"This Is A Very Big Day!"

 Gus loves the movie Tangled  :-)

In the words of our favorite golden haired princess, today was a very big day! So many great things happened and two very big firsts for Hugh!!

We are on day four of potty training and so far, so good. Each day, we've had one accident (usually around pooping in his undies). Today he just couldn't hold his pee anymore more and he ended up peeing all the way up the hall to the bathroom and then peed on the potty. He must have had an insane amount of liquid within the hour.

Speaking of hours, we've moved from going every 30 minutes to every 60 minutes!! Gus has done really well with this and has become trained to go potty when his watch goes off. Not sure if this is a good thing or not. LOL

We were supposed to go to the park with some MOMS Club friends, but I decided it would be wiser to stay home, so we're close to the potty. It was a pretty laid-back morning and we enjoyed having nothing to do.

The last few days, Hugh has been showing more and more signs on wanting to sit up on his own.

 

Propping himself up in the rock and play sleeper

 

Sitting forward in the swing

Yesterday, I decided to see if he could sit up by himself for a bit, and he was able to sit for a few minutes before toppling over. When I moved him against the couch, he was perfect and it gave him just the right amount of support. Hugh was in heaven with playing on the floor with Gus.

 

You're saying to yourself, "My goodness, he's such a cute baby!"

So today, we decided to sit on the floor again and he had more fun. 

This afternoon, he went from laying down to sitting up again. He's unreal!!

I decided that today would be a great day to try some solid foods with Hugh. He's 24 weeks (five and a half months) and I thought it couldn't hurt to try. I opened up some carrots and decided to see what he thought.

He wasn't too sure what to think. He made such funny faces it looked like he hated it, but he kept opening his mouth for more, so it couldn't have been too terrible!!

So not only did Hugh try solids for the first time, but tonight, he went to bed in his crib (in his room) for the first time. Fingers crossed that he sleeps well being in his own room. We wanted to wait until he was six months, but he's getting too heavy for the pack and play (I'm guessing he's over 20 pounds) and his room is quieter. He does well with noise, but I think sleeping in his own room will be a good thing and now is the time to do it.

Anyway, it was a big day for us!!! Tomorrow we have soccer, and Gus will be going without diapers to soccer. I've got a change of clothes in case he needs it, but we'll be experiencing our first weekend without diapers!!

As hard as potty training seems at times, it's been so wonderful to not have to change Gus's diapers!!! He's such a big boy!!!

Potty Training 101

 

Every thirty minutes

Recently, Gus has been showing more and more signs of being ready to start potty training. His end of the year evaluation by his preschool teacher said that he was showing interest and on his way to being fully ready. The other day, he initiated going potty and I was astounded that he was able to connect the internal feeling to actually needing to use the potty.

I guess I was being a bit selfish by looking at our schedule and seeing that there's too much going on to start potty training. This is the first week where we don't really have to be anywhere, and we will have five days straight without really having to go anywhere and to worry about PT while being out and about. With the exception of swimming tomorrow, we have the luxury of staying home all week until soccer on Saturday morning.

Last night Steve commented that we are in need of diapers. I asked if we could go Saturday after soccer and he said he wasn't sure if we'd make it to Saturday. Well, that was the kick in the butt that I needed, so this morning, we started potty training.

I had bought Gus a potty watch when he was like 18 months old (click the link to see it in action). I got it and kept it on his bookshelf so that when the time came, it'd be there for us. Today was that special day.

When Gus woke up, I took him to the bathroom to try and go potty before getting him dressed (something I've been doing for about a week now). He went on the potty and I made a huge deal about it. I told him that I had a special gift for him and he was very excited to see it.

He let me put it on him after I had set it for every 30 minutes (it lets you pick 30, 60, and 90 minutes). 
We then put on his very special undies with Mater on them. Because we're training, I let him hang out all day in his undies and he was okay with that.

 
He was really excited to see how it worked and when it went off for the first time he flipped out!!! He was so excited to go potty and ran up the hall to the bathroom!

Every thirty minutes we went to the bathroom, and every thirty minutes he went on the potty. It was amazing. We only had one accident and he started to go potty and then we caught it and rushed to the potty to finish. Other than that, he had no accidents and loved going when his watch alerted him!!

He didn't take a nap today and I was okay with that. We went all day without going poop... which I was surprised he didn't go poop around his usual time of 2-3pm. Maybe tomorrow he'll go. I hope he's not afraid to go on the potty.

Around 4ish, he decided that he wanted to wear three pairs of undies at once. He grabbed all the spare undies that I had brought down with me, and put them all on.

 

 I used M&M Minis to help today:

But I realized that there are a few things that we need in order to make it more comfortable and successful for Gus. So tonight I went on Amazon and got a few more potty-related items.

 

This is called a Piddle Pad. I got it for potty training, but also for going to/coming from swimming

 

A soft seat for our bathroom that he's been using and a stool. I realized while watching today, that the seat is not comfy for him and he doesn't really like to sit on it long (which doesn't help when he has to poop) and then the stool will be helpful for him to rest his legs while on the potty and to get onto the potty

 

Travel Potty :: I am most excited about this purchase. It uses gallon bags and it folds up to stay in the car. This will be great for when we're at the park and there's not a close bathroom (happens all the time), when we travel to Michigan and Indiana and have long car rides... and it'll be good to just keep in the car for emergencies

Overall, I am so very proud of Gus for all that he did today. Getting up every thirty minutes wasn't enjoyable, but seeing him actually use the potty and not have to change a single diaper for him today was incredible. Now we just need to get through tomorrow... swimming in the morning and a poop for sure at some time (either in his undies or on the potty). Wish us luck!!

 

Soccer Star :: So Proud!!

 

 Today was a very big day!

We got up this morning and we weren't sure of what our plan was. Now that Gus is three, do we put him in the 3-4 class or do we keep him in the 18-42 month class? The 3-4 class was at 9am and another at 11am. The only thing about this class is that parents are NOT allowed on the field. It's totally independent and we weren't sure if Gus was ready for that yet. My goal for him was to be ready for the 3-4 class by the end of June.

The class he's been attending is for kids that are 18 months up to 42 months (a year and a half to three and a half). It's a wide age range and there are two coaches and a TON of kids. This class is at 10am and another class is at 12. We have been going to the 10am class since we started.

A little after eight this morning, I told Steve that there was no way we'd be making the 9am 3-4 class because the boys weren't even up yet. We decided to do the 10am class and give his coaches a heads up that we'll be trying the 3-4 next week.

So we got in the car at 9:20 and arrived at the complex at 9:45. While we were driving there, we could smell something coming from the backseat (Hugh) and decided that a diaper change would be needed before heading in for soccer.

I got out and went to the back to get Hugh's stroller and Steve went to get Hugh and I heard, "OH MY GOD!!!" He said I had to come look... and when I did, I saw poo EVERYWHERE. It was as if someone had squeezed Hugh and he exploded out of his diaper and all over the carseat. To make it worse, he had been playing with it and it was on his hands and a bit got in his hair. GROSS!!!

There was absolutely no way we could go in for soccer, so we had to turn around and head home. Gus was very upset by this (he loves soccer) and we promised that we'd come back after changing Hugh.

Well, an hour later we were back at the complex and we were going to attempt the 3-4 class. We walked in and asked where the class was (it's on a different part of the field than our 10am class) and the coach was right there. She introduced herself and we introduced her to Gus and told her that he has some delayed speech, but he's able to understand and follow directions. He was excited to go to the field. Steve told him that we'd be watching from the side and at that moment, another coach came over and had Gus go get a ball. He listened and we walked over to the side where we could watch him.

He made sure to see where we were and we stayed there the whole practice. He was so excited to be on the field and he did such an awesome job being without daddy!!

 

Gathering before the start of practice

 

Doing some stretches

 

Doing the "soccer dance"

 

Jumping over the ball

 

Dribbling

Lots and lots of running

 

Proud daddy watching

 

Getting some one on one coaching!!!

 

High fives

 

Team high five at the end of class

I was amazed at how well Gus did. He listened to the coaches, he followed directions, and he didn't try to come get Steve. A few of the other kids were crying and not participating because they wanted to be with their parents. The coaches did a GREAT job keeping the kids engaged and the 50 minute class went by so quickly. The water breaks were efficient and Gus went right back out without any problems. It really was awesome.

They played Heroes and Villians today and Gus (again) refused to wear the flag in the back of his shorts. However, he did a fantastic job of chasing the other kids and collected about six flags. He also did a great job chasing his coaches and grabbing the flags from them!!

On the way out, we stopped at the front desk and let the head coach, Coach Michael, know that we're moving Gus from the 18-42 class into the 3-4 class. He asked Coach Sebastian (his old coach) if he was ready and he said yes, and then his coach from today agreed that he did really well and could move to the 3-4 class.

So we are officially moved to the 3-4 class and I think Gus will do an awesome job!!! I am so incredibly proud of my little soccer star!!!