potty training? is seriously the biggest conundrum of our parenting career thus far. obviously we have a long road ahead of us full of god knows what, but in three years (almostttt)? this takes the cake.
today was day one of the 3 day method of potty training. i’m not really one for methods, because lalala all kids are different and the whatnot, but after the “methods” we have tried thus far (which included H peeing on the toilet, then her asking for a diaper and us giving her one – because apparently we are doormats) haven’t stuck. so yes, i’ll try a method. and thanks for calling it a three day so i can at least wrap my brain around a small amount of time this may take. even if it’s all lies, thank you for the illusion, method.
ahem.
so today was day one. you know Harper, right? well yeah. she’s…spirited. and stubborn. and at almost three, she is set in her ways a bit. but we have no diapers. so this was happening. she woke up, we threw her last diaper away and she picked out some hello kitty undies for the day. she was a little upset about saying goodbye to diapers, and even talked like a baby on purpose a couple of times today, but i feel like if you can recognize and then sing most of Moves Like Jagger, then you’re old enough to use a toilet. for the love of adam levine.
so our day begins. i show her the potty (seat on top of our big toilet with a step stool to get there). i kept repeating “just tell mommy if you have to go pee, ok?”. i said it again. and again. i said it so much i was sick of hearing it. we made muffins (that’s not a potty training joke, we really did bake muffins). i said it again. at 12:15 she hadn’t done anything. no accidents. no successes. no pee. huh.
a bit later she peed on hello kitty. and she was sad. but she had a tiny success in the toilet after that and got a sticker on her chart! and she was happy. then she peed on hello kitty again. twice. then she went down for a nap and stayed dry the whole time! and then she got up and peed on yo gabba gabba. just as i was about to call Scot to bring home wine, she told me she had to go. and then – she did! in the right place! party like it’s 1999! so exciting!
Scot came home soon after and i headed out for a much needed haircut (and ombre action). she had one accident while i was out. but when i got home, she told us she needed to go. she waltzed into the bathroom, took her own underwear down and peed. ON THE TOILET. BY HERSELF.
(i promise this is only exciting for us. or other people who have experienced how effing cool it is to have your child learn something such as understanding the feeling of needing to take a leak. i mean, you try explaining that feeling to someone who really only cares about cheese and seeing how many of their own toes they can fit in their mouth).
hugs. stickers. treats. hugs and excitement! and then, a mere few minutes later – pee in the underwear.::facepalm::
but? we are getting there. for day one, i feel mildly successful. the mediocre of potty trainers, we are. she’s asleep in underwear as we speak-type. there are many a pair of hello kitty undies in the wash. i expect to be awoken tonight to sheet changing and the likes. but we are getting there. i dislike these shenanigans greatly, but we are getting there. it’s starting to click. i hope to have good news and reports by the end of the week. Harper hopes to have a chart full of stickers and a special treat here and there. fingers crossed we both get what we want!
feel free to share your potty training woes in the comments. success stories welcome, puns suggested, commiserating encouraged. this ish is hard, yo.
today is pretty good day to post this video as tomorrow morning i leave for san diego to go to BlogHer thanks to my wonderful sponsor Mott’s. like i said in the video, you guys can participate as well by uploading videos of your own munchkins answering the question “what is the best advice your mom ever gave you?” to the Mott’s facebook page. simply click here, like the page and check out the Mom Knows Best tab!
i’m off tomorrow morning so this place will be pretty quiet. with the exception of a super fun guest host for Steppin’ Out Saturday (don’t miss it just because i won’t be here:)), the Haps will be on lock down. you can follow my tweets of course, but a lot of it will just be squee’s and junk. if that is your sort of thing, join me! otherwise i will see you guys next week with lots of stories and photos.
today my pal Jamie from Grumbles & Grunts is here! i get the pleasure of hugging her very hard in less than two months at BlogHer and you get the pleasure of enjoying her wit and adorable kiddo right now. please enjoy and then head over to her blog. i know you’ll lub her as much as i do.
It’s no joke that in a household with a toddler you can expect at least one of the following three things: mess, screaming, and more mess. Plus maybe some broken stuff and some cute thrown in there as a last ditch survival tactic against… more screaming. Yeah, we’re in that phase. So it shouldn’t be at all shocking to learn that our own beloved toddler, the Jude, is sassy and stubborn and yells a lot. He sounds uh… exactly like his wayward sailormouthed mama. Heh. Whoops?*
*awesome whoops.
Our house? It’s the yelling house. We’re LOUD people, loud like chicken wing hats on fire loud. I dig it, it’s totally our cup of tea. We’re high-deciblers. One of the craziest and most stressful parts of our day though is getting out the door in the morning. Since both adult people have to get to work and we scoop the Jude off to his amazing babysitter’s house there is a ton to get ready and never enough time. Well, there would be enough time if I actually got out of bed when the alarm goes off. But who does that, who?! Let me at ‘em, I’ll punch ‘em in the neck. Each morning we’ve got bags to pack, lunches to prepare, diapers to stuff (clothies like whoa!), a crazy dog to feed and a groggy little cutie to dress.
In all that rush it’s proven to be one of the LOUDEST and quite frankly, hardest times for Jude. Everyone is running all over without much time to play and holy bananas what the hell is going on! At times he’s taken to just wandering aimlessly between the kitchen and the living room yelling, “MYYY SHOOOOOES, WHER MY SHOOOOOEES!” … all while wearing his shoes. Of course.
But here’s where I get to share our amazing discovery. The house has been eerily quiet during those crazy morning minutes for the last few days and I owe all the peace in the world to… banana bread.
Who knew bread could save the day like that? Bread, the saver of mornings. Banana bread, or as the Jude likes to call it, nanaba bra, has turned our morning chaos into something a lot more pleasant. (Or at least less noisy, that counts right?) We bake a loaf on Sunday night, it’s shockingly easy, and wrap it up for the week to come. On weekday mornings before Jude and I get downstairs Jon cuts a slice and leaves it on the counter. By the time I’ve wrangled the jammies off and the clean clothes on over those wily squirrel limbs the Jude trots right into the kitchen get his breakfast.
You thinking about crying, little dude? Ho ho HO, don’t you want your precious BREAD?
And wouldn’t you know it he stands oh-so quietly in the kitchen and signs Please, please! and once gifted with his slice of heaven he takes a seat at the table and happily munches away. Well hot damn. That’s some magic ass bread.
Dear bread, I love you even more now, even the kinds without garlic.
– regards, Jamie.
It’s been a game changer for our morning routine. Jude has something to look forward to besides chaos and I can feel halfway good about what he’s munching on. It’s easy to whip up from at home and save for snack time all week. I get to feel like super mom while… not really being all that super. Plus we cram as many fruits/veggies as our pantry will hold into the batter. Zucchini bread? Strawberry banana? Blueberry banana spinach? LET’S DO THIS. Get your healthy bits into my child, bread vehicle!
Sometimes life’s so good you just gotta throw out some flamenco dancing arms to celebrate.
In honor of bread.
Well, to be honest, bread is pretty awesome.
Especially when your dad makes it with strawberries.
Carb-o-loaders anonymous, anyone?
happy monday! i know, that is uber annoying. monday’s are totes icky. but after the past 2 weeks i’ve had, i’m ready to start a new one. so for me, it is a happy monday.
i’m back for week 2 of our week in phone photos, linking up with amy. my neck was feeling a LOT better last week so we were able to enjoy more things and get out of the house a lot more. the sun showed it’s face a few times! and of course it’s raining as i type this. i send heavy sighs in washingtons general direction.
monday – we went out to fondi’s for a belated mothers day with my mama (that is the yarn wreath i made for her!). tuesday – my husband has some pretty bad ass t-shirts, cuddles, puglife. wednesday – went to discovery village and did the wiggle wednesday class where H made a birdhouse. upon arriving home, we played dress up and i was forced to wear leopard print butterfly wings and fly around the house. true story. thursday – teriyaki. the end. friday – epic playdate with good friends, mustaches were involved. saturday – sushi, martinis, best ladies birthday. sunday – soup. hot soup.
oh and he brought wine anyways. love that guy.
