Potty Training for Over a Year

This is by no means a tutorial on potty training, the title should tell you that much. But if I had one tip for other mothers out there, it would be to get serious about potty training when you're 9 months pregnant. This may seem counterintuitive due to the exhaustion and all the necessary bending over, but if you're both having accidents together it sure helps bond you through the process. :)

When I posted the picture below in Isaiah's 9-month blog entry over a year ago, I was hoping to follow-up with some thoughts on how Elimination Communication had turned into Early Potty Training, but I'm not sure that was really our case.

At about 18-months of age, he was almost using the potty exclusively for a bit, and telling me with a nose scrunch when he needed to go (he made this up based on me sniffing his diaper to see if he was dirty.) But then we traveled a lot for my CVM Region Rep role and got him out of his routine, plus he got a cold, making the sniffing/nose scrunching more difficult.

REGRESSION IS REAL, folks! I didn't believe kids would really just lose a skill they had learned, but I'm a believer now! As we continued to passively train him by putting him on the potty after he woke up and when he looked like he needed to go, it didn't really lead to him holding it or giving me warnings like before, so I decided to opt for active potty training.

First, he picked out his Big Boy underwear. He chose fish, or as he calls them, in possibly the world's cutest mispronunciation, "Fooosh."

He liked them so much that he insisted on taking them out of the package in the store.

Deciding between his 7 designs was too much work so he often wanted to wear more

than one.

I had seen Martin Luther King Day weekend coming up and had noticed our schedule was unusually clear, so I asked Jon if he'd help me use those 3 days to potty train Isaiah before the new baby comes (the laundry of 2 littles in cloth diapers sounds overwhelming.) He reminded me he had to work on the car, but other than that he could help. Jon's morning with the car, ended up being the majority of the three days, to no avail. While I was sequestered in the house staring at our toddler and wondering when I was going to have to scurry him to the potty.

We did all the normal things you read about in the 3-day intense potty training methods, except for use a timer. We picked up some toddler books at the library on underpants and big boy potties (he loves books), added some juice to his water to entice him to drink more, and got some motivating treats for him. I stopped putting him in onesie style shirts and picked out all the tops that don't snap at the bottom, which was a small selection as I've loved onesies dearly since he was born, but they don't lend themselves well to quick potty trips. I also moved a bunch of his pants, socks, and all his underwear downstairs to the level with hardwood, where we camped out the whole weekend, to avoid accidents on the carpet, and unnecessary trips up the stairs for my hugely pregnant self. Seriously, if I'm pregnant much longer Jon's going to need a three day weekend to install an elevator.

On Day 2 or 3, I opted to ditch the pants and underpants until further notice. We started a fire in the fireplace to keep warm and let him run around commando to cut down on laundry.

He didn't mind a bit running around in half his birthday suit, but his big sister may have been a little traumatized by all the nudity.

His biggest motivators were: flushing the toilet, candy corn (beating out M&Ms, fruit snacks, and chocolate covered raisins), and marking a little chart in one of his potty training books. This last one unfortunately, has confused him about when it's okay to write in books. Ugh!

During his nap I was putting him in a cloth diaper, because the only thing harder than walking up the stairs this pregnant is changing crib sheets! On Day 4 an hour into his nap, I heard him say "Wet" (his word to tell me he needs to go) through the monitor, so I went to get him, but found he had taken off his velcro diaper and peed in the crib. At least he knew he wasn't supposed to go in his clothes... Velcro was a rookie mistake on my part.

Since we didn't do the strict timer method (putting him on the potty like every 10 minutes) because... sanity, it's taken more than 3 days, but sanity is worth it. We're now about a week in, he turned 23-months old today, and he's nearly accident free.  He even took his nap in his underpants today! Praise the Lord.

Here's to praying he doesn't regress again when the baby comes, but fully expecting it's likely. Also, are we the first parents on Earth to potty train our toddler before sleep training him? 

"Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6

Empathy Does Not Come Naturally to Me

Understanding what others are going through and fully relating to them in their trials is not one of my strong suits. If it's an ordeal I've already experienced however, I'm right there with you. For instance, childbirth; I'll identify with you at every turn as you endure the 9 months of carrying and waiting, and then try to survive the hours, or days, of bringing that baby into the outside world.

Other than the nausea, fatigue, heartburn, discomfort etc. of pregnancy though, I'm not particularly used to being sick. So, sometimes God hits me with a bug to remind me what others suffer through regularly when feeling horrible. And just recently, He helped me understand something much worse--having a sick kiddo.

Right before Christmas, Isaiah had an anaphylactic reaction to cashews on a drive between Lexington and Louisville. When he started vomiting all over his car seat, I could barely keep it together. Praise the Lord he never had difficulty breathing. And we're so thankful that Norton Hospital had a special Children's ER to get us in super fast and pamper him with stickers, videos, and treats, while they tortured him with needles and monitors.

The toe monitor was probably the most aggravating part of the whole ordeal for him.

Even with all the excitement, he didn't fall asleep till 1:00am in the ER.

Skin testing to find out what he's allergic to.

Blood testing to see how severe his allergies are.

So now, not only can I relate better to mommas with sick babies in the hospital, I'm starting to grasp what it's like to read labels, carry Epi-pens, and pay attention to what Isaiah and the rest of us are putting in our bodies.

If you're gluten free, vegetarian, allergic to tree nuts, or just trying to watch your carbs, I'm definitely more sensitive to your lifestyle than I was before. Now, if only I could empathize with others without walking a mile in their shoes, maybe God wouldn't see fit to lend me a pair every once in a while.

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." - Romans 12:15

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Sometimes when you have a good day, you have to be sure to capture it on "film."

Last week, Facebook reminded me of some pretty cool memories.

8 years ago, I was on my 5th short-term mission trip to Mexico. Spaying and neutering our way through a couple towns, sharing Christ's love in broken Spanish, and building relationships that continue to this day. A CVM team just went back before Christmas, it sure would be nice to head back there myself some day.

Facebook also reminded me that I was on a mission trip the same day 7 years ago, in Bolivia. My future hubs, was visiting and we ventured into a very remote village called Lapiani with my Bolivian church to love on the folks in a tangible way. I did vet work on the local livestock and pets, while Jon impressed my socks off by washing feet, trimming toenails, and fitting the people for new shoes. All the heart eyes....

I lost the Facebook "Memory" but here's the image that it reminded me of 7 years ago.

And here's Jon unwittingly making me swoon.

Apparently all the other ladies were flocking to him as well.

Just one year later, as Facebook sweetly reminded me, was the day Angie moved in with me. She's been living with me for 6 years!! I love this photo of her first night as my family.

Things have changed a bit since January 3, 2011. Fast forward over half a decade, and this is what my current mission field looks like:

Long-term "missions" come at a higher price, requiring regular sacrifice for days and years on end. The mountaintop experience we have on a weeklong trip overseas doesn't come as often when we're in the trenches of "normal" life. However, the impact we have on those we invest in is greater. It's often difficult to look back on the time when adventure and service were simple, regular parts of my world years ago, without a bit of longing for such a lifestyle again. But I know what tribe God has given me to serve at present, and it's really a pretty awesome gig.

New Year, New Chance to Mess Up

I made it almost 9 hours into 2017 without blowing it!!! (I was asleep for like 7 of those, so I'm not sure they should count.)

On the way out the door this morning, I yelled at our teenager. She blamed me for making her make us late to church, because I forgot her phone. Seriously??! I'll spare you the details about why Jon wasn't with us to help wrangle the kids, or why being late to church this time was anything out of the ordinary. There are no valid excuses, I shouldn't lose my cool. 

Does anyone else put too much stock in the New Year to start with a clean slate? Then at like 9AM, I've smudged that slate and have to wait 365 days to start fresh again.

The past couple years I've had a Word of the Year. For 2016, I was inspired by an article in National Geographic about Pope Francis to choose the word "Warm." I found myself regretting this choice often, while seething under my breath, "The Pope doesn't have children. I'd be plenty warm if it weren't for these ungrateful kids."

And while I'm throwing myself under the bus, I may as well add, that sometimes I feel that way about Jesus too. I know He suffered all the temptations we do, and He is the ultimate example of how to rise above the little things that drive us crazy on a daily basis, but sometimes I just wish He had children so I could watch how He balanced grace and truth when it's really hard.

If I can't observe His interactions with His disrespectful teenager, or his fussy toddler, I'll remember instead His patience with His disciples, His honesty with the Pharisees, and His forgiveness of the Roman soldiers, and all of us, who nailed Him to the cross.

And I'll try to remember that there's nothing actually special about the first day of the year that allows me to start again.

"Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning." -Lamentations 3:23
Praise the Lord for that!

Don't be fooled by their innocent appearances, even the one in utero and the furry one are a handful these days!

It's January 1st, how are you doing on your resolutions? Have you blown it yet? If so, there's grace for us!