I Poop In the Potty!

Those words are music to any parents ears!  We have now been on our potty training journey for two weeks, and it has been amazingly easy.  Pooping has been the hardest part so far, and it is only hard because Kaleb seems to be afraid of the sensation of needing to go poop.  He will say that he needs to go, but when he sits on the toilet he doesn't actually produce the 'goods' so it usually takes about 5-6 trips (very time consuming) to the toilet.  Towards the end of these many trips, it will obviously be building in terms of pressure and he'll begin to cry and say that it hurts.  Eventually his body takes over and the 'goods' appear and thankfully it does not appear that he needs to strain to get it out and it is not hard - so he's not constipated.  With that in mind, we're pretty sure that the "hurts" is just the pressure that he's not comfortable with and the notion of pushing.

In the beginning, he seemed to be holding it for several days at a time (very unusual as he usually pooped at least daily, and most times more than once a day) - so we did worry about potential constipation but we seem to be getting onto a good routine with no constipation to be seen, so we're breathing a sigh of relief.  At one point during the week, Amy thought that she smelled a "smell" and asked Kaleb if he had pooped his pants, to which he told her "no, I poop on the potty!" We've had only a few wet accidents the first few days, and other than that, he's been dry as a bone.  We would not be so bold as to declare victory over potty training, but Kaleb has been amazingly easy so far.  Kudos to waiting until he was three! :)  Life will be shifting into vacation mode over the next few weeks, so we'll see if that change in routine means an increase in accidents, but even if it does, we'll take the success and be glad for it!

Karis is celebrating his 40th birthday this year - doesn't look a day over 29! :)  As with all things, Karis is taking it in stride and doesn't seem to be bothered a bit by it.

Phrase of the week:   This was a conversation - Zachary really is developing his negotiating skills, which will serve him well in the future.....Zachary asked Amy what we were having for supper tonight.  Amy "Probably leftovers."  Zachary:  "I don't want leftovers, that's not yummy."  Amy "You can have what I make or go to bed without eating."  Zachary:  "Humph........Daddy, can you make supper?"

Super Grandma playing baseball with Zachary!

Loving the finger paints that Auntie Kelli gave us for birthdays!

All boy - pounding nails to his heart's delight

My Underwears!

This was the momentous week in which Kaleb began potty-training.  Last weekend, we bit the bullet and did away with diapers (except for naps and nighttime) and went to big-boy underwears!  Kaleb loves his underwear, and in fact we put all of the his brand new underwears (no hand-me-downs, thank you!) on our family couch so that he could have the joy every day of perusing them at leisure and picking which was his favorite to wear that day. 

Knock on wood, it seems to be going very well.  We have made a point of asking him about every 60 minutes (more like every 30 in the first day) if he needs to go to the bathroom.  He has responded very well, and has had a few accidents over the week, but nothing too dramatic. Our most difficult part of this is the pooping - it seems to scare him a little bit and he says that it "hurts" even though it is not hard when it comes out.  The first time he ran to the bathroom about 5-6 times saying that he had to go poop, but then would get off saying that it wasn't coming.  Finally the sixth time was the charm and some actually came out!!  He's had two poop accidents so far, but has also managed to go in the potty as well for most days.  All-in-all, we're quite pleased with his progress and he loves being a big boy!

Zachary has been very supportive of the whole process, and joins in the celebrations when Kaleb is successful.  He was QUITE interested in the beginning and would want to stand right in front of Kaleb while he was on the potty - even though Zachary himself always asks for privacy! :)

Happy Mother's Day to the ladies - may tomorrow be a celebration of how special you are!

Phrase of the week:  Kaleb's phrase is "It's coming!"  Of course this means the pee, and we're pleased that he seems to understand when it's coming! Keep up the good work!  Zachary's phrase this week is "Did you know that a humpback whale can hold its breath for 30 minutes underwater?"  He truly is an animal lover right now, and LOVES facts.  He routinely informs Miss Jennifer of some new animal tidbit, and she texted Amy this week to pass along this particular tidbit! :)

They had just finished sticking their respective "booty's" out at each other to compare the underwear designs on them - both Thomas the Train of course!  Cute little rear-ends if we do say so ourselves!