Ian is (almost) potty trained!!

First off, I have to say a big thank you to Lora Jensen, though I certainly don't know her personally! Some friends recommended that I check out Lora's e-book at 3DayPottyTraining.com. I loved how she focuses on positive reinforcement and giving the child the ownership in deciding when to use the potty. (Ian is definitely not one of those "willingly sit on the potty every 20 minutes when the timer rings" kind of kids.) She's a big reason we decided to try potty training in earnest when Ian turned two. (Her magic "window" is between 22-30 months but she recommends closer to 22 months.)

On Thursday, we started our journey with potty training. Ian happily drank lemonade and apple juice and Capri Sun ... and then proceeded to have a few accidents. We ran him to the potty each time, reminding him to tell us when he needed to go pee pee! By late morning, Ian seemed to be getting the hang of things. He was a big fan of getting M & Ms and getting to call grandparents and Daddy when he went potty on the potty chair!

On Friday, Ian had no major accidents! When his underwear got slightly damp, he'd tell Momma or Daddy he needed to go to the potty! He gets the hugest grin on his face as he watches himself go potty! It seems almost magic to him!

On Saturday, he wore the same pair of underwear the whole time he was awake, successfully going on the potty chair many, many times!

Since then, we've even ventured out of the house successfully! Ian is excited to use the "big potty" at church and in the grocery stores, too!

We still have a few hurdles, though. We're still putting him in Pull-ups when he sleeps. He's almost always waking up from nap dry, but he's never waking up dry in the mornings. We think (and hope!) that the night-training will happen naturally as he gets older. Our other hurdle is getting Ian to poop on the potty chair. He hasn't yet. Instead, he'll wait until bed time when he has his Pull-up on. We're not really sure how to help him ... so if you have any thoughts / words of wisdom, please let us know! If nothing else, hopefully time will help this issue, too!

Overall, though, we're so proud of our big boy (and so thankful that the training has been smooth!) A few other recent pictures ...
Today at lunch Ian thought eating grilled cheese sandwiches was hilarious! He kept giggling as the Colby Jack cheese stretched and stretched and stretched between his mouth and the sandwich!
Ian wants to be just like Daddy, shaving and all! :)

What's new for our two-year-old??

1. Ian has a new obsession with playing the piano. He almost always sings, "Jesus Loves Me," no matter what notes he's playing.
2. He's going to be a big brother in January!! :)
(We had to get another tragic, early-morning picture just like we did when we found out we were pregnant with Ian.)

3. He had another birthday celebration with our friends, Eric, Carrie, and Melissa. He was most excited about getting sung to again, I think. He most often still tells people he's "almost 2" since that's what he's been saying for the past two months. Thanks for the fun birthday celebration, Oblingers! :)
1-2-3 BLOW!

(Carrie and I were dressed in the EXACT same shirt! So funny! Gotta love Target!! :))
So cute! :)

4. He's such a big boy eating right at the table. (The high chair is all packed away!) He tried his first peanut butter and jelly sandwich today for lunch. He's a big fan!
5. playing in his new pool! so fun! (Thanks, Melissa!)

6. dumping the water from the pool onto the ground to make MUD! Even MORE fun! :)


7. "washing the dishes" after almost every meal!

Happy 2nd birthday, Ian!

Grammy (Kim's mom) and Aunt Amy (Kim's sister) came to visit right before Ian's birthday party. They were a HUGE help in finishing up the last minute details! Our biggest "detail" was making Ian's train cake.

We combined a lot of ideas that we found on the Internet to decorate the cake. (Thanks for the original idea, Elizabeth G.!) It ended up being super easy! (We used a large pound cake with a part of a small pound cake on top for the engine and small pound cakes for the cars.)
We decorated with Twizzlers, big and mini Oreos, an ice cream cone with marshmallows, and some Starburst.
We had each train car carrying something different -- chocolate chips (coal), pretzels (logs), jelly beans, and gummy bears. We ended with a caboose.

Here's the front view of the completed train cake ...
...and the back view.
Our masterpiece!! (though not the best picture of the three of us. ha ha)
We got up early on Ian's birthday (Saturday, May 7th) to finish things up. We even put the birthday boy to work! :)
Kim did some decorating,
Matt did some table and chair assembly,
Grammy took care of the food,
and Amy did everything else! Good teamwork, Aunt Amy and Ian!
Amy and Ian laid some train track leading up to the front door.
Choo, choo! All aboard!
We made a LONG railroad track out of sidewalk chalk on our driveway, too.

Grammy and Ian tested it out to be sure it would work.

And, of course, we hung up the awesome birthday sign from Aunt Sarah! Ian loved to point at the "I" and say, "I for Ian!!"

Finally, it was time for the guests to arrive! Ian stood at the front window expectantly!
We divided the "engineers" into two groups and had them go to three different stations.
At one station, the kids decorated train magnets with markers and then attached a picture of themselves as the engineer.

At another station, the kids played outside on the railroad track,
and all tried to fit in the shapes drawn on the sidewalk.
At the last station, the kids played with trains and train tracks we borrowed from our friend, Caleb. (Thanks, Caleb!)
After the stations, the kids listened to a few train stories read by Matt ...
...and Amy.
Then it was time for blowing out birthday candles and eating lunch!
Before opening presents, we got a few pictures of the engineers,
Christopher, Caleb, Zane, Brooke, Caleb, Maddy, Nate, Ian, Micah, and Eli.
After the party was over, we enjoyed time together as a family!




Thanks for the great Mother's Day, bouquet, Matt and Papa!

Ian remembered Grammy and Aunt Amy right away and had a great time playing with them:
reading books,
playing with the tool bench,
giving kisses on the banister,
giving lots of hugs and smiles,

and even doing some cooking together!
Ian loved trying out his new gifts, including some snazzy new clothes and a play shaving set!
Ian enjoyed hearing bedtime stories from Aunt Amy!

Amy and I were happy to spend Mother's Day with our mom! We went to get manicures and pedicures together on Sunday afternoon! How relaxing!



Thanks for the great visit, Grammy and Aunt Amy!! We loved every minute with you and can't wait to see you soon! :)