Monday, January 21, 2008
Potty Training Day 3
Today was a much better day. I think I calmed down a lot about it all, so that really helped. He seemed much more eager today also. I'm thinking yesterday was a testing day and since Matt and I didn't back down, he decided to cooperate a little more. He had one start of an accident, but caught himself and told Matt he needed to pee. Later in the afternoon, he did have a dirty accident, but as I said before -- he was still trying to get the hang of going #2 in the potty. He even asked me a couple days ago how you poop! Luckily they're not too messy, and we explain that he needs to do that in the toilet instead of his underwear. Sometimes it's hard not getting mad, but it's necessary so he continues to try. Yesterday we went though eight pairs of underwear -- today we went through two! Sounds like great progress to me... :) Now here's the real test: tomorrow it will be just me with Carter and two babies... how well will we do? Check back tomorrow night!
Pictures are Posted!
There are new pictures finally uploaded! Here are the links:
Lauren's Baptism: http://picasaweb.google.com/hoosier.nik/LaurenSBaptism
Christmas: http://picasaweb.google.com/hoosier.nik/Christmas2007
There are many more pictures in my gallery on Picasaweb, so check them out too!
Lauren's Baptism: http://picasaweb.google.com/hoosier.nik/LaurenSBaptism
Christmas: http://picasaweb.google.com/hoosier.nik/Christmas2007
There are many more pictures in my gallery on Picasaweb, so check them out too!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Potty Training Day 2
So... today didn't go well at all. I think he actually went in the potty maybe two-three times when we took him. He just kept going in his pants!! One time I think he was looking for me and peed when he couldn't find me (but Matt was in the office, where he went to look for me). Most the others seemed a little more accidental, but after one of them he asked for a pull-up (which I don't want to use because it's just like a thin diaper -- we've tried those with no success). One seemed very deliberate -- he went in our room and peed behind the door (he always tells us where he pees so we can clean it up). It was soon after he had asked for the pull-up, and to go behind a door? I don't know for sure, but I do know that Carter just doesn't want to do it. I think we got a little more frustrated with him and pushed him a little harder today, and he didn't like it. Again with this power struggle! Twice, though, we asked him if he had to go and he said no -- ten seconds later he went in his pants both times!! The timer was pretty much ineffective today, but we'll continue to use it as a reminder to at least the parents.
I did have some success this evening when we went in after the timer beeped. Since he hadn't gone very often when we took him in during the day, I wanted to give him a little more incentive or make it a little more fun. So I took Cheerios in with me and put a few of them in the toilet. I told Carter to aim his pee and hit them (he was standing up like Daddy this time). He started giggling when I dropped the first one in, and immediately started trying harder to pee in the toilet! He did go, and hit two of the Cheerios! So I'm keeping a cup of them on the bathroom counter (so guests, it's not a snack in there for you!) so we can play this game more often.
Hopefully we'll meet with more success tomorrow, and I can continue this throughout the week without Matt and while watching Sam. I don't want to buy any more "baby diapers" for my 3.5 year old!!
I did have some success this evening when we went in after the timer beeped. Since he hadn't gone very often when we took him in during the day, I wanted to give him a little more incentive or make it a little more fun. So I took Cheerios in with me and put a few of them in the toilet. I told Carter to aim his pee and hit them (he was standing up like Daddy this time). He started giggling when I dropped the first one in, and immediately started trying harder to pee in the toilet! He did go, and hit two of the Cheerios! So I'm keeping a cup of them on the bathroom counter (so guests, it's not a snack in there for you!) so we can play this game more often.
Hopefully we'll meet with more success tomorrow, and I can continue this throughout the week without Matt and while watching Sam. I don't want to buy any more "baby diapers" for my 3.5 year old!!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Potty Training
So we've been working on potty training with Carter for quite some time now. We got him a training potty when he was around 15-18 months, and started trying to use it at two years old. We didn't meet with much success, but didn't want to push too hard as we had always heard "they'll do it when they're ready". We've been ready, and started to push a little harder when he was 2 1/2 -- we wanted him out of diapers either before or soon after Lauren was born! He was doing great -- he'd get out of bed and change his diaper (which he slept in) to a pull-up, and usually go to the bathroom too. He had even moved to the big potty and we put the little one away!
He had a major setback after Lauren was born (which I anticipated), but it got so much worse six months later! At this time he refused to even get himself dressed! Those that know him well know that he likes to do everything himself. AND he was getting himself dressed before even coming out of his room in the mornings! So after talking with other parents of young ones (especially boys!) and searching message board after message board, I finally found some sage advice. This advice was posted by a couple moms, both of which got it from their respective pediatricians. Leave them be for a month or so -- put them back in diapers and don't mention the potty. It was turning into a power struggle, so drop it so you can regain the power. We did this -- at first Carter hated being back in a "baby diaper" and I honestly thought that might do the trick. Nope. So a little over a month goes by and we'd occasionally ask him if he needed to go or wanted to go, but the answer was always no. We didn't push, we just dropped it.
It's now time for the next step -- one mother posted that it was to put them on the potty every hour or so and make them sit there for at least five minutes, but still don't say anything about using the potty. I didn't really like this step, so I came up with my own method (which has probably been used by others). It's something like we've done before, but with an added element. It's a three-day weekend, so I decided that I want Carter mostly potty-trained by the end of it. Might be wishful thinking, but I at least hope to get the general idea drilled into his head to make it easier to continue when the days are a little busier. This morning I put him in big-boy underwear and explained what was going to happen. We set his timer for every 45 minutes (which we used in the past to "give" him the power to go to the bathroom on his own when it beeped) and he needed to go sit on the toilet whenever it beeped for five minutes or until he went. There were times when he fussed and tried to refuse to go into the bathroom, but he did great. We even went to Kohls and to grab some dinner tonight and he told Matt that he needed to go while we were in the store -- and stayed dry the entire time out! We had one accident earlier in the day -- a dirty one too -- but he still had problems going #2 in the potty when he was doing well before. And he recognized that he did it and told me right after it happened, so that shows progress. Ever since he was a baby, he has never minded being in a dirty or wet diaper!
We'll continue this tomorrow, even though he told me that he didn't want to do it again. Hopefully soon he'll start recognizing when he has to go and the timer will go away. My thoughts are that he gets so wrapped up in doing whatever he's doing that he just never wanted to take a time-out to go potty. Let's hope that changes, and I can quit buying diapers for Carter!! I'll keep you updated.
He had a major setback after Lauren was born (which I anticipated), but it got so much worse six months later! At this time he refused to even get himself dressed! Those that know him well know that he likes to do everything himself. AND he was getting himself dressed before even coming out of his room in the mornings! So after talking with other parents of young ones (especially boys!) and searching message board after message board, I finally found some sage advice. This advice was posted by a couple moms, both of which got it from their respective pediatricians. Leave them be for a month or so -- put them back in diapers and don't mention the potty. It was turning into a power struggle, so drop it so you can regain the power. We did this -- at first Carter hated being back in a "baby diaper" and I honestly thought that might do the trick. Nope. So a little over a month goes by and we'd occasionally ask him if he needed to go or wanted to go, but the answer was always no. We didn't push, we just dropped it.
It's now time for the next step -- one mother posted that it was to put them on the potty every hour or so and make them sit there for at least five minutes, but still don't say anything about using the potty. I didn't really like this step, so I came up with my own method (which has probably been used by others). It's something like we've done before, but with an added element. It's a three-day weekend, so I decided that I want Carter mostly potty-trained by the end of it. Might be wishful thinking, but I at least hope to get the general idea drilled into his head to make it easier to continue when the days are a little busier. This morning I put him in big-boy underwear and explained what was going to happen. We set his timer for every 45 minutes (which we used in the past to "give" him the power to go to the bathroom on his own when it beeped) and he needed to go sit on the toilet whenever it beeped for five minutes or until he went. There were times when he fussed and tried to refuse to go into the bathroom, but he did great. We even went to Kohls and to grab some dinner tonight and he told Matt that he needed to go while we were in the store -- and stayed dry the entire time out! We had one accident earlier in the day -- a dirty one too -- but he still had problems going #2 in the potty when he was doing well before. And he recognized that he did it and told me right after it happened, so that shows progress. Ever since he was a baby, he has never minded being in a dirty or wet diaper!
We'll continue this tomorrow, even though he told me that he didn't want to do it again. Hopefully soon he'll start recognizing when he has to go and the timer will go away. My thoughts are that he gets so wrapped up in doing whatever he's doing that he just never wanted to take a time-out to go potty. Let's hope that changes, and I can quit buying diapers for Carter!! I'll keep you updated.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Past Blogs
I've just posted some past blogs on here from last year (from my other blog) just in case anyone didn't get a chance to read them. :)
Update on Sites
For anyone wondering, I will still be updating www.iuwolf.com, although it appears to be down at the moment. I know Matt had to reset our server, so I'll check with him on getting it back up. I will also keep my myspace page (www.myspace.com/hoosiernik) and blog on there, although they will probably be duplicate blogs. Plus, you have to have a myspace account to leave comments there whereas anyone can leave comments on this blogsite. :)
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
What a Day!
So I was hoping to be on here tonight talking about something else, but oh well... Here goes:
We were contacted by the Psychology dept last week about a research experiment involving 8-month olds and their ability to recognize imitation. It sounded like fun, so I signed Lauren and myself up. I was actually pretty excited about it, and thought it was pretty cool that Lauren would always get to say that she helped with a research finding! I was taking Carter to Matt's work so Lauren and I could go and was at the light at 10th and College (in between Mad Mushroom and Waffle House). All of a sudden, I hear reverse beeps and see the garbage truck in front of me start to back up. I was frantically trying to get my car into reverse while blaring my horn, but it was too late. He backed up and was partially on top of my hood. Luckily, Waffle House parking lot is where cops like to hang out, and there were two of them there. It was a new driver (in an IU garbage truck) and he suddenly had the urge to pee -- so he was backing up to pull into Waffle House! I'm still trying to figure out why he thought it was okay to back up in the middle of the road when would've been able to turn onto College Ave. soon, even if he didn't see me behind him...
So... my car was towed. Leaking radiator fluid all over the road. Nothing, of course, happened to the garbage truck. We called Enterprise, who we normally rent from and has all our information (including insurance) in their computers from before, and they have nothing available. Before we could check with anyone else, the police officer told us to call Risk Management, who's the insurance for IU, to see if they'd set us up with transportation. Matt called, someone had to call him back, and they said we were approved for a compact car. HAHAHAHA!!!!! He said we have an SUV and need something comparable because we have two car seats. I had to squeeze both carseats and kids in the back of Matt's Mustang -- picture putting Lauren in a rear-facing seat in his car!!!! The adjustor from Risk Management called Matt and had us set up with National and Matt picked up a Grand Prix this afternoon, so at least we have something that the carseats fit in and has a large enough trunk for a stroller.
My car was towed to the AutoPlex and when I called them the adjustor had been there. Matt said he was pretty sure he had been, as he said he had pictures of the car already. They said that they were really busy today, but that they'd get an estimate on it, contact the adjustor, order the parts, and fix the car. Not sure how long it will take, but at least I don't have to do anything. I did call our insurance claims office, and they said not to do anything unless the other insurance company does nothing -- then we could file our own claim and they'd go after them. Fine with me...
I was so distraught earlier as I hate feeling like I have no control. I finally called my mom after we got home and I got Lauren down for a nap. Everything came out and I just cried... but at least I feel better now. Hopefully we'll hear something in the next couple days, but at least we weren't planning on going out of town for a while!!
Whew... what a day...
We were contacted by the Psychology dept last week about a research experiment involving 8-month olds and their ability to recognize imitation. It sounded like fun, so I signed Lauren and myself up. I was actually pretty excited about it, and thought it was pretty cool that Lauren would always get to say that she helped with a research finding! I was taking Carter to Matt's work so Lauren and I could go and was at the light at 10th and College (in between Mad Mushroom and Waffle House). All of a sudden, I hear reverse beeps and see the garbage truck in front of me start to back up. I was frantically trying to get my car into reverse while blaring my horn, but it was too late. He backed up and was partially on top of my hood. Luckily, Waffle House parking lot is where cops like to hang out, and there were two of them there. It was a new driver (in an IU garbage truck) and he suddenly had the urge to pee -- so he was backing up to pull into Waffle House! I'm still trying to figure out why he thought it was okay to back up in the middle of the road when would've been able to turn onto College Ave. soon, even if he didn't see me behind him...
So... my car was towed. Leaking radiator fluid all over the road. Nothing, of course, happened to the garbage truck. We called Enterprise, who we normally rent from and has all our information (including insurance) in their computers from before, and they have nothing available. Before we could check with anyone else, the police officer told us to call Risk Management, who's the insurance for IU, to see if they'd set us up with transportation. Matt called, someone had to call him back, and they said we were approved for a compact car. HAHAHAHA!!!!! He said we have an SUV and need something comparable because we have two car seats. I had to squeeze both carseats and kids in the back of Matt's Mustang -- picture putting Lauren in a rear-facing seat in his car!!!! The adjustor from Risk Management called Matt and had us set up with National and Matt picked up a Grand Prix this afternoon, so at least we have something that the carseats fit in and has a large enough trunk for a stroller.
My car was towed to the AutoPlex and when I called them the adjustor had been there. Matt said he was pretty sure he had been, as he said he had pictures of the car already. They said that they were really busy today, but that they'd get an estimate on it, contact the adjustor, order the parts, and fix the car. Not sure how long it will take, but at least I don't have to do anything. I did call our insurance claims office, and they said not to do anything unless the other insurance company does nothing -- then we could file our own claim and they'd go after them. Fine with me...
I was so distraught earlier as I hate feeling like I have no control. I finally called my mom after we got home and I got Lauren down for a nap. Everything came out and I just cried... but at least I feel better now. Hopefully we'll hear something in the next couple days, but at least we weren't planning on going out of town for a while!!
Whew... what a day...
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