I've Been Waiting for This Day!

Guess who got himself a "big present" today? He just may be fully housebroken by the end of this month after all! Thank God!

It has been 11 years and 3 months since Hayden was born and I started changing diapers. And with the exception of the 4.5 months between him being potty-trained and Meredith being born, I have been changing diapers ever since. And sometimes I had 2 kids in diapers at once! Oh, I'm so ready to not have to change diapers ever again!

On a side note, this is the first kid that Pull-Ups have ever worked on. Hayden and Meredith both just thought they were regular diapers. Stephanie basically trained herself so she didn't need them. But Phil figured it out. Guess that just proves you really do have to play to each kid's individual strengths.

House Breaking

WooHoo! It's Potty Training Time!

You know, occasionally, I think it would be nice to have another baby around the house. BUT - I am not ever doing this again! So I'm glad I got my tubes tied.

The tattoos are what he earns for going in the toilet.

In three days, he earned 2 tattoos.

Although, we were gone all day Tuesday so that really doesn't count, does it?

He seems to have figured it out today though. This is the first day he's actually told me when he has to go! I'm very excited!

He did ask me for a toy though. A BIG toy. I said, "Baby, when I can stop buying diapers, I will get you a toy."

I'm hoping I get to buy that toy this weekend! We'll see!

Super Hero

It's kind of cool to see how the "baby" of the family learns and grows.

Usually, he just plays along with the other kids. When Hayden is around, they wrestle. When the girls play 'PowerPuff Girls', he gets to be Buttercup. (I even have to find a green shirt for him to wear so it's official.)

Last night though, my baby started the game. He came over to me with 3 blankets and requested that I tie them all on him so he could be a super hero. (I don't know why he needed 3, but he informed me he did.) Then the girls had to join in. And, finally, so did big brother.

On Sunday night, John and I were getting ready to go to bed. About 11:30, we hear the baby screaming so I sent John in to quiet him down. (If I go in, Philip thinks it's time to get up.) John goes in and talks to Philip for a minute but the screaming doesn't stop, then John yells at me to hurry up and get in there quick!

He finally noticed that the baby had his leg wedged in-between the slats of his crib. Just his knee actually. We figured out to put the rest of his leg out too and then John pulled the slats apart just enough so I could pull Philip free.

Then we had to go out to the living room to calm him down. Philip said, "That was kind of scary."

My poor baby.
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Of course, if he'd just get out of the stupid crib and into his big boy bed, that wouldn't have happened! I don't know why he won't move over. As soon as Stephanie saw her big bed, she refused to even touch the crib again.

I hate to tell Philip this: but his New Year's Resolutions are to be sleeping in his big boy bed before the end of January and to be housebroken before his 3rd birthday.

I'll let you know how he does. ;)

Philip and the Magic Crayon

I've noticed a lot of scribbling on my walls recently in both crayon and pencil. The girls both said they didn't do it.

So I looked at Philip and told him, "I've noticed all this drawing is about at your height."

He smiles, his face lights up, and he says, "Yeah!"

So I advised him we do not draw on walls.

Yeah - we'll see how that turns out.

Good thing I haven't painted in the living room yet.

A Joke

P: "Knock, knock."

Me: "Who's there?"

P: "Banana who?"



hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Even the baby is a cut-up around here.

Houston, We have a Problem!

Guess who figured out he can get out of his crib by himself?

Saturday night, I was sitting at the computer after having finally gotten all the kids in bed. Someone came walking right up to me and said, "I poopy." And he was. So I changed him and put him back to bed.

And he got back out 3 more times. I finally had to show him that Mommy was going to bed now and threaten him to stay in his bed.

Then I lay in bed for 2 hours trying to decide if that noise I heard was the cat or the baby up wandering around.

So we're going to get a bunkbed put up in Hayden's room so the boys can share.

However, before I do that I would like to get Hayden's room painted.

Before I can do that, I really should get the girls' stuff out of Hayden's room.

Before I can do that, I need to get their closet systems installed.

Before I can do that, I need to paint their room.

Before I can do that, I need to finish mudding and sanding the drywall.

So that is what I've been doing the past few days. Sanding drywall. I will mud it again in the next day or so, get it sanded, prime it, and hopefully get it painted before school starts next Wednesday. Serves me right for putting it off for so long. But I hate mudding and sanding. I just want to paint.

Artwork Wednesday #2

The main problem with having kids spaced up to 7.5 years apart is: letting the older ones do their age-appropriate activities without letting the younger ones get themselves hurt on said activities.




OK. Technically he didn't hurt himself on the markers but he does look ridiculous and the markers are not the washable kind.

Oh, and I don't remember what he was eating when I took this picture but, apparently, it was very good.
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Speaking of eating . . . another hazard of having children 7.5 years apart is the older ones teach the younger ones games.

I caught Philip playing the "Zombie Game" the other day. He was walking stiff-legged around the house saying, "Brains!"

Dental Hygiene

I was on the computer last night. Thinking John was taking care of the kids.

I got up and looked around - there were only 3 kids in the living room with us.

The baby was missing.

The lights were on in the kitchen down the hall. Drat!

There he was.

Sitting on the floor in the pantry.

Between the trash can and the cat box.

Using his toothbrush to dig in the cat box!

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I have never been so glad we have a automatic cat box!

And believe me - I REALLY liked it before.

I was also glad the Easter Bunny bought a double-pack of toothbrushes for him.

See How They Run

This kid is soaking up information as fast as you can put it out there.

Yesterday I taught the girls the "Three Blind Mice" song.

Last night before bed, Meredith and Stephanie were playing on the roller coaster and singing "Three Blind Mice."

After they got off the roller coaster, Philip got on and as he rolled down the track, he was singing, "Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice..."

Potato Head

Philip was just crying.

I went to see what was wrong...

He's trying to stick a Mr Potato Head nose in his own nose.

I'm not sure if he's crying because it hurt

or because it wouldn't stick.

Mr. Potato Head (and his parts) is now being exiled into storage for awhile.

A New Game for Toddlers

What you need: 2 weeble wobbles and 2 of your sister's dress-up bracelets.

How to play: set the weebles on a table and put the bracelets over them. When the bracelets are on the table around the weebles you can either, a) move the weebles to a new location on the table, or b) pull the bracelets out from under the weebles. Then you put the bracelets over the weebles again.

Please try to start this game at about 3 seconds until naptime. When your Mommy calls you to come take your nap, don't listen, just keep playing the game.

Your Mommy will come over and see that you are using this game to build your motor skills and even though she knows you need a nap, she also knows it's important to build these skills. Also, if you play the game quietly and look really thoughtful while you're doing it, she will be more inclined to let you stay up just a little bit longer.

Baby News

The 4 molar teeth are officially through.

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He's been throwing up occasionally for the past 2 days. My washer is still broken - this is not good! He still plays and eats and drinks and has no fever. Just every once in awhile, he throws up. ?!?!?!?!? He's the 4th kid, I still don't know what to do with him but wait it out or see if he gets a fever or listless. So I don't really even know if he's sick or just enjoys purging.

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A couple of weeks ago, we were reading a story and there was a part with a car that went "Beep, Beep!" Philip immediately turned to me and beeped my nose. Then he beeped his own nose. So, once again I have a child that thinks a nose is a 'beep'. (He doesn't know nose, I tried, but 'beep' he understands!)

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Here's our little nighttime ritual: I advise him it's "Bedtime for Bonzo!" and ask him who Bonzo is, then I say "It's you!" as I pick him up. We go down the hall and I let him turn off the kitchen light and his bedroom light (if they're not on, I have to turn them on first.) Then we talk to the "shadow baby" for awhile. We pat the shadow baby's head and poke him in the side (Philip thinks this is hilarious!) Then I can lay him down and he'll go to sleep - or he'll wait about 15 minutes and then start yelling at us. Whichever. At least he's in bed.

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Today we went to the store. When we got home, I caught the little guy trying to carry my 24-pack of Mountain Dew. "Me help." he said. He didn't want help - he was helping me. Such a good baby!

Update

Oh, he's such a sweet baby. He gives kisses and hugs.

He tries to say anything you tell him to but most of it ends up sounding the same. He really does speak some real words though but right now it a lot of "Dat" and "No". But he does say "Mommy" really clearly and that's the main thing, right?

He runs and 'jumps' and dances.

One of his favorite things is to follow me down the hall - there is a closet and some doorways that I can duck into and he comes to find me so we can "Boo" each other.

He loves to play with balls, light sabers, and his Weebles.

He also likes to tear up books - no, no, baby!

He likes to help in the kitchen by clearing everything off the shelf in the island and taking the pots and pans out of the cabinet. He also likes to help unload the dishwasher while I am trying to LOAD it.

He loves to play with his brother and sisters and jump on the couch.

He loves to climb up into my lap while I am trying to crochet and then loses interest in sitting with me when I make room for him.

He's a good baby. Mostly happy and content though he is willing and able to hold his own in a fight with Stephanie over whatever toy they both want at the time.

The Learning Curve

Know what I know? I know that when you drop a metal pan lid onto the kitchen floor over and over again, it makes a loud noise! Wait! Let me try again. ....Yep, a loud noise. It also makes Mommy cringe. Let me try again. ....Yep, loud noise, cringe. I wonder why she does that. It's funny. ....loud noise, cringe. Wow, it keeps happening. I wonder if it will do that every single time I drop this lid? ....loud noise, cringe.

Wait! I don't want to go in the other room! At least let me take the lid! I need to test my theory thoroughly! ...oh, a toy.

The Helper

Here I am helping Mommy get stuff ready for Stephanie's birthday party. You can never tell when you might need a pan or what size so I got them all out for her. I even tried to get the right lids on them. And I left them right on the floor in front of the cabinet and blocking the pantry so she would be able to find them.
WooHoo! I got to try on Stephanie's birthday crown!

Shoe!

I like shoes! My favorite thing to do with them is to find a pair of shoes lying around or put away in their box. I like to take 1 shoe and carry it around. When I'm done with it, I leave it laying wherever I am. Then I like to go back to a different pair of shoes and do the same thing. It annoys Mommy. She starts complaining that there are shoes all over the place and why aren't they in the boxes she gave us to keep them together. It makes me laugh. She's so funny.

Hide & Seek?

Philip is good at hiding. I lost him for a moment yesterday. He was in the living room with us and then he wasn't. So I immediately went down the hall to the bathroom and kitchen and called over my shoulder for the other kids to look for him. I got halfway down the hall when Meredith saw him. He was in the corner behind the big table we have in the living room. There is just enough space for the kids to crawl behind the table and they can "hide" back there and that is what he had been doing. John doesn't like them to go behind there but I don't see what the big deal is - every kid needs a hidey spot even if it does give their mother minor heart palpatations once in awhile.

Then, I went into my room to put some clothes away. (Yes, I folded clothes - on the same day I washed them! well, the same day I washed some of them) I put the clothes away, then turned off the light and shut the door. I got about 3 steps away when I heard a "Waaahhhh!" Apparently, the baby had followed me in there and was snooping around while I put stuff away. I didn't even think he could get over there that fast. Those little legs can mooove!

Update

We do walk now, by the way. Philip started really walking 2 weeks ago. ...If I ever have time to figure out how to upload video onto the computer, I'll try to get it on here. That is my goal for the week.

He also has started talking - a lot! OK, I can't understand most of it, Occasionally, he'll say "mama" though.

Walking & Talking (kind of)

He's got a few words in his vocabulary now. The most recent and most used is "uh-oh". He has also taken up to 5 steps. He can stand up on his own now without pulling up on something but he really still just doesn't seem to care all that much about walking on his own. However, he does like to crawl up the stairs on his own and Mommy likes that.