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Potty talk from the Diaper Kid

Posted on December 18, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I will admit it, we were not really the ones that potty trained our oldest son. NHL was almost potty trained before 2 years old with us. Then he was finally able to walk and we lost some ground. Being on the move was too much fun to bother with the potty. A short time after this, NHL was moved into the toddler classroom at daycare. After a few weeks, they asked if we would send in a bunch of underpants and lots of spare clothing. They were going to work on using the potty with a bunch of kids at the same time. NHL loved this. He was able to sit on the potty with his friends and chat while learning. NHL and all of his friends quickly learned to use the potty together.

Flash forward to my 2 1/2 year old son JSL. He has used the potty several times over the last year. Not too long ago he was eager to pee on the potty for a Sesame Street sticker and Diego potty seat. I thought we had something here.

Then, things changed. He was in the tub and had to get out quickly since he seemed like he was going to dirty the tub water, if you know what I mean. Daddy apparently scared him. Since that time, he has only agreed to sit on the potty once or twice. Every other time he refuses.

Me: "JSL, let’s go to the potty."

JSL: "NO! Me no go potty!"

Me: "JSL why not?"

JSL "NHL pee on potty. Daddy pee on potty. Mommy pee on potty. No me!"

*sigh* Mentally banging my head against the wall here. I know not to push this because if I do it will make matters worse. Instead, at least once a day, I ask if he wants to use the potty without an pressure. Typically, the same conversation of sorts takes place.

Of course, the most ironic part of this is my 2 1/2 year old is obsessed with potty talk. He will sit there with a huge grin on his face and say:

"Pee pee, poopy . . . potty talk! Ha-ha Hee-hee!"

This then leads to NHL scolding JSL, telling me to do something about the little guy and his potty talk. What can I do?! I just wish the little guy would channel his potty talk into using the potty for real!

My question to you this week:

Do you have any pointers on how to help potty train a stubborn 2 1/2 year old little person?

It is really too cold here to leave him sans pants and underwear to figure things out. Plus, I think puddles may freeze on contact with our hardwood floors. The potty talk is being worked on via time outs in a chair as I type (literally).

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #78

Categories:
Aloha Friday jsl looking back losing my mind milestone nhl photos sahm

It’s the little things

Posted on November 24, 2009 3:58 pm by TheAngelForever

Yesterday, the little guy and I spent the morning with my mother. She had the day off because she will be working on Thanksgiving day. We went shopping looking for some last minute Chanukah gifts before retail craziness really begins. While at one of our stops, I bumped into a former colleague of mine. I had not seen her since she retired and asked her how she was enjoying her new retired life.

On that flip side, I was asked how I liked being at home with the boys. I told her that most days I absolutely love it, but we have our moments. Let’s be honest here, I think we could all say that about any day, whether at work outside of the home or with our children. I told my friend that I loved being able to be at events for my older son, now a first grader. I did not have to worry about asking for the day off, leaving substitute plans or any of that. In addition to that, I was watching the boys grow in front of my eyes. She told me that she never once regretted staying home when her children were little. My mother has always told me the same thing and I truly do feel blessed that TechyDad and I are able to make it work for our family.

Today was a perfect example of how it is the little things in life that I love as a stay at home mom. The little guy and I got ready to head to the library. It was story hour and I thought it would be good for him to get back into the swing of things. Today, there were at least 20 children there along with parents, grandparents and other adults in their lives. It was slightly overwhelming for my shy 2 1/2 year old. JSL eventually warmed up and started to participate in the songs and dances.

During that time, I felt a twinge in my heart. This was something that I never did with NHL. He was in daycare from the time he was one until he started PreK. I missed those moments of him singing and dancing, listening to stories and interacting with his peers. So when JSL asked to jump into my lap, I hugged him just a little tighter trying to cherish these moments a bit more.

After the stories were finished, there was a craft today. The kids were all able to make little turkey puppets. This was JSL’s first real craft time. When given the glue stick to use for the items, he was clueless. He quickly learned how to dab on some glue and toss a feather onto his turkey.

Once again, my mind was racing. I never saw NHL’s first time using a glue stick or other little milestones. So many things I missed with my first born baby. I know I can not dwell on them too much, but I do feel bad. Of course, on the flip side if I go back to teaching once JSL is in school full time I will not be able to do the things that I have done for NHL. I have been a room parent for two years now. I have gone into his classroom to help teach the kids about Chanukah, read stories, and participate in parties.

In the end, I hope that both boys will know that I love each of them with all of my heart. I will always do and be there for them as much as possible. On that note, it is time to wipe my eyes. *sniffle* *sniffle*

Categories:
jsl looking back me moments nhl photos sahm

A warm November day

Posted on November 10, 2009 10:17 am by TheAngelForever

Typically, temperatures in November get quite chilly here. Lows are usually in the 30’s and highs could climb into the 40’s. It is certainly not the type of weather that one would take their child to the park for an extended length of time. The temperatures have soared to highs in the 60’s the last few days. Thanks to this, I took JSL to the park yesterday. It was just the two of us for an hour or so and we had a fabulous time. Every day, he has been begging me to take him to the park to go "Wheeeee" on the slides. It was so nice to be able to grant him this simple desire.

When we arrived at the park, he bolted away from me. Usually when we are at the park, JSL follows his big brother around. It was so fun to watch and see where he would go on his solo mission.

Of course, my camera was in the car . . . so I used my new cell phone to snap some of our precious memories. There was no way I could rip the little guy away from the park to go and get my camera. They may not be the best, but they certainly capture the moments. After he let go of my hand, he made a beeline for the little train slide.

Once he did this a few times, JSL was ready to run to the bigger slides. Over and over again, he climbed up the ladder. Why go up the easy steps when you can give Mom gray hairs? He would stop on the bridge area to jump a few times and look through the bars to laugh at me.

Then he would go over and over to the big twisty slide. JSL had no fear since the playground was empty and loved the freedom to pick what he wanted.

After a few times down the twisty slide, I convinced him to try the tunnel to another section. He hesitated, but then realized he could play peek-a-boo with me. He kept going over and over and of course I kept missing him. He was too fast and thought it was funny that I was getting bad "cheese" (= photos to a 2 year old) over and over. Eventually I got this which is a big favorite of mine.

Soon, JSL decided it was time to check out more of the park. On our way, I noticed there was a single tree that actually had leaves on it. The tree was gorgeous and a vibrant red color. I went under it and took the following photo.

Then it was time for JSL to channel his inner dinosaur. He needed a boost to get up. Once he was on the dino, he was roaring and rocking out. He had a great time, but quickly wanted to move to more things.

I was shocked he did not want to go on the giant slide at this point. Instead, he picked the "round and round wheee" ride as he called it. This did not last too long. In an attempt to grant me even more gray hairs, JSL kept letting go and trying to stand up while it was moving around.

I was able to convince him to follow me to the swings. He wanted to go on the regular ones, but those are not made for a two year old little boy. I put him into the swings for kids that look more like odd contraptions and he could not see anything. I tried to take a photo, but had used up my cell phone memory (oops!). This seemed like the perfect time to call it a day. I told JSL it was time to head home. We only had an hour to eat lunch before it was time to head to school to pick up NHL.

The weather is supposed to be mild again today, but not as sunny. Perhaps we will have another adventure in the park together. It is days like this that I remember why I am so lucky to be a stay-at-home Mom!

Categories:
fun jsl kid talk photos play time sahm weather

Name that virus

Posted on October 3, 2009 9:33 pm by TheAngelForever

Last Sunday I had a headache during the day. I took medicine, napped some and then took NHL to a birthday party. When we got home I really felt lousy and took my temperature. It was elevated for me. I took some ibuprofen and went to bed. During the night I woke up with chills, body aches and the headache was still there. I knew this was not a good sign. Needless to say since I was sick, I drank and ate a little over Yom Kippur. The boys stayed home with me as my temperature started to climb and JL went to temple.

Tuesday I felt a lot better. I did laundry (sheets had to be washed from fever breaking several times) and in the afternoon took NHL to the dentist. That night I had a mild headache, but nothing too bad. My temperature was down quite a bit. Wednesday I took it easy in the morning. In the afternoon, I brought JSL to my Aunt’s house to stay with her and my grandmother. NHL had an eye doctor’s appointment that would take at least an hour and a half and I did not want to have the little guy tag along. I made a large mistake before going to that appointment. I did not take iboprofen. By the time I was home that night I felt wiped.

Thursday morning I took it easy again and that night felt well enough to go to open house at NHL’s school. We did not stay long and I kept my distance from everyone. Friday was not a good day at all. My fever kept climbing to 101 when it is normally just about 98 on our thermometer. I had chills, aches and to add to the mix a cough joined the party.

When I talked to my doctor’s office earlier in the week about the flu shot for JSL, I asked the nurse about my symptoms. She said so many people were sick right and it was likely a virus. She agreed that there was no need to be seen. During the night I tossed and turned. At 4:00 I woke up with a horrible coughing fit. I could feel a slight trickle down the back of my throat and it was driving me batty. I took something to try to help it and sat on the couch watching Roku for three hours. By the time the boys woke up I had a pounding headache. The coughing, fever and lack of sleep caught up with me.

I tried to nap as much as I could today, but it did not come easily with the noisy boys, cough and headache. Tonight, the cough is back and although I feel like all of the energy in my body is zapped…the fever has not spiked YET.

My theory is that I picked something up in the ER when we were there last Friday. Everyone looked like I feel and they were coughing, wheezing and some had masks on while others did not. My family guesses that this may be the Flu, possibly H1N1, but we are not sure. Now my biggest fear is passing it along to the rest of our family no matter what it is. Fevers scare me with the febrile seizure history.

So, please excuse me if I am not here as much for a little while. I will be taking a little more me time this weekend to try to mend a very sick me. If I am not much improved, or the coughing get worse I will be taking myself to the doctor on Monday to get check since it will be a week with whatever virus has taken over my body.

Categories:
bad news looking back losing my mind me moments sahm sickness

Beaucoup de books

Posted on July 30, 2009 9:10 am by TheAngelForever

To say that we have a lot of books for our boys would be an understatement. As an elementary education major, I purchased a lot of picture and chapter books from Scholastic and beyond. While student teaching I bought even more, and again while getting my masters degree in Reading. I truly do have a very large collection of books from many different genres. At one time or another I have read most, if not all of the books. When NHL was born, and then started in daycare, we added many more books to our house.

Last year, we bought a book shelf for the boys room. This was to house their books and some of mine that had been brought down for their age group. The boys love their own personal library. NHL and JSL are constantly grabbing books off the shelves and taking them to read. The problem, the boys rarely ever put the books back. Most of the time they leave piles of books in the living room, or on their bedroom floor.

With the arrival of my in-laws last week, I had to do something about the book shelf disaster (sorry forgot to take photos of this mess). Thursday night after I was done eating dinner, I excused myself to their room to tackle the project. I took all of the books off of the shelves. I put them into a few piles and started to organize by type of book, author and so on. What I soon realized was there was really no room in the book shelf for all of our board books that JSL reads. As a quick solution I put them into a big Rubbermaid tote and kept moving along with my other project.

It honestly did not take me long, but the result was SO much better than it originally looked (take my word for it). Here is the entire bookcase when I was finished.

A closer look from the bottom up. On the botton shelf I put larger books that would not fit elsewhere, along with some of our coloring books.

On the middle shelf I grouped collections of books by a single author, along with books about familiar television/movie characters. You can see all of the Curious George, Froggy, Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle and multiple other groupings.

The top shelf has the early readers on the left (a few chapter books also here). In the middle I put an empty space for NHL and JSL to put books back when they are done reading.

On the right are some of our Jewish book collection (many thanks to the PJ Library) and books about holidays in general.

A week after this project was completed the books are still looking good. NHL and JSL have been good about only taking three books out of their library at a time. Each day I go back in and help them to put the books back away to keep it on the sort of organized side.

So do you keep your books in a certain order? How do you deal with your ever growing collection of books? Inquiring minds want to know!