What They're Sayin'

S: "Leeyah, why you pickin' yo nose?"

S: "Whach you talkin' 'bout, Leeyah?"

Whenever Lydia walks into the room and sees me, "Marsh? I want marsh."  (Marshmallows.)  Sometimes that's her greeting in the morning when I get her from her crib.  "Good Morning, Lydia.  No, no marshmallows at 7am."

If she falls from one of her numerous stunts, we've heard from the time she started walking, "You ok? Carepul (careful)."  If only she would follow her own advice.

When I get out something especially tasty to eat or we announce we're going somewhere exciting, Stevie will yell, "Meee!!" and Lydia, wherever she is (often "in" the movie cabinet/behind the door), will yell, "Meee!!" with her little hand sticking straight up in the air.  She usually hasn't even heard what we're talking about.  If Stevie does it, she has to do it too.


(Warning, lots of potty talk ahead)

When Stevie is on the potty:
L: "Yayyyy, Stevie!  Good job, potty!  Good poopies!"  Complete with clapping.

When Mommy is "in the bathroom" and Lydia comes in:
L: "Yayyyy, Mommy!  Good job, potty!  Good poopies!"  Complete with clapping.
(Side note: I LOVE how encouraging my kids are.  They really are ready to cheer anyone on for whatever they're doing.  I hope and pray it continues throughout their lives.)

If I bend over, and my shirt lifts off my back a bit, Lydia runs over.  She sticks her finger on my back and runs it back and forth, "Poop."  Nope, mommy does not have a poopy diaper, Lydia.

Potty Training is probably my least favorite "milestone" but maybe one I'm most proud of so far because I know he's proud, and it really is such an accomplishment.  He's doing awesome!  (Even if he did start kicking and screaming when I tried to put his Bob the Builder underwear on for the first time, and I had an "uh oh"...this really is going to be awful.)  Anyway, there has been some comic relief along the stressful way.

So, literally 30 seconds after wrestling my unhappy child into his underwear, he was ecstatic!  Over the moon...and hy.per.!  Running all over the house in just his Bob the Builders!  He jumped on the couch (eek...he doesn't know what he's doing yet), kneeled on one knee and started kicking his other leg out to the side quickly over and over.  "Look Mommy, eckersizes!"  I so wish I had that on camera!

Should I mention he wore his sister's Easter hat the whole morning of that first day?  Underwear and a white Easter hat with a pink ribbon.  Yes, we have pictures of him wearing the hat on the potty.  They will appear when he brings home his future bride (and maybe a copy of this post).

We used prizes and M&M's for motivation.  After the initial struggle and him needing to be successful once, it worked like a charm.  Yes, my boy likes his chocolate.  I get M&M's when he goes too.  It seems only right.  At the beginning, he would sit and sit and sometimes he just couldn't go.  But, he wanted that chocolate.  These are a few of my favorite comments:

"It's not workin' Mom!"
"Oh no.  It's too empty!" (referring to the empty potty seat when he couldn't go.)
"I cannot find the poooopies."  (You have to have emphasis on those o's.  He's usually bending over trying to look under himself.  He knows they're in there somewhere.)

And when it does work:
"Look, Mom, sprayin' the water!"
"Bye pee!" when we flush it down.
"Oh, look Mommy, puh-shiz."  (Makes me laugh every. time.  Sometimes he gets little "smudges" on the back of the potty seat.  Yes, it's gross and probably TMI (but we're mostly Moms here), but hilarious how he says it....and he says it all proud because it means he went #2 in the potty (or on it, haha).)
"I did it, Mom!"
Sometimes after he's done, he simply asks, "Chocolate, Mom?"  That's my boy!
And then sometimes, he just doesn't want to talk about it and even gives a little scowl.  (Like, "Mom, please don't talk about my pee again.  Let's move on.")  Cracks me up.

Ok, now we are moving on.  I'm so proud of him!