potty practice

Potty training on hold again

Seems as if every time that Matthew starts doing well with potty training, he has a bad day or two at the same time that something else crazy is going on- and I throw my hands up in the air and put it on hold for a bit.

Why are we stalling this time? Because Erik is home and stuck to the couch, for nearly a week now. He's been to the Doctor and had an MRI... some arthritis, some swelling which likely caused the pinched nerve... and internal displacia.

Our family Doctor's office, which I was singing the praises of just weeks before Sophia was born, will now be losing our business. We've had too many disapointments since then with their office to continue trusting them for our family's care.

Any how- prayers are appreciated greatly in this time, both for Erik's back and for my sanity.

More fun posts about our Fort Days when this has started to clear up. :)

in need of a good laugh?

Matthew will provide.

So we're home- and with POWER!
I was downstairs working on the computer, catching up on e-mails when I hear a ...

"i need a go pee pee!"
So I run into the play room and scoop Matthew up- taking him directly to the bathroom where I sit him on the potty... a bit goes by, and he finished up.
"Ma-hoo ah done." then as he stands up "more?"
so I turn him around and stand him on the stool... so he'd be standing up to tinkle...
"oh no!" he gasps "ma-hoo poop on da floor!"

I burst out laughing. What a great observation.
Yes my dear son, if you are stanging up to tinkle, you'd poop on the floor... so lets not do that again

in the dark

well- not this weekend. We still had no power at our house as of this afternoon so we've run to West Virginia for a visit this weekend- HELLO ELECTRICITY!

It's amazing how wonderful cold anything will taste after a week of not having it right at your fingertips... I mean we are fortunate enough to have my parents so close by that we can visit them for meals- but MAN. This morning- I are nothing at all because I had no milk for cereal and no way to toast anything thing... and even if I could have toasted a bagel or a piece of bread- there was no butter or cream cheese to put on it... so really all I could think of for breakfast- crackers or Peanut butter and jelly.... now I LOVE me some peanut butter... but for breakfast.. when not on warm toast?? I dunno...

I'll see if I can't upload a picture or two while we're here so I have something cute to share... this and the last post with no pictures leave me feeling like I need to work on feathering my nest

Good potty news on Matthew- he went one day this week with only making poops (as our friend Lily calls it) in his diaper. The rest of the time? well, lets just say he doesn't realize he needs to go until he's gone... or he only gives a moments notice, like "ma-hoo need a pee-pee..." and then you really only have time to pick him up before he lets loose.... so you can see why we're still wearing diapers... I mean, hey- we have no way of getting our laundry done at our house...

I wonder if Matthew would do any better if we had any of these.

ISO, INO,IWO:Books

These are three books I'm interested in taking a look at/ owning soon:

Ina May's Guide to Child Birth, By Ina May Gaskin

The Birth Partner, by Penny Simkin

and Birthing from Within, by Pam England and Rob Harrowitz

all highly recommended from our Bradley teacher (and DOULA!!!) Angela.

also- for Matthew, I'm in search of a good deal on this book:
What A Baby Needs, from the Sears Children's library. We already have Baby On The Way, Which he loves... and looking now, I see that they also have a potty book.

There are a few of these books (Ina May's particularly) that I'll end up searching out on my own if not received this weekend... Though I don't really know what to expect, this was my gift last year...

newly sealed driveway, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

A re-sealed driveway, Which Matthew loved watching happen...

my 2007 birthday present, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

and I loved because it helped things look better, and got rid of all of the weeds growing in the cracks. :)

Wasn't he the cutest 'baby'?? (from the back even...)

Matthew watching the guys work, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Not for the faint of heart (or stomach)

SO ya know how people always talk about how new parents talk a lot about their baby's poo and it's color and frequency and smell and such? Well I think that for the most part, Erik and I have done a good job of keeping it on the DL. Not today my friends. I've had such an 'incredible' experience, I mustn't keep it to myself.

SO- we've been working a little on potty training... at least, last week we were, then Matthew got his leg pinched between the toilet and the seat and things haven't been the same. He WAS doing GREAT, and now (then?) was terrified to be put near the toilet. Now we're talking the BIG potty here. The boy will have nothing to do with using the "sticky" potty chair or smaller seat that you sit on top of the potty to fit it for little bottoms. Nope, his rear must be held in place.

After a week of going back to the diapers, hoping and PRAYING that he'd forget about the pinching incident, we decided to get back in the saddle again... break out the buzz undies (sorry- I was going to post a picture and then decided not to considering that it'd be out there on the Internet for ANYONE to see), pull out some M&M's and go at it. and he did well yesterday, and this morning. Both days I put him in "button-up underwear" or "nap time underwear" (fuzzy bunz) for nap time, and then changed him back in to underwear afterwards.... well today...

he sat on the potty after his nap, but nothing happened.
1- he went to play in the living room.
2- I followed him in
3- he said "Ma-hoo poo now"
4- I noticed the extra load in his underwear and
5- promptly ran him to the potty to clean out his unders and let him finish his business
6- he threw a fit about the toilet hurting him, so I sat him on his potty chair
7- he licked his hand
8- he told me he had poo in his mouth
9- he threw up.
After that- I tossed him into the tub to rinse him off, cleaned up the mess while he was sitting in the tub screaming, wrapped him up in a towel and met the UPS man at the door.
You can only imagine that I was less than thrilled at the thought of putting Matthew back into underwear, so figuring I'd seen and cleaned up enough of a mess for one day, I put a pampers diaper on him and took him outside to play until I was sure that his tummy wasn't going to unload again.

the upside of my afternoon??
I'm certain that after a few kicks in the same spot on/in my belly, that the small hard spot I felt was a foot. There was about an inch long bumpy area that led to a small section of toughness, that ended in a point. I don't know if I'd gained too much weight with Matthew to notice such details, or if I just never thought to try. I really hope that I have the opportunity again soon- when Erik is home to experience the wonder with me.

She is a Super Dooper Pooper!

Though that anyone that got the chance should see Matthew's new favorite video.