Tears on day two.

Harrison cried when I dropped him at Moms day Out for his second day today. It was sad to leave him, but I made a quick exit, I think lingering would just make it worse for everyone involved. There were lots of tears from many of the kids today, I think the second day is worse for most kids.

I knew he would settle down pretty quick, and he sure did!

His teachers said he was only sad for about 2 minutes, and he had a super fun time, he learned about Noah and the Ark today, and he went no:2 on the potty! They were very impressed and he got a certificate and some stickers.

When I picked him up he was talking about apples, and very excited! He had little apple stickers on his shirt, so I guess that's why :)

On the way home all he could say was "More school!!! I guess that means its a success.

Here are his art projects from today.

I love that he is learning all the Bible stories, it reminds me of my childhood.

While Harrison was busy having fun, I was busy cleaning, and hanging out with Allister.

The house was so so quiet with him gone, we missed him, but it was also nice to just be the two of us.

Both boys are now napping!

Its oh so quiet :)

We had almost forgotten what normal was!

After many bouts of sickness over the last 3 weeks, and Harrison being out of sorts with his lack of naps I had almost forgotten what our "normal" was. Well, this week its back.

And it feels good!

When the house is not running at full steam, things just don't go smoothly, and all the rules and plans go out of the window. We watch too much TV and don't do enough fun stuff, we stay in the house too much because we are all out of whack, and everything seems to slip.

Then, when things start to get back to normal, and we feel better, it takes a week to get our grove back. The house especially gets so messy and dirty when I am sick, and it seems to take days to put it all back together.

Well, we are almost back on track!

We are going out most morning, running errands, the park or playing in the sand box, and then back home for lunch and then naps. Naps are back BIG TIME! Harrison is napping so well right now, with his potty training all done, he is now waking up earlier in the mornings than he used to, as he needs to pee. His is pretty much dry most nights and naps now, and we only have a rare accident during the day. Mostly because he wants to eat or do something super exciting that he just cant be bothered to go, even when reminded. Some things are just way more interesting than peeing don't you know! I put the dry nights down totally to these night time sleep pants. they are pretty much like cloth diapers, but slip on just like underwear. They are super thick, the photo doesn't really show how thick. But as Harrison was taking off a nappy and pull-up these have been great. they only hold about 1 pee, so when Harrison first started using them he would wake up wet in the middle of the night, and we changed sheets a lot for a week or two. But now he knows when he pees, they have trained him to sleep dry at night most nights. Occasionally he will wake up and need to go potty at night, but most mornings he wakes up dry, its pretty awesome!

The bug that Harrison had recently was a bad one, its only now he is 100% well again. After the sickness he got diarrhea, and we had a couple of messy incidents, but mostly he made it to the potty. Then I got sick Tuesday night, very sick. I can honestly say I don't think I have ever had a stomach virus as an adult, all my throwing up has been totally self inflicted if you know what I mean. Well, I was up all night ill, and them Matt had to stay home Wednesday to watch the boys as I was too ill. Then he got sick too, but he got off lucky (although he wouldn't say that!) as he felt terrible but didn't get too much of the other symptoms. I guess I need to get used to these bugs working their way round the whole gang! Allister stayed healthy and strong, thanks to his extra breast milk antibodies I guess!

Allister is finally sleeping through the night.

Can I get a "whoop!"

Thank you.

He goes from 7:30-8pm when he goes to bed, right through till 6 am at least. Its so nice to be catching up on some sleep! He is stuffing his face like crazy with his solids now, and tries to grab the spoon and bowl and feed himself, so finger foods will be coming soon, he is so ready! He is eating fairly chunky food now and says "mmmmmm" all the time.

He still isn't quiet sitting up, but it wont be long! He sits for a little while, so he is working on it! He only has 1 or 2 lbs left till he outgrows his infant carrier, so he needs to sit soon or I wont be able to sit him anywhere!

Anyhow, I'm off to grab a few minutes of quiet time while both the boys sleep.

:)

Ooops

Harrison had his first potty accident while we were out today.

We went to go to Avery Park, but they are doing construction there, so we diverted to another park.

The park doesn't have a loo, Avery park does, its one of the reasons we go there!

So Harrison did his little tell tale "Shiver" but we were too late.

He handled it really well, and luckily it was a tiny accident, I hope he will learn a lesson here, that he needs to let me know before hand. I'm sure this wont be the last accident we have, but next time I am only going to parks with restrooms!

More potty update.

We were at the Mall on Sunday playing in the kiddie play area, as you can see form the photo on the blog post below.

A panicked look came over Harrison ., and he started to pull down his pants.

"Potty potty potty!"

He said, so we whisked him off to the Sears bathroom, and he did his business!

This is the first time Harrison has been to a big boy bathroom while we have been out!

We are so proud of our little guy :)

Chose your words carefully!

When Harrison was little and he had a poopy diaper, we would say ooh did you do a poopers? So the word poopers was in his vocabulary from an early age. Then when they got really stinky, we added the word, so it became a "Stinky poopers". And that's still the words Harrison uses, for No1 and No2! Now, had we thought about it, we would have chosen our words more wisely, these words are fine for at home, but while out?

In line at Kroger?

"Stinky Poopers Mummy!"

Not so much.

Maybe will Allister will will call it going potty instead ;O)

The ultimate test.

Harrison passed the ultimate potty test this morning, so I think we are officially done!

Yay!

We were outside playing in the sand box this morning while his baby brother napped. And he did a little shiver, he does that when he needs to go potty. He started to undress, bless him. Right there in the garden! So I said do you need to go potty, he didn't need to answer by the look on his face! I took him inside and he went potty.

No accidents!

I'm sure there will be accidents to come, he is still fairly new at this game, but I think for the most part we are done and dusted!

It feels good to not have to ask if he needs to go potty 100 time a day.

Dry nights - Potty training update

Harrison had his first dry night last night! Such a big achievement for my little guy :)

We are not intentionally training for nights yet, but Harrison seems to want to train himself, so I don't want to ignore it and end up with a bed wetting boy. Boys tend to have a lot of problems staying dry up until they are much older kids, even past 6 years old, so I cant ignore this.

The last few nights Harrison has woke up crying at around 3am, with or without a nappy on. I figured out this is when he pee's at night. I have felt his nappy before and after he wakes, and its dry before and wet after. Also, on the night he's taken his nappy off, he has wet the bed right around this time.

So last night, Harrison slept with a nappy on. He woke up crying at 3:30am. Daddy goes in and Harrison is saying something we can't understand. So I ask Harrison to show me what he means, he leads me downstairs and I think its an excuse to play! He wonders around looking lost, so I ask him if he needs to go potty. He says yes, we take off his nappy and he goes.

Then goes back to bed without a fuss, although he doesn't go right back to sleep he stays awake for like 2 or more hours!

Anyhow, I go back to bed, and just as I get to sleep the baby wakes for a feed - typical!

So I feed Allister, and then check on Harrison who is still awake, he has removed his nappy. So I ask him if we can put it back on, he says no, so we put on underwear. This morning I make sure to go in and get Harrison as soon as he wakes and he is dry! Awesome huh!

We go straight to the potty and all is fine.

Ive heard some boys take forever to learn when they need to pee at night, hence why they wet the bed. So I really do not mind taking Harrison to potty once a night if it means no more Nappy's! Imagine if we can have no more nappy's, day and night, at 2, that thought makes me so happy. But I'm not pushing it, we will stick with getting a nappy on at night when we can, and if we cant then that's fine too.

I also ordered some special waterproof training pants for naps and the nights when he wont wear a nappy. They are not the crappy old vinyl undies, they are thicker than normal pants, with a fabric water proof outer. Harrison will still feel wet, but I don't mind that, that's how he will learn to stay dry, and if he wont wear a nappy or pullup then this is a good alternative to soaking wet sheets in the middle of the night and naps. I also thought he could wear them if we go out for longer day trips, or when he is likely to fall asleep in the car.

We also have made great progress on our outings. We have been to Target, and to dinner with Harrison in undies, and all was fine. I explain before we go out that he needs to potty, but he doesn't always go, he will learn that he needs to soon enough. Then we go and he does great. We went to BabbiesRus and went to the restroom there so he could see a public loo. Harrison sat on the potty, and we flushed and washed our hands, he was kind of scared and excited all at once! He was fascinated by the automatic tap! I figure we are better off trying out the public bathrooms when he doesn't need to go than having a panic when he does need to go! Also he needs to know that when we are out, he can ask to go potty.

When we get home, he goes straight to the potty so he held it great!

Ive read a lot online about potty training, but know where have I found a detailed explanation of things that kiddies need to learn. Things I had never thought of.

For instance, Harrison has had to learn that when he needs to go No.2 it comes in stages, not all at once like pee. He will start to go, then think he is done and wander off, then go back and do some more. He has finally figured out that he needs to stay on the potty, or at least in the loo, until he is done. This is great progress, and something I had never thought of!

He has also learned to take off his clothes and undies pretty regularly now, and all by himself.

He can flush fine, and just needs help with washing and wiping.

Anyway, that's our potty progress, isn't he doing great!

Random things.....

I can not keep Allister on his back right now!

Not even for 1 minute, as soon as I lay him anywhere -FLIP- hes on his tummy!

He then wiggles and worms and tries to get comfy. He napped on his tummy yesterday, again, and actually got himself to sleep. I'm hoping he gets comfy soon as he kept waking up in the night. I hate that he is on his tummy, squishing his little nose into the mattress, but what can you do! I have the fan on in his room to help with air circulation, and a tight fitted sheet. So I should relax, he is also 4 months now, which is a lot safer for him. But you cant help but worry!

I just put him down and he is already on his tummy, sleeping soundly with his hand in his mouth.

Cutie-pie!

My lovely Harrison was back yesterday. He was a good boy for the most part.

He did his potty business all day, with zero accidents.

He went down for a nap, but he didn't nap. But at least he tried.

I went in to get him and he was naked again! From the waist down anyhow.

But clean and dry. As soon I went in to check him, he says "Potty Potty". I kind of know this is an excuse to get out of nap, but since he has had over an hour quiet time, and I'm teaching him to tell me when to potty I cant refuse. I take him to potty, he does nothing, and so we go downstairs and have some more quiet time in front of the TV.

This evening we had the MOTHER of all tantrums at bed time.

He was saving himself for a biggie.

He was screeching so much, he had snot running down his face and he even pulled my hair -hard- to get a reaction because I was ignoring him.

All you want to do is hug them, but it makes it worse!

I left him to calm down, and once he did I used our latest trick to get him to wind down for bed.

We snuggled in bed together, and watched the Sydney new years fireworks on my iPhone.

He kept saying "Bootiful eye-er-works mummy!"

Moments like these melt my heart and make it all worth while. I love my boys to pieces!

We did it :)

We left the house in big boy pants, and no accidents were had!

We went to Avery Park, and played for around an hour.

It was a short first trip, but you have to start somewhere.

I also am starting to think the tantrums before nap time and linked to Harrison's inability to vocalize his need to potty before he goes to bed.

So today I said to him, he had 5 minutes to go potty before we nap.

So he went potty! And went to nap without much of a fight, there was a little fight, but not much.

He is all about control, I can't take him to potty, he likes to do it all by himself, if I try and take him he screams.

So I am hoping this will help. If I can give him warnings like "go potty, we have 5 minutes before we are leaving" etc etc it may just work!

It did today.

Potty progress :)

After such a success at first, we took a little potty break because Matt and I were getting a bit stressed, and that's not good for Harrison. I wish we hadn't! It was like starting all over again this time, I should have stuck it out and got rid of the nappys. Oh well, lesson learned! So we started over this week, and today we went on leaps and bounds!

We have not been napping well, and having lots of accidents, but I stuck with it! Today we napped without a nappy- I figured he took it off this morning anyway! And he had just been no 1&2 so I assumed we were good for an hour or two. And we were! He woke up dry and comfy.

Then this afternoon he took himself to the potty a few times to pee and we had a few accidents still.

A while later he started to walk like Charlie Chaplin! I told him to go potty and he did no.2! Then again before bed he did the same, on the big toilet. I'm so proud of my little guy :) he's doing so well, it's such a big step. (any mum will tell you how tough it can be to potty train! Those who don't yet- you wait :)) and he has been so against going poopers on the potty, even though he has done it a couple Of times.

So- that's it. I'm writing it here so I don't go back on my word. Nappy are for night time only! That's it. I know he's ready, he knows he is ready, so I just have to brave the risk of messy pants and remember a change of clothes!

I hope I'm doing the right thing.

Claire

Sent from my iPhone

Now what did I forget.........

At least he remembered his shoes!