Time for Undies!

Dear Connor,

Potty training you has been a long, long, looooong process. That is partially my and Daddy's fault. Having heard so many potty training horror stories from other parents (Constant trips to the bathroom? Puddles of pee everywhere? Cleaning poop out of underwear? No thank you!), we didn't even attempt to potty train you until you were two-and-a-half (some parents start when their kids are 18 months, those overachievers!). You first sat on the potty back at the end of November of last year and that is initially all you did--you sat on it. It took 10 days before you actually peed while you were sitting on the potty and when you finally did, you thought you'd done something wrong and said, "Oh no! Yellow!" when you saw the pee in the toilet.

Daddy and I cheered for you and rewarded you with a Thomas the Tank Engine sticker when you peed in the potty, but a month went by and you didn't pee in the potty again, not even once. Uncle Tony had given you the Cheer For Me potty I'd mentioned in the last post so we tried using it instead of the big potty; maybe you would be more comfortable on a smaller potty and be encouraged by the fact that the Cheer For Me cheers and sings every time you go in it (a hilarious feature, by the way!). And you did go in it a couple times, but then you just stopped. One time, you were sitting on it when you suddenly had to pee but instead of peeing in the potty, you jumped up, started crying, held in your pee and refused to go in the potty. When you couldn't hold it any longer, you ended up peeing on the floor--and on my feet. Ew. 

We switched you back to the big potty in the bathroom (you couldn't hop off of it as easily and we wouldn't have the "lovely" task of cleaning pee and poo out of the potty seat) and put you on it many, many times. Sometimes you peed and pooped; sometimes you didn't. Sometimes you had no problem going in it; sometimes you cried and refused to go in it. Cheering for you, giving you Thomas stickers, rewarding you with M&M's--nothing really worked consistently. But then, but then. In April of this year, you started peeing every time we put you on the potty. And by June, you were completely potty trained for poop--you no longer pooped in your diaper but said, "I have to poop!" every time you had to and waited until you were on the potty to go. I was so proud! (By the way, I didn't take any photos of your first pee or poop in the toilet like some parents do, so if you wanted to see that, well, too bad). 

You were still frequently peeing in your Pull-Ups, though, so everyone--my mommy friends, PoiPoi, even your teacher at camp--told me that I had to put you in underwear to complete the potty training process. But puddles of pee everywhere! Cleaning poop out of underwear! I don't want to deal with that! I don't have time to deal that while taking care of your sister, too! But I would like to potty train you by the time you are 3 (and your birthday is literally five days away) so I did it, I bit the bullet and put you in underwear today. You were visibly excited about this:

I was expecting the worst, but you only had one accident today (it was while Daddy was yelling at you after you'd done something bad, so he probably scared the pee out of you!) and even told me that you had to go pee three times. You are a potty training rock star!

Love,

Mom

Remember That?

Dear Connor,

I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning so it amazes me how much your almost-3-year-old brain can recall. A few days ago, you were on the potty and asked me, "You remember I poop downstairs? In the smile potty?" When I first started potty training you way back in January, you used the Cheer For Me potty seat that Uncle Tony gave you. I put it downstairs in the living room and it did indeed have a smiley face on it:

You only used it for a couple days before I just made you sit on the big potty in the bathroom (because cleaning out the Cheer For Me seat every time you used it was gee-ross!) so I'm surprised you still remember it. 

And then about a month ago, we were driving by the Brooklyn Bridge and I told you, "Connor, that's the Brooklyn Bridge. When you get older, we'll walk across it." We drove by the bridge again today and this time you pointed it out first, saying, "You see that bridge? When I get older, we can walk across it?" Wow! It makes me wonder what things from your childhood now you'll recall later when you're older.

Love,

Mom

New Shoes

Dear Connor,

Funny things you did this past week:

-You and I were eating toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch when someone rang our doorbell. I went to answer the door and when I came back to the table, I discovered that you had pulled apart my sandwich, eaten all of the cheese and left the chewed-up pieces of bread on my plate. Um, thanks.

-When I asked you if you wanted to go to the bookstore to get a book, you replied, "Yeah! The biggest book in da whole world! The biggest book I ever seen that!"

-Your sister has recently started sitting up on her own, so I get excited and cheer for her when it happens. You want in on this action, so sometimes when I'm cheering for your sister, you plop down on the floor, sit straight up and say, "I'm sitting up, too!"

-When I give Mochi a treat, I tell him, "Sit! Paw!" And you want in on this action, too. When I diced an apple for you, you knelt down in front of me and said, "Say 'paw' to me!" I said it and you raised your left hand up in the air and waited for me to put a piece of apple in your mouth. After I did, you walked around on your hands and feet like a dog. True story!

We went over to your cousin Madison's house today and you and Madison were playing in her room when you suddenly emerged wearing a seriously hot pair of heels:

I love it!

Love,
Mom

Bigger and Bigger

Dear Connor,

You were sitting on the potty today when you looked down and shouted, "Mommy, my penis is getting bigger!" Another classic penis quote :P

Love,
Mom

Too Kwoo

Dear Connor,

Every day, I am amazed by how extensive your vocabulary and conversational skills have become over the past year. You know what a dodecahedron is, for goodness sake (thank you, Team Umizoomi!). And when you turned two years old, your most impressive sentences were phrases like "Connor do it" and "take off my bib." Then you gradually started stringing sentences and thoughts together, such as "It's dark in here. Turn on the light, Mommy." And now as an almost-three-year-old, you and I can have lengthy conversations about anything from freight trains to chicken nuggets.

That being said, you can't yet pronounce certain words and it's hard for some people to understand what you're saying, so I've prepared a few translations:

noosic = music
sil-duh-wul = cereal
acahdo = avocado
it's so kwoo = it's so cool
Ow-ex = Alex
Ehw-in = Erin
Wie-wah = Lila
Izzabit = Elizabeth
wahwipop = lollipop (so yeah, the letter l completely escapes you!)
hossible = hospital
amulence = ambulance

Hehe :)

Love,
Mom

Crazy Love

Dear Connor,

You and I had this exchange today:

Me: Connor, you have been whining for the past hour! Can you please stop? You're driving me crazy!
You [slightly whimpering]: You love me?
Me: Of course I love you, but you're driving me crazy.
You [still sad]: You love me?
Me: Yes, I love you.
You [now smiling]: I love you.

Love,
Mom

Rise and Shine

Dear Connor,

Lazy Sundays of sleeping in until noon--there was a time when those existed for me. Now, you often walk into my bedroom at 6am on a Sunday morning, poke me in the face and shout, "Wake up, Mommy! Don't sleep! Open your eyes!" Fun!

And it's even more fun when you follow that up with, "It's wet," referring to the fact that your pajamas are soaked in pee because you wet the bed.

*sigh*

Love,

Mom