day two

Here's an excerpt from an e-mail I just sent to a friend:

...I am doing my utmost to be fun and happy and teach him the skill he needs, and it seems that what I have leftover for Matt and Ian is exhaustion and crankiness. It may be totally silly, but will you pray for us? Pray that I will be able to stick to this and that Caleb will start to understand his body's signals and that I won't turn into a horrible person to be around for everyone else in the process!!! If I am seeming completely nuts to you.... just picture endless laundry and floor cleaning and washing out shoes and spending four hours out of every day sitting on a tiny little hard stool watching a two year old sit on the porcelain throne and pretending like it's the most thrilling thing in the universe. :-)

So that was my bit of complaining... but I have to say that I am immensely enjoying one on one time with Caleb and... I even think there may be a tiny bit of progress. As today has gone on, Caleb has started getting upset about his many accidents. I am taking this as a step in the right direction, better than not noticing at all or not caring about being wet. I do hate to see him upset though. I absolutely have come a long way since Ian was first born in understanding that it is OKAY, and sometimes even good for kids to be upset and disappointed at times. If they never are, they never learn! So, I do not cater to my kids' every emotion, and I do not allow their emotions to dictate our family life. However, there is still the part of me that just loves the tar out of them and hates to see them cry.

The weapon of choice:


Off to a good start:


Prefers Pauls' head to the potty chart for stickers...


Mr. Big Stuff


Big Kid cleaning up:


Partners in Crime:


Trying Crocs - may I say, these are the BEST for potty training! They're probably good for other reasons, but this is the first day we've tried them and I'm so glad it's coinciding with all these accidents. Just rinse out, wipe dry, and go.


A nice diversion from the potty stuff: Ian decided all on his own today to make a Lemonade Stand. My pen did not touch his paper. The original sign had to be updated when we ran out of Lemonade (sleepover across the street) but he wrote the second sign for "Kool-Ade" himself as well. He made over $2 because apparently nobody but mom and dad could stand to pay the kid just a nickel... he practically robbed his Grandma Nancy blind... :-)