Potty Training

This is for me more than anyone else as I refer back to Katelyn's posts for Luke all the time and I'm definitely going to want to remember how I did potty training

Day 1: Awful.  Doing the 3 day potty training where you hole them up in a "safe" area (our kitchen/dining area has linoleum floors) and put them in underwear (actually encouraged to have nothing on the bottom half at all) and put them on the potty at first signs of pee.  During the first half of the day, I wanted to give up completely and was second guessing if she was ready.  She did not seem to be responding to being put on the potty.  10 seconds after getting down from the potty would pee on the floor.  Got a few pees in the toilet but it was all from my making her sit on the potty.  Had her wear underwear most of the day but finally gave it a go to have nothing on for bottoms.  During this time, she was playing with playdough and motioned to her thigh (which is how she normally tells me it's time to poop).  I took her to the toilet and she went #1 and didn't even go #2!  We celebrated like crazy.  After that, still more accidents but now intermixed with telling me she needed to go.  One time, I hear her tapping the potty seat in the bathroom saying "mm?"  Another time she peed a little while sitting in a chair, stopped and directed my attention to her accident, I whisked her away to the potty thinking she'd be peeing all the way- nope, she had stopped and waited until she was on the toilet, then peed.  She's definitely gaining control of her muscles and realizing what it takes to hold it and to let it out.  We do a song when she goes, a couple mini m&ms when she goes on the potty regardless if it was me or her who initiated.  If she initiates, she gets to choose a color of a smiley face and put that on a chart.  End of the day, there are 4 stickers on the chart.  Not too bad! A long way's to go, but today's misery seemed worth it.

Day 2:  SOO much better.  Started the day off with a pee on command.  Then she didn't go for 2 hours although she was drinking and eating.  I guess that makes sense after not drinking all night but it sure made this mama nervous!  She ended up peeing on command so we could go outside.  Went outside and had two accidents within about a half hour but both times it wasn't much and we quickly went inside (as quickly as you can with a 6 month in tow as well) and she went more on the potty.  That was the theme today- tiny accidents where she lets a little out and then holds it until we get to the toilet to go.  She did tell me before having an accident twice but both were when she wasn't playing (was finishing eating) and one of those was a #2, which she's been telling us for ages.  This was a much better day.  We opened up the house so she could roam around outside of just the kitchen (yesterday) since none of her accidents made it past her underwear or pants she was wearing.  I didn't have to clean up any potty today!  Clothes just got tossed in a dirty clothes hamper to be cleaned so  no actual cleaning up needed on my end.  I can handle this :)

Day 3:  Started off great- peed on command when she woke.  Had a tiny accident that was barely there.  Day was going great with her telling me when to go several times.  Until the afternoon.   I decided to just let her tell me when she needed to go instead of trying to remind her or push her.  She was focused on watching the neighbor kids while sitting on the couch and peed on the couch and didn't even seem to notice but she did get up right away.  In the evening, had several successes in the nursery at church, then another accident right after going (must not have gotten it all).  Another few successes at home and another accident.  She's had more successes than accidents though and I need to remember how far she's come in 3 days!  Now it's just cementing it in to the point where she feels that she needs to pee and asks to go. 

What I wish I'd done:  Put a piece of cloth on her diaper for the week leading up to training to help her connect the feeling of needing to pee with the feeling of wetness after (they say kids that are cloth diapered are faster at potty training because they know that when they pee they feel wet).  That may cut down on the misery of day 1 and learning that connection? 

6 & almost 19 months

6 & 19 Months

 

 

 

6 Months- Luke

-Always blowing raspberries.  Middle of the night, bored in his car seat, middle of church...
-Rolling both ways- although I've only seen him roll from back to front once.  That's not something he uses much as we put him on his tummy quite often to get rid of that flat head in the back.
-Tummy sleeping- Now that we're confident in his rolling and neck strength, we put him on his tummy to sleep.  Naps and night.  His method of self-soothing is rolling onto one hip and sticking the other knee out to balance.  Honestly, it reminds me a lot of how I slept pregnant with him every night
-Sleeping.  Yeah.  About that... remember last month when I said he's consistently sleeping all the way through the night?  Well, it had happened 3 days so I called it official.  Oops.  This has been a rough month of sleep.  Up some nights every hour to two hours.  Last night we had a great night. He went down at 8:00pm, didn't wake until 4am to eat, then down again until 8am.  I learned my lesson.  Count it as a huge blessing and never call it as a habit ;)
-Sitting up- Getting the hang of it.  If I'm going to leave the room, I still put a boppy pillow around him so if he falls it won't hurt.  He usually just reaches so hard to reach things that he slowly makes his way onto his tummy.  We probably don't need the pillow there but it makes me feel better.
-Thick.  I think a friend of ours (who is a football player for the Sioux Falls Storm) said it perfectly: "Your boy is Thick!"  (and you know it's true if it's from a football player!)
-Hungry ALL the time.  No matter how much water I drink, I feel like I can't keep up with this child!  Although Kate was big and ate a lot, when she went through growth spurts, I could just sit down and nurse for as long as she wanted to help supply increase.  Yeah... that's not a luxury when you have a toddler and a chunky baby.  We've started to supplement with a bottle here or there.  Usually around nighttime.  It honestly only ends up being 1-2 oz but it makes me happier knowing he's getting all that he wants food-wise.
-Social butterfly- We are very social and giggle when put on tummy time with other babies.  LOVES when Katelyn plays with him.  Katelyn has recently taken to holding his hands and making him dance while she sings. 
-Nothing makes this child happier than pooping.  Once he's let it blow, he has a perma-smile on his face and giggles and giggles.  Just like his daddy. Wait... ok, Tyler isn't quite like that but it seems to be a boy thing ;)
-12 month clothes- Honestly, we skipped 9 month clothes altogether.  I'd rather him be in something a little bit big than to have to deal with something too small or blowing out of everything.  The only issue is that the 12 month clothes that are made for toddlers (the non-onesies aka shirts) are way too big but the baby 12 months fit perfectly.  He even wears some 18 month onesies to bed and I just roll the sleeves up.
-Mr. Wigglesworth- someone has learned to wiggle his way across the room on his back.  Video attached above

19 Months- Katelyn

-At her 18 months appt. she was 25 lbs 35" (meaning Luke is only a few pounds behind her!)
-Talking- lots of it!  New words: Sky, mouth, go go go, "mwana".  No clue what that last one is.  She has said it several times asking for something but when I ask her to show me, she gets frustrated.  That ones still a mystery.  Any guesses?
-Ear infections and tubes- The past few months have been plagued with ear infections after ear infections.  Antibiotics seem to clear up one ear while the other one gets worse.  We finally said enough with the meds already, it's tubes time.  So a week ago, she got tubes in her ears.  She did pretty well other than the typical 30 min. crying afterwards (as it's probably scary and weird to come out of anesthesia).  She seems to be doing MUCH better and we have our happy go lucky little girl back! I've missed this Katelyn very much!
-Hunger whining- If Katelyn is whining, it's a fair bet that she's hungry.  But if you ask if she's hungry, she'll say no.  yet if you put food in front of her, she'll eat it, and then be much happier afterwards.  I guess she still needs to connect the word hungry to the feeling.
-Waking- She still stays in her bed until we get her after naps and in the mornings.  Still treating it like a crib?  
-Potty- It's back!  She's back to going poop on the toilet.  And doing a great job of nodding if we ask if she needs to go poopy.  We've been singing a potty song and giving her a chocolate chip when she goes.  I'm thinking we'll officially potty train come summer once I can be home and consistent with her.  And we can hang out outside lots so accidents can be in the lawn instead of our house ;)  If there are any takers on advice for potty training, feel free to let me know!  I'd love to hear what worked for you and any tips/tricks!

Other Family News

Tyler got ordained!!  I'm so proud of all the hard work he went through to achieve ordination and I'm more than excited that he made the commitment to be in ministry for life.  That this is our calling.  I love him and am so blessed to know that I get to be a part of wherever God calls him!  

(For clarification- We are not planning on moving or taking any other positions as we are confident God has called us right where we're at.  Tyler didn't get ordained in order to go elsewhere- it's  an achievement he has earned that we wanted to make a commitment for the future)

5 & 18 Months

5 & 18 Months

Luke

-Luke is now almost habitually sleeping through the night (as in from 8:00-4:00am-ish).  He may be sick still as we've all been sick all winter but is sleeping pretty well most nights.
-Still nursing.  I decided to wait until 6 months for solids this time.  He'll be eating food the rest of his life- may as well get him the nutrients he needs in mama milk as long as is socially acceptable.  He'll be ready to eat it- he seems very interested when we're eating and opens his mouth when a spoon goes above his head into our mouths...

-First plane ride!  Luke wanted to enjoy every moment evidently.  He fell asleep each time once we had landed and were taxiing to the gate.  He also blew out of his diaper on the one plane that didn't have a changing table in the bathroom and the stewardess was making it really difficult to find a place...ugh.  Oh well!
-Tongue- Luke has discovered his tongue.  He keeps chewing on it and/or just sticking it out.  He's so funny!
-Mostly sitting up ish- He's doing the tri-pod sit pretty well but when he reaches for a toy he wants and it pushes it further out of reach, he cries
immediately and topples over trying to get it.  He's kinda hardcore about play time ;)
-Met his cousins and aunts/uncle on the Patton side (had already met grammy/popop).  The cousins decided to call him "Lukey" and loved to give him raspberries on his belly, and Cal would lean in and push on Luke's tummy and Luke would crack up! 

 

 Katelyn

-Potty "training" got thrown to the wind.  Now I'll ask her if she wants to use the toilet and she says "no".  I'm not forcing it.  We'll probably actively try this summer sometime but for now, diapers are easy ;)
-"Wee!"- is the word she says whenever she's having fun.  Often it fits (going down a slide, swinging on a swing, etc) and often it doesn't (watching a movie, reading a book on mommy's lap...)
-"nonononono".  Katelyn has found her own will- that's for sure.  Fits, going directly against what we ask of her... I have much to learn about parenting!  Teaching has prepared me for middle schoolers, but toddlers?  No clue!
-Spiritual life- in nursery at church, they read a story about Jesus healing a little boy.  The worker asked the kids "Who healed the little boy?" and evidently, Katelyn said very clearly, "Jesus!"  I know this doesn't mean she's comprehending Jesus quite yet but it makes my heart happy that she's listening so well!  My biggest prayer for our children is that they come to understand how God can work in their lives and that they make their faith their own.  It's humbling to remember in the middle of the "nonononono"s that my goal in parenting is to let Christ show through my every action.  Oh SO much easier said than done.  
-Still singing up a storm!  Our favorite is after watching for first half hour of frozen, about 10 minutes later, we hear her singing "Gwo goooo, Go gooooo" and realized she was singing "let it go!"  There's a little clip on facebook of it.  I love her little voice!
-Happy dance- when she gets excited, those feet get a-movin!  She quickly steps and bounces. 
-Playing with others- Katelyn had always kept to herself up until now.  When there were play dates, she typically just did her own thing.  Between a playdate with her due date buddies (pic above), time with cousins, and other various opportunities to play with others, she is an instigator of giggles.  She'll hand toys to other kids, try to get them to play catch, and just giggle giggle giggle!

4 & 17 Months

Oops, never posted this month.  It's been a very busy month! 

Luke- 4 Months

-Swaddling no more- he gets mad until he can get out

-Sit-ups: If you lay him reclined, he'll do some crunches to get to sitting up so he can play with his feet.  

-Still a large boy.  Over 17 lbs.

-Not sure if we've hit the infamous "4 month sleep regression" or what but this child is getting up every couple of hours for the past week.  He's still putting himself to sleep though. I always lay him down awake (unless he happened to fall asleep nursing which doesn't happen often)

-We finally have fallen into a somewhat predictable schedule!  It's so nice to have an idea of what's coming and when he'll need to sleep.  short Nap around 9, long nap around 11:30. short nap around 3, and a short nap around 6.  to bed at 8.

Katelyn- 17 Months

-Everything is a microphone.  She loves imitating daddy at church

-I saw my baby girl more sick than I've ever seen in my life... Ear infections.  The antibiotics they gave her didn't work and they became worse.  The new stuff made it better and we're now on the mend.

-Brushing our teeth each night

-A new word:  "bana" for banana.

-And the best of this month?  Someone has decided to start potty train herself?  Katelyn now sometimes tells us she needs to use the bathroom by pointing to the bathroom and saying "peas peas" (please) or we catch her pushing and ask if she wants to use the toilet.  She always nods and is excited to head there.  We only do it with #2 so we're still wearing regular diapers and I'm not planning on officially potty training until the summer but we do a big celebration everytime she goes on the toilet.

3 months & 16 months

Luke 3 months

-Continuing to talk.  Sometimes left alone in the car-seat with no one in sight, just talks to be heard
-officially self-soothes to sleep.  No matter how tight I swaddle (and I swaddle/tie TIGHT) he always gets an arm out but can soothe himself regardless.
-Sleep: Naps are usually about 40 minutes each but sleep consistently from 9pm-7am unless he's in a growth spurt
-Working out: Loves to do crunches.  If I lay him supported against a pillow, he'll do crunches to try and sit up and if you try to sit him up, he becomes stiff as a board and wants to stand.
-Size: wearing size 3 diapers and 6-9 month clothes.  He's long! He's close to outgrowing the 6 month clothes (too tight to snap!)
-He's found his hair
-Smile: I've been trying to figure out how to describe his smile because it's different than I've ever seen in anyone... When he recognizes someone and smiles, his ears go up (not kidding!), his eyebrows change somehow and his eyes... oh those eyes... they show recognition in a way that I can't describe but the way his whole face lights up when he smiles has me so deeply in love with him.  He's only 3 months, and I know I'm his mom and totally biased, but is it too early to call that he's a very personable boy?  Seems to thrive off of people SO much more than toys. Reminds me of his daddy! Hard to describe and we'll see as he grows, but every time he smiles, I just melt! (Definitely reminds me of his daddy!)

Katelyn 16 months

-Books: All about lift the flap books.  Wants to "read" the same one again and again
-Manners: Can't remember if she was all out "please please"-ing a month ago but whenever she wants something, she'll point and say "pweas peas" (This was trying to say Help Please but she just says please twice...)
-Growing!: Overnight she grew tall!  The shirts that would cover her bum and were long shirts now show her belly!  Ah!  I need to switch out her dresser again into 24 month & 1T?  or 2T? I don't get toddler sizes ;)
-Fork: She once in a while gets the chance to use a fork/spoon and loves to stab the food/dip in yogurt and bring it to her mouth.  It's not the most efficient and Im sure to do this on days we'll have time for bathtime ;)
-DADA: Anytime she sees/hears daddy from afar, she points and says "dada"- specifically on a Wednesday night.  When we come in before service he's usually practicing for worship with the teens and she hears him in the mic and points him out.  I love hearing that out of her mouth- just precious!  Daddy has even let her talk in the mic and boy does she love that!
-Nonononono is a new catchphrase... we're in for it!
-Body parts: Katelyn LOVES her belly button and gets frustrated if she's wearing a onesie that she can't pull up to see it.  She also has been pulling up our shirts to see our belly buttons.  I should probably teach her that's not socially acceptable...
Little Helper:  She LOVES to sit on a stool in the kitchen watching me work.

Sometimes, you just have to throw your head back when you laugh- or at least Luke does :)

We made this just to say hi to grammy and popop a while ago but I just think she's too cute (biased, I know)

2 & almost 15 months

Luke

Sleep:  Luke now goes to bed earlier (8:00ish) and sleeps until 6:00am before eating, then sleeps again until 8am.  It's a BEAUTIFUL thing ;)

Extrovert:  I'm calling it now... this boy loves human interaction!  There are times when he'll have toys hanging in front of him to play with and he'll fuss until someone comes over and smiles at him.  I know he'll love having a sister to play with as he grows older- now to just make sure her independent sister will enjoy playing with him ;)

Smiles, coos, and laughs!:  Suddenly this boy is a talker!  He will coo and smile and "flirt" when anyone gives him eye contact and smiles.  And.... he even laughed a few times for us!  I've only gotten him to do it once (see video below) but daddy's gotten it a few times now.

Growing fast!  Luke is now wearing 6 month clothes.  He doesn't quite fill them out but the 3 month clothes are far too tight length-wise.  

Hands: His hands find his mouth often but he just kinda sucks on his fist

Katelyn

Sleep:  Kate has been fighting naps pretty hardcore these days.  I think a lot of it has to do with her going from 2 naps to 1, teething, and just being 1 1/2 years old ;)

Words:  Starting to say (not just sign)  "all done (ah-dun)", "Please (pleh)", What's that (Wasat?), "Bathtime (ba-time)

Chase: When we come home, she immediately turns her back, peeks her head around, smiles, and runs away (wants to be chased)

Dolls: She is mimicking me taking care of Luke with her dollies, her stuffed animals, even a fisher price cow toy- (gives them pacifiers, feeds them a bottle, burps them, rocks them).  She even likes to "help" with Luke by forcing the pacifier in his mouth when he doesn't want it, or taking out to put it back in when he already has it in.  She'll also rock the swing he's in if it's not rocking itself.  She's a good little mommy :)

Surprise face: Anytime sound that she isn't anticipating happens, (especially sound from her dollhouse or when daddy walks in the door, or even if someone toots- including herself) her mouth goes wide open and she looks at us using a surprised face.  She is truly a joy!

Christmas: Katelyn had her 2nd Christmas and this time was so much more fun- although I'm pretty sure she doesn't understand the idea of boxes... She'd open things we know she'd be excited about but was indifferent until things came out of the boxes.  She received a playhouse from mommy and daddy (mostly daddy), a kitchen set from grandma tufte, a barn playhouse from grandma patton, and many other smaller gifts and she's quite excited about them all!  

1 & almost 14 Months Update

1 Month for Luke

Sleep: He used to sleep 6 hour stints but now our longest is usually 3.5-4 hours at most.  The hardest thing is that he tends to poop right as I lay him down to sleep which wakes him up and of course we do a diaper change and then it's a long time to get him back down.  

Weight:  We're going to use up the size 1 diapers just because we have them but he's ready for size 2.

Cooing: He doesn't talk very much.  Just a little noise once in a great while.  

Tummy time: We don't have him on tummy time that often as he has some tummy issues that causes a lot of spitting up often and tummy time makes that worse.  He also doesn't even try to pick his head up in tummy time but we do hold him on us up to our shoulders and he pushes off and is gaining neck strength that way.  

Enamored with Katelyn: Katelyn comes up to say "hi" and he will follow her with his eyes as she walks away and goes to play.

Finding his hands: His hands are finding his mouth more and more as he's discovering movement :)

Snorting: When he's crying hard enough, he snorts

Tummy issues: Luke cries a lot after each feeding until he burps belches and then often spits up at that point and feels much better.  Poor thing!  We're looking into possible causes to see if there's anything we can do to help or if it's just normal baby fussiness/spit-up. Seeing the dr. tomorrow to rule out any serious issues just in case.
Dedication: Luke was dedicated this month and grammy and pop pop from Michigan came to visit for a week!  Katelyn sure enjoys both her grandmas!  

14 Months for Katelyn

Chairs: She Loves to sit on things that seem to be made for her size.  This includes the bumbo chair (she LOVES that thing and can get in and out on her own), a white stool grammy bought for her, and any pillow that she can sit on.

Rambling: If you ask a question, she will answer.  Albeit in her own little toddler language but she is quite the talker!  (see video below)

Doll: While mommy takes care of Luke, Katelyn takes care of her baby doll.  She pats her back/burps her, rocks her, lays her on the baby gym mat, lays her in the boppy pillow, lays her in the swing or rock n play.... it's adorable how much she mimics and it's precious to watch her do it.  She now even pats US on the back when we're hugging her.

Throwing: We are learning how to throw balls now!  I really have to watch to be sure she's not throwing anything hard to hit Luke!

Dress-up: Kate loves to "put clothes on" which means draping them around her neck.  She puts a piece of clothing on then walks around the room.  Sometimes she hands clothes to us to put on her head for her as "headpieces" are her favorite.  So silly!

Books: She is still as enamored as ever with books.  She now likes to bring us books and sit in our laps for us to read them to her.

Calming Luke: In the car the other day, Luke was crying and Kate just kept talking and nodding toward his directions looking as if she's trying to calm him.



















Katelyn talking in her "paragraphs"

Luke "purring" when sleeping