Today was day one of official potty training! Little man is just over 2, and it is TIME! Sister is gone for a week at grandmas, so this is the perfect time! I will have plenty of one on one time with him, and won't have to deal with breaking up little fights all day long!!!! I am done with dirty diapers and toting wipes, cream, pull-ups and extra clothes!
Until this point, he has been sitting on the potty, but only for a few seconds, yes, seconds, at a time. So, since I decided it is crunch time for this boy to be trained, I put together a "potty basket". It contains flash cards, to teach shapes, colors, words, and animals, a couple potty books, a number book, and his favourite fishy book. To my surprise, the basket created a 20 minute potty sitting!!!!! WOO HOO!! Success! At least for the first day!
So, now that he has learned to sit for longer than it takes to blink, and learned how to sit so as not to spray the entire bathroom, tomorrow we will be focusing on sitting multiple times through out the day. I believe we will also be taking the security of the pull up away and using only cloth training pants......maybe I better go give the washing machine a pep talk!
My goal is to be completely out of day time diapers by the end of this week, let's see if we can do it!
How have your potty training experiences led you? What worked for you? Did you do a reward chart? What tips can you give to other mothers attempting this daunting task?
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Back to blogging....
Well, it's been well over a year since I have done anything with my blog, but it's time to start again!
This is going to be short and sweet since I am on my phone, but look for new changes coming soon! Alot has changed in the past year, or however long it has been, I can't even remember!
Iook forward to reconnecting withbthe blogging world!!
This is going to be short and sweet since I am on my phone, but look for new changes coming soon! Alot has changed in the past year, or however long it has been, I can't even remember!
Iook forward to reconnecting withbthe blogging world!!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Time Slips Away, New Motivation Sprouts
WoW! It is so unbelievable to me that it is April already!!! Time really does seem to slip away like sand in an hourglass!
With the recent onset of spring, new motivation has sprung up inside me! I have lived with a messy house for so long, that I have decided that if I don't change it now, it will never happen. My mom always taught me to keep house and keep things neat, but it obviously never seemed to click in my mind, until now. With this wonderful weather and more beautiful weather to come with summer, I have decided that I will not allow myself to be constantly under the bondage of having tasks needing to be done.
One of my closer friends is, well, she's a neat freak, and that is NOT a bad thing! She has been a great help to me in figuring out how to set myself a schedule of tasks to complete each day, so that in two weeks time, my house will be cleaned for spring, and I will be two weeks from starting homeschool. Those two weeks will allow me to get my stuff together, books, resources, teacher's plan book, etc.
I have also been reading on Fly Lady, which I love her system, but because of my perfectionism and procrastination....let me tell you, these two traits DO NOT go very well together, it's almost like taking a laxative and a sleeping pill at the same time LOL! For me, Fly Lady is not the way to get me motivated to start, but I know that it will be the way that I use to keep me motivated and on top of all of my daily chores and weekly zone missions.
With spring, I feel a new sense of purpose and direction, and I can't wait to see how this new season in my life will take shape and how it will lead!
Spring, how does it make you feel? Have you set some new goals for yourself?
With the recent onset of spring, new motivation has sprung up inside me! I have lived with a messy house for so long, that I have decided that if I don't change it now, it will never happen. My mom always taught me to keep house and keep things neat, but it obviously never seemed to click in my mind, until now. With this wonderful weather and more beautiful weather to come with summer, I have decided that I will not allow myself to be constantly under the bondage of having tasks needing to be done.
One of my closer friends is, well, she's a neat freak, and that is NOT a bad thing! She has been a great help to me in figuring out how to set myself a schedule of tasks to complete each day, so that in two weeks time, my house will be cleaned for spring, and I will be two weeks from starting homeschool. Those two weeks will allow me to get my stuff together, books, resources, teacher's plan book, etc.
I have also been reading on Fly Lady, which I love her system, but because of my perfectionism and procrastination....let me tell you, these two traits DO NOT go very well together, it's almost like taking a laxative and a sleeping pill at the same time LOL! For me, Fly Lady is not the way to get me motivated to start, but I know that it will be the way that I use to keep me motivated and on top of all of my daily chores and weekly zone missions.
With spring, I feel a new sense of purpose and direction, and I can't wait to see how this new season in my life will take shape and how it will lead!
Spring, how does it make you feel? Have you set some new goals for yourself?
Monday, March 21, 2011
Weekly Review: Stepping Stones Together
Claire has finally moved through her first theme of books in the first step of the program. She has read through all 5 books of the princess theme. I am so proud of her! To see the accomplishment in her face and the desire she has to continue reading, and re-read the books is just so wonderful!
Each time we move onto a new book, I see the confidence grow in her reading as well. There is less hesitation from her, and she seems to move rather easily through the books. There is the odd page that she may stumble on, but she is just learning, so we can't expect perfection here, but for the most part, it seems to be fairly smooth.
I just realized something new, or possibly just overlooked on my part, today. On the Stepping Stones Together website, in your personal account, all of the books are listed that are available to choose in the first stage of the program. Well, for the life of me I could not figure out how we would move to the list of books in the second stage, once we had completed the first.
As I was going back to the list to print out more books for Claire, I realized that on the right hand for each book, is a button that says "NOT COMPLETED". Lo and behold, when you click the button it changes to a big green check mark, showing that you have completed that book, along with the date. So, due to my lack of knowledge (or just not remembering to go back and do it!), all of the first five books have today as their finish date, which of course, is not the case. However, I guess that would be a minor detail!
Tomorrow we start into the "Fairy" theme books, and Claire couldn't be more excited! I myself, am very excited as well, but less because of it being fairies, and more of it to see how she continues to progress!
Please check back for further updates!
DISCLAIMER: I received a one year subscription at 50% off the regular price for the purpose of conducting these reviews. However, all opinions expressed are solely my own and honest, and are not swayed by the discounted price.
Each time we move onto a new book, I see the confidence grow in her reading as well. There is less hesitation from her, and she seems to move rather easily through the books. There is the odd page that she may stumble on, but she is just learning, so we can't expect perfection here, but for the most part, it seems to be fairly smooth.
I just realized something new, or possibly just overlooked on my part, today. On the Stepping Stones Together website, in your personal account, all of the books are listed that are available to choose in the first stage of the program. Well, for the life of me I could not figure out how we would move to the list of books in the second stage, once we had completed the first.
As I was going back to the list to print out more books for Claire, I realized that on the right hand for each book, is a button that says "NOT COMPLETED". Lo and behold, when you click the button it changes to a big green check mark, showing that you have completed that book, along with the date. So, due to my lack of knowledge (or just not remembering to go back and do it!), all of the first five books have today as their finish date, which of course, is not the case. However, I guess that would be a minor detail!
Tomorrow we start into the "Fairy" theme books, and Claire couldn't be more excited! I myself, am very excited as well, but less because of it being fairies, and more of it to see how she continues to progress!
Please check back for further updates!
DISCLAIMER: I received a one year subscription at 50% off the regular price for the purpose of conducting these reviews. However, all opinions expressed are solely my own and honest, and are not swayed by the discounted price.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Clearing the Clutter
Well, with spring approaching, and spring cleaning underway, what a better time to start getting rid of things to make your home a simpler, more relaxed environment! I have done just this very thing this week, and, oh how wonderful it feels to know that my clutter will be going to someone in need and freeing up space in my home!
In my effort to start working on Claire's classroom, I realized I needed to clear out my storage room for things that actually had a purpose and needed somewhere to be stored! WOW! I think I opened a can of worms! It is very satisfying though, to be getting rid of things that are just taking up valuable space.
The room that I have deemed our storage room is actually going to be a bathroom.........someday. It is actually perfect. It's bare bone structure, allows me to put up shelving and to stack storage bins. I can't wait to get in there to get it all fixed up.
This week I have been really going through things and clearing it out. I sold some items two weeks ago, and this week I donated 8 garbage bags and 1 box full of things that I am no longer loving, using, or needing! It is so wonderful!
My next task in my de-cluttering venture is probably going to be toys.....ugh! I have a whole toy store in my house! I am not looking forward to that task, but am keeping my eye on the prize at the end of it....not having 4 rooms full of toys to put away!
What are some of your efforts to get your home ready for spring?
In my effort to start working on Claire's classroom, I realized I needed to clear out my storage room for things that actually had a purpose and needed somewhere to be stored! WOW! I think I opened a can of worms! It is very satisfying though, to be getting rid of things that are just taking up valuable space.
The room that I have deemed our storage room is actually going to be a bathroom.........someday. It is actually perfect. It's bare bone structure, allows me to put up shelving and to stack storage bins. I can't wait to get in there to get it all fixed up.
This week I have been really going through things and clearing it out. I sold some items two weeks ago, and this week I donated 8 garbage bags and 1 box full of things that I am no longer loving, using, or needing! It is so wonderful!
My next task in my de-cluttering venture is probably going to be toys.....ugh! I have a whole toy store in my house! I am not looking forward to that task, but am keeping my eye on the prize at the end of it....not having 4 rooms full of toys to put away!
What are some of your efforts to get your home ready for spring?
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Weekly Review: Stepping Stones Together
WOW! It has been a crazy long time since I have been able to post up a review due to all the sickness and other things we have been dealing with! However, we are back on the horse and ready to ride! Just to give a little back info, please check out my first review here.
As we started into the second book, as mentioned in my previous review, Claire had a bit of trouble catching onto it. However, the second time through, was a little easier. The pictures were the best tool for her, because she could look at them and clearly see what the words were saying.
Moving into the third book, she had so much more confidence! As we do each time, we browsed through the story, I read it through once with her, and then she "read" it through using the pictures and the repetitive sentences as her guide.
As of yet, we have not used the flashcards, which contain the commonly used sight words, that go along with each story. Now that we are all feeling better, we will be getting into this much more as we start into schooling within the next few weeks. I am really looking forward to playing different games with Claire using these flashcards!
Some quality time spent with Claire, snuggled up in my bed, using stories containing themes children adore! That's my idea of teaching and learning!
Don't forget to keep an eye out for next week's review!
DISCLAIMER: I received a one year subscription at 50% off the regular price for the purpose of conducting these reviews. However, all opinions expressed are solely my own and honest, and are not swayed by the discounted price.
As we started into the second book, as mentioned in my previous review, Claire had a bit of trouble catching onto it. However, the second time through, was a little easier. The pictures were the best tool for her, because she could look at them and clearly see what the words were saying.
Moving into the third book, she had so much more confidence! As we do each time, we browsed through the story, I read it through once with her, and then she "read" it through using the pictures and the repetitive sentences as her guide.
As of yet, we have not used the flashcards, which contain the commonly used sight words, that go along with each story. Now that we are all feeling better, we will be getting into this much more as we start into schooling within the next few weeks. I am really looking forward to playing different games with Claire using these flashcards!
Some quality time spent with Claire, snuggled up in my bed, using stories containing themes children adore! That's my idea of teaching and learning!
Don't forget to keep an eye out for next week's review!
DISCLAIMER: I received a one year subscription at 50% off the regular price for the purpose of conducting these reviews. However, all opinions expressed are solely my own and honest, and are not swayed by the discounted price.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Embracing Change
Change. Some say it's good, others dislike it. I, on the other hand, am embracing it! I really do need to start making some serious changes in my life. My focus needs to be on my family first, and then commitments to others. I often find myself thinking, what can I do for someone else, how can I bless them. Which, in itself, is a great thing, but when it starts taking place over my family, it becomes an issue.
Balance is something I am striving to achieve in my day to day life. It is difficult to put in place when it has never been there, but it is necessary. I seem to have a problem with allowing menial things to take more importance than the important things day to day, and I need to change that.
Change is never easy, but sometimes is absolutely necessary! Praise the Lord, I am finally realizing this! I can see the shadows lifting already, with only small changes being put into place and that is the driving force for me right now.
One of the changes that is going to be made in my life, is my blog. I have already made some changes, in that I have taken away two of my weekly series, and I will now be taking away the third. I just don't want to feel trapped by my blog and by things that I start. That's the beauty of a blog actually, that it's yours, you do what you want with it when you want! So, "Mommy's Favourite Mondays" will now be no longer as well! The idea behind each of these series will probably pop up into blog posts, but for now, that's all they will be.
Balance is something I am striving to achieve in my day to day life. It is difficult to put in place when it has never been there, but it is necessary. I seem to have a problem with allowing menial things to take more importance than the important things day to day, and I need to change that.
Change is never easy, but sometimes is absolutely necessary! Praise the Lord, I am finally realizing this! I can see the shadows lifting already, with only small changes being put into place and that is the driving force for me right now.
One of the changes that is going to be made in my life, is my blog. I have already made some changes, in that I have taken away two of my weekly series, and I will now be taking away the third. I just don't want to feel trapped by my blog and by things that I start. That's the beauty of a blog actually, that it's yours, you do what you want with it when you want! So, "Mommy's Favourite Mondays" will now be no longer as well! The idea behind each of these series will probably pop up into blog posts, but for now, that's all they will be.
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