Today marks two weeks since we've started potty training Norah. What a monumental sentence, as all parents of toddlers will understand. Potty training is definitely hard, hard work! It takes a lot of commitment and consistency. (Norah was 26.5 months, in case anyone was wondering, but not that there is one perfect age.)
Norah's potty training journey was thankfully fairly easy. Norah has been poop trained since about 20 months, mostly on her own. At first, we could just definitely tell when she was pooping, then she started to tell us after she pooped because she didn't like the feeling. A couple times I thought I would just try to sit her on the potty when she made her "poop face" and she went! Soon after she started telling us when she had to poop, and it was smooth sailing after that. I fully understand that pooping on the potty can be a big issue and normally is the harder thing to tackle, so I don't know why it was easy for Norah, but I'm very thankful it was.
Pee was different for her, on the other hand. She would occasionally pee on the potty, but it was just a fluke if she happened to be going poop. Her diaper could be so full it was sagging off her and it wouldn't bother her a bit. I tried just underwear one morning right before her second birthday, to see what happened or if she would be one of those magical kids who peed on the floor once and never wanted to do it again, but she didn't really understand or care. She realized that she peed on the floor, but it didn't really bother her or make her stop doing it. I wondered if she was ready when I tried that, but this time I knew she was ready and was way more committed. I knew she was ready because she was so consistently pooping on the potty, she is very verbal and is able to talk about what's going on in the bathroom, and she started leaking out of her diapers more, so I knew she was holding it for longer periods and then releasing more at one time.
Before Norah, I used to work in a preschool, one year in a two-year-old room and two years in a three-year-old room. I don't even remember how many kids I helped potty train that year in the twos room, but it was a lot. Because of that, people ask me a lot of questions about potty training, assuming that I must have amazing techniques. While I don't claim to be a pro by any means, here are a few potty training tips I have:
1. I know it can be hard to tell exactly, but try to figure out if your child is ready to start. Do they stay dry for a longer period of time? Is it obvious that they are pooping or do they try to hide to poop? Are they interested in sitting on the potty? There's no perfect checklist to tell when they are ready exactly, but I think it's best to wait if they absolutely do not want to sit on the potty (forcing them will not help), or if they go on the floor/in their pants and are completely clueless about it.
2. Pull-ups are not magic. They are just another diaper. I literally had a couple parents believe that because they bought their child pull-ups, that the potty training process was magically starting even without them doing anything. A pull-up functions the same as a diaper. The only positive feature I see is that you can pull them up and down, but if you're going to be practicing that and using the potty anyway, you don't need pull-ups.
3. Before starting potty training with Norah, I read the book Oh Crap! Potty Training by Jamie Glowacki. I had heard good things about it, and was curious as to what it said. I think it was helpful, but I wouldn't say it was a necessity. She emphasized the potty training progression, from clueless, to I peed, to I'm peeing, to I need to go pee, which I thought was helpful. She also talked about potty training in blocks, starting with going naked (at least on the bottom) at first, then moving to lose pants (without underwear), and lastly adding underwear once they've got the first two. I liked that too, because I didn't realize there was such a distinction between naked and underwear. I always heard to go naked first, but I initially thought that wearing just underwear was virtually the same. It's not, because underwear still gives a tighter, protective feeling around the area, just like a diaper did. So, I would highly recommend that pattern, and go naked first, and then gradually build up to underwear! (Also, if this is not obvious, the first several days are incredibly demanding. You need to clear your schedule and be able to devote lots of time to it if you want it to work! As you begin to venture out, start with small trips where you know there will be child friendly bathrooms nearby.)
Monday, January 30, 2017
Potty training tips and gear.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Swimming fun with Daddy!
Monday, January 23, 2017
Twins- Third Trimester #1.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Chuck E. Cheese's.
Monday, January 16, 2017
Missional motherhood.
A repost from my instagram recently:
It can be easy to forget how missional motherhood really is in the midst of all the "doing" and "caring" that needs to be done, but I never want to forget how important it is. Today I stopped and watched Norah copying me with her play iron as I was ironing, and I was overwhelmed at how much influence I (and Kley) have over her young life. We pray and read a Bible story in our bed at night before bringing her to her bed, and she's been asking us to pray again in her own bed. I know it's basically a stalling tactic, but I'll never say no to another prayer, and I love praying out loud over her that I hope she grows up to love Jesus, serve Him with all her heart, and show His kindness to those around her. May I never take for granted the sweet blessing of raising one of His own.
Friday, January 13, 2017
Can we love two more?
I am truly thankful to be pregnant and am incredibly grateful that God chose us to parent TWO more babies, but being pregnant the second time is different than the first for me. I worried about how to be a good parent when we were pregnant with Norah, but the ecstatic wonder about simply having a baby was more overpowering the first time around, because there's beauty in the naivety! I now know how hard it is to have a baby, and children in general, but I also know the deep, heart moving love that comes along with it. It's so worth it!
This time around, I find myself worrying about how we could possibly love more babies like we love Norah. I know we will and it will just happen, but I worry about it sometimes. Especially at night- there is definitely power in the light! The correlation between spiritual light and darkness is very neat, I think. Satan loves to use the darkness of night to make things seem more scary, more lonely, more intense, more overwhelming. I'm so tired, yet sometimes I still lay awake at night wondering what, if any, baby items are out there that we absolutely must get immediately. I wonder how I will meet three different children's needs. I wonder how I will handle it when I feel overwhelmed. I'm scared to feel like were just in survival mode, but I know it will be only temporary. What if they all need something at the same time? How will I be able to spend time with them individually? How can I foster three different personalities? What if Norah struggles with not getting as much attention? I feel like Norah and I have a good groove, and I'm scared to mess that up.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who worries about these things, and I know that these issues will come up. But I also know that He will provide the strength, patience, and grace that we need just when we need it.
Matthew 6:34- Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Philippians 4:6-7- Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
I find peace in that nothing is shocking to God. He always knew these babies and He always knew that they would be ours. He chose us specifically to be their parents, and I need to remind myself of that when I wonder what He was thinking in picking us.
I'm sure in some things we will have double the hardship, but I know we can do it, because I also know how wonderfully rewarding parenting is, and we get to do it doubly this time around. I don't know how, but somehow our hearts will just grow to love three. With how much we already love Norah, I may just burst by loving more.
Dear Mama who's twisted about having another baby
(Also, unrelated, but over New Years, Kley and I got to go to Omaha for the weekend, just us! It was a wonderful babymoon filled with lots of eating, ice cream, movies, shopping, and a couples massage! It was great to spend some alone time together before these babies come, and a huge thanks to Kley's parents for watching Norah!)
(I actually wrote this post a couple weeks ago, and was just letting it sit as a draft thinking about it, and Kley any I actually talked about this last night after another ultrasound. Just talking about it it so helpful! We both said the same thing- we know it will be so worth it and we know we will love them so much when we see their little faces and hold them, but sometimes it's easier to be overwhelmed when you can't picture it yet. Obviously we love them now, but it's different when you are actually holding them. We know they will fit into our family so perfectly, just like Norah did, but we can't see it fully yet. So, as scary as it is, bring it on! Can't wait to hold these sweet little loves.)