Word for Word

Balian and I were lying on the couch together.

Me: "Balian, are you my cuddle-bug?"

Balian: "I'm not a cuddle-bug.  I'm just Balian Jones."

:)

Writing Practice

This week Balian all of a sudden decided that he wanted to practice writing his letters.  I have these dry-erase practice sheets that are amazing.  In the past, while Bella was working on her handwriting skills, Balian would scribble all over these things.  Well, this week, he decided that he actually wanted to try to trace the letters, and he really surprised me.

No, his grip on his marker isn't perfect, and we still have scribbles all over the rest of the page...

But he's only 2.5!  I wasn't planning on even introducing this for another 6 months!!  And he WANTS to do it!  So fun :)

He probably wants to do it, because Bella has been practicing her letters so much.  Bella has started asking "Mommy, how do you spell ________?"  Then I would tell her, and she would write it.

Here's some of her handiwork:

Now, mind you, I'm not waiting for her to write one letter before giving her the next.  When she asks how to write PopPop, I say "p-o-p...p-o-p" and leave it at that.  So, sometimes she misses a letter or two, but that's ok.  I'm amazed that she is able to remember 99% of the letters that I dictate.

Here's more writing practice on some of her artwork:

I Love My Job!

We are all sitting down to dinner, getting food on the table, and getting everybody situated.  I finally sit down, and look over at Balian interacting with Isaiah.

He's holding Isaiah's hands together and saying "Thank you...God...for Mama...for Daddy...Bella...me..."

yes, my 2-yr-old was teaching my almost 9-month-old how to pray.

Discipleship starts early, friends.

Didy, a.k.a Waves

 So after my first experience with carrying Isaiah on my back - and him sleeping for 2 hours - I was totally sold on it.  My friend Emily is the VP of Ft. Worth Babywearers, and she helped me out a LOT!  After researching wraps, I saw that even though it's just a piece of fabric, it wasn't something I could make and have the same results (comfort, support, etc.) of a bought woven wrap.  I went over to Emily's house and tried out different wraps, she helped me practice different techniques, and she helped me better learn how to get Isaiah in back carries by myself.  She directed me to thebabywearer.com where you can buy woven wraps used on the For Sale or Trade forum.  And that's where I found it.  A used Didymos Silver Waves wrap.  I bought it from a mama in Canada for a really good price, and after trying it out, I wonder how in the world I made it this long without one.  Seriously...those mamas all over the world that carry their babies around while they do everything with the use of both hands have an edge on us "civilized" folk.  See for yourself:

Here's Isaiah in it.  Totally comfy.  Good support.  Not tight around the legs cutting of circulation.  He can see everything going on around him, and I can pull up the fabric that's around his back so that he can go to sleep if he wants.  I can do everything using both hands.  I don't feel like I need to put a hand on Isaiah to support him at all.  On a particular fussy day, I put him back there like this, and cooked dinner.  chopped veggies, bent down to get dishes out of cabinets, etc.  not a fuss was had when he was back there.  seriously amazing.  Oh, and no tugging at my shoulders or making my back hurt because of the baby's weight.  No hunching over. nothing.  love it.

And just to show how supportive these wraps are, here's Balian in it.  Yes, he's over 2 years old.  Honestly, I could probably carry Bella in it if I really wanted to.  So what did I do when I wrapped up Balian on my back?  I took him for a hands-free piggy-back ride...running around the house.  yes, I was running.  and yes, without hands supporting him at all.  It's that supportive.  He had a blast!

Seriously...I wish I had known about these things sooner!  It totally beats slings, ring slings, and Moby's, hands down!

2 Years

I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this age!  Most people may think I'm crazy.  Yes, there are definitely some "2" kind of moments... like saying "Balian, come here please" and you look up and he's got a big grin on his face while he runs away from you.  lovely.  Or you ask him to do something and he either flat-out says no, or uses the slightly kinder version of the same thing. "I don't want to."
But despite those areas of disobedience that need help, I really love this age.  Kids are just a sponge at this age - learning and absorbing SO much.  Balian is definitely no exception.

His vocabulary is definitely improving everyday.  It's like everyday he says something new or figures out how to say something correctly - or at least more correct.  As vocabulary expands the fun really begins!  I begin to see the fruit of my labors.  Before kids talk, you teach them things and you have no idea if they understand a lick of what you're saying.  I have always been in the mindset of talking to my kids as if they can understand everything perfectly from the beginning.  And when they start talking, I just love how they start spewing out everything you have been teaching them.  Because Balian has been right there during school time with Bella, he's learning a TON of stuff!!

He is now counting to 10 - and is recognizing a lot of those numbers.  If he's counting and stops and gets messed up or something, I can show him a number flashcard, and he recognizes it and gets back on track.  Pretty crazy.

He's continuing to do well with his letter sounds.  The same rule applies here as with the numbers.  He tends to do better if he sees the letter, rather than just asking him what a certain letter says.  Perhaps he's like me and is more of a visual learner vs. an auditory learner.  At times, Bella will have a brain glitch and forget a letter sound...and I'll say "Hey Balian, can you tell Bella what Y says?"  and he says the sound.  Now, he's starting to spit out the letter names too.  (And LOVES to sing his alphabet song - what he can say of it anyway) This is good and bad.  Good, because it's good for him to know them.  Bad, because he's starting to get confused between the name and the sound.  I'm confident he'll get it all worked out - especially as he's listening and participating in school time with Bella this year.

Balian also already knows all of his colors.  I have a flip-book that I made where each page has a circle cut out of construction paper - then glued to a 6x6" square of poster-board, laminated, and holes punched at the top.  Balian can look at them like a book, or I can take the rings off, and lay them out on the floor so that we can do "color games."  And he LOVES doing this.  I'll just set all the pages out, then ask him to pick up a certain color and give it to me.  Or, I'll tell him to stand on a certain color - or point to a certain color.  Or I'll point to a color and ask him what it is.  If he can't say it, I'll go over the name with him and ask him to try to repeat the name - to improve his vocabulary as well.

He's doing well with sorting as well.  When he's working on his lacing beads - he will tend to choose one shape of beads and lace all of the ones of that shape.  I noticed this the other day and thought it was really neat...so now, we'll be working more on that.

He's learning his shapes too.  He knows circle, square, oval, star, and triangle.  we're just working on solidifying this and learning some more difficult ones like hexagon, etc.

Aside from school, Balian LOVES music.  He loves to sing, and he's started trying to sing and "play piano" at the same time.  His BSF teacher noticed how much he was enjoying the music/worship time in class.  Just like his mama, he seems to always have a song in his head.  Jesus love me, the B-I-B-L-E, Jesus loves the little children, All through the night, All things bright and beautiful, twinkle twinkle little star, the itsy bitsy spider...the list could go on and on of songs that he sings all the time.  Right now his favorite is from VeggiTales (we listen to a CD in the car from Chick-fil-A) "When I share, I get my share of friends. Dodododo...yeah!" ha.

Balian is also our funny-man.  He's always finding some way to make Neil and I laugh - or hide from us or Bella so that when we walk by he can say "Boo!"  He is a really happy kid.  The only things that get in the way of that happiness are discipline and food.  He's our foodie too.  He LOVES to eat!  If you've got something, he wants some too.  It doesn't matter if he just had a full meal that was more than an average kid his age eats... seriously high metabolism, I guess...because he's definitely not fat!  He must be like his daddy.

The other thing about Balian is his love for everyone.  He is so loving and caring toward everyone.  He is definitely a man's man.  He is much more apt to go to an adult male than female.  Whether it's Poppie or PopPop, or the men at church, or Mr. Charles next door, or an older man at the grocery store.  He will go to/ say hi to/ask to be picked up by...men.
And of course, he loves his siblings to pieces.  Somehow he can get SO mad at Bella (because she's pestering him, as usual), yet never tire of playing with her.  a 5 minute break is all he needs if they really get into it.  And with Isaiah - yes, I have to tell him not to sit on his brother : /  but other than that, he just loves to go up to him and give him hugs and kisses and laugh with him.  And the love is definitely reciprocated.  I hope so much that they continue to be close as time goes on.

So that's the scoop on Balian.  There are times that I think I can't believe he's 2...then I think gosh - he's only 2?  But really, I don't care about the age.  I love him to pieces.  And I just love watching him learn, explore, and grow.

The Party

The front of the Invitation

Silly Bella.  Balloons don't go on your thumbs!

Although Balian's birthday was September 15, we had his party on the 24th.  It was nice.  We got to kick back, relax, and just enjoy friends and family...oh, and celebrate Balian's birthday as well.

We hung out in the backyard, let the kids play, ate burritos, and watched Balian open his gifts of all things CAR :)  

We even ate a car.  I mean cake.  

And unlike Bella, Balian wasn't afraid - He's got the whole blowing out candles thing down.  He's a pro. 

And aren't his dimples adorable when he's blowing out candles.  I think so :)

Happy Birthday, Balian!

Lacing Beads

This is really good for learning hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.  Balian will lace a couple of the beads on the shoelace (and get really excited about doing them all by himself), then he'll give up and start stacking them on the carpet.

The Boys

I have to say that I love, love, love having boys!  Before I got pregnant with Bella, because I had helped my mom out so much with my brothers, I was actually scared of having a girl.  Ha.  Then, once I had Bella around for a while, I was so used to having a girl that I wondered what I would do with a boy...
but oh...how I love my boys!

Balian

We have had a major accomplishment last week.  Balian went 5 days without ANY accidents!!  Over the past couple of weeks, he's gotten better and better and had a couple of days where we just had one or two accidents, but we've never had an entire day without one - and now, all of a sudden, we had 5!  The big change:  We pulled out the little potty again.  Apparently it's been so long since he'd sat on it that he forgot that he hated it...and decided that he liked it. He gets really excited about seeing what he did, that sometimes we have to remind him that he needs to finish going first. Ha!  He is by no means going entirely by himself, but we're making steps in that direction.  He's helping pull his pants down and pull them up...and with using the little potty now, hopefully it won't be long until he can go on his own, but for now, we're celebrating dryness.
Balian has been wearing real underwear during the day at home, which have his favorite thing on them - Cars!  So, after he went 2 days of keeping his "cars" all-dry, we watched the movie Cars (he'd never seen it before).  Of course, through the entire hour and a half of the movie we hear "Ca, ca!" (car, car) over and over again...he was so excited!
The bad news is that on day 6 I was reminded that just because a kid is "potty- trained" doesn't mean there won't be accidents...and some days will be better than others...and any little change in their day can make things worse.  oh, and resistance can rear its ugly head as well...and they may just decided that they don't like the little potty again...oh well.  at least I know that the end of potty training my second-born is around the corner somewhere...just not sure how long that corner is...

Balian is also starting to speak a little better.  He's actually trying to repeat what we say, instead of just grunting and calling it good like he has been.  We've tried to encourage him to repeat what we say, but he was having a pretty hard time.  After I started doing flashcards with him (just before Isaiah was born) we definitely saw a huge improvement with what letter sounds he could say.  Now we're at the point that there are only a couple letter sounds he can't say.  But what's even better than that - he not only can say the sounds, but he knows what letter makes what sound.  He doesn't know all of them yet, but we're working on it...here's a video:


Isaiah
It took about 2 weeks to notice the big differences in Isaiah after he got his lip-tie lasered, but now I am completely confident that we made the best choice in getting it done.  Not only is he latching on better and getting more milk at each feeding - He's now going longer between feedings because of more milk AND he is no longer waking up during his naps because of gas!  He is also a LOT easier to get down for naps in the first-place.  He is no longer being swaddled, and will put himself to sleep after some wind-down time of a diaper change and reading a book.  He loves his "lovey" bear blanket that was given to us by our friend Tricia, and he snuggles with it as he goes to sleep.
I think I've figured out that because of this, I have an additional 4 hours a day (if not more!) that I didn't have before - to spend with the other kids - or actually have some "me" time.  That is seriously a lot of time if you think about it!  Not to mention how much less stress I have now.  When your baby won't go to sleep because of gas...or is waking up constantly because of it - it can be emotionally draining and really stressful.
I am so, so thankful that we got all of this figured out!  Thank you, Jesus, for directing our paths!

I'll post more on Isaiah later - after his 4-month check-up.  For now, here's a picture of his first day in the "jumper."

Cars

Balian's new favorite obsession:

1 month, 18 months, and 4 years

I took all 3 kiddos to the doctor to have well checks on Monday.  We have a new pediatrician now.  I was so sad to say goodbye to Dr. Simpson, but she closed her practice, so we had to find a new one.  We were referred to Dr. Arouse by both the midwife as well as a friend, and so far we LOVE him!  He is totally worth the 30 minute drive to Cleburne!  He is so good with the kids - gives them dum-dums after every visit, is very positive/encouraging (he just says things like "you're doing a great job!"), and best of all, isn't pushy about vaccines.  He's totally fine with delaying them a bit if I want, especially the live ones.

As far as the visit goes, it wasn't too bad, except that we have to go up 5 floors in an elevator to get there.  Balian hates elevators.  I'm not really sure why.  Perhaps it's the funny feeling you get in your belly when it starts and stops.  That's the only thing I can really think it could be.  Whatever the case, he balks at even going into the elevator.  This time it was so bad that he started down the hall before he even saw it - he just knew where we were headed.  so sad.

All 3 kids are doing well.  Here's the stats:

Bella - 4 years
Ht: 41.25 inches
Wt: 36.5 lbs.

Balian - 18 months (almost 19 months)
Ht: 33 inches
Wt: 24.5 lbs.

Isaiah - 1 month
Length: 21.5 inches
Wt: 7 lbs. 7 oz.

Potty Update

I've had lots of people asking me how potty training is going with Balian...so here's the update!

* Right now we're averaging about 2 accidents/day (about 2 weeks ago it was more like 4) - but we've never had less than 1 per day.  Some days are better than others though.
* When he does have an accident, he pats where he's wet to tell me - very rare that he doesn't.
* Balian successfully does the "poop" sign - and sometimes uses it to tell us that he needs to go, other times, he'll just go to the potty to tell us he needs to go.
* We definitely still have a communication barrier, but it's getting better.  He does the sign for "all done" or says it when he's either finished going, or it I put him on the potty and he doesn't need to go.
* Most of the time, I ask him if he needs to go.  He'll tell me one way or another by either shaking his head no or saying "huh" for yes...and he's gotten to the point that he really does know one way or another.
* Most accidents occur if he's pre-occupied with something (playing) and doesn't stop what he's doing to go potty...even if I ask if he needs to go, and he's pre-occupied, he'll just ignore me - and if I try to take him anyway, he'll get really mad.  He just doesn't like being taken away from what he's doing.
* I think Balian actually does better when we're out (or even at other people's houses) than when we're at home...mainly because of the last statement.
* Because Balian has been cutting some molars, we've had some issues with not being able to hold runny poop...but Bella was the same way when she had runs.  I can't expect him to hold it then.  But when everything is working properly, we don't have problems with him regressing or anything, which is actually pretty amazing.
*we've figured out that if we give Balian water without anything to eat, about an hour later, he'll be having to go potty like every 10 minutes...but if we only give him water with something to eat, we usually don't have a problem with that, and he'll stick to 20-30 min. intervals.  When he hasn't just had water, he can go about an hour in between potty breaks now.
* Balian has started lamenting over his wet pants.  I take them off of him, he points to them, and starts doing this very sad whine-thing.  Even with diapers first thing in the morning and after nap, he's sad about wetness.  Makes me happy :)
* We've started using potty time for ABC flash cards.  Just going over all the letter sounds.  I started doing it because I just wanted to see what sounds he could actually say.  A week ago, I think he was only able to do like 6 of the letter sounds - no wonder he wasn't saying much - he couldn't even make the sounds!  But this week, he's been actually trying to repeat words and sounds...and we've noticed a huge difference in his vocabulary.  So we've gotten two great things: distraction during potty time, and improved vocabulary!  Not to mention, he may learn his letters and letter sounds even earlier than Bella - we'll see.

* oh, and we had to eliminate the use of M&Ms after about a week.  Apparently Balian is sensitive to chocolate - he wouldn't go to sleep until like 10pm because he was wired!  So, we went back to teddy grahams and/or animal crackers.  Although I've contemplated Reece's pieces, since they don't have any chocolate....but they still have so much sugar.  The good thing is that he's not going as often now as he was...we'll see how it goes.  Maybe it could be a reward for TELLING me he has to go instead of me just taking him...

Overall, I think things are going very well.  Apparently boys just take a lot longer than girls, and that's OK, so long as you prepare yourself for it.  I still think it's worth it to train early - even - or should I say especially - when they're boys.  I can't imagine doing this at 2 or 3 years old.  I can't imagine the resistance that I would face.  I'd rather it be a slow progression and a way of life than waiting a long time and feeling like I need to push them to train quickly, and getting stressed out if they didn't do what I expect of them.

My biggest concern with the new baby coming is not Balian regressing - but rather me causing him to regress by not sticking to what we've been doing.  I've heard from so many that they always have to go when you're nursing...I think I'll just have to start taking Balian before I sit down to nurse...and take him at the halfway point when I'm changing the baby's diaper too if I have to.  Or I may just have to adapt and figure out how to do both at the same time.  We'll see how it goes.  But honestly, I think I'd rather him regress a bit after laying the foundation than starting later.  Seems like it would be easier for him to pick back up to where we left off...I could be wrong, but again...we'll have to see how it goes.

Had to Laugh!

We were doing our "clean-up" time before bed, and  as I was walking by the kids' bathroom, this is what I found:

Apparently, he was ready to brush his teeth :)  We have a stool under the sink, but how he climbed all the way up, I have no idea - crafty kid!

Potty Training Update

We are full-fledged potty training now. We had to. After about 2 months of doing the routine, Balian was still just not even caring if his diapers were wet, so we had to go to training pants (The Gerber kind). At home we just let him go around in a shirt and the cloth trainers. When we're out and about, or he needs to be dressed, we put the plastic pants over the trainers. Since the trainers are less absorbant, it's necessary to take him potty a lot more often than with diapers. However, within 2 days of putting him in the trainers, he was starting to pat himself where he wet, and didn't like it. YAY!

Then life happened...
Balian got an ear infection, but still wanted to potty train. So we continued, and he continued to do well...
Then, we had to go out of town for a weekend for my grandfather's funeral...
then we had Christmas...
and we went to Louisiana for New Year's.

After the funeral, he started resisting going to the potty (didn't want to be interrupted from play-time and would just sit down and whine - no fun.) Between that and Christmas being within the same week, Balian was beginning to regress. We started getting back on track the day before we left to go to Louisiana, so once there, we broke down and started giving M&Ms as a reward for being all-dry (in an attempt to keep things going well), and while we were there he actually did really well. We had a day where he only had 2 accidents (one that wasn't his fault - I just wasn't paying enough attention).

So now, we give M&Ms when he's dry AND goes on the potty. nothing when he's wet.
We set the timer for 20 min, on average, and take him when the timer goes off, unless he "tells us" that he's either wet, or needs to go before that.

The main problems:
1. He's been waking up at night because of not liking his wet diaper, but he will go back to sleep.
2. He's been waking up at nap-time because he needs to go potty - and he WONT go back to sleep!
3. Balian has a lot more accidents when he's with Neil, rather than me.
4. lack of vocabulary. If we don't watch him like a hawk, we don't know that he's walking to the potty and telling us he needs to go. He just doesn't have the vocabulary that Bella did at this age, in the least, and although he can do the signs for going potty, he doesn't use them.

However, he is still showing signs of improvement, definitely. I just have to keep reminding myself that boys are so much different (and take so much longer) than girls.

The Good things:

1. He's started to really try to go every time we take him (perhaps because of the M&Ms), which usually means less accidents in-between.

2. He's also started just walking to the bathroom when he needs to go (although this doesn't happen very often...it does happen sometimes).

3. We have usually taken Balian to the kid's bathroom to use the potty. Yesterday, though, He took me to my bathroom because he had to go (more convenient sometimes because it's closer to the kitchen/livingroom area). So, I got another on-the-potty seat for our bathroom. It has ducks on it, which he likes. It's also a bit longer than the other one, and Balian can see himself peeing, and is somewhat fascinated by it - such a boy. He points down and says "that!" as he's peeing. Yes, it's funny, but it's also a huge thing for a boy to see himself going. Since I'm not ready to teach him to stand up and go yet, it's a great thing - so I'm excited about it :)

We'll see if he picks up on it better since things have calmed down for now. I'll keep updating as things progress.

15 months

Balian had his 15-month check-up today. Here's the stats:

Height: 31.5 inches (50%)

Weight: 23 lbs. 12 oz. (between 25% & 50%)

Can I just say how much I love my pediatrician? Dr. Simpson is great! I don't feel pressured to get vaccines that scare me right away (she's letting me delay the live ones until he's 2), all the vaccines are preservative free (not just mercury-free; ALL preservatives). She seems totally open to more natural remedies at times... I could go on and on. The more I take my kids to her, the more I like her. Props to my friend Julie for the recommendation :)

The Good:

Balian is doing very well with understanding and following instructions. He's learning where things belong, and wants to help put things away. He wants to help mommy with the laundry, and loves to watch the washer do its thing. He loves closing doors (and opening cabinet doors to get into things). He's doing sign language to say please and thank-you (he has such good manners ;) ). He's doing some animal noises, but mainly animal gestures. He chomps his teeth like an alligator, beats his chest like a gorilla, sticks his tongue out like a giraffe, pants like a dog, attempts to spit like a camel...we've occasionally gotten a "baa baa" for a sheep or a monkey sound here and there. He knows most of his body parts - ears, eyes, hair, tongue, teeth, armpits, fingers, toes, knees. Of course, his favorite is the belly button, and kinda has an obsession with it - but of course, Mommy's belly button is WAY more exciting than his own, and he likes to pull my shirt up and point to it. I'm sure the round belly has something to do with it. ;) He understands so, so much, he just doesn't really have the vocabulary to go with it yet. He does say some things - duck, cat, this, that, book, night night, shoes, socks (LOVES shoes and socks)... but nothing easy like hi (he just waves). He LOVES to play outside, and climb up the big ladder and go down the big slide (on his tummy, feet first) that Neil built (5 ft. high). I just have to catch him at the end.

He also LOVES books. He'll go into his room and just look at books forever! His favorite book to be read right now is "I love you through and through" that he got from Nana and PopPop.

Balian has also made some pretty dramatic improvements with potty training this week. We've long conquered the pooping in the pants (we haven't had a poopy diaper since the last time I posted about it), but he wasn't showing any signs of discomfort with wetness - even with cloth diapers. I couldn't remember when I actually started Bella with training pants (when she was showing any sign that she could be dry...or being dry a lot?), but we decided to try it anyway, and just see what happened. So, we put him in the Gerber training pants with the plastic covers over them (so we didn't get pee all over the house if he wet a lot). Only when he's awake - nap time and bedtime we still use diapers, obviously. Of course, this meant more work for me - the training pants just aren't as absorbent as diapers, so we had to abandon the routine and go full-fledged into potty training. We figured we'd try it for a day and see what happened - and what happened was he did amazing even on that first day! I kept a log of every time we went to the potty - the time - if he was wet or dry - if he told us somehow, etc. The first day, he was dry and went like 8 times. fabulous! so we kept it up the next day...and even with church on Sunday, it was more times that day! Monday, he wasn't feeling well, so I was going to let him "have the day off", but he decided he didn't want to have a day off - he wanted to potty train! He didn't want to wear a diaper - he wanted to wear his "underwear" (training pants) - and that day he started noticing right away when he wet, and started coming to me whining, or patting himself where he wet to let me know. Yesterday, he found me in the kitchen and was whining. I asked him what was wrong, and he took my hand and lead me to the potty. on the way there, I checked and yup, he was wet. He seems to really hate being wet now. yay! Discomfort is the first step...now he just needs to figure out what it feels like BEFORE he goes...so he can tell me rather than just trying to get him to the potty every 20 min. and hope he's dry. I know these things take time..and boys take longer. But my boy is doing so wonderful - especially considering he's been sick! Which leads me to...

The Bad:

Balian has had the sniffles, coughs, etc. this week just like the rest of us. I was glad he had a Dr. appointment today, so that she could check him out just to make sure it wasn't anything else. Well, apparently, he had a slight ear infection in his left ear. so sad. It's the first time he's ever been sick! The boy is so happy all the time, you'd never guess something was wrong other than a cold. Even when his eyes were watering and nose was dripping like crazy, he just played like always, and definitely did not want to neglect any opportunity to play outside :)

The Down-Right Ugly:

Did you know kids could get strep "down there"? I sure didn't. Now I do. And I thought it was just a weird diaper rash or dry skin because of wetting so much at night... apparently not. eek!

Potty Update

Oh, the potty update.

Good news: Balian has pretty much officially stopped pooping in his diaper. The only time we have a (very rare) messy diaper is if I don't hear him right away when he wakes up in the morning, and I take too long to get him to the potty. Makes sense. He's still young, and can only hold it so long ;) Other than that - during the day, no poop. (I think we've only had 1 messy diaper in the past 2 weeks or so...) Life is fabulous.

Bad news: Balian is definitely not catching on to the potty thing as quickly as Bella did. I suppose it's to be expected. I've always heard that it takes longer for boys than girls. It's just crazy - At this point (14 months) Bella was fully trained during the day, minus naps. She would tell us when she needed to go and everything. Yes, it is definitely different with Balian. I don't think it really phases Balian to be wet at this point. He loves to sit on the potty (he'll sit on there forever!), and when he goes, he gets really excited and claps for himself - he just hasn't developed the understanding of what it feels like BEFORE he goes, and therefore the muscle control yet to be able to hold it until we get to the potty. He knows WHEN he's going. He feels that - and sometimes grunts when he does it. I guess it's just a matter of time and patience.

Not that it really interferes with life too much. We're just sticking to the routine until he shows some signs that he's ready to move forward. We've got the poop thing down, yes....but we need some signs (like, discomfort when he's wet, or showing that he's trying to hold it, etc.) that he's ready to move beyond wet diapers all the time before we transition to anything else but the routine.

Of course, if any of you have trained boys early (less than 18 months), I'd be open to suggestions that worked for you. They're just so different than girls :)

A Step at a Time

Balian, we have learned, likes to progress at his own pace. It's a slower pace than Bella - but whatever. He's been ABLE to stand up on his own for a while now, but he didn't like to do it...it had to be very much encouraged by mom and dad. When he would stand, we would say "come here" but he would just smile, then very slowly squat down and sit on the floor. Yeah. Well, on Sunday, he decided that taking some steps between mom and dad was a pretty fun game. Now, he's finally venturing out and trying to take some steps on his own, without our coaxing.
Here's a not-so-fabulous video of some of his steps. But enjoy!
Oh, and you'll notice that homeboy got a massive haircut. Neil apparently couldn't handle anyone saying "she's so cute" which had happened a couple of times. So, while I was trimming Bella's hair in the kitchen, he decided to take Balian into our bathroom, put him in the bathtub, and take the clippers to his head. When they came out, I almost cried - and I had no pictures of it either! I'm getting used to it now, but I'm still sad to see his curls gone :(

Potty Time!!

We have officially started potty training Balian. The past couple of days we've figured out:

1. He really doesn't like little potties. Most kids are afraid of the "big" potty. Mine doesn't like the little ones. He's 0 for 3 in that department. I even tried one that was specifically made with boys in mind. nope. not gonna happen. But he'll sit on the cushy potty seat that sits on the toilet. Funny kid.

2. Apparently dried cherries are preferred to goldfish as a reward. He loves them! (Neil's idea.)

3. His favorite part of going potty is flushing the potty. He doesn't like to watch the toilet swirl though - he's too focused on the flusher. ha.

So here is what we're doing: We're just adding sitting on the potty as part of our daily routine. Not just once or twice a day, but just like we do the eat, awake, sleep routine when they are babies, we add potty time in there too.

so, when he wakes up, we go potty, and change the diaper.
after breakfast, we go potty, and change the diaper.
at about 10am, he has some water, and about 20 min. later, we go potty and change the diaper.
after lunch...before nap...after nap...after dinner...before bed - all the same deal...when I should really be changing his diaper anyway.

Right now we aren't focused so much on him being dry - just setting a routine - and him getting used to the whole potty thing. So for now, this is what it looks like:

"Ok, Balian, time to go to the potty."
take off the diaper. sit him on the potty. let him flip through his big animal book while he's sitting on there...if he doesn't go after about 5 min, then we take him off - no biggy. If he does go, then we praise him like mad, give him a dried cherry, clean him up, let him flush the potty, then put a new (or dry) diaper on him.
When he hears himself going, or feels it coming out, he gets really excited. Then we praise him, so he's even more excited. Then we give him a cherry and let him flush the potty - and by golly, the potty is the most exciting thing ever!

We officially started yesterday. Yesterday he went about 3 times, and today he went all but one time we put him on the potty (so...about 6 out of the 7 times). pretty neat! I don't think his diaper was ever dry - but like I said, that's not the point for now.

So we'll keep at this for now - just setting a routine - until he shows that he can keep some diapers dry - and we'll go from there.

It worked for Bella, and Balian seems to be catching on beautifully :)

** it's a day later, and before posting this, I wanted to give a fun update. Today (day #3) Balian started really trying to go on the potty every time we put him on there. He would push like he had to poop, even if he didn't - after dinner, I had to let him stay on there a bit longer, because he was trying so hard to go - I wanted to see if something would eventually come out - and hooray, we got some teetee :) He also started clapping for himself as soon as he feels anything come out - he's so excited about it! He also woke up dry from his nap today(his one dry diaper of the day), which is seriously amazing. Must be a fluke. not holding my breath for it to happen again tomorrow, but we'll see. I'm amazed at how well he has progressed just in 3 days! so exciting!

I'll get a potty picture up here eventually...

Balian's Birthday Bash

We celebrated Balian's birthday last weekend. We had over 30 people at our house...which was pretty crazy. Definitely a full house! So much fun!! Glad I made a lot of food :)

Kiddos playing outside

...and making mud balls...


...and throwing them at each other... this wasn't even the worst. some were totally covered, so we sprayed everybody down with the water hose before going inside :)

Balian in his new chair. He loved his sister's so much we decided to get him his own.

Opening gifts...he liked the tissue paper.

Checkin' out the goods...

The cake. nothing fancy this year...maybe next year.

Now For some Cake: Here, he wasn't sure what to think about everybody singing...

...but he apparently likes the cupcake. I actually had to keep him from putting his hand in the fire! Ha!

Checking out the flavor...

Yes, I think he approves.

What?

Playing with it...

And my favorite...Look how messy I am, Mommy!!

Happy Birthday, Balian!!

I can't believe that it's been a year today since our little boy was born!



In some respects, it feels as if he's been around forever. I can't imagine life without him around. He brings such a joy to our family - and smiles to our faces!
In other respects it feels as if time has taken off right before our eyes!! A year already?

Happy Birthday, my Little Man! I can't wait for the many more ahead that we get to share!

Balian's 1-yr. pics

I can't believe Balian is going to be ONE in less than a month! I took his 1-yr. pics early, to do invitations, of course! We had a lot of fun being really messy! Somehow I was able to get at least SOME good shots - even with a cranky, teething baby! Enjoy!