Potty Training Wild One (Day Three) & Fun with Shaving Cream

(26 Months)

Little Miss has been asking to sit on the potty.  Now, I know, and she knows, that the only reason she's asking to sit on the potty is because her brother is on the potty.  Yes, we're at that stage of 'whatever he has must be better than what I have'.

Today, my plan was not to remind Wild One at all to use the potty.  I wanted to let him fully realize (even if he doesn't make it to the potty on time) when to go.  That was my plan.  However, while recognizing that he obviously has to pee, I was only able to hold out for about five seconds before asking if he would like to sit on the potty.  He did wind up going on his own four times, but the rest of the time either Grandpa or I prompted him.

Are you ready for this?  The little stinker (ha! another poop pun) held out until 10:10 before pooping today, a full extra half hour of agonizingly waiting and watching and following him around with a paper towel.  We kept asking him to sit on the potty, sometimes he would, sometimes he ran the other way.  He had a miss before he pooped, probably because he didn't want to sit on the potty.

After he pooped, aaahhh, it was time to set up the water table for some bubble fun.  They really enjoyed making bubbles, scooping bubbles and trying to blow the bubbles off their hands.  While they were taking their naps, I decided when they woke up it was going to be serious messy messy time.  I broke out the shaving cream, paints, markers and the big roll of butcher paper.

This was our first exposure to playing with shaving cream.  There are so many wonderful activities that I'm looking forward to doing with shaving cream, but we don't have all of the necessary materials yet. So I decided to let them first get used to playing with the white, fluffy, creamy, squishy, stuff (or as Little Miss calls it, "the white").  We said good bye to the bubbles in the water table and then the kids took turns shaking the shaving cream bottle (on sale at Target for 97 cents), and then it was playtime.  I squirted the shaving cream into the lower basin of the water table and onto their hands.  Then we hid some of their smaller toys in the shaving cream and tried to find them by scooping piles of cream away with play spoons and spatulas.  They made train tracks and drove their trains around, they had their little fish swim in the soft foam, they carried piles of the foam from the water table to a bucket of water that I had set out for them (just in case we had a melt down and didn't like the foam on our hands or toys- which didn't happen).

 As you can see they got the foam EVERYWHERE.

The shaving cream was lots of fun.  I know we'll be doing that again- I love those free form activities.  Here's some shaving cream, a bucket of water and some tiny toys, have fun!

We then decided it was time to paint.  We mixed together the primary colors to make orange, green and purple (we add white to our purple, because Wild One calls it black because the purple is so dark), and then Little Miss loves pink so we made some pink.  It's amazing, we've made color blends dozens of times and every time I get the same enthusiastic reaction "wow Momma, that's _____ (fill in the color)!"  I love it, I hope they are always this easy to impress.

In the second picture (above), Wild One was painting and said, "look Grandpa a letter D!"  

I don't know if he meant to paint a D or he was noticing that the shape looks like a D.  

Now, he's painting a boy.  

 He decided to paint shoes on his feet and then put paint on his hands to make hand prints.

While the paint dried, they took Grandpa on a picture walk 

through a photo album of our vacation.

Then out came the markers to add those finishing touches to their paintings.

Little Miss has been experimenting with drawing with more than one marker at a time.

We were really messy, and it was hot out, so out came the hose.  The squeals of delight that came from Wild One were priceless.  He was so happy, especially when he started saying, "wet Grandpa".  

 

Naked time potty training has been a lot of fun.  It's pretty much play all day outside from 7 until 5 (except for our nap), try unsuccessfully not to remind Wild One about sitting on the potty and that's about it.  Tomorrow we are going to introduce Wild One to underwear (after he poops).  I have a feeling this is where it is going to start to feel like potty training (then of course we'll work our way to getting fully dressed, start taking short walks and then a quick trip to the store).

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Potty Training Wild One (Day Two)

(26 Months)

Was yesterday a fluke?  We followed the same morning pattern (woke up, changed Wild One into a cotton training pant, fed him, brought them outside to play), yet it took him over 2 1/2 hours to poop.  He asked a few times to "change diaper" (I'm assuming he was asking to be put into a diaper), he was walking funny (as if he was trying to hold in his poop), he just wasn't comfortable and he refused to sit on the potty.  Finally after hours of waiting, he made a mad dash to the stairs on the slide and started to squat.  I was maybe two seconds too late, the poop hit the ground.  I still put him on the potty (which is sitting about two feet away from the stairs on the slide), and he managed to pee and poop a little more.

Right after he pooped he felt much better.  I felt awful about not putting him back in a diaper so that he could poop.  At the hour and a half mark, I was debating with myself to just scrap the whole thing and let him stay in diapers.  It's not easy seeing your little guy in any type of discomfort, but what's worse is that this one I could have prevented.  He did it though.  He pooped, not on the potty (close, but he clearly wasn't going to the potty).  Sigh of relief (ha, another pun!).

We spent the day playing with bubbles in the water table, trying to learn to stay seated at the picnic table while eating, using rubber stamps, enjoying pretend play, drawing with markers and dot markers, dotting in circles for the letter E, in general having fun in the sun!

Wild One was awesome with his peeing.  When he demonstrated that he needed to pee, Grandpa and I reminded him to sit on the potty (that's all).  There were even three times throughout the day and evening that he went to the potty on his own.

I'm still putting him in diapers for naps and nighttime, I'm not taking that away until I'm certain he's ready.  If I can get him diaper-free during the day, except for naps and nighttime- I'm good.  In fact, I'll take that for as long as needed (ok- I rescind that, I don't want him going into fifth grade with a pull-up on at night).

Potty Training Wild One & Fun with Water

(26 Months)

Last week after bath time, I was changing my daughter and my son was running around the house having his happy naked time. Then, he came up to me and said “pee!”. Are you ready for this? I said, “don’t pee! Go to the bathroom and use the potty.” He did. When I saw that he peed in the potty, I knew that it was  time.  How did we get here so fast?  


I've been dreading potty training- I've even half-jokingly been hinting to friends that they should start up a potty training service and they can have mine to practice on.  So, before embarking on this sure-to-be-overwhelming adventure, I did what most moms do today, I read various different methods, Toilet Training in Less Than a Day, Potty Train in Just One Day, The No-Cry Potty Training Solution, Diaper Free Before Age 3, Potty Train in 3 Days, plus too many internet articles to name.  After reading and reading, and reading (and delaying and delaying and delaying), I thought- I'm sure my mom didn't do this.  So, I called her and she laughed.


This was my mom's method, during the summer time she put me in a sundress and nothing else (without a diaper), and let me loose in the backyard (huge fenced in yard with plenty to do- swing sets, monkey bars, sprinkler, sand area).  She gave me a lot to drink, and when it was time to pee, I peed in a big bowl (back in my day we didn't have training potties).  It was stress free, it was natural, it definitely didn't involve reading days of material.


I also talked about this with my friend who has a daughter who is three weeks older than my twins.  She potty trained her daughter in three days a little over a month ago.  She followed pretty much the same method as my mom, and reassured me that it wasn't going to be this horrible, pee and poop filled nightmare that I have convinced myself of.  Her daughter got the hang of peeing on the potty by the middle of the second day and my the end of day three was going pee on the potty all by herself.  On day four, my friend took her to an amusement park!  She's so brave.


My plan is to follow something like what my mom did with me and my friend did with her daughter.  We don't have a big fenced in backyard, but we do have a partially covered lanai (no grass, only brick pavers).  I brought the hose into the lanai (for anytime Wild One has a miss).  I also brought the little potty outside, a full container of diaper wipes, hand wipes, paper towels, cloth towels and a plastic grocery bag (to hold all of the trash).  The night before I filled up our bottom shelf in the fridge with prepared milk cups, sliced grapes and apples, yogurt already dished into two bowls and two cups of iced-tea (right now Wild One really likes Pineapple Lycée - it's very sweet, even though it's unsweetened).  That way all I have to do is grab and go.


When the kids woke up, we told them how excited we are that today starts Wild One's potty time.  We told Wild One that he's going to wear a cotton training pant while he eats first breakfast, and then he has naked time all the way until nap time.  I thought he was going to love this, but he's at the age of "no", so it  wasn't as joyfully received as I imagined.  Right after Hubby fed them first breakfast (a puree of sweet potato, blueberry and apples), we brought them outside.  Wild One usually, usually, goes poopy within the first hour after first breakfast.  Even so, as soon as he went outside, we took off his training pant and then I went into spotter mode.  I knew he was going to poop, but when.  The minutes started clicking away and no poop, no pee.  He doesn't have any tells for poop.  Almost an hour goes by and nothing.  I'm still watching him like a hawk and trying to pay attention to Little Miss who keeps asking me to make a teeny tiny airplane out of Play-doh.  Then he tries to sneak under the slide, I quickly grab him and he has an uh-oh look on his face.  As that look registers in my brain what's about to happen, a tiny pellet hits the floor.  I hoist him up and plop (ha ha) him onto the potty as more tiny pellets now go spraying (gross I know) across the floor.  I act (the Grammy goes to ME) all excited that he almost pooped on the potty.  Then as I'm clapping, he starts peeing on the potty.  We have a quick clean up session, which is a breeze because I have everything I need right next to me.  Toss out the garbage and continue playing.


We pretended the hose was a train track and we chugged along.  We kicked and threw the balls around. We had our dance party.  Then Wild One asked to play with his water table, so I filled that up and we started splashing and pouring and seeing what floats and what sinks.

During snack time, he started showing signs that he has to pee.  I asked him if he wants me to read to him while he sits on the potty (Wild One has always loved books).  He sat on the potty and as I read, he peed. Woo hoo!  He asked to watch me pour it out and said, "bye bye pee, see you later pee."  So cute.  OK, two for three (or two for two if we are just counting pees).

Grandpa and I kept offering Wild One iced-tea, but he wasn't drinking (which is unusual for him, he usually drinks a lot of water or iced-tea throughout the day).  Right after he had lunch, he looked like he had to pee, so I asked if he would sit on the potty and Daddy would mould a football out of Play-Doh for him (that worked).  While he was on the potty, in a soft little voice, he said "look Daddy, I peed".   Woo hoo!  Three pees for three pees.

For naps and night time, we decided to put them back in a diaper.  They don't sleep enough as it is, and I really don't want to interrupt the little amount of sleep that they do get.  I'm SO glad that I put him in a diaper, he peed and pooped during nap time.

After nap time, Grandpa and I brought the kids back outside (removed Wild One's diaper and cleaned him up) and they started playing immediately with their water table.  Little Miss asked "where bubbles go?"  I showed her how to swish her hand under the water to make them appear really fast.  Wild One heard the splashing and came running over.  This turned into a splash party.

I hope she always likes cleaning.

Yes, that is a picture of them
washing their own dishes.  

Wild One actually sat down on the potty himself, without needing to be prompted, and peed!  This is unbelievable, he was definitely ready for this.  The next time he looked like he needed to pee, he was in the middle of playing by the water table, so we needed to prompt him.


By the end of the day, he was six for six pees on the potty!  We're so proud of him.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to do some messy art work, since we never got to it today (Play-Doh, all of the balls, and the water table were the favorites).  I also want to have Wild One practice pulling up and down a cotton training pant (after he pees on the potty, we'll try a few times throughout the day).  Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that day two goes just as well.

Spice Up Your Painting

(26 Months)

Every morning Wild One asks to "make coffee" I have a feeling it's because he likes the smell of the coffee grinds.  Maybe he likes scooping the grinds into the filter.  I don't know.  All I know is that every morning, without fail, he asks to "make coffee".

I've been wanting to do a scent-based activity for months (wow- it's actually been over a year now, where does the time go?).  I was going to make scent bottles, however I always got sidetracked for a more interesting project.  Last night I found this spice painting project and immediately took out the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, vanilla, cocoa and the jar of coffee.

Wild One tried to help me make the paints by squeezing the glue.  It was coming out so slowly when he squeezed that I wound up taking the cap off of the glue and letting him pour the glue into the mixing bowls (I tried to snap a picture, but of course now the glue started pouring out too quickly).  He liked tapping the spices into the glue containers and mixing each container.  His favorite scent was (of course) the coffee.

I love the progression of his painting.  It goes from light, little dabs of paint to full out dumping the containers onto the paper, and then came the swirling and hand painting.  It's not at all like the one I saw on Play Create and Explore, their's was this perfect segmented painting - and ours, well... it sure does smell nice.  My favorite scent creation that Wild One made was the cocoa and coffee, yum.

This is completely unrelated, here is a picture of Little Miss drawing a face on her Magna Doodle.  How awesome is this?!?

Creating Pipe Cleaner Bracelets

(26 Months)

We've been trying to string beads on thin rope for months and haven't had much success.  What has worked really well is stringing pony beads on pipe cleaners and stringing beads on wooden dowels.

For months, I've been saving the tops of plastic straws for some unknown project (we use them in our straw cups when we're out).  Then an idea struck me, let's string the straws and pony beads onto pipe cleaners and turn them into bracelets!  When I was little we made pasta necklaces, so this is just a play on that.  As soon as I brought out the two trays of materials, the kids immediately sat down at the table and got right to work.  Wild One preferred the cuts of straw, whereas Little Miss really liked "the teeny tiny pinks" (pink pony beads).  I loved watching their pincer grip hard at work as they strung straw/bead by straw/bead.  I originally wanted to work on patterning with the straws and beads, but they had so much fun creating their bracelets that I let them just work on their own masterpieces.

Geometric Matching

(26 Months)

Uncle Keith has these huge geometric volume containers.  When he brought them out, my eyes lit up.  Oh the possibilities (my geeky teacher side started coming through).  We first laid a couple of them out and watched their reactions as the sunlight passed through the container's colored base- the kids were amazed that the driveway changed color.  Little Miss kept moving her hand in and out of the light watching her hand go from skin color to green to skin color to green.  I took a few pictures but they didn't show the colors (so sad).

Here we are practicing following directions (please place the containers inside this rectangle).  It's amazing how well they follow directions when it's a game!  Although this did turn into a construction activity when the boys started stacking the containers on top of one another.  We never did say how to place the containers inside the rectangle- boys, so creative.

Next, we traced the bases of each of the containers onto the driveway with sidewalk chalk, then we asked the kids to match up the colored bases (bottoms) of the containers to the shapes in the driveway.  They really got into this, they quickly started working finding a shape and looking for the match.  I love how in the second picture, Buddy is "reading" the instructions for the geometric shapes.

The twins really liked this part of the activity so to modify it for home, I'm going to start saving empty tissue boxes, cereal boxes, plastic mayonnaise jars, plastic peanut butter jars... and we'll do this again.

We never did get around to using the geometric shapes as they were designed (to demonstrate volume), we'll try again on our next visit.  They had so much fun, just matching up shapes, looking through the bases seeing the world another color, stacking and watching the tower crash with the loud banging sounds.