I realized I forgot to post the picture of Rocket, Hunter's Potty Training Reward.

He has done very well but has had a few accidents. One day I thought I was going to lose it when he peed in his underwear 3 times! I was beside myself. Friends have encouraged me that this can happen but he will continue to progress.

I think the worst part (besides accidents) is that when I say, "Let's go sit on the potty," or "Let's go pee," he whines and doesn't want to, even if he's not playing. Any advice, friends?

(This posting is for the grandparents and any other bored fans.)

Renee and I decided to be super adventurous and planned a MOPS activity at a pottery painting studio. In the back of our minds, I think we were afraid our boys were going to run around and bash into the pottery, knocking it onto the floor. Or maybe they would get paint everywhere but the pottery.

I am happy to report that all who attended seemed to have a joyful time. All of the children were WONDERFULLY behaved and thoroughly enjoyed painting. It was a little stressful making sure Hunter didn't put the paintbrush in his mouth because he still puts everything in his mouth. Plus, being a neat "freak", I didn't want paint ALL over our clothes. He did beautifully.

My next challenge is I still need to go by and pick up our pieces!

This was Hunter's favorite part. Actually, it was mine, too. :)

Two other adventurous ones having fun. :)

We learned this week that you should not give toddlers/preschoolers Activia (or any of its competitors) even if you run out of regular Yogurt.

Hunter, for lack of a better word, pooped 4 times Monday quite siginificantly (I'm trying not to be graphic). The last time that day was in his underwear. Tuesday, he pooped twice quite explosively (lots of force). Mark and I realized Tuesday night that we BOTH had given him Activia yogurt, once over the weekend and once Monday. However, Mark did not know what it was. I thought one container wouldn't do anything to him. Boy were we shocked!

On Thursday, we had an appointment for Hunter (more on that later). In the middle of the appointment he says, "I have to go wee wee." while looking distraught. I quickly "throw" Colten in the carseat and we sprint off to the bathroom like any good, panicked parent would do. No pee comes out, but the poop sure did, again in mass quantity. (This poor kid. What DID we do to his intestines?) On the way home, Hunter says from the backseat, "I have to go wee wee" with that stressed out voice again. I start lecturing him about how he should have told me while we were at the appointment. I ask if he can hold it and he starts to cry. Now, I'm going 60+ mph on the Beltway and wondering where on earth I am going to find a potty for this kid. I think fast and decide to go back to nature and pull over on the side of the road (WAY over in the grass). I get him out, pull down his clothes and struggle with him to get him to pee 1) outside in the grass and 2) standing up. I am not winning, so I lean him up against my leg to help him squat and pee. The next thing I know there's a big pile of ... well, you know. My poor baby. He had to go AGAIN!!!

I am happy to say that he did not have to go today. I looked up information on Activia at http://www.activia.us.com/ and found out that each 4 ounce serving has BILLIONS of live probiotics. Apparently, a child's intestines do not take them lightly.

PS: Sorry. No pictures for this posting.

PPS: Sorry my blogging fingers have been broken lately. I miss my buddy's comments. :)

As I mentioned before, I decided to take a stab at potty training which I think most of us mommies dread. How long will it take? Will he pee on my carpet? poop in his underwear? go in public? When will he tell me he has to go without me having to ask?

We started by haphazardly looking through a Target ad and Hunter spotted a toy Rocket from Little Einsteins (http://atv.disney.go.com/playhouse/littleeinsteins/index.html) which he loves. (It was an almost $30 toy, so I thought we should use it as a motivator for something big!) That's when the idea hit me! Use it as a reward for potty training.

We made the trip to the local baby store to buy training pants and a sticker chart which totally worked even if the stickers are a pain in the rear. It took him several days to fill up the chart and I went out to buy the Rocket toy because he was progressing quite nicely.

I am so pleased to say that Hunter's training was a huge success! After 7 days, he only had 1 accident. He has done so well to it that he even woke me up at 2 in the morning this week so he could go pee. I was so out of it that I told him he should just pee in his pull-up. Nonetheless, in my groggy state, I took him to pee.

I am thankful to my friend, Lora Lynn, for the fabulous advice she gave me to get Hunter going! He's not even afraid of the big potty anymore! However, I do put a portable ring on them but I figure it prevents him from having to touch those nasty potties!

Well, done, Hunter!... and, thank you, God, for allowing this BIG transition to go so smoothly!

As the Little Einsteins say at the end of their program, "Mission Completion!"




This is a cute moment in Hunter's potty training (caught in half-blink) while we were out at my favorite restaurant (since becoming a mom)... Taco Bell!

I guess I don't have anything against the Easter bunny but I have decided I will not capitalize the "b" in bunny so as not to give the character much importance in my mind. What does a bunny have to do with Easter? or even eggs, chicks, argyle, plaid, etc.? Okay, back to the story... I had a dilemma Eastre weekend and the EB was going to help me solve it.



The day before Easter, the four of us were going to an Easter egg hunt with some friends. Mark informed me that he had to go in to work beforehand, so I was left with my almost 3 year old and 3 week old to fend for myself. Plus, I had to be 30 minutes away by 10:30. Can you see where I am going with this? Yup, we didn't make it.



I had a relaxing breakfast with Hunter, took a shower, then I realized that Colten can actually be fussy sometimes. I couldn't get ready without stopping to soothe him. He was needing some extra attention- wanting to fall asleep but needed some help, needing to be nursed again, etc. As 10:00 approached and I was no where near being ready to go, I had to resolve that we weren't going.



Keep in mind, Hunter was excited about the egg hunt because of me but he didn't really seem to care that we were not going to make. I, however, was quite disappointed. That's where EB comes in. I decided that since we couldn't make it to the egg hunt, we would then visit the ole EB at the mall and go for a ride on the carousel.






















A friend of mine gave me a great tip about rides: they can only go on them when Daddy is with them. Brilliant!!! Thanks, Sara. :)














Yes, we made Easter eggs for the first time at the Wright house. I have to admit. It was actually quite fun! Oh, and we ate them the rest of the week. YUM!

The outcome.

Okay, it's Spring (well, almost) and we're in training at the Wright house! We had a sneak peek of a warm, sunny day on Saturday and it was just me and the kids, so I took Hunter outside to "teach" him how to ride his bike. My friend, Renee, said to "duct tape his feet to the pedals." It sounded like a good idea to me, so I tried it. Sure enough, that was the ONLY way he was keeping his feet on the pedals. Otherwise, he shuffled his feet along like he was on a scooter. He posed for this shot for me.





I guess I forgot to ask my friend how long it takes for them to learn they need to actually keep their feet on the pedals. Apparently, 15 minutes wasn't long enough.





Since having Colten, I can hardly handle one of my mundane daily tasks of changing Hunter's diapers. I hate admitting it, but it's true. Big kids' diapers are just smellier and BIGGER! So, I have decided to take the plunge and POTTY TRAIN Hunter! I don't have my hopes too high BUT I am praying this will be successful.

We went to the store today, bought training pants, a reward chart and a toy for a reward of accomplishment. After nap time, he wanted his "big boy underwear" on. When Mark got home and I was finishing dinner preparation, Hunter had to GO. Sure enough, we had SUCCESS!... Pee in the potty! After dinner, POOP in the potty! Before bed, PEE again!! Thank you, Lord, for hearing my prayers.

I will keep you posted if we are successful or not. We'll be staying at home tomorrow... ALL DAY!

Yesterday morning I was laying in bed nursing Colten when Hunter gave me a swat. Of course I told him that he is not allowed to hit Mommy and if he did it again, he would have a consequence (for his actions). We use "consequence" a lot to encourage appropriate behavior (Thank you, Kamber.), so it is a term with which he is quite familiar. However, he swatted me again much to my dismay.

I called for a time out and received a "No." This is something new for him and something else to train. So, I just add another minute to his time out. After he added another minute for another "no" and sits in time out, I ask him to come tell me why he had a "consequence," to which he replied, "I spank Mommy." "Why?" I ask. With those big hazel eyes looking at me and head bobbing, he said "I gave Mommy a consequence." Ahhh- I could hardly maintain my composure. When do they learn to say this stuff?! It was so sweet and terribly cute! I wanted to just kiss him but instead.... I had to finish following through. "God gives me and Daddy consequences, not you, baby."

Fortunately, he is not a hitter but with a new baby sleeping in his room and pre-Daylight Savings Time, it can make for a cranky toddler. I couldn't wait to give him his post-punishment smooch!!