Iowa Summer Vacation

We've just returned from visiting Gramma, Papa and the rest of the family in Iowa and we had a fantastic time.  We crammed so many fun things into the few days we were there and you had so, so, so much fun playing with your cousins!  We decided to drive because airfare was so expensive and while you handled the 13-hour drive (each way) well, it stinks that it consumes 4 of our vacation days.

Pictures Clockwise from Left: Several times during the drive you wanted me to sit in the back with you and hold my hand while we watched movies; good sleeping in the car; ready for the hotel pool!; you still love to play with the hotel phone;  you loved the lap desk at the Hampton Inn.

Your cousin, Addison, had a tumbling performance at the Iowa State Fair, so we timed our trip so that we could stop and see her perform…plus it had been years since I had been to the fair and I thought you would enjoy it.  And, because we were in Des Moines, I got to see my old college roommate, Amy and her family as well as another good college friend, Julie.  It's so seldom that we get to see each other and even though it was only a short visit, it was so great to see them!

At the fair we got to see the butter cow, the 1200 lb pig named Peabody, a 25-foot replica of American Gothic, and you got to go through the Little Hands on the Farm where you got to pretend to feed pigs, pick vegetables from the garden, pick apples off the trees, feed cattle, put gas in the tractor, milk a cow, and buy something from the country store (you selected fruit snacks).  Addison did great on her performance - you loved watching all of the tumbling and kept asking when it was going to be your turn - you wanted to show off your somersault skills!  The fair was a lot of fun even though we only got to see about a quarter of it!

Fun at Little Hands on the Farm

We squeezed so much fun into the 3.5 days we were in Okoboji.  We went on several boat rides, celebrated Camden's 1st birthday, played on the Maui Mat, went to the amusement park, played at the beach, went tubing, rode around the farm on the golf cart, rode in the combine, ate Taco House…twice (yum!) and stayed up way too late.

Happy 1st Birthday, Cam!

Clockwise from left: playing "Simon Says" with Papa; riding the train; you loved the roller coaster.

Gramma set up a "big girl bed" for you to nap on.  This is how we found you after most naps.

Juli had asked me to take some family pictures for them, so we arranged a mini photo shoot.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, so we got as many pictures as we could in between thunderstorms.  Thanks to Juli for snapping the photos of us!

L: Thunderstorm rolling through; R: calm after the storm - nothing beats an Okoboji sunset!

It was so much fun and is always hard to say goodbye.  I think this time was especially hard for you (and me) - you were so sad to leave.  We are already looking forward to our next trip home for Christmas.

Potty Training

We have officially entered the potty training stage and I have to admit it hasn't been as bad as I feared.

You showed an interest in the potty around 18 months, but we didn't think you were ready for full potty training; we decided to focus on getting you used to the potty.  We opted for the seat insert instead of a floor potty (I think the floor potty is gross and had zero interest in getting one for you) and for the past 6+ months you would sit on it and go potty most nights before bath.

About 3 weeks ago, we started talking more about using the potty all the time, but decided to keep you in diapers while you got used to telling us when you needed to go (I wasn't completely ready for this transition and knew it would be hit or miss).  We also started working on getting you to go on the big potty without your little seat (I was worried about what would happen if we were in public and you needed to go...can't exactly carry your little seat everywhere we go, plus daycare doesn't use any type of potty seat, so you needed to learn anyway).

One Saturday, about 2 weeks ago, while we were at Gymboree, you suddenly decided you needed to go. This was a first to tell us and go in public.  Of course someone had just gone into the bathroom, so I told you to try to hold it a little longer and sure enough you stayed dry AND pee peed on the big potty like it was no big deal!  I was so proud of you and you got a special "Gymbo" sticker for going potty.

The next day I decided to try out using training pants instead of diapers.  We didn't have anywhere to be, so I figured it would be the best time to start.  I didn't want to give candy every time you used the potty and instead decided on a sticker system - if you used the potty, you got a sticker on your potty chart and after so many stickers you got a jelly bean.

This worked pretty well for the most part. You didn't really catch on to the idea of recognizing yourself when you needed to go, so I just asked you about every 20 minutes or so if you needed to go; if you still hadn't gone after 40 minutes, then I would just take you and you would usually go.  We switched to a diaper for nap and then back to training pants when you woke up.  You did so well this first day...we almost made it all day with no accidents, but you had 1 accident during supper (right after you had just finished sitting on the potty).

We sent you to daycare on Monday in your big girl underwear and an extra bag of clothes.  Our daycare was really good through this whole process.  You had 2-3 accidents each day that first week while at daycare - many usually during busy times (lunch, snack) when your teachers were busy with the other kids or while on the playground. I was worried you weren't ready to keep going with potty training because you still weren't really catching on to recognizing when you needed to go. But your teachers assured me that you were doing great, so we kept going.

I decided during this time to change up the sticker system...instead of giving a sticker when you used the potty, I gave the sticker if you told someone you needed to go (I made sure you knew what the sticker was for). I wanted to reward that behavior and it seems to have worked (that and reducing the number of stickers required to get a jelly bean).

We arranged for a play date with your BFF, Callie for the next Saturday and learned that she was in the middle of potty training too. I think this play date was the real game changer for you in your potty training endeavor.  The play date focus seemed to shift from playing to using the potty - any time Callie used the potty, you felt the need to use the potty and vice versa.  The bathroom was pretty much a revolving door.  Ever since that play date you have been recognizing when you needed to go and have been letting someone know.  

Another change to the potty training reward system was to shift the focus from recognizing and telling someone when you needed to go to staying dry all day (with the exception of naps and bedtime).  If you stayed dry all day, you got a sticker on a different chart AND a treat from the special treat basket (the basket was filled with little toys such as markers, play dough, glow-in-the-dark bracelets, etc. You loved this and did great at staying dry!  You made it almost a whole week staying dry (you had only one accident at day care at the end of the week)! Last weekend we even had a little Mama/Graecyn outing and you used the potty everywhere we went (the auto flushing toilets (and super loud toilets) freak you out a bit, so I now have to tell you before you'll go if the toilet will flush on its own or if Mama has to flush it and then I have to count down before I flush it so that you can cover your ears).

You are doing so well with it now!  We are still putting a diaper on for nap and bedtime, but can probably stop with the nap time diaper soon as you seem to be staying dry. We'll probably keep the nighttime diaper for a little longer as you tend to wake up wet (and since you're still in your crib, you can't exactly get out and use the potty in the middle of the night).

As worried as I was about potty training (mainly because I felt it would inconvenience me), it has been a fairly smooth transition.  I'm so proud of you!

Getting your special treat for staying dry all day!