Adventures in Potty Training

We explored uncharted territory this past weekend: Potty training!  The week Luke was born Meredith showed signs of being ready to at least try using the potty, but I definitely wasn't feeling it then.  Every weekend something was going on, so I finally marked this past Saturday on our calendar as the day to start training.  I checked out "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" from the library, vigorously read through it, and decided to try its method first rather than the more traditional method of having your toddler sit on the potty at various times throughout the day and hope they potty.  I came across the book while doing a search on Amazon.  It was written in the '70s and basically teaches that you can potty train your child in a mere few hours.  Well, that's not quite the experience we had and I wish the next library patron the best of luck with the book (I wanted to renew it for another few weeks, but someone else wanted it and it had a hold on it, so somewhere out there another toddler is in the process of being potty trained).

Saturday started out good, with Chad taking care of Luke while Meredith and I locked ourselves in the bathroom.  We had all of our supplies ready:

For this method, you need a doll that wets.  Since we didn't have one, I took one of her dolls and used a squirt bottle to simulate the "pee".

We kept Meredith in underwear during the training.  Thus, the reason we stayed in a room with tile.

One potty chair.

You are supposed to have a "friends that care" list.  These are people such as Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, and fictional characters (Elmo, Daniel Tiger, etc.) that Meredith looks up to.  They would call in to congratulate her when she would potty; I also had this phone Meredith used to call out to tell Sesame Street characters that she pottied and was a big girl.

For clean-up purposes, obviously :)

Rewards.  I like that this method has you give the toddler rewards for staying dry, rather than everytime they go potty.

Meredith was to teach her doll how to potty.  We would offer the doll a drink, then we would take her to the potty and eventually flush and start the process over.  All the while, Meredith was also filling up on drinks.  It reminded me of one of my MBA classes where I had to read and dissect a chapter, then get up in front of the class and teach it to everyone.  I learned the material by teaching it to others.  Meredith really liked working with her doll and the first hour or so went well.  She got the concept.  Now to put it into practice.  It took a while, but after an hour and a half, she went potty for me.  Yay!  All went well until about three hours in, when I had to go and feed Luke.  During that time, she had two pee accidents.  Poor daddy had to clean up the mess.  Needless to say, I'm embarrassed to admit but I lost my patience, scolded her, and that was the end of day one's training.  As Chad was cleaning her in the bathtub, we had another first.  Her first poop in the bathtub.....ever.  Oh boy!

At one point later on Saturday when Chad and Meredith were in the kitchen, she told Chad, "Mommy isn't very happy with me right now."  She could definitely pick up on my emotions :)

I wasn't willing to give up so soon (although Chad thought we should abandon it totally, since day one ended with a mean mommy and a crying toddler).  On Sunday, we missed church to stay home and work with her some more.  It wasn't quite as bad, but she still resisted going everytime she should and it was pretty stressful.  I took away TV and storytime until she pottied.  I'm mean like that.

Fast-forward to Monday (day three).  I decided to try her in pull-ups during the day rather than panties, since there was no way I would be able to clean-up messes all day long while also caring for Luke.  I kept asking her if she had to go potty from the moment she woke up.  She kept saying no, so I even tried sitting her on the potty.  Nothing.  I finally mentioned to her that she couldn't watch the "Little Bear" show until she went potty.  Shortly after breakfast, she held her pants so I ran her into the bathroom and sure enough, she went pee!  The big success came a short while after her show when she came up to me and said "I potty".  I rushed her into the bathroom and she peed again in the potty.  This is huge because this was the first time she verbalized she had to go, rather than me watching her signs.  Long story short, by the end of yesterday, she gave me nine pees in the potty and stayed totally try in her pull-up with the exception of naptime.  Sweet success!  She did have issues with pooping and my normally very scheduled poop-by-ten-a.m. toddler held it all day and resisted my efforts to have her go on the potty.  She finally went in her pull-up while hiding in her playroom when I got busy with supper.  I'm sure that it will come with time.

It also helped that we watched the Daniel Tiger potty song on YouTube and sang it about a million times.  "If you've got to go potty, STOP, and go right away.  Flush and wash and be on your way."

Another funny that happened was when we asked Meredith if she pooped and she said, "No poop, I just fart."  I find myself asking her potty related questions at least every 5 minutes.

We are just so stoked that she now recognizes when she has to potty and goes in the bathroom.  I know this is a long road ahead and I probably just jinxed myself by writing this post, but at least we are one step closer to not having two kids in diapers :)

Landscaping Update

We finally have new landscaping for our front walkway!  Refer to my previous blog post (click here) from 2012 to see the ordeal we have gone through to get to this point.  We have been thinking about moving in the next few years and this was one of the first steps we needed to take to help the marketability of our home.  Besides, I couldn't take the overgrown weeds any longer!  The backyard is full of weeds and needs some TLC, but at least the front isn't such an eyesore now.  It was well worth the money to have someone come in and spruce it up.  Chad and I are not much of greenthumbs.

Now for the next mission: Figure out how to fix the discolored portion of the siding that was caused by the previous bushes. 

Before

After

Before

After

Much nicer view from the front door.

4th of July Activities

Are you noticing that my posts are getting fewer and far between?  I guess that's what happens when life gets busy with two kids.  Meredith is having her first overnight stay with my parents today and I can't believe how easy it is with just ONE child :)  It's funny how I thought things were so hectic when it was just Meredith and now it seems like a walk in the park with an infant.  So far, I've taken Luke to the mall and grocery shopping (which I never, ever do with the kids anymore) and it was a breeze!  Luke does miss his sister, though, since her crazy antics and dancing keep him entertained.

Well, this past weekend we went to Flora for the Perry reunion.  We hadn't been to my hometown since early April and I don't know when we'll go back again.  That is, with the total lack of naps from Luke and the worst-car-ride-imaginable which involved him in hysterics from Tuscola to Bloomington (picture non-stop screaming for 1 hour), I really don't know when we will travel that far again.  And to think that Chad was talking on the trip down about going to Texas for his cousin's wedding later this month.  Ha!  Anyways, we made it to Flora and lived to tell the tale.

Our kids love to read! 

Luke loves the new toy Grandma got him.

Getting close to sitting up on his own!

Visiting Great-Grandma Reed

Luke seems to like the baby carrier a lot more now that he can face out and see people.

Riding Little Toot!

We also went to Towanda's 4th of July parade with the kids last week.  It was nice to go to a small town and take part in their festivities.  Meredith was a little apprehensive and didn't quite know what to think of people throwing candy to her from their vehicles.  Luke did well except for when the fire trucks loudly honked their horns.  His little lip puckered and out came some screams.

Right after the Towanda parade.  They seemed to really enjoy it!

Summer Fun!

Summer is not officially here for another week or so, but it felt like summer today!  We made use of our pool in the backyard for the first time this year.  Meredith is so much more comfortable in the water this year (as opposed to last year - refer to "First Family Vacation" post from May 2012, with the Wisconsin Dells experience), so hopefully she will do well when we get her in deeper water at the public pool.

Here are her action shots, with the contraption Mommy set-up, which makes use of both the slide and pool:

Oh, and we can't forget Luke!  Here's Luke chilling out with Daddy, watching Sissy in the pool:

The Many Sayings of Meredith

Meredith is getting to be such a little talker.  As she's learning to turn phrases into sentences, it's really funny some of the things that have come out of her mouth.  Here are some things she has said recently:

• She can now say her "L's" and "K's" much better, so instead of just saying "hi boy" or "hi ute" (her version of Luke), she can say his name very clearly.
• The other day, she told me that she missed daddy.  I asked her where daddy was (he was at work) and she said, "in the phone".  Daddy calls us everyday when he is leaving work or just walking a long ways to a meeting, so she's used to him being in the phone during the day :)
• She often takes the "t" out of stuck. 
• Recently, she will come up and say, "hold mommy" or "hold daddy".  I thought she was wanting to give me a hug, but she wants us to hold her, not her hold us :)
• About 6 weeks ago or so, I noticed when I was singing songs to Luke that she was watching me.  Turns out, she knows several songs, so I will sing some of it and let her finish a word or two of the phrase.  She says "Jesus loves me....Bible tells me so".  I also taught her the Barney Song (I love you, you love me...) and she loves it...what was I thinking (not a Barney fan, but the song was stuck in my head)?
• At the end of this year's Bible Study Fellowship, Meredith's teachers gave her a list of the main points of Genesis that they learned each week, so one truth for each week.  We have been going over these during breakfast and she has caught on very quickly.  I will hear her say "the Bible is true" at various moments throughout the day and she thinks it's funny to say "two days" instead of six days when we ask her how long it took God to create the heavens and earth.
• Her new thing is to say, "where daddy go" or "where mommy go" when one of us leaves the room.  Cute, but kind of redundant when she keeps asking it after we tell her where they went :)
• While doing tummy time with Luke, Meredith likes to run over and say "tummy time" and proceed to roll from her belly to back.  This is a very dangerous activity, since she has no sense of personal space.  Poor Luke!
• One of the cutest things she does is come up to Luke, give him a hug, and say "I big sista now".  She has a Big Sister book and this is the phrase that is repeated through the book.
• She's been talking a ton in her crib lately before she finally falls asleep.  When I go in to check on her and tell her it's naptime or nighttime and she needs to sleep, she looks up and says "close the door".  In other words, she doesn't want mommy around and once I leave and close the door, I hear her restart the conversation with herself right where she left off.
• A week or so ago, Chad was changing her diaper on the floor and halfway through, she walked over to the window and says "I have no clothes on" as clear as day.  Oh dear!