You Gotta Know When to Hold It ...

Potty Training Diary.
This is really TMI for most people.  Basically, we did a potty training week, it was hard, but I'm hopeful that we are headed in the right direction.  I'm always trying to find info online about parenting situations that other people have encountered, so I hope that maybe someone will find this someday and know that they are not alone in what's happening in their house!

Day 1:
Started late in the day because we needed to go to soccer in the morning.
Pee: On the porch.
Pee: In the backyard.
Pee: In the toilet!  First time ever!!!!!!!!
Pee: In the toilet!
Pee: In the bathtub.
The successful evening pees were more dribbles and drips, but it was something!  Zane got to have a nasty, sugary grape soda to encourage drinking and lots of peeing, which he absolutely looooooooved.

Day 2:
Pee: In the toilet.
Dry nap diaper.
Pee: In the potty.
That was it for the whole day!  Clearly, Zane needs to drink more.  But still, no accidents other than some pre-pee dribbles in underwear.  Zane also had "better" pee, in that he didn't spend a lot of time dribbling, he actually managed to get up a good stream.

Day 3:
We had an unexpected outing come up, so I plied Zane with a big milk drink in the morning hoping to get him to pee before we had to go.  He did (after a lot of work and waiting), and it all worked out with no accidents, but it was stressful!  I ordered a travel potty and some car seat pads for the future.
Pee: In the toilet.
Dry nap diaper.
Pee: In the toilet, with hardly any waiting!
Pee: On the floor, just after an unsuccessful potty time.

Day 4:
Lots of stress and tears about getting on the toilet today.  Stuffed toy Kitty told me she is tired of hearing about pee and diapers.  Zane told me to stop using a timer when he's on the toilet (for minimum "try" time).  Zane and I are generally unhappy.
Pee: In the toilet.
Pee: On the living room carpet.  My fault for going pee first when we came home from the store!
Pee: half in the toilet, half on the floor.  Quite a struggle to get him to sit when he really wanted to be helping Daddy clean out the garage and capture spiders.
Wet nap diaper.
Pee in the toilet after much despair.
We are tired of toilet training.  We want to throttle each other.

Day 5:
OK, new attitude for both of us, and a sunny new day!
Pee: In the toilet, without much wait.
Pee: In the toilet, without much wait.
Pee in the backyard.
Dry nap diaper.
Pee in the backyard after several potty tries and an obvious need to pee.  It's hard to relax!
Pee in the potty while watching us get dinner ready.

Day 6:
A good morning, with a timely pee in the potty, then off to daycare wearing underwear!  I sent him with two changes of clothes.  When I picked him up he was in different pants and a diaper.  He had said that he would hold it until he got home, and well, that didn't work out.  Phylesia at daycare said it was OK to keep trying, so he'll go with undies again tomorrow.  Zane will also bring his own red potty in case that helps.
One good pee at home in the toilet after a nice bike ride.  After bedtime he said he needed to pee, but I think that was just a delaying tactic.

Day 7:
Same deal at daycare: wet himself and came home with a diaper and new pants on.  Oh well.  At home he did great with a potty pee that came out very fast ; he said, "Mama, I relaxed and the pee came out!"  I think he may be getting it.  Then we had a poop and more pee.  Plus, after bed, for the first time he announced he had to pee, and then did in the toilet.  A very successful evening!  He is happy to have figured his muscles out a bit.  He said, "I think when I pee my muscles open up like this (hands move apart), and when I poop they close like this (hands together)."  Pretty good guess!

So, now we seem to have gotten through initial success, a mid-week slump, and now we are on the slow journey to success.  Zane is figuring out how to hold the pee, how to know when he really has to go, and how to tell us, and how to relax to get it out quickly.  I was surprised to find that he would start to have dry nap diapers, too.  Hopefully over the next months he can learn to recognize when he needs to go, and do it.  School starts in 5 weeks, and then we go on an airplane trip in 2 months, so hopefully we'll be pretty good to go then!

The Best Weekend Ever

We all just had one of the most superrific weekends ever!

Saturday morning started out on a high note for me, when Zane pooped in a potty on purpose for the first time.  I'm so happy!  This coming Saturday we start our dedicated week of potty training, but this early success just put me over the moon.  I'm so ready to be done with diapers, and Zane really needs to be potty trained before school starts in September.

Then we headed to soccer.  I had signed Zane up for L'il Kickers in the Thumpers division.  Several weeks ago when I was at work, Michael and Zane headed over for the first class, and Zane had a complete snotty-face and flapping-arms meltdown and refused to participate.  Two weeks ago I was again working for the second class.  Michael took Zane and this time they had a fabulous time.  So this past weekend it was finally my turn to go, and we both had a great time!  The class is almost an hour long, but coach Austin kept us going with lots of different games to keep up the kids' interest.  We ran, did red-light-green-light, planted trees (righting little cones with feet only), kicked balls, tried to do headers, chased the coach, and played with a parachute, plus more!  We've had strange humid and thundery weather for the past week, and thunder storms rumbled during the whole class, but luckily we were spared having to dash for cover.  We also got to meet up with our favorite neighbor Josie (4 yo) and her family.  Josie is in a soccer class, too, and after the classes we hung out at the play ground together.

In the afternoon all three of us got ready to go down into Ballard for the annual Seafood Festival.  I had promised Zane he could have ice cream, so he was excited for it!  We walked down with the stroller, but Zane walked about half of the way himself.  We got ourselves some ice cream, a corn dog, fried zucchini, and salmon and slaw to get started.  First things first!  Then we headed over to the European Super Slide.  This thing is about 3 stories high!  Zane qualified to go, so we bought three rides and climbed the stairs to the top.  All the way down Zane whimpered on the bumps, but once we got to the bottom he hopped up and said, "I want to do it again!"  Then he zipped right up the stairs two more times for two more rides.  Each time he was scared on the way down but wanted to go again!

We were going to go to the spray park next, but it was inexplicably turned off on a rare hot day during the festival!  We saw some bouncy houses across the park, though, and headed over.  We soon discovered it wasn't just a bouncy house, but also a blow up obstacle course!  I had just a few days ago explained what an obstacle course was (in relation to his toys in the living room), and now he got to do one!  I have never seen anything so awesome for little kids.  The whole thing was soft.  You squished through pillow-like bollards, slithered through tunnels, climbed mountains, and slid down the other side.  Zane went through again and again.  We finally convinced him to go home, and he walked halfway home, uphill and pushing a stroller.  Needless to say, after crazy soccer, playground, walking to the festival and back, and being an obstacle course maniac, he slept well that night.

The next day we headed down again for lunch.  When Zane saw what Michael was wearing he needed to have on a Hawaii shirt, too.  This time we started with the park, and found that a small animal zoo had been added!  Michael and the camel got on well.  We also saw two little ponies, a baby pig, bunnies, young ducks, guinea pigs, a dove, some quail, hens and roosters, baby bunnies, and baby goats.  All Zane could see, though, was the obstacle course gleaming in the distance.  Calling, calling to him.  We headed over there and there was no line, so he went through three times fast, and then had a stint in the bouncy house.

Next we headed over to the super slide, but we saw face painting on the way.  I asked Zane if he wanted to do it, and I was surprised that he did!  He chose a tiger face, and sat absolutely still for the whole procedure.  I was amazed. Unfortunately, when he saw his face in the mirror he was not happy.  I think he was weirded out by the fact that he did not look like himself.  As long as he didn't see his reflection, though, he was fine.  He ended up roaring most of the way home.  We had another three turns on the Super Slide, and when Zane got off at the bottom he started to shout "Yeah!  Yeah!" in a gutteral way.  He was still scared by the ride, but he seemed to get a real high from the adrenalin rush.  I think we are in for some scary teen years.  After that we got the same food as the day before, except a pineapple shave ice replaced the ice cream.  All in all another fantastic day!

Monday morning we even squeezed in a visit with Josie at her house, and then 5 kids and 3 moms in our backyard for awhile before Zane and I had to get ready to head out for work and daycare.

I would have to say we had the most fun weekend ever, with all three of us together!  And here we have some video evidence:
 


Next adventure? Potty training!

Summer kickoff

Happy Fourth of July!

Today finally feels like summer.  We frolicked in the sun and had a cookout in the backyard.  We actually had on shorts and sunscreen!  For the sad springs and summers we've had lately, this seems miraculous.  Even though it has been overcast, at least we haven't had days and days of rain like last year.  Zane has been enjoying hanging out on the back porch getting fresh air and listening to the birds.  He has also all of a sudden gotten a great urge to "work" in the garden.  He loves to dig dig dig in areas I've weeded.  He digs holes, moves dirt around, makes lakes with the hose, mud pies, and "highscrapers" for the bugs and flies in the garden.  When I'm ready to quit for lunch or nap time, he tells me I have to keep working.  Such a taskmaster.  I love the fact that I am actually able to get some gardening done while he's busy.  Our yard has been such a disaster for the last three years, and now I feel like there's hope I may neaten it up again.

I can't believe it, but Zane is almost 3!  With my procrastination/busy record lately, my next post will probably be after his birthday on August 15th.  His hair is already getting long from his first cut, and I think some of his pants are finally starting to look a bit short.  He's still a lean mean machine, but when I watch him subsist on fruit and then run around all day like a crazy man, I think I know why.  He's better and better at letter recognition, and can sometimes point out specific words in a book.  Once he even recognized the word gum when I spelled it out to Michael!  Mostly I think he's remembering individual things rather than assimilating the concept of reading, but still, I get excited about the prospect of reading coming in the future.

We've had a bit of a preschool saga, but now we seem to be all settled.  A new Montessori school was built last summer just around the corner from our house.  I contacted the owner and she said she would let me know when they started their waiting list.  And then she forgot!  When I next contacted her she said the school was full for Fall 2012.  Because I thought we had a deal, I hadn't lined up another school, and in Seattle most have wait lists.  I negotiated a #1 spot on the wait list for the Montessori school, and then Zane and I went on three preschool tours around town.  I had settled on one when the Montessori school found they had a spot for us.  It's more expensive than the regular preschools, but I love that it is literally in our neighborhood and Zane will be going to school with kids who live across the street from us.  Also, there is only one tuition (full time), so since I'm paying for it, I'll have Zane go a little extra so I can go back to the gym.  In May my long-time gym cancelled their child-care program so I haven't worked out since the end of April.  I feel like a stiff old weakling.  I'm looking forward to our new routine of school and the gym, although I'll have to adjust to a little less Zane in my life.  Which is sad for me.  The gym will be good.  I've been sick a lot this spring, and I partly blame my lack of exercise.

Some stories.

One night at dinner, Zane told me a story.
Before he was Zane, a long, long time ago, he was a man who painted houses. He painted them yellow and blue. He had a yellow rental car, but he didn't give it back. He left his paint brushes and bucket far, far away and someday will go back and get them. Then, before he was Zane, he was also a woman.

I have no idea where this all came from. It was fascinating to listen to!  This was about a month ago, and a few days ago he brought it up again.  He started telling me that he needed to cover up an old can of gray paint he had left when he was a man a long time ago.  This is so interesting, because we don't talk about past-lives, and I didn't prompt this.  My Mom remembers asking him where he was before he was born, so that may have got him thinking.

At the beginning of June the Touch-a-Truck event happened again.  Last year just Zane and I went, and I didn't even try waiting in the lines to actually get into a truck.  This year Michael and I tag teamed waiting in the lines, so Zane got to explore the inside of an ambulance and a semi truck cab. I think it was actually more fun when we didn't try to wait to get in the trucks.  The ice cream was probably the highlight, though (but I had to wait in line about 40 minutes for it). Zane went back and forth to all three cones treating them like a rotating personal ice cream buffet.

Zane has become a bit of a daredevil on his balance bike.  I have to jog to keep up, and I've been waiting for the inevitable spill.  One day Zane took off down the sidewalk on his balance bike. He went farther and faster than before. By the time I realized he wasn't stopping, it was too late for me to run and catch him. He sailed over a huge bump, went about 6 feet more, and crashed into a huge rock. He got a big bloody scrape on his chin but cried for all of 10 seconds. I asked him, "Were you trying to stop, or did you go fast on purpose?" "I went fast on purpose!" Trying to make a teaching moment I said, "And how did that work out for ya?" "It worked out good!" he chirped.

Last week Zane went to a Princess Party for his favorite neighbor Josie's 4th birthday.  I had been looking forward to this, but unfortunately I was just starting to get really sick, so I had to rouse Michael to take Zane.  Zane had been looking forward to the party, too, so I really didn't want him to lose out.  I put him in a snazzy vest, and then he was completely game to wear a tiara.  The tiara wouldn't stay on, but I did get a quick picture.  Zane ended up falling in love with the vest, though, and it has become a new wardrobe favorite.  When he was littler he wouldn't keep it on, so I'm pleased, too.

Now I have to think of something interesting to do for Zane's birthday!  I'm thinking just burgers and cupcakes in the back yard.  Maybe I can pull off some sort of theme.

 Well, with summer time and nicer-ish weather, we've been getting out to the zoo and the beach a lot.  Today we went to the Aquarium and saw the new Ferris wheel, the Great Wheel.  The line was too long for us, but maybe later in the summer we can give it a whirl.