Potty Training Day 1

I mentioned in an earlier post that AR had recently started showing signs of potty training readiness. I want to blog about our first day and what we did...especially since I have another one that will be doing the same thing in a couple of years!

 I had found a site on pinterest a while back and pinned it:   http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Potty-Train-a-Child-2/?ALLSTEPS.  There are tons of articles and books on PTing though.

I think the big thing is that they really have to be ready. It makes it a lot easier.  AR had been showing signs for a little while and had really been wanting to go potty for 2 weeks and we just now had the time to stay at home for a couple of days.  I blocked out a whole week (just in case) but 3 days for sure that we wouldn't go anywhere!  I got my groceries on Sunday so we wouldn't have it to worry about and Monday was just ALL about PTing! FUN! :)  Last week, on one of our Target trips, I let AR pick out some big girl panties that she liked.  The Easter Bunny had already bought her some to hopefully spark the interest but I wanted her to be excited about the kind she picked.  I also had the training pants and pull-ups for naps and bedtime.  We had been reading books about Potty Training and she was so excited.  We had a long talk about it the night before about how she was going to be a big girl the next day and say "bye bye" to her diapers!

She woke up and I put the training panties on her.  She drank lots and lots of juice and water.  When I say lots, I was basically giving her one after another just so she would have to pee a lot.  I also allowed her to have more snacks (even salty chips at 9 am) just so she would drink more.  I took her to the potty every 15 minutes or so...nothing. (The potty stayed wherever we were, to make it easy)  Then, she walked in the playroom, out of my sight for 2 seconds and peed in there.  SO...we started over.  MORE juice, more water, more snacks.  At one point she had drank so much water that I KNEW she had to pee...her tummy was so tight.  I knew if she would ever pee on the potty, she would get it what was going on and maybe it would start clicking more.  At this point, we had it in the den and I let her just sit on it while watching one of her shows hoping she would pee pee.  No...she held it the whole 15 minutes she sat there and then once again walked in the playroom and peed there. I was starting to get a little discouraged but my friend Mandy (who Potty trained her triplets in a week!) gave me some advice and encouragment and we were ready to start again!  I know it is completly normal for them to not go in the potty the first day but it still discourages you a little! 

Finally, after we pee peed twice in the floor. I was about to put more panties on her and she didn't want them.  And then she wanted her shirt off.  So, she went naked the rest of the day.  She sat on the potty and finally she squeeze the tiniest drop but it was enough to make her tune on her potty play and we made the BIGGEST deal out of that little drop.  She got a treat (mini Reece's) and a high five! She was SO proud of herself. 

A few minutes later, she wanted to read with me and she was sitting in my lap and starting pee peeing  and so I put her on the potty and she finished there.  We made a big deal out of it...got a treat, etc.  From then on, she seemed to "get it." She would say "I have to pee pee" and just run sit on it and because she was naked, she didn't have to worry about pulling anything down. Then, she really got where she wasn't even telling me, she was just getting on the potty by herself.  She had pee peed by 10 am and then poo pooed by noon. 

When she poo pooed in the potty, Riley was home for lunch.  So, we made a really big deal and I had some Melissa and Doug hand stamps she had gotten for Christmas put away in the closet just to pull out later and she got to play with them and of course some Reece's!

I put a pull-up on her during nap and then we started again when she got up.  She didn't have any "accidents" all day.  And she was very good about just running to the potty.  I also put a pull-up on her at night for bed-time. 

When she got up this morning, the pull-up was dry. 

It was a lot easier with AR than I expected but she was really ready.  I think she was more ready that I was.  I want her out of diapers but I wasn't ready for her to be at this stage yet!    I hope we continue to keep moving forward!!  The rest of the week, we will be working on training with panties on and learning to clean up after and venturing out with just big girl panties on! OH FUN! haha

Ava Kate- 8 months

 Ava Kate turned 8 months on the 6th.  We are enjoying every moment but it is flying by!!  This little girl brightens our day and we couldn't imagaine life without her!
Here is what little Miss AK is up to...

 - She wears mostly 9 month clothes but since it is summer, she can fit in some
of the 6 months clothes still. 
-We just moved up to size 4 diaper.

-She has 4- 7 or 8oz. bottles a day.  7:30, 11:30, 3:30 and before bed around 7.

-She has mastered the sippy cup!  She turns it up with no problem.  I have caught her with AR's a few times also.  She can also hold her own bottle now.

-She has tried lots of different foods.  She has had sweet potatoes, oatmeal, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots,squash, peas, mashed potatoes, bananas, peaches, apples, applesauce, grits, puffs, yogurt, yogurt melts and ice cream :)  I think the last was her favorite!

-She is getting a little better with the spitting up and some days are definitely better than others but we ALWAYS have to have a bib or burb cloth ready!!

-She is a great sleeper.  She goes to sleep anywhere from 6:30-7:30 (usually 7 on the dot) and gets up between 7 and 7:30. 
-She doesn't like to be rocked and would rather you lay her down in bed with her bunnies and blanket.  She snuggles up and goes to sleep without a fight most every night (for now anyways...it will change I'm sure)
- She takes two naps a day.  I usually adjust her morning nap if we are doing something that day, but usually she goes down between 8:30 and 9:30 and sleeps around and hour to hour and half.  She takes a long nap in the afternoon when AR sleeps.  They both go down around 1 and Ava Kate usually gets up around 4. 

-She loves her paci and likes taking it out and putting it back in.

She gets in this postion a lot

-She is really trying so hard to crawl.  She gets really frustrated because she can't go just yet.
-She is scooting to get from here to there.
-She is going from sitting to her tummy and back pretty well.  She gets her legs stuck sometimes.
-She has also started pulling her knees up under her more and rocking back and forth so I think it will be very soon.
-When she is on the changing table, she is constantly trying to roll over or reach and grab anything in sight!

-She has the cutest, chunkiest legs!
-She still has big brown eyes and brown hair and as of now it seems to be straight.  ARs started curling by now.
-She has beautiful olive color skin tone that she obviously didn't get from me! :)
-She has the cutest smile and laugh!  It doesn't take much to make her smile!
-She opens her mouth all the time like she is surprised.

-She is "talking" and making sounds but no definite words yet. 
-Our reading time is not so easy right now because she eats the book!
-She loves playing with babydolls and some of her Big Sister's toys which makes for lots of fights already! :)

 -She is teething but does not have any teeth yet.  She constantly has something in her mouth!
-She loves giving kisses!
-She pinches and grabs and has even brought blood to Pop Pop's face!
She also loves playing and pulling on her Daddy's hair!!

She loves playing with Anna Riley!!  She wants to touch her all the time which AR does NOT like.  She will say "no touch sissy!"
-They are sweet together though and are starting to play more.  We all had a little tea party together the other day and she was giving AK pretend food to eat.  I see this happening a lot in the future!

-When we grocery shop, Ava Kate has started riding in the double "car carts" at Publix with Anna Riley.  It is so funny to watch her "drive" the car.  She will constantly reach and grab AR's steering wheel and AR will say "No sissy, drive yours!!"   Oh the fighting has already begun! :) 

On the Road again....

I feel like that is our theme song the past few weeks!
  We have been on the go!  But I can't complain since all the trips have been fun trips! :)  I posted about us going to Destin for Riley's conference a couple of weeks ago.  We left Saturday and came back the following Saturday.  Then, Riley and I headed back down to Destin that Friday.  Some people that they do work with had invited us for the weekend.  It is sometimes hard to leave the girls, but it is also really nice to have some time with my husband!  We had a great weekend together and I knew my girls were in great hands!  Miss Katie kept them on Friday until Mom got there and then Mom and Dad kept them the rest of the weekend!  I got lots of picture text and a couple of videos that made our weekend!  I think we looked at them a million times!  I love technology! ;) 
Riley and I went to eat with everyone on Friday night and had such a great time.  I got to meet several people that I hear him talk about with work and it was great to finally meet them.  Riley went fishing on Saturday morning and caught us some really great fish that we are actually cooking tonight!! YUM..cant wait!  While he fished, I went to eat breakfast with the Logans and then we all laid out by the pool when Riley got back.  It was nice not having to look at the time and the day went by sooo slow!  We had a FABULOUS dinner in Grayton beach at Boragos with the Logans.  Kristin said it was her favorite and now I can see why...I am still thinking about that food! :) 
We headed out after breakfast on Sunday because I was more than ready to see my sweet girls! Thanks to Miss Katie and Granna Kat and PawPaw for keeping the girls for us!

Miss Katie sent me this pic on Friday

Having fun with Miss Katie

One of the only pictures I took...
We stayed in Baytowne and this was
the Sunset

AK and PawPaw

My girls love their grandparents! :)

AR playing with Addie Gail

Here was the other!  Haha...Sunset and food! :)
I ate at Another Broken Egg both mornings.  I am SO
excited that Tuscaloosa is getting one soon!

Riley and I got back on Sunday and I unpacked and re-packed because I left on Monday morning headed down to Fairhope.  I took my grandmother and my Aunt Kat and her granddaughter, Hailey to Fairhope.  I really wanted to spend some quality time with my grandmother and what better place than Fairhope.  Granny really enjoyed being there with the girls and the girls (especially AK) really enjoyed having Granny Boo around!  I think Granny could have just held AK the whole time and been perfectly content.  We had a really laid back trip and it was SO nice!  We went out to eat on our way in and then the rest of the time we just picked up food and ate at the house so the kids could play and we didn't have to worry about getting them out.  As much as I love going out to eat, it is so nice to do that sometimes, especially with kids!   The kids really enjoyed playing in the bay and jumping the waves! :)   We also got to go visit one of my Papa's cousins that lives in Daphne on Tuesday.  Granny was really excited to see her. 
It was fun to see Anna Riley playing with Aunt Kat.  When I was a little girl, we would always go to the beach with her family.  I have such fond memories growing up going to the beach with my cousins and my Aunt Kat playing with us so when she was doing the same with Anna Riley it really brought back great memories! :)  We had such a great time...I am so glad we were able to do it!!

 

 

Playing on the deck!  The girls had the best time running
back and forth!

Playing outside in Pjs...waiting on the sunset!

 

She just got down and started doing  trying to do pushups!
She has been really interested in exercise lately...
she must get it from her Daddy!! HA

 

 

 

The swing got used a lot! ;)

 



Granny Boo and AK

Sweet girls

I love my Granny!
One of the sweetest ladies out there!

Eating grass

I think she is ready...

to Potty train!!

I have been waiting for Anna Riley to really show more signs that she was ready to potty train before I started pressing it.  We are now there!  While at the beach, she could tell she had to potty and did not like her swim diaper being wet.  This really kicked it off.  Since being at home, she runs to the bathroom quite often and says she has to "pee pee" or "poo poo" but she it telling me as she is doing it apparently because when I feel her diaper, I can tell she just did it. When she has sat there a minute, she gets up and says "I all done!" She has also been waking up with a pretty dry diaper in the morning and usually request that her diaper be changed after she has pee peed.  She will say "I wet, I wet!!" 

SO...we went and bought some pull-ups and training pants.  The girls and I will be out of town again some next week so I plan to really start the training when we get back.  She seems really excited and she really wants to now! 

I am going to attempt the 7 day method but I am sure it wont be so easy with a baby that needs my attention.  Wish us luck!

Last one!

Friday, Riley only had a half day conference and he got out a little early so he got to spend lots of time with us.  We went to the beach and then after naps we went to the pool. Ava Kate discovered the sand the day before so she wouldn't leave it alone.  She ate quite a bit of sand that day! :)  Anna Riley floated in the ocean with Riley for the longest time!  She really loved the beach and the ocean this year.  She would say "bye, I go to the beach!"  Ava Kate got in the pool for a while this time and really liked it but I don't have any pictures because we each had a kid! She really loves the water!
 We grilled out at the condo that night so that we could stay longer and get everything packed up to go home the next day. 

Ava Kate playing in the sand

Eating a snack once again! :)

 

Finally got her to wear one of her
two pieces...her Bama swimsuit! :)

She filled it with sand and was trying to
pick it up

Such a strong little girl!! :)

I was a little impressed that she could
carry the bucket full of sand!

 

Floating with Daddy

Hangning out by the pool

 

 

She will swing on anything she can!

Saturday morning, we went to eat breakfast at Another Broken Egg one more time before heading home.  (I can't wait until the one in Tuscaloosa opens up!!)

 

 

Ava Kate found some creamer to be a good
alterantive to a paci!

We had a wonderful trip!  It is not always easy with two little ones but the memories we make and seeing how they enjoy it really make it worth it!  I enjoy every trip we take the girls on and I know it will only get more fun each year!