couple of days. At least we all got it at the same time so we can be done with it!

 

Taking a break

So we decided to tak a break from potty training.

I think changing his bedtime/naptime routine was a little stressful for him – well, for all of us – and so it affected his potty training progress. That became very frustrating for me and I felt like it was a failure of mine or that I wasn’t doing something right (I know, I know…MY issues). In return, he was seeking reactions from me by peeing everywhere he wasn’t supposed to.
So now we are on a break. Hopefully it’s s brief one. During this time we are going to go back to his normal nap routine, but try to allow him shorter naps in hopes that he still goes to bed at a decent time.
Fingers crossed.

Rest easy.

About 2 weeks ago I bought Aidan a new toddler bed. I was tired of using his 4-in-1 crib because it was high off the ground (higher than I’d like). I was walking through Walmart doing my regular shopping and was in the baby section. They are currently renovating my Walmart and so the beds were next to the toys.

I saw a new toddler bed that I HAD to have. It was wood and a dark stain. It looked great in the picture and I could see it in his room and something that is very flexible with different colors as he grows older. I imagine he can use it until he’s at least 5 or 6.

I don’t have a picture, but I will soon.

At this same time we decided to start changing his daily routine. It was a pretty big overhaul. Normally he would wake up around 9:30am then nap about 3 hours during the day, usually from 2-5pm. This put him in bed late every night, but he wouldn’t go to sleep any earlier than 1:30pm usually.

So because he always seemed wired and playful around naptime, I decided to see if he would just stay up the rest of the day and incorporate an earlier bedtime into his routine. Stacie says her daughter rarely takes naps, so I figured it was worth the try. I thought that if he slept from 9pm until 9am that would be fabulous!!

So far so good! He has been crashing around 9pm every night and waking up between 8 and 9am. This gives Mike and I time with each other from 9 until our bedtime. It is SO nice! The only thing that sucks is not having free time during the day and it can be more exhausting not having that break from him, but I’ve actually found that around 4pm he starts bogging down and chilling on his own so he isn’t a wild beast  to tame.

It’s working out very well.

He’s growing up!

We’ve had a successful couple of weeks of potty training. It is to the point that Aidan is going pretty regularly in the potty and not on the couch or in the floor. He even goes on his own initiative a lot, too!

He also has not used his paci in this time as well. He asks about it when he goes to nap or sleep and then recognizes that, “bebe gone!” and he seems ok with it. He now talks to his animals when he is going to sleep and it takes him maybe 30 minutes to fall asleep on his own. I’m even thinking about removing his toddler rails, but I guess it never hurts to keep it up. It just makes his dust ruffle all cooky.

He is forming small sentences now, but we can’t understand most of what he’s saying, but it’s obvious they are all seperate words.

We went to the Ocoee River a couple of months ago and I can’t believe I forgot to post pics on here, but here they are. I love how these turned out; I love the contrast.

In awe at the sound the rocks make when they thud in the water.

Throwing dirt.

Potty Training

Yesterday I decided to start trying to potty train Aidan…again. The first time I don’t think he was as ready as I was hoping. So I prepared myself for this time because I really want to stick with it. Plus, it’s discouraged to start then give up. SO, here we are on day two.
Well, I can say that I am exhausted from wiping up so much pee lately. Well, not SO much, but doing it what seems like back-to-back-to-back-to-back.
I looked up a suggestion that was given to me by one of my former patients. She had seen a Dr. Phil show on potty training in a day where he uses a peeing doll and goes through the motions to sort of “train” and motivate your child to want to repeat the same behaviors. In the end, the doll was rewarded with a party and lots of attention was given to the doll for its success. Your child will vie for that attention.

Now, other resources say not to go overboard with the rewarding because it can also cause anxiety for fear of failure the next time.  I decided to do a mixture of both.

Yesterday afternoon, Aidan peed in his potty when I went to get him a book. We celebrated with ice cream and soda. I have since commended him on his successes by telling him he did a really good job. He has peed in his potty twice again today, so I consider it a success so far.

I am proud of my little punkin butter bisquit.

3 feet of madness.

Yes, it can be measured. It comes in the form of a little blonde headed boy who goes by the name of Aidan. And sometimes he seems possessed.

But, regardless, he is my sweet little devil and today he was very well behaved when we went and got our WIC (which will probably be our last visit).  So well behaved that he was treated to a peanut butter shake from Sonic. #holla

And you’ll only understand what #holla means if you do twitter.

Anyways. The point of this short little post is to tell you that Aidan measured exactly 3 feet tall today and weighs 30.4lbs!! What a big boy! He is 29 1/2 months old.

Mama loves you!

Scary apps.

I just wanted to quickly note that I have a bunch of toddler appropriate apps on my iPhone for Aidan. They are all fun and meant for learning. Mine and his favorite is the First Words: (Vehicles, Animals, etc).
I have this other one that he likes (Tozzle), but whenever the cow, pig or horse come up to be moved across the screen, he hands it to me and runs and hides momentarily. It’s the funniest thing!
I think he may be scared of those animals, especially the pig.
I don’t know why, though.

Fun in the Sun.

or…Sun your buns. I used to have a couple of t-shirts that read that. *giggle* Ahhhh, the 80s.

Yesterday we bought Aidan a nice size pool at Target for only $15. It is going to be about 4 feet by 8 feet long and perfectly deep for a kid his age. He can stand in it and be above the water, yet be able to splash around and swim when he learns.

Mike took him and Alex to the lake house for Father’s Day and Aidan did not want to leave!! He especially did not want to get out of the pool. I had seen the ad in Target’s paper this week and decided I couldn’t pass that up. He needs more places to play and things to do in his own back yard.

Next, we will be making him a sandbox. I am so excited!

Buwd is a word.

Since my last post, Aidan has been saying sooo many words. Or, I’ve been recognizing them at least. There are some phrases he often says over and over that I can’t understand and I don’t know what he’s talking about even though he points.

At least he doesn’t get frustrated about it because that is not a good thing according to baby.com.

He is also stopping when he pees and grabs at his crotch. He also hsa been going and hiding in certain areas when he’s taking a dump. Now if I could just get him to go on his potty.

He was hungry and wanted his dinner!

As I was finishing up spaghetti tonight, it happened.

Aidan said spaghetti!! I am so tickled because of two reasons:

• It is my favorite meal and,
• I realized what he was saying!

Sometimes it takes some thinking over for me to get what he is saying, but not tonight.

He said it clear as day: “puh geh-geh”

I love  it!!!!!