Polo Shirt

When we were in Orlando over the weekend, we went to the outlet mall.  Grandma bought Nico a polo shirt because we decided that he would be adorable in it.

I think we can all agree that he is adorb.

On another front, I think we may have turned the corner in the bathroom situation.  Nico has been extraordinarily good about the whole going #2 on the potty.  For serious.  Like sometimes he will just take himself in there and get it done.

I think that the conversation I had with him regarding his desire for a sibling might have something to do with this.  I He has mentioned a couple of times that he wants a little brother or sister, so I told him that before we can talk about that, he needs to get the potty training under control, because we cant be having a baby in diapers and having to deal with that whole situation.  He still wears diapers at nap and bed time, but I think that won't last for too long.  He seems to be thinking that he is going to get a firefighter truck bed when we move to Chicago- which he says that he is going to sleep in, and put him self to sleep in.  #toogoodtobetrue?

When we came home from school on Monday, Nico and I did some exercising.  A friend had given me an older ellipitical, so I did that for a while and then Nico did it while I lifted weights.  He did calves with me.  He is pretty excited about how big our muscles are going to be.

That is where we are at.  Still trying to find a house that we can live in in the Chicago area.  But, it seems to NOT be a renter's market.  At least not for people with two large dogs who want a yard with a fence.  

Bribery.

Not much going on around here.  The soccer season is starting the downhill slide to the end.  We go to Taylor tomorrow to play in the semi-final game.  Against Taylor County.  Not a real big fan of playing them at their house.  I don't like the potential to not be in control of the game.

Nico has been pretty great lately.  We are (still) potty training.  Yeah, can you believe that?  He is really great about peeing in the potty, but not so much with #2.  I could understand it, if the kid weren't obviously brilliant.  But I have actually had conversations with him about how he needs to tell me if he has to go.  He nods and says, "I just went."  Fail.

So, I have resorted to bribery.  This goes against everything that the hippie school has suggested.  BTW- you know your kid goes to a hippie school when their best idea is, "Don't put any pressure on him, he'll go when he is ready."  To which I call B.S: 1.  Because he says he will start going when he is 4.  And that is a really long time away.  And 2: At Aunt Ennie's house in Jeffersonville, homeboy was all about going on the potty.  And he has a fantastic memory.  I used to be able to tell him something and he might forget it.  But now, if I tell him something and dont follow through, all holy hell breaks out.

So, I bought him an awesome water pack that you wear and spray out fires (it actually sprays water).  I have told him that if he goes in the potty three times, he can have it.  The really great thing is that he seems to be "getting" it, intellectually. In that, he is trying.  He actually practices sitting on the toilet.  Which is awesome, because I could never get him to do that.  Ever.  So, hopefully this works out for us.  Either that or he is going to expect a car when he turns 12 and gets good grades.  So there is that.

EPIC FAIL

So, I owe you a blog post explaining about the EPIC fail that was potty training.

Nicole sent me an e-book that she used to teach potty training to Max and Emme.  The book swore that any child could be potty trained at the age of 22 months.  Well, Nico is older than 22 months.  So I figured I had this in the bag.

No.  That would be a no.

I knew 10 minutes after we put underwear on Nico that this wasn't going to go well... Fifteen minutes into potty training  and we were on the third pair of underwear. 

"What were you doing wrong, Jessi?"  Answer: I have NO FREAKING CLUE.

One of the main components of this method of potty training is that you tell them, "Nico, remember to tell me when you have to go potty, okay?"  "Nico, remember when you have to go potty, you gotta tell me, so we can go and you can get a toy car."  He peed twice while I was sitting right next to him.  I grabbed him and ran him into the bathroom so that he could finish on the potty... but he didn't want to.  And I dont want him to end up with any weird bathroom complexes, so I didnt want to force the issue.

So, I pressed on.  But the straw that ended it all was after nap.  He woke up from nap having peed, which is was expected.  I took him into the bathroom to get him cleaned up.  I asked him if he had to go potty and he said no.  I suggested, he, let's try sitting on the potty anyways, just in case.  He was adamant that he didn't have to.  This seemed reasonable given that he just peed during nap.  So he's cleaned up and we are hanging out in the bathroom.  I am sitting on the edge of the tub and I am telling Nico that when he goes pee on the potty, he will get a car.  Blah, blah, blah.  Guess who pees?  REALLY?  SERIOUSLY?

These events put together impressed on me that Nico is not ready to potty train.  Little man needs to grow up a little and stop fighting me on everything before we try this again.

What is really funny about the whole thing is that he "gets it".  He knows that he will get a matchbox garbage truck when he goes.  He even offered Dave a car for going on the toilet.  He's just a little stubborn right now.  Hopefully we'll get him potty trained before he goes to highschool.

Future Frog Man?

It has been pretty fun around here the last couple of days.
SB had her signing on Monday.  She is headed up there to play on a soccer scholarship... so that is pretty cool.

Mom and JJ came into town yesterday- just for fun!  Yeah!  It's pretty awesome.  Mom is teaching me to do a wonky Log cabin and to quilt as I go... so we started a baby quilt for Nico.  Yay!

Today Nico got in a pool for the first time.  I am not sure what his assessment is.  It might have been a tad cool for him... but he didnt cry.  We even dunked under for a second. 

We drove down to St. Marks this afternoon for dinner.  For the most part- Nico has been a gem, if a little cranky this week.  While I have tried to adhere to the approximate schedule he has at school (nap in the morning and in the afternoon), its been hard because he hasnt been napping well (mostly just cat naps).  I feel bad for the girls at school next week because he is gonna be OUT OF CONTROL!!

Speaking of out of control.. I woke up this morning to chaos...Apparently Nico had managed to get let loose with some poop that escaped the diaper.  He was in his Pack N Play and it ended up everywhere- in his hair, on his stomach... all over toys.  When Dave got him out of the bath and stood him up in his crib so that he could put together a  diaper- Nico took that opportunity to pee between the rails and onto the floor.  This morning was a MESS!!

I got a  call from the Tallahassee Democrat this afternoon... apparently they are doing a story on coaching moms and they asked me to be a part (for Mother's Day).  So that is pretty sweet!!  The story will run on Sunday!! So check it out!!

Hippie= Not Always Better

TMI Post about baby poop in 3...2...1...

The great thing about having a blog devoted to our kid, is that, since the kid isn't doing much more than dirtying diapers, eating and sleeping... you get a blog post about baby poop. Aren't the interwebs grand?

So... baby poop. Yeah, there is no shortage of it around here. I am going to spare my readers (loyal and random) from a thorough description here. I can say we're lucky in that it doesnt really smell bad yet...just wait till this kid starts eating Mexican and Indian food...

In any case, I think that Nico waits until we go to change him before he realizes he has to go... then all of a sudden, there is pee raining down from the sky and poop jetting out of his butt. Literally jetting out of his butt. Of course, now he appears to have a diaper rash. Isnt that fantastic? Brand-spanking new baby- still has the new baby smell, and he has diaper rash. Caregiving: FAIL!

This fail is largely my fault since I decided to take my hippietude to another level by getting the organic diaper rash stick... which we started using last week when we came home. I thought it was cool, because it works like a glue stick, and you dont have to put your fingers in gobs of Desitin. It could have failed for a variety of reasons: either we werent using enough or really doesnt work. Or maybe Nico is pooping so much that its just eating through the diaper stick stuff we were putting on his little butt. My mother was right- there is nothing worse than seeing your helpless little baby's butt bright red. WORST. MOTHER. EVER.