The Potty Project: Part VII "Party Pooper"

Mission: Potty Training
Mission Target: Cooper Poston
Mission Status: Finalizing...

WARNING:  This blog is rated PG (poop graphic), as it contains graphic materials regarding...well...poop.

At this point Cooper is mostly potty trained.  I'd even be willing to say he IS potty trained.  He wears big boy underwear everyday and has very few accidents at home.  BUT, being in the final stages of potty training, we still struggle during outtings, especially long outtings.  Short trips to the store or a doctor appointment, he usually does great, but several hours out somewhere...that's another story.  Honestly, when we do take long trips out it's more mommy and daddy's responsibility to help remind him to go potty more than anything, especially if he's somewhere where he is easily distracted.

Today Cooper, Chloe and I went to Cole's 1st Birthday party.  (Bro stayed home since it was his naptime and it was easier on mommy to keep an eye on the two big kids that way) They were having a great time playing with Cole and Tanya, and getting in some social time. They got to play foosball, ride on a rocking pony, play with balloons of course, and even "help" open presents.  Things were going great.  Then all the kids went outside to play with Cole's new T-Ball stand which is when things "took a turn"...

Prior to this Cooper had been doing wonderful.  It was well past naptime, so he was a little tired, but he was toughing it out. At one point he went into the closest where the toys were to hide. I should've known then what was happening, but I thought he was just becoming extra shy from being sleepy, so at that point we had decided to leave, but we saw the T-Ball stand set up on the way out and stopped to play.  About this time Cooper started acting up and seemed very stand-off-ish.  Again, I just thought he was tired.  He wasn't wanting to take turns all that well and kept pushing the stand over right before Tanya would go to hit it, so I finally said, "Ok time to go", at which point Cooper turns to me, and announces very matter-of-factly in front of everyone, "My got poop in my pants."  Oh boy... I guess I now know what he was doing by himself in the closet AND why he was acting so stange.  I wouldn't want to walk around with poop in my pants either. LOL

Luckily I already had the bag outside with me, so we said our goodbyes as fast as possible and then worked our way over to the car to get changed.  I figured it was definitely time to go now LOL  I had brought Cooper an extra pair of pants and undies just in case, so I was prepared, but I wasn't prepared for what I was about to discover...

We get to the car and I do the usual "mommy check"; pull out the top of the pants and look down inside to assess the situation, but to my surprise there was no "situation".  Undies looked clean.  I was relieved.  I almost wanted to go back up to the party and announce to everyone, "False alarm!  He didn't poop his pants afterall!"  Good thing I didn't... I looked at Coop and said, "You didn't poop your pants bud.  There's no poop in here..."  He looks at me and says, "No. Poop in HERE" and points... to his ankle.

Yes, his ankle.  I look down to discover a large lump protruding over his shoe inside his jeans.  I do what any mother would do and I feel it...It's poop.  It's a big poop turd that had fallen out of his underwear, traveled down his pants, and landed in the cuff of his jeans.  A few more minutes at the party and poop may have fallen out his clothing onto the front lawn.

Thankfully this made for easy clean up believe it or not.  I took his shoes off, the poop fell right out, and I pulled his pants, socks and underwear off and wrapped em up.  Of course there were several "skid marks" (yes real skid marks this time) on his leg were the poop had brushed by, but those were easily cleaned with wipes.  I put his new undies on and we headed home without pants. What's the point of pants now anyway.  We're just going home where everyone knows I'm a nudity supporter. :)

Anyway, in the end it was all rather humorous.  Overall Cooper is still doing very well with potty training, and Chloe is still picking up on a few things here and there as well.  The other morning she woke up at about 4am with Josh's alarm, had a completely dry diaper and asked to go to the potty.  She went upstairs, took off her diaper, pottied, and came back to bed.  I was VERY proud of her. Granted, she hasn't used the potty since, but hey, progress is progress right?

Well that's about all for this "potty report".  As always, thanks for checking in and you know I'll be back soon!

Kid Quotes (#8) Beef. It's What's for Dinner.

This was a few days ago, but I'm just now getting around to it...

We were outside playing with the kids and they made their way over to the now empty cow barn.  Cooper's wandering around in there and he turns to Josh asks, "Where the cows go?"  To which Josh replies, "Well buddy they're gone..." And Cooper says, "Oh.  In freezer."

Just A Mom

Why is it that once you start a family people seem to get the impression that your business is suddenly THEIR business.  Suddenly family, friends, co-workers, even strangers feel it is appropriate to ask you personal questions and then feel the need to emote their displeasure when they get an answer they don't approve of...

It starts during pregnancy.  The slew of questions begin pouring in: "Is this your first?" "Boy or Girl?"  "Are you going all natural?"  "Are you going to breast feed?" and on and on and on, until you give birth to your little one and the questions change a bit..."Are you going back to work?" "Oh, you're going to stay home?" "Are you having anymore?"  Then when you finally do decide to have another child the questions start all over again, with a few new ones added on, "You're having another one!?"  "This is it then right?  You're done?" and so on and so forth.

Now as many of you know I am a very open person and typically don't mind being asked these types of questions or answering them.  In fact, I was very open with all my pregnancies and if you wanted to know about my vaginal, drug free, deliveries then great. I'll give you all the details.  You ask, I tell.  BUT...

Recently I was presented with one question that sparked a nerve...

Today I had a doctor appointment at my primary care office.  The office I go to is an office that my mother worked at for about 10 years, so many of these people have known me since I was 7 or 8 years old.  I have Cooper with me and we check in, then my favorite (cough cough) nurse comes out to do my vitals and bring me back.  She always floods me with the same questions even though she knows the answers.  Last time I was there she asked, "So you're working right?" to which I of course replied, "No. I stay home."  She follows with, "Oh then you're in school right?" to which I again reply "No. I'm not in school." And her last statement, "Oh.  Then you're just a mom?"  My response of course, "No I am not JUST a mom."

Just because I don't work outside the home or go to school doesn't make me "just" a mom.  To be honest I never pictured myself as a stay-at-home-mom. Not that I didn't value the role of being a mother, but I just never pictured it that way.  I always assumed I would work outside the home and my kids when be in daycare.  That's just what I thought.  In fact, if daycare wasn't so expensive that's probably how it would be right now, but once we figured out the cost of daycare it just made more sense for me to stay home, which is what I did.  And to be even more honest it took a little getting used to.  Heck, somedays I'm still getting used to it LOL  But I am glad daycare is so expensive and I'm glad we made the decsion for me to stay home.  Although it wasn't what I anticipated I do believe it was/is ultimately what's best for my children and me even.  I've grown and changed a lot since becoming a mother.

Before I had babies I had everything planned out.  When I'd see kids acting up in grocery stores I'd think, "That won't be me.  That kid needs a good spanking.  That's all."  Now I'm the one in Wal-Mart when you have to peek around the next aisle to see who's kids are screaming and going bonkers. They're kids for Pete's sake. Let 'em have a little fun!  I used to think, "Oh I'll be so strict. I'll have a whole schedule. I'll have everything planned out."  Nope. I've learned there is very little that can be "planned out" when you have three young ones.  Baths happen whenever they get dirty.  Bedtime is whenever they're freaking out because of over exhaustion.  Breakfast is whatever is quick and easy.  Lunch is served sometime between 11am and 1pm depending on the days events.  I used to try to plan doctor's appointments around their nap or feeding schedule. Not anymore.  If they have to nap in the car, so be it. Eat on the run, so be it.  Oh and me being strict?  Never gonna happen.  I don't mind addressing my kids in a firm tone and yeah if we have a super hectic day I may even yell on occasion, but I do not like spanking one bit, and I honestly don't like "yelling" at my kids.  Now they'll get the 1-2-3 count in my mommy voice, but yelling at them. I don't like.  Never thought I'd be that way, but hey I am, and I like it.

There are lots of things I never thought I'd do.  Never thought we'd co-sleep, but I love it.  Never thought I'd let my two or three year old have a "baba", but I just didn't see the need to rip it away for them, and they're none the worse for it either LOL Never thought I'd let me kids run around naked or splash in mud puddles with their clothes on, but it's what I do. It's what makes me happy and what makes them happy, and that's all I'm worried about.

So no I'm not just a mom.  I am a very special and important person in my kids' lives, and all those special and important things I do get wrapped into one, short, three letter word...mom.

A Short Love Story...

So I'm cuddling on the couch with my wonderful, amazing hubby, when both of us smell "something".  Josh turns to face me and asks, "Did you fart?" to which I reply, "No.  Did you?" Then he says, "Yeah.  I was just hoping you did too."

Trying to disguise your own fart by hoping your spouse thinks they're the one who did it...true love.

Kid Quotes (#6 and #7) "Special Edition"

This is a "Special Edition" two part Kid Quotes...



Part One: "Chloe Talk" (#6)

The following are the terms Chlo Bear using to describe her bodily functions...

Chloe on pooping:

"I poopa my pants! HaHaHa!"

Chloe on snot:

"I got boogers! HaHaHa!"

Chloe on picking her nose:

"I got finger in my nose! HaHaHa!"

Chloe on burping:

"I burp in my mouth! HaHaHa!

And lastly, Chloe on farting:

"I burp in my butt! HaHaHa!"  (Yes 'burp' again.  According to Chlo, burps can come from you mouth OR your butt LOL)

And yes, she laughs after everything.  She may be the extreme girly girl when it comes to most things, but when it comes to talking the icky stuff, she just like her mommy :)

Decisions, Decisions....

Now that we've moved back to Byers we are faced with a dilemma...

Cooper was all set to go to Strasburg preschool where I LOVED the teacher, the classroom, everything, but unfortunately there are now two problems: one, they called and told me that they are officially full and cannot take Cooper, and two, they don't take out of district, so he couldn't go to Strasburg anyway.

This may leave you wondering..."So where's the dilemma? Just send him Byers. Duh." The dilemma is this (and I'll try to put this nicely): I got a "bad vibe" from the Byers preschool teacher upon meeting her back in December 2010.  Sorry if anyone of you know her, but it's my opinion and it's how I feel/felt, so honestly I can't apologize for that.  Anyway, she came in for about 20 minutes of Cooper's speech evaluation in December. She introduced herself and shook my hand, but didn't smile the entire time, not even when she introduced herself to Cooper.  She "played" with him for about 15 minutes, but hardly engaged him at all.  He was throwing a ball around and she hardly responded to anything he said or did.

At the time I wasn't too concerned about this because I knew Cooper was not ready for preschool and honestly didn't feel as if we'd be sending him to school anytime soon, but as I've said in previous blogs, he has come a long way in the last 6 months and I believe his is ready for school at any point.  Though I don't feel it's entirely necessary for him to be in school at 3 years old, I think he is ready none the less.

So now we're left in a predicament, but we have a few options...

One: We can send him to Byers anyway, whether I "like" the teacher or not.  Obviously the pros to this would be A) that he could continue receiving speech help, and B) he would get some needed socialization.  He would see the speech therapist 30 min a day, once a week, and he'd be allowed to enroll in the preschool for free. Although I believe he could benefit from further help, who couldn't really, I've been told he doesn't necessarily need anymore help.  I was told that 6 months ago in December 2010, and again in February when he was able to stop his speech therapy 2 months early.  Although, he would be receiving help, personally, I am not fond of this choice. For starters, I have been a stay at home mom most of his life and he has never been to a daycare or any type of classroom environment, so this would be his first experience and I want it to be a positive one.  I understand there is always a chance that at some point in time one or more of my kids may be placed in a classroom with a teacher I dislike, and that, given the fact that we live in such a small town, I may not always have a choice in the matter, but in this instance, my son is only 3 years old and obviously not at a point in his life to understand what's going on if the teacher isn't a good fit for him.  In 3rd or 5th or 7th grade, yeah, maybe he could grasp what's going on, but not at 3 years old, and I think sticking him with a teacher that isn't right for him at this point in his life is obviously not a good idea. Just my opinion.

Two: When the teacher called to tell me her class in Strasburg was full, she told me about the Strasburg Rec Center's "preschool", which I was also informed about when I went there to sign the kids up for T-Ball.  I would need to look into this a little further, but the T-Ball sign up lady told me that they could also offer him speech help there, plus this would again be a way for him to work on his social skills.  If he was to go to the Rec Center I've been told it's only two days a week and I believe we would need to pay for it, which I obviously wouldn't mind if we decided that the benefits to him would be worth it.

But if we ARE going to pay for something, then we have option three, which is to sign the kids (all the kids; Coop, Chlo, and Bro) up for one of the Toddler Time type activities they have at the Bennett Rec Center. Again, I would need to look into this further, but I know it would be cheaper than the Strasburg Rec preschool, AND it's something that all my kids and myself could participate in.  He would get the socialization aspect of it (all of them would) and we can still work with him on his speech at home, as we have been.

And last, but not least, we have option four which is to just keep him home and wait on preschool another year, until he's four years old, in which case he would be with the four year old preschool teacher whom I actually like and have heard great things about. We would continue to get him the socialization he's been getting from going to parks and play areas etc, to play with other kids, and we'd continue working with him on his speech at home.  Of course going to play areas and parks isn't the same as a classroom environment, but I don't believe he will "suffer" in any way from not being in a classroom right now.

So...obviously we have a big decision to make and we need to do it quickly considering all the preschools are already filling up for next year.  Fortunately I don't think we need to worry about it because at this point I think we are leaning toward keeping him home another year, or signing up with the Rec Center.  I am of course open to comments and opinions seeing as I'm sharing this with all of you and this IS a public blog, so feel free to say whatever you'd like. :)  Ultimately Josh and I will have to discuss this and come up with a final decision, but no matter, I know our little man is thriving and doing well, and will continue to do so whether he is solely under our care for another year or if he starts preschool in the fall.

I know this was a long one, so thanks for reading if you made it all the way through.  I'll be sure to update when we have finalized our decision and I'm sure I'll be back soon with more updates and adventures.  Thanks for checking in! :)

Kid Quotes (#5) "Boys Will Be Boys"

Cooper has much more in common with his Daddy than just his nose and eye color.  Today Cooper and Daddy were reading Josh's MMA (fighting) magazine, when Josh came across an ad picturing an athletic couple.  The male was shirtless and the female was wearing a rather revealing sports bra...Cooper says,

"Wow!  Look at those BOOBIES!"

Like father like son.