TJ is about 90% potty trained-- and it was really much easier than I expected. TJs teachers at child care said, "TJ is just one of those boys you just have to put in underwear and he will learn and adjust." So we did just that. . . and three days later, there were no more accidents at school and only a few at home. A week later and he was dry during nap time and bed time. Two weeks later and he is telling us when he has to go. Of course there have been some laughs along the way. For instance, when we first started saying "no" to diapers and "yes" to big boy pants, there was the occasion he found a spare diaper, ran, grabbed it and gave it a big loving hug! Apparently he was not quite ready to give them up!
We also used the m&m reward as a strategy for our potty training. He gets so tickled when he pees or poops or toots in the potty he rushes over to the bag of m&ms and says "whoo hoo, I pee potty! I m&m." And of course our favorite is when we are in public and TJ feels so free to announce his successes to his daddy quite loudly. Sigh. Oh well, what can we say. Our child is proud and we are proud that he is doing so well.
But my favorite potty training moment was when even mommy got rewarded. There I was sitting on the potty. TJ asked me what I was doing. I told him the obvious, "mamma is going potty." He got a big smile on his face and said, "mamma on the potty. Mamma gets an M&M!" and rushed off to our stash and brought me back my reward. Thanks, TJ.
TJ has also reached another milestone of sorts: he no longer sleeps in a crib. We removed the front "wall" of his crib a few months back. And while he is excellent at staying in his bed when it is time to go to bed, we have not yet been successful in teaching him to stay in his bed when he wakes up in the morning. His 2.5 year rationale is that the "sun is up" so everyone else, therefore must get up too. 5:45, 6:00. . . what have you, in runs TJ. "Wake up, mommy. Get out bed. Sun up!" Ugh! Those are early mornings for us. He has even been known to pull the covers off of me in effort to get me out of bed.
TJs language development has really improved over the past few months too. He is trying to say more words and have a conversation with his mom and dad. And of course, this is where things get really cute, because as we all know, kids say the darndest things.
TJ is now, for some reason calling dad "Rich". We are not yet at the point where "Lisa" replaces "mom", but my theory is that the "L" sound is still to hard to use on a regular basis.
TJ has also developed a love for anything Disney. Of course given all of our trips down there and our love for the place too, we shouldn't be too surprised. He is tickled pink with the "wicky witch" from Snow White and even the "wicky witch" from the musical "Wicked". He is also fascinated by the "sea witch" from The Little Mermaid. At school he knows all of the Peter Pan characters even though he has never seen a Peter Pan movie. He can recognize the "Disney" logo at the drop of a hat. And loves "circle" (circle of life) from the Lion King. He even tries to sing along.
And TJ has now entered into the "why" stage. "Why mommy, why?" he asks. As of now he seems content with my short answers, but I can imagine that will change over time too.
We are blessed to have such a good natured little boy who has two speeds: off and on. He is high energy, quick to laugh, and goes with the flow. I am excited to continue marveling at the little boy he continues to become as he turns a year older next week.
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