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Sunday, March 11, 2012

Base Camp


It's been a kinda crazy, hectic week.  Some of the busy-ness was planned, some of it was beyond our control.  Life is like that, but it left us out of our rhythm and feeling a bit out of sorts.  Not enough sleep makes me cranky and Austin a bit whiny and needy.  We were not our best, shining selves, to be sure.  So to balance out the feeling of always being on the go, we needed a few days of just being home, catching up on sleep and hanging out with the dog.

Austin is now at an age where he can just start playing some simple games.  If you have a little one in the house, I highly recommend this one:


It's a Lotto game by Eboo.  It's cute, colorful, well made and easy enough for a two year old to play, but interesting enough for older siblings too.  It's like the game of Memory, except instead of searching for two matching cards, you try to find a card that matches your board. I wondered if it would be too hard for Austin.  Judging by the fact that he beat my husband and I in all but one game, I think he's ok with it!  He was really good at remembering which cards were where.  He would tell Brian on his turn, "Papa, you need the lion card, it's right here!" and point to the needed card.

We also played a game called Little Circuit.  I'm pretty sure the research and marketing department will not win any awards for such an odd, bland name, but the game itself is pretty good.  You put together a puzzle which forms the game board and then roll the die to move your piece along the path.  The die has two non color sides which cause you to jump ahead or move back, jut to add interest.




Games are great, but the kid in me was really excited about the new Blob watercolor paints we got.  They are made from plant extracts and smell really yummy.  They come in powder form, so you just add water to mix up the amount you need.  We loved them.  Austin wore one of Papa's old scrub shirts, which makes a pretty good smock.



He also had a blast with an old phone we have.  Remember when phones had CORDS?  And metal parts inside?  This one weighs a ton.




The Potty Chronicles


And finally, since we were planning to be home and near a potty, I decided to work a little more on the potty training front.  I have a pretty laid back approach.  I see no reason to make this any more stressful than it has to be for either Austin or myself.  I am confident that he will use the potty when he is ready.  I do not for see sending him off to college in diapers.  That being said, since he is showing an interest and has had quite a bit of success, I'm going with the flow, so to speak . (ok, bad pun, couldn't resist, sorry) And so for a few hours a day, I put him in underwear and hope for the best.



This little blue pot is not an over sized coffee mug, it is in fact a chamber pot.  And although Austin has a lovely potty with a back and comfortable looking seat and also an eye catching Thomas the Train cushioned seat for the toilet (gift from Omi) , THIS is the potty of choice.  This humble looking, small metal bowl is the object of all his potty love.  He smiles and giggles when he is "going" and then proudly carries it to the toilet to dump it in, leaving a few sloshing puddles in his wake.  He is so proud and excited.  I only leave him in undies for part of the day though, because, let's face it, there are only so many accidents, drips, leaks, sloshes and changes of clothes,  (his and mine) that this mama can deal with in one day and remain sane.  I'm sure as time goes on and he uses his potty more and more, the undies will stay on longer and longer.  But like I said, we are enrolled in the 'less stress is best' program, so for now, this is working.... sort of.  And this is what I am learning.

1.  Potty training is a messy business.
2. It is important, really important, to remind a little boy to aim downward.  Every time.  Every few minutes.  (see above mentioned note on changes of MY clothes)
3. They can go often, like every few minutes kind of often.  In large amounts.
4.  They can not go at all, even if you sit with them and read 3 Richard Scarry books and 4 Babybug magazines.  Then, as you are  helping them get dressed, they will go.  (again, see note on changing MY clothes)
5. If you are in a hurry to leave the house, they will want to try to use the potty as you are putting on their coat.
6. Rags and spray bottles, very important.
7. Stickers, good, wet socks, can only be bad
8.  There is nothing cuter than seeing the proud smile and hearing, "Mama, I DID it!" whether or not he remembered to aim down.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Elisa

    It seems you all had a great weekend, having fun and playing games.....and a two year old boy won, ha.
    I had to laugh out loud while reading Austings toilette stories, how funny. love
    irene

    ReplyDelete