Success already!

Well, I think it is safe to announce that Payton is officially potty trained. It has only been two and a half days, but he has only had two "real" accidents the whole time. After feeling like somewhat of a failure because of Kegan's two and a half years (and counting) of training, I really didn't want to start Payton. But I was looking into buying him some training pants for when Kegan was (hopefully) done. The training pants were all gone (there must be others with the same resolution) but they had some underwear on clearance. So I got some Scooby Doo, Diego and Spongebob underwear for Payton. Well of course he wanted them right away. So on Friday about 11am I put them on him and told him he was a big boy now and he had to keep Scooby Doo dry. Well, he did! I had him go a couple of times and then just let him alone to see what would happen. He wet a few drops and then stopped and ran to the potty. He went, and then changed his own underwear and put his in the laundry. I said nothing, did nothing, he did it all on his own. This happened a few times that day. He did have one "real" accident when he wet significantly. He stayed dry all of Saturday and today until just as I sat down to write this, but he went and cleaned himself up without any prompting from me. Ha! Ha! Now, for Kegan. Sigh. He did show some improvement for a day or two, but really its just the same old same old. We are trying to appeal to his competitive nature and have him do "better" than Payton, but he doesn't seem to care.

Oh, and for a less disgusting update (by the way, if you are afraid to come to our house with all the pee-ing and pooping, don't be. We have a steam cleaner that gets used frequently!) I got my scrapbooking software and I LOVE it! I haven't had anything printed yet, but I tell you I love just dropping my pictures on the pages and adding my stories and captions. We'll see how the printing goes!

New Year's Resolutions

Although I'm not usually big on New Year's Resolutions, I have made a few this year. One is I am going to scrapbook more. All the kids pictures are stuck in a drawer (pre-digital camera) or in files on the computer. So I want to make them more accessible. I like to scrapbook, but its hard to do with a baby and a toddler around. By the time I get all the stuff out, someone needs a diaper change or to be fed. So I have ordered a computer program that has layouts and stuff so I can just plug my pictures in and add text and then print! Hopefully this will help me out.

The next goal is to have only 1 child in diapers by the end of the year. This means no pull ups at night either. So I was going to start with Payton as he is the one in diapers. But Kegan has recently been having trouble with more and more accidents and even reverted to pooping in his underwear again. Sigh. I am becoming worried that there might be something physically wrong. So I have been researching on the internet and have found a program that hopefully we can get him accident free in the next month and then we will work on the staying dry at night thing. It is going to be a fun program, let me tell you! The first step was to get a urine collection device which measures how much he goes each time. We then have a "contest" to see if each time he goes he can go more. (This should help increase his bladder capacity.) The next step is when he has an accident he has to wash his own underwear and pants in the bathtub. We are supposed to emphasize smells with this. We smell his clean underwear and comment on how nice it smells. Then as he washes the underwear, they have to pass the smell test before he is done. That means he has to get them within an inch of his nose and smell them. Oh, yum! The last step is the practice step. When he has an accident we are going to practice going potty 10 times. We will go to different areas of the house and pretend to be playing blocks, or reading or coloring, or watching a movie, or outside, etc. Then we say "ow, ow, I really have to go," and run to the bathroom and pretend to go. And then we'll say "ahhh, that's better!" Instead of sticker charts or little treats as rewards (all of which have failed with him) we are supposed to reinforce the relief of going as the reward. I hope, hope, hope this works! He goes to Kindergarten next year, and we have to be done with this! As for Payton who is next in line, I have ordered the book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" I read this when I trained Kiara, but obviously have forgotten it as we have failed with Kegan so miserably. So I will read it again and be much better, I promise! (I WILL NOT be training him for two years straight!) He already will go once or twice a day, and thinks its great fun, so this is a good sign!

Rub a Dub Dub!

Three Men in a Tub!

Zander is big enough to join the boys in the tub, which he is very excited about, until he gets splashed in the face of course! It is a bit crowded though, Kegan I think will soon be on his own. Man, they grow up fast!