Potty Training 101

Since I'm home all day and am still changing 3+ diapers a day...I thought I'd look into potty training a bit. I remember before I had a kid I used to tell myself "When my kid turns 1, he's getting on the pot, and that's it." Well apparently it's not that easy!

So I decided to look up 'How to know when your kid is ready to potty train.' And my favorite site babycenter.com gave me some handy dandy tips on how to know when this marvelous way of life would be upon us. Well as it turns out....Jaxen is not ready. So sayeth the babycenter potty training checklist.

What's on this 'how you know' checklist, you ask? Well here we go:

PHYSICAL SIGNS
1. Is coordinated enough to walk, and even run, steadily. Yes, yes and yes. Jaxen sprints most everywhere in the 'you can't catch me' fashion, but it's not real coordinated.

2. Urinates a fair amount at one time. I'm sure he does. However I've never made him pee in a cup and measured it. How would one know the real answer to this???

3. Has regular, well-formed bowel movements at relatively predictable times.
Hmm...I would say a big fat NO to this one. Constipation has plagued Jaxen since day one. Laxatives, prune juice, suppositories...nothing supersedes this kids bowels. The poo does NOT know the password to get out. So when it does manage to 'break free' it's not regular, it's not well-formed and it's never predictable...unless you call a blowout of epic proportions at 6 am every 3-4 months predictable.

4. Has "dry" periods of at least three or four hours, which shows that his bladder muscles are developed enough to hold urine. If I wait 4 hours to change this kids diaper...he'll give new definition of the 'soggy bottom boys' we all loved from O Brother, Where Art Thou?

BEHAVIORAL SIGNS
1. Can sit down quietly in one position for two to five minutes. Hahahahhahahah. Is this a joke???

2. Can pull his pants up and down. Well after I read this...I decided I'd see if Jaxen was able to do this. The short answer is no. The long answer is....after pulling my pants up and down 15 times to demonstrate to Jaxen how it's done...no. He does know how to give himself a wedgie though. Does that count?

3. Dislikes the feeling of wearing a wet or dirty diaper. He dislikes getting his diaper changed...so I'd say he quite enjoys wearing a wet or dirty diaper.

4. Shows interest in others' bathroom habits (wants to watch you go to the bathroom or wear underwear). When he first paid attention to us doing this...he was interested. Now it's old hat and 'nothing to see here.' I think he thinks of it as a mini-moment of freedom. We can't get up to catch him!

5. Gives a physical or verbal sign when he's having a bowel movement such as grunting, squatting, or telling you. How about shaping his body in such a way that only a contortionist could and turning red to only produce a poo-poo pellet as I like to call it?

6. Demonstrates a desire for independence. Only when in public. When we're home he's more like a leach, who has attached himself to my leg for the duration.

7. Takes pride in his accomplishments. Look what I can do Mommy! I can eat the dog food!

8. Isn't resistant to learning to use the toilet. Well if you let him hold a ball while he sits on it, he's good. But what happens when he's 16? Will he still have to hold a ball?

9. Is in a generally cooperative stage, not a negative or contrary one. I don't know ANY 'cooperative' toddlers. I do, however, know some contrary ones!

COGNITIVE SIGNS
1. Can follow simple instructions, such as "go get the toy." He understands them....but does he follow them? Sometimes. And when he gets tired of doing that...he just picks 'the toy' up and wields it at the fireplace. Ahh....love him!

2. Understands the value of putting things where they belong. Value? No. Things 'belong' somewhere?

3. Has words for urine and stool. He doesn't flinch when he pees. Not even when you've just taken off his diaper and are about to put him in the tub...and then he wizzes all along the side of the tub. None the wiser, I tell you. But when he poops...and you're changing him, he usually yells 'Yuck' or 'Fpoo, Fpoo.' So that's progress, right?

4. Understands the physical signals that mean he has to go and can tell you before it happens or even hold it until he has time to get to the potty. Jaxen can't even tell me where he hid my keys...doubt he'll share the deep dark secret of when the poo is coming.

So all in all, I've decided we'll have to wait. But the thought of changing a 3 year old's dirty diaper frightens the heck out of me. This is how life will pay me back for all my 'dirty deeds.' Oh...the irony!!!

It's Make Your Own Art Time!

Sorry for the looonnggg delay between posts. Who knew being at home all day means you will be busier than ever?? Yes, so as many of you know...we are still trying to decorate our house. Well with one less income...it makes this a hard task. Art costs so much money! So...do like I do. Steal ideas and replicate!

We had this ghastly blank wall (hallway) that needed SOMETHING. I mean, it practically mocked me. Here I am supposed to be a creative person...and my walls are bare, naked, so alone! Something had to be done. So...I found this lovely idea online and decided to give it a whirl. So, here's my take:





1. Start by getting your fantastic father to cut up some of his free wood that is taking up space in his garage. He will say yes because he loves you! I got my dad to cut me 12" x 12" boards. And some 8" x 8" ones also (for another project which I finish up with here).




2. Take said wood and sand the edges so that your Palmolive hands won't get any splinters. Yes, those are gardening gloves. Don't hate! Be sure to clean off any sawdusty stuff left on the boards from sanding.






3. Paint the edges of all the boards black (or whatever color you choose). I let this paint dry until the next day's nap time. Besides, I spend time with the hubby at night. And what's the rush? The wall has been bare for this long!

4. I chose some neutralish scrapbook papers that were 12 x 12 to use on some of my boards as well as got some photos printed to 12 x 12. I was only able to get those printed at a scrapbook store. Go figure!


5. Take those lovely papers and photos you've chosen to grace the walls of your home and Mod Podge those puppies. If you are like me when I first starting ripping off ideas...err....finding inspiration from other crafty folks' blogs, you're probably wondering what the heck Mod Podge is! Well, it's a glue and a sealer. All wrapped into one lovely package. You can buy a big jug of it from Michael's for about $8. If you have their trusty 40% off coupon...then you are doing even better! I applied a generous coat of Mod Podge to the board and to the back of my paper using some foam brushes. Then I pressed it down onto the board and positioned it as square as possible...and smoothed it out. No bubbles. Voila!



6. No, you're not done yet. Day 3 naptime: I applied a coat of Mod Podge to the top of the papers to seal them. Once that was dry....(day 4 naptime) I applied another coat of the Mod Podge. Trust me. Wait. Don't glob it all on at once. Do nice even coats.

7. Once that is done and completely dry...you enlist the help of your handy hubby. Have him hang them on the wall since this is not your strong point. LOL And then you get something that looks like this!

Now...back to that little mention I made earlier about the 8" x 8" boards that my father also cut for me. I decided to do something similar for our master bedroom. So you have your 8" x 8" boards...and you have lots of scrapbook papers that coordinate well together, right? Well, what do you do next?

Follow steps 1 - 6 above, but obviously you'll have to cut your 12 x 12 papers down to 8 x 8 using an Xacto Knife and ruler.


7. Now that all of your 8 x 8 boards are Mod Podged, sealed and dry...we are going to take the advice of our 'lovely idea' blog from above and grunge them up. I used some brown acrylic paint...raw umber I think it was. Took an old rag and dabbed some of that brown paint on the corner of it and then rubbed it around on the edges of all the boards. I just kept rubbing it around and taking some off until it looked like something I could live with. Towards the last board or two...I could live with a lot less perfection than when I started. Hah

8. Once that dried...we decided to group all these boards together as one piece but was afraid that it'd be too flat. So we glued on some small cuts of wood (also compliments of dad) to the back of random pieces that had varying thicknesses.




9. After those dried...we glued all the boards to one thin piece of MDF, essentially connecting them all together! Note: We were a little afraid of 8 x 8 wood panels falling on our heads as we blissfully sleep...so we decided to use an air staple gun adhering the boards to the MDF as well. Added security, you know.

10. Again...have the hubbs hang it up and you got a beaut!