The One About Potty Training, Interrupted

  I have been putting off writing this post all week.   It's been a rough one in our house.  Ernie has been working long hours, and that leaves me with the two boys, potty training, and a 4-year old attitude.  There have been screams, tears, and time-outs...all of these describe me as well as the boys.  On top of all this, our air conditioner went out on Monday morning, and it took 2 days to get the part in and get it fixed.  Right during the dangerous heat wave across the Midwest.  Just lovely! 
   I started potty training Asher on Sunday.  He had been telling me he had to go, and had gone on the toilet occasionally in the last few weeks.  I was thinking, "Great.  He's ready.  Let's run with this.  This is going to be a piece of cake."  Stupid Mommy thought!  Actually, he did really well on Sunday.  He only had a few accidents, and usually would go a tinkle and then tell me so he could finish on the toilet.  Not bad!  Monday morning, we had to head to my parents' house by 9:00 a.m., because it was already 85 degrees in the house.  I tried and tried to continue potty training there, but he just wasn't having it.  He fought me tooth and nail.  He wouldn't even sit on my parents' toilet.  My Mom was there in the afternoon, and gave it a try but he wouldn't budge.  We kept him in his big boy underwear and kept trying, because I refused to give up.  When we finally did get home on Tuesday night, he told me he had to go and went on the toilet.  Once again, I stupidly thought, "Yes!  We haven't lost any ground.  We'll start fresh tomorrow and be on our way."  Wednesday and especially Thursday were not good days.  They weren't awful, but by this point I was just exhausted and I think the boys were too.  I really think we need a break from each other, and I am praying Ernie will be home one day this weekend to help with that.  Anyway, Asher occasionally went, but had more accidents Thursday late afternoon/early evening than he did the entire first day.  Because it was such nice, cool weather yesterday, we spent all morning outside, bike riding, at the baseball field, football field, etc..  He didn't have an accident.  He told me several times he had to potty, and we tried, but he never went.  Still, no accidents.  I know he understands the concept.  At one point yesterday, he went a tiny bit in his underwear, looked up at me, and said, "I in trouble."  :)  He also has apologized after some of his accidents, "Sorry, Mommy.  Sorry."  I know that not ALL kids are ready to be potty trained by two, despite what the experts say.  I know each child will do it in their own time.  We tried with Gavin at 2 1/2, before Asher was born, and he wasn't picking it up.  So then when we tried again 3 months later, it took 3 days and he was good.  So I do believe that each child has their own time. 
    I blame myself, because I know that I am really tired this week, and I do wonder how much of his stubborness and protesting is playing off me and my mood.  I am trying to stay upbeat and positive about the potty situation, but it has just been one of those weeks.  I would love to throw in the towel and just start fresh again next week, but we are going to keep trying.  With Asher, I don't know why I ever thought this would be easy.  NOTHING with Asher has been easy.
    And then there's Gavin, who I thought would be such a big help to me during this process.  Wrong!  He feels neglected.  "Mommy, why aren't you playing with me?"  He plays with us, but if Asher leaves the room, I am right behind him, which leaves Gavin alone.  Because of this, he has been very mouthy this week...and needy.  Some of Asher's accidents have been because I was doing something for Gavin and left Asher alone.  The 3-Day Potty Training specifically says to take other children to babysitters so you can focus on the child potty training.  I totally agree with that, but that isn't always an option.  So we are doing the best we can, and I am trying not to kill Gavin.  :)  I don't mean to whine and whine, because I know there are many mothers out there raising many more children than I have, and getting by on their own.  And I honestly don't know how they manage to do it and keep their sanity.  Or sobriety. 
    On a side note, the boys and I rode to the football field on our bikes yesterday morning.  Gavin wanted to run up and down the field.  So I sat on the bleachers and just watched them run across the field.  It was so heartbreaking, to think there may never be another football game on that field.  Asher has never been to a football game.  When Gavin was little, we went to all the home games.  There is talk that Ewing may get a team again in the future, but we'll see.  Right now, we don't have enough boys in high school. 

The One about Saying Goodbye to Age One

    This is the last post about Asher's 2nd birthday.  I just had to devote a post to saying goodbye to age one.  In November, when Gavin turned four, I talked about an article I read about a mother saying goodbye to each age of her child and what she loved and cherished about each age.  Here is what she wrote about age one:

     "One:  a joyous Buddha who erupted into chortles and shrieks at a smile from a stranger or the taste of a new food.  He discovered words and strung them together with babble, laughing uproariously each time.  "Mommy blahblah fire truck bbbbbth turtle," One would shriek, slapping his knee.  Everything was a question to One.  He'd clamber onto me and point at objects, asking:  "What this?  That?"  Then he'd watch me closely, his milk breath heating my cheek, as I named it all."
                                                                                                  --Letting Go of Henry, Little by Little
                                                                                                  --Alice Bradley

    Goodbye sweet age One.  I will miss you more than you will ever know. 

Age One (with the scar on his nose from when he fell on the sidewalk at his first birthday party)

 Age Two



The One About Asher's 2nd Birthday Party

     This weekend we had Asher's 2nd birthday party.  He had fun playing with the other kids and received some wonderful presents.  One of the highlights of the night was when he opened his skid steer, and Grandma Lois called it a skid loader.  He argued back, "No, skid steer!"  He has gotten to be such a difficult little thing, and he definitely knows his machinery.  :) 

Another highlight of the night was when Asher tried out the Sit N Spin from Uncle Travis.  Instead of sitting, he decided to stand....and then soon biffed it. 

The One About Asher's Birthday Zoo Trip

    It's official.  I have a toddler.  Asher is 2 years old.  I can no longer call him Gavin's "baby" brother.  For his birthday, we made a trip to the zoo in Omaha.  It was a looooonnnnnngggg day.  We are all still exhausted from the trip.  We left at 6:00 a.m., thinking the boys would fall back asleep on the drive down.  Wrong!  They were both wide awake. 
   When we got to the zoo, I realized that my little point and shoot Nikon camera no longer works, so I have absolutely no pictures from the day.  I didn't want to haul my SLR around.  It is really sad, because there were so many cute things that I wish I had pictures of.  For months whenever we mentioned the zoo, Asher said, "I see monkeys.  I see giraffes."  So we knew we had to start at the orangutan and gorilla buildings.  He was in heaven.  The screams just echoed through the building.  Asher ran up to each monkey and waved "Hi monkey!  Hi monkey!" several times.  His little arm probably aches today from all the waving.  At one point Gavin and I had gone ahead, way up around the corner, and we could still hear Asher.  He was in heaven.  The aquarium was another favorite, particularly the tunnel you walk through.  We spent a lot of time in there, which was nice because it was air-conditioned.  I wasn't a big fan of the butterfly pavillion.  They don't want you to touch anything, which is difficult to control with kids.  Of course, they want to reach out and touch the butterflys and grab the fruit set out to feed them. 
    The boys both wanted to ride the carousel.  When it first started, Asher wasn't sure if he liked the up and down motion.  Then he loved it, and instantly bawled when it stopped.  It wasn't tantrum tears...it was pure sadness.  He just wailed. 
    Asher went bonkers and screamed and clapped whenever the train would go by us.  So we had to ride on it too.  That was so much fun, but by that point Asher was just exhausted.  He fought sleep the entire time at the zoo, but fell asleep the instant we put him in the car seat. 
   

The One About the Broccoli

Tonight I made chicken and broccoli for supper.  I fixed Asher a plate, and place it in front of him.
Asher:  I don't like chicken.  I don't like broccoli.
Me:  Try it.  Gavin likes broccoli.
Asher:  Not Asher. 

I am starting to hear "I don't like it" quite frequently lately. 

The One About 4th of July Weekend

   Here are some pics from the 4th of July weekend.  On Saturday morning, the boys and I went to the park to play before it got hot.  Then we ran out to the farm to visit Grandma Rita and Aunt Judy.  I haven't talked about Aunt Judy on the blog before, but she is going through chemotherapy right now.  She is staying very positive, and we are all praying for her to fight this.  She has a long road ahead of her, but she has that Funk determination (Ernie calls it bullheadedness).  Every time we go to visit Grandma Rita, the boys jump right on her walker.  It's one of those walkers with the seat, so one of them rides and the other pushes.  It's pretty cute, and it keeps them occupied so I can talk to Grandma.  Of course, they also have to get in the hall closet to pull out Crocodile Dentist.  They love that game!  Afterwards, we drove to the field and rode with Ernie in the sprayer.  There were huge water holes in Frank's field, so Gavin was hoping we would get stuck.  Fortunately, he didn't get his wish. 
    We took the boys to Big Bang Boom on Saturday night.  We took Ernie out to Whiskey Creek beforehand, and realized it has been months and months since we have all been out to eat together as a family, at someplace other than DW's Pub.  The boys had fun breaking open the peanuts.  Afterwards we hit some firework places so Ernie could stock up for the weekend.  What is it about fireworks and men?  He claims the fireworks were for Gavin, but I know better.  :)  He was like a kid in a candy store.  At Skyview, we sat right down by the lake for the fireworks show.  Asher kept trying to catch fireflies, which were everywhere.  It was a beautiful show. 
   On Sunday morning, we did some yardwork and cleaned out the garage.  The boys enjoyed playing on the 4-wheeler and eating popsicles.

    In the afternoon, we lounged at home and took naps to make up for being out so late the night before.  Asher even took a 4-hour nap.  On Sunday night we had family over to grill burgers and shoot off some fireworks.  Gavin insisted we have a birthday cake for Ernie's birthday.  On Saturday, Ernie bought this sky lantern like the king and queen light for the missing princess in the movie Tangled.  That was really pretty! 

                                                       Happy 32nd birthday, Daddy!

   On Monday morning, Ernie and I had to be at the Community Center by 6:00 a.m. to work at the baseball fundraiser breakfast.  We raised $1500 for the baseball program.  We then took the boys to check out the mud volleyball tournament.  This was the first year for it, and it was awesome!  The kids played in the dirt until a game was over, and then swarmed into the mud and water between games and until the next teams kicked them out.  Gavin was covered in mud!  Congratulations to my cousins (Kray, Chase, & Riley) for winning the 16-team tournament! 
    We ended the night with the BBQ and fun at the park.  The boys bounced in the bouncey castles and rode the kiddie train.  Asher and I rode in the front with the driver, since he wanted to ride so badly, but I didn't trust him to stay in his car.  We answered endless questions about his swollen eye.  I have never said the word "mosquito" so many times in my life.  It was really tiring, and made me think we should have just stayed home.  Oh well, the boys had fun playing with their friends.  When we got home, surprise! suprise! Ernie thought we needed to go buy even more fireworks to light off.  :) 
   It was so nice to have Ernie home for 2 full days.  The boys had a great time playing with their Daddy and lighting off fireworks.  Me....I think I gained 5 lbs over the weekend, but my tan looks fabulous!

The One About Skeeter Syndrome

   It's official....Asher is 100% allergic to mosquitoes.  After the fireworks last night, he woke up this morning with a swollen eye and cheek, despite the bug spray and wipes I used on him.  I researched online, and it sounds like he has "Skeeter Syndrome", which basically is just a severe allergic reaction to mosquito bites.  Most children grow out of it, so until then prevention is the key.