Potty Training Update

The potty training has been going fairly well. Every now and then Colin has an accident (why is that ALWAYS on my couch?!), but for the most part he is doing very well at home. We had a little test the other day when I was watching the neighbor boy while his mom went to the dentist. I was curious how Colin would do when playing with a friend and stopping to go potty, he did pretty well. Now granted we were in the pool and outside most of the time, and Colin was allowed to pee in the yard, because I didn't want them running into the house all wet and dirty to pee every ten minutes. He is strangely fascinated with peeing outside, I have no idea why. Overall he did fairly well that day though.



He has been doing better on outings as well. He is over his refusal to use public bathrooms, thank God. When we were in the Burger King drive thru and he told me he had to go potty. I told him we had to wait because we were stuck in line. He told me he could go in the grass right outside the car. I explained we ONLY go in the grass at home, in private. He said ok and waited until we got out of line and ran inside BK to pee. I was impressed his Pull Up was dry when we got in there. Later we went to the park. It is a pretty big park on base and there is a big hill there. On one side of the hill are cement steps leading up to two large slides that come down the hill on the side facing the park. On the back side of the hill there is a bunch of woods and trees that the kids have worn good paths down on. Usually the older kids are off playing hide and seek or nerf gun wars back there. Colin often goes up the steps to play on the slide, so when he went up I didn't worry about him. I didn't see him for a few minutes, which also didn't worry me because he usually goes up there, gathers rocks and then rolls them down the slide. So after a few minutes of not seeing him and not seeing any rocks come down the slide chute, I went looking for him. I found him in the woods, pants around his ankles, and covered in poop. You have got to be kidding me! When I asked what he was doing he said "Colin can't poop in my big boy pants!" At least he knew enough not to go in his pants, BUT YOU COULD HAVE ASKED ME TO TAKE YOU TO A TOILET SON! I ran to the car to go get the wipes and a change of clothes. Thank God for Crocs because he had pooped on his shoes and then stepped in it, so I was able to just wipe them down good. I stripped him down and went through about an entire travel case of wipes cleaning him up. While cleaning him off several kids were peeking over the cement wall up at the top of the hill by the slides and giggling like mad at the fact that there was a naked little boy down there covered in poop. Then I hear one of them say "Hey! That's my German teacher! Hi Frau Goetzman!!" Shoot me now! I can only hope they did not go home and share with their parents that they saw their teacher at the park today and her kid was naked and crapping in the woods. Oye. Finally I had him all cleaned off and clothes changed and sent him back to the park to play. What a nightmare...that better be the last time he poops in the woods, at least until he's a Boy Scout!

Wordless Wednesday

Cuteness

I brought home a used racetrack set I snagged from the yard sale website for Colin today. After I put it together the box got left on the living room floor for a while. Later that night Colin brought me the box and told me he needed some tape for the box. I asked him what was in it and he said some toys. I tried telling him he didn't need tape but he was very adamant about NEEDING some tape, so I gave in and handed him a couple pieces and let him tape the box up. Then he carried it to the front door and set it down there and went back to the living room. I asked him why the box was there and he told me we had to mail it. I asked where we were mailing it to and he told me "I send Daddy some toys!" LOL I guess he thinks Daddy needs some toys over there in Iraq. Colin has done very well with the deployment and taken it SO much better than I thought he would. I can tell he's ready for his Daddy to come home though. He talks about Daddy all the time and he's started carrying a picture of Shelby around with him and he insists that he sleep with it at night. When we Skype with Shelby he asks Daddy to come home. I'm so glad the end is near and Shelby will be home soon, I know Colin is really ready to have him back.

Who needs cable when your life is a comedy show!

I had to run a few errands and one of them was to Hornbach, the German version of Home Depot. This store also has a large pet supply section and they sell fresh water fish, so I usually bribe Colin to behave with a new fish. We picked out our fish, he chose one and I got two others to add to the tank. Colin proudly carried his fish all through the store and while we were waiting in line he entertained me with some acting. We were standing there and out of nowhere he shakes the bag and yells "FISHY WAKE UP!" Then he looks at me laughing at himself and says "like Nemo Mommy!" LOL In case you aren't familiar with Finding Nemo, this happens in the movie. So cute.

We pay and walk out of the store, crossing the road that runs through the parking lot and right as we get to the middle of it Colin trips. He falls flat on his face/belly and lands right on top of the baggy with the fish in it. The bag pops, water runs out, fish is flopping around, Colin is wet and crying hysterically because he thinks he hurt the fish, cars are stopped in the road waiting on us and pretty much anyone within earshot of us is staring. I am trying my best not to die laughing at the situation as I scoop up the poor little fish and show Colin he's still alive while dragging him to the side of the road so the cars can get by. Colin is fine, just traumatized that he traumatized the fish. Thankfully the store worker put our fish in separate bags. When we picked them out and he put them in two different bags I was thinking to myself why they couldn't all three just go in the same bag. Well I was thanking my lucky stars for that coincidence because having two bags meant I could just throw the suffocating fish in with the other two and hurry home. I can only imagine if I hadn't had another bag and had to drag Colin back into the store screaming and crying and while I try to explain in bad German my son busted the bag and we need another bag with more water. So far the fish is still alive and seems to be doing ok. The fun never stops around here, I swear!

Wordless Wednesday

Poop on Potty Training!

So now that I am finally out of work for the summer I am ready to start potty training Colin. I thought it would be easy because he often tells me when he's going to the bathroom in his diaper, he tells me that his diaper is dirty and he HATES having to have his diaper changed. Yesterday we started with big boy underwear, a big bag of gummi bears, and potty chart on the bathroom door ready and waiting for stickers. The morning went fairly well. He peed twice and told me when he had to poop and went to the potty each time. He did have an accident while he was playing and seemed surprised that it made such a mess. About 2pm we headed to an indoor playground with the neighbors to play for a while and I put a diaper on him because I knew dragging him to the bathroom would be impossible at the place and didn't want to be responsible for him peeing on the trampoline or other kids. I tried taking him to the bathroom a few times and it went about as well as I thought, he refused. When we got home from the play place the diaper came off and it was back to big boy underpants again. He did well until he decided to try to pee standing up at his little Elmo potty in the living room. He peed everywhere but the potty unfortunately. Ugh.

This morning when he woke up I tried rushing him to the bathroom and he would have nothing to do with that. When I took off his diaper and tried to put underwear on he had a fit and demanded a diaper. I got all the new undies out of the drawer and gave him a choice to bribe him to put them on. He agreed but then we had another problem...The designs on all these fancy underpants are all on the butt and Colin insists on wearing them backwards because he cannot see the super cool character when it's on his butt. Sigh.

He earned one sticker on his chart this morning before we had to go to the grocery and post office, that's where things started to go down the drain, figuratively speaking of course. I took him into every public bathroom I could in an attempt to get him to try to pee. He would go in, he would watch me go, he would refuse to try himself and then screamed as if I were murdering him with any attempt to take off his pants and make him try. I offered up a bribe or two if he would just try sitting on the potty, not interested. Apparently he loathes public restrooms as much as I do. This did not go as well as I had hoped. Then we went to the park to play for a while. I am not sure why the biggest playground park on base does not have a bathroom accessible. Are you just supposed to avoid places without toilets until the child is well trained? Do I have to carry a potty chair in my car everywhere I go? I asked him repeatedly if he had to go, he repeatedly told me no over and over again (thankfully because if he had said yes who knows where I would have taken him). Then of course he peed and pooped in his pull up diaper. We changed it and went back to playing. He fell asleep in the car on the way home and when we got here I woke him and took him to the bathroom, he threw a giant fit and refused to go in the potty telling me he didn't have to go, then must have peed in his pull up as he ran away from me because his pants and socks were soaked. Since we've been home he has gone on his potty once and was excited to put another sticker on his chart for today. I thought it would be easier than this, because Colin knows what he is supposed to do, however, he apparently does not want to be potty trained just yet. Oh boy.

Wordless Wednesday

Kung Fu

Colin went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 the other day and since then he's been a little bit obsessed with kung fu. In the hall closet there is a stick that was once used to keep Colin from sliding open the door and getting into the closet. Now he doesn't pay much mind to the closet and the stick stays propped up inside it instead of laying down to prevent the door from opening. In the middle of a kung fu frenzy Colin ran to the closet, grabbed the stick, ran back to the living room and then incorporated it into his kung fu routine. Sorry the pics are bad, he would not hold still, I should have taken video because him yelling and beating the crap out of the air was pretty amusing.

Wordless Wednesday

The Child Is Not Right!

Colin had a doctor appointment first thing in the morning before I went to work. I was talking to the doctor about the possibility of seasonal allergies and food sensitivities. Colin did very well for the tech and cooperated while he weighed him and took his vitals. By the time the doctor came in Colin was bored and acting more like a brat. He did not want to come near the lady, much less sit for the doctor to listen to his heart. I was totally mortified when in true three year old fashion he kicked the crap out of the lady as she tried to hold him in the chair to listen. However after stopping for a minute to see her reaction after kicking her he noticed her super cool tiger stethoscope cover thing. For which he pleasantly sat and played with the rest of the time. She directed us to the lab to have blood drawn for the food sensitivity test and after seeing him behave for the doc I was concerned for the safety of people wielding needles. He was less than patient in the waiting area and upon checking in I politely warned the guy "this is gonna be a nightmare, you might want to call in some backup." When it was Colin's turn I took him in the back and sat him on my lap. He was delighted to see a little tray table in front of the chair that he could drive his cars on. I explained to him that the man was going to look at his arm and then put a needle in it to take out his blood. I told him when he gets stuck he can watch the color come out his arm and fill up the jar. He seemed interested. I could not believe when he sat still as a statue on my lap while the guy poked him. Colin didn't flinch a bit and excitedly watched the blood drain through the tube and into the vial. He was completely fascinated and didn't whimper, whine or move! After they were done I looked like an idiot, Colin looked like a model child and everyone was happy. Colin picked a Transformers sticker for his bravery and then it was off to day care.

Didiland

Didiland

Today I took Colin to France to go to Didiland Park. Shel and I took Colin once last summer, but now that he is older it is much better for him. The park is geared towards little children and Colin could ride all but 2-3 of the rides out of everything at the park. The next door neighbors went too and brought their two boys, one 4 and the other almost a year old. Colin and the neighbor, Christian, are best buddies. They had a blast today riding stuff together and playing. I think Colin's favorite ride was a water ride where you can shoot water cannons at the other people on the ride. He also really liked an elephant ride (think Dumbo ride but you can push a button to make the elephants go up and down) and spent a looooooong time in the giant ball pit. One thing he wasn't too sure about was the log flume ride. I wasn't too sure of it either for him but he wanted to go (the first time around) and so did Christian. So we went on it and the drop part was a little scary, there is no bar to hold you in, you have to hold on to side rails yourself to keep yourself in the log and Colin is not quite that strong. I found myself holding him tightly with my legs and holding us both steady using the hand rails inside. It worked but it was a pretty good drop for him. He laughed and squealed on the way down and when we splashed at the bottom. When it was over Christian wanted to go again, Colin did not. LOL So we watched Christian and his dad go a couple more times before moving on to something else. Later in the day the boys both wanted to ride it again so we climbed in and off we went. Colin was good until we got to the climb up part and then I guess he remembered and all of a sudden he was scared and didn't want to go anymore. Too late now kiddo! Again he squealed and screamed and laughed as we splashed down. As we were floating back to the exit I asked him if it was fun and he said "yea." Then I asked if it was scary and he said "yea." Then he sat there for a minute and said "Colin little bit scary Mommy." LOL I guess we won't do that ride again for a while. Good thing there are plenty of others he loved. He was so tired in the car that he sacked out as soon as he emptied a juice box and a baggie of grapes. I wish I could have slept the hour and a half home, after opening and closing the park I was exhausted myself. I made the mistake of thinking the weather forecast would actually be accurate for a change and should have known better. It called for mostly cloudy skies so I opted against sunscreen for me, thinking I'd be ok if it was a little cloudy. Yea, it was clear blue skies and blazing sun all day. Ouch! Hoping it turns to tan tomorrow, at least I got rid of my short sleeve tan lines and traded them for tank top lines.

Here and There

Here:
The chain is getting much shorter! SOON!!!




And there:
Severe dust storms and 119 degree heat.
The view from his front door...

Wordless Wednesday