Yo Ho Ho

The boys say "Yo Ho Ho"

First Day

So of course I am a little behind on this.
Nicholas started preschool last Thursday.
He had to pose with the sword. I don't know why. The mind of a 3 year old. He was so super excited! And of course it was raining. So we're in full gear.

We've arrived! Nicholas asked me about a half hour before we left the house, "We go to preschool now?"

"Almost honey, almost."

I made him pose.

Then he sprinted off to the door. I couldn't be more thrilled for him.

He did fabulous his first week. And so bittersweet for us Mommas.

My little boy!

The Apprentice

Nicholas loves it when I make cakes.
So of course he has to help.

He will be my little baker someday....hopefully. I think it a valuable skill

He's so proud.

The finished product. We decided they are worms on the cake.

Wee Ooo Wee Ooo

That is the sound coming from my 3 year old on a daily basis. It's actually a European fire engine. And above is a daily scene in our house. There is always a fire somewhere to put out. Right now it's the castle. And it takes all 3 fire trucks.


We've been visiting a local rescue farm for the last 3 weeks.
We get a farm tour. Pet some of the animals, feed the goats, do a craft, have a snack.
The highlights really are the pony ride.

And feeding/holding a guinea pig. They are cute little rodents. Here's Nicholas with cousin Abbey and the guinea pigs.

Should we?

So maybe it's too early to celebrate.
It's been one week since the poop in the closet, hasty decision to potty train.
It is actually going quite well. We have had no accidents since Monday. We have had successful poops on the potty all week.
Yesterday we even left the house in underwear! Wah hoo!
We went to MyGym. I thought this might be a good try because I knew they have the kids seat on the big toilets there.
We went pee right when we got there, it's a half hour a way. Then towards the end of the one hour class he said he had to pee. Yay!
He did fabulous!
He initiates it a lot but I am still encouraging often. I know he gets distracted.
He's wanting to do it by himself more. Pulling down his own pants.
I really can't ask for more than what he is doing.
He still in pull ups for nap and bed. He is not staying dry those times. But I am happy with what he IS doing.
It is actually going better than I envisioned.
I think it still makes me edgy. I am not sure I can totally trust him on his own with it.
But it's only been one week. This is a huge change for him.
Thanks to all of you for your supportive comments. Any mother that has been through this, knows.

Our fault

Mom and dad were slacking this weekend. We were out and on the go so much that we did not stay on top of the potty training.
So it's Monday and I am back on it.
I know I am not supposed to get frustrated with him but it is so hard not to.
I moved the potty from the bathroom to the living room today just to make it more accessible to him and give him a reminder.
Well he peed in his pants 4 tomes this morning.in like an hours time. I swear this kid could go every 15 minutes. He was two steps from the potty and decided to go behind the chair instead. I don't get it.
Later on after lunch, he kept holding his butt.
Nicholas, do you have to poop?
Yeah.
Okay let's get on the potty.
20 minutes later...nope
Again running around holding the butt.
Nicholas, do. You.have. To. Poop?
Yes.
Okay potty.
I left him do his business.
Came back to.......poop in the potty! Hurray!
It's a big victory.
But I know we still need to stay on top of him.

Let's just hope mom can hold on.

Day 3

I feel like it sone step forward, two steps back. But I guess the bright side is we do have some forward steps.

Day 2 actually ended unsuccessfully with a pee and a poop in the underwear.
Day 3 has been not so focused on it. He has gone on the potty but has been in pull ups most of the day. Wee were out for over 3 hours this morning and he stayed dry. Then while eating lunch he said he had to pee. Okay let's go. I wad thinking it might be a stall tactic for eating. But he actually went.
Then we were out in the afternoon and evening and was in a pull up (I am not all about dealing with the mess while out). He did poop and pee in the pull up. But we weren't encouraging him to go and he was busy playing. So thats probably our fault.
Tomorrow is a new day and well try again.

And it begins

So yesterday as I am changing Nicholas he decides to run around naked. Okay. I get it. Kids like to be naked. I get concerned about him peeing on the floor. He's done it before. So I am trying to get a diaper back on him and he's ignoring me and having fun and I'm laughing with him. Then he hides in his closet. We play the "where's Nicholas?" game. He comes running out,
"here I am!"
Then I see it.
Something comes flying off him.
Poop.
Yes, he went into the closet and pooped.
Oh no oh no oh no
I can not believe he did that.

So I am done with the child-led potty training. Waiting until he is ready? Nope.
It's hard core potty training.

So day 2
And it's going well. He was wetting his big boy underwear yesterday but today...nope.
We even left the house for 3 hours. I put a diaper on him for that. And he stayed dry! Even with drinking a whole cup of water and juice.
So little by little.
It is exhausting. I was taking him to go potty every half hour yesterday. I am hoping it lengthens as we go along and he gets it.

All Aboard

Here are some pictures from Nicholas' 3rd Birthday Party. Thomas the Train themed.

Nicholas with cousins, brother and Great Aung Joann.
Nicholas with his cake. Made by me of course. He LOVED it!

The full cake view.

Opening presents with cousins and Grandma.

Boys

This is what my boys are up to these days:

Nicholas "reading" his Toys R Us catalog on the potty.


Alexander: Pushing himself up after nap to look at me through the crib bars.

Does life get better than this?

It's great to be 3!

As usual I am a bit late but here it is anyway.
My "little man" turned 3 on Wednesday. He is no longer my "little man" and hasn't been for some time. He is now my Big Guy. I don't even remember what it was like before we had Nicholas.
What can I say about Nicholas?
We went to lunch at Friendly's yesterday and he picks the meal of broccoli and Mac & cheese. Go figure. He did actually eat it too. Given a plate of food he will eat his peppers first. He also right now is in love with turkey cheese burgers.
He is into pirates. Still loves fire trucks, dump trucks, trains.
He still tests my patience everyday.
He's so strong-willed. I hope this is an asset in his adult life.
He's got a great imagination. This winter shoveling snow was actually shoveling coal ( as into a steam train).
He's still our crazy man. But he is OUR crazy man, forever and always.

Here are some pics from the las t couple of months. I will try to get up the birthday pics soon. But check out the video for now.

Happy Birthday To Me

Reprieve

After having 3 days of hot, humid and 90's, we now get a cloudy, drizzly 60's day. I actually like it. The house is a comfortable temperature and not in the 80's. We are in pants and socks. I like these days of reprieve in the summer. It makes me appreciate the hot days all that much more.

Alexander: 3 months

I've been trying to get this post out all week. So I don't have all the pics up but I'll post anyway and hopefully more pictures will soon follow.

Yes it is true. Alexander is 3 months old already. He's growing so fast both in time and size. I just can't believe it. My little baby is going to be gone before I blink my eyes.
He's over 12 lbs now and about 23 inches long. Since there is no doctor's visit this month we don't have official measurements. But I have been packing away all his 0-3 month clothing and bringing out the 3-6 month size. He's just pushing those toes right to the ends of his sleepers. And I was a little fearful he'd be swimming in this next size. But he's not. He actually fills them out well. Growing fast.
So what's he doing now?
He loves to lay on his playmat and kick and "play." His favorite toys are a lion and this star-smiley face that lights up and plays music. He just smiles and kicks when he sees them.
He has become sensitive to sound. He gets startled easily by loud noises. And let me tell you I have a very loud toddler. I sneezed today and it startled him into a cry. Poor guy.
He loves to smile. As I've said before he sleeps on his tummy. So I'll go turn him over when he wakes up and he'll look at me and give me a big 'ol grin. It's a beautiful sight
And he scoots. He'll scoot himself across his crib and even turn 90 degrees. Sometimes I think he's going to push himself up and roll over. But not yet.
He took his first vacation last week. A 15 hour road trip to Ohio to visit Grandma and Grandpa G. He's not a fan of his car seat. But he was a trooper. He liked the extra snuggle time with Grandma. He is now going through withdrawal.
How's his sleep?
Pretty good. He's up once at night and then a very early morning. According to babycenter.com, a baby his age typically "sleeps through the night" for 6-8 hours. So he does that. However his second stretch is only like 3 hours causing him to wake up early morning. That one could stretch a bit more for me.
How's he eating/feeding?
He eats ALL THE TIME. He took 7 oz last night before bed (and had his best night sleep yet). We've actually started phasing in formula with the breast milk. This is for many reasons. 1. He is just a poor nurser and will be hungry again in a very short amount of time. 2. To fill him up a bit more since formula digests slower than breast milk. 3. To stretch the breast milk further since I don't forsee myself breastfeeding for the whole 12 months. But I give you moms out there that can do this a whole lot of credit. It's not easy.

Alexander is just a little sweetie and so patient with us. I am excited to see how he keeps growing.

Easter Fun

Because I am always a few days behind, here are the Easter pictures.
Nicholas coloring eggs for the first time. He was interested for a whole 15 minutes.

I got one good smile out of him.

Look what the Easter Bunny brought!

Oooooo....candy.

Alexander and his basket. He was excited.

Alexander with Grandma

Nicholas and cousin Abbey hunting eggs.

Hunting eggs with cousin Noah.

Hangin' with my cousin Abbey.

That's all folks. Hope you had a great Easter too.

Crazy Boy

My crazy first born son. He is both amazing and frustrating. But the pictures below capture the amazing. This is Nicholas after licking the beaters from the red velvet cake we made Joe for his birthday. Here is Nicholas helping with the candles. He loves cake. Or should I say the frosting. He gets so excited about the whole process. But mostly eating it. Here is Nicholas with his breakfast. I'd like to say he ate it all but he didn't. He ate the yogurt, sausage and some of the blueberries. He left the toast. He's not a big fan of toast. He'd rather have plain bread.

Oh my! You never knew the many uses of the boppy pillow until you give it to a toddler. He loves this pillow.

Balancing an infant and a toddler is challenging. Entertaining the toddler everyday all day...what to do? I sent Nicholas on the deck with a container of water and a bunch of cups. I then added some food coloring to the water. He had so much fun. It kept him busy for well over half an hour. And I love that it's free. It's not some expensive toy. And we can do it again and again and change it up too. Kids love water!