Potty Training Time

While we do have a backlog of other topics, we decided to potty train Jonah over the Christmas holiday while Michelle and I were both off from work. I wanted to get some of thoughts and details on our progress down while they are still fresh.

We started potty training the Saturday before Christmas (December 22). We opted to try the 3 day potty training method that a colleague of mine used with his twins. Suffice to say, it has taken more than three days, and we think we are mostly there, but we still have yet to get Jonah telling us with words on a regular basis that he needs to go potty.

We started the morning with Jonah's last diaper change and breakfast. After that, we put on Jonah's first pair of underwear and ceremonially threw out the few diapers we had remaining for him. He was so excited to be out of diapers!

The method had Jonah spending the day in just underwear and a shirt for the duration of the training and one of us needed to be with him at all times to catch him as soon as he started to go. The intent is to try to get him to go, too, by making sure he has plenty of liquid to drink. We think this may be one reason it has taken longer to feel like we are done with the training.

The first day was the hardest with regards to keeping up. Jonah would just release, and we would need to make the run. We had lots of little clean ups and went through lots of pairs of underwear. At one point we went through a string of about 5 pairs with little accidents at once. He never wanted to sit on the potty, which added to the "excitement."

One of the biggest mistakes I think we made on the first day is showing Jonah some rewards that he would get for going on the potty. In reviewing some of the material, this is like bribing and can cause some issues. And it did prove to be a little issue later when we would get Jonah on the potty with a struggle, and he would request a particular reward for going on the potty. Rewards need to be "silent." The child cannot expect them.

The first night brought one overnight wetting. I made another mistake here: I didn't change Jonah's sheets right then and set him up with blankets on the floor. He was later scared to get back on his bed, so if you are potty training, be prepared to change sheets potentially multiple times a night so your child can keep sleeping in the bed and isn't afraid to go back in the future.

Day two had much fewer "accidents" (a word we didn't use with Jonah during training) and Jonah exercised better control, but was still afraid of the potty and put up a fuss whenever we brought him there (and he still does, sometimes, but he actually sits now).

Christmas Eve was Grammy Sweets's first day in town (she arrived after Jonah was in bed the night before), so we had the good fortune to have three of us watching and spending time with Jonah. This made it significantly easier to keep up with Jonah and Jude. Jonah still surprised us with a couple showers. This was day three, so we were hoping something would click.

So... how do you know when a kid is officially potty trained? With a couple minor exceptions, he doesn't say "Mommy, I need to pee" or "Daddy, I need to use the potty," but over the course of the past week, he gives clear signs that he needs to go. He has progressively become more at ease sitting on the potty. He still denies that he needs to go, but he actually sits on the potty now and does not usually have an issue peeing.

"Number 2" is a different issue. We had a complete and total meltdown last night. He was so upset because he had to go, but still has some trouble letting go. He cried that he needed to pee, but had already gone (unfortunately in his pajamas before Michelle was able to get him on the potty). He wanted us to go away.

Didn't want us around.

It soon became obvious that poop was the problem, and I was able to talk him through it. Extra exciting is that we got him to sit twice for BMs yesterday, and thankfully we've only had one incident that soiled his underwear.

We only have a couple days until Jonah goes back to daycare, so we are hoping he gets a little more verbal about his needs for them, but he doesn't just go without any signs. We are very proud of our big boy, and he is thrilled to be wearing underwear and doesn't want to ever go back to diapers, so we are moving forward.

Jude, Months 1 and 2

Where the heck does the time go? Our little guy has already hit the two month milestone (on Christmas day, no less!). With everything going on, though blog posts have been few and far between. The backlog of topics is long, but we are hoping to get to them. In the meantime, here are a couple pictures to compare how big Jude is to Tigger at month one and month two.

Jude with Tigger at one month old

This time without the "Grandpa" pants

"Get me out of here already!"

Jude with Tigger at two months old

"What do you mean Jonah opened my Christmas presents??"

Merry Christmas from the Sweetsers!

As we have the past few years, we used Shutterfly for our Christmas cards this year. We would love to get them to everyone, but things have been a little busy. Even if you didn't receive one, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that the new year starts off well for you!

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Let's Go Fly a Kite!

We're always on the lookout for ways to get out and enjoy all that our city has to offer. In September, we learned of the Frank Mots International Kite Festival at Veteran's Park and decided to check it out. Jonah had received a couple of kites as gifts at Easter - one from Grandpa Gregg and another from the Easter Bunny - but we had yet to give them a try. It was a gorgeous fall day, so we decided to head down to the lakefront with a picnic lunch and our kites.

As we parked and approached, we were wowed by some kites of extraordinary size, including a Nemo, teddy bear, and octopus, as pictured below. (Unfortunately, it is really difficult to gauge size in this picture. Trust us, they were huge.)

The event started with the national anthem and a 10 gun salute, which surprisingly did not disturb Jonah, despite our close proximity to the military men. After that, there was a grand "opening," and all with kites were invite onto the field to put their kids up at the same time. Jonah and Daddy had a good time working together to put the kite into the air. At times, Jonah insisted on holding onto the string, but at other times, he was more interested in the tail (pulling on it, straddling it, etc). The two of them were able to get the kite in the air a couple of times, but never for very long, in part due to the wind (and lack of practice), but also due to other kite fliers who were inexperienced, strings got crossed with ours, etc.

I'm being independent and am going to hold the string winder.

I'm flying a kite!!! Look at me!

Playing a game of "straddle the tail."

Pulling on the tail. Who knew this could be so much fun?

Returning the downed kite to Daddy.

We had a great time getting our kite up and eating a picnic lunch, but we didn't stay too long because there were some groups scheduled to perform/demonstrate their kite-flying skills, meaning we had to get off of the field. Start times for the demonstrations weren't as advertised and we had a disinterested (by that point) toddler who was ready to move on.

It was a good thing we left when we did because on our way back to the car, we discovered that the fire department was out with a truck for kids to check out. We got one of the last fire hats they had to distribute, and Jonah had an opportunity to sit up in the front seat of the truck!

Getting situated in the passenger seat.

Look at me! I'm in the front seat of the fire truck!

I LOVE fire trucks!

These firefighters made my day!

It had been years since Ben and I had flown a kite, so it was great to get out and show the fun to Jonah as well. I'm not certain whether we'll return to the kite festival next year, as we can likely create our own fun with a trip to the lakefront on a day of our choosing. And our new, larger back yard may also afford its own kite flying opportunities.

Family Farm Weekend

Now that we've made it through Christmas (more on that later), I'm hopeful that we will have a bit of time to catch up on the many blog posts that we are behind on! As this blog serves as a great way for us to document activities and moments so that we ourselves can reflect on them later, we want to catch up on at least some posts so we can remember all of these beautiful moments that we have with our sons.

One of the best investments we have made since Jonah was born was a family membership to the Milwaukee County Zoo. We go there quite regularly - there was one period where we literally hit the zoo every month within the course of a year (a mild winter helped us maintain that record). It's a great way for us to get out of the house and enjoy seeing and learning about animals. In September, the zoo offered a Family Farm Weekend with activities focused more on traditional "farm" activities rather than animals that come from more exotic places. The weather was nice and we knew we needed a break from thinking about the upcoming move and home sale.

Jonah had the opportunity to participate in his first tractor pull, something we figure would make his Grandpa Gregg proud. He was literally the first kid to get on the tractor, which was a good thing, as Jonah saw the tractor and really wanted to get on it right away. We thought he was going to make an actual attempt to use the pedals on the tractor (he REFUSES to use them on his tricycle, even though his legs are now finally long enough that he can use them), but in the end he just used his feet on the ground. He pulled to the left and made a very spirited attempt to pull the tractor to the end of the short track. Unfortunately, he didn't make it all the way and he wasn't the most gracious about leaving the tractor behind (he wanted to continue to play with it), but it was a valiant effort! I'm sure there will be many more tractor pulls in his future!

Giving it his all.

In addition to the tractor pull, the zoo offered hay rides around one of the central loops. I made the mistake of telling Jonah that we weren't sitting on hay, but rather straw. For the rest of the day, he insisted on calling it a straw ride rather than a hay ride.

This is so much fun riding on the wagon!

As a part of the weekend's activities, the zoo had a variety of demonstrations and opportunities for kids to try their hand at "old-fashioned" activities. The timing wasn't exactly ideal to participate in many of the activities, but Jonah was at least able to try his hand at cranking ice cream (and of course, sampling the ice cream, which almost made us late for the tractor pull).

Are you sure I'm going to get some ice cream?

We made sure that we allowed for some time to play on the zoo's playground as well. Jonah has become increasingly daring on play equipment and we were able to catch him swinging one-handed from the bar at the top of one of the small slides. Jonah was also very interested in walking on the curb in the farm area (though he still required Daddy's hand at certain points).

Daredevil Jonah!

I want to be a big boy, but I'm not quite brave enough to do this alone.

No trip to the zoo would be complete without a ride on the train. Unfortunately, we weren't able to sit in the caboose, but we took last car that we could. Jonah is so excited by trains and proudly posed in the car for us:

We didn't spend as much time as usual looking at the animals for this visit, but a highlight was the elephant exhibit, where one of the elephants was wowing visitors with its reach across the ravine to get food on the other side. This photo doesn't quite do her antics justice.

What a fun day we had! We hope the zoo will offer this activity again and hope to attend again next year.

Baby Announcement!

We used Shutterfly for our baby announcement with Jude, and it looked fabulous (see below)!

 

 

 

 

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