throwing in the towel - again

we have stopped potty training - again.  over the course of the week there was only one accident outside of the bathroom (on a neighbor's indoor trampoline!), he woke up dry every day, he willingly tried to sit on the potty without being asked, would generally go 'try' when asked (like before getting in the car or before meals) and was getting great feedback from his teachers about how great he was doing at school (he stayed dry/clean but never went at school).  the problem was that he would hold it as long as possible.  there is no problem with bladder control here - we are talking more than 5 hours in some cases. 

the problem was that he would jump off the potty at the moment he couldn't hold it any more and pee (and/or poop) on the floor.  we tried everything.  we let him have treats while sitting on the potty, play games on our phone while sitting on the potty (that was our one total success) and every other means of keeping him sitting at the moment he started peeing.  what was worse is that mason is our super neat kid who has to use a napkin (or several napkins) at meals, he likes to be clean and the mess of pee was getting to be too stressful for him.  not to mention that the twenty trips to the potty and crying leading up to actually going was starting to wear on me!  but peeing on daddy while he helped in the bathroom - twice - was what caused us to throw in the towel. 

we will try again in the spring.  i really, really don't want to have three in diapers, but i don't want to stress mason out either.  just from hearing from other friends, it seems that turning three is the threshold for successful potty training for boys.  only mason doesn't turn three until after baby is born...  love.

sledding

it wasn't a lot of snow, but it was the most we have had, so matt took the kids out 'sledding' into the back yard.  i don't think mason was willing to give it a try, but they did have a pretty good snowball fight. love.

that's me!

whenever mason sees a picture of a blond haired boy, he says that it is him.  especially if the boy is doing something mason likes or wants to do.  he was looking at one of matt's 'history of baseball' books and found a boy just like him with a man just like daddy.  he was so excited to share this news with daddy and me!  unfortunately, the video does not capture his excitement or chattiness (he is getting to be quite chatty at times).

one-year pictures

so i am pretty late with maddux' one year pictures.  but at least i finally got him in!  (he hasn't helped with bruising his face at least once a week and having a super red nose from a fall on the concrete and tissue wiping.)  he was all smiles and personality in the waiting room even clapping and 'talking' to other waiting but the second we walked into the studio he clung to me for dear life.  the photographer commented on the change.  the had to crop me out of most of the pictures just to get any.  he was semi-willing to sit on the little chair for a bit but most of the time he cried and clung.  i was amazed that we got as many decent pictures as we did; at least i don't have to bring him back again until the birthdays in june. love.

maddux speaks

maddux is accumulating spoken words and i wanted to jot a few down here: dada, mama, ball, dog, teeth, yes, all done (not totally clear but definitely what he is saying), choo-choo, vroom, brrroom (the car noise), sis (for madelyn) and i am sure that there are one or two i am forgetting.  he seems to be adding every day.  and he is the first one that didn't do any signing.  mainly because i forget in the rush of waiting on everyone else during meals.  we have been working on it more, so he might sign yet.  love.

baby week 18

had a "belly check" today while the kids were in school.  maddux just watches/listens quietly.  baby's heart rate sounds good and the doctor confirmed that this on is quite the mover!  his guess was a boy but he said that he has been wrong all day.

bummed to find out that we have to wait until 22 weeks for the ultrasound!  oh well.  i was able to schedule it when matt and the kids can join me.

on a related note, matt was able to feel the baby move too the other night - i think on the 8th.  this kid is very busy and seems to be awake during the day.  so much of this pregnancy reminds me of madelyn's that i am really 'feeling' that it is a girl but i was wrong with maddux too...

i hate 'belly pictures' but will try and take one soon - or at least when we go to the ultrasound.  i think i just look 'thick' as opposed to pregnant.  i thought that i would show much quicker with this one, being #4, but i haven't really rounded out yet.

more in a few weeks. love.

potty training - again

doesn't that just say it all?  potty training is going fairly well so far.  the past few times he has done well for the first three days or so and then mason gives up entirely and puts forth no more effort to make it to the potty.  he hasn't had a ton of successes, but he is very enthusiastic about keeping his underwear dry and gets super excited when he gets even a little urine in the potty.

it occurred to me that i do not want three kids in diapers come june so we are going to try and hang tough this time for more than a week.  we do put a diaper on him at night and he doesn't go while he is sleeping so we just need to build the successes during the day before we will let him sleep in the underwear.  the getting out of the diaper and into underwear in the morning has been the most difficult part so far, but once he is in his underwear he is very happy about it.  and he stays dry in public - so far.  i am hoping that going to school this week will really help him with the transition to using the potty all the time.  i know that it helped reinforce things for madelyn.

time will tell.  love.