Notes from the Oval Office

I’m not sure I ever updated on Austin’s potty training status and let me just say HALLELUJAH! He’s been using the toilet successfully for about 6 months now! Number one AND number two!

It was an uphill battle with this boy. I had visions of him wearing adult size diapers to his wedding and then it would be, “Hello my new bride! Why, what is this I’m wearing under my pants, you ask?  SURPRISE!” And I would secretly be laughing inside. “Har har! He’s YOUR potty training project now!”

Thankfully, for his future wife’s sake, and for my own sanity through his childhood years, that won’t be happening. He slowly, but surely came around, and aside from the occasional accident, he’s doing fantastic! And boy does that take a load off my mind! (tee hee)

One down, one to go! And I hope I’m not being foolishly optimistic when I say that I think Arianna might be potty trained a whole lot sooner than Austin was. She is already showing interest in the toilet; like the other day when I was in the bathroom getting ready to go somewhere, she pointed to it and said “PEE PEE!”

So, I said, “Arianna, do you want to sit on the potty and try to go pee pee?”

And she replied, “YEAH…..PEE PEE!”

I don’t know how I imagined this scenario playing out, but as soon as I sat her on the toilet she freaked out like she was going to fall in and be flushed to ocean. So, I took her down and went searching for the little kiddy, plastic potty Austin used for a while. *Angel’s chorus* She loved it! She spent half the day diaper-less and sitting up and down on the potty, each time pointing and saying, “PEE PEE!”  She didn’t actually go, but the fact that she loves it has gotta mean something right?

Forgive my blissful ignorance, but I think THIS is where I’ll get paid back for the 3 months she spent as an infant, crying NON-STOP! No more buying over-priced diapers! Hooray for underpants!

Progress

   I thought  I’d post an update on the Kidlets. They grow so fast and I don’t want to forget any of  new things they’re doing now.

   Austin: My favorite word that he uses right now is banana, because he completely says it wrong and it makes me laugh every time!  No matter how many times we go over the correct pronunciation, this is how he says it…. MAH-MAIN-AH.   Heeee!  Aaaah…the things kids say. Cracks me right up.

  Ok!  Now on to a different subject. (And one a little less cute, might I add) POTTY TRAINING!  What is the status of my diaper-wearing 3 yr old, you ask? Well…. does it count as progress if he poops anywhere other than his diaper, like saaaay ON THE FLOOR? No? That’s what I thought. And THAT is where we are at right now.  That incident happened today in fact. I left him in the tub to play for a little while after his bath and when I came back to take him out -before I even made it to the door- a very familiar odor met my nose. I looked down at the floor and lo and behold, there it was. Seriously,  it was inches away from the toilet!  WHY!?! For the love of all that is clean and hygienic! Please! Just go in the toilet! *sighs* So, I’m sure you can guess how I spent the next ten minutes.

   You know, at this point I think I have just given up trying to push the subject. I realize that this becomes a control issue for kids and they feel like they have to hold on to the one thing they have power over, so I’ve stopped breathing down his neck every 2 minutes. “Do you have to go Ca Ca?” (That’s Spanish for poop, just in case you didn’t know) “Do you have to go? Tell me when you need to go and I’ll take you. I have this wonderful basket of sugar-laden rewards if you’ll just go on the potty!” Yeah, none of that has worked, so I have given up. He has no problem going numero uno on the potty, so at least I know he IS capable of putting SOMETHING in there.

   I try not to stress too much about it. Even though it seems like I’ll have diapers on my shopping list forever, I know he’ll eventually come around. I mean, let’s face it, he won’t be donning a Pullups with his graduation gown and cap, so that gives me comfort. He has to give in sometime!

   Anyway!  Moving on to Kidlet number 2.

   Arianna: She is walking all over the place now! I mentioned in my last blog that she had just started it one night at random, and she’s only gotten better at it. It’s so funny to watch her. She reminds me of a little chimpanzee, with her wide stance and the way she holds her hands in front of her….Aaaahaaha. It’s so cute.

   She has also started trying to repeat things she hears. Here’s a list of words she is saying:

DA DA- This was her first word months and months ago, but of course, she still says it.

MA MA- That’s me! For a while she called me Da Da, no matter how much I pleaded with her to call me Ma Ma. She still doesn’t say it that often though -mainly when she’s in distress or she wants something really badly.

KEE-CAH- That’s her way of saying Kitty Cat. Natasha and Miguel have a cat and Arianna absolutely loves it! She follows it around the house trying to pet it.

AAHHH- That’s what she says when she’s trying to call Austin from another room, ha ha!

CA CA- (Definition was already covered)

UH UH- When she drops somethings and tries to say *UH OH*

BUH BUH-  Code for “Bye bye!” She waves her little starfish hands with this one.

   That’s about it. There are a few other words she tries to repeat, but those are the ones she’s really got down.

   Another thing she’s started to do is nod her head “yes”  when we ask her a question. She’ll be eating her lunch and I’ll ask her if it’s good, and she’ll open her eyes really wide and nod. I love it!

   It’s hard to keep up with all the funny (and sometimes not so funny) and new things the kids do. It makes me happy to know that I am recording them here, so that I can read them later when my memory gets hazy.