Packing Everything, But The Diapers.

Well, folks....it feels amazingly good to be able to tell you that I met my goal of potty-training Dee before we left for California. Tomorrow we take off in a plane bound for the "other coast" and in our suitcase will be a lot of training pants and 2T underwear but just enough diapers to serve us at nighttime. Boy, is victory sweet!

I am so very proud of myself. I think I was a much more level-headed and kind potty training coach this time around although I'm not sure how much of that I can take credit for and how much of it is just his personality versus Ru's. He's less confrontationally stubborn and I feel like he is easier to work with. That said, I know I've grown and become a better mommy since I went through this stage with his big brother. How can you not grow? For one thing, I'm just older and more mature and for another, experience of course, is a wise teacher. There were not tears on my part this time. There were very few floor messes and there have been no meltdown shouting matches over "sitting right down on that potty young man, right now!" Whew.

It is positively mind stutter inducing to pack bags for our first trip with two potty trained children. I keep looking at their suitcase and alternately thinking "What's missing?" and "Where will I put all the diapers though?"  Then I catch myself and have one more good laugh about it and give myself a mental slap on the back. Nothing like reliving your own glorious success accidentally!

I have even stopped putting him in diapers at naptime because he doesn't want one on and most of the time manages to stay dry anyhow! I'm so proud of him I could bust! What a big boy! And can you believe my extreme luck? I will have only the baby in diapers in a month or so! WOOHOO!!!!

Tomorrow, our plane flies out and we'll haul all those triaining pants (and of course everything else we're bringing to the check-in desk) and head to Medford, Oregon where to adventure begins. I am bringing the laptop and plan to photograph and blog our way down the coast, thus to stay in touch (like a good blogger) and more clearly remember our exciting journey. I'll see you on the other side, wherever I get a chance to sit down with the keyboard and unload in the next 24 hrs.

Bon Voyage to us!!

Picnic Weather!

Was a lovely day today. Took the boys trekking over to A's work for a jolly little picnic on a bench in the sun at lunchtime. One woman stopped and said, "What fun! You know you're going to make lots of people jealous!" nodding towards the continual stream of strolling executive types clicking past down the sidewalk, clippy i.d. tags fluttering in the breeze and black dress shoes gleaming. We did get a lot of waves and hellos and folks, cold asparagus, drizzled with garlic olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a generous dose of sea salt is d.i.v.i.n.e. when eaten sitting cross legged in the sunshine with no utensils, whole spears dripping and gleaming greenly, fingers all an oily, tasty mess and that amazing color of chartreuse/grass green stacked like cordwood in the make-shift tin foil bowl. Yum. Asparagus is one of my favorite foods in the world.

Ahem. Yes. Picnic. The picnic was really grand. First of the year. That's important. Everyone cheerful even though I was about an hour late arriving. Also good. Looks like it was chilly but it was tremendously comfortable and jackets would have been sweaty overkill. We're leafless but, really balmy at the moment.

And if you need real, further proof...look. Just down the street folks were lining up rather substantially for the local Dairy Queen. Note to self: Take the boys to Dairy Queen. Its a childhood institution. I think I may wait until its really good and hot.

Potty training continues on apace. Only two misses today...small progress is laudable! Still no initiating on his part which is slightly off-putting but really, I'd be asking a bit too much if I said that I truly expect him to have it all down in two days flat. I am not insane.

 Hope your weekend is fabulous. We're grilling steaks, visiting the midwife, and jogging off for a date alone together. Much sunshiney bliss awaits. May some of it come your way too!

He's A Big Boy Now...

Demonstrating his new skillz

We're back to potty training again! Today was the first day on the "New Plan" with Dee. This meant that I didn't put a diaper on him once today and I spent a lot of time reminding him to go to the bathroom and taking him to the bathroom and reminding myself to remind him to go to the bathroom. Good times. Thankfully, he's more easy going about this whole enforced toilet use business than his brother and I am a more sedate and easy-going mommy than I was with his brother.

We have had some protesting when I tell him that its time to go but, no real meltdowns or genuine tears. And he caves fast and pees pretty much every time. We had about four misses today and many more hits, I never bothered to count. He's a real pro actually. Pretty much all of those misses were when I slacked off on reminding and taking him and once he even had to go and knew it and wanted to tell me but, suddenly panicked and didn't have the words to explain and just stood in the hall with legs apart, crying.

I notice I'm a little slow on the draw. I didn't catch on to that one for a good while. Poor kid. By the time I had it figured out and had him on the potty chair he needed new underwear again. Speaking of new underwear...I have to put in a load of laundry before I go to bed to make sure there is a constant supply.

 All muddy from playing outdoors in the amazing weather

But, yeah...its been long enough since I waded through this with Ru that I'm surprised what I had forgotten. I forgot that you don't start out with pants on...you just do it with underwear and then work up to pants when they become reliable. Right. I remembered that after the second complete lower outfit change of the day. Tomorrow is a new day.

But, I do have to say, I'm super proud of him for using the toilet so frequently today and I'm super proud of myself for never turning into grouch mommy. So far so good. I think the thing I'd really like to see him catch onto next is self initiating. He sometimes will take himself but, mostly he's just hanging out being passive, waiting for me to tell him to "Go now!" Anyone have any tips for that part? I forget completely how I got Ru to grasp that concept...if at all I really did anything specific.