Overheard Today...

In order to get the humor in this, you must understand 2 things:

1. Arthur has a brother named Aaron
and
2. Dylan and I run with my friend, Jennifer, once a week.


Me: We are going to run a few errands today.
Dylan: We going to see Uncle Aaron??
Me: No, when I said "run some errands", I meant to say was that we need to go to Target.
Dylan: Then we going running with Jennifer?


Poor kid was so confused.

A Bit of Progress

Well the Progress Charts have been filled in! The Disneyland trip is planned and the boys are so proud of themselves. But, there is still a lot of work to do.

I have to say that I am most impressed with Tyler's swimming. Wearing his goggles has helped him to not be afraid to put his face in the water and now he is having so much more fun. He is trusting the instructors and relaxing a bit. I still am not convinced that he will actually learn to swim this year, but I am just happy that the fear is starting to dissipate.

Dylan, on the other hand, is still a huge work in progress. Yesterday, we had 2 BAD accidents (on the carpet) and just now, he woke up from his nap with wet pants - which ultimately means I have to change his sheets and do a load of laundry. I am not sure where to go with him. Part of me just wants to do what I was doing before and take him to the bathroom regularly on my own. We were doing so well and were accident-free for months! The other part wonders if this will just contribute to his inability to recognize or communicate to me when he needs to go.

Oh the joys of parenting!

Goggles, Wet Pants and Progress Charts

So, I have finally given up. All the bribing in the world has stopped working. Goodbye Jamba Juice rewards, sticker rewards on the shirt are useless, and candy is out of the question. My boys have gotten LAZY!!!

Let's start with Dylan. After Dylan showed interest in potty training at 22 months, I was determined not to give into the temptation to start. But after conversations with a few of my friends, I felt it was a good idea to strike while the iron was hot, and attempt potty training at 25 months. I gave it 1 week. I convinced myself that he would fail, and then I would be off the hook for at least another 6 months. Well, that stinker of a perfect child didn't have a single accident the entire week. So, we kept it up. After 1 month, there were only a handful of accidents and life was GREAT!! He was doing both jobs, telling me when he needed to go and only needed a Pull Up for sleeping time. I said goodbye to our diapers and was proud to say that I had 2 potty trained children!

Well that all changed about 3 months ago. Dylan became LAZY! The kid has amazing control, so he would just hold it for hours on end. By the time an accident was probably inevitable, we would be going out the door, and I would just take him on my own. Then he would hold it again up until nap time, when I would take him on my own again. He didn't have to come tell me anymore when he needed to go and started to just rely on me to take him every 3 hours or so. Well, as is the case with life, our schedules began to change and life got busy. Not to mention, I became pregnant and was out of commission for a few months. The accidents started to pour into our life (quite literally, I might add). The kid refused to tell me when he needed to go. Wet pant after wet pant and I had had enough. I started to reward him with stickers for every time he would go in the toilet, but his lazy habit was still more overpowering. Wet pants ruled over stickers on his shirt.

Now let's switch to Tyler: As most of you know, this is our stubborn child. We started swim lessons last summer and I was just happy that he was getting in the water without screaming at me. This year, I want to see PROGRESS!! So, I decided that he needed to wear goggles to help him learn to not be afraid to put his face in the water. We practiced wearing them at home and in the bath. When lessons started, I bribed him with a Jamba Juice if he would wear his goggles. No go. The next lesson, I bribed him with a special lunch to McDonald's. No go. I decided I would not let his refusal to wear the goggles get to me. He would just miss out on special treats. Well, apparently he didn't care about Jamba Juice or McDonald's. Sure, he would pout when we would go directly home after lessons, but after a few minutes, he would be happily playing with his trains forgetting the entire incident. And this really started to bug me! How was I going to get him to wear those goggles??

I know, I know - I am the last mom to use progress charts. It seems just too easy and would my kids really care about putting a sticker on a piece of paper?? I doubted the effectiveness. But, I was desperate! So, I put together 2 charts for the boys. Tyler would get 1 sticker for every time that he wore his goggles to swim class. Dylan would get 1 sticker for every time he TOLD me that he had to go the bathroom. If they made it through the entire chart, a picture of Mickey Mouse signified a trip to Disneyland with Daddy!

Well, as I figured, Tyler had no interest in the chart. 2 more lessons passed without goggles. Dylan, on the other hand, embraced the idea. At least once a day, he would tell me needed to go to the bathroom. And you know, as much as I can't stand the sibling rivalry that is present in our home, it actually has worked to encourage Tyler! He started to get jealous and wanted to see stickers on his chart. Currently, Dylan has 7 of his 12 slots filled and Tyler has 2 out of 5! I am a true believer in progress charts now! Looks like Arthur is going to have to find time in his busy life for trip to Disneyland soon!

100 DAYS??

I really hate that babystrology baby counter on my blog. I am thinking I need to remove it because it is just not helping things.

100 days left?? Are you kidding me? That is eternity! How is my belly so huge already?

Bad Words

This morning, Dylan and I were in the car on the way home from our morning run. Dylan never wants to go home when we are out and about. So, I am trying to find a way to avoid the mild crying fit (it is Dylan after all) every time we go up the road to our house. Today, I tried to get him excited about going home to play with his toys. Here is the conversation we had:

Dylan: Mommy, we going home?
Me: Yes, but you will get to play with your balls and trucks!
Dylan: No go home! (crying begins)
Me: It's ok because we will have to pick up Tyler from school soon. So, we will get to ride in the car again! For now, you get to play with your toys or read books if you want!
Dylan: Me watch tv??
Me: No, we'll play with toys and read books instead. That is much more fun.
Dylan: Mommy, don't say that bad word!
Me: I said a bad word?
Dylan: Yes, you said "no watch tv" and that is a bad word. Mommy, No Say That Bad Word!

Since I use that phrase very often during the day, I'll probably have to prepare myself for lots of soap in my mouth!