Potty Boot Camp

The last few days have been challenging.  Although Owen is a potty training superstar, we have had our share of accidents.

He spent much of his time like this...with nothing but a potty watch on:

I went to the dollar store Friday and bought a bunch of junk fun things.  And his "treasure chest" is emptying quickly.  Anytime he is successful (which is 90% of the time!) he gets to pick a prize.  It started out like this:

Since he hadn't left the house since Thursday, we had to occupy our time somehow.  Here's a shot of him yesterday morning...hanging out with the dogs in our bed watching Toy Story for the 56th time. 

We knew we'd have to leave the house eventually, so yesterday we went to Target for an hour.  Owen said he had to go potty on two different occasions, but he wouldn't actually do anything.  We bought two froggy potties just like the one at home for my parents' house and Sarah's house.  We put one of them in the back of the car and he used it before we left the parking lot.  Hey, at least he didn't go in his pants! 

He isn't naked anymore, but now wearing big boy underwear.  I took a few pics but they are all blurry.  I'll get more shots in the coming days. 

By the way, in case you are interested, this is the method we are using:

http://www.thepottybootcamp.com/

The author and I have emailed back and forth because I needed clarification on a few things.

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Pants optional

Did I get your attention?  I'll get to that in a minute.

First, let me explain why there hasn't been much blogging on this here blog lately.  The general reason for my slackness is lack of time.  As I've mentioned before, most of my free time is ironically at work.  But we have so many restrictions that I can't even upload pictures anymore, and I like a blog post with pics attached.  I could ramble on any given day about any subject, but I know I like to see pics on other blogs, so I assume others feel the same about mine.  Not that I have much time to take pictures anyway.

I think I mentioned a while back that I was going to start eating better and working out.  I started on May 10th, and let me tell you, this isn't as easy as it was in my twenties.  I won't bore you with details, but I started running on the treadmill first and then the weights came in after the second week.  I absolutely hate cardio, but it is a necessary evil at first.  On the flip side, I really enjoy lifting weights.  I like feeling stronger and wish I could do it every day.  When Brig and I lost weight in 2004 I was just doing the treadmill and lost 30 lbs in 3 months.  I have been doing this for five and a half weeks and have dropped 16 so far.  I wish it was more, but I am doing weights too so I won't see results as quickly.

The point is this...the only free time I have at home is after Owen goes to bed.  My workouts fill that time so I don't really have time for anything else.  I only have a few hours with Owen each weekday, and I don't want to take that time for working out.  In the end, I am doing this for myself and for him.  I want to set a good example and be able to do things he wants to do as he grows up.

Moving on to the pants optional part...

I have mentioned numerous times how we are leaning into potty training.  Well, I am tired of leaning and want to get this show on the road.  I would link the previous posts, but I just don't have the energy.  The short version is that he goes nightly before bath time, and has slowly started going at random times when we ask him.  We tried the every 20 minute timer method last month and it was going well for an hour or two.  Then he completely refused so we backed off. 

I did some research and came across a no-nonsense method that gets straight to the point.  Turns out we unknowingly had already passed the first hurdle.  This approach starts with 10 minute intervals which are much better.  I accidentally left Owen's pull-up off after he went this afternoon so we decided just to let him go pantless to see what happened.  We encouraged him to stay on the wood floor just in case. 

We did the 10 minute timer a few times, but then he started going and sitting down all by himself.  Sometimes it was a few drops and sometimes it was much more.  It was a grueling few hours, but not one accident.  He even helps me empty his bowl into the big toilet, flushes and washes his hands.  I was really tired of doing this after the twelfth time, but I don't care because we are so proud of him.  I don't know what it is about him being pantless, but it's working.

We are going to keep forging ahead and hopefully tomorrow will go as well as today.  Fingers crossed.

No fear

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Two things...

1)  The last week or so, this is the last thing Owen says to me before I put him in the bed...

"I not scared...We're just happy...We not scared of nothin'"

I'm not sure what he is referring to, but I just tell him there's nothing to be concerned about.  Lately, he is very aware of  bugs and monsters so he's probably referring to one of those.

2)  Owen is officially a swimmer.  He has one of those learn-to-swim rings and over the weekend he actually wanted to put it on.  We played with him for a little while and with a little convincing he let go of us and went off on his on.  He went all the way to the deep end and back and I had to tear him out of the pool when it was time for dinner.

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Turning into a fish

We had our first pool experiences of the season last weekend.  Saturday we hit our neighborhood pool and Sunday we hung out with the entire family at Aunt Sibby's house.  We were celebrating my cousin Hunter's graduation from high school. 

Last year Owen wasn't too interested in the pool.  We went a few times, but he preferred to just play with pool toys out of the water.  And on Saturday it took some convincing to get him used to it...like...I forced him to get in the water and held him crying until he finally gave in and trusted that I wouldn't intentionally let go of him.  We stayed for about an hour, until the clouds rolled in and I had to make him leave.

Sunday he went right in and had a great time.  He likes for me throw him in the air or to jump off the side or the steps.  I see many more pool adventures in our future, and he keeps asking if we are going to the beach.  I'm surprised he even remembers that.

Slow down

In case you haven't noticed, time is flying by. 

Owen's last day of school was yesterday.  It seems like he just started.  This year he was a duck and next year he will be a monkey.  We couldn't have asked for better teachers and I really wish they could just move up with him.  The thing is though, all the teachers are great.  We feel so grateful to have gotten him into St. Paul's CLC.  It is a special place and Owen loves going there.  Yesterday was sad but next year will be even better.  The best thing is that Sarah will be the assistant in his class.  If you are a frequent blog reader/stalker than you know about Sarah even if you don't know her.  She loves Owen almost as much as her own children.  He has been going to her house since he was 8 weeks old and she has practically helped raise him.  We were delighted to find out she would be one of his teachers.  Sarah, if you are reading this, I think I caught some emotional sickness from you yesterday.  Moving on...

We booked Owen's first Disney trip yesterday!  We will be going down the last week of September and my parents are coming along for the ride.  It was hard for us to decide when he was old enough, and we aren't 100% sure how it's going to go, but they are offering free dining this fall and we took that as a sign.  Let's hope that a life-sized version of Mickey on day one doesn't traumatize him for the remainder of the trip.  Prior to yesterday, we had decided to hit Magic Kingdom first and let him ride It's a Small World.  We were totally bummed (I just veered off into surfer speak) to find out it will be closed for refurbishment during that time.  Dang!  But on a brighter note, they are having Mickey's Not-so-scary Halloween Party during our stay.  I need more info on that, but it sounds fun.

Wow...this is longer than intended, but isn't it always?  If you are still reading, thanks.  Last topic coming right up...

The past two days Owen hasn't wanted to rock during nap/bedtime.  We always read books, talk about his day, and sing songs.  He still wants to read books, but after that he will say "don't want to rock in chair".  I asked what he wanted and he said "to get in crib".  I knew this day would come, just didn't think it would be this soon.  Although he is growing up really quickly, I see this as a good thing.  He hasn't needed to be rocked since we "ferberized" him at nine months old.  He has been going to sleep on his own since then and the rocking part of our routine wasn't technically necessary.  But if it ain't broke...you know what I mean?

It's just another sign that he is getting older and more independent.  It's inevitable but I do wish it would slow down just a little.

Country living

A few weeks ago, Owen went out to Ruffin and Walterboro with Brig and her mom to visit Granny Bennett and some other family.  They have tons of stuff for toddlers to do. 

He plowed the field rode the tractor with Zoey...

Went fishing...

  Debated whether or not he wanted to feed the chickens...

And eventually decided to give it a try...

And he finished the day by gathering some Easter eggs...

Lights! Camera! Auction!

The 5th annual auction at Owen's school was this past Saturday.  Sarah organized the entire thing (her third and final year) and boy was it impressive.  The theme was new this year and it couldn't have gone better.  We worked set-up and clean-up and except for an hour, I was there from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.  It was a really long day.  Here are a few pics of the place decorated.  I unfortunately do not have pics of everything lit properly.  I took the small camera and the battery died shortly after I took these.