potty time

We are going on a Caribbean cruise this winter.  Oliver loves water, and this is going to blow his mind!  The reason for the cruise is our cousin's wedding (hey sara), well I guess she is my cousin-in-law, is that such a thing?  Whatever.  It's going to be a super time.

I've recently decided that diapers will not be invited.  I don't want to bring cloth diapers, or buy disposable, or even deal with swim diapers.  Okay maybe swim diapers, he has issues with the pool.

So it's officially time to start potty training.  Three months, here we go...

The good
-Oliver always says when he has to poo and we have had poop free diapers for awhile
-He isn't scared of our toilet, or any he has come across
-Can pull his shorts/pants up and down himself

The not as good
-He has no idea when he has to pee, or at least that's how it seems.  When I put him on the potty he makes it happen, but never indicates its arrival...never.
-The concept of "being a big boy" or "being like dada"  or "not a baby" is foreign to him.  No bribery around that will work.


Our supplies

The motivator

Oliver, do you have to pee
No mama
Remember when you go pee on the potty you get a special snack
Yes pee
Thought so

Part of our stash of new underwear 

We have two packs of the Gerber training pants, they are a slightly more absorbent then standard underwear, but nothing like diapers.  We also have some fancy Thomas the train underwear.  Oliver doesn't know about characters, he hardly watches TV, but he loves trains and we do have a Thomas DVD that he has watched once, so he thinks they are pretty neat.  However, I find myself saying "Okay Oliver you are wearing your Thomas underwear, no peeing on Thomas, Thomas wants to stay dry"  Oh man.

The calming voice in my head comes from Sara over at Clover Lane.  She is sweet, pie sweet.  She speaks so highly of being a stay at home mom, she makes me feel like I have a real job, she reminds me that he is still a baby and there is a lot he needs to get together in order to be successful at potty training and he certainly doesn't need me to get frustrated with him.  Buckets and buckets of patience.  
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So here is how it goes, well at least for the past couple days.
-Diapers only at bed time, and when he is in the care of someone else (church nursery)
-No Pull Ups or whatever the cloth equivalent of Pull Ups are, they might as well be diapers!
-A constant dialogue about peeing and where it goes
-Visiting the bathroom twice an hour during the day and a bit more often after meals or snacks
-Lots of excitement about getting the job done, and a little reward

Here is what I tried and HATED!!!
I've read quite a bit online about different methods.  A very popular method seems to be loading the child up on salty snacks so they drink lots and then have lots of pee.  Well Oliver doesn't need salty snacks to crave water or drinks.  He would drink cups and cups of water all day long if I let him.  Sunday afternoon I let him do just that.  AWFUL.  He was going every five minutes, once on the potty and three times on the floor, again on the potty and four more times on the floor, disaster.  Maybe when he understands the sensation of needing to pee this will help him practice getting there in time, but he certainly isn't ready for it yet. 

Your tips are welcome, please.

windy

So windy the pinwheel spins on its own

 

bubbles blow themselves

and all his hair ends up in the middle.

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Oliver saw a shark somewhere, and started swimming away...fast.

Do you pinterest?  Yes, then you understand the addiction.  No, well just google it.  Join if you want all your free time stolen, want to feel like you are the least creative human that ever walked the planet, or are looking for solutions to just about anything cooking, cleaning, fashion, decorating, DIY, potty training, etc.  Anyway, I finally did something I pinned.  Thanks for the pat on the back!  We made sidewalk paint, way more fun then chalk.  Basically it's equal parts water & cornstarch with some food coloring.  Oliver thought it was pretty awesome and it cleaned off easily when we watered the garden.  Please ignore the fact that our front steps have fallen off, unless you have a solution. 

turn round peas

We have friends back in Boston that have two domestically adopted children (hey pebble).  I remember Jim and I going out to dinner with them  in October of 2009, to talk about our potential adoption, and get some advice.  The two points I most remember are...

1.  It's his story.  The reasons Oliver was in the orphanage, the information about his family, that's his story.  When he learns it, he can decide who to share it with. 

2.  He might not look like you, but he will pick up your personality traits. 

Let's focus on point two.
 -When we drive to and from the highway we have to cross over some railroad tracks, if a train is coming we have to stop and pull over to watch it, because Jim insists upon it.  Now if Oliver and I are driving alone I'll look both ways to see if a train is coming and if it's not I keep driving.  Then Oliver shouts from the back "turn round peas headlight, turn round peas, cain coming, cain coming"  "I didn't see a train, we are going home now"  "waaaaaaaaaa, cain coming"  
You are your father's son.

-The 2010 BNSF calendar came in the mail the other day, love at first sight.  "coal cain, cain stopped, cain up high"  


-The sound of the food processor or mixer sends him running for the kitchen.  "cooking, cooking, cookies peas"  "snat (snack) peas" 
You are your mother's son

 -When the neighbor starts mowing their lawn Oliver says "dada mow lawn"

mini laundry room spruce up

In my dreams my laundry room might looks something like...

or

 or

However, I would certainly have a shiny red washer and dryer.  I said dreams.  In reality I've got a laundry room that looks like this

and a budget that looks like this 

Laundry isn't my favorite, and I would never drop thousands on a laundry room update, I like the kitchen so much more.  However, I'm willing to part with a few Washington's to make it a bit more functional, and pretty.

 

Pros

-It's big enough

-Has a window

-Some storage 

Cons

-I can't reach the shelf

-Stuff gets cluttered on the floor

-The ironing board cover is yuck

Game plan

-Remove too high shelving. 
The shelving is made of particle board with some laminate coating, it's fine, but I have some wood shelves in the garage just laying around.  Bring them in, bust out the circular saw, cut them to size, sand, paint.  Hang them where I can reach!  Cost -$0

Sans shelving

-Consider better looking brackets.
After considering better brackets I figured it was wasteful to purchase new ones as I have about 15 of those white one in a stack in the basement.  The previous owners really loved shelving!  So I gave the lame brackets a coat of spray paint and called them good enough. Cost -$0

-Repair the walls.
Sanding, spackling, painting, and repeating twice equaled walls as good as new.  Check out the previous color.  High gloss lime green, nice.  Cost-$0

-Bring ironing board back to life.
First I tossed the giant white plastic thingy that held the iron and board and picked up two coat hooks to hold the board.  Then I perused etsy for a better cover.  Cost -$30

Close up of ugly ironing board, lame
P.S. Why do I hang my aprons in the laundry room?  They gotta go.

 -Add a little more personality.
Brought in a few things from around the house.  A table that lived elsewhere, some vases, and some baskets for storage.  Cost -$0

The afters
total cost $30

Not glamorous, just better

Hooks holding the broom, swiffer, and steam mop...keeping them off the floor

The not so attractive stuff hiding next to the dryer
Two of Oliver's favorites the dust bunny and the paper shredder 

The other side

Where the laundry lives, caught on a good day

In the future I may
-add frames or a mirror above the washer/dryer
-attach a clothes line out the window to a tree or the deck
-add a plant

nebraska

Oliver and I had a few days off from work so we decided to visit some friends in Nebraska.

Baking, because they don't let us in without a treat

Now entering tangent territory....
Oliver is wearing his new FEED shirt from the It's A Small World collection over at Nordstrom.  The purchase of this shirt sends 150 vitamins to kids in need.  No I do not shop at Nordstrom on the regular, but this collection is just so adorable.  The Small World 45th anniversary collection ends with the delivery of the Russian Holiday collection in November, come on that's got to be precious.   

On our way up to Lincoln we stopped at the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City.  Nebraska City is the closest thing I can find to New England in Nebraska.  Lots of trees (home of arbor day), and lots of fun fall activities...not that we partook in much.

Apple picking and eating

Rock climbing

Sleeping in his very own queen size bed, now that's living

Next we drove up to Lincoln to visit my co-workers, students, and our former neighbors.  It's times like that when I miss having a job.  Oliver doesn't get my jokes and takes my baking for granted, I love him anyway.  The next day we spend at the Lincoln Children's Museum, which is less expensive than the one here in Kansas, and way way better.  Oliver loved it.  Mostly climbing in the real firetruck and playing with the toy trains.  

Go Big Red

Lastly we headed up to Omaha to see the lovely John, Michelle, and children.  Hung at the zoo, played in the apartment, and got nice and sleepy at the park.  All equaling a quiet four hour drive home, wrong he stayed awake for most of it but was happy and chatty instead of crappy and screaming. 


All in all a nice visit.  It's always fun to get away.  Whose coming to Kansas?

yo baby

Oliver loves all the delicious whole milk yogurt options that YoBaby has.  I love helping orphans.  The SPOON organization has combined the two and is offering coupons for YoBaby yogurt.  Printing the coupon will give you a $1 off your purchase and $1 will go toward helping some babes.

Go print yours!

normal?

In general, if you have to ask am I normal, or is this normal, the answer is usually going to be no.  If it was normal you wouldn't need to ask. 

Oliver has been wondering about a few things.

Is it normal to be this handsome at 8am?

Is it normal to be this excited about hanging one armed? 

Is it normal to keep hanging one armed?

 

How about hanging around upside down, normal?

Is it normal to insist upon carrying giant boxes to the post office?

My dear boy, you are not normal, you are extraordinary.  Extraordinary in the above pictured ways and a million others.  
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Upon arriving to the post office and mailing the above package a woman commented on Oliver's strapping good looks.  She said the combination of blonde hair and brown eyes is knowing as an American Beauty.  No no, I think in my head, he is a Russian Gem.