Potty Time

I finally took the plunge and started potty training Huston.  I had given it a shot one day back in February and it was a complete and utter failure, so I was not too anxious to try again.  Last Thursday, June 3rd, I decide I could procrastinate no longer.  I rolled up the living room rug, busted out the Thomas underwear, got out the juice boxes, and set up the potty.  It was a tiring endeavor the first few days, constantly asking if he had to go potty, sitting on the potty, trying to make the potty a fun place to be…. you get the idea. 

(Showing off his moves in his cool Thomas underwear)

We spent part of the first morning outside.  Here’s Arden enjoying some outside time, while Huston does a little multi-tasking.

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He had several successes and several accidents the first day, but actually pooped on the potty the very first day and Daddy gave him a “James” train (from Thomas the Tank Engine) as his big reward.  I was so hyped that he did that the first day, but in the week since then he has not yet repeated that amazing feat.  He has held his poop in for an entire day, pooped in his underwear, and pooped in his pull up.  Just about everywhere except the potty.

For the most part, though, I think he’s doing really well.  He hasn’t had a really big accident since about day 3.  However, he still will not tell me when he needs to go and will always say “no” if I ask if he needs to go to the bathroom.  He just can’t bear the thought of leaving what he’s playing with to go potty.  So every hour or so I just have to take him to the bathroom and he’ll go.  Thankfully, he seems to be able to hold it pretty well.  Now his main thing if I haven’t made him go in awhile, is that he’ll just barely wet his underwear and then I’ll notice it and take him to the bathroom.  We’re still working on that.

It has been a relief to get out of the house again the past few days.  He stayed dry through Sunday school on Sunday, a visit to Chuck E Cheese for his cousins’ birthday party, all of the errands we’ve run, a trip to the mall, and he even went potty at church while I was at a women’s salad luncheon on Wednesday.  I think our next big hurdle (besides the pooping thing) is getting over the fear of the normal sized potties in the world, which to him seem enormous and scary.  He screams like I’m trying to drop him into a giant water hole if I suggest he sit on one (even with a special toddler seat on top of it).

      

So - there is more than you have probably ever, ever wanted to hear about potties.  Hopefully Huston won’t see this one day and be beyond embarrassed.  No one save this for his high school yearbook, okay?  He might not appreciate that.

Parent Dedication

Here are just a few (very belated) pictures from our parent dedication for Arden on May 1st.  We publicly committed ourselves to raising Arden in a Christian home and to giving her every opportunity to come to know Jesus as her Savior.  The verse we chose for her was Proverbs 31:30: “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

 

Arden wore a dress that was my mom’s when she was a baby.  It was made by my mom’s godmother.

Huston did surprisingly well in the “big church” during the dedication.  I left the sanctuary towards the end to go feed Arden, only to find out later that after I left he did a hilarious, slow crawl/inchworm move across the aisle so he could sit by his Mimi.  I heard it had everyone around him cracking up.

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Sweet dreams

I went back into Huston's room after putting him to bed tonight to tell him to stop playing with his humidifier. He wanted me to get up in his bed for a minute and snuggle, so I did. He turned his head to face me and (speaking with the correct pronouns, which he never does) he said, "I love your eyes" as he touched my eyes. Then he continued to touch all the parts of my face and said "I love your nose and your chin and your 'that' (pointing to my eyebrow)." "I love your hair and your shirt and your head. I love your face."

Has there ever been a sweeter goodnight? My heart just melted. Moments like that make all the difficulties and trials of parenting just fade away. I am so blessed to be a mom. So blessed by my sweet Huston. It is more than I deserve. Thank you, Lord.

Arden – 6 months

Dear Arden,

Here’s what’s going on in your life at 6 months.  (I can hardly believe you’re half a year old already!)

You are obsessed with tags.  Your eyes bug out when you see a tag on one of your toys or blankets and your little hands reach up to grab it.  You like to chew and suck on them.  I wonder if you’ll still love tags when you’re older (like your Aunt Emily!). 

You’ve started saying “na, na, na” and “da, da, da” this past week.  It’s so adorable to hear your “talking.”

You got your first tooth the day after you turned 6 months old.  It’s your bottom left front one.  The one right beside it is coming it too.

At your 6 month checkup you weighed 16 pounds, 6 ounces (70th percentile) and you were 26 inches long (75th percentile).

So far you’ve eaten green beans, peas, and squash and you like all of them.  You’re only eating at dinner time right now, because you haven’t been that interested in the morning or at lunch time.

You had your first sleepover with Huston at Mimi’s house on Friday, May 14th.  You even slept through the night for her, which you’ve also been doing consistently for me for at least the past three weeks.  It is so awesome to finally sleep through the night, that I don’t mind so much the 6 or 6:30 wake up time.

You are pretty much sitting up by yourself, although you tumble over easily enough.  I always put your boppy behind you in case you fall.

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Your long, side-swept bangs are getting the tiniest little kink at the tips.  I wonder if your hair will be curly.

I love to watch you get up on all fours now and rock back and forth.  You always manage to push yourself backwards, away from the toys you’re trying to reach.  It shouldn’t be too long now before you start crawling!

Big Boy Arden

Arden has been getting on all fours this past week in a pre-crawling position and I’ve been commenting on how big she’s getting.  Huston was beside me one day and said “She’s a big boy Arden!”  Then yesterday he said, “She’s a big boy baby!”  Isn’t that so darling?  I guess we’ve never really had to use the phrase “big girl” before so he just made up his own version.

First Baseball Game

We got four tickets to the Ranger’s game from Clarke’s firm for Saturday night, so we decided to take Huston and Arden to their very first baseball game.

 

Huston was excited and impressed from outside of the stadium.  He watches the Rangers games on TV with Clarke sometimes and is always interested in the score and in the guys “falling down.”  He’s really into bricks lately (mostly how it’s bumpy when you drive over bricks) so he loved the bricks that we walked on to cross the parking lot and the bricks on the walls of the stadium.

He was also impressed by the huge escalators and rode one with Clarke just for fun.

As soon as we walked into the stadium, however, the Rangers had a huge play and the crowd went crazy.  Huston immediately freaked out about all the noise and started screaming and crying. 

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Clarke took him to buy some ice cream in a hat, which he liked, but which he ate with both fingers plugging his ears to block out the crowd noise.  That is, in fact, how he spent the majority of the game.

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By the end of the game, Huston was enjoying himself.  He walked up and down the steps (until the usher made him stop) and he played with the stadium seats.  Arden was having a ball the whole time, just looking around and enjoying all the sights.  She would stare down the people around us until they looked at her, and then break into the biggest smiles.  The people around us all seemed amused by both Huston and Arden.  We made it to the fifth inning, and then called it a night.  The weather was perfect, the tickets were free, and both kids had fun (eventually).  I’d call that a success.

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(As a side note, as we arrived at our house after the game, Huston recited our entire address out of the blue – number and street name.  I was quite impressed!)

Arden at 5 months

This post is just a bit late, considering Arden turned 5 months on April 15th and is now closer to 6 months old.  Things have been busy lately.  :)

Darling, sweet Arden.  You are such a little dear.  You had your first taste of rice cereal on April 17th, just two days after you turned 5 months.  You were definitely interested, but your tongue kept pushing the cereal back out of your mouth and onto your bib, where you licked it up. 

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You’ve gotten better since then and have been eating rice cereal around 7 in the morning and 6 in the evening ever since.  It’s funny to watch you get excited when you see it coming.  We still haven’t tried vegetables or fruit yet, but we will soon.

(Huston really wanted to help feed you, and Bear Bear wanted to watch you eat.)

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You’ve been playing in your exersaucer a lot this month – you especially love to eat the star and the dragon head.  You’ve become incredibly “grabby” and just want to grab everything around you and stick it in your mouth.  The remote controls especially attract your attention and it’s become dangerous to hold you around the dinner table as you’ll grab for whatever food or utensil or drink is closest to you.

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You are getting so strong and can push yourself up now with your arms completely straight.  For the longest time you could only flip yourself onto your stomach, but now you’re able to roll both ways.  You are finally able to sleep without being swaddled and have slept through the night a few times, but not consistently.  I think the rice cereal is helping you stay full longer and I’ve let you cry it out a few times, too.  I dropped your late night feeding, so now you nurse at 7 am, 11, 3 pm, and just before you go to sleep. 

You have the sweetest round face and chubby cheeks, beautiful blue eyes, chunky thighs with delicious baby fat rolls, and chubby little arms.  You’re such an easy going little thing and are almost never fussy unless you’re really tired or hungry.  You adore your older brother, get so happy when Daddy comes home, and just love to be around people.  You kick both legs when you’re super happy, whether you’re on your stomach or your back.  People are always telling me how beautiful you are and of course I believe them.  In fact, a nursery worker at church said you reminded her of Snow White, with your fair skin, dark hair, and blue eyes.

My own little Snow White Princess.  You are too much for words.  As I write this, you’re playing on your blanket beside me, making sweet baby noises and smiling.  The ruffles on your little diaper cover are so precious, but not as precious as your chubby legs and tiny feet, and not nearly as precious as the smile you just gave me. 

I love you, my little sweetie pie.