The window to the world for our little Jones...welcome friends.
This is a chronological blog-style site, so be sure to click around and read older posts from the archive and also by labels!
We took a spin down to Greenville for the long weekend to visit Grandma and family from Illinois that was visiting. I'm a ninny and didn't pull out my camera for group pictures, but we had fun hanging out with Uncle Carly, Aunt Debbie, Cousin Jonathan and Courtney.
One of Shepard's favorite activities in season at Grandma's house is the little rec department train that runs in the park about a block from the house. We can walk there (or ride bikes!), and it also has two playgrounds. Pretty neat stuff.
We rode the train three times in two days. He LOVED it.
I don't scrapbook. Who has time for that these days? I'd rather jump down on the floor and play blocks or chase Shepard down the street on his bike. I do my scrapbooks online these days...I just completed our 2-year-old book:
We are about 80% potty-trained. Well, I should say Daddy and Mommy are 100% trained, and Shepard is 80% trained. He does almost all of his #1s and a fair amount of his #2s in the correct place at the correct time.
He was his usual strong-willed self throughout the process, and I'm sooo thankful for his preschool teachers who had lots of patience and helped us immensely with tips and tricks...and changed a LOT of wet/poopy underwear. There has been a ton of laundry at our house as well. But, it seems that the message has gotten through. Mostly through. There has been lots of candy and some big prizes and an entire weekend of watching Elmo's potty video over and and over and over and over...
Especially this little rap about the toilet paper factory. I might be able to do this from memory now:
Catchy, huh?
Here are a few tips that I should share, since they were no where in any book, online article or Elmo video.
1. Y'all. CROCS. Or any variation thereof. Sooo handy to clean and dry when accidents happen. Plus, he can take them off and put them on by himself. Just rinse those things off or even run them through the washer...but they made the accident-zone a much better place.
2. Move an entire clean-up and supply system to the bathroom. This might be a no-brainer for some of you, but I was unprepared for messy clean-up the first few times. In the drawer right next to the potty, we have: gloves, wipes, pull-ups, clean underwear, arm & hammer odor-shield bags and disinfecting/cleaning wipes and some potty-time books to read. Stock it daily. There is a reason I didn't do cloth diapers. But, I can say that my poop-tolerance is fairly high now. No gagging or screaming or crying.
3. Make toilet paper a line-item on your budget. Bless him. He just can't pull off two squares. He has to pull 11 and then swirl them around in the water. We're working on it. Until then, cha-ching! Compounded more when your puppy finds the long, dangling end of the paper on the ground and completely unwinds the roll before you find him. Yes, puppy. I need to post about that, don't I? We just believe in potty training and manner-training lots of creatures at once.
4. Some basics that we did that you can find in other resources: start talking about it early. We got several fun books (this and this) at the 2-year-old mark. Boys apparently take longer and start later. His school encouraged us to use ONLY underwear (no pull-ups) during waking hours so he could get used to the feeling of wet. Make it fun, and don't dwell on accidents. We used stickers and candy as rewards and he got to go pick out a "poopy prize" after he pooped in the potty the first time. Let them watch you, particularly see the same-sex parent (if possible) go to the bathroom to allay any fears and to help them see everything in action. We had to wait on him a little to actually let me put ON the underwear, but it was helpful that we had been talking about it and practicing a little for about 8 months.
I'm still cute when I covered in poop.
5. Elmo video and book are great. Be sure to look through the book and practice the songs before you bust it out with your kid, though. YOU are the singer...it's basically a back-up track with words printed. Be ready to sing the songs A LOT while he/she sits on the potty.
5. One thing I read AFTER we had transitioned to underwear (so too late for me) was to place the child on the potty while they were making a poop, even if they were wearing a diaper. It just made the association of sitting up there while doing that. Of course, I'm pretty sure Shepard would have balked at that and jumped down...but it's worth trying.
6. There is hope. As with every stage of development that seems to take FOREVER, I just tell myself, "well, I can assume he won't still be wearing a diaper or (insert baby behavior here) when he goes to college..." Now, instead of sending home three or four sets of wet/yucky clothes at the end of the day, I'm usually getting NONE or one. And I'm getting a raise to the tune of $30/month that we spent on diapers. #Winning.
Next up: nighttime training. He woke up dry this morning and tinkled first thing. So, who knows? Also, I have put a little portable potty in his room so he doesn't have to go wandering down the hall in the middle of the night. Anybody have some pull-ups coupons? Or good ideas?
The sun finally came out for five minutes in March, so we made sure to GO OUTSIDE. We found the cutest place in Charlotte called Darby Acres farm. I thought Shepard would be fascinated by all the animals...he wasn't.
What he loved more than anything were ALL THE TRACTORS that he could climb on, plus a little stash of tricycles, big wheels, etc. I mean, there were BABY GOATS, y'all, and I couldn't tear him away from the plastic big wheel. He had fun anyway. There are lots more animals, but I was sticking with him...so didn't capture all of them on video.
This is an insanely long video, but it's fine. One day I'll be cherishing every second of video I took to remember the glimmer in his eyes, his voice and expressions.
...for delinquent Mama to post something funny or meaningful, here are Shepard's April 2013 "school" pictures. When did he get so big?
I will also add that the "no free time" issue that has prevented me from posting anything awesome in two months is directly tied to my little night owl who refuses to sleep before 9:45 pm and the mama who refuses to let him just run willy-nilly around the house until then.
I have a delightful backlog of items that will be getting a proper blog post.
But yes, until then...here's sweet Shepard:
This week, Shepard has been talking non-stop about fire ants. After our "rain walk" a few weeks ago when we saw the poor, flooded fire ants having ant parties on top of their mounds, he's been searching for and observing them. He helped Daddy eradicate several mounds from the yard yesterday.
He's also really, really good at delaying bedtime. Here's an uncomprehensive list of tactics.
"I gotta go potty." --what do you say to that? I can't deny him the potty. We've barely gotten that party started as it is.
"I need some chocolate milk." --bring chocolate milk-- "NOOOOOO! I need regular milk!!!!!!"
----um. I brought you what you asked for, so that's what you have. Deal. (yes, I say this)
"Can you read Llama red pajama again?" --ad infinitum, ad nauseum
"I need to go say night-night to _________ (insert anyone here)."
*poop in diaper* *change diaper* *wash hands* --if he's on his game, he can turn this one into a good 10-15 minute situation
"Let's play blocks/cars/anythingexceptreadingabook!" --um. No.
I want to squeeze him and spank him all in the same moment. Most nights I end up falling asleep in his bed and just hope he's ok until he falls asleep himself.
In addition to some of the perennial toddler favorites, such as Old McDonald and Row Your Boat, Shepard also composes some of his own tunes with great vigor:
The video really does all the heavy lifting for me this time. Just watch
and enjoy Shepard watching and enjoying his first real snow...followed
by a few pictures of him in snow when he was much smaller (sigh). Sorry
for the delay. I have had numerous technical difficulties getting this
one saved and published (???). It's has taken about a week and a half to
get it worked out. Oh well. ENJOY!
Whoa. What's going on, Mom? January 2011
Don't worry, I was only sitting here like this long enough for Mommy to snap three pictures.
Eating my hand at the Cracker Barrel, Bristol, TN: December 2010
One of Shepard's favorite activities in season at Grandma's house is the little rec department train that runs in the park about a block from the house. We can walk there (or ride bikes!), and it also has two playgrounds. Pretty neat stuff.
