More about turning 3.....

~HAPPY 4TH OF JULY 2013 & 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY~

The weather forecast said 100% chance of rain for the 4th, but we wanted to have a birthday celebration with Haha, Pops, and Uncle Scott.

It was storming outside.... there was A LOT of excitement inside!!

Haha got him an airplane he can ride......

He kept saying...."Mom I want to drive my PlAnE!!" This is a beautiful gift Haha...thanks!!!!

Pops got him a fishing rod and tackle box. 

They put a bobber on the end and gave him a two step direction and he was casting in NO TiME... quick learner!!! They went straight to the farm when the rain stopped!

Aunt Shea sent him a drill set...  

And a Diego card...turning 3 has been a BLAST!!

He sang Happy Birthday to himself while everyone else sang...too cute!! We sang it several days at nap time leading up to his birthday.... very special!!

Walker was always one step behind while he was opening his gifts. He finally felt it in his heart to let him ride....As you can see... "as long as he was able to show him how to drive it...."

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY....

These are the only two pictures I have from this day other than John Tanner's birthday celebration.  All we did was eat and sleep..... so relaxing for Mommy!!!  

Who knew Walker loved baked beans and all the BBQ too??!!

~Strap on your helmet...

LET THE POTTY TRAINING BEGIN~

We drove home Friday afternoon and decided since there was rain in the forecast for 2 more days we should go "cold turkey" on the diapers and potty train John Tanner. 
"Cold turkey" meaning NO diapers at nap, bedtime and NO underwear at all.....I was scared!! 

Can I also say for the record.... I said to John Tanner one time, "you are doing SOO great at potty training" and he said, "potty train... I want to get on the potty train!!"  I said, "You are on the potty train buddy!!!!"

I guess Tanner and I were feeling mentally prepared, but little did we know what was about to happen.  I love the confidence you feel as parents going into a new situation such as this one.

We had a potty in the living room and one in the kitchen.  One was pink "YES" and it had a cool sound when you flushed it...John Tanner thought this was SUPER COOL!!  We would take a quick stroll around the block in between rain showers and accidents. 

Note...he drank a ton of gatorade and apple juice (which we never have)

I have to say it took 2 accidents before John Tanner realized he needed to tell us, "he was tee teeing" which translates to "I need to tee tee." Tanner and I had a tee tee dance, he put stickers on the chart, after tee teeing 6 times we went to CVS to get a treat, then the next one got Chick-fil-A chicken and fries. 

That's all it took and he was SOLD on going to the potty... 

Next obstacle was going poop on potty......

He had one accident the first day after drinking all his juices and eating tater tots and one the first morning after waking up.  We had to have a heart to heart because he wasn't happy!  Tanner and I were cheering him on and we could tell he was ready to do try again. 

~~~

He slept on the blow up mattress in our room for a few days so he could easily let us know if he needed to go in the middle of the night.  I thought it would be easier to clean up than his bed....ie...Lysol spray to the plastic side of mattress. 

This really seemed to work...he thought it was fun sleeping in our room and no accidents so far!! 

He loved pouring his tee tee in the potty and flushing it "down the drain."

The real test was our first outing. 

He didn't want to use the big potty at Zoes so he went in his seat during lunch...no biggie... just wiped it up and changed him right there at the table.  The next test was at the swimming pool....you could imagine, many trips to the potty and false alarms. Plus...Walker trying to play in potty, wanting to walk around, and trying to pull all the toilet paper!!!

He went without underwear for about a week.....

this was easier to pull down pants and he didn't want to tee tee down his leg.

After a few more outings.... we knew we had to transition to the big boy potty.  

Things I heard throughout the week....

1. They don't like to poop on potty because they don't have anything to rest their feet on.....get a stool...check!!

2.  Dr. Stone said they "feel the urge to go" and they don't want to stop what they are doing....plus it's just boring to them.... so we tried a snack and a potty song book....check! 

Maybe we needed a little more... A real "poop party".... So I got his birthday balloon and a poster that has all the things he loves to do outside.... It gave us something to talk about while "trying to go".... It took 4 times and he finally went!!! The next time took 3 times......It's definitely not a boring bathroom anymore!!!!

The question of the hour.... Is he potty trained yet?? I'm not sure what that means....

It's definitely a day to day, hour to hour thing.  He tells me if he has to tee tee, he goes poop, and traveling brought up a whole new obstacle.... looks like we solved it after several tries in the restroom, outside, etc etc...:)!!  He probably LOVED seeing his Dad and I jump every time he said, "I'm tee teeing in my seat Mommy"..... I would say ok we are almost there....

~~~

Last obstacle that I  foresee is bed wetting.... I've washed sheets the last 3 mornings, but not going back to pull ups just yet....I know he can hold it because he did it for a week straight on the blow up mattress.... fingers crossed... I'm VERY hopeful because he's done an excellent job so far...I love not having to change 2 diapers!!!