Potty Party or Party Pooper???

Something is missing in this picture. Can you tell what it is?

A diaper!

We're having a Potty Party!!! Mr. Lawson is becoming a big, big boy these last few days. At any given moment, you'd find him wandering around the house sans pants, ready to dash to the potty whenever he feels the need! The first day had me plum spoiled. I thought this was going to be a piece of cake! Out of the blue, he asked to go potty before nap time and I jumped all over it. He went, we clapped, jumped up and down and scared the pee out of Naomi as we made a big, huge deal out of the greatness of his peeing in the potty. He napped, woke up dry again, peed in the potty again, we scared Naomi again with our overzealous celebratory dancing and hollering and the rest of the day went about the same. He would yell out "potty!!!!" then dash to the bathroom and go. His excitement may have had a little something to do with him getting a treat after he peed... maybe just a little something to do with it, but it was going really well!

Anyway, the next morning he woke up dry again!!! I thought we were home free! We said bye bye to diapers and discussed his new status as a big boy. Morning was going smooth as can be and the beverages and treats were flowing. Told you it was a party around here! Then, he got hungry and grumpy. I can totally relate and I know his Aunt Kelly would, too. Stay out of our way when we're hungry. GRAAAARRRRRR!!!!!! So, the grumps started and the accidents began. Using the potty was no longer fun, it was a struggle for power and I was losing my patience. I really tried to keep it fun, but by the third pee puddle on the floor just outside of the bathroom as he refused to sit and potty, I was pissed. I also was very aware that he had to poop and he point blank refused. Flat out would not go. In fact, I heard him use the word "diaper" for the first time as he asked for one to poop in. Poop. Poop. Poop! This was all going so well... and then.........

it wasn't.

Naptime was eminent and I put an Imse Vimse on his bottom and crossed my fingers that he'd wake up dry again. Well, he didn't. He didn't wake up at all, actually because he never fell asleep. He bounced around in his bed for over and hour and I finally took him out to try to use the potty. He peed, we pulled up his trainer again and he took off running. No poop and no nap. We took a wrong turn somewhere back there at the corner of Hungry and Grumpy and were quickly approaching Messy. Lucky for me, the unavoidable mess was contained in his trainer as he hid behind my bed pretending to play with Naomi. As it turns out, pull-ups don't do so well with poop. The removal of the trainer off a wiggly two year old yields very undesirable results. Although, after we got his bottom, legs and feet all cleaned up in the tub, he was back at peeing in the potty like an old pro! There's something about pooping that is just not happening though. Any clues on this would be more than appreciated!

So, that's where we're at right now. Potty parties galore over here! A few "surprises," as he puts it, but we're making some serious progress! I'm so close to only diapering one set of buns, I can taste it! Well, maybe that's not the best way of putting it, but you know what I mean! Bring on the big boy boy undies!!!! And Lawson, keep them on. Okay? No more stripping in your bed before nap. Got it? Okay, good... On with the party!!!

Going pee while reading about peas. Very appropriate.

Always wash your hands after you use the potty!!!

Yep, we bribe.

This Little Pear

This is one "pear" of legs that are really enjoying scooting around with a box for a walker. I guess Num Num is done with the bruised knees thanks to crawling around on wood floors. She's moved on to bear crawling and assisted walking as her primary means of transportation. A-PEAR-antly, she's on a mission and is quite pleased with her progress! I, on the other hand, am a wee bit shocked. Seven months old and nearly walking is very different from the 12 months and nearly walking I experienced with Lawson. Naomi, it's cute and wonderful and I'm glad you are so strong, but seriously, feel free to slow. down. a lot. Seriously. Hit the brakes, girl. Please!


While we're on the subject of walkers, may I just say, both she and Lawson preferred using a box. There is an awesome car walker in the house for them, but nine times out of ten, they'd choose the box. I've gotten rid of nearly every large baby contraption in the house because I have been showed time and time again that they simply do not need them. No more big swing, no more travel swing, no more big bouncer and, perhaps, no big baby walker. I do have a new bouncer that I love. But, it can fold flat to be stored and, as a bonus, Lawson can still sit in it. So, parents, give your children boxes. They'll be happy campers and your wallets will thank you. Or, you can just use that money to buy them other things, like a cute pear shirt or cloth diapers, which we are officially back to using. Which, officially, makes me smile.

We Were Stuffed... So They Were Not

Everything was stuffed this holiday season. The stockings, the turkey, our bellies! Well, this year, as a gift to myself, one thing was not stuffed. The diapers!!! Normally, I'm very serious about my cloth diapers. Naomi wore Seventh Generation disposables until her cord fell off and I haven't put another sposie on her or Lawson since. Well, until Christmas. Between staying at other people's houses, packing and traveling up to our house in Washington only to attempt to deal with every item we own, Dustin suggested that I make the switch to disposables temporarily. I dug my heals in, emphatically said, "NO!" and then it sunk in. And it sounded very good. Very, very good. Not that cloth is a pain. It's not at all. In fact, I love it! It makes me happy! BUT, there's a lot going on right now in the way of piles of things to be sorted out and a little thing called life, so one less pile of laundry to deal with every day is a huge help! Lawson thinks it's funny to have "peeper" (paper) covering his buns and Naomi took off crawling within days of the switch thanks to less bulk around her hips. All their pants are now huge in the waist, which is kind of funny, but it has been a good thing for us the past couple weeks.

I am a huge advocate of cloth diapers, but I know when to say when. Like I always say, "it's the little things" and this little switch made a huge difference for me right when I needed it. I'm about ready to jump back into using my fluff stash, but for a few more days, I'm throwing the poop in the trash.

Poodini

Heard from down the hall:


Lawson, did you poo poo? Should you tell Mama that you need a new diaper?

Yeah, poo poo.

Kim!

...yes, I know.

No, you don't. It's coming out the bottom of his pant leg.

Um, what?


So, off I went to meet Lawson and Mima at the bathtub to take over this sure-to-be-stinky clean-up job. I started to pull his pants down and realized there was no diaper covering his buns. I patted down his legs and realized his diaper had gone completely missing and he had poop down in between his toes. Yuck. Actually, double yuck. So, where the heck was this diaper and how nasty was this going to get?! Thanks to the high powered shower head, I was able to power wash the poo right out from between his cheeks and his toes then scrub away all residual residue. Not that you care, but I was pretty thrilled not to scrub that off by hand.

I soon I found myself behind his little behind going on a diaper hunt, hoping he'd lead me to it's hiding place. We searched in the front coat closet, all the drawers and even under the pillows on the couch. No diaper. It was a major Poodini. It certainly isn't laying around with steaming poo smell or we'd have surely discovered it! It made me SO glad we've not had to deal with diapers being torn off and rubbed around all over the place. That would be a very...poopy... situation. For now, it's only elusive, dissapearing, Poodini diapers!

Kind-of Quiet

Quiet is something I crave. There is a constant symphony playing around here complete with power tools and hammers for percussion! I would like to think that I am the conductor, but let's face it, the kids are so in control! And as long as they have the baton, there will be noise. Or at least there should be. Quiet is a Jekyll and Hyde. It can be just what the doctor ordered or it can be the calm before the storm. Those rare few moments where you suddenly hear unexpected silence is usually a clue that something fishy is going on and you may have a big clean up on your hands. Those are the times I poke my head around the corner and see Lawson pulling all the books off the shelf, dumping the last bit of my coffee out or getting into drawers he shouldn't be opening. Nap time is a different kind of quiet. I look forward to nap time every day to both get things done and take a nice, deep, cleansing breath or two.

Today, I was enjoying the quiet for a good half hour, doing the dishes, humming "Lets Go Fly a Kite" (thanks, Beth... day number two and I'm still singing that song!) and listening to the hum of the sleep machine in the monitor as Lawson slept. Or so I thought. Out of the silence, an "uh oh". By the time I'd gone down the stairs and began to open the door, he'd began calling frantically for me. I couldn't help but crack up when the boy was standing in his crib with a horrified, worried look on his face and his diaper dangling from his hand. I've been lucky to have only had him remove his diaper on a few occasions and those times he found it funny. When Lawson sleeps, though, each item on the pre-sleep check list must be checked off in order and the covers must be arranged just so with his teddy bear and cup in their usual positions. Nothing can be off, or sleep just isn't going to happen. So, this was obviously NOT part of the normal routine. No biggie as far as I was concerned since the diaper wasn't dirty yet, so it was easy to laugh it off and put the diaper hoodini back to bed. No harm, no foul. Lawson did not find it funny at all. Maybe that'll keep him from doing it again. Let's hope! I guess sometimes even when I think I'm having my blissful quiet time, he could still just be in his crib quietly getting into mischief. So, now I get my somewhat quiet time. I have a sweet little baby cooing in her sleep all snuggled in my baby sling. That may be better than quiet, actually.