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The Great Potty Training Experiment- Part 1.

Well, after much hemming and hawing and putting things off, Alexander's renewed interest in the subject has finally sealed his fate. It might be a little 'early' and maybe this experiment will go down in the books as a dreaded "false start" but we had to give it a shot. He pretends that all his little people go potty all the time, and while he had the concept down months ago, he just wasn't mature enough to spend the time on the potty. But he's asked to go several times, and has learned to use his muscles to make things happen. So when he asked to do 'potty training' we decided just to go for it. Besides, I have the time now to commit to it before the little one arrives, and Alexander has been making a lot of differentiations between things that the baby will do and things that big boys do, so it just seemed to fit.

Prep:
So last Wednesday, I told Alexander that we would start potty training tomorrow. We went to the store to get a new potty for the downstairs (so we could have one on each floor), and some protective training pants (we call them bubble buns) so he could still get the cotton feel when we needed soak-thru protection (he already had some cotton training pants from Christmas), and of course the much anticipated POTTY TREATS! A big fan of Ezzo and Ezzo and the Parenting by the Spirit series, they suggested Potty Training 123. Which I've learned is a great deal like the "train in a day" book. I did not expect Alexander to train "in a day" which has turned out to be a very realistic expectation. But the concepts have been definitely worth the read!

Days 1-2- Thursday, Friday:
I will sum up these two days in one word: exhausting. Alex, though ecstatic about having Curious George train with him, and thrilled about the treats for staying dry not just making "tinkle" in the potty (which I thought would work really well with him, since sometimes he is so eager to please that he will sit on the potty indefinitely until he has some sort of drop to feel successful) I think got overly hyped about it all that he forgot how to make "tinkle" on the potty, and try as he might he couldn't make it work unless by chance. He had a couple of successes- probably enough to keep him keeping on. But needless to say we washed a great deal of clothes those two nights. He would sit on the potty for seemingly forever, then go as soon as he had his pants back on. We even had a fun episode in the basement where I let him run pants-free so he could get to the potty quickly if he needed to and wouldn't go in the cotton. But he sat right down on the bean bag to go... and did. We emptied out all the little Styrofoam balls to wash the cover, and Alexander (and Tatou) discovered that the static electricity made them very clingy and great fun to play in... The pictures do not do the situation justice. David and I could only laugh.

By Winkler World Online
On Saturday, February 28, 2009
At 8:39 PM
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Our Little Valentine

We had a lot of fun last week, delving into a bit of Valentine's bliss. On

Wednesday, Mama and Alexander made cookie dough and punched out a few dozen little heart cookies. He's always excited to get out the rolling pin and make the punches- the trickiest part, getting him to leave enough space between them and not punch on top of each other. Thursday, we pulled out our crafty-hats and made a few Valentines for the grandparents and for Papa too, of course. Mama threw a red sweater on Alex and took some spur-of -the-moment pics for our cards. We've found some really cute websites with a lot of fun and easy and free printable projects (FamilyFun.com and Wondertime) that worked out really well for our little cards, and

Alexander had fun gluing on the pictures & frames to scrapbook paper, and sticking all the stickers inside. He even did a bit of taping and more exciting gluing for a couple of little heart 'mobiles.' Friday, Nana joined us for some more cookie decorating fun, with Alexander doing most of the sprinkling and Nana doing most of the background frosting, and Mama playing sprinkle/cookie police, and Papa being our official cookie taster. Though as you can tell, Alexander also had a modest sampling of cookies and sprinkles alike. We had made a very special super-big heart shaped cookie that we decorated last. It turned out that Alexander decided that he was going to simply dump all the rest of the sprinkles from the plates and little dishes onto this one cookie, and then smooth it out by wiping his finger through the frosting. "Yummmm" said Papa taking a rather crunchy bite a couple of days later. So it was a very fun and festive week.

Nana so kindly took Alexander for a sleepover on Valentines night to give Mama and Papa a date-night. Nana took Alexander to a wedding at church, and he was very excited about that because he has his "bide en goom" people in the basement that he likes to play with. When he asked if Mama and Papa were going to the wedding too, Mama told him that no, Papa and Mama were going on a date "to be romantic" and Alexander said he wanted to be 'wo-man-tik too." It was very cute. We told him that the wedding would be very romantic, and he seemed to accept that. But we had a lovely baby-free evening which we spent lingering over cheesecake and coffee and parusing Barnes and Noble for a couple of hours which we haven't done for probably at least two years or so. We even got to sleep in on Sunday morning. Thank you Nana!

By Winkler World Online
On Sunday, February 15, 2009
At 9:07 PM
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Olympic Hopeful: 2024

This year, Grammy and Grandpapa came with us to our annual Tumblerific event at Infinity Gymnastics. There were a few little tykes this year, so they opened a new area of the gym specifically for them. It was absolutely perfect for Alexander. Mats, tunnels, slides, rings, a climbing wall, trampolines, and fun pictures on the wall- all just for them. And Alexander lost no time flashing his talents and skills. He scaled right up the climbing wall and spent some quality time on the slide. He even impressed the coach on the rings the way he picked up his legs to swing instead of just dropping them back like most kids do. He had good times hopping with Grandpapa down the tumbletrack, and later just watching the 'big guys' compete in the obstacle course. At the end, Papa and even Mama and Sam all climbed in the foam pit for Alexander and little David to do some jumping-in. It was a fun evening for friends, for family and all the active running, hopping, giggles, and play that is so very Alexander.

By Winkler World Online
On Sunday, February 08, 2009
At 10:15 PM
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We Are American... Therefore We Watch...

"Woah Pizza!" | "You know, Papa- that call should have definitely been out!" | Into the game

It's a once a year event- the fact that we sit down in front of the TV and watch... football. Yes, for one day, even Serena embraces her Americanism and subjects herself to the raw glitzy commercialism of sport called the Superbowl. Mostly for the conversation, and the culture of it (as little as Serena would ever claim it as her own), and to do our democratic duty and vote on the commercials. Usually Serena does some sort of baking during the Superbowl. One year it was homemade biscuits, one year it was Creme Brûlée. This year we got completely American and ordered Dominoes Pizza and Frosty's from Wendys, with a side of fries for Alexander. It was a royal, last minute affair when at 5:15 we hopped in the car to pick up our game-eats. "Are you ready for some football??" shouts Papa. The little giggly "yessss" from the backseat never quite mimics the enthusiastic "Yeah!!!" we were trying to train him to say.

Now, you must understand that Alexander absolutely loves French Fries. And in spite of the fact that this is indeed a very rare treat, if you drive through any kind of window and place an order, he'll call out from the backseat "Fries!! Fries for Zahzah!" He was devestated when we stopped at McD's during our Christmas day drive up north for a bathroom break and they were closed. "Fries are closed!" he repeats randomly at least a couple times a week. So we had to entice him a little bit. After we picked up the pizza we told him we were going to get a treat from a window just for him. In spite of all the clues we gave him, he couldn't quite get it. He might have recognized the golden arches, but we don't really do Wendy's so he was still stumped until David actually placed the order. Then he just completely lit up, and we couldn't get to the pick-up window fast enough. "Car go... Fries... go car!" he was calling as we waited out turn rather impatiently in line.

So we made it back with our thousands of calories just in time for kick-off. Alexander and Papa were so cute on the couch, Serena had to take a few dozen pictures and just so we don't get our child taken away, we will note that this is only the second time in his life he has eaten in front of the TV (the other being Obama's inauguaration), and he did eat a relatively healthy meal including vegetables to go along with his fries and a few bites of Papa's pizza. Alex watched the game for a few minutes past his meal while we shielded his eyes from the "drama" of the commercials. We explained to him that the guys wear lots of padding so they can crash into each other, run a little with a ball, and line up to crash into each other again. He thought it was pretty funny... then he went to play with his people and trains until bedtime.

In all it was a good game. We flicked between House and the game during the slow parts, when our Cardinals were behind (we always vote for the underdogs), but tuned in for the dramatics of the fourth quarter only to be disappointed, but happily so for spending our time on something that actually turned out to be pretty good in the end. Besides, Alexander could use a little more manly grunting and sport in his life. And a little Football once a year does an American good.

By Winkler World Online
On Monday, February 02, 2009
At 9:53 PM
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