Toddler and Big Kid Check-in (7/19)

[oldbaylover1024]

@enchanted - No advice on the hitting - sorry. Does he only hit you/YH or is he hitting everyone? The whole situation must be so frustrating.

Age: 3

Milestones: She's finally getting over her fear of water. She's never liked water - anything from a bathtub to the ocean. This weekend she walked shoulder deep in the bay and got her whole head wet! Maybe we're making progress!

Challenges: I think she was a tiger in her past life - fiercely independent and determined. Her attitude will be the death of me. But at least she's a good communicator and rarely gets out of control. When it happens, watch out.

Funny/cute stories: About a week ago J helped me pick out a swimsuit online for myself, and when we went swimming this weekend, I wore it for the first time. She stopped dead in her tracks and said with the most serious look on her face, "Oh. My. Gosh. Mommy... your basement suit... you're so buffalo!" It was THE cutest thing ever.

How are you? Okay. I'm in full-blown survival mode.

Anything else? I can't wait for summer to be over. We've been so busy, and the next few weeks we have a baptism (we're hosting the after celebration), a trip to the beach, and we're hosting all my nieces and nephews (7 kids total) for a night. I'm already exhausted LOL

QOTW: Oh! I love ice cream! A local place has a mix I love called Maryland Mix - vanilla bean ice cream swirled with lemon curd and raspberry jam with chunks of dark chocolate (all the colors of the Maryland flag). SO. GOOD. And J loves ice cream, popsicles, gelato... you name it. Chocolate is her favorite.

[oldbaylover1024]

Wow, @enchanted, that sounds really frustrating! Hopefully someone can offer you some advice.

[mrsbutton]

@enchanted big boy! (how tall is he??) we have our 3y check up on Friday, and Button was above the 95% at 2.5, wondering how he'll measure now...
and hitting - yea, my husband seems to approach that with a "I'll hit you back!" thing (obviously only a light finger-thump on the arm) but I'm still like, "[DH] you can't hit him back!!!"


oldbaylover1024 I literally guffawed outloud at work - "you're so buffalo" !?!? lol

[mrsbutton]

Age: officially three... gah.

Milestones: nothing really new (thought we'd be able to say nighttime potty-trained. NOPE.) his speech always astounds me.. "It's not hurting me so I'm not going to take off this string (around my wrist)."

Challenges: see above nighttime potty-training... after a great stretch earlier in the month, he's woken up every morning the past week SOAKING WET... (which makes for a LOT of stinky laundry...)

Funny/cute stories: I have been writing down in an app on my phone all the funny stuff this kid says... like, nonchalantly Sunday afternoon: "I'm going to eat this cheese, and then I'm going to dance..."

How are you? resigned to always having dirty dishes in the sink... lol I've really decided it's too important to hang with my kids in the few daily hours we have during the week...
also - REALLY EXCITED that my parents are coming to visit (from way out of state) for a week! I haven't seen them since Little Miss was 2 weeks old!

QOTW: it's technically a Fro-Yo flavor by Ben&Jerry's that I have used their website to hunt down stores that sell it...
Peanut Butter Banana Greek Fro-Yo (dammit now I really want some...)

and yes, Button LOVES ice cream (even when it's the random "pecan" that's the only sugar-free flavor...)

[ClassyMrsA]

Age: she'll be 21 months on Saturday

Milestones: trying to dress herself, peed in the potty last night (she will try to go if you put her on it, but hasn't quite figured it out yet), understands what toilet paper is for and puts it in the toilet

Challenges: We are also dealing with hitting, throwing, and kicking. She laughs when we tell her no and will only stop for a minute when we ask her to be gentle.

Funny/cute stories: DH has been teaching her to put her hands up on command. We were in Home Depot getting a paint sample for the new nursery, Lillian was hanging out with DH in one of the paint aisles, and he says, "Lillian, put your hands up." So she does and then did a perfect forward roll on the concrete floor! We were like, good job but maybe don't do gymnastics on concrete. Lol.

How are you? I'm having some emotional ups and downs. Frustrated with getting the old house ready to sell. I already am pretty uncomfortable and get tired easily. But, I'm determined to enjoy the next 3 weeks before DH has to go back to work. The summer has gone by really fast.

Anything else? While we are sad about DH's grandma, some good stuff has been happening. His dad is now able to retire and he is paying off DH's car for us which means we can stay a 2 car family.

QOTW: Best ice cream flavor? Does your little one eat ice cream? I loooove ice cream. My favorites include peppermint, rocky road, chocolate chip cookie dough, and vanilla hot fudge sundaes. Lillian does not discriminate and will happily eat any flavor ice cream we have. I'll be interested to see what she ends up liking best when she's older.

[mrsbutton]

Jul 19, 2016 21:54:21 GMT -5 @enchanted said:

mrsbutton 42.5 inches

He's always been off the charts. Our old pedi (who retired, damn it!) used to say he was only the 99th percentile because there is nothing higher.

tall boy! =)
(I hate when liked doctors retire!!)
Save

[wifey]

Age: 2.5

Milestones: Using his little voice a lot more!

Challenges: Throwing small things around the house ( not aggressively, but still..) Moaning when baby brother moans.

Cute stories: I made the difficult decision to replace Tate's speech therapist, and as expected, he gave her a hard time and wouldn't play with her. After she left, I was on the couch with him a little frustrated. He knew something was wrong, and I just looked at him and said, " sometimes Mummy's get sad, too". He stood over me, then kissed me on the top of my head, just like he does to his baby brother.

How are you? Lately I've been stocking my house with coolers and wine....

Anything else? I purchased a potty, and have no strategy... Anyone?

QOTW: I rarely eat ice cream, but do enjoy French mint, or cookies and cream. Tate LOVES ice cream, and regularly requests "ice".

[gratefulgirl]

wifey - the "potty party" strategy worked great for DD1 because she is - more so than many kids - a huge needer of positive reinforcement and she loves parties (birthday is the #1 game at our house). She was 3 at the time.

[wifey]

gratefulgirl, I just looked to see what that was. Hysterical! Glad it was effective. DH and I plan on getting on the same page this weekend to decide what we will do. oldbaylover1024, didn't you post a boot camp potty plan at one point? I should have paid attention when you gals discussed this in the past.

[oldbaylover1024]

wifey - I'll post tomorrow when I'm on desktop.

[gratefulgirl]

I feel I should add that we did not do the joint potty party thing. It was the Potty Train in Just One Day (or something like that) book, not the Pinterest weirdness. That is way beyond what I can see myself doing, personally, wifey.

[shandorfml2]

wifey, that's a really cute story. LOs are good at being naughty and then being so gosh darn adorable you can't help but smile...


Age: 15mo

Milestones: Seems to be communicating more, almost can say "more" and "duck".

Challenges: attitude! When he gets mad, he will throw his food or anything else in front of him to express his displeasure! Still fights to sleep a bit but getting better about SLTN in his crib. Still not standing/walking, but we had a PT and my doc on top of it and they are not overly worried.

Funny/cute stories: He has re-learned how to kiss and has been giving me and H kisses

How are you? Ok, LO has been cranky with teething, consitipation and not feeling great. Now hand foot and mouth is going around daycare!

Anything else?

QOTW: Best ice cream flavor? Does your little one eat ice cream? hmm. I like cotton candy, and peppermint stick. LO likes ice cream but only when he is in the mood.

[eliz77]

Age: 19 months

Milestones: Finally learned to jump! And scoot down stairs backwards.

Challenges: Bedtime...when he goes to bed around 10:30pm, I thank my lucky stars.

Funny/cute stories: He's just so sweet. The other day in baby class he was carrying around two balls. He dropped them and one little girl went to pick one up. The mom was like,"No, honey, it's his!" LO insisted she take the ball, followed her around and pressed the ball to her chest, then picked up the other and led her over to the basket ball hoop to play. He also loves to "steal" the other parents and lead them wherever he wants to go. No stranger anxiety for this kid!

How are you?Tired these days! Thought it was going to be an easy couple weeks at work and it turned into the opposite.

Anything else? Just trying to exercise and lose weight...lost 18 lbs then been up and down lately it seems.

QOTW: Best ice cream flavor? Does your little one eat ice cream? LOVE! My favorite is salted caramel. Or vanilla with banana cut up covered in caramel syrup. LO LOVES too.

[oldbaylover1024]

gratefulgirl - Umm, I had to look up what at Potty Training Party was and, I have to say with total judgment in my eyes... are parents serious?! This is a THING?! That real people do? In real life? Wow... I barely have time to go to the bathroom myself, let alone plan a party around my kid's ability to go in the potty. Just... wow... P.S. If someone has done this, please enlighten me because I am obviously sheltered. And I'm so sorry if I offended you. Please understand my shock.


wifey - We did the 3 Day Method with J over Labor Day weekend last year. She was 2 plus 4 months old, and was showing signs of being ready. She would tell us when she was wet, when she pooped, and would follow us into the bathroom to see how to use the potty all the time. She was also dry after naps and bedtime consistently. We felt she was ready.

Thursday we took J to Target and bought a TON of underwear, like at least 20+ pairs. She picked them all out and decided which patterns/characters she wanted. We spent the whole trip amping her up, telling her that this was going to be it - no more diapers after this weekend, only underwear. She was excited.

Friday night, J throw away all the diapers (we put them in plastic bags and gave them to a friend of mine), so we had no more diapers in the house. That was it. J wore one to bed that night, and in the morning we threw it away. She hasn't worn a diaper since then.

Saturday we threw away the diaper she wore to bed, and put her in underwear. MH had to work that morning, so it was just me and J. I took her downstairs and we started our day normally. They say to give the kid lots of juice and water to make sure they have to pee a lot. I took her to the bathroom every 30 minutes or so and we practiced going potty on the kid-sized potty. Despite the frequent trips, EXPECT ACCIDENTS ALL DAY. I mean this is the first time she had experienced underwear and the lack of, shall we say, fluid retention they offer. At naptime and bedtime she wore pull-ups, but she woke up dry both times. We had a TON of accidents, but she peed on the potty a bunch of times, too. She did not poop at all that day.

Sunday was much better. We did the same routine as Saturday, but she only had a handful of accidents and asked US to go to the potty instead of us having ask her all day long. We still reminded her every 30 minutes, but she told us when she had to go. I'd say we had 15 accidents on Saturday, and maybe 5 or 6 on Sunday. Still no poop...

Monday was excellent. Same routine, but she went 75% on her own all day. We had maybe 3 accidents all day, and 2 of them were because she was running to go pee and didn't make it in time. But... she was still refusing to poop, which is totally normal. We FINALLY got her to go #2 that night and she was SO PROUD of herself! We rewarded her with a SweetTart or M&M after every pee on the potty, and a Tootsie Roll after her poop.

Tuesday she wore underwear to DC and had no accidents. DC continued the reminders and such, and she did have some accidents that week, but it was because she didn't make it to the potty on time (she was on her way, but little legs only go so fast).

#2 is still sometimes an issue, mainly because she doesn't want to stop what she's doing to go. 99% of the time she has a streak in her underwear and not a full-blow accident. But they do happen occasionally. But my 4 year old niece still has #2 accidents occasionally so it's normal. #2 is a whole different issue for some kids.

We had a regression for a bit when she transitioned at school, and we had a recent #2 regression when she started preschool. Again, too busy to go, new routine, yadda yadda yadda. The 3 Day Method worked well for us! I've recommended it to other folks, too.

Just be sure your kiddo is ready. If they're not showing true signs of readiness, maybe hold off. Then again, Labor Day weekend is coming...

ETA: MH being gone 1/2 the day on Day 1 was awful. Pick a weekend when you guys are both home because cleaning up pee all day while trying to clean J and also get her to go potty was just hell on earth. Seriously. Big mistake on our part. Also, stock up on paper towels. You'll need 'em.

TL;DR - The 3 Day Method was our go-to. Day 1 is awful, Day 2 is better, Day 3 is fantastic! Make sure LO is showing true signs of readiness.

[wifey]

gratefulgirl, oldbaylover1024, The Pinterest bonanza was certainly elaborate! Just a painful reminder of how inept I am at arts and crafts. I was working on Tate's speech the other day and filled balloons with water and put together this gem. Reminder, I said I made this, not Tate.

Exhibit A:

[wifey]

oldbaylover1024, thanks for taking the time!

shandorfml2, Thanks. It really shows how much they understand!!

[oldbaylover1024]

wifey - I. Love. It.

[gratefulgirl]

oldbaylover1024 I can't imagine throwing an actual, real party. I did, however, order approximately 3 different Frozen themed thing off Pinterest and buy some juice and treats when we put DD1 into underwear. We "trained" her favorite stuffed animal on a doll potty (that we already had) and fed it treats when it "went." We then did the same for her. It helped excite and motivate her. The 1 day method that this is based on is actually not too different than the 3 day method.

We had I think 1-2 accidents, and they were in the bathroom or kitchen. Very few afterward. We still have the occasional accident at 4 due to too busy to go syndrome and "I hate when anyone interrupts my play to tell me to use the potty" tantrums, but it's been nothing major. I'm happy with our relaxed approach, happy to have found something for DD1, and willing to change it up entirely for the other kids.

Oh, and yes to the 20+ pairs of underwear. Indeed, you want that at first.

[oldbaylover1024]

gratefulgirl - Oh yeah, I totally get that approach. We bought her some small toys at the dollar store as incentives and practiced with a few stuffed animals weeks before after we saw her playing potty with them (another reason we thought she was ready/showing interest). But I can't imagine a full-blown, invite your friends over, party. I'm obviously a horrible, non-Pinteresty parent