Potty Training and Sharp Knives

I tried a few weeks back to blog more. The results of that effort were the same as any of my other attempts to be a super blogger. I get on a little roll and then the circumstances of life just push blogging aside. I've been busy and not blogging as you can plainly see. Today I'll spit out several topics that I haven't had time to flesh out into their own posts. I think I'll call it Random Tuesday Thoughts unless that is already taken. So Random Tuesday with no button. Enjoy.

• I mentioned the review I was going to do recently. It turns out that I don't actually have to do the review on this blog so you are all saved from that excitement. I am going to tell you what I bought though. I got a nice German made knife sharpener because every parent knows the most important thing to have in a home with young children is sharp knives.
• Braden has been a potty training wonder. He rarely has accidents of any kind. He tells Arica or me when he has to pee or poop. He wears a diaper at nap time but never pees in it. He still pees some at night but not nearly as much. I am ecstatic about how this has gone. Thank you Arica and Braden.
• Braden does other things at night that are not so much a source of pride. For the past week he has been staying up for two hours or more past his bedtime. He never gets out of bed. He just lays in there and talks and screams and laughs. Sometimes he cries but not often. He just won't sleep. The kid is staying up past our bedtime. Yet he still needs a nap to make it through the day. We are stuck in some sort of in between stage of sleep development. It is very frustrating.
• I put my boat up for sale Monday via the nut house they call Craigslist. That place is full of winners. Anyway I was contacted 8 times in the first 24 hours. I'm starting to think that I should have asked for more money.
• Braden is nuts for the Scooby Doo movie. I'm not talking about any of the dozens of cartoon movies. He doesn't like the cartoons at all. He likes the live action movie with Freddie Prinze and Buffy. He laughs all the time at CGI Scooby. I have seen the movie numerous times now, and it's tolerable. I think Mathew Lillard should have got an Oscar Nomination for his portrayal of Shaggy. Either that or I've been sniffing too much glue.
• Finally, I have to remind everyone who is interested that we will be finding out the sex of our twins on Monday. So stay tuned for that, especially if you bet money on any of the possible outcomes in Vegas.

Potty Training: Shower Poop

We are still trudging along the uphill slope that is potty training. There are wins. There are losses. The wins are a lot of fun. But the losses are messy and smell really bad.

Arica is doing all the heavy lifting on this one. She is the stay at home Mom tasked with sending Braden to the toilet time and time again. She is responsible for arguing, pleading, bribing, and ultimately making all the potty training rules.

Braden is still wearing underwear every day. He almost never pees in them. In fact he pretty much never pees during his nap either. Arica always puts a diaper on him just in case, but it has been weeks since that diaper has soaked up any of the little man's pee.

Pooping is another story, which brings us to the title of today's post. For a long while Braden's favorite plan for evading toilet pooping was to wait until his Mother took her morning shower. At that time Braden would hang out in the bathroom and do his business. He didn't poop in the shower, or the toiler for that matter, but he did his pooping while the shower was in use.

Arica, being the super mom that she is, started putting him on the toilet when she took a shower. She would make him stay there until he did his business. He would stay too. He learned much faster than I did that his Mom means business. Just another indication that he is already smarter than me.

We still have accidents like any other potty training family, but Braden is really doing a great job. Yesterday he used the toilet twice. I'm really proud of him for being such a fast  learner and doing this at such a young age. Underwear, persistence, patience, and a great wife seem to be the keys to this potty training stuff, as far as I can tell.

Operation avoid three kids in diapers at one time still has hope as long as the trend line keeps moving in the right direction.

M&Ms: Is There Anything They Can't Do?

Back in 1941 when Forrest Mars, Sr. started producing M&M candy he probably didn't expect that 70 years later I would be writing this post about his magical treats.  In fact he probably didn't foresee the coming of the internet at all. He was a smart dude, but I think this whole thing would have probably blown his mind.

Anyway, Mr. Mars got the idea for M&Ms from soldiers in the Spanish Civil War. These soldiers carried chocolate candy with a hard shell that kept the candy from melting. You know the whole, "melts in your mouth, not in your hand" thing. After getting a patent for his own process of making chocolate with a thin candy shell Mr. Mars brought the world M&Ms.

The candy was introduced to American troops serving in WWII during 1941. And today they are still fighting the good fight inside our home.

These magical candies are serving a two fold purpose in the Life of a New Dad home. First they are Braden's reward for using the toilet rather than his pants for disposing of bodily waste.

Second they are teaching him the colors. We don't just hand over the chocolate for a properly placed pee. The kid has to tell us the color too. He has known most of his colors for some time, but for some reason he doesn't like to tell us. Braden just says any color in hopes of moving on. Now, with the M&Ms, Braden is finally starting to play the color game rather than trying to drive me crazy. That is the magic of these little chocolate candies.

They fed the US troops in WWII.

They are teaching my son to poop in the toilet.

They are teaching my son his colors.

I don't think there is anything that M&Ms can't do. They can probably teach basic math skills and help kids learn to read. They may even be qualified as driver's ed instructors. These candies are special.

It is because of all these things that I would like to take time today to say thank you to the Mars Candy Company. Keep up the good work and don't let those so called health experts get you down. America needs its candy and we're counting on you.

Potty Training with Big Boy Underwear

This weekend we got hard core with the potty training. We enacted the big boy underwear plan. This plan is very simple. Braden wears tiny little underwear with Cars designs. Arica and I take him to the bathroom every thirty minutes in the hope of avoiding accidents while at the same time drilling him on the fun of using the toilet. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.

I think the weekend went well. On Saturday we had three accidents. On Sunday we had none. And this morning before I left for work Arica got Braden to poop in the toilet. Braden demanded that his Mom leave the room to give him privacy. Apparently that was all he needed. While she waited in the wings Braden went to the bathroom on his own. Big win.

Saturday we nearly avoided all three accidents. Braden told me he had to pee pee the first time. Even though he released the flow before he told me, we did manage to get some in the toilet. The other two accidents involved the big number two. We almost made it to the toilet the first time. I just caught him to late. We ran as fast as we could, but, alas, the deed was already done.

Later in the day just before Braden's 30 minute appointment at the porcelain throne, I had to use the bathroom. When I was done I went to get Braden. I set him on the toilet unaware of what he had been doing while I was in the bathroom.

That's when my ever inquisitive son pointed to the floor and said, "Daddy, what's that?"

To which I answered, "That's your poop."

Such are the adventures in potty training. Even with the excitement of floor poop, I have to say that it went a lot better than I expected. So off we go to the first full week of Lightning McQueen underwear. Wish us luck.

Toes

Since we are already on the potty training subject I have a story to share.

Braden pretty much only goes to the bathroom when asked. Sometimes he tells us, but not often. And he is  apparently still savoring the taste of victory on that one poop in the toilet. He hasn't done it since, and doesn't really seem interested.

On Sunday my Dad and I were watching football on TV when my Dad noticed Braden lying very still on the floor. This is Braden's pooping position. Normally he goes to a corner as well, but this time he did it right at our feet. Of course he told us he didn't need to go to the bathroom.

By the time I got him there the dirty deed was done. Braden did pee in the toilet so I guess it was a partial victory. We talked again about how he needs to tell me when he needs to poop. We'll keep at it.

Before going to the bathroom I had gathered my supplies. I had a clean pull-up and a box of wipes by my side. After wiping I reached down and picked up the diaper off the floor and began to put it on Braden.

As his leg went through the appropriate leg hole Braden stared screaming TOES! TOES!

It was at about this time that I felt something mushy in my hand. I looked down and noticed that I had grabbed the wrong diaper. I was dressing my son in his old poop filled pull-up.

So there we were. Braden was standing on one foot and shoving his poop smeared toes into my face while I tried to balance him and clean his toes with my one still unsoiled hand. It was a proud parenting moment for me. Life with small children is never dull.

And we're having two more.

The Potty Training Race Against Time

One of the many challenges of raising twins will be continuing to raise Braden. We will have to be sure that we make time to spend with him. It seems almost cruel that he will go from the focal point of our world for nearly 3 years to a mere third child all at once.

Arica and I have already talked about how we must make it a priority to continue spending time with Braden. We will have to take special Braden only outings so that he can receive our full attention. I need to start practicing that today on this blog as well.

With all the excitement that has turned our world upside down in the past week I have neglected to share some of Braden's accomplishments. Specifically I haven't told any tales about beginning the potty training adventure.

While Braden is at home with Arica these days we have been keeping him in pull ups. Arica will ask him many times a day if he needs to use the bathroom. He will pee almost every time you take him. That is a good thing. He gets excited about the process. Most of his excitement comes from the awarding of M&Ms, but that is exactly why he gets them.

Braden sometimes will even tell Arica or myself that he needs to use the bathroom. Braden will tell you by saying, "Mama. I pee pee." To me that is a huge deal. The fact that once in a while he knows he needs to go to the bathroom is a big success.

We experienced another success when earlier this week Braden told his Mom, "Mama. I poop." Arica took him to the bathroom and Braden did his business. It was his first poop in the toilet. I didn't expect that for months. We were all VERY excited. Pooping in the toilet is a big step in the right direction.

I am aware that it will be a slow process, but we have extra motivation now. The thought of having 3 kids in diapers at the same time is enough to make any parent potty train with the intensity of an Israeli security force. Two new babies will push the first kid right on out of babyhood, whether we are ready for that or not.
 
I once said I wanted to replace boxes of diapers with boxes of beer. Well now I just want to replace them with boxes of smaller diapers. Things change.

I Pee Pee

There is a storm on the horizon. We know it's coming, and we can actually jump start the storm ourselves when it's time. The only reason we would ever start this storm is because of the relative calm that will follow.

Typically these types of storms are followed with clear blue skies. The high pressure will cover our little world and bring beautiful weather every day.

The looming dark cloud is potty training. It's not time yet, but things are happening that bring the thought to mind. Braden now understands what is going on in the way of using the bathroom. He no longer carries on like nothing ever happened when his diaper is filled to capacity.

The first signs that he might not be thrilled with pooping his pants came in the form of pulling at his diaper. As anyone knows a toddler adjusting his diaper is not a good thing. You don't want your kid messing with his Pampers when they are full of toxic waste. When he starts adjusting his drawers either Arica or I will ask him "Did you poop?"

Braden responds, "I poop."  He is accurate too, unlike those bozos on the Weather Channel.

Braden also knows a little about peeing his pants. You can ask him if he pee peed and he will say yes or no. The accuracy of this one is not as easy to check, but I assume he has a fair idea about his diapers moisture content.

The best thing is that Braden likes to sit on the toilet already. Sometimes for no reason at all he just comes up to me or Arica and says, "I pee pee." As usual there is no ignoring his request. Either you take him to the bathroom or he repeats, "I PEE PEE!" until you do.

I think more than anything he likes to play with the toilet paper. He will sit on the porcelain throne and wipe a few times before he is done. Then he flushes and goes on about his day.

I have never been excited about the prospect of potty training, but it will be coming soon. And now that it approaches the whole thing leaves me a bit hopeful. After all diapers aren't cheap.

After conquering all the accidents and toilet training we can say good-bye to $20 boxes of diapers and hello to $20 boxes of beer.

At least that's the plan from my point of view.