Potty Training Part 1...Learn from my mistakes!

Ah, I remember the days of fantisizing about Avery peeing and pooping in the potty (oh the things us moms literally dream about!) and me no longer having to wipe her adult-sized butt or change her sheets because of a leaky diaper. While that is a lovely dream and I am sure we will be there someday, it sure is a long, frustrating and messy journey to get there!
We started receiving the "Signs That Your Child Is Ready To Use the Potty" emails months before we were ready, which added to the pressure we felt when other kids Avery's age were jumping on the porcelain band-wagon. Everyone said "She will do great! Just be prepared for accidents. They are okay." So when Santa brought her a potty, princess underwear and an Elmo Potty Time DVD, we knew it was time to bite the bullet.
Sure, she was interested in the potty. This we could tell because she insisted on following Alex or I in there whenever we would, umm, pay a visit. She loved flushing and playing with the paper. She would sit on it whenever we asked her to, but nothing ever ended up in there besides the errant Barbie shoe and the occassional hair clip.
We decided to do our own lazy version of the Three Day potty training method. Which, basically requires you to pump the kid full of liquids, leave them naked all day, and take them to sit on the potty every 20 minutes. The theory being that you increase the likelihood of them having successes, even if they are accidental to start, which will help them connect the dots between going pee and the positive reinforcement you decide to give them. So eventually they go, "Ok, so my mom and dad go ape-shit and give me chocolate, lots of hugs and the keys to their car when I put the wet stuff in that cold chair-thing... Maybe I should do that again!"
We had a jar full of M&M's in plain view and a "treasure box" full of toys, DVD's and coloring books we knew she would love. We were ready to get started!
Day 1: Alex and I were pretty amped up, ready to have our girl potty trained and doing her own laundry by Sunday. Avery was excited too, though she wasn't really sure why. We had her "throw her diapers away" into a bag I stashed in the closet (hey, those things aren't cheap!) and we put her in a shirt and big-girl undies and hung out around the house. Setting the timer every 20 minutes and putting her on the potty was fun for all of us the first 5 times. When she did not put a DROP of pee in the potty, and proceeded to pee several times in the garage and in her room on the carpet, the general ambiance had taken a down-ward turn. Successes: 1 (yay!) Accidents: 5+
Not great.
Day 2: More of the same. This time, she screamed and cried and threw a fit when we made her sit on the potty every 20 minutes. Clearly, we had to re-evaluate our plan. Of all the things we read, the one point that was stressed over and over was to keep the entire experience as positive as possible. Not only was it torture for her, it was stressful and endlessly frustrating for us. I found myself annoyed and irriated with her every time she had an accident. And I am not entirely sure they were even accidents...she didn't seem to bat an eye or even notice when she would pee in her underwear. She didn't seem uncomfortable and we wouldn't even notice until the timer went off again and we had to take her to the potty. So, by the end of Day 2 we had put her in a diaper and Alex and I each drank a bottle of wine.
Day 3: We took some Advil and decided to just screw the whole idea and try again in a few weeks. We left her naked anyway, but didn't set the timer. Lo and behold...SHE WENT PEE ON THE POTTY 100% BY HERSELF! She simply went over to it, sat, went pee, then got up and came over to us and yelled "Pee pee on the potty!!" We were like, "yeah yeah, you are supposed to put pee...whatever." When she finally took us by the hands and dragged us over to the potty to show us, we couldn't believe it! Genuine praise came pouring out of us and we gave her an M&M and an awesome treasure from her box. She did that all day long. So many successes and zero accidents. We were THRILLED!

From this experience I learned that the most important "sign of readiness" is that your kid feels uncomfortable in a dirty diaper. If they don't, very little else will motivate them to use the potty. I also think that while Day 1 and 2 weren't successes in general, this is when she learned to HOLD her pee, even if she was holding it while sitting on the potty (argh). She now has the muscle control to hold it while she runs to the potty without a timer having to reminder her to go. Which, is CRUCIAL to transitioning the skill of going potty into real life.

Now, where to go from here...stay tuned for Part 2!

Harper is 8 months!

My little lovebug is 8 months old! I feel like this past month from she has grown SO much!

 

 

She is officially on the move, scooting, crawling and cruising her way into trouble. We have to put the dog food up now and keep Avery's potty out of her line of vision.

 

 

She weighs about 20 pounds, wears size 3 diapers and size 9-12 months clothes.
Harper still has just the two bottom teeth but I suspect the top chompers aren't far behind.
We transitioned Harper to a convertible car seat this week, as she outgrew the infant seat in inches. She seems to like it but this means I have to sit in the car when she is asleep and now we have to get another seat for our double stroller.

Harper continues to eat everything we offer her. We have started some finger foods for her (steamed fruits and veggies so far) and she is getting better at getting the goods into her mouth. We are still making her food every few days or so and she will eat any combo we serve her. Zucchini/carrot/pear or squash/spinach/mango or quinoa/black bean/banana are all received happily by our hungry hippo Harper.

Avery loves to help feed her sissy but doesn't quite have the finesse Mom and Dad do. Harper, of course, doesn't mind one bit! Any attention from her big sister welcome attention.

 

 

We are on the go as always, trying to keep up with big sister. We go to the aquarium, the park, Legoland and we recently took a train down to Seaport Village to ride the carousel and walk around.

 

 

 

On Jan 27th at 8.5 months old, she confirmed our predictions that she'd be an early walker by taking her first (assisted) steps. Look out!!

 

We have had an unusually warm month which, of course, means lots of beach days!

Christmas 2012

I was SO EXCITED for the holidays this year, and I anticipate that to grow as Avery gets older and begins to understand and remember the magic and traditions that make Christmas so special. And we sure did A LOT to ring in holidays this year! We had at least 5 Christmas parties this year, and we baked cookies and listened to A LOT of Christmas music and drove around to see the lights and drank hot chocolate and watched Christmas movies and read Christmas stories...OH MY! I enjoyed every minute of the whole season and I can't wait until next year (though I am very happy to get my house back in order and pack all the stuff away for another year).
This year was extra special because it was Harper Joy's first Christmas and she was at the perfect age to enjoy most of the fesitivities. Also my brother and sister-in-law had a baby on December 20!! My niece, Penelope Louise Feldt was born and 3:01 pm and weighed 7lbs 12oz. Corey and Lauren are the most excited parents ever and she is a lucky little girl to have chosen them to be her mommy and daddy. We wish they were closer so we could watch her grow, but Alex and I were so happy to get to meet her on her second day of life. We can't wait to see her again soon!
Enjoy (a lot) of photos of our Christmas!

Decorating the tree

Visit with Santa was a tear-free success!

My babies

Ugly sweater party

Harper all bundled at our playgroup Christmas party

At the Newport Boat Parade

 

My sweethearts

Penny Lou!!

Opening gifts at Oma's

 

 

Christmas morning at home

 

 

 

 

Christmas dinner at Pat and Al's

Harper and Daddy

 

Jess and Jason and their funky shorts

 

 

 

 

Harper is 7 months

What!?! How did that happen?? She is racing toward being one year old! Yikes!
Well Harper continues to be my sunshine and is growing up so quickly. She is wearing size 2 diapers, 9-12 month clothing and weighed in at 18.5 pounds and is 28 inches tall.
Harper is pulling up every chance she gets which is nerve-wracking as some items fall over on top of her. She can scoot pretty well on her belly, pulling with her hands and pushing with her toes to get from A to B, in addition to rolling all over as well. She is SO smiley and continues to be her big sister's biggest fan and best audience. She screeches and yells and experiments with her voice as often as she can, and so far it is still pretty adorable.
Harper LOVES to eat! She eats just about anything we offer her from apples to zucchini and most foods in between, We are still breastfeeding as well and that continues to be enjoyable for both of us.
Next up, we are about ready to move her into a convertible car seat and ditch the infant seat as she has almost outgrown the length maximum.
She still has blue eyes though a darker shade than mine, and her hair has stayed brown so far.

Thanksgiving 2012

This year was the same as any other, except we have a new participant in the family festivities, Harper Joy! We went to Oma's for dinner which was delicious, Aunt Kathy and Oma really outdid themselves. I made a sweet potato dish that was pretty yummy. Harper had squash and oatmeal and enjoyed watching Avery run around with Steven, Anthony and Hailey. There is definitely never a dull moment when those kiddos get together. Avery didn't really eat much of the dinner, which was surprising, but I think she just prefered to play with her cousins. After dinner and dessert we headed up to Lake Arrowhead to spend a few days with Alex's family.

We had a great time in Arrowhead, and the girls did pretty good with the drive.

We were able to get a decent family photo taken in the backyard (our beloved Bailey dog even snuck in the picture on the left, not the chocolate lab, that is Shirley)

Now we are ready to celebrate Christmas! Cannot WAIT for the holidays this year!!

Harper is 6 months

Wow, how time flies! This has been a BIG month for Harper, so many changes since she turned 5 months. Most important one is she is now officially sleeping through the night, WOOHOO! I never minded waking up with her once or twice to nurse but it is nice to get solid sleep (although my "mama clock" still wakes me up around 2, but I am sure that will stop soon).

She is also eating solid foods twice a day. She gets oatmeal for breakfast and a veggie for dinner. Feeding Harper is a very messy and often loud experience, as we can't seem to feed her fast enough and she yells at us, but she will smile from ear to ear when we do "airplane" with the spoon, SO cute! We have tried avocado (not a fan), squash (LOVES IT) and carrots (hates it). I think we will do peas next and maybe revisit avocado. We still breastfeed the rest of the day and it continues to go very well. She loves it and shows no signs of wanting to stop, thank goodness, since I would like to avoid formula completely and make it to one year when we can introduce cow's milk. So far, so good!

Harper has been sitting up unassisted for about 2 weeks now and gets more solid everyday. Now she rarely falls back when looking up or forward when looking down, unless she intends to roll onto her belly. And she is quite the roller! She is ALL over the place and often scrunches her legs up and pushes with her feet, "scooting" herself around.
She loves to jump in her jumperoo, and enjoys sitting on the ground playing with whatever toys Avery doesn't currently want.

We still aren't on much of a schedule with Harper which has proved challenging when leaving her with a babysitter (which we will have done 4 times this month!) as we sort of wing it most days. She does get tired around 8:30 or 9 in the morning but rarely gets a solid nap as we are always out the door doing something with our friends or Stroller Strides. Sometimes she will fall asleep around noon in the car, other days it is not until 2...but we do have a bit of a routine at night. She eats her dinner around 5:30, and will hang out until we are done eating dinner around 6:30. We give the girls a bath, and Harper is generally asleep by 7 or 7:30. Avery gets to stay up playing and reading books until 8.

Another big milestone for Harper this month...she broke through her first tooth!! Avery's first tooth didn't arrive until 8 months, just after we finished nursing. Harper, true to her second-born status, broke her first tooth through 2 months earlier. So far it hasn't affected nursing and it shouldn't as the tongue covers the bottom gum line during proper latch, but she is sticking her tongue out over it more often which is very cute. In this pic (taken today, 11/14/12) it looks like the one just next to it will pop through soon as well. She hasn't been extra fussy or seem to be in pain, just tired and very oral as always.

 

I swear, I truly didn't think it was possible to love TWO babies as much as I do, but Harper sure does have a special place in my heart and I simply cannot get enough of her these days. She is just the cutest, sweetest, funniest little baby and I am more in love with her with every day that passes.