Big Boy Potty

This week Eli had a sudden interest in going potty in the potty. It all started on Wednesday when I caught him standing by the toilet with the seat up & his pants off. He kept saying "potty mommy potty". I decided it was time to pull out the potty chair & let him play around. I had NO intentions to actively start potty training him. He isn't even two yet! He thought the potty chair was pretty cool & spent much of the day sitting on the potty- especially when Bree would go on the big potty. He pretended to go potty often on Thursday as well. I was happy that he didn't seem afraid of the potty but still didn't truly anticipate that he would actually go. We got a phone call Thursday evening that our Realtor wanted to show our house on Friday. This sent me into a cleaning frenzy. I pulled all everything out of the bathroom in order to scrub the floors- this included the potty chair. Eli saw the potty chair in the hallway, picked it up & brought it over to Dave. He said "potty" and started stripping down. He plopped down on the potty chair in our living room & peed. We were blown away! I was so proud of him that I gave him a handful of mini marshmallows. Later on that evening he brought us the potty chair again. This time we made him take it back to the bathroom before going potty- he peed again! Yesterday he used the potty several times as well. And this morning he's already gone potty once. There is NO WAY that this is going to be this easy for us. Eli has always been more of a difficult child. If he were to potty train himself this easily it would be so uncharacteristic of him. Needless to say, we are very proud of Eli using the big boy potty!

Toddler Bed

The only time I remember being this exhausted is the few days following my c-sections.  Thats it.  We've had a somewhat difficult past few weeks at our house with various illnesses.  It started with Eli getting bronchitis right before Christmas, Dave & I got the stomach flu the week after Christmas, and I ended up getting mastitis last Thursday.  Ick!  It is draining to recover from sickness!  I was hoping we were all on the mend & would get back into the swing of our sleep routine when it happened: Eli learned to crawl out of his crib.  And of course once he figured it out there was no going back.  We had to turn his crib into a toddler bed. He likes to get out of his bed.  In fact he hates staying in his bed.  Last night we spent 2 hours returning him to his bed before he finally stayed.  And then he woke up at 4:30am in the morning (he's done this for the past few mornings!).  He was so overtired today that when I dropped him off at sibling care while I attended a class with Breena he screamed & cry so hard he fell asleep.  Which ment he wouldn't take an afternoon nap.  And I could've really used an afternoon nap today.  Between nursing Toby, fighting Eli & comforting Bree (who STILL wakes up at night) I've been getting very little sleep.  Thankfully Dave is a help, but he can't nurse Toby & Bree always demands mommy at night.  I keep replaying the song "You're gonna miss this..." in my head.  But honestly?  I don't think I will miss this one bit.   Someday we'll sleep again...I hope.

2012

This year I...

1. Will be more patient with my children.  I will listen more & raise my voice less.  I will strive everyday to not lose my patience over tantrums.  I will make sure they hear "I love you" more often than at bedtime & when we are saying goodbyes.  I will sit down & play with them everyday with no technological distractions.

2. Cook one new recipe per week.

3. Relax & quit being such a worry wart all the time!

Hope the new year is treating you well!!