3 Day Potty Training Boot Camp

When I first started on this endeavor, I was going to do a blog post each day (for the 1st three days). We are now on Day 9 so I'm scratching that idea. Here's what has been happening the last 9 days at Potty Training Boot Camp.



First, I need to go back to December. Each day for about a week, I would see comments that a facebook friend was making about doing the 3 Day Potty Training with her daughter. As the days passed, with the exception of an accident or two, it appeared that her daughter had really been potty trained in 3 days. I became a bit curious but didn't inquire of her.

This would be a good time to tell you what a lazy mom I am when it comes to potty training. I crashed and burned early with Eli in the potty department and finally gave up until he made up his mind to do it. (as a sidenote since I wasn't blogging waaaaaaaay back then. He was 3yrs and 1 month old when he made that decision. It was Thanksgiving weekend. Philip and I were on an anniversary getaway and my parents were staying with Eli and EK. He walked up to my Dad and said something to the effect of "Grandpa, I need to poo poo." And that was it. All my frustrations from the previous year in vein.)


So when the time rolled around for EK, I just let it happen whenever it did. That turned out to be the fall that she was 2 1/2 when she started preschool 2 mornings per week.



Since the lackadaisical approach seemed to work best for me, I had planned on that same approach with Zane & Zander.

As mid-December came though, Zander kept showing more and more interest. 9 times out of 10, he would go in the potty on my command. (Hey Zander, you wanna go to the potty? Off he'd run and he would make it happen)

So I decided that I might should ask this facebook friend about the 3 Day Method. 'Cause I was thinking if I could get 2 boys trained in 3 Days rather than dragging it out, my life would be better.

The "method" is in an e-book format. My friend emailed it to me. I read it and thought it sounded good with the exception of 2 things.

1. You basically had to clear your calendar for 3 days in a row. The author suggested no cooking, no computer, no doing laundry, etc... Just at home right by their side for 3 solid days.


2. She also suggested they would wear underwear and T-shirt only for those 3 days. That would've been no problem if we were still in Florida, but a tad cold for this Arkansas winter weather.

So I read the book right after Christmas. Zander continued to go-on-demand. Zane would attempt it only after Zander produced something in the potty. But even then, Zane was usually unsuccessful. He just could not make it happen. (Keep both of those things in mind as you read further down)

The author of the book also said that after the age of 2 1/2, it gets harder to train using this method. My boys were 2yrs8mos in January, so if I was waiting on that warmer weather to happen before training, it sounded like it might be even harder.

I looked at our January calendar (which was already full), but saw that we only had one event the last weekend in January. I called my mom to see if she would come and help. My Dad said that they both would come. (THANK YOU!) He said he would take the big kids to/from their activities, take them out to eat, etc... and my mom would help me. (this is what my friend Lori called man-to-man defense. Me with one boy. My mom with the other. LOVE that phrase!!!)

Fast forward to the last week in January. I've got the calendar mostly cleared for the upcoming weekend. My parents are set to arrive Friday. I will start the 3 Day Method Friday morning and then they'll be here that afternoon to help me with the rest of Day 1 and then all of Days 2 & 3.

On Monday before boot camp is set to begin, I get a call from my Dad. He said, "Did you know the signs are right this Wednesday and Thursday?" I said, "What signs? What are you talking about?" He said, "Rita believes in the signs and she says the best days are Wednesday and Thursday." I follow up with, "What signs and who is Rita?" To which he replied, "To potty train the best days are this Wednesday and Thursday. Your mom is checking with someone else and if her signs are the same, then we'll be coming to your house tomorrow and train them Wed,Thurs and Friday." Well that conversation was over. I still had no idea what the "signs" were nor who Rita was.

I called my mom a bit later and asked her about the signs. The good ole Farmers Almanac. I laughed and laughed. And by the way, the person my mom checked with agreed that the best days were Wed-Friday. So that was the new plan.

My parents arrived Tuesday and I got everything ready to start Boot Camp bright and early Wednesday morning. I had previously emailed the book to my mom to read, but we both skimmed through it again Tuesday night to make sure we were on the same path.

The supplies I had were:

• mini M&M's for going #1
• gummy bears for going #2

40 pair of underwear... (my friend said her daughter went through 19 pair the first day, so I did the math. 19 for 1 child = 38 for 2 boys)

• 28 T-shirts...
  

and 17 pair of socks.

(I did have a picture of the socks, but now its disappeared. And those of you who upload single pictures to blogger, know what a pain that is if you're already in the midst of your post. So you'll just have to imagine what 17 pair of socks looks like)

Day 1 began with breakfast as usual. After breakfast, I told them we were throwing all our diapers away because they were big boys now and they were going to be wearing underwear.

Eli was my underwear model. He showed them how big boys wear underwear....

We put all their underwear in what-used-to-be our diaper basket. I let them pick what they wanted to put on first. They could choose from: Thomas, Mickey Mouse, baseball and a few random Spiderman that a sweet friend gave to us. Zander immediately chose but Zane kept picking 3 at a time.....

I had bought all of them in size 2/3T. However, we quickly discovered that one certain boy's rear end is a bit big. They were T-I-G-H-T on his hiney!

Day 1 went so much better than either my mom or I expected. If I recall correctly (since it is now 8 days later), they each had 1 accident. This is probably also a good time to say that I didn't follow the book exactly. She suggests going cold turkey ALL the time. I like my boys to sleep. So for naptime and nightttime, I put them in a pull-up. So when I say only 2 accidents, that doesn't refer to when they were sleeping.

Day 2 was about the same except that we had our first poop accident. That was fun. I think it was Zane that did it. We also got to go outside for a bit to play and Zander had a pee accident while outside playing.

Here are their backsides on Day 2:

Zane on left Zander on right

Day 3: They both had #2 accidents. Fun times again. But neither boy had a #1 accident.

My parents left on Day 4. Philip was working and Eli had 2 basketball games to play. Whew. I was a Nervous Nelly. We were going to be gone for about 3 1/2 hours. I loaded up my car and diaper bag with supplies. I had 6 pair of underwear, 4 pants, 2 shirts, paper towels, wipes, trash bags and a "pee" bucket. (pee bucket was suggestion of same sweet friend that gave us the Spiderman undies) Throughout the course of the ballgames, I took them to the potty 4 times and only on the last and final trip were they successful!

It was also on Day 4 that we had poop actually go into the potty. Up until then, they had either done it in their undies or when they were napping. So that was another success!

Day 5 was church and I was once again a Nervous Nelly! Philip had to work so I debated about whether or not to take them. No way was I reverting back to diapers, so if I took them it would be in their underwear. Since they had done so well on Saturday (both at home and on their first "outing"), I decided to take them. My diaper underwear bag was packed and off we went. When we got to Zane & Zander's class, there wasn't a teacher. So I volunteered to stay for the first half. So thankful it worked out that way. I was able to see the bathroom situation (how small the potties were, that it seemed to be better for them to stand rather than sit, etc...). During the 1 1/2hrs I was in with them, I took them to the potty several times. Zane was successful once but Zander never was. I think this was partially because Zander cannot seem to stand and pee at the same time. So, again, thankful that I was in there to see all this so I know what we need to work on at home. (they are in childcare at church 3 times per week, so its important to be able to use the potties there!) When another set of volunteers came to relieve me, I went to my Bible Fellowship class, but was constantly looking at my watch. Wondering if Zander had gone in his pants. Wondering if I should go and check on them. The hour passed and I was pleasantly surprised when I picked them up that they were both dry! Another success!

Days 6-9: On Mondays we are mostly at home anyway, so I wasn't worried about Day 6. Monday night and into Tuesday morning, we were showered with a huge snowstorm, so the kids and I have been "snowed in" ever since. As far as potty training goes, being snowed in has worked in our favor. Normally, the boys would have been in childcare Tuesday morning for Bible Study as well as this morning for Mom's Day Out, along with being in the car taking Eli and EK to/from school, gymnastics, basketball, etc...

I would consider Zane 99.9% potty trained....hooray! He tells me without fail when he needs to do #1 and #2. I don't think he's had an accident since Day 3...but my memory could be failing! There have been times when he's done it completely on his own. Pants down, potty successful, and I don't even know until he comes running out to tell me. One of my favorite things he has continually said throughout this process is "spush." For example: after he goes in the potty he needs to spush (flush) it.

Zander, on the other hand, is probably 80-85% trained. Day 7 & 8 (which was Tuesday and Wednesday of this week), he had 2 or 3 pee accidents each day. Now, there were still plenty of other times when he told me he needed to go (both #1 and #2), so I know he's getting it...just not completely got it.

Do you recall way earlier in the post when I told you to remember that back in December and January, Zander would go on command but Zane never could make it come out? That is so interesting to me now after we've gone through P.T. Boot Camp. I just knew Zander would catch on so quickly, but its been totally reversed. They never cease to surprise me!

Having twins has been beneficial in the potty department. They love to clap and cheer each other on and are genuinely happy for each other when they are successful!

I guess because Grandma was such an integral part of their first few days of Boot Camp, they still occasionally say they want to tell her after they go #1 or #2. Emma Kate took the picture below of me calling Grandma to tell her that Zander had poo poo'd in the potty....

Overall, I'm highly satisfied with the outcome. It went much easier and better than I anticipated. Thank goodness for facebook or I might never have known about the 3 Day Method!

Photo of the Day

Because we buy our yogurt (and many other staple food items) at Sam's, we keep it in the fridge in our garage. When the boys decide to eat yogurt, they like to go out to the garage by themselves to get it.

I loved the attire they were wearing this morning as they went out to get their yogurts:Keep in mind it was 4 degrees outside.

One doesn't want any clothes.
The other wants to be covered from head to toe.

Silly Gator Poem

Two boys all snotty-nosed

Dressed head to their toes

in Gator clothes.

A helmet on top

Their feet had Crocs

But their diaper and train tee

Lacked any Gator colors...oh me.

The last picture just can't be beat

It shows you that on Zane's feet

is the way to wear your shoes

if you put them on by yourself and you're two.

Bird Food

Today at childcare during my Bible Study, the boys made bird food. They were so excited to bring it home and put it outside for the birds to eat.

They decided to sit it on their picnic table.

Because it was really cold outside, we immediately came back in. They watched patiently at the window waiting for some birds to come.

After a few minutes with no activity from the birds, Zander got unhappy....

He wanted his bird food back inside.

I told him no and immediately got an arched-back show of displeasure.

This was a battle I chose not to fight.

So now there is one container of food left outside for the birds.

Yipsticks

By now I know that when the boys are awake but quiet, that it usually means trouble. Quite often its Double Trouble. Tonight was no exception.

When I found them, they were sitting in my bedroom floor with the contents of a bag dumped out. Inside that bag, they found several tubes of "yipsticks."

And they put it on. Just like they've seen Mommy do.

They were so proud of themselves.

I was so proud that it wasn't all over the carpet.

Emmy Kate helped clean them up by using a makeup remover cloth.

They weren't fans of that.

1st Snow Day of 2011

Less than an inch of snow really doesn't seem to be enough for a snow day. But apparently the roads were a bit slick in the wee hours of the morning, so the public schools cancelled for today, which means that our school did too.
Hooray! No complaints from the Jackson fam!

The kids and I had a great day playing both inside and outside.

On the inside we played games. One of which was this... We were still playing this when Philip got home from work (Boo...He doesn't get to take Snow Days with us.).
While he was playing with us, one of the challenges for Emma Kate was to get a mustache and glasses drawn on her face with makeup. She chose her Daddy to do it.

working on the mustache


All finished.
This picture just makes me laugh. Not quite sure what she looks like.

It was bitterly cold today.

When we first woke up, it was 9 degrees with a wind chill of 5 below.

Naturally the kids wanted to go outside to play in the little bit of snow that we did get.

I told them we had to wait a few hours until it "warmed up."

Around noon when it was close to double digits, we bundled up to go play outside.

The big kids dressed warmly in layers and hand-me-down snow clothes from Aunt Karen.

It took me 10-15 minutes though just to get those 2year olds all bundled up.

When I got done with them, they sort of looked like weeble wobble robbers.

Can you even tell who is who?

Zane is 1st picture

Zander is 2nd.

Emma Kate didn't care that she was basically making a "grass angel."

And even with a tiny amount of snow, Eli still thought they needed to get the sled out....

Emma Kate tried pulling Eli, but it didn't go so well....

Then Zander wanted a turn on the sled...

But Zane was content to just sit back and watch...

Emma Kate looking ever-so-much like a janitor enjoyed shoveling the snow....

We are ready for another Snow Day. But next time we want more snow please!

3 years ago today

Three years ago today, I was a pregnant girl of about 20 weeks.
We knew we were having twins, but we didn't know the gender.
I've never been so sick in my life as I was from week 6-week 20.
It finally subsided during this week.
Because I'd been pregnant before, I knew how my body reacted to carrying both genders.
I wasn't sick with Eli, just couldn't eat certain foods.
I got sick a few times with EK, but for the most part just felt nauseous all the time.
So, based on my very scientific conclusions, I KNEW that these 2 babies were either: 2 girls or 1 of each.
I KNEW that my body got sick with a girl so there HAD to be at least one of those in my belly.
And seeing as how I had been so very very sick, I thought there were probably 2 girls in there.
Why else would I be so sick?
2 sets of girl hormones, I concluded.

So, 3 years ago today, I went in for my 20 week checkup and ultrasound.
Around 2:45pm, I saw my 2 babies.
And they were both boys.
I didn't believe it.
Baby A's boy parts were very evident.
The positioning of Baby B made it more difficult to see, but the ultrasound tech assured me she was seeing boy parts on that baby, too.
I told her to look again.
That just couldn't be right.
Guess what?
She was right.

I found these scanned images at my parents house during Christmas. So the quality isn't the best.

But here they are.

Top 2 pictures are Baby A who is my Zaney.

In case you're not a pro at reading u/s pictures, that is his legs & bottom facing up in the 2nd picture (which shows his male-ness).Down here is Baby B. My Zander Griffy.

3rd picture is his side profile.

And look closely in the 4th picture to see what the u/s tech saw to determine he was also a boy.

And you know the ending to this story.

I love that they are the same gender.

I love that they are both boys.

I'm so thankful I wasn't the one who orchestrated it.

I would've messed up.

HE did not.

And that brings tears to my eyes.

Wednesday to Forget

Wednesdays are one of the hardest days of the week for me.
The kids have a large amount of homeschool that has to get done THAT day, in order to be turned in at school on Thursday.
We also have AWANA on Wednesday night, which means Eli and EK need to have their weekly AWANA work completed.
So its just usually a looong day.
Yesterday, we had 2 friends from school at our house. Their mom was out of town so they came to our house to do their schoolwork.
The day was actually going pretty well. Around 11:00am, we were over 3/4 of the way done with everyone's schoolwork.
I was thinking about what I'd feed 6 kids for lunch, as well as getting the 2 friends back to their house and then bring my 4 back home in time for Z&Z's naptime.
Speaking of Z&Z, they had been upstairs in the playroom & their bedroom playing while I did school with the other 4.
Zander came running to the top of the stairs and excitedly proclaimed, "Mom, my shirt is wet."
Of course, I asked why.
Still excited, he said, "because."
I asked "where is Zane?"
To which Zander excitedly replied, "He getting wet in Emmy Kate's bathroom."

Uh-oh.
I ran upstairs and found this.... and this....

and this....

and one last view...

Apparently they got bored with the playroom and their bedroom, so they went to EK's room and bathroom. I wish I'd had a hidden video camera going so I would know who started it, how it started, exactly how much t.p. they put in, and how many times they repeatedly flushed.

But, alas, our house isn't set up with video monitoring. :-)

After I took pictures, I got all the school kids settled back down at the table to work. As I was going to get towels to start soaking up all the water, one of the kids had a question relating to their schoolwork. So I got sidetracked.

While I was helping with schoolwork, we heard a strange sound.

Sort of sounded like rushing water.

We went toward the sound and found water POURING out of this light in our living room...

I felt that up until this point, I had been pretty calm and collected about the whole situation. Let me backtrack and say that I never yelled at the boys when I found the initial mess in the bathroom. I sternly told them that what they had done was being bad boys. To which Zander replied, "Momma, you happy?" I said "No Zander. You and Zane playing in Emmy Kate's potty does not make me happy." His response was, "But I want you be happy Momma."

So back to the current situation....

When I saw that water from the second level of our house was pouring out through the light/ceiling of the 1st level, I pretty much lost it.

I immediately called Philip at work. I was pretty hysterical (and not the funny kind of hysterical either). I knew he couldn't come home but that is what I was pleading with him to do. In his very calm voice he simply told me to get towels and soak up all the water in her bathroom and that even if he was home, he wouldn't be able to do anymore than that. Humph. We hung up and I did as was told. The water did not immediately stop coming through the light, but it did stop GUSHING. It was more of a slow leak for the next 15 minutes. (could it really have only been 15 minutes? Seemed like at least an hour)

But, before the frantic phone call, I had already put buckets in the floor underneath the light....

so everything that leaked was going into the buckets rather than the carpet.

We once again, started working on school. Finished that up. Fed lunch to 6 kids and then packed them all into my car to take our friends back to their house.

Came back home and boys slept while I had some quiet time. (much deserved I would say). I'm actually glad I did take a little down time for myself because the day's fun wasn't over yet.

Around 4:30 I told Eli and EK to start working on their AWANA work. They did which was followed by them needing to eat, brush teeth, etc... Emma Kate had been to gym that morning and still had on her gym clothes (which for the record usually means a leo with yoga pants and a jacket over it.) Upon telling her to make sure she put on matching clothes, she threw herself a little hissy fit proclaiming that there was nothing wrong with the clothes she had on. I proceeded to tell her that the clothes she was wearing was appropriate for gym and home, but not for other places.

Fast forward to 5:45. She is still sprawled out on the floor throwing her fit (in her gym clothes). I told her that if she wasn't dressed in matching clothes by 6:00, that she wouldn't be going to AWANA. Well, I immediately saw the lightbulb go off in her head. (she's thinking "aha. I can get out of going by continuing to throw my fit and not change clothes.) Which is exactly what she did.

Little did she know that I had a trick up my sleeve.

We took Eli to AWANA and got home around 6:35. As soon as we walked in, I told her to go take a shower and get on her pj's. She questioned me, but she did it. Then as soon as her shower was over, I put her to bed. This was about an hour and 10 minutes before her normal bedtime. Wow-wee, this incurred another hissy fit. Which resulted in her being the recipient of the spanking spoon and then crying herself to sleep.

I put the little boys to bed at 8:00 and went downstairs to start fixing everyone's lunches for the next day. Philip had just gotten off work and was picking up Eli from AWANA on his way home.

Around 8:10, I opened the refrigerator door...

and this happened....

At the same time, Philip and Eli walked in and that was officially the end to the Wednesday I'd like to Forget.