Yep, more potty training

Hayden had a 100% day at school on Friday! I decided when we woke up on Saturday morning that our focus for the whole weekend would be on the potty. We try to be consistent but this weekend I decided overbearing was more appropriate. Luckily for me, it paid off! Hayden used the potty all weekend with only one accident. Please keep in mind his cousins were over here all day Saturday and into the late evening, and then on Sunday his Nana and Papaw watched him while we went to lunch and a movie. So it was awesome for him to do so well through the distractions.

So far this week he's 100% at school and at home! I'm really proud of him and think he's really just starting to get it. Something clicked in his little toddler brain this weekend it seems and I'm really excited about it!!

More of the potty training chronicles

Well this week we've made some big progress. We still have a long way to go, but I feel like he's finally starting to get it. It still takes M&Ms, stickers, coaxing, pleading, begging and bribing sometimes, but it's getting there. Yesterday he did pretty well at school and then did great at home. This morning he woke up and we watched our "cartooms" and he wanted to eat breakfast. I told him we'd have to go potty first, and amazingly he got right off the couch and headed to the bathroom. In record time, he decided while in the bathroom that going potty was a good idea, so I'm already going to call today a success, no matter how many accidents might occur. Mornings for us are SO tough because we have to get up earlier than either of us wants to. Fighting a screaming toddler over the potty is not really my idea of starting off my day well, so I try to wake us up a little earlier so he has time to wake up and make his own decision that he has to go. If only I didn't have to be at work until 9!

The Potty Training Chronicles

I love being a parent. Specifically, I love being Hayden's parent. He is so energetic and full of life, so full of laughter and silliness. He is willful and independent and his own person at 2 years old. I learn new things from him every day and I love to watch how he handles challenges and obstacles. It's amazing to see his little brain working around a problem until he has a solution.

So it is no surprise to me that potty training is frustrating for us both. Some days, he's 50%. Others, he's 0%. Everything in between pretty much sums up daily life. Some days he comes home with three bags from school of dirty clothes; other days he's fine all day at school and loses it as soon as he walks in the door. What's a mom to do? We don't want to force him, or be too lax. We have M&Ms on the back of the toilet, we have a potty seat and a stool so he can decide "how" to go, we have a sticker chart and fun undies. We limit drinks at a certain point in the evening, and one day last week we sat in the bathroom at 6:30 am and I said "I don't care what time I get to work, we'll stay in here until you decide you're ready to potty." Luckily for me it was a Thursday and he knew Zoe would be at school and he didn't want to miss her.

Today, we have a victory. The war is not over, but in this conflict I need to win a battle or two here and there. He used the potty all day at school and came home with a special sticker. He was so proud of it! About an hour after he got home and had had his snack and juice, I convinced him to use the potty. Success! I'm hoping the bedtime potty routine is easier and more on his own decision making, but I'll take what I can get! Tomorrow is a new day and we'll keep trying!

Potty progress, and other things Hayden

I swear Hayden grew 3 inches while I was gone! I was in Mainz Kastel for training for my job and Jay & Hayden were left up to their own devices from Sunday to Friday. I came home early Friday afternoon, stopped by the house and Jay & I went to the commissary and to pick up Hayden. While he recognized me and hugged me immediately, it was clear that I had missed out on some serious boy bonding time as Hayden ran straight to his dad. It was strange to be without either of them all week, and school was exhausting so it was nice to get home to my boys.

Hayden is making leaps and bounds in the potty department! He went poop on the potty every day this weekend and is getting really good at telling us when he needs to go. He usually pees at least twice a day at home, and sometimes at daycare. We are so proud of the progress he's made and are continually amazed at what he can do.

He's working on multi-syllable words, phrases and practicing what he already knows in the vocabulary department. He's got "not nice" and "go 'way" down pat; we tell him something was not nice when he's being ugly to Oscar or us for instance, and he tells us to go away when we're keeping him from getting into trouble, also known as something he wants to do. Typical toddler behavior, but man if it isn't still cute! He gets better by the day at using utensils to eat and big boy cups in his chair. Where did my baby go?

Last weekend we took Hayden to "his" first movie, as in, one that was for him and not just one he tagged along for. We went to see Toy Story 3. Hayden has a Toy Story toybox and dinosaur flashlight, so we figured he'd recognize the characters. I think he enjoyed about the first 45 minutes, shouting "Ah-guh" (Oscar) when he first saw the dog. After that he just wanted to play in and out of the doors, crawl on the floor, etc. so we left a little early. But not bad for our first attempt at a movie with our almost-two-year-old. He loved the popcorn though!

My little sponge

Hayden is changing so much, it's hard to keep up with him! We've really noticed a change in him in the past month or so, and I think part of it has a lot to do with his new room in daycare. He's the youngest, so he sees all these kids doing big-kid things, and hears so many words that he just seems to crave learning. I can't keep track of all of his new words, but some of his favorites are: mom, dad, trash, dog, bubble, Oscar, bink, please, out, go, up, bed, bite, juice, milk, ow, uh-oh and my favorite, hello (ah-whoa) when he picks up the phone. Last week he learned "mine" and "no" at the same time, which has been pretty funny.  He is working on 1-2-3, and will follow along up to "D" when we sing the ABC song. His very favorite song is "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and he requests it by doing the "spider" hand motion that goes along with the song or by saying "it-ee".

He has also gotten really good at identifying his body parts. He has head, ear, nose, mouth, foot, toe and belly down pat; he gets a little confused with "eye" and "hand", I think because they sound so similar to "ear" and "head". His motor skills are really developing and he loves to color. His very favorite thing, other than jumping, is to read. He loves to grab one of his books and carry it around and stop to look at it and turn a page. He's very clear when he wants to read, and when he wants to be read to.

He's also starting to really come along on the potty. We still aren't in full-on potty training mode, but he knows when he needs to go and knows how the whole process works. We can get about one good pee out of him a day on the toilet, but not much on the poop. He's grasping the concept though, as he always squats now to get a little help from gravity! We did buy some pull-ups for when we're ready to start, and even picked up a few pair of big boy underwear! He is resistant to keep a diaper on sometimes, so we figured the underwear would be a logical step. He wore a pair to bed the other night over a pull-up, because it was just too hot here for pajamas.

He is absolutely a creature of habit, and requires a few things every day. He must have his cup of milk first thing in the morning, and he likes to pick out his clothes for school. He will not go to bed without a bath and brushing his teeth first, and makes a big production of throwing pup-pup (his sleep buddy) back in the crib when he gets up in the morning. He hates dirty hands, and loves to help us do anything. He loves to blow bubbles, and we have a hard time getting them away from him! He has also started to make "the face" when he doesn't get his way. It's a face he definitely gets from me, drawing his eyebrows way down and pursing his lips together. Despite his intention of looking fierce and angry, it's terribly adorable.

Party on the potty!

Hayden has been showing some signs recently that he's ready for the potty, so we decided to encourage it. He tells us when he's had a bowel movement, he can hold it for a long time and he understands what we're doing in the bathroom. We had just decided the other night that this weekend we would invest in some potty training aids, when we had ourselves a teaching opportunity.

We put him in the tub and he looked like he was about to have a bowel movement, so I pulled him out of the tub and put him on the toilet. I said, "Hayden do you need to poop?" and he said "Poo". So we waited about five seconds when voila! We struck toilet gold! We were so proud of our little man, using the big boy potty!

Today we went to a store near our house to search for the potty trainer I wanted. I am violently opposed to cleaning a kid potty unless I absolutely have to, so we found a little stepladder with a kid seat attached that fits right over the toilet. We snatched it up, along with a new puzzle for our little rockstar. We got home and Jay put it together in no time. We took Hayden upstairs to try it out, but he wasn't interested in the potty just then. So we came back down and tried again at bathtime. We started the water, helped him get undressed and put him on the potty. Imagine our surprise when he was peeing in no time! His favorite part is the wiping, mainly because of his fascination with all things trash lately. He pointed to the toilet again after the tub so we obliged, but I think he just wanted to pull the toilet paper off the roll again, so no luck on that one.

I'm surprised he has started getting the concept of the toilet so quickly but we're excited for this new step in baby Hayden's life! We certainly don't expect any overnight potty training, or even anticipate buying underwear soon, but it's nice to start moving forward with such a big accomplishment!

Something that will definitely improve his chances of potty training is that he made the move to the toddler room at school this week! He's been in a classroom that goes from 3 months to 18 months and that has been tough. He comes home with bite marks almost daily, mainly we feel because the caregivers are too busy with the infants to pay enough attention to the toddlers and stop incidents before they start. Hayden also is reprimanded for "stepping over the babies", to which I reply, "Why are there babies in the middle of the play area for him to step over?" I've been asking for some time to have him moved up to the bigger room but they kept telling me there just wasn't room, which we understand. But finally, there's a spot and I can see a huge difference in Hayden in just the one day he's been over there. The big kids have a much more detailed and learning-centered schedule, whereas the other room was basically just getting through the day with their short staff. Hayden's new room encourages self-development, they play outside all the time and clean up after themselves. They're encouraged to use the potty if they are ready, and I feel like he's really going to benefit from the change. Big steps for my little guy!