I Screwed Up!

Ok, so as they say...kids don't come with an instruction manual, so when it came time to potty train Jackson I kind of just followed others suggestions and read around on the internet a bit. We went out and bought that tiny little potty chair and had amazing success! I am really proud of Jackson and how quickly he picked it up! I've blogged about all of this before so I won't continue. Then the other day I asked my mom "So when did you teach Brennan (my brother) to pee standing up?" You can see where this is going... My mom says "Um, I taught him from the beginning." What? Why didn't anyone tell me you were supposed to teach them from the beginning? I'm a girl - I don't know that. I also saw a logistical problem with him, a kid who has no control over his stream, standing over that really low little potty. Sheesh! So our new task is teaching the kid to pee standing up! Gaaah! He does NOT like to go standing up - in fact, most of the time he can't. I will see him like physically trying to get it out, but it is like he is afraid or something and can't even make himself. At best a tiny trickle comes out, so I finally give up and set him down on the potty and he goes, no problem! It's so obnoxious! He did have some success at the Astros game on Sunday where the urinal went all the way to the floor, but no where else. Jackson sees Aaron go all the time and now I have resorted to pushing him off on other male family members so that he has tons of males "modeling" correct male urination. I know they all enjoy the audience, but I say it is partly their fault for not TELLING.ME.TO.BEGIN.WITH!!! So there! Haha! ;)

13 Months

Emerson Kate - 13 months old (+5 days)

Emme turned 13 months on the 16th so this is a little late, but you know what they say.....

Emme is at the cutest stage! I am more in love with her than ever! She is the sweetest girl, giving tons of those sloppy open-mouth kisses that I {adore}! Some new developments since she turned one: the major one is that she is walking! She is EVERYWHERE! Despite the chasing, I love it! It is so fun to see her meet these milestones! She is still quite the climber. I know it is only a matter of time before I find her in the middle of the kitchen table. Ugh! She is slowly starting to talk more and more. She currently only says 5 discernable words - mama, dada, jackson, cat & dog. She can tell you what a dog, duck and cow say (comes out booooo!), though she will only do it if she is in the mood. This one has a very definite & strong personality! Emme is my eater! She will eat just about anything you put in front of her. Jackson used to be like this, but has quickly grown out of that and basically eats nothing now. That's ok, Emme will eat her food and Jackson's, ha! She loves to play with Jackson even when he is a little rough. This girl is one tough cookie - loves a good tumble! The other night we heard her head thunk on the hearth and she just smiled and got right back to doing whatever she was doing. Jackson would have (even now) run over crying to get a hurt-go-away kiss! Not Emme. She is really starting to love to read books - she wants to read everytime we sit down in the rocker and has just in the last day or two started bringing me books to read to her. She loves to be outside and hates to be in a high chair! We have to be very sure we buckle her in or she is standing up in no time! She is so full of life and things are never mundane with her! This little girl is the most precious thing! She has her Daddy wrapped around her teeny, little finger and her Mommy kinda likes her too! ;)

Always climbing

{Love} that smile!

What? I'm not supposed to do this?

Moooooo!

Just Like Daddy

Hey Good-lookin! Whatcha Got Cookin'

Oh, just a little something I like to call Pacifier Stew!

Emerson has a slight, but still strange rash developing on her face around her mouth, under her nose and it even goes up toward her eye too. These are tiny little bumps that don't seem to bother her. Anyway, I thought I better boil her papis and I have been limiting when she can have them to nap & bedtime. Of course, I googled "pacifier rash" and started seeing people talk about food allergies, so now that has tweaked my curiosity. The only thing new she has had was a cookie with peanut butter in it. I don't think she is allergic to peanuts though because she has eaten at Chick-fil-a millions of times and never had any problems. They fry all of their foods in peanut oil, so I think if that was an issue, we would have seen some sign of trouble before now. I wonder: can you be allergic to peanut butter without being allergic to the oil? I don't think so, but I'm not sure. SO...my best diagnosis (based on all my years in medical school, ha!) is that it is her pacifier that is irritating her eczema. Hopefully, the pacifier stew coupled with a healthy Aquaphor slathering will kick Emme's rash!

A Word From Emme

Emme said dog today for the first time! She kind of ruffs too! So that brings her words up to 4 - mama, dada, jackson and dog....I actually think she can say cat too, but I was never sure that she was connecting it. One thing's for sure - this kid is in no hurry to talk! Here's the best video I could get of her fourth word!

Oh, and she cut the left top lateral incisor yesterday! The other one is still on its way.

Emme's First

A few firsts for Emerson this week:

First off, she is getting the her 2 top lateral incisors (on either side of the top front teeth). They haven't broken the skin yet, but I can feel them and the gum is sort of white-ish and that's how hers always look before she cuts them!

Wednesday, July 7th, Emme FINALLY learned to drink out of a straw! We have been working on that one forever!

Saturday, July 10th, Emme pulled herself up on the door frame and walked 19 steps across the playroom at my parents' house. Before this she had increased slowly from 2 or 3, then to 7 and then to 12.

Way to go, Em! We ♥ you SO much!

Consider It Done!

I'd say my little Wacko is potty trained! We went to the Children's Museum today and did not have one accident all the way there, while we were there or on the way back! That includes during an hour+ car nap on the way home! I am flabbergasted at his ability to pick it up so fast! I don't know why - he picks everything up fast and other things I thought would be grooling (giving up the papi, for example) weren't. He had been a bit constipated, but I gave him a few prunes and he had about 4 or 5 false alarms before he finally went. It was hilarious too! He said, "Mommy, I need to go poo-poo. It's the big one!" (Imagine it said with a hint of panic in his voice) So funny! I ♥ this kid! So now the only obstacle is nighttime & nap training. I am going to wait to tackle this until we move him to his big boy bed, which will be fairly soon!

Day 3 - PT Report

I have to say, I had doubts about 3-day potty training! And while Jackson is not 100% potty trained, he definitely has it down now! He had half an accident today and THAT.IS.IT! He stopped himself halfway through, called for me and ran to the bathroom to finish on the potty. The rest of the time, he told me he needed to go and he went. He still has a little trouble pulling his pants back up, but we're working on it! Another issue is that he is not pooping on the potty. He has not gone all day - not in the potty nor in his pants or even his diaper at naptime. I spoke with the doctor about possible withholding and he said as long as we feed him lots of fiber and fruit (no bananas) and sugar, even if he withholds, it won't hurt him. If he doesn't go tomorrow, I think I will give him some prunes or something to help him. Another success he had today was his first outing sans the diaper! We went to eat with my parents and were gone about an hour and had NO accidents. He did claim to need to go potty about 6 times while we were at the restaurant, but he was scared of the industrial potty so we only got a trickle one of the times and nothing the rest. Once we got home, he let loose! At least we know he has the ability to hold it! I have been looking into getting one of those folding potty seats. Does anyone have one of those? Is it worth it or should I just have him get over it? Tomorrow, we are planning on going to the children's museum with my mom while my dad & Aaron go deep sea fishing. I don't know if I should put a diaper on him or just go armed with changes of clothes & underwear. I am just so proud of the little guy! He's so grown up!

Day 2 - PT Report

*It's a LONG one!*

J had a fantastic day! He is slowly getting the hang on this. On the other hand, I am exhausted! It seems like I led, dragged or lugged Jackson to the bathroom every 15-20 minutes ALL day long and the rest of the time was spent asking him if he had "tee-tee or poo-poo that needed to come out." I am going to record the day, so that when I start this next summer with Emme (sheesh!), I will have something to refer to. Our day went something like this:

9:00am - take off his diaper, tee-tees in the potty and puts on his undies. Makes it through breakfast fine.

9:20am - preemptive trip to potty. nothing

9:30am - has an accident (1) in the floor, but immediately tells me. Sort of whimpering even - a vast improvement from yesterday where he appeared not to care!

9:35am - gave him grape koolaid and he drank 2 cups of it!

9:55am - starts to have an accident (2) while playing, but stops himself midstream and calls for me. finishes the job on the potty. he's very proud of himself! gets a gummy bear as a reward

10:15am -given another cup of koolaid.

10:45am - starts to have another accident (3), but again stops until we can make it to the potty. finishes in the potty and gets his gummy bear.

11:20am - lets a drop of urine in his undies before telling me and we run to the potty. I changed his undies since I don't want him to be ok with any wetness at all! (4) gets a gummy bear

12:05pm - preemptive trip to potty. little trickle, but nothing significant. lots of toots too.

12:15pm - started to have a pee & poop accident (5), but calls for me and he finishes on the potty. gets 2 gummy bears as a reward. brush teeth

12:45pm - has an accident (6) while eating lunch with cup of milk. finishes on the potty. gets a gummy bear. huge mess - pooling in his booster chair and escaping down through the strap holes to the kitchen chair underneath. it had to be washed and I had to convert another activity center so that he had a booster to sit in while the other one dried.

1:10pm - tee-tees in the potty before changing into a diaper for naptime. gets a gummy bear reward

3:00pm - wakes up. tries to potty, but has nothing. back in undies

3:20pm - gets another cup of koolaid

3:35pm - tells me he needs to go poo-poo, but tee-tees instead on the potty. we stay extra long to try & poo-poo, but to no avail. gets 1 gummy bear.

4:05pm - more koolaid.

4:20pm - tells me he needs to poo-poo, but again only tee-tees. try to get him to poop. gets 1 gummy bear.

4:55pm - tells me he needs to potty & tee-tees. still no poo-poo. gets 1 gummy bear

5:25pm - preemptive trip to potty. nothing.

5:40pm - another preemptive trip to potty and he tee-tees. gets 1 gummy bear.

6:15pm - has a partial accident (7) in the floor and finishes on the potty. gets 1 gummy bear

6:35pm - makes it through dinner.

6:55pm - preemptive trip to potty. tee-tees, and tries but still no poop. gets 1 gummy bear

7:25pm - tee-tees on potty before bath

7:45pm - tee-tees in potty after bath and then into a diaper for bed. gets 2 gummies for bathtime pottying. brush teeth.

So all in all: 7 accidents and 15 gummy bears. I should have chosen something healthier, but he is really working for these gummy bears! His love affair with gummies started at school. Whenever they would read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, his teachers would give them gummy bears. My mom used raisins with me and M&Ms with my brother. Some people use stickers. I think you go with what works! Gummy bears work for us. I don't see us potty trained by tomorrow, but definitely by the end of the weekend is a feasible goal!

Day 1 - PT Report

Jackson had one more accident today (for a total of 3), but he did wear a diaper for naptime and when I had to leave the house this evening. When we got home, he went tee tee in the potty (and said "take a picture of that!" Ha!), so I guess it is somewhat registering with him. My frustrations today stem from it seeming to not bother him at all when he has had an accident. I had to remind myself that he is used to diapers where he would feel wet some. I was also frustrated that I could not get him to drink very much! Tomorrow I am going to make Kool-aid or lemonade and see if he will drink that. He calls it "juice" and loves it because he almost never gets it or real juice, for that matter! I think he'll drink gobs of it and then need to go potty more.

This morning Jackson didn't want to put on undies unless Emme wore some too, so Emme sported some Thomas undies over her pj onesie! Hope she doesn't develop a complex or gender identification issues. ;)

She seemed ok with it at the time.

Cutest little derriere I've ever seen!

He forgot to pull up his undies before washing his hands.

Potty Training

We started potty training today, but as the day wears on, I'm not sure Jackson is ready. Before now, he has gone potty on the big potty a handful of times. He will occasionally tell us he needs to go potty, but more often tells us immediately after he has gone potty and wants a diaper change. I took him to buy his own potty chair - something I said I wasn't going to do, but our doctor said it was important for him to have the leverage with feet on the ground. I also felt he would have ownership of his potty if he got to pick it out & knew it was just for him! He is happy to sit on it, went poop in it before his bath last night (it was only a little bit, but we celebrate small victories!), and just finished a poop in it now. But so far, he has had 2 accidents since 9am. One while we were playing blocks in the floor. I kept asking him every 10 mins or so if he had poo poo or tee tee that needed to come out and he kept saying no. Then at 10:30, I went to pick Emme up to take her up for her nap and I stepped in a wet spot. I then felt Jackson's underwear and he was wet. I have no idea how long he had been wet - it could have been very long because he was climbing all over me just minutes before, but he never even cared that he was wet. So we went to the potty to try and do more. Nothing. So we got washed up a bit, changed underwear and went back to playing. I continued to ask him if he needed to go about every 10 mins. I gave him a salty snack at about 11:15 and a cup of water. At noon, I noticed him grunting a bit and I asked if he needed to go as I was feeling his underwear, he kind of whimpered and I said he could finish on the potty. He sat down and finished, but again I noticed that he had peed also and didn't tell me. It's like he doesn't care about being wet, so this leads me to think he is not ready. I know there have only been 2 accidents so far, but I still don't know. I guess only time will tell! Both times I have not been angry or scolded. I have said things like "You wanted to go potty in the potty, but forgot to tell Mommy. That probably makes you mad being wet. That's ok, we'll get you cleaned up. You'll get better!" Any suggestions? Pray that God will grant me patience!

Luke Michael January

Our sweet friends, Denise & Joel welcomed their second child, Luke Michael January into this world yesterday, July 6, 2010. Luke weighed 7 lbs 6.8oz and was 20 inches long. I haven't got to meet him yet (I stole that pic from FB), but plan on going today to snuggle that little man! I can't wait! Big Sister Abigail is so precious and so good with Emme so I know she will be a fabulous big sister to little Luke!

Congrats, Denise, Joel & Abigail! We love yall!

Our July 4th Weekend

Our 4th was very laid back.....With all the rain, our plans of attending the downtown fireworks display on the bayou were abandoned! I figured since the bayous were overflowing, sitting on the banks would be sort of soggy and the mosquitoes were probably the size of small horses! We the obligatory hotdog for lunch and then took naps. For dinner, we headed over to my parents' for some yummy BBQ ribs & chicken! Later that night we headed over to the race track to watch their fireworks display. It took forever to start, but was worth it in the end!

Pics from our day:

Jackson wasn't playing along!

J was all hyped up on tons of sugar & was SO sweaty!

Emme slept in the truck for about 20-30 minutes.

Being silly with YaYa

The bow came off to reveal cRAzY hair!

Watching the fireworks

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July 5th - We went to the beach, only to get home and hear that tar-balls had been found at Galveston. Luckily, we did not see any! The kids had a blast! Aaron & I are a little crispy, but not too bad. On the way home, we stopped at Gabby & PaPa's for a much needed shower & some homemade icecream ! We ate dinner at a new mexican restaurant that got mixed reviews and then came home!

Emme mad her milk is gone

On to water!

Fresh out of the ocean - the deeper we went, the tighter

he clutched Aaron. He LOVED every minute of it

and didn't want to play on land!

I took this pic of J making sandcastles AND

of the weirdo, shirtless, hairy chested man

in jeans & boots

Aaron's sunburn includes a Jackson print!

I hope everyone had a fabulous 4th! Thanks to all the men & women that serve to defend our country and make our fun weekends possible!

Jackson's 1st Movie

Last night, my parents kept Emme while we took Jackson to see his first movie in the theater! We went to see Shrek Forever. I had told him all day we were going to go see Shrek and he kept thinking we were going to Shrek's house, ha! Anyway, I explained that we were going to watch the Shrek movie on a really big TV. He was so excited! On the way to the theater, we talked about how it is ok to say things to Mommy & Daddy, but we have to whisper so we don't disturb others. We told him it was ok to laugh, but to only talk in whispers. Well, we learned that Jackson doesn't really have an "indoor" voice! He was generally quiet, but there was this one part when the whole theater got quiet and then you hear Jackson scream "Donnnnnkeey!" It was so funny! He did really great though - he only got the tiniest bit restless toward the end, but even then he just got out of his seat to sit in Aaron's lap and then once again to sit in mine. So I think Despicable Me and Toy Story 3 are definitely in his future!

Jackson ate his popcorn (I put it in a snack trap so he didn't drop all of it) & M&M's. I did take a flash picture of him during the movie, but I only took one and there were only 3 people behind us that didn't seem to care! ;)

Children's Museum

Yesterday, Ashley & I took the kids to the Children's Museum. It was the perfect day to go since it rained in some form all day long! Jackson was finally old enough to really play in the Kidtropolis area. This is a small city inside the museum with banks, diners, a grocery store, a veternary clinic, an ambulance and a police car. The kids can work, shop, eat, etc at all of the places and if they work, they get a "paycheck" afterwards that they can take to the bank or ATM and deposit. When they shop, they use their credit card to pay for their food or groceries, etc. Jackson liked looking at the ambulance, but didn't want to put on the scrubs or use the defibrilator or anything, so we moved on to the veternary clinic. He weighed & examined a stuffed bunny and a cat, then got his $20 paycheck and went to the grocery store.

At the store, we got a basket and he went shopping. He wasn't having any part of the apron at checkout, but he did find the banana, grapefruit and fish on the touchscreen cash register before we heard Emme erupt in tears. She was waiting out front with Ashley and apparently did not find it amusing that the fruit in the bins wasn't real!

Then we went to the Tot Spot and there both kids were free to roam, climb, and imagine to their hearts' content! Emme was definitely in her element with all the climbing! Jackson got to exert lots of energy and play with kids his age. That helped him not be so rough with Emme later in the day!

When Emme showed signs of being sleepy, we loaded her up in the stroller and went to the Water Works area. Jackson immediately wanted a boat to play with in the HUGE water tables. I also taught him about dams. There was this one area where you could dam up the water and then turn a wheel and the water would come rushing out. He liked this area most of all, I think!

Last, we went to the Vietnam area. This teaches about Vietnamese culture. There were musical instruments, dragon & paper lantern decor, fishing boats where you could haul in a load of fish in a net, along with historical facts on the walls. It was pretty cool - Jackson is really into dragons & dinosaurs right now, so he liked it. He didn't want to get up near the dragon's head, but was happy to pet the body! He tried eating the fish, shrimp, and coconuts on the fishing boat. Ewww! Everybody and their dog has prolly had their mouth on those. Ick and double ick!

Please ignore the talking-while-smiling fake smile on my face!

As we were leaving, Jackson saw this train and HAD to have his picture next to it!

After that, we called it a day and went to grab real lunch! Mason Jar - yummmm! Thanks, Ashley for braving Hurricane Alex's effects with us! We had fun! Sad I didn't get many pics with you in them! Next time....