Max's Potty Training Adventures!

This past memorial day weekend we decided that it was time to potty train Max. He is about 2 years and 3.5 months old. I wanted to document this for the next one and for my sister/friends to look at. 

How did I know he was ready? Well, around his 2 year birthday I bought him a little small potty and this seat insert you see in the pic. I read the 3 day potty training technique and took most of the concepts from there, but it was impossible for us to stay home nonstop for 3 full days with only a few weeks left before baby girl arrives. Back around when he was a little over 2 we read our Potty book to Max that we've had for a long time and shortly after we'd just start asking if he wanted to sit on his potty to go. Low and behold within a few days he'd start going #1 and even a #2 here and there. We'd ask him only when we were changing his diaper. We were giving 2 m & m's as rewards and that seemed to really entice him.  He is in the church preschool 2 days a week and I didn't want them to have to deal with him asking to go or worrying about him wetting his undies so we held off till school was out.  I was a little nervous starting it back up because he just didn't seem interested anymore. I'd ask if he wanted to try to go and tried to make him sit there every 15-30 mins, but he refused to go in and would lock the bathroom door and close it (with him on the opposite side). I do want to mention that we only used the toilet insert. The small floor potty we thought he might get confused and upset when we didn't have one when we went different places.  I was very surprised when he all the sudden said to me "potty" that morning and we ran in and he went. He pretty much just let me know when he had to go. I did of course ask every 30 mins and when I saw him sitting/squatting I made sure he wasn't trying to go.

Day 1- we were home most of the day, but Max and I got bored and went outside to water plants. Well the neighbor kids came over and started playing water guns and distracting Max and he went potty in his undies onto the sidewalk. He realized what he was doing and then wanted to come in to potty and change (so we put swimsuit on). No other accidents that day. We did decide to go cold turkey on the diapers during nap. I debated putting it on and I almost did, but I told him that he shouldn't go to the potty during nap because his bed and him would be really wet. I made sure to get him up as soon as I heard him peep (normally I let him lay there to see if he will go back to sleep) and he was dry! 

Day 2- everything was going well and he would potty and poopy nicely when he told us he had to go. We did venture out to my cousins house for dinner where he used their potty a few times, but did have an accident once. He doesn't go a lot in one sitting so it's just a matter of changing clothes so no biggie. 

Day 3- I think we were accident free. We did go to the pool and he had a disposable swim diaper on so there is really no telling if he went or not in that. 

Night time- I really didn't want to change sheets in the middle of the night so I held off and kept his regular diaper on at night (and still am). Surprisingly after night 4 he woke up the next day completely dry and asked to use the potty when he got up. He was actually surprised to be wearing the diaper. The past few mornings he was dry again when I got him up. Last night while reading books he asked to go potty (his diaper was already on) so we just took it off and he went. So definitely good progress. 

Outings-He has used the restroom at swim lessons to go poopy twice with Gigi, at the doctors office, at Lowes, Walmart (grossy), and a mexican restaurant. Is he 100% potty trained... yes and no I guess. I still think he could have an accident, but I'd probably say he's 90% there. I am very pleased with all our efforts (yay Gigi and David!).

Other Thoughts- Max is very verbal with us and talks a lot. I didn't have any doubt that he wouldn't be able to let us know that he had to go. We used m & m and skittles for rewards. When he went poopy the first few times we had a few bigger prizes like water toys for the pool (thanks Gigi). I did try to load him up with salty foods and lots to drink to encourage him to go. We bought the big boy underwear a few months back, but haven't really used them so we got them out and let him pick what he wanted. We also let him run around with just a shirt and undies all day (yep, even out in the neighborhood). 

We're very proud of our big boy and happy to say that most all the things on our checklist to do with Max before the baby is born has worked out! No pacci... check, big boy bed (still cries for a few mins at night).... check, potty training... check! Hopefully we won't have too many regressions once she gets here.

I took this video the first morning of our potty training adventure. Just love his little voice.

Pregnancy # 2 Survey: Weeks 34-37

How Far Along: 34-37 (yup, major slacker here) I think with the sickness and stomach bug there were a few weeks where I didn't even know how many weeks I was. 

Size of baby: Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is about three weeks away. Scheduled C-section is June 13th. I can try for a VBAC if I go into labor on my own. I'll be 39 weeks and 3 days so let's hope she's early like Max was! Time to start guessing weights and days, maybe I'll get a poll going.

Total Weight Gain: 23/24 lbs. I am the same weight as I have been the past few weeks, I think because I lost my appetite with the stomach bug/other sicknesses. I was up about 4-5 lbs this point with Max last time.

Sleep: Still up to pee a few times a night (sometimes its almost 5 times), but sleeping pretty good with my pillows and falling right back to sleep.

Symptoms: Feeling pretty good still. She's starting to press on some nerves in the lower bladder region. I sometimes get shooting pains up the back of my leg region. Mostly at night.

Cravings: I am loving desserts

Movement: I think she's still head down. I feel feet in my upper right side and a butt middle left. I go to the doctor tomorrow for my checkup so hopefully they will know. So different this time as with Max we were constantly checking his breech position. We haven't seen baby girl since her 20 week ultrasound! She's moving so much in there I don't worry about her. 

**Update from 37 Week Doctor Appt** 
I was only measuring 34ish weeks when they did the tape measuring so they fit me in for an ultrasound. We haven't had one since 20 weeks so I was excited (hated that David was going to miss it). She is measuring just fine (I had this issue with Max at almost the same time so I knew not to worry).  She is measuring 37 weeks and 1 day and I am 37 weeks and 3 days so nothing to worry about. She is indeed head down, but facing up. They aren't concerned with that because about 90% of babies turn themselves during delivery. She's measuring right at 7lbs (or so they estimate). It was hard to see her face too much as she is straight up and down in there. Plenty of fluids and everything else looks good. Getting so close now!


Maternity Clothes: Yep, all the time. Dresses are easiest.

Best Moments this week: Getting baby girl's room painted, added all the molding (chair rail, crown molding, frames), custom closet and setting up the furniture.

What I'm looking forward to: Time is running out and I am in crazy list making mode to finish things up.

Milestones: This isn't baby girl related, but Max is doing so well with potty training. I have a separate post almost ready on this so I won't go into detail. This is a major check off our before baby girl  to do list. He's such a big boy and we are so proud. He's also doing so well at his swim lessons now.
 
To Do List: Need to pack our hospital go bags this weekend, nurse goody bags, finish decorating baby girl room, get last minute items for baby girl (ring sling, pacci, nursing pillow, etc..), thank you notes, finalize newborn photoshoot scheduling,  a few monogramming projects for baby girl and Max, put together swing, pack and play (changing station), car seat install, order photos from maternity/Max photoshoot, finish Max baby book (I know), give the house a good deep clean.

This is 37 weeks. Sorry, I don't have a lot of stuff from in between weeks.

Silly boy still going for my belly button.

Kisses for baby sister.

I think I'm smaller than I was with Max at this point. Could be the positioning of them since he was breech. She is definitely much lower than he was so not as much on top.

Looking at this very very dark picture, I guess I look the same. My face isn't as fat this time so that's good news lol.

Last Day of School

 Max's last day of school was a few weeks ago. He was pretty excited to take these pictures so I went for it. Gigi just came back from Alaska so he wore his new shirt.

They supplied them with bags so we had him carry his instead of his backpack which he uses at home and when we go out.

He's just so cute! He finally stopped crying when he went to school the month of May haha. He really got better and was fine, but it took longer than I thought. They had a water play day a few days before the last day and I met my sister and Hadley there. It's always nice to be invited to see what your child does when you're not there. He interacts really well and is a lot more independent. The teachers are fantastic and I'm glad he's going to go 3 days a week starting in August. This will be good timing as Little miss will be born in June and I'll be taking care of her while my mom is still running around with Max. When I go back to work Max will have started school for 3 days so it won't be as hard for mom to manage 2 kids all week.

 This was his official school picture! Can't get better than that so of course I had to buy it! 

  My buddy looks so much bigger now even though it's only been 4 months!

Sprinkle for Baby Girl!

My sister and mom came up with the cutest ideas for having a sprinkle for baby girl. I was so excited once I got word of it. Look how cute the invitation was! They incorporated so many little mason jar ideas, it was a big hit!

Michelle had the most beautiful diaper cake from the Honest Company sent filled with goodies! She also had a little station for people to write late night messages for the mom (hopefully dad) to read for the middle of the night diaper changes.

I love the flowers in the mason jars, just so cute. Michelle did a lot of the pre-shopping and gathering luckily, but she was down and out for the setup because of the stomach bug starting to make it's way to her. My mom stepped it up with David and myself for last minute planning.

Look how cute the bow holders are that they found!

The food was so good! We had fruit served in waffle cones, chicken salad sandwiches, pasta salad and a quiche that I heard was out of this world made by my cousin.

The drink center was very fun with mason jar glasses, mason jar punches serving regular lemonade and strawberry punch lemonade. Guests could add champagne and have wine in addition. My mom put little chalk stickers on each glass and attached little chalk with twine to each glass. These also doubled as favors so it worked out great!

Mmmm

Love this idea and it really did work well in there. We made sure not to set them up too early for any soggyness but we didn't have an issue.

For dessert my sister ordered these amazing petite fours from Publix. They were filled with different cake flavors and fillings. They were perfect.

She also got this cute cake with sprinkles on it. It also gives away the initials of baby girl. At the time of the party we had some choices narrowed down, but I'm glad we didn't put any name on there as I think we've switched again :) Would love to know your guesses/suggestions. Honestly no one guessed the name that is probably the winner and it's not that "different" of a name. Still fun to hear all your suggestions.

Here are some guest photos some that we got and some that Gina took. The W sisters.

Michelle isn't a huge game person, but I talked her into a few quick fun ones. The first she came up with was the what's in mommys purse game. We had some people that had A LOT of stuff in their purses, it was amazing. 

The second was a celebrity children name game. That was super hard as I didn't recognize most of these crazy celebrity baby games. Of course the prizes were cute mason jar candles from BBW.

How adorable is little Levi! 

Hadley and Levi. Hadley wasn't feeling well as you can see with her pacci and blankey.

Baby girl was so spoiled with the most adorable outfits and gifts. Some of the highlights included bathing suits, 4th of july outfits, girly clothes, bows and swaddle blankets (I just love them).

 

More guest shots! 

 

The girls

 

My cousin Karen and 2nd cousin Christie. So glad they moved down here so they can come to our fun gatherings! 

 

So glad my sister got to meet Susan who is our friend and pediatrician. We just love her. 

Neighborhood gals.

 

Mr. Mom. Hadley loves David now. I think it's because he talks a lot and she likes his voice. Max had the most adorable Big Bro Shirt on (pictured here) that Michelle found. We should have gotten a better photo, but I'm sure he will get good use out of it soon. 

You can't even tell Michelle was sick here, way to put yourself together for the shower (and actually take a shower).

Best hosts ever!! Thank you to everyone who came to the sprinkle and celebrating with us.

Max and Hadley's First Aquarium Visit

A few weekends ago while my sister came to town we went to the aquarium with the kids. It's been on our bucket list for a little while and we found some great discount tickets via travel zoo so off we went. The kids were free so we were set.

Max was very interested in all the big fish.

Look at his face, we just love him.

I'd say he's pretty excited.

James came in for the weekend so his little girl wouldn't go to the aquarium for the first time without him. His friends from SC also were in town for a little vaca so it was great to get together with everyone.

I realize I look gigantic here, but it's because the shirt is not a maternity shirt and sticks out.

Max was pretty into touching the sting rays. You can see Hadley in the background also trying.

Having fun with daddy who probably had more fun than Max!

The kids had the most fun in this little play area with windows that showed through. We could have just left them there all day.

I mean, just look at Hadley's face. This could also be where Hadley contracted the stomach bug/colds that we also got the next week.  haha

Matthew and Max were buddies and kept wanting to climb on everything, typical boys!

Talking to each other.

Beluga Whales

Penguins! Max was over things at this point so I just made sure we documented all the fun exhibits we saw.

He did enjoy the dolphin show although it got a bit dark for him and he kept asking for the lights to turn on.

On our way out we did one last exhibit where the aquariums go up and over head. Cool photos. Max liked the moving floor ride the best.

 

Group pic of everyone! We also enjoyed the best pizza in Atlanta (Antico Pizza) and a little Ikea trip. Max wasn't having a nap in there so we sat in the car for the 2nd half of the Ikea trip, but that's ok we live here. We'll definitely wait a bit next time as Max's patience wore out pretty quick. We did get there right around 9 when it opened at left around 12-12:30pm for lunch.