Picks and Pans for 400, Alex.

Potty training:
Colin almost always poops on his potty after breakfast. The rest of the times he poops, it's touch and go. As for pee, sometimes he does it in his potty, sometimes he sits on his potty then stands up and pees on the floor (ugh), most of the times he pees in his diaper.

I did buy some training pants. I put them on him when we're just hanging out at home for awhile--mostly in the afternoons. The first day, he peed in 2 pair and pooped and peed in 1 pair. Today, he sat on his potty and didn't go, so Kevin put his training pants back on, took him outside, and ran back in the house 1 minute later yelling, "Emergency!" holding a bewildered Colin at arms-length with a pair of wet trainers on.

It's all so inconsistent, it drives me batty. But I know that every success with the potty is a good thing. And I want him to feel wet and uncomfortable in his training pants to hopefully motivate him to go in his potty.


Pacifier:
Days 1-6.5 were great. That 7th day, Colin started to realize what was happening and started demanding his pacifier more. I held strong though. It had been a week and I wasn't going to go back now! Day 8 was just as bad. Today is better...he was pretty upset this morning, but after that episode, he got along just fine without it.

Words:
Kevin said Colin said "lawnmower" plain as day. I've heard him say "mawmow"--or something like it--before, but Kevin swears there was an L in the beginning and an R at the end.

Me:
I'm going to run a stinkin' 5K on Sept. 18 with my friend Laura. Not gonna lie--I'm doing this for killer abs and a t-shirt. Today was training day #2 and it has been going surprisingly well, considering I hate running, I have asthma, I taste blood, I hate sweating, and I eventually get shin splints. Today I ran farther than I did on training day #1, so I guess that's a good thing.

Food:
We signed up for e-mealz. Leah told me about it, so we decided to dive in. I went grocery shopping today and spent less than $112 on food for 5 full meals, along with lunch/breakfast/snack items. I made my first e-mealz meal today--poppyseed chicken, almond french green beans, sugared peaches (hello! yum.), and dinner rolls. It was good, and we have enough leftovers for 2. The recipe was super easy, too. Check it out if you are interested in meal planning!

Weekend:
Colin and I are heading down to Roch tomorrow to my parents' house. My mom is hosting a Norwex party, and my friends will be there. I'm hoping to maybe hit up a park while we're down there. I'm sure Colin is sick of the same parks we go to over and over again.

Your reward for reading this:
The day I let C pick out his own socks and shoes (prior to paci-weaning, obv.):

In Stillwater:

Colin LOVES to walk Rocket. Rocket is getting better about going slowly when Colin is holding his leash.

Pacifier weaning: Phase 1

Complete.

Phase 1 was to wean Colin off the pacifier during the day (excluding naps, bedtime, and in the car). It has now been 7 days with nary a nukkie in his mouth during awake times.

Here's what happened.

Colin's the type who needs to eat breakfast as soon as he wakes up. So I let him keep his pacifier when we went to the table. When he took it out of his mouth and started eating breakfast, I'd slip it away from him and put it up on the kitchen counter. Sometimes he noticed, but was preoccupied with food to even care.

Occasionally he asked for it, but I just said, "not right now" and distracted him with something else--usually going outside.

When it was naptime, I let him have it.

We did try going without it at bedtime on day 3, and thought we might be successful because he dozed off for a minute or two, but then when he kept waking up asking for it, we decided that he wasn't ready to give it up for bedtime yet and let him have it.

Yesterday, I started giving him the responsibility of leaving his pacifier on his own. When I get him out of his crib, I tell him, "Give your nukkie to Seahorse" (this guy):
and he puts it back in his crib without an argument.

What's next: Phase 2 is taking it away at either bedtime or naptime. I haven't decided which one yet. Bedtime would be easy because he goes to sleep as soon as his head hits the mattress. But he'd wake up asking for it and not have it. Naptime would be easy because it's a shorter time for him to sleep, so hopefully he wouldn't wake up and ask for it. But he may have a harder time falling asleep, depending on how tired he is.

For now, I'm completely content with him not using it during the day. Although I'd love to get rid of it at naptime before we start daycare again. One less thing to remember to bring.

How Colin fell asleep for naptime today

Kevin and Colin are feelin' the Moby love. Kevin even said I could keep him in the Moby while he continued to mow the lawn, but I thought Colin would get a better nap if he was in his crib, so I made the transfer. Cherry on top...he fell asleep without his pacifier!!!

I'll whisper this so the gods don't hear me...Colin has been pacifier-free during the daytime (excluding naps and bedtime) for 4 days straight! Today is the 5th day! If this continues, I'll let you in on my "little pacifier weaning secret for stubborn boys."

15 month appointment

Height: 32 inches (75th %ile)
Weight: 24 lbs (50th %ile)
Head: 47.5 cm (70th %ile)

Uneventful, again, which I guess is a good thing. Oh wait, except for his ultracrabbiness because it was soooo naptime. That was pretty eventful, considering he wanted to leave. He kept trying to open the door, and when Dr. R. was done checking him out, he gave me his clothes to put back on him.

There's nothing wrong with his ears (as predicted). Dr. R. said he's doing well developmentally, maybe even a little ahead (ahem...:D).

He got two shots--Hib and PCV--and cried for both. He usually doesn't cry, but I think the tiredness made the shots seem worse.

I didn't tell her we're potty training. Hopefully we can surprise her at his 18 month appointment with a little man wearing tighty whiteys or Scooby Doos.

Happy 15 monthday!

Dear Colley J,
Happy 15 monthday! Here's what you've been doing lately.
(that would be smushed raspberry on the bottom of your foot)

You saw two of your Great Grandmas last weekend. Great Grandma O came up from Arizona so we made a special trip to Rochester to see her.

You have started pooping on your potty chair. The only guaranteed time you do it is about 10 minutes after breakfast. We're going on 4 days in a row! Now we just have to get those other times down so we can increase the potty poops and decrease the diaper poops.

You are a good helper; you like to be clean and tidy. Tonight you helped me put your toys away before bedtime. Before we sat on the rocking chair to sing bedtime songs, you brushed off the seat because you noticed there were a few crumbs/dirt particles. You like to clean off your highchair tray with the dishcloth I'm trying to wipe your hands and face with. You don't like to be dirty. When you fall, if you get dirt/rocks/mulch on your hand, you wave your hand around to try to get it all off. I think these little quirks are cute, but I worry a little about some future OCD.

You climb up and down stairs.

You like to go for walks. A lot. We go for at least 3 walks a day. Sometimes we have destinations--the grocery store, the park--sometimes we just walk in circles around our neighborhood. You quietly take it all in while I push you. Sometimes if Rocket is with us, you like to hold on to his leash.

You still hate veggies except green beans. Although...you did eat one piece of broccoli. And once when I gave you some corn, I put a little bit of ketchup on your tray, and you dipped your corn in it, ate it, and proceeded to eat the rest of your corn without ketchup. On the other hand, you still love all fruits you've ever tried.

You sleep from 7:15ish (after bathtime, pjs, and bedtime songs) to about 5:45. You wake up about once a night to ask for your pacifier. You nap about 2-3 hours every day. Thank you for getting some sleep, and for letting Daddy and I sleep too!

You have an appointment on Tuesday, when we'll find out how much you weigh, how tall you are, and I'm going to make sure Dr. R. checks your ears because I'm paranoid like that.

I'm so excited that for the next 5 weeks, I get to spend my entire day with you. Summer school is finally over, and now it's just you and me. We are going to have so much fun going to parks, pools, and visiting your friends Nolan and Andrew. I am going to savor every minute because there will never be another summer that we can share together when you're this little. I'll relish in every pinecone you find on the ground and every walk we go on, even if it means my feet and legs go numb.

I love you, punkin.
Mommy

The Scoop on Poop

He'll kill me when he's in high school for writing about this. He should be glad I didn't take a picture of him next to his first potty poop a la Kate Gosselin.

I recently read an excerpt from the book Diaper Free Before 3 on Amazon, and realized that Colin is ready for potty training. He was ready for it a long time ago. I've just been lazy. Why go through all that work when he can just go in his diaper, right? Well...truthfully, I don't mind cleaning out his solid poops, because they just get dumped in the toilet. But I think it's safe to say I'm not thoroughly enjoying rinsing the mushier ones. So...the more he poops in the potty, the less time Kevin or I spend doing that.

Both yesterday morning and this morning, I put Colin on his potty a few minutes after breakfast and he pooped! Yesterday he was kind of bewildered by the whole idea, but today he seemed a little more interested.

I have 5 full weeks of summer left (which I just counted out and realized MORE than half my summer is gone. Summer school ended today. :(). If I can at least get a good start on this--if not train him completely--that would be awesome.

So here's the plan. I'm going to put him on his potty a few minutes after every meal. That's when he usually poops. I'm also going to put him on his potty when he wakes up in the morning and after naps. Maybe he'll realize "hey...I can pee in the potty instead of my diaper!"

The plan does not include running to the store anytime soon to buy underwear, because he is just not ready for that yet. But when the time comes that he's communicating that he needs to go, we'll spring for the Scooby Doo or Superman or Spongebob or whatever undies.

Sweetness.

I was rocking Colin and singing to him before bedtime last night. Usually I sing 3 or 4 songs. I start with Twinkle Twinkle and end with Jesus Loves Me. Tonight, when I got to Jesus Loves Me, Colin hugged me a little tighter. Then when I was done, he signed "more." He has NEVER done that when I've sung to him. So I sang another song. When I was done, he signed it again. Repeat about 3 times. Every time I started a new song, he snuggled back in, then when it was done, he looked straight in my eyes and signed "more." So finally, I sang Jesus Loves Me one more time and called it a night. Luckily he didn't argue, but I could've sang him songs all night.

This sweetness totally makes up for the high-pitched, obnoxiously loud screaming he was doing at the grocery store on Monday.

Love my boy.

Our little thrillseeker

Our small town's summer festival is called Fun Fest. I know...so original, right? And to be honest, it's not all that fun. Especially when you don't know very many people there because you haven't lived here all your life. This year was admittedly pretty fun because we have a little boy in tow to show us the world from a whole new perspective.

We met up with friends Justin, Jen, and 6 year old Olivia (or maybe she's 7) on Saturday. We had some good food, including cheese curds of course. And, even more fun than cheese curds, we took Colin on rides. And by "we" I mean I took Colin on rides. Kevin took the pictures to prove it. Colin was barely tall enough to ride them at all. And by "barely tall" enough, I mean he was 1 inch shorter than the required 32 inch height. Like the carnies are going to get out their yard sticks, right?

First we rode the train:
Then we rode in a cool car.
I put on a pretty good show, because this ride made me want to toss my cheese curds. I had to put my head down and just look at the floor of the car for the last half of the ride.
And when it stopped, a dude outside who was watching his kids go around in circles saw that I was feeling a little green and shouted, "One more time!" haha...very funny.

Then we rode on the rollercoaster. Before we got on it, Colin saw this one and got soooo excited about it. So we rode it. He seemed to really like it. And after we got off, he'd look at it and get excited again. Click on the picture to get a good look at his smiling little face!

After all that excitement, we sat around and recovered. Colin tried out Justin's sunglasses.
Kevin and I shared a piece of chocolate-dipped cheesecake on a stick.


It was scrumptious, as always, and I can't wait to get another piece next year!
As much fun as I had riding with Colin, I am so glad I don't have to go on that car ride ever again.

There's happiness in the word "please"

We've been teaching Colin to say "please" a lot; pretty much after he asks for anything. So now, he says the following phrases:

uh ee* = up please, when he wants to be picked up
dah! = stuck, which is usually followed by...
ah ee* = help please
*sometimes he says "ees"

My most favorite one he says is "help please," and he's been using it a lot. The other day, his pacifier fell behind his Rubbermaid "toy box" we keep in the living room. So he said, "ah ah" which is uh oh, and then I said, "help please?" and he repeated, "ah ee." I moved the box out a little bit, but he still couldn't reach it, so, without a prompt, he looked at me and said, "ah ee" again. Today, he wanted me to turn on his truck so it would move. He gave it to me and said "ah ee."

It's kind of annoying when he wakes up in the middle of the night searching for his pacifier, but how can I not melt when I hear his scratchy, tired, little voice saying "nah nah?" with a little lilt, as if he's calling it to come to him. So I (or Kevin) feel around in the dark of his crib for it, put it back in his mouth, and he lies down again.

Other new words he's saying:
bubbles (I can't even think how he says it)
sti= stick
tee = teeth. We make an attempt to brush them after bath time, so he often says it then.
hah = hot. ANY food we give him is now "hot." Even if it's a piece of bread or yogurt. He says, "hah" and then waves his hand over it and blows. The stove is hot. The granite bench is hot. The driveway is hot. This one makes me smile a lot too.

I love hearing his vocabulary grow every day. And I really love hearing kind words like please. It's a word we don't hear often enough from children today.

There's one more angel in Heaven

There's one more star in the sky... (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat anyone?)

Kevin's grandma, M, passed away peacefully yesterday morning. I suppose there are no fireworks in Heaven, so hopefully she saw the ones Kevin launched last night.
(Picture courtesy of Betsy Cole Photography)

What a lucky gal to be up there with friends and family watching over us.

Thanks for any thoughts or prayers you sent. They are much appreciated.

And yes, I know that when we die we don't become angels or stars :)