return of potty training

In the dinner post I mentioned that Ben is trying to potty train.

as if talking about potty training isn't TMI enough...

He asked to pee in the potty daily and would take his diaper off to do so before we moved from Bamburi. I didn't start working with him then for 2 reasons. 1) I didn't think he was actually ready yet. He was 18 months old and was still going a tiny bit every 10-15 minutes. 2) I was fairly certain he would regress after the move. Still, I let him go in the potty when he asked.

After we moved, he did lose interest. Recently, he started wanting to potty train again. He told me he didn't want to wear a diaper, he wanted to stay naked, or he wanted to wear undies. We have mostly cement floors. Penny does laundry daily, so wet clothes would get washed right away with the diapers. I'm not that concerned about having to clean up pee. I let him do as he wanted because it was easier. He was happy. And hey, he's kind of training himself.

With Nate, I read blogs, parenting websites, helpful potty training hints and tips, etc. It's one of those (aren't they all?) parenting topics which, no matter how you do it, you're doing it wrong. Expert advice is conflicting, just look at all of these methods. This one says, "Give treats for motivation!" That one says, "Treats will ruin your child!" This one says, "If your kid is resistant to training, they may not be ready yet. Give it a rest and try again in a month or two." That one says, "Work through the resistance." This one says, "The average child takes 10 months to toilet train." That one says, "You can potty train your child in 1 day if you do it right." It's all so helpful. (But I did find this history rather interesting.) I saw "the best method" for potty training on Pinterest. It looked like so much work. Basically living in the bathroom for 3 days with the kid, with all kinds of supplies, rewards, stuff... Not for me.

Anyway, back to my "let Ben do what he wants" method. For 1 week, he was about half in diapers and half not. He was peeing less frequently, though. He could go for an hour without needing to. Last week,  he really only wore diapers away from home and in bed. Friday and Saturday, we still put diapers on him to leave the house, but he stayed dry every time! Yesterday, he didn't wear a diaper at all. I put a pair of good water-proof training pants on him when we were out, just in case. And he stayed dry! I am so impressed. He is doing great with #1.

However, he has yet to poop on the potty. At least he doesn't freak out about sitting on the potty anymore, but he will not poop there. We've pretty much got #1 down. On to #2.

dinner with the Ken-Tex family

We have dinner kind of early. The boys eat best if they aren't super tired and ready for bed. When 5:15 rolls around, I start setting the table. It goes something like this:

I fix the boys' plates so that their food can cool. They are already in their chairs, ready. Nate says, "I don't like carrots! I like crunchy chicken." (Which is not on the menu.) Ben says, "Meat! Meat! I want meeeeeeat!"

I fix their drinks and turn off the TV, and Rodgers fixes our drinks. Nate and Ben have already burned their mouths on their food because they just couldn't wait any longer. Ben blows on his and says, "Go away hot!"

We sit down, and Nate blesses the food, "Thank you Gooooooooood, for the fooooooooood. Aaaaaaamen!" Then it's Ben's turn, "Thank you Gooooooood, for 'cchini. And carrots. Aaaaamen!"

I've taken 1 bite, and Ben is already asking for more zucchini. I give him a lot. Repeat x 4. Then he starts eating Rodgers' food. "More meat?!"

Ben has decided he wants to potty train, so he spends most of the day in only a T-shirt. Generally he should put something on his bottom to sit at the dinner table, but today I've forgotten about that. His skin makes a scooting sound on the plastic seat cover of his chair. Nate exclaims, "Did Ben TOOT?!" Then I realize that, not only is Ben wearing nothing but a T-shirt, Nate is wearing nothing but underwear. Oh well. We'll work on proper dinner dress next time.

Meanwhile, Nate has eaten only a few bites because he is making noises. I tell him to stop making noise and eat. "But I'm saying 'zee-zee-wha-wha-wha!'" Rodgers tells him, "Eat 10 bites, then you can say 1 word."

As I eat in the relative peace, it dawns on me that Nate is counting to 10 way too fast. "Nate! 1 bite, chew and swallow, then another." He's got half a link of sausage in his mouth and can no longer close his lips. He manages to get through it without choking himself, so that's a relief.

Rodgers and I attempt conversation. We are trying to teach the boys not to interrupt, so I think it's important that we give them chances to practice. They do a pretty good job, but it's still a little chaotic.

Ben announces he's done, jumps down, and goes into the living room to play. Nate is also done. It's time for him to do his homework, but Rodgers and I have only just started eating. I tell him I'll get his homework out for him once I've finished. I remind him to take his plate and fork to the kitchen, which he does. Then he goes to play in the living room with Ben.

Rodgers keeps an eye on them. This is the time of day when they run off all that extra energy they have so that they can go to bed. They are all over the place, but at least they aren't fighting.

Once I finish eating, I call Nate back to the table to do his homework. Rodgers is still finishing up. Ben gets back in his chair to eat more from Rodgers' plate and some from his own because he still had food left when he was "done."

Finally, the food is all eaten, homework is done, and we have a few minutes of play time left before the bedtime routine starts.

And Nate says, "I'm ready for a snack."

two and a half!

Nate is two and a half today! The doctors here aren't really interested in measuring growth at regular months, so I weigh and measure him myself. He is 37" tall and weighs 30 lbs even. His head circumference is 20.25". He remains average height and weight, with a 90th percentile head circumference. That means he's thin for his weight.

He loves animals

When we took the boys to register with a doctor in March, they did weigh them. They weighed Nate at 30 lbs 12 oz. That would mean that he gained 3 lbs in 2 months, which I doubt. I'm fairly sure their scale was off. Or, he was so upset, crying, and throwing a fit that they weren't able to get an accurate reading.

Nate and Rodgers built the tallest tower ever!

Nate is daytime potty trained (and how liberating to have only one child in diapers!). The only problem is that now he has nothing to hold up his shorts! I used to have his trimmer shorts put away because they wouldn't go over a cloth diaper. Now, those are the only ones he can wear.

He enjoys helicopters, Fireman Sam, playing with Ben, Legos, and soccer, in addition to continuing to love Elmo. He likes reading books, paper or on the Kindle Fire. He has started playing matching, peek-a-boo, and other toddler games on my phone and the Kindle. He knows how to find his games on either one. Sometimes, he pulls up Free Cell and tries to play like Baba.

He thinks every day is his birthday and that he is always 3 year old.

He is pretending to sleep and snore

Nate has normal toddler food issues. We have now entered the "I don't like vegetables" stage. He will almost always eat beans, sausage, rice, toast, and grapes.

He gets in trouble for holding/squashing/crowding Ben more often than anything else.

Nate asked me for coffee today, but I told him he has to wait until he is 3* (for real 3, not pretending to be 3).

Cuddling with Ben and Baba, two of his favorite people.

*I'm not really going to give a 3 year old coffee.

don't pee on...

[This is a post about potty training.]

Nate is now totally daytime potty trained. He wears training pants at naptime, but almost always wakes up dry. He wears a diaper at night, and almost always gets up wet. We are not sure whether he's peeing as soon as he's awake or peeing during the night.

He had been wearing diapers away from home, but decided last week that he doesn't want to anymore. Public toilets aren't common here, so often, he ends up peeing on the side of the road, but really, that's what everyone else does, too. And by everyone else, I mean men, women (myself excluded), and children, not just newly-potty-trained kids.

Over the course of buying training pants, I noticed that some have cute pictures on them, and they promote that as a way to encourage your child to keep them dry. "Don't pee on the frogs..." I never tried this tactic with Nate, and I am quite sure it would backfire. He loves peeing on things. Typical boy.

Since all of our potties are upstairs, when we are downstairs he usually pees outside, in the grass. It's just easier on all of us. Upstairs, he uses the potty, and all poops go in the potty. No pooping outside.

Last week, he dropped a Dora sticker outside, then rediscovered it once when he was peeing. Now, he keeps going back to that same place to pee. "I wanna pee on Dora!"

can't even tell it's Dora anymore.