Tales from the potty

He dragged the potty out on the balcony to do his business.

After lots of readiness signs, we decided to try potty training Carter at 24 months old.  I was on spring break, and of course there is no better way to have a fun-filled rip roaring time than to potty train.  We were pretty non-committal, so if it went badly we would just forget it all together.  The week prior we read Superhero Potty Time and Big Boy Undies.  We got a cute green potty from IKEA and talked a lot about it.  I set Carter on it in his clothes and he pooped right away, in his diaper.

Big boy underwear!

Day 1- I was way too nervous to let Carter go naked, so he just wore his diaper.  We put the potty in the living room for easy access.  I made an adorable sticker chart.  The first time I put Carter on the potty without his diaper he peed!!  We made a big deal out of it and put a sticker on his chart, which he LOVED!  After 2 pees in the potty he understood how to earn stickers, so he wanted more.  He would sit down and squeeze until a little pee came out and then I would give him the sticker.  Then he would say "more, more" and go back to his potty and squeeze more out.  He would pee in his diaper also throughout the day and at nap time.  At the end of the day he had peed 12 out of 12 times while sitting on his potty.  He peed every time we sat him there, but only pooped in his diaper.  We were pleasantly surprised, actually we were shocked at how ready Carter seemed to be.

Day 2- After Carter's success on Day 1, we thought he was ready for his big boy underwear.  The morning was perfect, he peed every time we put him on the potty and he did his first poop!  We were thrilled and gave him candy.  Once he learned candy was a prize he kept asking for it after every pee.  I tried to explain that he has to poo to get candy, but to him pee and poop are the same thing, I think.  By the end of the day, he had pooped in the potty 3 times and peed tons.  He even kept his diaper dry when we went out for 3 hours.  After 5:00 pm we got a little relaxed and he had 3 accidents in his underwear, one was poopy.  YUCK!  Overall, Carter did an amazing job and loved getting candy!

Day 3- Before we left for church at 10:30 am, Carter had already pooped in the potty 4 times.  We're starting to think he's intentionally cutting his poo short, so he can get more candy.  If that's even possible.  While Blair was brushing his teeth, he somehow pooped on Blair's leg!  He wore a diaper at church and at nap time.  We had failed to do laundry, so he went naked booty at home.  He even started sitting on the potty himself when he had to poop, while I just sat on the couch and watched.  He only had 1 accident, 5 poops, and around 13 pees in the potty.

Day 4- Carter was sitting on his potty today and reached behind him to grab a book off the shelf.  He then sat there and read for awhile, just like Daddy.  He has a total potty obsession now.  When he pops off the potty, he immediately says, "Tandy?" (candy).  He even likes to dump it out himself.  We took him out today with big boy underwear and he told us when he had to go, so there were no accidents while we were out.  At nap time he waits until he wakes up to go.  A few hours after he went to bed for the night, he called for Daddy and then we let him pee in his potty.  He was waiting, even though he had on a diaper.  The only accidents he has are when we're home and we don't get his underwear down in time or if he's watching TV.

Day 5- We were at the mall today and we let him wear a diaper.  He said to me "No poo poo in stroller." I told him he was wearing a diaper and it was ok to poo poo.  Well he waited 3 hours until we got home and then went pee pee.   I was so proud of him.  He really gets it!  I think the next step is using a public toilet, which we haven't attempted yet.  I hate germs.  We're still nervous to go on long outings with big boy underwear because it's hard to get home fast or find a clean place to potty in HK, but I think we need to keep moving forward with the training. 

Sticker chart

Carter's 1st Haircut

     We waited until right before Carter turned 2 to get his first haircut.  I was really reluctant, but knew it was time.  I loved Carter's shaggy blond hair and didn't want them to change his look too much.  We went to this adorable place called Spa-La-La in Niceville.  They had a yellow race car for Carter to sit in while he watched Ratatouille.  They put a race car smock on him and I thought he was going to be just fine.  Well once he felt the first squirt of water, he wanted to get out of his race car.  They had tons of distractions there, so I managed to keep his mind off the haircut.  I specifically told the lady, "just a trim".  Maybe I should have spoken in exact millimeters.

BEFORE

AFTER

  I got a little teary-eyed on the way home because that woman turned my baby into a little boy.  I couldn't believe the difference.  After a week, I got used to it and now I do like his hair.  I just miss my sweet little baby and his blond hair in his face.

Certificate from the salon

Carter's Under the Sea Birthday Party

    My sweet Carter is 2 and we decided to celebrate with family and friends this year, since we were in the states.  His party was actually 2 weeks before his real birthday.  Carter loves all things ocean, so we had an "Under the Sea Party".  We had fruit sushi, octopus dip, ocean jello, cupcakes, fruit skewers, hot dogs, and assorted fish.  Morgan made a blowfish out of a watermelon, Gigi molded fruit roll ups and rice krispy treats into sushi, Gram made the cupcakes, and Mommy searched the internet for all the ideas.  Gigi and Granddad let us use their beautiful home.  Aunt Morgan and Pop captured all the details with their fancy camera work.  Miles helped move the present opening along.  Lauren helped with crying babies.  Jim and Nicole helped free Carter's toys from those annoying boxes they come in.  Aunt Lori controlled the clown fish and kept him from attacking anyone.  Carter went crazy over his new dump truck and Thomas the train.  He favored jello over the "pup"cake and fruit over the jello.  We had a blast fishing, blowing bubbles, and playing with the beach balls by the pool.  The best part was when Carter finished blowing out his candle and realized it was HIS birthday party, he yelled out "Happy Birthday".  Up until that point he thought we were just having a random party.   

Notice Aunt Morgan's original art work on the shutters!

Great Grandma Pat and Aunt Lori came

Sweet Pop and Harper

No smash cake this year, but we still watched him carefully eat a cupcake.

The typical family photo, these days.

The party goers almost ate the tablecloth they were so hungry!

Carter loves playing with Uncle Will!

A very special guest, Mr. Clownfish, thanks to Gigi and Grandad!  With a remote control you could make him swim around the room.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Carter!

   Happy Birthday, Carter!  You're 2 years old and I can't believe it.  You are the smartest, most handsome boy I know.  Everyday is an adventure, with non-stop talking and a few bruises to add to your collection.  You must get your clumsy-ness from Daddy!  I guess we always knew you'd be an energetic guy, because Mommy and Daddy are exactly the same way.  Let's just hope Macy will help to calm us all down.  Lately your vocabulary has gone through the roof and you're stringing words together with ease.  You have said things like, "I see the pilot", "humongous, yellow umbrella", "Oh, shark, bite you, hurt your finger", and "Is Mommy in the bathroom, No!"  I've never seen anything more amazing, than you learning to talk.  It's incredible how fast it progresses, especially when you are in a new environment, like being in Florida for 5 weeks.  You loved seeing your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin.  I was so proud of you for being sweet with your cousin Harper.  I can't wait to see you guys become best friends.  You're really good about tidying up, sharing, and being gentle (except for when you throw toys and hit people in the head).  Since Macy was born, you stopped being our adventurous eater.  Now you prefer to eat hot dogs, spaghetti, chips, fruit, and anything in the breakfast category.  We do our best to steer you in a more healthy direction, but you are quite willful.  You love dipping your food in sauces, particularly ketchup, just like Daddy.  You'll dip oranges, pasta, eggs, and cheese right into your ketchup.  Nothing is really off limits when it comes to dipping.
   We're so in love with you Carter.  We can't get enough of your personality, your laugh, and your sweet spirit.  We pray that you will grow up to be a servant of God and love Him with all your heart.


PARTY PICS TO COME.................

3 months old

    Macy is 3 months old and growing like a weed.  She is 13 lbs. and 24 in. long.  I went back to work this week and she took a few days to adjust.  I was having a hard time too, and jet lag wasn't helping.  Praise God, after a week we're all feeling much better.  Macy is taking her bottles and crying much less.  She comes to see me on my lunch break everyday and we spend 45 minutes together.  Today she let out a giggle because she was so excited to eat.  She also rolled over from her tummy to her back at 11 weeks old.
    She loves to watch people, including big brother.  Carter is a constant source of energy and excitement for her.  I always think about what a different environment she is growing up in, compared to Carter.  When he was an infant, you could hear a pin drop around our house.  All we did was stare at each other and spend hours laying in bed.  Now our home is seriously like a circus and Macy never gets a moment of silence.  We'll see how the different environments effect them later on.
    Macy dislikes bath time, dirty diapers, being bothered, not being held, and Mommy working.   We're amazed at the amount of power she can put behind a scream if you make her do one of her dislikes.  I'm sure she'll learn to tolerate some of those things soon.  Hopefully!