Day 3

Word of the day: FAILURE

Let’s just say potty training didn’t happen in three days here at the Pettit house…not even close. It’s probably our own fault for not following the rules exactly, but oh well, we will live with the consequences.

I don’t even know the stats of the day. I lost count as I was scrubbing our carpets from all the pee. I really think this kid goes pee way to many times in a day. We weren’t even pushing the liquids down him, just a normal day.  

We did have some success today, but we had a lot of failures too.

On the bright side, Gunnar now realizes it isn’t comfortable to pee in your undies. This was the first day it actually seemed to bother him, sadly, this brought me joy. I liked when he cried after peeing in his pants (what a mean mommy I am).

So, we are now focusing on potty training in 7 days. We ARE going to keep at this. Gunnar will get it. It may take him a little longer, but we will not quit.

Now for the Day 3 picture. I understand that at some point Gunnar may not appreciate all these pictures of him I am posting. However, I feel that he is young enough it is cute and not weird (It would be weird if I posted pictures of me going potty). Even  as he gets older, I hope he thinks that, really I am not trying to embarrass the boy to death.

But…I did get this awesome picture of Gunnar today. My nicer shoes are in the closet in his room and he LOVES to put my shoes on. He is actually a quite accomplished heel walker….possibly better at walking in them then me.  He had to get ready for church last today, and just as I was ready to get him dressed I turned around and found this…..

He just cracks me up. Gotta love this kid even if he pees and poops on my floor.

Final thoughts:

Dad says: “Ummm, snacks. I wish when I pooped on the toilet Beth would give me snacks.”

Mom says: “Even if 3-days seemed like a far-fetched goal, we tried it. It may not have worked, but we are going to see this through at least to the end of the week. He is a smart kid and can do this. “

Day 2-Potty Training

7- Successes

2-Semi Successes

6-Accidents

This morning started out great. At 10 o’clock Gunnar had gone 3 times in the potty and had ZERO accidents. I went to lay back down and Kyle took over. Right before actually laying down, Gunnar went to the doggie door (sorry kid, not a dog) and went pee in his pants, accident #1 of the day. About an hour and half later when I got up, Gunnar had no accidents for Kyle, but wouldn’t potty either.

I took him after about 10 minutes of being up and success #4.
THEN……..it happened. I was busy making lunch and Kyle was on the phone. I took my eyes off of him for no more than 30 seconds when I went to put leftovers in the microwave and I turned around to horror. He went #2 on the floor. We knew it was coming because of the gas he was having, so we were watching him like a hawk, it only took 30 seconds of us looking away. I rushed him to the bathroom and he finished the job there. I am counting this as an accident, because very little made it to the toilet.  (I will leave out the nasty details of what happened to Gunnar’s mess on the floor while I was back cleaning him up, just remember we have 3 dogs…YUCK, it was way worse than their being poop on the floor). I do appreciate the fact that Gunnar chose to poop on the linoleum in our house rather than the carpet!

So the first poop incident is over and done, and now we move forward.

Our thoughts at lunch time:

Dad said: “Plop, p-o-l-p like turd on the floor.”

Mom said: “I am feeling a little better about it today, at least about the peeing part.”

Naptime was a success. He woke up dry and he went potty after getting up.

The rest of the afternoon we had up and downs. It seems so much worse than it actually is.

Today Kyle got frustrated with it all and sounded a lot like I did yesterday. I just look at the numbers and know we are improving. It is hard because Gunnar gets so busy playing that he totally forgets he has to go potty. AND pee (or poop) doesn’t appear to bother him when its running down his leg or in his underwear.We also have a hard time keeping eyes in him 24/7 and its a little difficult for Kyle to do any rushing to the restroom with Gunnar as Kyle is still in a wheelchair.

Tomorrow is Day 3, the magical day. Day three will be the last of my detailed journal. We plan to stick with this potty training in hopes to not confuse the boy, but I will probably give more weekly updates rather than daily….it just makes more sense, and one can only write so much about the potty and poop on the floor without it being overwhelming.

Day 2 closing thoughts:

Dad has nothing to say tonight. He is with some friends having what I will call a “Dork Night.” They get a bunch of dorks together and play video games into the wee hours of the morning. I will be picking him up tomorrow around 10am on the way to church. :)

Mom says: “This isn’t fun, but today was better. Gunnar is sneaky, so someone always has to be watching. It almost never failed that if one of us looked away he went potty. We are going to stick this out.”

Note: Tomorrow we will be not following the three day potty training rules in the fact we will be going to church. Not sure yet how we will handle this with the nursery, but I imagine we will be taking turns leaving to take him potty or putting a diaper on him for that hour. Oh the life as parents.

Day 1-Potty Training

Carpet Cleaner – check

Paper Towels –check

Big Boy toilet seat (that after two stores we could only find in pink)- check

15 pairs of big boy underwear- check

Day 1 of potty training – check

IT’S POTTY TRAINING TIME

Potty Training- Day 1

Today we ventured into something you never knew could be so fun….Potty Training. Gunnar is 21 months old. We have thought about potty training him for a long time (Kyle has been thinking about it since birth), but never taken the plunge.  We read a lot on the 3 day potty training method, because, really who can argue with three days. With all our reading, people agree and disagree on a lot. So, Kyle and I took the ideas of all, and are doing things our way…what works for us, and hoping it works for Gunnar.

This morning when Gunnar got up, he got his big boy underwear on. We decided to try with underwear, rather than naked as some suggest.  By 10 o’clock he had gone pee in 4 pairs of underwear and gone on the potty ZERO times. So, we decided it was too hard to catch him with underwear on, and took them off. So now we have a naked wild man running through the house. However, it is much easier to catch him peeing . He is able to stop when we tell him, and then we rush him to the bathroom where he can finish.

At lunch time our stats were:

2 Successes with no prompting from mom or dad

5 Semi-Successes (started to pee on floor, and then finished in toilet)

9 accidents

Dad said: “This sucks!  But I’m excited not to have to change his diapers.”

Mom said: “I was ready to throw in the towel at 9am. This is taking more effort than I am sure I am willing to put forth.  I’m trying to stay positive and keep this a positive experience for Gunnar. Let’s just say, I really hope the 3-days is no lie.”

After lunch Gunnar stayed dry for his nap, but didn’t make it to the potty after the nap. Could have been that I was asleep on the couch and didn’t know he was up…oops.

By 3pm I was done. Gunnar had gone pee on the floor 3 times in less than 30 minutes. Does he seriously need to pee this much?

Kyle sensed my frustration, I was ready to get the diapers out (I just don’t think he is ready)  and he took over.  Gunnar did some more peeing on the floor for him. Each time he starts to pee we rush him to the bathroom, but he won’t pee in the toilet. He likes to wait until he gets two steps away from the toilet and pee there.

Before dinner we resorted to putting his hand in warm water to ensure we could make it through dinner without an accident (this is Kyle’s idea and he is very proud of it). Gunnar did awesome and went in the toilet. 30 minutes later we did the same thing, again, success.

Then right before bath he had one last accident before bed. Now he is asleep. Hoping tomorrow is a better day and praying I have the strength to persevere.

Day 1 Stats:

6 Successes with no prompting from mom or dad

6 Semi-Successes (started to pee on floor, and then finished in toilet)

15 accidents

Who pees 27 times a day??? Honestly  I am lucky if I find the time to go 3 times a day!
Notice no #2. Hmm...he usually goes at least a couple times a day.

Closing thoughts on the day:

Dad says: “ Never give up, never surrender. Eventually he WILL wipe his own butt.”

Beth says: “Why are we doing this? Are we really going through with this nonsense? Maybe he isn’t ready? Ahhh….I am definitely going to need a vacation when this is over.”

*Note: I post this with caution. I hope if I post our progress I am less likely to quit. Also in the end you can either laugh at us for trying with him so young and failing, or celebrate our success with us. 

5 and 21

I took both boys to the doctor on Monday. Ryker had his 4 month well-baby and Gunnar and Child and Youth Services (CYS) physical so I could start taking advantage of the free child care we get each month.

Ryker is a month behind on his well-baby check-ups after our move. This is making getting him registered for CYS a nightmare. They say I must have a legal document signed by a doctor with a catch-up schedule for his shots (which my doctor refused to do and said was "stupid"). CYS doesn't care that the shot schedule is just a recommendation. They ask me if I could get his 4 month and 6 month shots at the same time, so he was caught up. Grr....they obviously don't understand there is a waiting period between the sets of shots. Oh well. I finally think we got it all taken care of. However, they told me that it is possible when I take Ryker to hourly care that we be turned away without the catch-up schedule that is on a legal document.
After the appointment we went to immunizations where I got 1 shot (a flu shot), Gunnar got 2 (because apparently they have different requirements here then they did in Germany), and Ryker got 3. No fun. I was probably the biggest baby about it. Shots hurt!

Gunnar's Stats at 21 months are:
Height: 32.5 in
Weight: 22.6 lbs
Ryker's Stats at 5 months are:
Height: 66 cm
Weight: 16.5 lbs

Gunnar is still in about the 5-percentile of the growth-chart and Ryker is in the 30th. I have this strange feeling before to long Ryker will be caught up with Gunnar.
Here are some cute pictures of my boys. I really love them and love watching them play together.

 They had their first bath together today. They seemed to enjoy it.

Dogs

So on top of caring for Kyle and the two little boys, I have these three...

 

We have Suesse our pound puppy, and Oma and Opa our wired haired dachshunds.

They keep life interesting around here. They all are pretty sweet, but I am sure at least once a day, I threaten at least one of them with their life.
Suesse has been very well-behaved lately. She was running away anytime she could sneak out the door, but now that our fence is finally up, she has been perfect.
Oma is a cuddle bug. She loves everyone. She recently was in heat, which was NOT fun! She would have the whole neighborhood barking when she would go outside to potty.
Opa....he is the spaze. He barks, he chews, and he likes to potty on the the floor. But, we love him anyways, and are working on these bad habits of his.
All the dogs are tolerate of Gunnar. Gunnar recently hasn't been very nice to them, so they have put up with a lot.
I am not really a dog person, but I do love our dogs...sometimes.

Point Defiance Zoo

My parents came this weekend to spend some time with us. On Saturday morning, Kyle got up at around 3am and headed out the door to go sturgeon fishing on the Columbia River (I will post about this when we get the pictures from the trip, he forgot a camera). He was gone all day, so that left my parents, the boys, and I to fend for ourselves. At breakfast my mom suggested the zoo. It was a nice day out, the zoo is only about 30 minutes away, so why not!
We loaded everyone up and headed that way. It was the perfect weather for a zoo trip. We didn't even wear our coats most of the time. The boys had on fleece and their hats, and sweaters for my dad and I (mom was wearing her coat). It was cool in the shade, but that was about it. We went to the Point Defiance Zoo and it is in a beautiful setting by the water and a view of Mount Rainer.
While Ryker could have really cared less about it all, I do believe that Gunnar really enjoyed himself. He had a great time pointing at all the animals. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

 There were two baby tigers...super cute.

 The monkey's were by far Gunnar's favorite. He could have sat and watched them all day. They did put on a great show for him.

 He also loved the slide in the kid zone.

 It was such a great day!

 Kyle didn't get home from fishing until about 9:30pm, but he caught a fish so he brought that home for us to enjoy for lunch on Sunday....it really was awesome. I can't wait until we unfreeze the rest of it and enjoy it.
Saturday night, had to have been one of the worst nights in our lives as parents. I woke up to feed Ryker around 2:30, he was particularly upset this night. I really can't eat any milk products, or Ryker's stomach gets super upset. Unfortunately I had some ice cream after dinner and I paid for it. He sat with me in the rocking chair squirming and full of gas for a good hour. Just as I was putting him back to bed, Gunnar came into my room. He was upset and crying. He is teething. Only a few more to go and I can't wait for it to be over. I put him back to bed, but he had woken Ryker back up with his crying, so after I got him back to bed, I had to attend to Ryker. Then Gunnar got up about 45 minutes later wide awake. So I sat in his room with both my boys wide awake. Ryker finally fell back asleep at about 5:30, but Gunnar was up until about 7am, at which point he only fell asleep for another 30 minutes. At this point I more than gladly handed the boys off to my parents, who I was so thankful were visiting. I slept another 2 hours, which felt GREAT!
Last night was much better, Ryker slept good, Gunnar got up once (but I am pretty sure he was sleep walking) and then he woke up for good at 5:30 when Kyle left for work. Really 5:30 isn't fun, but it is way better than 2:30!
So, we are all pretty tired around here. I can't wait for the day that my children enjoy sleeping .Right now I feel like sleep is torture for all of us.
--I mentioned Gunnar's sleep walking. This is about the third time I have suspected it. We moved him into a big boy bed because he was crawling out of his crib and got hurt one night. The night he got hurt he was screaming bloody murder, but as soon as I picked him up, he was back to sleep instantly. His eyes are all glazed over if you look at him and he just isn't "Gunnar." Weird I know. I am asking the doctor about it tomorrow. Both boys have appointments...one at 8am and the other at 11. They couldn't make it easy for me and have them at the same time.
----Two other randoms.
1) Ryker had his first ceral eating. I did this with Gunnar much sooner. I guess I want Ryker to be a baby a little longer. I am not sure if we will have any more kids, so I really want to enjoy all these little things, and not push him to be a big kid. Although, he acts as though he could crawl anyday now and I don't like it.

2) I found this ironic. I found Gunnar playing with the candle (a no-no). He had his fireman toy in there...a little ironic.

A little sunshine

We have a lot of rainy days around here. Most of the time they are spent like this....

Today we saw some sunshine, so we spent part of our day like this....

We even made our first friends today.

Go Ducks

Here are videos of the kiddos.

Today the Oregon Ducks are playing in the BCS championship game. Kyle's Clevenger side of the family are huge Duck fans. The McCool family got Gunnar this Ducks football outfit a year or so ago. He is wearing it today for the big game.
Listen to Gunnar cheer on the ducks...

And because a baby laughing is so great here is Ryker...

Toliets and Baths

Not much is happening here. We are slowly working our way through boxes, but we mostly stay busy with doctor appointments, the boys, the dogs,  and my schooling. Life really is never dull around here.
Here are a few pictures to enjoy.
Trying to take a shower around here is always fun. I really should just do it at night, but I prefer morning showers. So this particular day, Kyle was holding Ryker. Gunnar knows Kyle can't walk right now, and take full advantage of it. I thought I closed all the doors in the house so he only had access to the room Kyle was in, but apparently I thought wrong. I thought I heard someone in the other bathroom while I was in my shower, but assumed it was Kyle. When I got out of the shower and walked by our second bathroom the door was closed. I opened it to find that Gunnar had his hands in the toilet with his Weebles, Tonka truck, and he also had the plunger in the toilet as well....plus he had water everywhere. He was having a great time. He wasn't bothering Kyle or crying, so Kyle had no concern with what he was doing. I had a nice mess to clean up, plus some sanitizing to do. By the time I got to the bathroom with the camera Gunnar had thrown this toys into the bathtub, he knew he was busted.

Apparently Kyle thought it would be a good idea for Gunnar to bring me Ryker. Directly after the photo was snapped, they both went tumbling to the ground. No one was injured. It really wans't one of Kyle's brightest ideas, especially since there isn't that huge of a weight difference in the two, Ryker was laughing about it the entire time too.

Kyle really wants Gunnar to be a big boy...like yesterday. So he is always teaching him new things. This is great because I don't have to do it. I was giving Ryker and bath and Kyle was in charge of Gunnar's bath. So he taught Gunnar how to wash himself. Gunnar usually doesn't mind having his hair rinsed, but he refused to do it by himself. So Kyle did, and Gunnar didn't like it. Apparently he didn't want all his hard work washed away.

Ryker doesn't have to bath and dry himself yet...he is still allowed to be my cute little chubby baby.

 Isn't he a cutie?

We really are getting a kick out of the two boys lately. I love watching them together. Gunnar loves to help with anything when it comes to Ryker and wants to hold, kiss, and cuddle with him all day. Ryker thinks Gunnar is hilarious. If Ryker is upset we call Gunnar over and Ryker starts laughing uncontrollably. It is so cute. I pray they have a great relationship with each other as they get older.

Weekend with Grandma Kathy

We had a nice weekend with Kyle's mom, Kathy. She came over here Friday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon. The boys enjoyed being spoiled, cuddled, and loved by their Grandma Kathy.

We truly are blessed to be living close to all our families. It is so special for us to be able to share our children with their grandparents. We both have such fond memories of doing fun things with our grandparents that we would hate for your children to miss out on similar memories.

Haircut Time

Gunnar has been needing a haircut. He is so blond that most people don't notice he even has much hair. I have trimmed little bits here and there, but he needed a good haircut. He has this hair in the back and on the sides that we call his "professor hair" because it sticks out like a crazy guys. In an effort to save money Kyle decided that I would learn how to give haircuts and would be the family haircut master. The first clippers we bought were garbage despite there cost (or possibly my skills). But, we had also bought our own dog clippers (in another money saving effort) to groom our own dogs. Kyle decided that after our human clippers didn't do the trick we would try the animal ones, and magically they did the trick. So we now use the same clippers on the dog and the boys.
I hate giving Kyle haircuts, and I ususally end up in tears, mainly because people care about how his hair looks and it is important it looks nice or he gets in trouble. However, I was much more relaxed about giving Gunnar one. Kyle helped and came and tried taking over, but together we gave Gunnar a pretty good looking haircut.
Before

During-There were lots of tears. He even cried while eating a popsicle and some teddy grahams during the haircut.

After

And here is one of little Ryker, just because he is to cute...no haircut for him. While he was born with quite a bit more hair than Gunnar had, he has been losing it all. He still has a nice blond patch in the back, but doesn't have much hair anymore.

A Box