An Update

I know, I've been MIA lately, but have been busy with work and not diligent with the blog. I'll try to give a quick update.

It's been about a month since we've started potty training Boogs. For the most part, I would say she is potty trained. She still has an accident once in a while, but she has been sleeping through the night without an accident for about the past 2 weeks! (YAY!)

We took maternity pictures last week with Joey from jkhphoto and can't wait to see pics from the shoot!

I'm at 38 weeks with Baby #2 and SO ready for this baby to get here already! My doctor thinks she'll be early, so we're all hoping for sometime this week...we'll see.

Over the weekend, we were in Lynden celebrating our Pake & Beppe (Grandpa & Grandma in Dutch)'s 60th wedding anniversary. It was a great time for family and sharing in the legacy Pake & Beppe created. Here's a pic of all of the great grandchildren...I think there are still some missing if you can believe that!

Family Vacation

July 29 - August 2 was our annual family vacation with Yobes' family. I was a little (okay, a LOT) worried since we had just started Boogs on potty training and I wasn't sure how she would be in a different environment (as well as doing things during the day she's not used to doing, not getting her normal naps and going to bed late because of having too much fun with her cousins).

I was pleasantly surprised when she did so well! I think it was the combo of her best buddy, Noah, potty training at the same time (and giving each other high-five's when the other went on the toilet) and her sleeping in her pack & play that made the vacation/potty training easy. In the 5 days, she only had 1 accident during the night and 2 accidents during the day. I hope it lasts!

The vacation was just what we all needed. Some time away with family, enjoying the WA coast. It was chilly, but nice and relaxing. The one day we finally took her out to the beach, she started charging towards (and into) the water! She LOVED it even though it was freezing cold and did not want to leave.

Boogs cheesin' it up!

The 3 kids...soon to be 5!

Yobes chasing Boogs as she runs fearlessly into the ocean!

Two Dry Nights!

Since Boogs was waking up twice a night for the past several nights, I decided to try to wake her up to go potty during the night. The first night, I woke her up when I was headed to bed (about 3 hours after she goes down for the night). I snuggled her and asked her if she needed to go potty. In her groggy, still sleeping little voice, she said, "yeah, mommy." #1, success! Around 4:30am, I heard her through her monitor rustling around, so i woke her up and took her again...#2, success! Both times she went back down without a fuss. Wow, our first dry night since potty training!

The next night, I tried to wake her up when I was headed to bed and when I took her to the bathroom, she said, "no potty, mommy." So I put her back down, keeping my fingers crossed that she wouldn't wet her underwear. Then Yobes tried waking her up around 2am, but she again said no. I think I was only half-sleeping the whole night because I was expecting her to wake up wet, but she woke up dry again! I was so happy and proud! I hope this streak continues!

3-Day Potty Training

With all the changes and transitions we've been putting Boogs through the past couple of weeks, we thought why don't we try potty training as well? I really wanted her to be potty trained by the time the 2nd baby came, but thought it would be really nice to have her trained before our family vacation at the end of this month. I've asked my cousins/sister-in-law about what they did, they all referred me to 3-Day Potty Training. I was skeptical at first, but thought, "what do I have to lose?" Here's how our experience went:

Day 1

Yobes and I took the day off on Friday to commit to the 3-day potty training. The book recommends that we don't leave the house for the full 3-days and have an eye on your child (pretty much 24/7) at all times. I'm not gonna lie - by the middle of the first day, there were many accidents, lots of frustration and a kid that had no intention of telling mommy & daddy if she needed to potty. At one point, Boogs straight up squat right in front of us and proceeded to pee in her underwear. That's when I lost it. I felt like a complete failure and took my frustration out on Yobes. After my little meltdown, I remembered the book saying whatever you do, keep it up - that all of the sudden, something will just click and they'll just "get it." Before we knew it, we were playing together, stuffed inside her Dora tent when she looked up and said, "potty please." Yobes and I looked at each other, looked back at Boogs and asked, "potty?" "Yesh." So we rushed her to the toilet and sure enough, she peed! It was such a reassuring, proud moment! The rest of the night went well and I just hoped that Day 2 would go much better.

Day 2

Last night was tough. Boogs woke up a couple times having already wet her underwear. It was so easy when she was in a diaper - she wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night even if it soaked through to her clothes, but for some reason, with only underwear on, she wakes up from just a litle bit of pee. During the day went MUCH better for Boogs. She went in the toilet several times and the only time she had an accident was when she went poopoo.

Day 3

Boogs woke up twice again last night. Even though this has only been going on a couple days, it's been discouraging. For some reason, potty training in my mind was going to be a perfect 3-day program and Boogs was going to get it right away. I never considered poop and nighttime being any different. Umm...WAKE UP! Of course in a perfect world (AKA: my mind) Boogs is using full-on sentences saying, "Mommy, I need to go to the potty, please," but I also know that I oftentimes set my expectations too high (I'm working on this). I can't say that by the end of Day 3, Boogs was fully potty trained. So I'll leave this post somewhat hanging and give an update as we try to fine-tune her habits.