A friend of Charlton's from Training Ground took this great picture of Rylan at the Memorial Day party. I just fell in love with it, because it captures the sweetness of his personality, even with the "boo-boo" on his nose. The day before he was trying to see what would happen if he crawled while rubbing his face on the floor, and voila, carpet burn on his nose. The really funny thing was someone asked him later how he hurt his nose and he actually got down on all fours and demonstrated.
So we had a great Memorial Day and then my week was crazy busy from there.
For some reason after Rylan pooped on the potty we decided we must jump into full-blown potty training with our whole hearts. I also felt the pressure to start solids with Caroline, something else I was also dreading, since she had turned six months and I wanted to be able to tell the pediatrcian that we were at least starting. (I couldn't look like a totally slacker mom!) And.... the weather was supposed to be cool and rainy all week, so I decided the time was right to dive into my painting projects. Sometime on Tuesday when my kitchen was in total disarray, Caroline was wailing and gagging on her rice cereal after puking on the carpet, and Rylan had peed twice on the carpet, once on the couch, and pooped once on the carpet, I started to feel a bit overwhelmed!
So, like a great mom with her priorities intact, I backed off on the solids and potty-training and just painted like a mad-woman. I got my kitchen finished in one day, then tackled the trim in the bathroom and finished the hallway by the end of the week.
Caroline is still not crazy about her solids, so we are taking it slow and trying a few different foods. I am just going to give her the liquid iron drops so we don't have to stress about getting enough cereal into her. I don't want to force it and I figure when she gets hungrier, she will eat. She certainly has some extra fat rolls to spare!
Rylan's potty training took a hiatus for a few days until I could get to the grocery to buy some pull-ups. After the day of running around naked and going potty on the floor, I decided to nix that method. Then I read that it isn't good to use pull-ups because they feel just like diapers and it doesn't bother the kids to be wet or dirty. Oh brother! Rylan still had not peed on the potty and the poop successes were basically luck when we were able to catch him at the perfect moment and rush him over to the potty. On Sunday night, I sat with him for 45 minutes on the portable potty. We read every single library book and had an interesting conversation about nipples, but no pee. (Rylan was shirt-less and bored, so he decided to investigate his chest.)
It went something like this: R: Mommy, what are these? (Pinching his chest.)
S: After a long pause and choking back a laugh, Those are your nipples. God made you that way. R: Does Daddy have nipples? S: Yes. R: Does Mommy have nipples, and Baby Caroline? S: Yes. R: And Santa Claus has nipples, too! Now I could hear snorting noises coming from Charlton in the kitchen. So we had a great discussion about anatomy, but as soon as I gave up and put the diaper back on, Rylan emptied his bladder.
I did read that sometimes it helps boys to sit backwards on the big potty, so last night we tried that and amazingly it worked. Rylan was thrilled with watching his "sprinkler" and we all did the happy dance and celebrated with M&M's and stickers. Today he pooped in his chair during breakfast, so that was disappointing, but he peed three more times in the potty! He even stayed dry during his nap and peed right when he got up. I am so proud of him and encouraged to see each little bit of progress. I am really thankful that he is staying interested in the process and the few times he has been resistant, it has been brief and mild.
I don't think my personality can take the complete cold turkey approach of potty-training right now, especially with caring for a baby at the same time. I am hoping that a few more weeks of being consistent with taking him to the potty regularly will lead him to be able to verbalize when he has to go. Then maybe we can hit the point of no return and switch him over to big-boy underwear completely. At least that is my plan. I have to go out of town in two weeks, and my parents are coming for a visit in early July, so I know this isn't exactly the best time for potty-training. Again, God is teaching me how to release control of my life, be flexible, and trust Him with even the smallest details. And all the frustration was totally worth it today when Rylan walked over and said, "Mommy, I have a secret for you." I bent down and he whispered, tickling my ear, "I love you, Mommy!"
No comments:
Post a Comment