Tucker: He is potty training with quite a few successes! He had an accident yesterday, but we were kind of experimenting with him by not asking him to go to the bathroom and waiting for him to tell us. He told us when, "Mommy!!! The potty is coming out!!!" Clean-up aisle 2. He is doing well and responding to the potty chart. He likes the idea of getting rewards but it also equals time focused on just him which is making him much more agreeable. I think he was acting out to get attention...even bad attention was good attention in his eyes. Makes me feel like a bad Mommy that my kid has to act out to get my attention. The other day Tucker told me, "Whoa Mommy....easy!" He was basically telling me to settle down! SO FUNNY!!!
Matt: Matt is in the process of going through a background investigation for a police department near Portland! Things are looking good for the first time in months. We still have to wait to pass through 2 more hoops, but we know this background investigation will come up clear. He should be getting a conditional offer of employment in the next few weeks. I will be sure to write about that...HUGE NEWS! After the background is done he will have to go through a physical check-up and a psych evaluation, then off to the academy in June (am I getting ahead of myself? I hope not!). He is very anxious to find out what will happen in the next few weeks. We are both getting excited about looking for a house and getting on with it!
Tami: I am busy. BUSY BUSY BUSY. I feel more busy now than I have in a long time. The potty training seems to take up every second of the day. I had no idea how exhausting it could be. I think the other thing that makes it so energy-zapping is that we are constantly backing the potty training with rewards. Many of Tucker's rewards are outings that he enjoys so we are on the go nearly every day making good on what we call Potty Chart Rewards. Addie is more active and so leaving her on the floor and expecting her to be in the same place when you get back is a long gone concept, so she needs way more supervision. I finished The Secret Life of Bees, which I am very proud of because Addie is 9 months old and I've read 2 grown up books! Tucker was 18 months before I read my first grown up book, sad but true. The next book is the Twilight book, I'm excited to see what the hype is about. I am also in full blown quilt making mode. Not to mention the cleaning, laundry and cooking that just happens in daily life. So I'm feeling tired and at the same time energized by the possibilities in our future and feeling good about all the extra things in my day that make my life my own for a little while, even if that means staying up late to feel like I've done something for myself.
The timer is set for trying every 30 minutes...we have to stay on top of it, remember there is NO barrier between him and the carpet!!!
This is the Diego potty chart! When he goes potty, he gets a sticker to put on the chart. When he gets enough stickers to fill a line, he gets whisked off to McDonald's for a Happy Meal. We may end up SuperSizing Tucker, but I'm not joking when I tell you that chicken nuggets are the ONLY thing that motivates him!
He wanted to write the "T" all by himself! Whenever he sees a "T" he yells out, "Hey, that's T for Tucker!"
We have had this Go Diego Go potty seat since he was about 18 months old. He has been going potty on the toilet since then, but ONLY before bath at night. We are making our best effort this time to make it all day. I think we have tried potty training before, but we have expect him to put his best effort forward, while we have waited for him to take responsibility for it. This time, we are making more of an effort and sort of forcing it on him instead of letting him be in charge of it. I think if we don't kind of force the issue, he will never use the toilet 100% of the time.
