The Potty Train!

We've been potty training for almost a month now.  After attempting last summer and quickly learning Cooper wasn't ready, we were cautious not to rush into it again.  This time around, things are clicking much better. That said, this is still no cake walk!

Here are some things that worked well for us:

1. The week before we started talking about the potty and counting down the days.  We picked up some new Thomas the Train underwear from Target.  (Side note: Cooper originally picked out Dora underwear. It was bright pink and clearly marketed for girls, like all Dora stuff...which makes no sense since the show is fairly unisex.  Anyway, I was going to let him get it but practicality won over when I realized the set included just 1 pair of underwear and a tank top.  As another side note, I later googled "Is Dora appropriate for boys?" - there's a lot of good discussion about this on the internet!)

2. We went on lock-down for about a week.  Didn't leave the house except to play outside.  I don't know how Lara did it for 5 days (Mon. - Fri.) because I was going out of my mind after the 2-day weekend!

3. We went straight to underwear (no pull-ups except for naptime) and set the timer at 20 minute intervals.  I knew Cooper would start to get annoyed with the frequency, so I tried to come up with something to make it fun, which turned out to be...

4. Food coloring!  We put a few drops of food coloring in the toilet.  This was a big hit.  I let Cooper help with the process.  It was a little messy but the goal was to keep his interest while establishing the habit - and it did.

5. M&Ms after every successful potty trip.  Candy is definitely a motivator for Cooper.  Sticker charts don't usually work for him because he just wants to pull the stickers off.  I had a basket of reward toys ready to go, but he wasn't very interested.  M&Ms were it for us.

6. We pulled out the iPad or laptop a few times to keep him on the potty longer than 3 seconds.

Now for the things not working so well...we've still got a lot of work to do in the poop department - he simply doesn't want to do it in the potty!  That leads to a whole other set of fun issues. We're also still doing a diaper for nighttime and naps. 


Overall, we're really proud of Coop's progress and and happy to have this milestone underway.

P.S. Can I tell you how NOT fun potty training is when a porta-potty is your only option? Or when you are spending the afternoon at King's Dominion?  We have done both and lived to tell about it.

Mother's Day 2013

We had an awesome Mother's Day weekend!  I got pampered on Saturday with 4 hours at the spa - facial, massage, manicure, and pedicure.  It was heavenly!  Sunday we went to the Chesterfield Berry Farm with the grandparents, minus Allen who had to work.  Per tradition, Cooper ate a million strawberries while we were picking.  They sure were yummy this year.

Working on his John Hancock

Cooper totally surprised us this morning by signing his own name on a card.  You can almost tell what it says!

First Chomper Check

Cooper had his first visit to the dentist in April.  We were really dreading it.  Trying to envision Cooper sitting still and letting strangers poke and prod in his mouth just didn't sound like a recipe for success.  Surprisingly, it was a good visit and an overall positive experience. I don't think we'll have a hard time getting him to go back in 6 months.

We picked Dr. Wood, a pediatric dentist, for a few reasons.  1 - He was Jason's dentist back in the day. 2 - He came highly recommended by friends. 3 - We felt that an office set up especially for kids was more likely to be successful.

Dr. Wood and his staff were awesome.  They knew just what to do to make Cooper comfortable.  There was a train table in the waiting room, and they gave Cooper a little goody bag full of stickers, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc. as soon as he sat down in the dentist chair.  Then they showed him each instrument before they put it in his mouth.  The whole cleaning process was pretty quick.

Best part of the visit: Dr. Wood asked Cooper how many teeth he has.  Cooper started counting and stopped at 20, which is always his stopping point.  Suddenly, Dr. Wood and the hygienist were looking at me in amazement.  I thought they must be impressed he could count to 20.  I then learned that 20 is the correct number of teeth and they thought Cooper knew the right answer (which clearly doesn't happen very often).  Not so much!

 

Easter Weekend 2013

We had a great weekend!  Some fun times and a few milestones along the way.  Cooper is growing into a little man and it is really fun to hang out with him these days.  Just waiting for what will come out of his mouth next is entertainment enough. Can't say I have always felt this way!

Milestone #1:  Riding his yellow Mini-Cooper around the neighborhood!  

Coop has been hesitant to give his car a try ever since the first enthusiastic spin he took when receiving it in Feb. for his 3rd birthday.  I don't think we'll have that problem anymore - he had a blast riding it around the neighborhood this weekend.

Milestone #2: Ordering off the menu at a restaurant!

As mentioned in my previous post, food is a big challenge for us.  So whenever we eat out, that always means packing food for Cooper to eat because there is never a guarantee he will eat anything the restaurant offers.  He has even refused foods that he likes at a restaurant just because they look different from how they were prepared at home. Since he has tried so many new foods in the past month, we wanted to do a trial run for breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  We wanted him to feel like it was a special treat to order off the menu and eat like the adults.  Thankfully, it was a success.  He picked pancakes and yogurt parfait off the kid's menu and ate EVERY LAST BITE.  In fact, Jason and I finished our meals looooong before he was done.  He ate until he tummy was literally bulging.

We also worked in some good family fun, including a trip to the zoo on Saturday.  It was a gorgeous day and so nice to get some fresh air.  Cooper likes the monkeys the best. He specifically requested to see the bats this time (ugh).  And this trip included his first time riding the Sky Ride.  Thankfully he liked it - no mid-air panic attacks.

Finally, we enjoyed a good (rainy) Easter by getting a visit from the Easter Bunny, going to church, and having family over for lunch.  Unfortunately we didn't get many pics amidst the chaos. And no holiday is complete without a tantrum (or two), but all in all a good one.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Food for thought

I think every kid (heck, everyone) has that "thing" that gives them trouble.  That causes stress.  That just isn't easy.  For us, it has been food since Cooper was about 9 months old. As a baby, he ate every baby food imaginable.  But the transition to table food was a rough one.  He had gagging issues, and just wasn't interested in eating what we were eating. At 20 months old, we finally said enough to baby food.  And since then, his diet has basically consisted of snack foods, cereal, fruit, and yogurt.  Anything else went untouched.

Other moms might be worried about organic or non-organic?  Or too many chicken nuggets and mac & cheese? I'm worried that my child hasn't eaten a meat or vegetable for over a year.  I would have been thrilled if he would just eat a silly chicken nugget!! We tried every trick in the book and worked with countless professionals with no results.

Three weeks ago, we began a new program with the help of a family member. The basic idea is that at each meal and snack, he must eat a bite from Plate A (which has non-accepted foods) before eating from Plate B (which has accepted foods).   And we have hope!  In 3 weeks, he has tried 20+ new foods, and even likes a good number of them. For the first time, he has been willing to try bacon, PB&J, french toast, chicken nuggets, tomatoes, hot dogs, peas, etc.  We have a looooong way to go, but are thrilled with his progress.

We are thankful for Cooper's overall health, and know this is not a big problem compared to many others' struggles.  But it has been a challenge for our family and an important issue in Cooper's life.  Has anyone else experienced something similar? I hear stories all the time but don't know anyone personally who can relate.  Or are you dealing with your own "thing" that seems so basic to others but is a struggle for your family?  Let's talk!

Is the moon broke?

I picked Cooper up after work today.  With daylight saving time and the recent dreary weather, it felt weird that there was so much sunlight at 6pm.  Cooper seemed confused, like I was picking him up early.  So like any 3-year-old would, he asked "Mommy, is the moon broke?"