Potty Training or Demanding!?

My 2 year old has been asking to go potty for the longest. She loves to try to do whatever her 3 year old brother can do!
 I finally brought the Turtle Potty out of the garage when we had another episode of her declaring that she needed to potty like a big girl . She sat down on Mr.Turtle and then got up after a minute. There was nothing in the potty. I told her that it was fine that she did not go this time but when she eventually goes she would be rewarded with a special treat! She immediately sat down again after  hearing the word treat & went #1!!

The Boy and I clapped & screamed for the Girl!

I then realized that I didn't have any special treats on hand a.k.a M &M's!

I had to pull out the big guns and bake cookies!!! The Girl & Boy were so excited and could hardly wait!

I then put the cookies outside on the deck to cool off & the kids stared the cookies down as they waited!

It was then time for the Girl to take her 1st bite of a cookie as a Tot who had her 1st success on the Potty!

The Boy then had to show the Girl how to eat a cookie as fully trained Pottier!!!

Mr. Wonderful and I are not rushing this Want- To- Be Potty Trainer, but we will have M&M's on hand for future successes!!!

PlayDate

Play-date (noun): Playdates are becoming part of the vernacular of popular culture and form a part of children’s "down time." Most parents prefer children to use these hours to form friendships by playing with other children either one-on-one or within small groups. When children are very young, most parents stay for the playdate and use the time to form their own friendships and parental alliances.

Before I had kids whenever I heard the word play-date I thought it was the cutest thing in the world.

Now that I am a mother and we have weekly play dates I have come to realize that it is not always the cutest thing.

Especially when your kid is not being such a lovely play mate. Boy has been having consistent playmates with my friends daughter for almost a year.

It was definitely not love at first sight for these two.

Boy has been the primary attacker at our play dates multiple times. I thought my friend would not want to have play-dates with me anymore.

I Thank God for my friend, a good Mother that is rational and realizes that he is just a 2 year old.

Like her own 2 year old, sometimes they have bad days, they are learning, and we are called to work through it & with them.

I am glad to write that as our year anniversary of play dates is approaching we are seeing much improvement.

These two are starting to play much better together....

They might even love each other!

Road Trip Ideas for Toddlers

My last post was about our wonderful 4th of July. What I did not mention was that it was 10.5 hour car drive to our wonderful destination. If you are a parent you know traveling with kids, especially long car rides can cause anxiety to rise.

I have always accepted the saying You fail to plan You plan to fail. I decided that I would plan ahead for this road trip.
I made a trip to the the DollarTree and I purchased a toy for the kids for each hour of traveling, minus 3 hours for nap-time.




The toys included:









A Paddle Ball- Boy & Girl both loved this. I had to remind Boy once to not aim at his Sister's head!




Refrigerator Magnets- you can purchase a cheap cookie-sheet and let the kids go to town arranging them on the sheet.




Dry Erase Board On The Go- Only Boy could play with this and it kept him busy for hours. I just gave him a baby wipe to use when he was ready to erase.













Stickers- I placed them on their hands, face, and legs. My kids love stickers!












PipeCleaners- The kids loved figuring out how to take these off! I had fun tying them all up!













Glow Sticks- When it got a little dark the kids found these very interesting and of course Girl found that it felt good on her teething gums.




Ring Pop-Was the desperate hour toy/ candy. The kids sucked on them FOREVER & could not finish.

Things I tried not pictured:
Foil-I would make figurines of animals for the kids. Girl just watched (did not want her to place in mouth) and Boy could hold them.
Crazy Maze -Boy tried to get the ball through the maze. Girl liked the way it rattled.
iPad games-Boy loves Angry Birds and Build a Train
iPad shows- Downloaded Mickey Mouse & Yo Gabba Gabba

These all helped keep the kids busy. Mommy & Daddy were able to talk & enjoy the beautiful car ride.

Holding Tight

One day these two hands will not be holding onto my legs tight....

One day these two will not need Mommy to watch their every move.

One day these two will not need Mommy to feed their Lil stomachs.

One day these two will not need Mommy to clean their rear ends.

One day these two will not need Mommy to brush their growing teeth.

One day these two will not need Mommy to kiss their boo boos.

One day these two will not need Mommy to secure them in the car.

One day these two will not need Mommy to go to the park.

One day these two will not need Mommy to clean their Lil noses.

One day these two will not need Mommy to help them say their prayers.

One day these two will not need Mommy to put them to bed.

One day these two will not need Mommy to comfort in the middle of the night.

Until this one day comes I will meet these particular needs as best as I can. This particular season can sometimes feel very overwhelming. I would not trade it for anything! I am letting them hold onto my legs tight! I am also tightly holding onto special Kodak moments, like this one and locking it into heart!

Traveling with Toddlers

Before having kids I never realized the fear that came with traveling with kids. I totally took for granted the easiness of traveling solo or just with my husband.

As stated in previous blog posts we traveled to Texas last month. We have taken road trips as a family of four but this was our first time flying as a family.

We prepared traveling bags with snacks, milk, juice, plenty of wipes &diapers, emergency clothes, toys and of course the IPad. We prepared our hearts and prayed to God about the adventurous traveling experience we were about to endure.

I do believe that God hears and answers prayers.

Despite, it was not the perfect traveling experience. We usually privately grade our kids on their behavior. We both agreed that JJ got an A- and that JoJo got a C for traveling.

Yes, we were the parents with the one year old screaming on the back of the plane. We got plenty of stares. We in return just smiled back. We both realized that we could only do what we could do. Believe me, we tried all of our tricks.

We loved on our child and understood that she was a restless baby whose ears probably were in discomfort. Or maybe she was being fussy for no reason? Who will ever really know.

I do know that we will probably never see any of those passengers again and that our traveling adventure was worth all the memories that were created in Texas....

Tips for Parents Traveling with Toddlers:

* Pay for a straight through flight if you can

* Always carry spare clothes, accidents seem to always happen

* Pack plenty of wipes and hand sanitizer

* Dress the kids in clothes that are easy to take off for diaper changing

*A bottle and sippy cup cooler is worth every penny

*If you have the option of an umbrella stroller go with it

*Packing a sack lunch for kids would be helpful, airport food tends to not always be kid friendly

*Realize that somethings are just out of your control, go with the flow with a smile

*Have fun with your family because it will just be a memory one day

* If your child is kicking a fellow passengers chair please intervene( this one was via my BF)

Tips for passengers :

* Its just a couple of hours of your life, sharing a plane with toddlers

* If parents had a switch to turn off the kids whinnying, crying, yelling, and whatever else annoys you (and them)they would use it

* Remember that once you had kids too or maybe in the future you will

* Continual looks at the parent or child when they are "bothering" you does not at all help the situation unless they are physically bothering you(i.e. kicking your chair)

*You changing your seat to assist a family is such a great gift

* A smile goes a long way