Finally!

We have been working diligently with William to get him potty trained. It has been a trying task to say the least. I can't even begin to say how ashamed I have been that I have a 3 1/2 year old boy walking around in training pants. Every time I turn around I see one of my Facebook friends posting about their 2 year old being fully potty trained or even worse an 18 month old trying to get into it. I am wondering where I have gone wrong. I have every potty seat, underwear, disposable underwear, books, toys, bribery tools...all of it. What do I get? Nothing. Just a hard-headed boy pooping in his pants and me having to clean it all up. Fed up, irritated, powerless. That is how I felt. Well 2 days ago something changed. I saw William in a distance getting ready to hide so he can do his business in his trainers. I quickly snatched him up and asked him if he needed to go poopoo. He had "the look" that I know very well and he tells me "NO!" I calmly walked him into the bathroom and told him to try to go anyway. He sits on the potty and I close the door partially and told him I would let him have his privacy. I can hear him talking to himself. He then calls me in and tells me to look. Of course, as usual...nothing. I told him to try again. He then sits and says to me "and don't get up until you go poopoo". I smiled and agreed with him. About 45 seconds later he calls me back in and once again tells me to look. This time (for the first time) was different. There it was... He did it! He actually went poopoo in the potty!! I immediately high-fived him and praised him for doing a great thing. He didn't look all that happy but after he got cleaned up and washed his hands, he very proudly yelled through the house to the rest of the family that he poopooed in the potty like a big boy. Everyone was so happy and excited for him but we were still wondering if this was a one-time thing.

Well, the following day he voluntarily told me when he needed to go poopoo in the potty.  As a matter of fact, he went 3 times! I know TMI! We are so thrilled that he has met this milestone. I was beginning to think it would never happen! I guess all the rumors about boys being harder to potty train were very true. Patience and persistence were what was needed. I guess things happen when they are meant to happen. Go William! Another important step to becoming more independent. Now if only I would stop catering to him :)

Look! I have a chest!

Oh the things you hear coming out the mouth of little kids are very entertaining... William has been proving to us that he is full-fledged talker with a whole lot to say. He has been exhibiting curiosity and asks a lot of questions. One of the latest things  is he noticed that he has nipples. You will find him with his shirt hiked up and his finger over his teeny tiny nipple. His dad told him that boys have a chest. Of course Dwayne tries to keep things as manly as possible with his boy. This morning I was in my bedroom getting dressed after taking a shower. I always leave the door open a few inches just in case William needs me. He started yelling out to me "Bawbi, do you have your privacy?!" This is because I always tell him that girls need their privacy and he has to respect it. Well this time he stumbled over his feet and the door flies open. I am half naked and he looks at me in amazement with his bright eyes and says "Look Bawbi, you have TWO chests!" I quickly covered myself up and told him to get out...then I laughed myself silly! That little boy is too funny! At least I know he is listening SMH.

Pumpkin patch fun

Look very carefully in this photo and tell me what you notice.*Hint- look what is in his hand?

He just doesn't like looking at the camera.

This was the "punkin" he chose to purchase.

He looks like he is up to no good!

Meet Puppy

Little William has a best friend named Puppy. Puppy is.... a puppy. He got Puppy when he was a newborn from our neighbor. Of course Will had no interest in toys or stuffed animals for quite some time. About 6 months ago he really started to to show an interest in wanting to play with Puppy. Now Puppy gets included with all of his day-to-day activities. He travels in the car, he goes to the playground, he goes to the store and even into the bathroom.

 Yep, Puppy had been EVERYWHERE! Puppy became so filthy it wasn't even right. Every time I asked Will if I could give Puppy a bath he would say "Um, no thanks". He does not like parting with Puppy for any reason. Of course I was getting tired of seeing a blue puppy turn gray.

I had to be sneaky and throw Puppy in the washing machine when Will was watching Caillou. Of course he noticed that Puppy was missing after about 5 minutes. He searched high and low and called for Puppy throughout the house. It was so cute and funny at the same time. After about an hour I was able to reunite the two of them. I told Will to smell Puppy and he was all smiles :)

Is your little one attached to a particular toy or item?

Being like dad

Every time Dwayne is around William tends to want to hang around him and in some cases imitate his daddy. This can be a great thing and other times... it can be a very bad thing! Thankfully the good outweighs the bad and Will gets to learn a lot of things from his dad. Dwayne has taught him how to cast a line out in the water, catch a fish, take out the trash, throw a football and so many other neat things. I love when he sees his dad reading and wants to do the same. When I see the two of them together I realize how important a father's role is most especially for boys. After all, a boy can only learn how to be a man from a man.
Now some days Will takes his manliness too far. Yesterday I caught him pulling the cushions off the couch and destroying the family room so I asked him why he was doing that. He responds with "Go back in the kitchen and wash the dishes!" I tell you what, he is lucky he is so adorable or else.... Now you know Dwayne was proud and pulled the old "That's my boy!" Men!!!

Big Boys pee standing up. Yep.

If you are a regular reader you would know that I have been trying hard with my boy to get him potty trained. It has been hell quite a journey to say the least. We are not fully there but we are making progress. It seems like out of the blue William has figured out when he has to go to the potty. Dwayne has been working with him standing up to pee like a "big boy".

Apparently this has worked in helping him to want to go voluntarily. He is very fascinated by seeing and hearing what is going on when he goes to the big toilet. Now he says that he wants to go to the white potty and not the frog potty. Hearing the words "I need to pee pee" makes me a very happy mom! Now if only we can get him to do the rest of his business in the potty we will be straight!

Boys like fast cars!

We received this very cool Ferrari 458 Italia remote control car in red (Will's favorite color) from a great toy store called TrendTimes.com. The minute I put the batteries in and handed it over to my husband and son they were completely sucked in. It was amazing how fast that tiny car (7 inches) could go! Although William is a bit young for a remote control car, it did not stop him from enjoying himself. Even our dog got in on the action!

I was happy that the car came with the batteries in the box. This makes it a great gift idea since it would be ready to go! I also discovered that this car is very durable to be so small. Let's just say that it can withstand a 3 year old and I will leave it at that!! It also comes in a bigger size.

The bad part? I get nagged all day by the kiddo to "play race car"! I know William will get many hours of fun from his new car. I won't even get started on how much fun the husband had ;-)

Good manners make moms happy!

Some days William goes into overdrive when it comes to not listening to me, making a mess or being wild. Of course I take into consideration that his is only 3 and is also 122% boy. I let the little things slide with him... maybe it's that sweet smile or that special way that he says "pleeeeeease". One thing I will say that I get all day long from him are the words "thank you". He thanks me for everything... food, bathing him, taking him to the store, giving him his toy, brushing his teeth, getting him dressed... It doesn't matter how small it is, he thanks me. He even takes it the extra mile and requests a hug and kiss. This makes me feel so good to see that he is grateful for everything. It never gets old hearing him thank me and those sweet hugs and kisses are a bonus :)

Teaching geography

Every evening when Dwayne comes home from work he tries to make sure he does something with William. Whether it is reading a couple books, playing outside or just getting on the floor to play with blocks/toys it has become a part of the weekly routine. For the past week they have been putting together a wooden puzzle that is the map of the United States. We recently got this neat puzzle from eBeanstalk called the USA Sound Map Puzzle by Melissa & Doug. Although it is intended for ages 6+ it still seemed like a great way to teach Will about the United States of America. This puzzle is unique since it "talks to you". When you place the state in the correct space on the map it tells you the name of the state as well as the capital city. William's eyes lit up the first time he heard it.

Dwayne and William worked on it together and would complete it about 2 times each evening for the first few days. William has figured out where most of the pieces go on his own. It's amazing how intelligent a young mind can be. Dwayne even commented how much this puzzle has refreshed his memory of what a lot of the capital cities are as well as the exact location of some states you don't think about often. This is such a fun way to teach geography without it feeling like a lesson. I would absolutely recommend this to any parent with preschool aged children. We loved the durable wooden pieces since 3 year old kids can be a bit rough on their toys. This puzzle costs $24.99 but is worth every penny. We do have to store on a high shelf when it is not in use so a certain little boy will not lose any of the states :)

Does your child love to put together puzzles?

William's playground

Lately William has really been into going to the playground. Since it has been so hot out, it makes it harder to take him on a daily basis. The rare time of day that it is cooler is when the sports teams are playing so parking is scarce and the playground becomes way too crowded. We decided to get him his own swing set or as he prefers to call it "William's playground". We went with a smaller one since he is the only little one and also he still has the majority of the yard to run and play ball.

The good thing is we never have to leave home and we put it by a tree where we can get some decent shade for most of the day. I am also glad we can take potty breaks and get a cold drink when we need it. William is loving his new toy and it's a great way for him to get some of that boy-energy out. It really wears him out with all of that physical play so he sleeps very well at night (score!)

Dwayne and I put the swing set together and it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Of course there was that 30 minutes that was wasted trying to get the ladder rungs assembled. No matter how many times we tried, we just could not get the screws and nuts to connect. I then find a little bag of 4 screws so I decided to open them up. Good move~ turns out that the paper enclosed stated that the directions were not revised with the fact that you needed to use those specific screws and NOT the ones we struggled with for so long. You know Dwayne was rolling his eyes at me and will be talking about me for a long time to come since I was in charge of the instructions.

In the end, our boy is happy and so are we! :)

Wordless Wednesday

I am thinking about reusables

William has been potty training for several months now and it has been interesting. He has his good days where he will stay dry all day and even all night. Then he has those days that he just decides he will go in his pants. We have been using Huggies brand Pull-ups training pants. We tried a couple other ones but I like these the best and I find coupons more often for them. I have noticed something odd though. They have the regular ones and the overnight ones. I have found that the overnight ones are a little thicker which makes a lot of sense but they are cut shorter.

The training pants on the left are the regular and the overnight is on the right. If I use the overnight and he has a wet night, he wakes up soaked through to his pajamas. This does not happen when I use the regular ones. That makes no sense at all! I even get a couple less in the overnight pack. I am really thinking about purchasing the reusable trainers since it looks like this little dude will be taking his sweet time. Any suggestions?

I have learned my lesson

You see this adorable little boy in the picture? He's not so adorable when he is forced to sit in an auditorium that has no music playing or performances. Boring awards ceremonies just are not for him and the 3 other boys that had to be dragged out for being too "active". At least I got to see my Chardie get her award for being the top student for Spanish III Honors. I had to get up outta there and thankfully the high school has a nice courtyard area with a little pond. Next time he is staying HOME! Lesson learned!

William's new book | Rocket Town

We received the cutest new book for William called Rocket Town by Bob Logan. I took the book out of the package and handed it to him and he immediately said "rocket ship!" Look at that big grin! Lately William has shown a big interest in rockets so I knew this book would be right up his alley.

Rocket Town is a very cute board book that shows the adventures of an astronaut and his dog as they travel through where else~ Rocket Town! They encounter all kinds of rockets: a shark rocket, hot air balloon rocket and even a school bus rocket~ this totally fits in with a little one's imagination. There is a countdown at the end that is a big hit with William and he wants you to go back to it over and over again. It's a simple book great illustration.

William really loves pointing out all of his favorite rockets. I think this book is ideal for a little boy and makes a great gift for any occasion. I still prefer board books at this age since boys tend to be a little destructive!
You can purchase a copy of Rocket Town here.

A little about the Author and illustrator: Bob Logan has worked as a story artist on feature animations such as Madagascar and Open Season, as well as Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and is currently working on the upcoming Puss in Boots! Logan’s picture book, The Sea of Bath, charmed readers with fun and sweet illustrations, and Rocket Town will delight parents and children alike with colorful and imaginative rockets.

I received a book to review and no other compensation was received. All opinions are 100% mine as always!

Boys like to spit huh?

I have discovered over the past week that William enjoys spitting for no reason. He will make spitty sounds and start laughing. I am feeling like he is going back to the baby days. I try to get him to stop and he still does it. I can't figure out what caused him to start this. I had a couple men doing some home improvement work on my house and I asked them if their sons did it. They immediately said "oh yeah" Then they go on to tell me that it doesn't stop. Eww!! I was so disgusted! The girls never did anything like this so I guess it is a male species thing. Gosh, boys are some gruesome little creatures :p

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Check out William's hand shield against licking. He will tell Milo "No licking Miwo!"

What William loves

Every single morning when William wakes up he goes into my bedroom and looks through my window. He tells his daddy that he loves to throw rocks in the water and catch a fish. He repeats this at least 6 times.
Since the weather has warmed up, Dwayne takes him out in the backyard to the water to throw a few rocks and to toss the line in (with a live worm). William will swear that he caught a fish. Poor guy, the fish are not biting quite yet. Dwayne can't wait for the day William pulls up his first real fish. I can hear William now saying "FISH ON!" Hopefully we will be able to get a photo or video when that day comes. I have a feeling it will be soon.

I know I can't be the only one

So, we are in potty training mode with Will. He has not shown signs of readiness although he does go pee pee in the potty when you tell him to. He still wets his diaper during a nap and saturates it at night. I stop giving him anything in liquid form by about 5:00 and he still soaks a diaper overnight. I swear the kid is a pee pee machine. He is not a big drinker either. So what do I do? Am I pushing potty training to early? I don't even think Will can comprehend when he needs to go to the potty. He turns 3 at the end of March and I feel like such a loser mom. Please tell me that someone else has gone through this. I try not to always go with the theory that boys are harder or take longer than girls but it is really looking that way. Help please...

In "the lab" with dad

Please excuse the low quality photo but I just had to snap this one. You see Dwayne has a mini studio set up downstairs in his man room and William has been watching his daddy closely. It is not unusual to see Will talking into his Carmex tube or anything else that he can use as a pretend microphone. He saw his dad practicing a speech and Will said to Dwayne "Arriba!" and he goes straight for the mic and chats away. It is so funny when you play his voice back on the computer. His face lights up at the sound of his own voice.