Donuts & Dinosaurs: Wells & Poppy's Birthday Party

Wells requested a dinosaur party at the water park in St. Thomas. I incorporated pink flare for Poppy's side of the celebration or least it gave an excuse to add pink to the park. Poppy and Wells are only two days apart and until they plead separate parties, I'll keep joining them.

Our transfer/move season is during the summer each year so I can't just skip throwing a party on our move years. In Philadelphia, we celebrated Wells' first birthday one month early. This year, we celebrated Wells and Poppy a little over a month early with our friends (aka island family) before our move.

Only two days before we moved out of our house, we picked up donuts, poured coffee/milk/and water, blew up balloons, painted dinosaurs, and splashed all morning in celebration of our two kids.

Wells' First Montessori Classroom

Wells 2.7

I love you, mom.  

This is becoming more of a regular phrase that Wells thoughtfully expresses. He's been saying I love you for awhile; but the other day, he had asked me to help him take off his shoes upon coming home. I bent down and unbuckled his sandals. He was just staring at me. As I finished, he said "I love you, mom." It wasn't overly dramatic nor emotional, but a confident statement. I, of course, melted into a puddle of "I love you, too's".

A quick run down on everything else he currently is in love (or aka obsessed) with: firetrucks or anything fire related, chocolate, singing Jingle All the Way, ending every other song with Jingle All the way, meshing six and seven together when counting to ten (sixen, eight), running up hills, his friend Tucker, our recent quest Ellen, the beach, swimming, pretending to be a turtle in the bathtub, big trucks, cooking, washing his hands, brushing his teeth, wearing his fireman pajama's as much as he can, shoes, strawberry's, coloring, hamburgers, and Poppy!!

Poppy being a huge contender to the top of his tender affection. He loves her dearly. He has never shown any sign of dislike towards her. He wants her to be tended to even if I think she is fine. And, when I don't step in, he will. He will divert her attention with a toy or play peek a boo. He shows her books and tries to give her food (ah!). He wants cuddles constantly. We did have to work on his not making her sit up and lay down. It was a little to aggressive, but he meant Well. He finds creative ways to play with her. He will ask us to put her by him, because he is going to drive her to the store. Sometimes, they sit in the laundry basket and fly to the moon. Gosh! He loves her, I love her, I love him, She loves him. We are all dreamy boat, love-y dove-y.

We are really learning how to discipline him and learning what worms best. It is so hard, hard to find the balance of consistency and grace/mercy or just flat out getting-through-the-day. Overall, I think we are headed in the right direction.

We have been trying to teach Wells how to say Seattle. Swat-dle.

I love the art Wells brings home from school. We have a growing gallery wall of all his creations from school and stuff he does at home. He is very proud of it and loves to talk about all the different pieces. He is enjoying school and, I believe, it is the highlight to his week. He talks about school constantly and tells me how fun it is.

He remembers everything now. He wakes up in the morning recalling details of the previous day. He tells me random facts about his day at school. He answers specific questions easier. And, he is starting to pick up lines from us all the time.

All photos taken by Savanah Loftus Photography

I cried.

My life was flipped upside down. And by life, I really mean body. My body wasn't my own anymore. My stomach had been stretched out in order to fit an almost ten pound baby. In the last few days before Wells was born, stretch marks appeared out of nowhere. No some little stretch marks. I mean I have sever inches around my belly button of horrible, dreadful, tear inducing, no bikini ever again kind of stretch marks. My boobs inflated with milk and he was attached to me around the clock.

Wells made me a mom.
The first few months, it took some getting use to. And, I took to it. I actually fell in love with being a mom. All the sacrifice and all the change was completely okay. Better than okay, it was worth it.

Wells and I have such a sweet relationship.

Last year, I woke up and cried.

And, cried.

I woke up and knew it would be the last time I would breastfeed him ever! Eighteen months and ten days old seemed like it went by too fast.

At the breastfeeding class Ted and I took while I was pregnant for Wells, we were asked how long we planned to breastfeed. I was the lady in the room ever bugged out over. I answered confidently between 2 and 3 years.

As most things in parenting go, we have this preconceived ideas of what we will do, say, teach, and be. When I became pregnant for Poppy, I knew at some point I would wean Wells before having her. After feeding and co-sleeping around the clock, I knew I could manage two kids. It was right for us to wean earlier than I had hoped.

You can read about my weaning process here. I will always remember breastfeeding Wells and how sweet that time was for us. It was a treasure.

Today, I cried again.

I cried as I was breastfeeding Poppy and tickling Wells's back before naps. Being a mom is the coolest thing ever.

Two and a half!

The other day, I was cuddling Wells at bedtime. He had his knees bent against my chest, chin tucked, and arms extending around me. And, I let life pause.

How did he ever fit inside of me. How has life flown so quickly. How can he seem so little to me yet so big.

There are many nights like these and I do not take any one of them for granted. One of us always cuddles him to sleep at night. I really think it is his love language. He can go to sleep on his own, but being in his words "warm with hugs" is ten million times better and easier and special. Okay, you get it!

When either of us walk into a room where he is, he exclaims "MY daddy" or "MY mommy".

The my is kind of a thing lately. My toy. My turn.

Mine, all mine. 

Poppy is starting to scoot her way to his world and he is having to learn some lessons on sharing.

Typically, Wells has been okay (not great) with sharing with his friends. He will not share with a stranger or a child he isn't friends with. This can be very embarrassing when your child is causing another child to have a break down, because he won't share. We are in full force devoting time to continue to teach and practice this at home hoping to avoid theses breakdowns when with others. I get down on the floor and we take turns between me and him or him and Poppy. Sometimes, I feel like it's just making me go a little more crazy throughout the day, but then I see it working and know that it is necessary.

Wells still loves to cook. If we are doing anything in the kitchen at all, he is pushing a chair closer and invading. With a great mise en place, Wells can put together homemade pancake batter like a champ. Even can crack an egg without getting shell in the batter, most of the time. (So eventually, I can sit and watch him cook right?) My grandpa used to always talk about the time I cooked him and my grandma pancakes all by myself at five years old. Wells is in line to do the same. I just hope he doesn't use as much butter.

My parents recently visited for one week and Wells has not stopped asking where they went. My mom has chosen her grandmother name as Nana and my father would like to be called Grandpa. Wells is currently calling my dad 'G-Pa'. Our new daily conversations include discussing how Nana and G-Pa went on an airplane back to their home. It seems to appease him briefly. I know, he really enjoyed their visit. He really remembered my mom and now knows my dad. I also think he loves to talk about airplanes. It's an ideal conversation for him.

Wells is obsessed with everything related to firefighters. It is quite adorable.

He requests to see certain friends and do certain activities more than before. I've been sick this past week and he has been begging that I take him to the doctor. He has come full circle into loving the doctor. (Just wait until he has another shot!) I can't wait to see how much he has grown at his well visit I scheduled.

He can sing his ABCs and identify shapes. He is working on colors. He speaks a little spanish that he has learned at school. He loves school and wishes he could go on the weekends too. He loves to sing and play his guitar or drum. He has a hard time pronouncing L's.

Most importantly, he has learned to use the toilet all by himself. That means, he can doesn't need assistance except for wiping. We never put out a step stool in our bathrooms. I suppose, it would have been helpful in getting us to this point sooner, but whatev's. Now he can pull his pants down and get on the toilet without my help. I'm still wiping his butt, but I call that winning at this stage in the game. "Mom, I'm going to poop. Don't come. Privacy. . . . . . MOM, ALL DONE. PAPER!"

He is sleeping better than ever!!!!! And. He is always hungry.

Wells is so brave in the water now. Recently, we have been having bigger currents. (Side note, most of our bays are extremely perfectly calm.) He loved riding them in. And, he is warming up to snorkeling.

I tend to bring him to get a hair cut every month. Last month, he did so great and this month I knew it was time for clippers. We had more of a big boy hair cut than ever. The hairdresser just was really bad at her job. Wells was a pro, sitting by himself and still. I'm so looking forward to pairing this new bravery and a new barber.

Wells is all about Poppy. He wants to know where she is, what she is doing, why she is doing it, and show her how to do everything. A week ago, Ted and Wells dropped me and Poppy off at the airport. We girls flew over to Puerto Rico for the long weekend. I was so excited about getting off island for a weekend (and shopping!!!) that I forgot I hadn't been away from Wells for this long ever! I was fine. He was fine. Ted said he wasn't concerned about my absence, but constantly was asking where Poppy was! While we were away, Ted planned to let Wells help him wash my car. And, Wells absolutely loved everything that it entailed. I equally loved it, because I returned to a sparkly car.

There is so much to say about life with Wells. He keeps us on our toes and constantly scratching our heads on what to feed him next.

We love everything about him. He is such a joy to parent.

Wells Emerson, Happy Half Birthday.

Wells // 2.5

It really surprises me how much Wells is still changing from month to month. It did seem like a few months ago everything was just the same monthly. The last few months, I want to come and type out everything that is happening so fast. Wells is turning into a "kid" and less of a baby.

His imagination is intriguing to me. He pretends all of the time. Lately, it has mostly centered around being a fireman. "..to the rescue!" fills the house all day long while he chasing pretend fires and bringing all to safety. It's cute. Really cute. We brought him to a holiday block party at the Fort Christian firehouse here on island. He was able to see the fire trucks up close and sit on them. They gave him a plastic fire man hat which he slept with, ate with, played with, and even bathed with. On Christmas morning, we gave him a whole fireman outfit. It was a hit!

Wells is even more verbal. He is really beginning to be able to articulate most of his thoughts into words that we can actually understand. It is so fun to hear what he is thinking, imagining, and loving.

He is still really interesting in cooking or helping in the kitchen in general. He is working at his cracking eggs skills little by little. He always helps with loading and unloading the dishwasher, too.

Recently, Ted and I went to dinner and had a new babysitter watch the kids. She mentioned how Wells was so independent. He fixed his own dinner. It's fun, but then sometimes I want to lock the refrigerator.

Wells loves to sing songs and lately he's been singing "Jingle all the Way" more than others. He also loves to play his guitar and scream... so maybe he has been influenced by scream-o music. I have been resurrecting my old collection.

School is going so great. He constantly asks to go and be with his teacher and friends. Recently, we watched him with his classmates in the holiday program. He ended up not singing, but he inched his way towards the microphone. He never ended up saying anything, but I was wondering what he would have said if he did. Later we had a little party for Christmas back in his classroom. I was able to hear the songs they typically sing and it was so adorable hearing him sing in spanish.


Wells loves to swim!!! He really loves boats. Or really any mode of transportation. He was so excited to go on a boat trip for Christmas Eve! He is always talking about the beach and his friends by name. It's incredibly sweet.

Wells is busy and sometimes his energy makes him crazy... like fighting naptime. Sometimes he makes us crazy when he doesn't listen and wants to run around at church. Overall, he is such a great kid and so easy to deal with. Now if only I could get him to keep his shoes on in the car.

Wells is golden.

28 months on November 28. In only 26 years, Wells will celebrate his real golden birthday. Today, I celebrate the last 28 months of the joy he brings to us.

It seems that anytime either me or Ted step foot into the kitchen, Wells is closely behind. He pulls a chair from the kitchen table over in order to help with whatever we are preparing. Or if the mood hits, he requests to make pancakes. I believe I was four years old and could cook pancakes solo as well. I remember climbing onto a kitchen chair just the same and frying pancakes. My grandpa, PawPaw, always called it frying because I was a little excessive in buttering the pan. Whether it be pancakes, cracking eggs for a scramble, cutting fruit, peeling boiled eggs, making bread, smashing cooked potatoes, we keep Wells occupied in the kitchen.

Wells loves to eat constantly. His food groups are fruit, sweets, sausage, cheese (but not kid cheese no he wants my cheese plate of $$ cheese), and some protein. All the in between, aka vegetables, we mix into his smoothies.

Wells is a chatter box. He definitely takes after his father. My mother in law recalls several years when Ted never stopped talking. That is Wells. His words are coming out clearer and his ideas so silly. He is learning so much in school and at home. He loves to color and draw circles. We draw letters as roads and he drives his cars on sounds "aaaaa" "bbbbb". I love the idea to learn sounds before letter recognition. He loves to trace his hands and my hands.

Trains, plains, boats, cars, and everything in between; we are obsessed. Wells also can correctly identify them now. (A few months ago, everything was a boat.) I believe, we may just find some of these under the Christmas tree this year. He is equally obsessed with dolls, strollers, and caring for all. He loves to dance, sing, and play his guitar. He even tries to play his guitar as a violin. He gets a little frustrated with putting it up to his chin, because it's to big.

He really loves his friends and thoroughly enjoys their company. He now asked to go play with them when we are at home. At church, he still won't go in the nursery which I am now okay with. He tells me it's scary. We have been keeping him in the service. He is slightly wiggly at times, but overall he does really well.

School has been so beneficial to him. He is so excited on mornings when we are getting ready to go. Schew-!!! Once at pick up, he wanted to give his teacher a kiss on the lips. She kissed his forehead a goodbye and he seemed pleased. We had our very first parent teacher conference this past month. His teacher said he is doing so well. She said he adjusted really fast to school without any hiccups. He enjoys doing his "work", being with other children, and spends lots of them in the reading corner with books. He doesn't like to get his hands messy which I already knew.

He still really loves Poppy and we've never had any problems with him accepting and loving her. He still wants to hold her, but only for like 30 seconds before he's on to the next activity. The "newness" is wearing off, I suppose.

He loves to do somersaults, hop, and go running.

Wells / 2.2

My heart is swelling with all these warm mommy feelings towards Wells lately. He has grown up so much in the last few months. I am proud of him. At times, I am a little sad that it is all happening to fast. Can babies stay babies? I remind myself to take it day by day and moment by moment. Some days, I feel like life is stalling as I'm dealing with an emotional toddler who just would like for me to read his mind instead of correctly communicating his needs. Other days, I feel like I want to freeze time and live forever in these tender moments of childhood.



School is the big new this month. I am happy to report and proud to say - he is loving it. Above is a picture I snapped on his first day. Wells cried at drop off for the first eight days, but now walks in with confidence. He doesn't want to leave at the end of the day either. He has settled in just fine which makes me feel so much better about everything. Last weekend, he brought me my keys several times as he ready for me to bring him to school. 'I need schooooo.' His teacher sent home a newsletter this week. She said they've been learning grace and courtesy, table setting, sitting and eating nicely at the table. I believe, Wells is enjoying being apart of snack preparations and taking walks to see animals. When I ask if he enjoys school, he replies "I happy."



The first full (half) day of school for him went great for him. I came home, cleaned the house, finished laundry, read a book, sipped my coffee, and text Ted - I'm already bored. A problem that I have already solved with adding more to me and Poppy's social calendar and picking up new books to read at the library. Now I am welcoming my toddler free mornings just like I knew I would, thanks for asking.



Wells is currently obsessed with trains. He has wanted to bring his The Little Engine That Could book everywhere including taco night and the pool. He wakes up wanting to read it. He typically finds something he wants to bring in the car. For awhile, he would grab a little truck or car. He would proceed with the need to push it on the ground until we reached the car. Eye roll.



Wells is still loving his baby sister. He thinks its funny when I let him hold her belly to belly. She pushes off his chest and bobs her head a little. He thinks she's giving him kisses which makes him giggles.

Wells' Second Birthday

It was a perfect day to celebrate our two year old at Magen's Bay. Wells was grinning the entire time. The swan was a hit with the everyone and the duck never fully inflated. We loved sharing the day with so many wonderful friends that truly have become our island family. I am so glad we decided to celebrate his birthday two weeks early, because Poppy was born two days after his actual birthday.

I feel the need to disclose some of our hiccups of the day. First, let me first state that I was 36 weeks pregnant. Ted went out to the beach at sunrise and set out a few things to "claim" our perfect spot. He came home and I had everything ready to load. We headed down to the beach and set up our decorations. Then a truck came and start unloading right on top of our claimed area. Huh! I waddled over to him and explained we claimed this spot as of 5:30 that morning. He argued nonsense. I stood my ground, but was becoming rather irritated at his refusal to set up somewhere else. After going back and forth, I was on the verge of tears. Did I mention I was 36 weeks pregnant?! Ted swayed me to just move our stuff down the beach instead of getting into it for the rest of the day. We moved and set up back with our set up plans. Thankfully, my amazing friend helped with all the loose ends.

I had been warned over and over that icing melts fast and to bring the icing for cupcakes and ice on site. I pulled out the icing and it was frozen. We managed to ice the cupcakes. Although it wasn't pretty, the simple buttercream icing was delicious. Wells could careless what it looked like as long as he was eating it!

All in all, we had the best day. Most importantly, Wells was oozing excitement.

Wells Got The Boot

For the last almost three years, I've been pregnant and/or breastfeeding without one night of uninterrupted sleep. Three years, you guys. As I sat in that NYC hotel room, I had no idea what my nights would be looking like for the next few several years. I was naive. I had read Bringing Up Baby and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I was growing a baby and with that came several night time wakings in order to drain my leaky bladder. Wells arrived earth side and I remember the daunting thoughts of being a new mother 'you mean he needs me 24-7' and 'I have to feed you again' and 'I just breastfed you for one whole hour! You can't be hungry again!'. I breastfed Wells until he was 18 months and 10 days old, a blink of an eye really. I miss it! We had a great relationship with breastfeeding. We weaned and I was a few months pregnant with baby number dos. Wells started doing his nights just about 67 weeks later than Parisian babes according to Bringing Up Baby.

Baby number two kept me up during my pregnancy 99% more than Wells did in utero. I was up pee-ing, restless, and downright miserable for the majority of the pregnancy. During the day, I was so exhausted and would try to nap as much as my active toddler would let me. I was done at 36 weeks. Done sleeping. As in, I was probably sleeping a collective three hours per night and still bed sharing with Wells. By bed sharing, I mean we attached our toddler to our queen size bed. He slept in his "crib" as a giant co-sleeper to accommodate my belly and seven pillows that were essential to my three hours of sleep.

Side note. I loved co-sleeping in bed and with the crib attached! My husband enjoyed it probably more than me. We loved having him close. While breastfeeding, it was ideal to have him in bed next to me. Before I was pregnant with Poppy, I was still waking 3-5 times a night throw him on the boob. I didn't feel like I lacked sleep. With Poppy arriving, we knew we wanted to transition Wells out of our room and into his own. This way we could room share with Poppy. (Poppy currently sleeps in a bassinet and is easily accessible for breastfeeding. At this time, I don't plan to co-sleep with her as I did Wells. That could change, but we are pleased with our current set up for now.)

In June, hope flickered and I started getting my bunt kick ready. My mom came to visit as a test run before we had the baby. Her visit also allowed Ted and I to go off island by ourselves. And we slept, in a king size bed, by ourselves for the first time in over a year. We also had central conditioning and it was blissful, but that is besides the point. During my mother's stay, Wells slept in a queen size bed upstairs with her, not us.  She left and we weren't ready to officially evict him from our room. So, we continued our nightly routine of co-sleeping with a giant co-sleeper crib which worked great.

The night before Poppy was born, I drop kicked Wells upstairs to Nana. I was up all night thinking about delivery, becoming a mom of two, and my fate of either newborn heaven or hell. The next few weeks, Wells continued co-sleeping with my mom in his new bed (the same queen bed, but we wanted him to take ownership).

Nana left.

And, Wells stayed sleeping upstairs alone!

Wells 2.1

One month ago, my baby turned two years old. I still see gigantic developmental and social changes each month. This last month his little world grew. Wells welcomed his baby sister with gentle arms and millions of soft kisses. All my fears of him rejecting Poppy have been sweetly dissolved. He is calmer than ever. Somehow, adding another child to the Ohman mix worked in our favor all around.



Morning, noon, and night Wells is always keeping a careful watch on Poppy. He wants to know where she is, how she is doing, and shower her with affection as much as possible. First thing upon waking in the morning, he wants to go and kiss her and the same with bedtime goodnight kisses. We always knew Wells was a love bug especially with us. I am so happy he is with his sister too. It's like without us even teaching him, he knows to be calm around her. My heart melts by his love for her. He even happily shares his favorite chair with her. I planned to buy a duplicate bjorn bouncer, because I knew how much he loves that chair. I also knew how much we loved it when he was a baby. Thankfully, they share time in it. It is so sweet watching him be selfless.



My mother-in-law tells me stories of how Ted wouldn't ever stop talking when he was little. Wells is definitely following in his father's running mouth. He talks non stop. Most of the time, we can decipher what he is blabbering (or at least I can) and other times we sit back and laugh. Lately, he wants to play his pretend guitar, his tennis racket, and sing songs to everyone. He is very serious about his jams and they are pretty hysterical for us to watch. It is so fun watching him put together sentences and how he is communicating with us more. His imagination is starting to run wild. The stories he creates are so fun.



Wells is very passionate about sausage and how he pronounces it too. He is eating better than the last few months. As in, his appetite is never lacking and is happily satisfied with a variety of healthy foods. Although, he can smells sweets from across the house and hear a chip bag open a mile away. He loves helping make his food. I've been teaching him how to crack eggs (and pick out shells), cut fruit, smear peanut butter, and a give a good whisk. At school, part of his day will be food preparation and I am sure he will love it.

Wells loves cars, trucks, balls, bubbles, and is a fish in the water. We have purchased several different floatation vests to help when he is in the water. All of them didn't really give him the security he was looking for. Then I picked up a ring from Kmart for three bucks and it was a game changer. He now is confident in the water. He loves kicking and being more independent. His love for books is coming back too. I finally got a library card and picked out new books. Who knew thats all he needed to snuggle in tight for stories all afternoon.



Wells loves playing with friends, especially his friend Scarlett. His faces beams with excitement anytime he is with her. I love seeing him excited about other people. I can't wait for him to make friends at school too. He starts school this next month. I really hope he enjoys it and I fully expect he will.

I anticipate so many changes this next year verbally, socially, and developmentally.

Wells meets Poppy

For weeks now, we've been telling Wells about his sister Poppy. He would wake up in the morning wanting to kiss Poppy aka my belly. I was starting to think he may think belly buttons were called Poppy. Or I worried that he would be very disappointed when we brought home a baby instead of a puppy.

In baby preparation, we bought a doll for Wells from Pottery Barn. He played with the doll all the time. We would put the baby to sleep. I would nurse the baby and Wells would make sure she was always getting her diaper changed by me.

Arriving at the hospital, Wells immediately noticed this new little human in my arms.

Baby!!!!

I neeed to kiss the baby!!! 

With a kiss on the top of her head, he was satisfied with their first meeting. He hopped off the hospital bed and began to explore the hospital room.

I passed Poppy off to my mom later and Wells snuggled with me in the hospital bed. He was extremely happy to be with us and kept talking about Poppy with a beaming grin. The next day, mom brought him back to see us at the hospital and he was equally accepting and gushed his love on Poppy before running some errands with Ted while my mom stayed with me.

Ted and I returned home with our newest addition on Sunday afternoon. When Wells woke up from his nap, he was so excited to see all of us. He was waiting for us to let him hold Poppy and lay beside her. He was extremely gentle with her and kept smiling his biggest grin. He stayed cuddling and in awe of her for a solid hour. He was calm and extremely gentle.

Wells loves to kiss her feet, stroke her hair, talk about her features (Poppy's eyes mama, Poppy's ears mama, etc.), attempt high fives and fist bumps.

Wells is completely fine with me caring, nursing, holding, and smothering Poppy with all my affection and time. He is less into Ted holding or showing too much attention to the new baby. I think he is really enjoying Ted's month a home and doesn't want to share him with anyone.

It has been great having my mom here to help with everything. She has been going on play dates with Wells and taking him to the beach, library, park, and pool. Other times mom watches Poppy so we can be with Wells. He has also loved his one on one time with Ted.

Wells has welcomed Poppy with so much love.

Sigh.

My heart is full.

Potty Training Notes II

Day 4.

We had a great day with no accidents leading up to underwear arrival when Ted returned from work. Wells put them on and excitedly ran around the house in his "beep beep's" aka the car printed undies.

He ran to the potty and sat with them on. This was the first time and was so sad to have to change into new underwear. We were just happy he went to the potty in the first place. We were busy doing other things and didn't even realize he even ran to the toilet.

Day 5.

Underwear on.

We had major regression with the underwear. We had accidents all day. I just kept encouraging him to use the potty and that I would help him pull the underwear down.

We were nervous to make our first outing since he was having so many accidents, but we went out to a dinner party with friends. Wells in his underwear and my purse full of clean up extras. When we arrived at the restaurant, Ted brought Wells to the bathroom and he immediately peed. We kept bringing him throughout the night and he kept going. No accidents and successful night out!

Day 6.

Wells did much better in the underwear all day. When we sent him to the sitters, he ended up putting a diaper on after an accident which was fine with us.

Day 7.

No accidents all day including going to church, the grocery store, and pool. Woot, woot!

And beyond.
One week down. The underwear transition is going much better and overall we are doing great. We haven't had an accident since last Saturday!!! We have ditched the training potty, because he seems to prefer the regular toilet and it's better for us to no have to clean anything. Wells has been really great about alerting us to when he needs to go. We also have been keeping a mindful eye on if he hasn't gone in awhile to ask him to try. He really will go try if he think he needs to. If he really doesn't need to, he protests. There is a major distinction between when he may have to go and when he definitely doesn't have to go. I am so glad we took the leap and potty trained.

He is really loving wearing his new underwear. He looks so big in his clothes without a diaper on. *tears* My baby is growing up.

We are officially diaper free (except for when sleeping! and until baby #2 arrives)!!

23 months.

Potty Training Notes I

Ted and I have been talking about potty training Wells seriously for the last month. We started to really notice little signs of readiness. I always thought I would want to potty train while I was pregnant. I am running to the bathroom so often, he might as well be going with me. Originally, I thought about trying it around 18 months. When that time came around, I was weaning Wells from breastfeeding and definitely did not see signs of readiness on either of our parts.

A few clues to know that Wells was possibly ready to be potty trained:

At the beach or pool, he would always tell me either right before he started to pee or as he was peeing.

At home, he would talk about making a "stinky" as he was either peeing or pooping in the diaper.

He started to want to be changed immediately after wetting or pooping in his diaper. He would get a new diaper and lay on the floor waiting. 

Those few clues started us in wanting to test the waters. I also knew that it's now or months after I have baby #2. I was nervous about starting wondering if he was really ready or if I was going to be pressing the issue. I put it off for two weeks as I had doctor appointments and fun play dates to entertain us and keep us out of the house. Then, I decided to give it a go. If anything, I'll see how day one went and see if it's a total disaster fest. Maybe I would reevaluate need be even though most encourage you to stick to it once you start.

The plan.

Our plan was to stay home all week and try the go naked approach with using the big potty and training potty. I really want him to learn on both and mainly the big potty, but our bathrooms are so far away from our main playing area that I knew I needed a closer potty for him. We would encourage him to try to use the potty. If he started having a accident, our goal was to catch it in action and mid-stream move him to the potty to finish his business. We would reward pee and poop in the potty with one of his favorites - chocolate chips (other people use stickers, but he wouldn't care about those). After spending time naked around the house, I plan to put him in underwear as round 2 before heading out to our normal weekly activities. We will put him in diapers for nap time and bed time.

The prep. 

Sunday night, we rolled all the rugs up in the main areas of the house that we would be using. I made sure we had plenty of paper towels and spray cleaner for accident clean up.

Day one.

Once Wells woke up, Ted took his diaper off and talked to him about going pee and poop on the potty. We set up a training potty in the living room and he also walked him to the hall bathroom. He set him on the toilet to see if you needed to go and he didn't. He had two accidents before I woke up.

I woke up and took over as Ted was leaving for work. I spent the morning asking him to sit on the potty. Every time he would pee in the potty, we would sing and dance. He was so excited and really got into the praise and absolutely loved his reward of a chocolate chip.

He had one accident while playing with toys. I noticed he was going and got him and sat him on the pot. I told him he could finish peeing on the potty. We cleaned up the pee on the floor and talked about going on the potty next time. No shame, I explained accidents happen.

Later, Wells was playing on the steps, stopped, and ran to the potty to make a little dime size poop. You'd think he scored his first touchdown. I clapped, danced, and sang my praise. We took the training potty, added water to get the poop up, and poured it into the big pot. I let Wells flush the toilet and we said goodbye to the poop.

At nap time, I put Wells in a diaper and let him do his normal nap routine. When he woke up, his diaper was full of pee. He laid down for me to change it. I took it off and let him throw the diaper away. He was naked again. I showed him where the potty was and told him to tell me when he needed to go.

Day two.

Wells was not happy when Ted initially took off his diaper after waking up. After five minutes, it didn't seem to bother him anymore. He didn't have any accidents nor did he use the bathroom until after Ted left for work. Midmorning, I knew he needed to go both pee and poop. I keep encouraging him to sit on the either the big or training potty. He didn't pee after waking up for several hours. He did pop a little speck that we applauded, flushed, and awarded with a chocolate chip.

Since I knew he probably needed to pee and/or poop, I was concerned he was holding it back. He ate his normal breakfast and mid morning smoothie, but didn't really want any water (which is unlike him).

He started asking to put a diaper on. I knew he only wanted to poop in the diaper. I just kept encouraging and giving him opportunities to poop on the potty. I worried this would create some kind of fear of pooping, but stuck with the plan.

Our morning was pretty uneventful for times on the potty, but he had no accidents. Before lunch and nap time, he went pee-pee in the potty and seemed to empty his bladder. After lunch, I put a diaper on him for nap time. He slept. He woke up. He peed and pooped in his diaper during or just after waking up from nap. I changed his dirty diaper and let him throw it away. He asked for me to put him in another diaper, but I reassured him that he can use the big potty now and diapers are only for sleeping. It seemed to appease him.

The afternoon was uneventful with one pee on the potty before Ted got home. Ted got home and were all in our bedroom. While we were talking, Wells rushed off to the potty and went by himself. Woooohooooo! Praise, reward, and a goodbye flush! As we were preparing dinner, Wells had a little accident but ran and sat on his potty right afterwards.

The biggest thing about day two was he was saying peepee and poopoo more often. He was excited when he actually made it to the potty and he expressed some bladder control.

At the end of the day, I didn't feel that successful. I still questioned if he was ready and really learning. I also was exhausted and felt a little overwhelmed. Maybe I was a little crazy to start all of this while 8 months pregnant? Nevertheless, we were sticking to it. It has been helpful for me to be distracted from sitting on any furniture. Instead I've been sitting on my birth ball, squatting, and doing all my exercises to turn baby #2 out of breech position. (We haven't been sitting on our couch because we don't want Wells on the couch in case of accidents.)

Day 3.

Wells only fussed a little bit when Ted took off his nighttime diaper. He didn't use the potty until after Ted left for work.

His first pee of the day ended up in an accident as we were climbing different toys (one of his favorite things to do) and jumping off. I immediately moved him as he was still peeing to the potty and he finished on the pot. I still praised him for having some go into the potty and reminded him that next time when he feels like he has to pee to tell me so I can help him get to the potty.

After that accident, we had a really great day. He would sometimes run and sit to pee without me asking if he needed to go. Other times, I'd see clues that he may have to go like when he would hold himself and then I would ask him if he wanted to sit on the potty. He was drinking lots of water which helped give us good practice all morning.

He also would run and sit on the potty to pass gas. I would praise and reward him the same as if he actually pooped. He made his first very large poop on the main potty today was so happy to say 'bye bye poop' as he flushed it down the toilet. Victory dance and chocolate chip score!

I put a diaper on him at nap time and took it off without any meltdowns when he woke up.

I was feeling really encouraged about this process throughout the day. I feel like it's clicking and we are getting into a good groove.

When Ted came home from work, we all headed to the pool. We brought Wells to the pool bathroom before he got in the pool and he peed. We tried again before we came home, but he didn't go. It was a great first outing and felt so good to get out of the house.

Send us all the positive potty vibes you can muster.

I'll be back with more updates as we continue our 'Potty Training Bootcamp'.

22 months

It's like we hit a refresh button and we are into a really good groove. Wells has let go of his social anxiety stranger danger and has been doing so much better. He hasn't been crying when I drop him off at the sitter's and very minimal if any whining about the church nursery. He has been really friendly with our visitors and when we were visiting friends. I can also tell he really likes being around his friends. I can breathe and it feels good.



He is talking and expressing himself in new ways everyday. It's so fun to have our mini conversations now. Ready or not, he is really growing up.

I recently bought him a baby doll (this one). He loves it and I'd say he has a 70/30% chance of being a great big brother. For the most part, he cares so well for the doll. He feeds her, attempts to change her diaper which always results in a "help you" aka "help me", lots of hugs and kisses, and shares his toys with the doll. On the other hand, he runs the doll over in his car and sometimes smashes her head into the ground.



Wells is kind of understanding that in some bellies there are babies. Sometimes he gets confused if the baby is in dad's belly or mom's. I think he will be sad when he realizes I'm not giving birth to a puppy. He is always gabbing about baby puppy.

In other news, we finally cut the four month growth of his hair and it looks so much better. Ted wanted to see what it would look like if we let it grow a little.

In two short months, we will have a two year old. Ohhh emmmm geeee.