That's My Girl!

When it comes to potty training, I have taken a very laid back approach.  I would definitely appreciate buying as few diapers/Pull-Ups as we can, but I also believe there is a time that is right for each child when they are ready to potty train and that no amount of forcing the issue is worth the stress and hassle that would eventually lead to them not becoming fully potty trained until they were ready anyway.  Don't get me wrong, I know there are plenty of babies who are potty-trained easily, early on in their lives, and to those mommy's I say - woohoo! 

As for me and my kids I let them give me their cues that they are getting ready.  Once they've started showing an interest in the potty I bring out our little Bjorn potty (that I love, so easy to clean without any nooks and crannies for hidden...stuff) and put it on the bathroom floor across from the BIG potty.  This gives them the opportunity to model what they see and get plenty of practice just sitting there even fully clothed. 

I know some mom's who skip the whole "little potty" thing and go straight to using the BIG potty, that extra step of clean-up would be great, but my kids are pretty petite and I'm afraid of them falling in if they were to try to go on their own when I wasn't around (which is the goal right?).  Of course McGee has gone on the BIG potty for a long time now, but when they're first starting out, our little potty is perfect!

Today Miss Em told me "I need go potty".  She says this often and I'll admit I didn't really believe her (we've spent plenty of time with her sitting going "potty" without anything to clean-up).  McGee and Em were in the bathroom and he said, "Mom!  Can you pleeeeaassee help Em to go potty?"  I decided we'd give it a go so I took her pants and diaper off and went back to the kitchen to finish putting lunch together so I could get them down for their naps (yep - I left her there with only McGee for help).  Next thing I know she's running in saying, "I went potty!"  I went back down the hall to find one little nugget in the hallway (yuck) and the little potty had some nuggets as well as pee.  Woohoo Miss Em - today you went on the potty all by yourself!  She was so proud of herself and kept saying she had to go again, but she was done.  Way to go my girl!

Dry Day

Despite the fun of playing in the water this morning before church (yep, we had to change into outfit #2), today was a super dry day! That's right, today is the first day McGee napped in underoos (underpants) and to top it off - he woke up dry! Once we returned from the family reunion in Utah (blog post still to come), we went back to underpants and he has done awesome with only a couple of wet accidents. Hooray my boy - it's a HAPPY DAY!

I've been playing with some editing on photos this afternoon - which picture do you all like, the full color or the one I played around with?

Also had to throw in this one capturing how cuddly he was when he woke up.

***Update: Not 30 seconds after publishing this post I heard daddy ask McGee why he went pee-pee in his pants and not the potty. Oops! Well we can always work on it again tomorrow. :)

Or Something

For the last week or so there has been a new, very frequent saying in our house by our very vocal now 3 year old boy McGee. It is "or something". It goes a little like this:

McGee in his pajamas on the first day without rain this week, heading outside to let the dogs in from their run. He takes his first few steps outside and stops, "Is it wet out here or something?"

At Nordstrom's in the kids shoe department looking at the array of shoes, "Are these cute or something?"

Starting to unzip mommy's purse while I lay on the hot water bed table (my new favorite thing) at the chiropractor's office, "Do you have fruit snacks in here or something?"

Staring in the fully stocked pantry and hollering to mommy, "Can we have a snack or something?"

McGee is pushing on the pedal to his battery powered motorcycle but stuck between two chairs and not going anywhere, the wheels keep spinning and mommy says, "Can you please stop doing that or move it somewhere?" The reply which mommy hears, "Is that loud or something?"

After hearing a slight squeal in Em's room, "Is Emily awake or something?"

I think you get the idea. It's a phrase he's been using in many different circumstances and it just sounds so funny when he says it sometimes. On a further development note, McGee has completely regressed potty training-wise and only wants to wear a diaper now. He also has shown his willingness to attempt to climb out of the crib, by throwing a leg over the side while protesting going down for nap. I don't think he can actually get out yet, but thoughts on moving him out of the crib soon are in motion.
My Big Boy