potty training....take 2!

Preface: I tried potty training with Gavin about a month ago to no avail. We bought him the Cars potty seat, Diego and Cars underpants, even Cars wipes, etc. We went all out trying to pump him up and prepare him for potty training. First day he cried just putting the underpants on. Cried when it was "potty time!" even when I blew a train whistle and Sydney announced "it's potty time!" It was a battle to say the least and it was quite obvious that he was not ready yet.  So, as hard as it was, I called it quits for the time being. I pride myself in remaining consistent with my kids and I felt like I was backing down...but I knew this was something I didn't want to push on him thereby making it even more difficult for us in the long run.

So, yesterday, with two weeks left of summer break I decided to try again. Here's the run-down so far:
July 30th, Day 1: 1 success on the potty (yay!), 2 accidents (or 3 if you count waking up wet from nap time), several attempts.

July 31st, Day 2 (so far....): 0 success on the potty, 2 outside accidents (woke up dry but wet his pull-up shortly after waking, so could be considered 3 accidents...ever the optimist ;))....5 attempts.

We shall see what the afternoon holds for us. I am really trying very hard to not get caught up in this and just let it ride...but I don't want to do anything to screw it up either! (gosh...aren't all of us moms like that with every.single.thing regarding our children?!)

With all of this said, he looks so incredibly adorable in his big boy underpants it is not even funny. I have loved watching his chubby little legs run around the house!

Stay tuned. :)

Busy week!

This past week was probably our busiest week all summer long. Sydney had swim lessons  every morning, we have toddler time at the library on Thursday morning (right after swim) and Sydney had Vacation Bible School in the evening! It was a crazy week but we managed and our little lady had a great time at all of her "activities."

 

Last day of swim lessons with her certificate! If she can learn to put her entire head under water voluntarily and not by accident ;) she can pass to the next level next summer!  

Last day of Vacation Bible School with her teacher Ms. Laura. She had so much fun!

While Sydney was at VBS we had the pleasure of spending our evenings with this little man. :) We laughed so much with him--he is such a joy! I love his personality and sense of humor. He makes my heart stop on a regular basis, but I love his fearlessness and sense of adventure! It was great having 2 on 1 time with our son while Big Sister learned at VBS! Our kids are always a "package deal" in my mind...but I realized this last week that Gavin rarely, if ever, has us just to himself! (He adores his big sister usually so I doubt he minds! ;)) However, we enjoyed each evening with him and even had some frozen yogurt after supper one evening!  (don't tell Sydney!) ;)

It's the little things in life that make me happy...

A list of little things that have brought me smiles in the last day or two:
1. Sydney holding Gavin's hand while he came down the steps from our room yesterday morning
2. hearing Gavin's door click open in the morning and watching him as he carefully closes it...then he spots me and smiles his big, sweet "good morning Mom!" smile :)
3. Sydney listening to her swim teachers and discovering that she really does like to float!
4. BOGO half off shoes at Famous Footwear
5. The Merc....a place where I can buy locally grown fruits and vegetables and if they're not locally grown, they're organic. *sigh* This means, NO more nasty waxy coating on my apples or zucchini or other fruits/veggies of the sort. Hip hip hooray! This brings me so much peace of mind it is indescribable.

Just to name a few! :)

He's a big boy now!

Cue tears. On Friday we had scheduled hair appointments for Joe, Sydney, and Gavin. Sydney had a ball getting pampered and dolled up--she was a champ. (Joe was too. ;)) Then it was Gavin's turn and he did not want to sit up tall on the "box"..he did not want to wear the Toy Story cape...he didn't want to sit with Daddy...and almost didn't sit with me, until our friend gave him a "ride" in his chair plus a lollipop. Now that, he liked. He did such an amazing job of sitting still and listening...I was so proud of him! He even loved the hair trimmer that buzzes. Our friend T, said that some kids will freak because it's loud and it tickles...but he loved it and giggled the whole time! :)

sitting so still!

shortly after this, she wheeled him around and told me to "prepare myself, because he was going to be a big boy once he got down from the chair"!

He was so sad when we had to leave! ;)

Our big boy!!

Our dear friend T made it such a wonderful first haircut experience. I am SO very glad that we were able to have her share in this with us--she gave us a special envelope with locks of his hair, with date and appointment time labeled on the envelope. It was such a fun morning!

Splish! Splash! Summer fun!

This week Sydney has started swimming lessons and each time we leave Gavin has cried. Monday, yesterday, and this morning. I can't decide what he is sad about (if it's leaving Sydney or leaving the pool), because yesterday one of her teachers kindly invited him to join them. The teacher in me didn't want to interfere with her lesson, but when she asked him if he wanted to swim as well, he responded with a very sad "yes." So we went in there and he wanted nothing to do with it, and that's pretty much how he has been last summer and this summer. Very standoff-ish near water, will skirt around the edges, loves to splash it but hasn't really shown any interest in getting in the pool or getting wet for that matter. So we excused ourselves and for the rest of the lesson we watched by the fence. :)

However, after nap time yesterday, I told the kids we were going to play in our little pool. Both were excited, and I was shocked when Gavin stepped right in. He's never done that. Soon after he started stomping around making splashes...then he pretended to be a dog and laid on his belly (another jaw-dropping moment for me!) and so it went, him playing in the water having a blast with his sister! I went to pick some tomatoes and when I returned his whole head was wet and he was grinning from ear to ear! Maybe this 100+ degree heat had that effect on him, who knows. I was just loving the fact that he was letting loose and trying new things and having FUN in the cool water! They were entertaining to say the least and it was pretty easy to forget how hot it was while I was watching them enjoy themselves!

Sydney is pretending to be a humpback whale....Gavin is pretending to be a dog...I think!

Silly girl! :)

He was a little worried about his pruny hands!

Oh how I love this little face!

Ice Age 4!!!

When we have family movie nights at home you can rest assured that one of the Ice Age movies usually makes the cut in what we choose to watch. (Joe and I love that there is enough adult humor to keep us entertained as well!)  So when we heard that there was a fourth Ice Age coming out we were all very excited! So this past Friday, opening day, we all went to the Legends theater and kicked back and enjoyed it! It was Gavin's first movie in the theater and our first family movie experience. Joe topped it off by buying the kids popcorn! (It was a bit heavier than our air popped stuff at home, but I kept reminding myself that it was a special day. ;))

Right before the movie!

Kicking back and checking out the previews

Excited! :)

A little girl + lip gloss = a sticky, sparkly mess

Sydney has all but given up on taking naps in the afternoon. I still "encourage" (it sounds better than demand or require ;)) her to have some rest or some quiet time in her room. She usually will read or play and as long as she's quiet, it's fine with me. (It's important to note that recently a friend of mine got me hooked on a trilogy of books that pretty much consumed my mind, therefore consuming every free, quiet moment I had during the day. So, nap time became even more precious while I tried to read as much as possible while I had some free time. :)) With this in mind...when I heard movements from Sydney, I confess, I did not go up to check on her because it sounded like all of her other "nap time" movements--I assumed she was just hanging out quietly in her room. She was hanging out...she was being quiet...but she was up to no good.

She had found lip gloss. Sparkly, gooey, Victoria's Secret, vanilla scented lipgloss in her drawer. Stuff that she never wears, has never asked to wear...and apparently thought it was to be used as lotion. She was literally covered from head to toes in sticky, vanilla, sparkly lipgloss. It was in her hair. Her ears (I later discovered at bath time that night). Her eye lids even had the sparkly goop. As much as I was unhappy with what she did...as you can see I went against my better judgment and documented this moment. But I knew that this would be something that we could both look back on and smile about later. :)

As a testament to the quality and "durability" of the lipgloss...VS sure knows what they're doing. We scrubbed and scrubbed and couldn't get all of the stuff removed. She was quite sparkly for a few days. ;)