Adventures in Potty Training a Three Year Old (Beer Me).

Well, potty training Porter has been awesome and awful all wrapped into one tiny pair of undies with superheroes on them. I will be showing pictures of said undies and taking a lot about pee and poop here today, so if that doesn't sit well with you? Skip this post about potty training, it's not for you if pee and poo talk irritate you. It's not a glamorous topic, but I'm discussing anyway because it's ALL CONSUMING and I forgot so much from the last two times. And it's been kind of a rough week in general so I need to frantically type away my feeeeeeelings.

Last week I decided enough was enough and it was TIME for this three year old to stop wearing a diaper. The two biggest kids were completely potty trained before two-and-a-half and they rocked the three day method immediately: night training, nap training, poop AND pee training all at the same time. It was glorious and easy both times before this....from what I recall, anyway.

Enter Porter: three years old and stronger willed than the other two combined when it comes to getting him to do things he does not want to do. I've been dreading potty training with him for no other reason except that he is too smart for his own good. He knew when he had to potty but he just didn't want to go in the toilet, so I never pushed him and figured 'it will happen someday'.

Someday turned into last week on Wednesday when I realized we didn't have a ton planned for the week, his man-sized poops belonged in the toilet, and I wanted to rip the bandaid off and GO FOR IT while on maternity leave. Because, you know, why not potty train while undergoing major house construction with a newborn and the big kids home for the summer? Why not?!?! (She says with psychotic laughter and crazy eyes).

Anyway. Monday of last week he said he had to poop, so I had him sit on the potty. Nothing happened but I put on big boy underwear anyway, just to give it a go. He didn't have an accident but didn't go in the potty either. We were both pretty amped up and excited about these adorable big boy undies. Then he was off to a playground with Tony (in a diaper), then napping, then I lost all steam to try that day. 'It will happen someday,' kicked in again but I knew that it was time.

On Wednesday, 'someday' arrived. I ditched the diaper first thing in the morning, we hung out mostly at home for the day, and even when we walked to get the big kids from VBS he stayed in the undies. And stayed dry! Until we came back home and he was a few feet from the house, and he had a pee accident. No biggie, as he had several of those throughout the day. Inside the house, creating puddles, you know---the whole shebang. But I knew he was GETTING IT and had lots of successes in the potty, too.



I would reward Porter each time he peed in the potty, going a little overboard with high fives and excited claps and hugs...plus plenty of M&Ms and suckers and marshmallows. Note to self: trading diapers for dental bills may not be a win, but I'm going with it anyway. Day one was pretty darn good, boasting about 6 accidents and 4 successes. He wore a diaper for nap and bedtime and I was glad to have the first day behind us. He was so stinking proud and it really almost made me cry to hear him say, 'I did it! I peed in the potty, mommy!' My baby was becoming a man...or something.

Second day boasted more successes than accidents, but he still pooped in his diaper and it was wet in the morning after sleeping all night. More M&Ms and also suckers were had, as we focused on a sticker chart for each success. He was working towards earning a new train after 20 successes and was well on his way by day two. I believe we got him that train by day three but it's all a blur now.

The following picture must have been taken in a different lifetime, because now my house is seriously a disaster and will never be this clean again (slightly dramatic, but yeah---being at home more for potty training means a messier house, I guess).


Just because I want to remember this: there were multiple times when I was nursing Wallace, stepping on legos, making lunch one-handed, instructing the big kids on dumping the pee in the potty for me, and helping Porter's underwear to inch back up his legs onto his butt....all one handed. Add in a barking dog with every doorbell, and construction workers ringing said doorbell during every nap time and you have the recipe for my week last week. The ultimate in mom life, yes?!

Also, the second day brought a leak in our kitchen ceiling after unexpected rain hit in the early morning. It was from the construction, as they didn't put the tarp down over the new addition, thinking they'd be safe from rain. So waking up to a steady stream of water coming out of our light fixture was a little frightening. It all got fixed, after two more leaks sprouted, and now they use a tarp every night no matter what the forecast. They will patch up the janky kitchen ceiling at some point and construction rages on for the most part, so whatever. The exterior framing is basically done and they've begun tearing off our old roof now, so it's coming along nicely. I'll post about it 'someday'. ;)



Oh yeah, ALSO, I came down with Mastitis at the end of day one of potty training. More on that later but let's just say that Wednesday night really sucked (I slept on the couch because I was shivering cold but burning up), and Thursday morning wasn't that much better. But we survived!! Last week was really a doozy now that I stop and think about it. The baby is doing great and I'm doing my best to remain sane, thanks for asking. Antibiotics are kind of the best and my boob no longer pulsates in pain. Win. I do have a nasty cold and apparently Ace has asymptomatic thrush (?!), but let's get through this first post and go from there before I start complaining again. But yes, a LOT going on here lately!

End of Thursday, day two, when I declared popsicles for all and waved the white flag at potty training, mastitis, and house construction.


Day three was Friday, and now I see this is when things really clicked. He had maybe two pee accidents, was dry after his nap, and even dry in the morning after sleeping all night in a diaper. Amazing! He definitely was NOT waking up dry from naps or nighttime the week before this. He didn't poop in the potty so he must have used his nap time diaper this day, but I can't remember. I just know that on day three he turned the corner and I was less nervous about him sitting on the couch in just his undies. No towel needed anymore! Still nerve-wracking to leave the house every time but getting less scary by the day.



Maybe I should have mentioned this sooner? Part of the three day method that I've always used includes saying, 'Let me know if you have to potty,' and then asking, 'Hey! Are your undies clean and dry? GOOD JOB!' over and over again. You aren't supposed to ask IF they have to potty, because if you have a boy like mine he will always answer in the negative. But if you put the ball in their court and just ask them to tell if you if they have to go, it seems to work like magic for the most part. But Porter caught on quickly and by about ten minutes on day one he asked, 'Mom, why do you keep SAYING THAT?' I really am a broken record during potty training and it's hilarious to me that he noticed. Overall Porter was really excited and happy throughout the process and not frustrated or mad. I could tell he was extremely tired at night and before his nap, just from learning this new skill of not using a diaper, but otherwise he has been pretty unaffected by the training. Me, however? I'm freaking SPENT. In case you couldn't tell.

By day four, I let him nap in his undies and they were totally dry! We even went to State Fair and he peed in a public restroom there, so I knew he was on the home stretch. And by five he was wearing undies to bed at night, and again---dry! I'm not sure how I've had children who night-train so easily but it's very much appreciated. He honestly has not even had a pee accident since day three right now, and he's still super proud of himself overall. Because WE are so proud of him! Having Truman and Cecelia cheer for him and congratulate him on peeing in the potty is a big part of it, I think. But also, I'm careful to stay upbeat about his successes and will still dish out the M&Ms every time that he asks. He doesn't always want the rewards anymore, but sometimes he will remember and I'll oblige.

Lest you think this is a done deal, we still need to get him off the froggy floor potty and onto the real deal. ALSO, he needs to stop pooping in his underwear. For instance, today I have cleaned THREE smallish but horrible poops out of undies and I'm about at my limit for dealing with this part of it. For being so amazing with pee, he is really not getting the poop on the potty thing. At all. Does anyone have any special tricks with this part? My other kids did both pee and poop pretty much right away, so this is uncharted (crappy) territory...no pun intended.

I realize this is probably very normal, and potty training a three year old (boy!) is way different than doing it when they are two like the other times. But I'm really hoping he will start pooping in the potty very soon, like tomorrow, or else I'm seriously just going to buy about three more packs of underwear and start throwing those dirty puppies in the trash. GAG.

Seriously though, it's crazy to me to think that two weeks ago he was wearing diapers and now he just isn't. For all of the dread and putting it off, it wasn't TOO awful......except for the poop part. That really needs to get better but I'll still proudly proclaim him potty trained for pee and when sleeping. Also, it seems like he's trying to drop his nap FOR REAL NOW and I'm not sure he's ready for that. I know I'm not ready to have a non-napping Porter but I guess we will roll with it and figure out a way to make everyone minimally crazy. I realize I never did a three year old post for Porter so this will have to do for now: (mostly) potty trained, trying to drop his nap about six months earlier than his big siblings did, really smart, incredibly talkative, and a hilarious sense of humor. This kid is something else, man. 

M&M face at 9am.


He really melts me to my soul...when he isn't driving me bonkers. ;)


And now we only have one kid in diapers again. The giant size 6's will be packed away for Ace to use someday, and I'm off to buy more big boy underwear online!

Porter is TWO!!

Well, well, well, our 'baby' boy is two (freaking) years old. This fact makes me feel all of the emotions...

-immense pride because I get to be Porter's mom,
-sheer happiness that he is in our lives and so magical,
-contentment with our family unit, Porter as the caboose,
-excitement for what's to come,
-panic that it's all going too fast and I'm not enjoying it enough/remembering enough,
-sadness because how are we never going to have another baby? Another Porter-baby, for that matter?

The last, second birthday has me on a bit of a rollercoaster. But the bottom line is that Porter is two and he is hilarious, and smart, and seriously the best. I'm certain I'll fall short with describing P-man today, but with two full years of monthly posts about our baby, today marks the final one for Porter.

Things you'll hear Porter say frequently:
-I do it. (all.the.time. when I offer to help him down the stairs, sit on a chair, or anything else that a two year old might need assistance with).
-Me, too (if anyone mentions going outside, getting ice cream, etc)
-I afraid. Monsters. Big. Scary. (kind of into a scaredy cat phase).
-NO, CECE!!!!!!!!! (enough said.)

He can name almost any Thomas and Friends train upon asking, even the obscure ones that I barely know. If you look really closely at the trains' faces, you'll see each one is a little bit different with eye shape, noses, mouth, etc. So even in a coloring book, when the engines aren't yet colored, he can somehow tell us which train is which. This is fascinating to me. And it reminds me a lot of Truman at this age. Porter will play with the many train tracks set up in our house, and usually gets into the train zone without any interaction from us for at least twenty minutes at a time. This is huge! I notice that he is pretend playing with the trains now, having each engine talk and say things to each other like 'no! help! stop!. He also likes to lay his ear down on the floor and watch the train wheels move across the tracks---again, something that Truman used to love, too.

Porter also loves construction sites, diggers, and basically any big machine. He often requests to see a  'Bop-cab' which means 'Bobcat', ever since he saw one of the smallish bulldozer things drive past our house. Porter is 100% boy, loving to splash in puddles, dig in the dirt/sand, and hunts for ants/bugs whenever we are outside.

He's a consistent and mostly excellent sleeper: napping for about three hours daily, sleeping for nearly twelve hours at night. Sometimes Porter will wake up around 5am and seems ready to rip for the day but usually I can persuade him to fall back asleep until around 6:30. He also pitches a fit most nights when it's time to go in the crib for bed, mostly because he wants to read a dozen books every evening. P sleeps with his beloved duckie lovey, three Aden and Anais blankets, multiple stuffed animals, a handful of books, two water cups, and at least six trains. He has yet to climb out of his crib and seems pretty comfy in there so I'm not in a rush to get him into a big boy bed just yet. I think his claim to fame for this year must be the fact that Porter stayed awake until 11 pm on the Fourth of July, because he watched his first fireworks. He was in love with them, was not afraid, and clapped at the end after shouting colors at each firework. He napped his usual three hours that day and then somehow lasted until 11pm. CRAZY. He also did not sleep in the next morning, but whatever.

We have another picky eater on our hands, I'm afraid. Porter loves yogurt, mayonnaise on bread, crackers/chips/pretzels, pizza, scrambled eggs, apples, sometimes chicken nuggets, and croutons. That's seriously about it right now! Somehow he is still growing, and I guess we'll find out specific stats in a few more weeks when he has his two year well child check. I'm guessing he is 50% for weight (probably 26#) and 60% for height, but he comfortably wears 2T tops and 24 month bottoms. He absolutely thinned out in the past year and seems to be all little boy and less baby with each passing day. (Dagger in this mama heart!).

Things Porter really hates:
-diaper changes
-getting out of the bathtub
-letting us brush his teeth
-bedtime (most nights)
-riding in a stroller
-having a nap cut short by scheduled activities for siblings
-being told 'no'.

He can name some colors, counts to about five before making up subsequent numbers, definitely cannot recognize letters, but really seems to understand the world around him. This guy might be our class clown of the group and has an amazing 'fake laugh' that always gets T and C to giggle.

On Saturday, July 9th, we threw Porter a (giant) birthday party. We just kept adding more and more of our neighbors to the guest list, figuring that a two year old doesn't actually care about a party 'for him' but we could sure enjoy an outdoor BBQ with our friends anyway. And so we had 54 people come to our party, which caused only a slight amount of stress for me leading up to the big day. We originally wanted to cater out the entire thing, but we ended up only outsourcing the meat for adults and did the rest ourselves (huge props to Tony and Lois, as always, for helping us tremendously!). We had Cajun Pork, BBQ shredded beef and also chicken for our catered meats, then hot dogs for the kids. We had buns, watermelon, a fruit salad, a pasta salad, Lois' famous Asian slaw salad, the best black bean quinoa salad, and baked beans with bags and bags of chips. We went through an absurd amount of beer and I also made Porter's cake this year, along with 48 cupcakes. Porter requested a Thomas cake and literally that was the only thing he mentioned when we talked about his upcoming party. 'My birthday! Thomas cake!!' I searched on Pinterest and found a few doable ideas, and then went to town on Friday night after baking the two circle cakes. It turned out pretty good and Porter was obsessed....with looking at it, at least. He only ate the frosting off his piece, figures.

I was worried about having organized games, since we had over thirty kids above the age of one. The dads took some of the older kids across the street to school for a wicked game of soccer. I pulled out our water balloons and when those 30 were used up in seconds, I let them run wild in the sprinkler. Turns out making it a water party was the best idea and EASY! I did tell the parents to bring suits and comfy clothes and I don't think the kids minded getting soaking wet.

Porter loved hearing everyone sing to him, I wish I had a video of his face. But he did blow out both birthday candles and clapped for himself---a highlight of the night for me. We waited to open his many presents until the next morning, which was a great choice. So much more relaxed and fun to let him take his time with each one, and then only two big kids wanted to 'help' instead of thirty at the party;) All in all it was a wildly successful party and so much fun. We are very lucky to have such fun and amazing friends in our neighborhood, bonus that most could walk home after drinking so much beer! A few pictures...

His birthday slideshow ended up being over nine minutes long, because I figured out how to add both stills and videos set to music. So yeah, it's long but worth it and as anticipated, it makes me teary to see this past year's Porter highlights flash before my eyes!


Porter is TWO! from Julia H. on Vimeo.

We just love this kid so, so much. Two years old. Wow.

Porter at Twenty-Three Months

'He'll be two NEXT MONTH,' is what I'm telling people lately when they ask Porter's age. And all of a sudden he seems to be every bit of age two. Every.stinking.bit.

There was a span of about ten days when I swore that Porter was getting sick. He was incredibly cranky, and irritable, and would melt into a puddle (of high-pitched screams) whenever he couldn't get his way. He was clingy and basically a hot mess for those ten days. Nothing ever came of it, I don't see any gigantic teeth gleaming through his gums or any obvious illness that peaked. I think it was just a phase, the start of his two-year-old personality. When looking to Nate for comfort and guidance regarding this wretched phase, he simply said, 'How old is Porter going to be next month? Don't you remember CC at age two?'

Big guy!!


Long legs!


And I honestly do not recall her tantrums, although I'm sure if I read back over the blog archives it would all come flooding back at me. All that I remember about Cecelia was that she was an excellent big sister when Porter was born, and she would have been about twenty-six months then. Nate rolls his eyes at me when I claim recall failure but I truly blocked it out of my memory. Survival mode at it's finest, I guess (or newborn memory blur, take your pick).

NEVER FORGET, JULIA OF THE FUTURE!


This one cracks me up, shopping at Target, tears rolling down his face, but obliged us when we had him try on a hat. He wants that toy which is not for him.


Back to Porter: he seems a little less psychotic these days compared to that rough little stint, but still throws himself on the floor and chucks trains at his siblings, throws his food down, and yells things like, 'NOOOO, CECE!' on the regular.

His newest naughty habit is that when we tuck him in for bed or a nap, he always demands to sleep with approximately 800 trains in his crib. But now we will say goodnight, walk downstairs, and about 5 minutes later we will hear each and every train crash to the floor as he tosses them over the edge of the railing. Then he will do a grand finale by throwing his beloved Duckie lovey over the crib rail (we can watch the whole show on the video monitor), and will start yelling for me. I will retrieve Duckie and usually some trains, he will quickly flop down onto the mattress pretending to be innocent/tired, and will eventually fall asleep. But the sound of trains smashing on the floor will be a nice marker for this time in our lives with Porter-P. A part of his soundtrack to life, if you will.

An old shirt of Nate's from the 80s.


Besides pushing some major buttons, Porter is pretty much amazing. He is hilarious and a total copy cat when it comes to his siblings. He will fake cry if Cecelia is wailing about something for real, he will follow Truman around and do anything the kid wants, and he will sigh EXTREMELY loud like his mama does sometimes.

Must run down this hill a hundred times, mom.


The other day I took Porter grocery shopping alone, while Nate took the big kids to Costco. P and I had a blast together and I think he really eats up alone time with one adult! But I had to get a video of him saying 'Yuppie Hill' over and over and over again. Yuppie Hill is the brand of eggs we buy and I said the name once in the store, then he became a broken record and repeated it a million times with his baby lisp. I freaking love this kid so much, he is so weird and delightful.

Chocolate face, can't quite reach the pedals.


One big occurrence for mister P is that we switched him to forward facing in the car seat. Yes, it is one month shy of two years and I realize it's incredibly unsafe compared to rear facing, but even if we waited until three years it would always feel scary at first. The first time he rode facing forward he was giddy and smiling and kept looking at Cecelia as if to say, 'Hi! I can see what you see now!'



Favorite hobbies include splashing in every single rain puddle available, then complaining about being wet. Searching for a Bobcat working truck that he calls a 'bot-cap'. Looking for the wild turkey that has been hanging around our house lately, along with bunnies, birds, and squirrels. Porter loves animals so much that the other day, out of the blue he said, 'Mommy? Zoo, animals, big!, lion, bear, tiger, scary.' I mean, how is his little mind working like this now? He was just sitting by himself, playing with his trains when he told me he was thinking of the zoo animals and how some of them are 'scary.'. So, so fun!

Another favorite phrase is ,'No, I do it.' I hear this constantly when I try to pick him up to walk down the sidewalk, or help him up our stairs. In fact, he won't really ride in the stroller anymore unless we force the issue by using the straps and several snacks for distraction. He also likes to ride on Cecelia's hot pink tricycle but it takes about a million years for us to get anywhere this way. One Saturday morning we took a family walk to the Farmer's Market, Truman and Cecelia rode their bikes while Nate walked along side of them. I got stuck with Porter on his tricycle and it literally took us an extra hour to get to the Farmer's Market, including three failed attempts at me putting him in the stroller until I finally just dealt with the tantrum and booked it with the screaming child hanging halfway out of my stroller. He also hates diaper changes and brushing his teeth---basically anything that he cannot do alone is the WORST according to Porter.

Our epic trip:


What happens when we put him in a stroller?


Lois noticed that Porter is incredibly smart when she said something about how we were going to our friend Sam's party later that night. Porter looked at her and pointed up the street, right to Sammy's house, and said 'Sammy party!'. I mean, how does he know directions like that already? Blows my mind and never gets old to see him start to seriously understand the world around him.

I've had at least three people come up to me in the past week, asking me if *that* is Porter? These are other parents who last saw Porter in the spring and all of a sudden he's like a different child: tall, lean, a little boy instead of a baby. Waahhhhhh!!

Showing me his belly after eating a big meal at Culvers.


Sleeping is about the same, one long nap from around 12:30-3:30, bedtime at 7:30, up for the day around 7:00am but his record of sleeping until 9:00am has been attained several times. Thank goodness for summer schedules and Grandpa Tony, who Porter adores and requests after every nap. Tony now has all three kids on Mondays and Wednesdays as I work from about 9-3, then Friday mornings when I try to be home by 1:00. So far so good, and Porter is doing a decent job sharing Tony with Truman and Cecelia now.

Bros.






Eating isn't his favorite thing, but he'll graze most of the day and sometimes surprises us with what he can put down the hatch. Newest favorite is mayo on bread, cut into strips. Not a big fruit or veggie guy but we are working on it. Will eat any type of sugary treat you place in his vicinity though, so watch out.

Smoothie love.


S'more love. (and those baby blues!)


Porter always amuses us and he is a great mix of sugary sweet with a pinch of salt. I don't know how we got by without him in our family and I have a feeling he will be our wildest child yet!

The littles. Their relationship is something to behold, I love watching them interact (most of the time, anyway).


Matching tank tops!!! Not sure how long this will last but Truman adores it, so you better believe I will oblige as long as possible.


Nature walk in the woods with these two, we saw a deer and Porter almost lost his mind.


Catching some butterflies, duh.


One more month until TWO, Porter!! Love you so much, you little stink pot. ;)

Porter at Twenty-Two Months

I literally had to count backwards from twenty-four months (TWO IN JULY!!) to figure out how old Porter is this month. And also, oops, this is approximately two weeks late now and it might make more sense to just call it and wait for the twenty-three month update. But nah, I'm almost totally done with monthly updates so I feel a strange need to document this one despite being ultra-tardy.

But it's going to be a short update, mark my words.

If you want to know a bit about Porter's personality right now, take a look at this face:





He is destined to be a class clown, guys. He's goofy and silly and opinionated and almost TWO, so yeah. He wants what he wants when he wants it or else he will make you pay in a classic floor tantrum and/or continuous whining at a nerve-grinding intensity.

But actually, Ports is the sweetest. He gives the best hugs, shoulder-snuggles, and 'Hi, Mommy!'s in the history of ever. The way he says 'sorry' sounds more like 'warrr-ry' and he tells his bathwater 'bye bye, water' as it goes down the drain. The sweetest.






Porter likes about three foods: yogurt, crackers/chips, and sometimes waffles. Oh, and French fries, but only if the mood strikes him. He'll oblige me and will try other types of food but usually he survives with a very sub-par diet. I wonder how he manages to grow and thrive off Ritz and greek yogurt but whatever, #thirdchild and I guess he will chow when he's starving.

First Auntie Anne's pretzel was obviously a big success. Kid loves carbs.


Yogurt skills.



This little man is turning out to be a great and rather predictable sleeper. Bedtime is 7:30pm or 8:00, he wakes around 6:30am, and naps for a solid 2-4 hours in the afternoons. I just realized the other day that Truman and CC probably switched to a big bed at this age, since I was always pregnant and kicking babies out of cribs for a newborn sibling. But Porter is doing fine in his crib so I have no intention to kick him out just yet.

Also, I think I turned Truman's rear facing seat at 22 months and Cecelia was probably 20 months. Porter is very chill in the car and isn't freaking out or seemingly uncomfortable, so he will stay rear facing until two.

Porter loves his bigger siblings and I think he is the perfect little brother: idolizing Truman and Cecelia but also pushing their buttons like none other. He screams on command whenever Cecelia takes one of his trains but he will also demolish a puzzle Truman just built and will pretend like he's shocked when T is upset. Porter is a total stinker and also too little for actual discipline, so keeping it 'fair' between the three can be a challenge.

Still freaking obsessed with Thomas. I love it so much.


The vocabulary on this kid still amuses me and he is basically speaking in broken sentences now. 'Goose. HONK! Big. Fly away,' is a common explanation of what he did during the day. He'll repeat most any word we say and then he'll string together words in rapid fire that make me smile. 'Helmet. Fast. Tricycle. No, CC.' You get the idea without a video, right?





Nate and I just returned from a nice little trip to San Diego, so my brain is a bit mushy but I can assure you that I missed this babe (and the other two) something fierce. Seeing him smile at me from his crib this morning, then say 'hi, mommy,' followed by 'Gogo?' was the best. Having him randomly run up to me and rub his peanut buttery face all over my legs was also wonderful, and I didn't complain when he wanted me to carry him around for a bit. He's a big lug and maybe around 26 pounds or so but seems like a BRUISER and much stockier than lanky Cecelia. Also they sort of look like twins, and perhaps Truman is babysitting them here?



You are the best, Porter. We love you so much and cannot believe you are almost (only) TWO!




xo, Mommy