Potty Training: Take Two

We are once again in potty training mode at our house. You would think it would be simple compared to the first time around considering there were two of them but it has not.

The truth of the matter is the girls were a breeze to train. We woke up on a Saturday morning told them what we were going to do, set ourselves, two little potties, lots of candy, juice, etc. in the play room and off we went. By Sunday afternoon they were fairly well trained and on Tuesday they went to school and came home without having had any accidents! It was really that easy. We switched to panties that Saturday and never looked back. They were not quite two and a half and I guess they were just ready.

The weekend of Mother's Day was the time we picked to train Jack.

You may think it is weird to just "pick" a day but David and I have a system. We both pick a weekend and we plan to not do anything except potty training. So I had it on my calendar and my type A personality was prepared.

Then Friday came and Jack was having some poop issues. I should have tossed the whole plan right then and there but in my mind I wanted this over with, not to mention I had made all the necessary preparations. Saturday morning we started and it was in one word...

DISASTROUS.

He was not feeling well (neither was Claire) and he did not hit the potty once. At noon I gave up and decided to fight the good fight another day.

This last weekend we tried again and he is doing well! He is still having accidents when he gets too busy doing something really fun but that is to be expected.

He is certainly not as focused as the girls were. I am reminding him constantly and using every bribe possible. This would explaing why you would have seen oreos, powdered sugar donuts, cars and tattoos filling my basket at Target this morning. At the rate we are going he is going to have gained ten pounds and probably the same amount of tattoos by the time I take the girls to school tomorrow.

Since I took these pictures he is now sporting three additional tattoos. The mothers at the preschool picnic are going to love him, HA! Here he is tattoos and all!

I Joined - Have you?

Summer

Summer has pretty much arrived and the kids and I are loving it! They have been outdoors just about non stop playing in the sprinkler, enjoying the playground and getting dirty in the sandbox.

Today we went to the pool for the first time this year and as much as I hate the necessity of putting on a bathing suit, I love the laughter, the sun, the smell of sunscreen and early bed times from the kids being worn out. This is my favorite time of year and I hope you are all enjoying it as much as I am:)

On a separate note our first family pet, Nemo, went to fish heaven Saturday. David removed him Saturday night and gave him a proper burial.

I was not really sure how long it would take the kids to notice, the girls barely acknowledged him since the arrival of our rescue dog Tammy, but like clock work Jack checked on him this morning and came running to tell me he was not there.

I called the girls in to my room and informed them all that Nemo had passed away. Sarah asked me if he was is in Heaven I said I was sure he was. One question and those two were completely satisfied and off to play barbies again. Not much love loss there.



Jack continues to look for him though; in our bed, the toy bins, the trash etc. I have given up trying to explain to him what happened. Much in the same way I gave up trying to convince him to stop putting goldfish crackers and fruit loops in Nemo's tank. Rest in peace Nemo, you never really had a chance.

We originally bought Nemo to try and satisfy the girls desire for a pet with a fish. It did not go over well. A day later Sarah reminded me again that she really wanted a dog. When I asked why she told me you can't do anything with a fish, not even pet them.

Point taken.


I started looking for a rescue dog that day. After meeting with several animals from different rescues and weeks of searching we rescued an extremely sweet one year old maltipoo. She was named Tammy in honor of a sweet donor who paid for her initial care and heartworm treatment.

She is completely spoiled! The kids are taken with her, with the exception of Jack who really preferred the fish, and so are we. I must tell you that for the most part she is the most well behaved "child" in our house and definitely the least demanding.

Meet Tammy