TMI Tuesday: Potty Training Postponement

Last week was an experience. Following our trip to New York, and nearly a month of our son showing signs that he was ready, we decide to take the plunge (or plop if you will) and start introducing our son to the potty. Actually, it was a matter of reintroducing him to the toddler thrown that he picked out for himself at Walmart a few months ago. Well, it was an interesting first day.

It was a completely new routine for all of us as every couple of hours we would gather around the plastic bowl and read an appropriate book to our son as he sat there patiently. While there were a few hiccups early in the morning, things were moving along about as smoothly as one could expect by the time the sun went down. He seemed to be getting the hang of it and enjoyed both the stories being read and receiving the stickers which we pulled out as an incentive for sitting there calmly. He also decided to read to us while his bare bum was perched in his seat of distinction a few times.

The following morning, while I was groggily getting ready for work, I could hear the usual back and forth above my head as my wife and son made their way from the bedroom to the bathroom. However, a few minutes later, I could hear the excitement and the clapping of little hands as our son peed in the potty for the first time. Actually, technically speaking, he peed from the potty not in the potty. Details, details. This success made for a great morning and start to the week.

By the end of the day, everything had changed. You could say that the crap hit the fan. While he was comfortable making progress at the house the day before, everything came undone at daycare. All the hard work and all of the huge steps that our son had taken were gone. We don’t know what exactly happened but it clearly wasn’t done the right way… and we were definitely not happy about the fallout! Now, potty training is on hold at daycare and we are trying to retrace those previous steps and milestones at home.

Slowly we are making progress once again. While he still isn’t as comfortable as he once was, there are small steps being made and the interest is slowly creeping back in. It is all about confidence right now as he continues to show other signs of readiness but an unwillingness to “fail” on the potty. That will return in time and, until then, we will continue to encourage him to take a load off whenever he has the urge.

TMI Tuesday: Hi Da Da!

Someone call Sting! Our son already knows part of a Police song!

At some point each night, my wife and I try to unsuccessfully prompt our son to say either “ma ma” or “da da”. Every night and every weekend it is the same routine. When our son got really sick with croup some weeks back, he was finally able to call for his “ma ma” which alleviated the pounding in our heads just a little bit. It was that sad and touching moment when the two of them connected. He knew that “ma ma” would make things a little better and my wife was able to tear up as he said it for the first, second, and third time throughout the day and night. It also proved that he knows how to say it but chooses to remain a quiet little boy most of the time.

It is because of this that my wife has been pushing more and more for our son to say “da da” as she wants me to have the same experience albeit without the running nose and constant crying (bonus for me). Of course, it is just like our son to say “da da” the moment we stopped pushing him. It was a moment when we were playing on the couch after having been at the office all day and my little boy was just happy to see me. I forget what I had done to make him smile but soon after he said “da da” in such a way that he wanted me to continue keeping him entertained. It was a spontaneous moment for both of us and an instant reinforced our bond once it happened.

Like many of his achievements thus far he seemed to check it off the list as complete and moved on to the next milestone without any plan on revisiting what he had already accomplished. Hence, I have not heard those simple words since. It was a brief moment but one that will surely remain vivid in my mind for the rest of my life and I look forward to hearing it again when he chooses to do so. Who the heck knows when that will happen again?

I guess this is just another way in which our son is like me, at least that is what my wife thinks. We both tend to check things off the list and almost immediately move on to the next new thing, something that we haven’t done before. With that said, we have our routines and there are times when we both revisit our accomplishments especially when they bring a little happiness to those around us. And this little monkey has certainly made us happy.

Milestones And Oatmeal

Earlier today my wife randomly called me in the middle of the day. My first thought when I saw her number come up on the screen was that something was wrong or she was having a rough day. It was actually the complete opposite. It turns out that our son reached a milestone today. These are the calls I look forward to receiving.

He has been slowly getting used to the concept of tummy time over the last month. While still not his favorite thing to do, he is at least tolerating it and has even made tremendous progress in his strength and general awareness in this position. Today he decided to change things up once he got tired of tummy time. Instead of getting upset and waiting for mommy to pick him up he took matters into his own hands and rolled over.

It is amazing to think how much things have changed over the past five months. Not just the daily routines that my wife and I now have but in how much our son has grown. Even just looking at the last month, since my last similar post, there are a number of changes that have happened and milestones that have been reached. His personality continues to develop and shines through regularly… poor kid is turning more and more into his daddy.

This past month we have also started feeding him solids. He didn’t go for it right away but once he got used to the taste and routine, he seems to enjoy his breakfast oatmeal each morning. Thankfully, we usually only see the oatmeal once now. Even while on vacation, we continued this part of his daily routine. Given how much he continues to grow seemingly every day, it is a needed addition to his diet. It was actually quite the surprise to see how much he changed from the time we departed for Virginia to the time we arrived back home.

There have certainly been a few hectic and tying days, especially with all the other things that others are expecting from my wife, but he continues to be a good baby. Generally, he tends to just go with things and take the day as it unfolds; he enjoys being out and exploring; he is always smiling and continues to sleep ten or more hours per night; and he only gets fussy or cries when there is a good reason for it. It is safe to say that we really got lucky!

Milestones

Produced in 1934, the $10,000 bill was primarily used for bank transfers.

This week I marked a couple of rather satisfying milestones. One of them I had a finger, or ten, in achieving while the other I cannot take any credit for because you are the ones that pushed this blog to a mark that wasn’t even considered when I began this project back in May. Frankly, I am both surprise and not surprised by the fact that daily posts have appeared on this page for much of the year.

The first milestone is that of passing 150 posts. I am not surprised that I have been able to talk/write so much but I am a little surprised that I have been able to find at least some kernels of non bovine fertilizer during that time. While many of the topics make regular appearances (travel, freemasonry, rotary, genealogy, and work just to name a few) there have also been a number of one off rants (see my last post). Regardless of subject, it has been an interesting journey finding new things to write about and different ways to look at things, places, and subjects.

Based on the views I have received I am guessing it has piqued some interest among you at least from time to time. If it didn’t there would have been no way that I could have reached my other milestone this week of 10,000 views. That number may be large to some and small to others but for me it is a significant achievement both in just getting my opinions out there and knowing that I am, at least some of the time, on the right track in producing content.

What does all of this mean? For me it means that I owe a humbling thanks to everyone who has read a post (or scanned one, or read part of one). It also means that I can set a goal for myself moving forward. While I started with the simple idea of posting everyday it is time to take it a small step further. So, as of today, I am setting the goal of putting out a blog every day for a full year. Yes, it is a repetition of my previous motivator it also gives me a hard number to shoot for. The other goal, and here is where I am going to need your help, is to reach 25,000 views by that one year anniversary.

I will, of course, report back on the final figures at that time but, until then, I ask that you keep pushing me to post content that you want to read. So if there is something that you want to read about I encourage you to leave a comment below and I will do my best to accommodate all requests made. In the meantime, I have some interesting posts simmering in my mind that I am looking forward to writing in the near future.