Poo Poo

No, I'm not potty training I promise. This is what happens when my 19 month old is insisting that she needs to poo poo on the potty, but won't sit on it. For months now Eden has been grabbing her diaper and saying there is poop in it. Most of the time it is just pee, which she does not like having either. The girl just doesn't like having a dirty diaper on. This is too weird for me. Kael was so oblivious to this fact forever. I mean he still would run around with poop in his underwear and never tell me if he ever had an accident (which he doesn't anymore).

We decided to buy a small potty for Eden to just sit on and get familiar with so that when she is maybe 2 or 2 1/2 she'd like to potty train with. Again, no rush. This little frog came to our apartment last night and we got it out and the girl is obsessed with it. She wanted to run around naked and sit on it for about 2 hours last night. She did get some poop out while sitting on it and has peed 3 times in it. She has not mastered knowing when she needs to pee before it happens, but holy smokes people my baby peed in a potty! First thing this morning she grabbed the potty and wanted to be naked to sit on it. And yes, she did pee in the potty. It won't be an all the time thing because I really don't want her running around naked all day long, but the girl is on fire. I'm not going to even try to think about potty training her because I'm not ready and I just can't believe a child that young could accomplish it, but who am I. I'm just glad she can't take off her diaper yet, however she has been trying so very hard.

She's amazing and super cute, and I love seeing her chunky thighs running around naked.

Way to go Eden!

Dearest Kael

My dearest Kael. You are now 33 months old. I should have written this 2 days ago. This month has been a struggle for you and me. I think our different opinions have clashed a lot this month. Dad and I attended a class today for Sunday School at church for teaching. In the class a lady commented about teaching our children. She said when she had her first baby she prayed to Heavenly Father that she would be able to understand her baby. They are very different and she wanted to understand her baby so that she could teach her better. I want you to know that I have prayed for this very thing every day. I don't think we are all that different, but you are very stubborn. That is ok. I hope you are stubborn throughout your life. I want you to stick to what you believe. However, along the way, please obey your mother when she asks you to come inside, or especially to not run in the road. I promise, on these points Mom does know best. :)

You are speaking so much better. Just the other day you were playing outside and you insisted on holding your water cup. I asked you to let me hold it for you so you could play better, and you very clearly told me "No Mom, I need to hold it!" I had a good laugh and could not deny you your cup because I have never heard you speak so clearly, or that long of a sentence. It melts my heart. You repeat EVERYTHING! Progress. I am so proud of you!

You were talking to your Grandma Heaton on the phone and you repeated all the words she told you. Balloons, see you soon, love you, bye! Then as Grandma was going to hang up I heard her telling Grandpa, "Wow, he is getting so big!". That also melted my heart, because it is true.

Grandma and Grandpa Heaton are coming in just 8 days to watch you and Eden, and I have decided I really need to find a way for you to go #2 on the toilet before they come. So yesterday we went to the store and I let you pick a toy. You picked dinosaurs. You LOVE dinosaurs. You say that word all day long. Today, you did it. You pooped on the toilet for the first time since February! You were so excited for that dinosaur. Now, I really hope you can keep going so that I don't have to take the dinosaur away. It is going to break my heart if I have to, but I know you can do this!

You get so annoyed with Eden sometimes. It is so funny. You think she needs her pacifier or her sippy cup, or just some toy and you try to force her to hold it. She cries and then you cry. You really just want to help her. You love her so much. You kiss her cheek every night before she goes to bed. Sometimes you just go up to her and give her a big hug. Most of the time you end up tackling her and she laughs. Thanks for loving her. You are a great big brother and a good example so far. I put the picture I did up because it shows you being silly with Eden. Even though you both are still little you love being together. I love you buddy! You amaze me every day and I'm so proud of you! I can't wait to see what next month brings.

Kael's New Bike

Kael did it! He finally went #2 in the toilet. We have been telling him for a week that if he can poop in the toilet he would get a bike, and it worked! He just said, "Mom, potty, bike!" So we went and the kid did his business! Derek had to take a quick study break to get the kid his bike and Kael finally got the sucker he's been wanting. That was our first bribery that wasn't working. We are so proud of him! I never thought that Kael would be potty trained right now. I wasn't even planning on starting until he was 3, so this just amazes me! Kael you might be behind in your speech, but man you rock at the potty! Love you kid!

Eden is showing off Kael's new used bike. Kael rode it around our apartment all day today. It was awesome. We found this sweet deal on KSL for $15 bucks. It rides great, but is just sun worn. Any ideas how to fix it up for dirt cheap? Otherwise, it is staying the way it is. I would like to get rid of the spiderman if possible, and fix the handle bars grips, but I don't really care at this point.

Stars

This was the end of week 2 of potty training Kael. This was his second complete chart filled will stickers for going potty. You can see how thrilled he is. He wouldn't look at the camera once. I've found a new love of his. I think he likes getting a star sticker more than the treat for going potty. Anyway, I'm just so darn proud of the boy. He doing fairly well and he just keeps getting more and more stars. Now if I could convince him to go #2 life would be awesome. Way to go Kael! So proud of you!

Kael is 31 months and a potty update.

I only just realized that Kael is another month older. I just can't believe how fast time goes by. The kid is just doing awesome. He is saying well over 100 words now. This is a huge improvement because at the end of November he could only really say about 5 words clearly. He is putting words together like more milk, or juice please. He is repeating almost everything. Which I now really have to be careful what I say because he is copying me now even though he doesn't understand what I say... Ooops. We can ask him to say something like "say hi grandma" and he repeats it so clear. I couldn't imagine being at this point several months ago. Kael has a long way before he is caught up with his speech, but he is impressing me every day! He is trying so hard and I'm so proud of him.

He still has his horrible tantrums about once a day, but I think he is getting to normal 2 year old tantrums. He is so sad when people have to leave and during any transition for that matter that he goes hysterical. However, it is because he loves people so much. He is getting better every day and the better his speech gets, the better his behavior is.

He is doing well in nursery, except for singing time. He is the crazy kid running around like a maniac. I think that it is over an hour past his nap time, and the poor boy is just like his dad and goes crazy (gets hyper / over excited) when he is tired. ;)

As for potty training.

Kael is doing AMAZING! He is staying dry during naps and didn't have a single accident today. Well, I'm not counting #2 because we are still working on that. However, I feel confident about leaving the house and knowing that Kael will tell me if he has to go! I had no idea 2 weeks ago that right now Kael would be where he is at potty trained.

Any suggestions for how to get #2 down? This has been going so much better than I could ever have dreamed of, but I still don't know how to get him to poop in the toilet. HELP.

I can't believe how nervous I was for this point. Kael has made this a good experience for me. Don't get me wrong, it has been difficult, but Kael is determined when he puts his mind to something and he teaches me so much. Doing hard things is possible. Way to go Kael!

I am so so so so so so so so proud of Kael! He is the sweetest most loving boy. He takes care of Eden, he takes care of me. We love you Kael! Thanks for your hard work this month. Keep it up!

Potty Training Day 3

I didn't plan on starting to potty train Kael, but he has been grabbing his underwear and insisting on wearing it and insisting on not wearing a diaper, so it has begun.

Overall, I don't know how this is suppose to go and have never done anything like this before, so I don't know if we are doing good or bad...

Rewards:

1 skittle for #1.

2 skittles for #2.

And a sticker for same thing until he fills his chart, which is about a week of going in the toilet, then he gets a toy car.

Day 1: About 5 accidents. 7 times in the toilet. No #2.

Day 2: About 4 accidents. 6 times in the toilet. No #2.

Day 3. 3 accidents. 7 times in the toilet. Still no #2.

I think we are making progress. Yesterday Kael went running to the toilet yelling "mom, mom potty!". Then, today once he yelled "mom, potty". Over and over. So, I think we are getting there. The rest of the time it is me asking him every 15 to 20 minutes if he needs to go. Today he would not let me put a diaper on him for nap time. So I just put the diaper over his underwear and let him sleep in that. To my complete shock, he woke up completely dry!!! We even played outside for about 45 minutes without an accident.

Not sure what to do about #2. He only goes once in the morning, so I'm just hoping to catch him before he goes, and get him to go just once, so that maybe he gets the idea on it.

Anyway. I think we are doing ok. We'll see how it goes.

One Day We Will Get There

Forewarning:

(A little too descriptive for some probably.)

So a couple of nights ago I was putting the kids in the bath and casually mentioned to Kael that if he wanted to go pee in the potty that would be awesome. Well come to find out he did. He shoved me out of the way in our tiny bathroom and went to work. I was NOT allowed to help him on the big potty and he did NOT want to use his little stool to step up on. He climbed on the toilet and mind you he puts ALL the seats up and refuses to sit on the seat. He got very serious and the next thing I know he is grunting like he is trying to go #2, and before I know it he is peeing in the potty. YAY! I was clapping and so happy and told him he could have a treat for going. We store the toilet paper on the top of our cabinets so Kael doesn't throw it all in the toilet and flush it, and he LOVES to flush toilet paper so I thought it would be a good reward. As soon as I stood up to get the toilet paper HE FELL IN! Completely. WORST NIGHTMARE coming true before my eyes with potty training. He started crying and screaming. I got him out and calmed him down, but pretty for certain he won't be going pee for a while now. He got to get treats for peeing and that made him super excited, and he got to throw toilet paper in the toilet. Not bad for peeing in the potty, but not so cool falling in.

What am I to do with the kid? I got him to try again the next night and he did sit for a while and tried and got two small drops out. It was impressive that he got back up there. He still is way scared and won't do it on his own anymore now though. I have a feeling it is going to be a long road. I'm trying not to push him, but I know he is close to being ready.

I have been letting him wear Buzz Lightyear underwear once a day until he pees in it. Ya gross I know, but he LOVES his underwear. He is starting to understand that is isn't ok to pee in underwear though. He always seems to pee on the tile in the hall which is easy to clean and honestly I don't really care as long as it isn't on the carpet, but he just stands there now and goes "Uh oh"! Where I let him try underwear once about 2 months ago and he peed and it didn't even phase him.

He is learning and that makes me happy. I'm not pushing it, but I hope it isn't too much longer until he is ready.

Go Kael go!

26 Month Kael

KAEL OH KAEL.

Kael officially refuses to sit in his high chair. We bought a booster seat to have at the table, and he loves it so much. Bad part for me is that he is ruining my table, and food is EVERYWHERE. So, if you come to my house and my kitchen table/floor is disgusting that's just how it is for now.

Kael has always loved balls, but it has gone way overboard lately. A nice guy in our courtyard helped Kael to slam dunk the basketball one day, and now Kael is out there everyday waiting to be picked up and shoot baskets. I got him a small football and he LOVES it. He is picking up on counting so he goes around the house with his ball saying twooooo, treeeeee, rooooo. Meaning, one, two, three, throw. It is hilarious and Derek, Eden, and I have all been hit in the face many a time now. Good thing the balls are soft.

Kael still destroys my bathroom any chance he can get. Especially during bath time. However, he has had an improvement in the bathroom.
He is starting to get interested in the potty. Kael loves watching us go to the bathroom, and now every night before his bath he has to sit on the toilet, grab some toilet paper, wipe his bum, and then flush it down the toilet. He then proceeds to yell "AY" which is BYE. To whatever is going down the toilet. So, everytime I go to the bathroom he is always yelling AY AY. And he ALWAYS has to be the one to flush. Some nights he sits on the toilet 4 times before he will get in the tub. Now I call that serious interest. He still hasn't actually peed in the toilet yet. He has peed in the bathtub on command twice and peed on the side of the toilet standing up twice. Lately though it is a whole lot of nothing. I'm just so glad he is interested in the toilet and isn't afraid of it. PROGRESS people.

Speaking of progress remember me wanting to pull my hair out to teach this kid how to pray? Every night Kael now says "Prayer time" and folds his arms. Sometimes he can keep them folded for the whole prayer. Less than a week ago he FINALLY said AMEN at the end of the prayer! Once again PROGRESS people! I'm loving that word.

So, General Conference was this weekend and we had the radio on to listen to it since we don't have our cable hooked up and I really don't think we ever will get it turned on. Anyway, Kael loved listening to the music. He would act like he was conducting the music and sing as loud as he could with it. At the very end of conference it was the last song after the Prophet spoke, Kael was singing and having a great time. Derek and I were chatting about the talks and stopped paying attention well Kael knew better. Somehow the kid knew that it was "PRAYER TIME". He folded his arms and told me and Derek several time it was "PRAYER TIME". We looked at each other because at that very moment the prayer was being said. We thought, "How in the world did he know it was going to be a prayer?". He did know. The only thing we could come up with was that at church and during the conference after the song there is almost always a prayer after. What a smart kid. He is such an example to us.

Oh ya. Kael has started going around the playground and hugging all the 2 year old girls. It is too adorable and funny.

Kael has also recently taken to helping me feed Eden cereal. He has to sit right in my lap after he goes and grabs about 5 spoons so he can help too. It is rediculous, but totally sweet. He wants to help me with Eden and you can really tell that he LOVES his sister. I know he is going to take good care of her.

I'm trying to compose a list of words from this last month that I know Kael can say. The doctor wants to check his progress in December and I figure if I document it, then I can show his improvement. I know he has improved a ton since his last doctors appointment.

Kael Words:
AY : For hi and bye
Aaa : For apple
Oo ee : For cookie
AH : For water
Bubble : For bubble (First clear word)
Da da : For Dad
Ou side : For outside
uh : For up
UH OH : For uh oh
ar ane : For airplane
swi : For swing
ah do : All done
shoooo : For shoe
Ocks : For socks
uh : For cup
all : For ball
eef : For leaf
ee : For tree
ide : For slide
no : For no
saw : for sorry
day oo : For thank you

AND if you'll notice there still is no mama on that list... Boo.
However, he does scream mamamamamamamamamama when he's mad.
Anyway, I'm just glad he is improving. If anyone has ANY suggestions on how to get this kid speaking real words before December I'll take any help I can get. I REALLY don't want him to have to do speech therapy if I can avoid it. Tell me what to do and I'll do it! The only advice the doctor could tell me was to repeat the word a gazillion times. For example: You have a gold FISH, you like the FISH, what color is the FISH, can mom have a FISH, yummy FISH. ECT.

Kael: Just know that Mom and Dad love you. You are an amazing kid. You teach me a lot of patience lately.