We've Made it to Day 4!

Ok, so I admit that I was close to giving up yesterday. As we go through this process, I feel like I'm a new mom again with the feeling that I have no idea what I'm doing! Yesterday evening was a little rough. The novelty of the potty was wearing off and Peyton was really over the whole thing. He was being less and less cooperative, which probably had a lot to do with the fact that he's been cooped up in the house since last Thursday. First he had fever, then its been raining and now we're potty training. At one point he bit me, and I had just about had enough. I thought, maybe he's not ready. He goes on the potty just fine when he wants to, but he was starting to resist sitting on the potty. He was still not telling us that he needed to go either.

Patrick stepped in and took over and Mommy took a break. He seemed to do a little better with Dad, and Patrick had to give me a little pep talk to convince me to keep going. Today as we enter day 4, they spent the morning together while I went to work, and I think it helped tremendously that Peyton had a Gymboree class scheduled this morning. Patrick got there ahead of time to let Peyton use the potty, which he did with no problem, even in a strange bathroom on a strange potty. Patrick asked the teacher to tell Peyton that it was time to use the potty mid-way through class, and that worked really well too. Once they got home, Peyton told Patrick that he needed to potty and sure enough he pooped! This was quite a large victory for us. It was the first time that he told us on his own that he needed to go. We're hoping that he will continue to do this, but only time will tell. We will start increasing the amount of time between the reminder of the beeping timer, and hopefully he will start to voluntarily go on his own. But for now, we're happy with baby steps and so far he hasn't had an accident today!

A Glimmer of Hope for Potty Training Day Three!

Yesterday afternoon went pretty well, especially because there were no accidents! Every 20 minutes when the timer goes off, Peyton knows its time to go to the potty. We have noticed that if you ask him if he needs/wants to go to the potty in between, he won't do it. The buzzer seems to have the effect we need though because he races to the bathroom immediately. He's potty chart is filled with stickers and he's gotten lots of treats, and even some special presents!

When he woke up this morning, the first thing he talked about was putting his underwear on. I take that as a good sign. However, he didn't want to put shorts on. We've been letting him run around in his underwear for the last few days, but a babysitter was coming over this morning so I thought it would be appropriate for him to have pants on. He didn't agree. So, he's still running around in his underwear, which is fine because we haven't left the house in three days. Tomorrow, however, is a different day, and he's signed up for a class at Gymboree. He will not only need to wear shorts over his underwear, but there won't be a buzzer that goes off every 20 minutes to remind him to go to the potty. I suspect we'll have some accidents tomorrow.

Potty Training Day Two

Peyton has no problem going pee pee or poop in the potty. None whatsoever. He gets stickers on his potty chart and he gets a tasty treat, like an M&M, jelly bean, piece of cake, piece of brownie, etc. But he also has no problem peeing in his underwear. I was secretly hoping that this would make him uncomfortable or that he would at least be bothered by the fact that Thomas the Train was now all wet. Nope. So, we now just set a timer every 20 minutes or so and he goes in the potty then. He seems to like the timer method. We're just hoping that he doesn't feel the urge to pee for the rest of his life every time he hears a beeping noise.

Potty Training Day One Update

Well, we've not been quite as successful this afternoon, as we've had a few accidents. We knew that these were bound to occur, so we're doing all we can to protect our furniture and carpet. After the last accident, Peyton was disappointed that he didn't get a treat. I explained that he wouldn't get a treat this time because he went pee pee in his pants. The conversation that followed went something like this:
Me: What happened? Did you have an accident?
Peyton: Yes
Me: You have to remember next time to tell us when you need to pee pee on the potty.
Peyton: It's too hard....

Its too hard?! Are you kidding me?! Where does he come up with this stuff? How the hell does he know what is hard?

Potty Training Day One

Today is potty training day. Oh boy!
We've been talking about the potty and where pee-pee and poop belongs and we've been reading books about the potty and talking about underwear. Peyton will usually go when we sit him on the potty, so he knows exactly what to do. And he's started asking to have his diaper changed after he pees or poops in it. So, we've been laying the foundation for the potty training concept. This weekend works out as the perfect time to transition to underwear and go the whole nine yards on potty training because Peyton is running a fever and we're home bound anyway. So far this morning, he's peed in the potty every time we've sat him on it (about every 20 minutes a timer goes off), and just after lunch he sat down on the potty and pooped. Yay! So far so good.....

NOLA

We are starting to have conversations more and more with Peyton. Most of the time, he completely shocks us with what he comes up with. Yesterday, he started talking about airplanes, and then he told us he was going on an airplane.

Mommy: Where are you going on an airplane?
Peyton: New Orleans (This came out of nowhere for us - how the heck does he know this stuff?!)
Daddy: Oh yeah? Who are you going to New Orleans with?
Peyton: Daddy! Me and You, Daddy!
(How come Mommy wasn't invited?!)
Mommy: Who are you going to see in New Orleans?
With some prompting, he names all of his grandparents: Lollie, Pops, Gramps, Lulu, and Papa.
Peyton: And Blackie! (Of course, yes, lets not forget the dog! He hasn't stopped talking about Lulu and Papa's dog since he visited in March - too funny!)

Unfortunately, we don't have any plans to come to NOLA anytime soon. He'll have to keep dreaming!

Peyton's 2nd Birthday

Peyton's birthday has lasted a very long time. He got to celebrate with the Ragas family at Chuck E Cheese a few weeks ago, then he got to celebrate at the park last weekend with all of his little pals, and then we took him to the NC Zoo for his official birthday on April 2nd. I guess its no wonder that he woke up the other morning and wandered around the living room saying, "Presents, 'r you?....Presents, 'r you?" over and over again.

The weather was beautiful for his party at the park, and I learned a very important lesson: It is far less stressful to have a birthday party at a location other than your own home. It took about 15 minutes to set up, and about 15 minutes to clean up. The kids had a great time running around the playground, writing on the sidewalk with chalk, and eating cake. Way better than spending 2 days getting ready for the party and 2 days cleaning up afterwards, and much better than fighting over toys in our living room, that's for sure!

Here are a few fun pictures from the party:

Peyton and his pal Camden


The shelter with all of the food

Peyton and his girlfriend Amelia

My friend Laura made the cutest cake ever for the truck-themed party. As you can see, Peyton thoroughly enjoyed it!

We had a blast at the zoo on Peyton's birthday. Again, the weather was gorgeous and it was a perfect day to be out at the zoo. Peyton loved seeing all of the animals and making animal noises. I'll let him tell you all about what he saw (my apologies for letting him talk while he was eating. Its the only time he's sitting still long enough for us to have a conversation with him and catch it on camera). You'll hear that the highlight of the day was not actually seeing the animals, though.



Some pictures of our day:

Peyton and his monkey friend



Playing in an ostrich egg. Those things are huge!



Checking out the elephants



Peyton and Daddy hanging out by the giraffes


I'd say it was a fun and successful trip to the zoo. This was Peyton before we made it out of the parking lot to drive home: