We are DIAPER FREE!!!!

OH! What a feelin'!!!! (**Singing along with Lionel Richie here!**)

It is true... Jake and I took on his potty training yesterday (he is now 21 months old!). Mimi and Pop Pop were AWESOME and took Sam for the WHOLE week so I can direct all my attention to Jake! I'm a lucky girl! I dare say it wasn't nearly as bad as when I did Sam's...... For a few reasons, I have decided:

A- I had done it before and was a little more mentally prepared;
B- I didn't have a 3-month-old eating up my sleep that caused my mental and physical capacities to be SLIGHTLY lower;
C- Jake was ready to potty train over a month ago... Mommy wasn't!!!!

OK... here we are - ready to start...
Right after breakfast, the diaper came off - never to be seen again! Big boy underwear went on (after chasing him because he LOVES to be naked!), and that was it... he is so cute running around in nothing but his skivvies! That's huge to not confuse them by putting diapers on them ever again! At naps and night, we use Big Boy Sleepy Underwear (aka Pull-Ups)!

I was supposed to start by having Jake train a doll (I chose Elmo). Jake threw Elmo down and ran and sat on the potty. OK. Plan changed. Pulled Jake's pants down; Jake tee tee's in the potty! Really! That was it! All day, we talked only potty (OK, well I talked only potty). Jake literally would pull his pants down, tee tee, pull his underwear up (after I chased him usually, because he would rather have been naked), take the pot and empty it (with help - I couldn't handle spilled tee tee), take it back to his potty seat, and pull his underwear down again - probably just to be naked, but whatever... we'll take it! We did that NON-STOP for three hours. He was THAT enthused with the potty. Totally different from Sam! I didn't even want him going that much! BUT, practice makes perfect! He had two accidents all day, which enabled me to make him 'practice' 10 times from 10 different places in the house each time. And to talk to him A LOT more about it.

I will say that Sam at least seemed to pay attention to me. I did not feel like Jake did at all. Here is a taste of how our conversations went:

Me: Jake's a big boy with dry pants. Jake, are your pants dry?
Jake: Where Bubby go? (Bubby is 'brother' aka Sam) Thomas nite nite. Why? What's that?
Me: Bubby tee tee's in the potty. Can Jake tee tee in the potty?
Jake: Bubby plane. Where Stormie go? Stormie ball at? I want WOOPS (Froot Loops - introduced just yesterday so he would get thirsty... he and Stormie ate so many that even Stormie got tired of them!)
Me: Jake. Stormie likes to see you tee tee potty. Big boys tee tee potty. Are you a big boy?
Jake: Bird out there? Where?

You see what I mean? I talked, he 'didn't' listen!!! It was quite frustrating, and quite cute all at the same time! Cute, probably because I have had somewhat normal sleep for quite awhile now!!! It was only today that I was at all convinced that anything sunk in. It did. No accidents... and that even included a one-hour trip to the store (to return some unopened diapers)!

Had to take some cute underwear pictures...Elmo became a recliner...
I think he was telling me: 'Enough with the pictures!'

Besides potty training, we have had an interesting few weeks since my last post...

• Jake got his first haircut. I know... he's not even two, but it was getting out of control. I couldn't bear to see the curls go, so it was just a trim. We took him to a kids barber, only to pay $25 and for me to 'fix it' when we got home. BUT... we got the cute pictures!!!

Yep, it had gotten QUITE long...

• He's not so sure...Mommy... what are they doing to me?I DON'T LIKE THIS!!!!!Poor baby... he wasn't a happy camper! And his hair looked like a girl when they got done, so I had to cut more when we got home! I just chased him around the front yard with the scissors, though. Not sure which was better!?Sam is at Mimi and Pop Pop's for the entire week this week! Hence why now was a great time to potty train Jake! He was not sad at all when I left him, and he said he wasn't going back for seven whole years! YIKES!!!! I said days, but I'm pretty sure he meant years!
• Jake came out of the bathroom the other day carrying carpet cleaner, and his breath smelled especially fresh... yep, he ate it. Called the dr, just to be safe, but I was to keep an eye on him.... uhhh, I actually had to ASK what I was looking for!!!! I don't really think he got very much in his mouth... he was spraying the carpet (guess they take note on how I have to do that A LOT!) He's fine! Now, when he picks it up (which is VERY rare after that ;-), he goes, "EWWWW Cleaner!"
  
• Last time Sam and Jake were at Mimi and Pop Pop's, they instigated a 'No Why Rule.' Yeah... it doesn't work! Hahaha! But Sam's first question after that was, "What is Why?"


• We went to the lake and took the boys tubing over the 4th. Jake absolutely LOVED it, and DID NOT want to get off. Sam... well, we had to force him to get on (go ahead and label us as THOSE parents that refuse to allow a child to call the shots!), and he screamed the entire time. Cute, funny, but not fun. He did it, and we didn't make him again. Jake was jumping off the back of the boat, swimming, and having a grand 'ole time. Sam FINALLY would sit on the platform and put his feet in! He didn't want to swim with whales and sharks. Their totally different personalities are so amazing to me!


• I took the boys to Monkey Joes (a kid play place with tons of inflatables). Sam was very happy in the toddler one - although (you bet) I made him do ALL of them! Jake, however... I had to go with him only because he wasn't big enough to climb most of the stuff himself. Man, THAT was a workout... just to get myself through, let alone a 30 lb child with me!!!! It was fun, though... we got ripped off, but it was fun anyway! Here's the Toddler one...


• Sam and Jake tell each other 'I love you.' That is SO IMPORTANT to me, and it just warms my heart each time I hear it! When BJ or I tell either of them we love them, their response is usually, "NO, I love YOU!" (Jake's is more like, 'NO, I woo woo!' but we know what he means!!!!!)
  
• BJ took Sam to his first movie a couple of weeks ago. They saw UP. Sam loved it. I think he actually liked the pop corn and gummy bears more than the actual movie because he had to sit still and be quiet. But he did it, and he did great. Afterwards, I asked him if he would want to go see another movie sometime. His response was, "Yes, I would, but do we have to right now?"
  
• Monsters Inc is/was a favorite movie of Sam and Jake's. I will no longer let Sam watch it because he is PETRIFIED of monsters now! It was slow in coming, but after a week or two of watching it, we had to keep the lights on and the closet door open. It even got to the point where he would wake up screaming and RUN to our room before we could even get out our door to him. He would always ask what we were doing next/after that to find out when nap and bedtimes were. And would whine that he didn't want to go to sleep. It was SO pitiful! A few times, I just had to sit next to him rubbing him until he fell asleep. I felt so bad for my little guy. We've been monster-free for about a week, and I'm hoping that being at Mimi and Pop Pop's will go ahead and throw that one out the door!?


• Jake is so independant. Frequent statements from him are: 'I got it,' 'I get it,' 'I do it,' and 'I did it!' Precious! Sometimes, if he gets frustrated, we get: 'I can't do it' or 'I can't get it!' I love his independence, but it makes me sad that he doesn't always need Mommy!


• Sam and Jake both LOVE to tell me when things are funny. For instance, when I hurt myself, I get a "That funny!" from someone!!!! Or when they do something they KNOW isn't allowed, I get a look, a smile, and a "That funny!"


• Sam's latest is to do something, break something etc and say, "I'm so sorry about that Mommy!" Jake does the same thing, but follows up with, "Sorry Mom!" How do you get upset with that?????


• Jake can only hold one thing at a time - yeah right, but that's just how he rolls - so when he is ready for me to get something from him, he says, "Here you go, Mommy. I'm done with it!" It is so precious with that little voice that I can't even get frustrated with him!!!


• Jake was looking at himself in the mirror yesterday (when he just had on his undies), and said, "Baby there.... Baby has boo boo on his tummy!" (Talking about his scar! :-( It was so precious and innocent! Love that little guy!
  
• Best for last.... Jake has a tendency to scream, squeal or cry when Sam gets near him. Just to see if I will get mad at Sam. This has caused Sam to go on an immediate defensive when Jake makes a noise. The other day, I'm in the kitchen, and I hear the infamous cry. I come around the couch to see Jake sitting with Sam standing over him. I said, "Sam, what happened to Jake?" Sam said calmly, "I didn't do it, Mommy." To which I get an ear-piercing cry from Jake saying, "BUBBY DID IT!!!!!!!" HAHAHAHAHA!!!! No one got in trouble there... I didn't see anything, and Jake had no visible marks! It was just so funny to hear Jake blaming Sam..... I'm sure I won't think that for long, though!

Picture time...

Jake loves him some T.V. --- for like five minutes!!!

Sam is constantly rigging/building/working on things...Playing helicopter with Daddy... Sam is recovering from his last 'ride.'Jake's trying to walk after his 'ride!'Sam and Jake LOVE their sandbox... Jake even loves eating the sand!Jake's girlfriend, Addison...Daddy will be so proud - this is what we come up with when the playdate is at a girl's house!!!!Sam and Jake love to make their own 'jumpy house.' Can anyone spot the dog????I went to youth camp in Panama City again this year. Here's what I was looking at...Here's what Sam and Jake were doing while I was in PCB...And here's what BJ was doing... (well, he did the painting - the decorating came after I got home!)He painted our bedroom, bathroom, and water closet... LOTS of HARD work!!!My mom made this curtain from a throw blanket!

I am once again caught up! Whew!