Potty Training 101

Three keys to success:  M&M incentive, get rid of the diapers, don't cave in :)

It's harder for parents, trust me!  We first tried potty training when Xavier was around 2 and a half.  He was really excited to do it, we got him an elmo potty with musical flusher, and a Boon potty seat that goes on the regular toilet.  He caught on to peeing really quickly, but we didn't do away with the diaper just yet.  We mainly wanted to just introduce the potty to him to see how he'd take it.  

(note the puppy pads underneath the small potty!)

After a few weeks, the newness wore off and he refused to sit on the toilet.  It became a fight between us.  We knew it wasn't the right time and held off for a few months.  

Right before his third birthday, Xavier's babysitter held a "potty training boot camp" and all the kids were asked to show up on a Monday in underwear.  I was incredibly new to this.  What size underwear is he?  Am I supposed to buy Pull Ups?  What if he pees on the way to the babysitter's house on Monday?  

When we dropped him off to the babysitter's house, he stripped down to only his undies, so he'd have easy access to the toilet.  He did pretty well the first couple days, only a couple accidents at the sitter's house.  He still wore a naptime diaper, so he saved him pooping for nap time :)  We took him home with underwear underneath a diaper in case of any accidents.   Then removed the diaper when we got home.  We asked every hour if he had to pee.  After a week, he started going on his own.

After a week, he started going all on his own! ;)

And it helps that he had fun underwear to show off!

He started holding his poo pretty badly, to the point where we had a major panic attack one night where he couldn't get anything to come out.  So we started him on a half-cap full of Miralax each morning in his milk.  He had a major accident in the tub one night, but the 15 inch piece of poo came out so easily, it cured his fear of it hurting!  From that point forward, he always went in the toilet.

He was on night time/nap time diapers for about 6 weeks, then one night we ran out.  He had been dry in the mornings, so we gave it a shot.  He woke up dry and he hasn't worn a diaper since that night!

One of the last pictures I have of Xavier wearing a diaper!

We had it easy compared to some stories I hear from other parents, but there were some days it was so rough and I wanted to throw in the towel!  But with time, he turned out to be a pro!

Spoken by a Toddler

It's hard to believe we will have a three year old next month!

Xavier is so smart and is having complete conversations with us, usually about his desire for a donut, or request for not one, but "five" of whatever small piece of candy we give him.  I can't believe how much his speech has picked up in the last 6 months!  The best part of this age is listening to him speak his cute little toddler way, messing up the words as he goes, so we don't know what he's saying, but either acting out the words he wants to say or giving additional clues we understand to help him get his intent across.  I will miss it when he speaks clearly, so I'm trying to soak up every minute of this hilarious "mispronounced words" phase!  Some of our favorite phrases and conversations...

Regarding the broken ceiling fan in our room the repairman came out to fix:

X: (points to it) Fan spence

Me:  Fan what?  Fan spence?

X: Fan go wound and wound. Spence.

Me: Oh! Fan spins.

X: Yea. Guy fix it (shakes head).  Is bwoken.

Rocking in chair before bed with Steve:

S: (talking to Xavier about something random)

X: Top talking, Daddy.  Mommy's sweeping.

X: Daddy? (or Mommy?)

no reponse

X: Daddy? (or Mommy?)

no response

X: Seeeve? (or Honey?)

Neighbor kid yells over fence and asks Xavier to come over.

X: Can I go to Wiweey's (Riley's) house?  I'n a go to Wiweey's house.

Me:  Ask Daddy.  He's cooking us dinner and it may be ready soon.

X: *pouts and crosses arms while givng me the death look* OK, fine.

*stomps off to go inside to find Steve*

X: Daddy, can I go to Wiweey's house?

Steve: Go ask Mommy.

*comes back outside to me*

X:  I'm going to Wiweey's house.  Wiweey?! I'm coming over wight now!!"

Kid learns quickly!

Summer Days

The days are long, but summer days are longer.  I think that's how the saying goes, right?  We are about a month in to summer where the sun is up longer and so is our kid!  Fourth of July weekend was cool, but the heat and humidity have settled in and I feel like there's a wool blanket over my head right now!

Xavier is usually up around 7:30 or 8:00 on the weekdays, meaning he gets around 10 hours of sleep each night.  He still does an afternoon nap for about 2 hours.  We have recognized that lately, if we put him to bed later, he will in fact sleep later, until he gets his 10 hours of sleep!  This is amazing and great for weekends.  When he was a baby, it didn't matter what time he went to sleep, he always woke up at the crack of dawn and made up for lack of sleep during his mid-day nap.

We spend more time outside now, running through the water sprinklers, whether it's ours or the neighbors.  Xavier likes to play with his water table, and make his trucks and cars go up and down the ramps.  Xavier loves to be at home with us, he wants to ride his motorcycle big wheel, mow the lawn with the bubble mower, and if we let him, eat "peanuh buttah jeh-wey sanwich"s for every meal.

He helps me water our flowers, Xavier has his own watering can.  

And recently we've discovered that watermelon pops are a huge hit with us!  Just cut up a slice of watermelon, put it on a popsicle stick, and he's entertained for at least 10 minutes, and usually requests three more.

In evenings, when it cools off, we try to do a family bike ride.  But before he gets in his bike trailer, Xavier requests, "my cee-wee-oll, doggy, and mewlk" for the ride.  We ride to the playground, to the ice cream shop, or just around the neighborhood.  We are enjoying our warm days!  Happy Summer!

St. Patrick's Day

Earlier this week, I asked Xavier if he knew what holiday was coming up.  He excitedly responded, "Presents?!"  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We made some festive green treats, chocolate covered pretzels with green sprinkles, that started out fun, but later turned into Xavier telling me, "Mommy look!  I make a mess."

Don't forget to wear your green!

Toddler Snapshot - 2 and a 1/2

One of my favorite things to read in my old blog posts is updates on what Xavier was doing at various ages.  I used to do them monthly, then every few months, and now... who can keep track! Since my creativity for exciting posts has dropped drastically since decorating the new house soaks up all the creativity I have, I'll continue with another update on Xavier! I'm sure I won't mind them 20 years from now!  So, here's a snapshot of Xavier at his last milestone, two and a half, and what he's been up to.

Snowflake catching.

First potty training attempt!  He started refusing wanting to go, so we stopped and trying again later this summer.

Aww, this sweet, little baby face.

Xavier is still the world's sweetest, most considerate, charming little boy out there!  He is pretty smart, too.  He knows his ABC's, colors, most shapes, and is working on counting at the moment.  I'm amazed at how quickly he's changing week to week.  His language is developing drastically and at this point he's having real back and forth conversations with us about his day, things we are doing, and he enjoys talking to us so much, we no longer need a distraction (like the ipad) at the table for him to eat a complete meal and it not end up all over the floor, ceiling, or him.


He loves to run over leaves and help cut the grass with his bubble lawn mower, he likes to help me rake the leaves and pull weeds, and he always asks, "What's his name?" when he sees a kid playing outside.  He's making lots of new friends in the neighborhood.  He and Steve like to play "pop its" where they throw the burrs from the tree into the road and watch the cars run over them.  This game keeps Xavier entertained for at least an hour!

We read lots of stories before bedtime.  His favorite books are the "animal book" where he likes to smack and kill the spiders, the "apple book",


He's lately been obsessed with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  He likes to hold the sandwich in one hand and play with the giant bubble wand in the other.  He loves food, but PB&J is definitely a new one for him.  He used to see them as a toy, something he could pull apart and stick his fingers in.

The other day, Steve asked Xavier what he wanted for dinner....
Steve:  Buddy, what do you want for dinner?
Xavier:  A sandwich
S: Oh yea, what kind?
X:  A red one.
S:  A red one?
X:  Yea, and gray.
S:  A red and gray sandwich?
X:  Yea.
Steve opens the pantry and Xavier points at the Jiff peanut butter jar.  Oooohhhhhh!!!  The jar is red and gray.  Duh!

Toddler Tales

Xavier is talking in complete sentences, with quite a few funny mispronunciations here and there.  And he loves people, always says and waves "Hi" to new people he meets, check out clerks, baristas, and whenever someone rings our doorbell.  I've never caught myself thinking he's growing up too quickly and always looked forward to the next stage of his independence.  But I think it hit me this month, when I was trying to hold him in my arms like I did when he was a baby (only now his main goal is to escape me), that I realized he is growing up so fast!

Earlier this week, I dropped off Xavier at the babysitter's house, and one of the other kids apparently hit him, because Xavier shouted back to the kid, "No hit!"  They took each other's toys and I left for work.  Later that morning, I got this picture of the two (Xavier on the left):

There are plenty of embarrassing moments for parents when kids start talking.  Earlier this week, we went out to eat and there was a man sitting in the booth directly across the aisle from us that was a bit older and had an impressive, white beard.  Xavier looked over at him, looked back at us, his eyes got big, then he points to the man, and shouts out, "SANTA!!"  He did this a few more times, quieter, but he was convinced it was Santa.

Sometimes you don't want to admit when your kid is exactly like you, like the other day, Xavier was playing with his trucks and lined them all up in a row.  They looked so neat and organized, just how I like things to be.  Then Xavier came running to me and proudly said, "Mommy, lo-o-ok!  I did it!"  We let Xavier take the picture.

I occasionally yell at our dog, Jasper, for making a mess on the carpet.  But Xavier does it much more politely.  When he saw what Jasper had done, he went over to him and said, "Ba-ter, no poo on a ah-pet.  Poo outside.  No Ba-ter.  *Points finger and says forcefully* NO DANK YOU!"

And there are times new words are introduced and mispronounced in such a cute way.  I introduced syrup to him this morning for waffle dipping.  He asked for more "eer-pop".

Xavier absolutely LIVES for a "dance pahty".  These started at the babysitter's house and we've started doing them every night after dinner.  He makes us play Shake It Off (his favorite), Shut Up and Dance with Me, Whip Nae Nae, and Uptown Funk to name a few.  He just learned how to do the robot and it is just adorable!  He's game for any music videos that have a beat and some kind of dance moves he can imitate.

And a little update on Xavier's schedule:  Xavier will be two and a half next month, he wakes up at 7:00 and is still sleeping in his crib. He has a pillow, which he will lay on when we put him down, but he never falls asleep using it.  He takes a two-hour nap right after lunch, around 1:00.  His bedtime is now between 8:30 and 9:00.  We went through a rough patch where it was difficult getting Xavier to stay focused during dinner time, but luckily that has passed.  He eats pretty well during the day.  Most of the time, he doesn't need snacks before bed, but we usually give him a bowl of Cheerios to eat in the "bih bed" (our bed) while we read him stories.

Fall Recap

We've been so busying with selling our house, moving to an apartment while we found the perfect house to buy, finally buying a house, and now unpacking/starting home projects.  Xavier has grown so much since my last post.  Mainly, he's forming more sentences, playing independently (finally!!), and pretending/make believe.

At 2 years and 3 months, here's a few things he has done lately that are so adorable:

1.  He wakes up every morning requesting either a "ih-a-men woll", "wa-full", or "pancake"!

2.  For a snack, he likes to eat Cheerios and share them with me.  He will put a pile of Cheerios on the couch first for me (so polite!), then a pile for himself.  When he sees my pile getting low, he will say, "Want more?", divvy out more for me and say, "Here you go, Mommy."  His little voice is so sweet and high-pitched, I don't ever want it to change!

3.  When I tell him I love him and go in for a kiss, he pushes me away and says, "No thank you".  He's so polite about it!

4.  After playing with his toys, before moving on to something else, he says, "Clean up!  Clean up!  Clean up!" and runs around the room, putting his toys away as fast as he can.  The first time he did this, it was so hilarious because we didn't know what he was doing (babysitter taught him).  It's fun to watch him put in to practice at home the things he learns elsewhere.

5.  Last week, Xavier was getting in to a little trouble, playing with things he wasn't supposed to and not listening.  Steve was on the verge of putting him in time out.  Well then, Xavier managed to squeeze himself in between the chair and end table, looked up at both of us, and said, "Hey Guys" in the sweetest, matter of fact, little voice I've ever heard.  Xavier never got a time out that night ;)

We just wrapped up Thanksgiving and I didn't put out a single holiday decoration.  And the neighbors on our street put up Christmas lights last weekend, thanks for rubbing in how far behind I am!  Hopefully, for Christmas, I find the energy to put up at least Xavier's Christmas tree, and FIND MY FLAT IRON!

Cheers!