UNsupervised

This one loves to cause mischief. Primarily, deliberately pouring cups of water on the floor (thank goodness it's wood!), scribbling on walls, tossing toys behind the couch or down into the heater and painting his toenails--yes with nail polish.  Of course this always happens in the blink of an eye, often while I am standing *right next to him*. Other times, it's obvious he is not being properly supervised.  Pure selfishness on my part.

I need to train him better. No, I need to train *me* better, I think.  I'd like to figure out how to get him to slow down and sit still. He's so active....it's tiring. Really tiring.

I love him to pieces and bunches and every time I look at him I am over whelmed with love and joy...but he sure does wear me out & keep me on my toes. There's no letting my guard down w/ this little fella....ever, apparently.

Chocolate ice cream facial hair!

This kid!

IS hilarious! In less than 2 weeks he is going to be 2 YEARS OLD! I can't believe it but it's true!

He is the biggest HAM of all. Today he RAN into the middle of the street (yah, more training is definitely in order!).  I brought him right in, w/ my heart about to beat right out of my chest--in fear, & gave him a good swat on his tushie--he pretended to cry a bit until I told him he could NOT go back outside, then broke into hysterics! (eyeroll) See what I mean?

I knew he needed to go outside though.  He really should be outside running around at least once a day. SO I took him out & chased him and had him chase me and Birdy to make sure he used those large muscle groups and all that toddler energy. As soon as he stopped crying about not going outside, he calmly SAT on the couch very nicely.  Something he rarely does: sit! But it proved to me how much he needed that run around time.

He actually loves to "perform", much more than his siblings ever did at his age. And he's certainly NOT shy. oh no--not this one.  I didn't even have to convince him of this like the others either. ;-)

He's been climbing OUT of his bed every night, numerous times. I don't know what happened to that sleep-trained toddler I used to have. I think it might be time to move him into a big boy bed soon.....and into his siblings room. 

He such a doll baby! I look at him and can't help but be filled with JOY in my heart. I simply CAN'T imagine my life with out him in it. I don't know what we're going to do for his birthday...maybe I should just turn on the music and let him have the stage.

potty training toddlers

Perhaps this is common? I've never run into it before.  This brilliant little toddler of mine, has the power to need to use the restroom, every.5.minutes!  Seriously.  This does not happen at home, of course.

But this happened today, both times we were at church, morning and evening.  Apparently he was bored or had had enough and simply wanted to go for a walk.  So he says he needs to go...even though I took him as soon as we arrived. But who's gonna doubt a toilet training toddler, right?

So I take him again--calling his bluff--and sure enough he goes...just  afew drops, but he goes.  Five minutes later, same thing. Then all the children go outside for their lessons and he's fine.

Tonight at church I think we had to take him at least 4x if not 5!  So I don't know if he rationing his output (lol) so he can go back if he wants, or WHAT!

Officially potty training

Well, I'd had it with diapers!  My washer broke so I could not wash the cloth as I like.  I didn't want to spend $$$ on disposables anymore, plus they were giving him a rash AND he was regressing with the EC.

So I decided to be brave and dive right in to "diaper free".  No turning back!  Good thing we have wood floors.  It took a few days for him to get back into the swing of things as far as EC, recognizing and being aware of his body again.

Then it took a few more days for me to balance my expectations with his level of comprehension about the whole process.  He simply did not want to *stop* and go potty...he wanted to keep playing or doing whatever *he* wanted to do.

Now we are on a pretty good track.  It's just like EC mainly.  I keep at him to go on the potty...often! Accidents usually only happen if he is not being watched properly.  Basically we continue on like EC...take him potty upon waking, before we leave, when we arrive somewhere and then whenever we think about it.

I never believed you truly could potty train one so young.  I do believe cloth diapers help and the EC--of course! But to see his actual comprehension of it--is VERY exciting to me. I feel so much more competent as a mother to realize how much we underestimate our little ones. He's not even 2 yet! Although it is right around the corner. whew!