Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Last Day


It is hard to believe that Will has been in "school" for a year! Today was his last day with Mek Mek and Tor Tor. Technically, next week is the last week before they move up to their new class with new teachers, but we will be at the beach all next week and he will not go tomorrow. So today was it! Of course, he has no idea that the next time I drop him off at school he will be in a new classroom with new teachers. I better start praying about that now :) Looking back on this (and this, this, this, and this) makes me laugh. How far we have come! Never would I have imagined this year would have flown so quickly. A ton of artwork came home with Will today that had decorated the walls of his classroom. We "oohhhed" and "aaahhhed" over each piece-Will is always so proud of his artwork. I hung each new piece on his bulletin board which is now covered in proof that we survived our first year. I am so grateful to his teachers...God knew exactly where Will needed to be. They were the perfect fit for Will and I knew that they were loving on him while I couldn't be. He grew very attached to them and the first week of August should be very interesting for us as he adjusts to a new set of teachers. We are so blessed for the christian influence they have had on Will. As we were saying our prayers the other night, Will looked at me and said, "Mama, Mek Mek loves Jesus and me love Jesus too."
Will has changed so much from the little boy that stood in the driveway with his backpack on, no clue what was about to take place last August. Though there are still mornings where tears are shed at drop-off, I know that he is just fine and having so much fun. He tells us the funniest things when we pick him up-who went to time out and what they did...he reports that he never goes to time out. I sure hope this is the case! We always ask him what he ate for lunch and he always replies with "cheeeeeese." His favorite friends are Zay Zay (Isaiah) and Pat Pat (Patrick). When I picked him up on Tuesday he and Pat Pat gave each other a great big hug before we left. I had never seen Will interact like this with a friend and it melted my heart. He loves to share songs that he has learned at school and his new favorite game is "Ring Rosy" (Ring around the rosy). You can't start it with him unless you are prepared to do it 10-15 times. He loves to paint at school. In fact around Thanksgiving, his teachers informed me that they were trying to put each child's hand print on their bulletin board and decorate them like turkeys for the month of November. Will was the only one that was interested and cooperated so he ended up just doing all the hand prints :) I tear up thinking about what a big boy he is becoming. His little spirit is so precious and makes me so proud. Here's hoping to another wonderful school year!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Potty Training Drop Out


It was my hope that I would report back yesterday that boot camp paid off and little man is completely potty trained. Well I stayed away from the blog until now because I was about to LOSE my mind. Potty training is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my entire life. We started boot camp on Saturday morning. LOTS of accidents followed. Cleaning up the mess was not the problem though-it was not leaving the house for 3 days. I was going stir crazy which meant my patience was running out...not fair to Will! On Monday I felt like we were seeing a little progress. He told me Monday morning that he had to go and we made it to the potty in time, keeping his undies dry. Monday afternoon was a different story. After his nap, he peed in his underwear and then about 30 minutes later peed and pooped in his underwear while I was feeding Alex. Trying to keep my eyes on him every second while still tending to a 7 week old was making me crazy. With John at work, I absolutely could not devote 100% of my attention to Will which is what he needed to be successful. Tuesday we sent him to school and they said he did not go all day. They put him on the potty repeatedly but he wouldn't use it. When I picked him up, this concerned me. They put a diaper on him at nap and he woke up wet, but otherwise had not gone. I took him into the bathroom at school hoping that if I was in there with him it might make it a little less scary. I sat him on the potty and he said "hurts mommy." I asked him what hurt and he pointed to the seat. Of course their potty didn't have a squishy cushion like Will's Lightening McQueen potty and I guess he just decided he didn't want to pee on the hard potty. We got home and I immediately put him on the potty and he used it...a lot! The rest of the night we had no accidents but he also wasn't asking to go. We put him on the potty right before bath and before bed and he didn't do a thing. This morning we were home again. I was by myself with both boys. He woke up wet with poop in his diaper. I immediately changed it and put on his big boy underwear. I was really trying hard today to give it my best effort hoping that today might be the day he turned the corner. By 8:30 he had had 2 cups of milk and was running around like a wild man. I knew he had to go and I kept reminding him to tell me. I was about to have to feed Alex so I point blank asked him if he needed to go. He told me no so I started to feed Alex. Not 2 minutes later he came running to me saying "Uh oh pee pee on the floor." He didn't catch himself and stop....there was urine ALL over his bathroom floor. At least he was on tile!!! I stopped feeding Alex, tried not to make a big deal about it, cleaned it up, and reminded him that pee pee goes in the potty and we want to keep Buzz Lightyear dry (underwear). About 20 minutes later we were playing in his room. He ran to the kitchen and I followed him. He proceeded to pee and poop all in his underwear in the kitchen. THEN HE PUT HIS HAND IN HIS UNDERWEAR AND HIS FINGER CAME OUT BROWN. I lost it. I started crying, he started crying, Alex was crying. At this point IT WAS NOT WORTH IT!!! I had talked to several friends and John about not giving up. I was trying to stay positive but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. We are leaving for the beach for an entire week on Saturday with my whole family. I did not want our trip to be ruined because we were too stressed out about the potty situation. After we get home the following Saturday Will starts in a new classroom with new teachers that Monday. I am sure that is going to send him over the edge for a week at least (He doesn't like change....can you tell???). John and I discussed these things before starting boot camp, worrying that we might not be choosing the best time. I had convinced myself though that by doing the boot camp we would be done in 3 days. Like magic or something. The boot camp was a good start and I did see how for some kids it can work wonders. It just wasn't the case with Will. Maybe I am a quitter.....whatever. I am over it. I had to think long and hard this morning before pulling the diapers back out what was best for Will and our mental health. Was I pushing on and making all involved miserable just so I could say that we successfully potty trained our kid in 3 days using the boot camp method??? Realistically, I knew he wasn't going to have it by Friday and Saturday morning we leave for the beach (LONG car ride) where he will pretty much be in a swim diaper from dawn until dusk for 6 days. I couldn't really see us being able to keep up with our own methods when he would be in water all day. So I quit. We are all much happier as a result and we will tackle it again sometime in the fall. This parenting thing is tough. I am daily reminded that I am not in control. Will will get it on his own time. Much luck out there to any of you about to potty train. No sugar coating-it is hard stuff!!
On another note, isn't he absolutely adorable in his big boy underwear....even if he does pee all over them :)

Friday, July 15, 2011

Ready or Not!

Tomorrow we are taking the plunge. Potty Training Boot Camp Day 1 will start bright and early. As with every transition we have had to navigate Will through, I am super anxious! I have prepared myself for a rough day tomorrow in hopes that it won't be as bad as I made it out to be. Several of my friends have done the 3 day potty training boot camp and were very successful so this is the method we decided to use. I just don't want it dragging out into a 6 month process. Our chosen method makes us prisoners to our home for 3 whole days with our 2.5 year old in nothing but a t-shirt and underwear. Sounds like loads of fun....right??!! It is my hope that I report back to you on Tuesday saying that it was all worth it. We have done our homework and come fully prepared for the events tomorrow. We made a potty chart complete with Cars stickers. John wanted it to be sort of like a bar graph. He will place a sticker above the day each time he pees in the potty. Hopefully the columns will get taller as the days go by!Here is a picture of Will's supplies for the weekend (We are not above bribery as you can tell - He hasn't seen any of this yet)...

Here is a picture of John's supplies for the weekend...

HA!!!
Pray for us! And if you think we are nuts, please keep it to yourself! We probably are but I like to find things out the hard way :)

Thursday, July 14, 2011

28 and 2.5

Yesterday was my birthday. The big 2-8. As luck would have it, Will was born on the 13th as well, in January, so his half birthday is always on my birthday. This is the first year we really built up the whole half birthday thing....and he definitely got it. He knew mommy was making a cake and he knew it was my birthday but he thought it was his birthday too. We started our day at the zoo with Kiki. Since it was about 115 degrees we didn't last long. We were there long enough to see the major animals and take Alex on his first train ride. Alex didn't seem nearly as impressed with the choo choo as Will always is!! :)

We decided to spend a low key night at home since dinner out with 2 kids is not exactly enjoyable at the moment. Doable, sure. But enjoyable...no. John grilled steaks and I told Will he could help me bake a cake. Well, we were running out of time on the cake and it didn't quite get cool before we iced it so it looked TERRIBLE. Thankfully, it tasted way better than it looked and it was only for us anyway so who really cares. As you can see, Will has 2 1/2 candles and I have 28...in a place value sort of way. 2 tens and 8 ones :) Not enough candles....plus I'm pretty sure Will might have caught on fire had we lit 28 candles.
John got me the BEST present ever this year. For those of you that know me well, US Weekly is my favorite way to relax. There are few things better than some peace and quiet with a diet coke, some form of chocolate and an US Weekly. Well, the peace and quiet is few and far between around here these days, but now I have my very own subscription to US Weekly on a color Nook!! I am completely hooked on the NOOK. LOVE it! We decided to get Will a half birthday present-3 wooden Chuggington trains for his train table. Here we are with our loot.

Alex Goes to Church

Alex made his first debut at church this past Sunday. Sunday morning was a bit hectic trying to make sure I was dressed, 2 kids were dressed, and the diaper bag was adequately packed. Alex did great. He slept the whole time...we never heard a peep from him.

This was as good as it was going to get for a family shot...

My family...

John's Family...

Alex and his beautiful Nouna (Godmother), Alexis...

Alex and Papou...

Will letting us know he was just about over all the picture takin'...
Typical Will these days :)

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Fun with Cousins!

These two are always such a hoot when they are together. Their giggles are infectious!!!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Alex's Newborn Photo Shoot

At just 9 days old we had Lacey (LB Studios) take pictures of our newest little guy. Here are some of my favorites...