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.

Bean Dip

I thought it would be fun to add a Food section to the blog. Not that I'm a great cook, but I try to find some quick and easy recipes that require little to no work on my part, but taste delicious (at least that's what Yobes tells me and he better not be lying!). So first up, we have Bean Dip. I've used this recipe many times for potlucks, game nights, BBQ's, etc and it's always a hit. So next time the Superbowl is on or if you have a BBQ to go to (now that summer has FINALLY decided to arrive here in Seattle), try this out and see what your critics think!

Bean Dip

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground meat (beef or turkey)

1 can refried beans

1 onion - diced

1 can corn - drained

1 - 2 cups salsa (to taste)

Shredded cheddar cheese (lots...to taste)

Directions:

Cook meat and drain fat. Add onions and saute 2 - 3 minutes. Add refried beans and combine (I like to mash the beans down so it's more of a creamy consistency). Add salsa (as much/little as you want. I use the salsa to determine the thickness of the dip, so I tend to use about 2 cups because I don't like it as thick) until well incorporated. Add corn and combine. Add shredded cheese on top and stir in until melted (I use a lot because like himself, Yobes likes things cheesey).

Enjoy! :)

4th of July

For our 4th of July festivities, we went over to our friends Rich & Kim's place for a potluck and had a GREAT time! The uncles didn't disappoint with their fireworks show and surprisingly, Boogs did really well with all the loud booms and cracks!

All wrapped up...it was COLD out!

Her mischeivious little grin...up to no good! (what's up with her hair?!)

The ladies and babes

Our family...with 1 more on the way!

Too Good To Be True

It's true...some things are too good to be true. Boog's near perfect sleep habits took a turn today. Just as I was bragging about how she stayed in bed while falling asleep as well as stayed in bed talking to herself while waking up, she figured it out...she can get out of bed and open her door. I was hoping this day would never come, but I guess I was only kidding myself. So tonight, I laid her down and listened to the monitor. She was talking and singing to herself for the first 5 minutes or so. After that, I hear silence followed by a, "Hah (hi) mommy!" Except this sounded much closer than what I can normally hear through her monitor when she's STILL IN BED. I walked towards the stairs to make my way to her room and saw my poor little girl clinging onto the gate we set up in front of her door. It was the cutest, saddest, sweetest thing ever. However, trying to put her down after that was NOT fun. It took her about an hour to get really tired (normally she's out like a light after I put her down). Needless to say, this mama was TI-RED and now have a much greater appreciation for mom's that struggle with fussy babies at night. Hopefully she gets over the whole "freedom" feeling and starts sleeping better cuz' I don't know how much more I can handle once Baby #2 arrives!

Oh No!!! Too Much!

It has been a couple days since we took Boog's papi away and although each night she has gone down fussing, the time she fusses is getting shorter and shorter. Last night it was only 5 minutes. Hopefully she'll completely forget about it soon.

Today, I went for a walk during work and as always, called my mom to see how Boogs was doing. I asked how long she slept and if she's been eating well (the two things I always ask). My mom said she ate VERY well and that Boogs said the funniest thing today. She said after she ate, she went poop (these are the things that get you excited once you become a parent. All you moms out there - you know you took a picture of the poop the first time your little one went on the toilet, don't lie!). Apparently, she went a LOT. So my mom cleaned her up and was hanging out with her in the living room when she noticed she was standing there with a strained look on her face. She thought Boogs might be trying to go poop again, so she knelt down beside her and made the straining face/noise to which Boogs mimicked - turning redfaced and all. After a couple minutes, she stopped, patted her butt and said, "Oh no!!! Too much!" When my mom checked her diaper, sure enough she had gone poop again and apparently Boogs thought it was "too much!" haha! My mom was rolling on the ground laughing and all Boog did was have a proud smirk on her face knowing she'd done herself proud!

What a little rascal - I love that girl!

Big Girls Don't Need Papis

With all the changes Boogs has been going through, we decided to also take her papi (pacifier) away. This is something I've wanted her to kick around 12 months, but just couldn't get myself to do it when it helped her go to sleep in .2 seconds. At least she's attached to a papi and not her thumb...you can take a papi away, but you can't take a thumb away.

So tonight, I put her down saying, "Big girls don't need papis. Boogs go ni-ni, okay? Mommy loves you" I shut the door behind me and left, listening intently through the monitor. At first she was fine. Talking to herself and singing, but after a couple minutes...BLOODY MURDER. I listened through the monitor as my heart ached from cries that I hadn't heard in a LONG time. I remember when we first started to sleep train Boogs. Yobes asked me if we should get her after a couple minutes and as much as my heart broke to hear the shrilling cries coming out of such a little thing, I told him, "unless your boobs are making milk and you're gonna get up to feed her in the middle of the night, we're doing it my way." He shut up real quick and before we knew it, we had a 7 week old that had slept her first stretch of 7 hours during the night (and it only got longer from there). I remembered those days and thought if I just let her cry it out for 15 minutes, she'll be okay. I went to check on her 15 minutes later. Mid-cry, Boogs looked up, "Mommy," and laid back down as I rubbed her back. Now that she was in her big girl bed, I laid down next to her and within 10 seconds, she was out. I think the crying wore her out so when she saw me, she was comforted - forgetting the comfort she used to get from her papi.

So first night without a papi, not so easy but not too bad either. I think it'll still take a little bit for her to get used to going down without one, but 15 minutes isn't all that bad all things considered.

No More Baba

With the sleep transition going so well, Yobes and I thought it was time we took the bottle away from Boogs. We tried this once before and it went really well, except she got sick. Sick to the point where she wasn't eating for several days and since she was off the bottle, wasn't even getting milk. When we took her to the pediatrician, they said not to worry about the not eating part but if she isn't getting milk, as much as they hate to advise this, to try to give her milk from a bottle again. So at 16 months, we gave her the bottle again and just haven't taken it away again ever since. She has never really been a fan of the sippy cup, so I was concerned that she wasn't going to get enough milk, but the ped told us that her milk intake will decrease while she's getting used to not having a bottle around. Soon enough she'll realize that she's not getting it and will get more used to drinking out of a sippy. So today, we took it away cold turkey and she's been okay. The main thing I was worried about was Boogs not getting her bottle before bedtime. This is her normal routine, but she didn't get it tonight. She went down fine, so I hope she doesn't remember and ask for it later!