Y5 - 15/365: Poo Breakthrough

Last week we were left with a disappointment towards the end as Ryan, who has been pretty successful on his potty adventures, had several "rapid-fire" type, poo-related accidents at Nana's house resulting in a decision to place him back in nappies. He's excellent getting to the potty for a wee, but tends to hide when it's time for a poo or won't tell us he needs to go until he has already gone.

We aren't keen on the idea of Pull-Ups because we feel they send the wrong message and may confuse him since they pull up and down like pants...but to a potty-training toddler, they *feel* like nappies, taking away any awareness of an accident like pants would. But to my mother-in-law's defense, it was a lot to take on since I think he may have also had some tummy troubles, so we didn't hesitate.

We kept Ryan in nappies at the weekend although he protested and wanted to be in pants like a big boy. Then when at the childminder's yesterday, she said it was a shame that he's gotten so far with potty training and admitted to putting him in pants (that I kept in his changing bag) while they were at home just to see how he'd do and he stayed dry for her all day AND actually did a poo when she pushed him a bit to have a go! I wondered if it was him trying to show us he was ready so I asked this morning what he wanted and he insisted pants. I went with this because we didn't have plans to go anywhere since his preschool teacher was coming for a home visit.

When I left the room to do breakfast and returned, sure enough, there he was on his potty like a proper little man and his reading material! He wasn't ready to give up so I'm just going to cheer him on!

He stayed dry all morning and through his nap and then this afternoon went to the potty ALL ON HIS OWN to do a POO!! TWICE!!! He was so excited the first time, he wanted to keep it for Daddy to see. I explained it was too smelly so down to the toilet we went to send the poo off to the 'poo party.' Thankfully, he had another to do once Daddy was home, so he didn't have to miss out completely.

Fingers crossed that we're on our way!

Y4 - 276/365: Whatever Works for You

Inspired by his new love of the digital 'memory' game on his Zoodles dashboard, I splurged an entire fiver to get Ryan this Octonauts version. There are 48 cards in total and when we attempted it with all of them I think he found it a bit overwhelming, so I reduced his challenge to 16 cards. It was absolutely darling to watch him as he turned over the first card and placed it down, and then instead of trying to find the match and starting over, he would just turn over one card at a time and respond, "no," then another, "no," and another, "no," all until he finally found his match. At this point I would hear...

"Wook, Mommy...I found TWO!! Wet's see...now I need..." and the game would start all over again with a new search.

Needless to say, when I announced bedtime, the only way I could get him up without a whimper was to suggest he put his new Octonauts game in his bag ready for Nana & Grandad's tomorrow. Boy are they gonna have fun!!

We soldiered on with our usual nightly routine...brush teeth, undressed, wee on the potty, etc. While Ryan was on his tiny loo, we playfully pretended to be Raa Raa back and forth to each other, rawr-ing with all our might when I hear the following...

Ryan: My turn, Mommy. RAWRRRR!!!  ::pffffft::

Me: Was that what I thought it was? Ryan...rawr again at Mommy.

Ryan:  ::giggles:: Okay, Mama! RAWRRRRRRR!  ::clenches fists, face red...aaaand pffftt::

It's about this time when I get a bright idea. I childishly rawr back at my two-and-a-half-year-old and encourage his excitability to see if I can produce a certain result based on the first couple of reactions thus far.

After 3-4 minutes of straight rawr-ing at one another, getting him to clench his fists and his face turning red, I give in and begin to suggest that we head on back to his room to get ready for bed. It's at that moment that I notice something dark in the potty...

***TURN AWAY NOW IF YOU'RE NOT A PARENT OR ARE OTHERWISE DISGUSTED BY MENTION OF BODILY FUNCTIONS OR SECRETIONS***

...Ladies & Gentlemen...

Ryan...POOED in the POTTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (all on his own for the FIRST time!)

::insert fanfare and imaginary ticker-tape parade here::

I shouted for Matt to come up quick, unintentionally caused him to think something was the matter. He rushed up the steps and I made my proud-Mommy announcement...

"He just POOED in the POTTY!!!" I exclaimed.

Without missing a beat, a very proud Daddy congratulated his beaming son and Ryan immediately stood up and announced that he wanted to "see his poo." He looked in the little pot and gasped, "Wooooowwww!"

See? Even HE was impressed!!

Daddy quickly scraped the contents into the toilet while I tended to cleaning Mr. Happy Bum.

Ryan then requests to do "another wee" even though he hadn't even done one yet. I indulged him and put the potty back down. The whole time he's grinning ear-to-ear and sure enough, when he met his goal, he smiled up at me with his huge, baby-blue eyes and held up his hand to collect his high-five.

So well-deserved, mate!!

Now, Matt has just commented as I'm reading that this may just be a bit too much, but I don't even care. I'm so unbelievably proud of our little man. I want him to remember how happy Mommy & Daddy were for his accomplishment and how proud he was for himself. I mean, c'mon...this is like the toddler's version of passing your practical for your driving licence!

It may not be the end of nappies...but it's another small step in that direction. I guess now my only concern is that Ryan will think he needs to rawr like a lion every time he needs to poo.

In fact, maybe I should prepare myself now for the phone call home from his Reception teacher?

Y3 - 22/365: Ain't Nothin Gonna Break My Stride...Nobody Gonna Slow Me Down...

Look out! Two days in a row without a photo of Ryan. We had some books to return to the library and I took the photo and thought how much I'm going to love when the new library is completed in Blackheath Town Centre!

To be fair, if I would have included any of the photos of Ryan I took today, all you would see would be a baby blur because boy was my boy a'movin! He just could not be stopped...full stop. In fact, today led to yet another milestone jotted into his Beatrix Potter First Year Baby Book...

Our baby boy, Ryan, took his first steps!

He's been working his way up to this moment as he used to just do his version of a "trust fall" into our bodies when propped or pulling himself up to the sofa. But today, no falling...at least not intentionally. I was on the phone with Matt early this morning and sitting on the floor while Ryan beat his hands against the settee. Next thing I know, I see Ryan turn towards me like he sometimes does, and this time he took 4-5 proper steady steps toward me.

I shouted down the phone, "Oh my God...he just walked!" to Matt, who I know was a bit bummed that he missed it. But I made sure to get plenty of videos and I let him practice till his heart was content for the rest of the day. A few times he would steady himself and turn and walk AWAY from me and I would have to chase after him to make sure he didn't face-plant. Then again, a few times...he did. But he'd just get back up and crawl to the sofa and start again.

He was loving it!

Once Matt was home Ryan was able to show off his skills for Daddy as well. We both nearly cried at the clever cookie before us!

He still needs quite some work on his balance, but he's taking chances and having loads of fun doing it -- so for now, that's all that matters!

Y3 - 4/365: It's a Beautiful Day!

The weather outside today has been gorgeous! This is a welcomed change as it has been dreary and overcast all week and threatened rain or even stormed. So when I opened the windows to let in a little breeze, this little butterfly (or moth, I'm not sure) got trapped inside when he mistakenly flew through a window and into the front room.

Rather than allow him to become a bite-sized snack for Mystical kitty, I humanely captured him inside a pint glass and used Ryan's Once Upon a Garden book (how appropriate) to safely transport him back out the front door to OUR garden. Of course, I let Ryan have a little peek at our flutterby friend and he squealed with delight as expected.

I apparently missed the memo today that naps were optional. There were three opportunities and each one was thwarted by a sudden alertness that was triggered as soon as Ryan left the physical connection of my body as I put him down into his cot. He just wasn't having it.

So, we stayed up and played...a lot. We had to abandon the walker for the day as he has learned to escape. I caught him pulling himself out with the help of his pushchair and because he was so stealthy about it, I had only noticed when he was flat on his belly across the tray and reaching toward the floor. He actually executed the dismount pretty impressively.

His obsession lately is getting himself up to sitting on his knees and flailing his arms or bouncing as well as pulling himself to standing and then letting go and balancing for 30 seconds or so. He even made some attempts to turn towards me (as I was sitting right there) and "walk." Although, his walk was more like "TIIIIMBERRRRRRRRRR!" because he would just fall like a big tree in a forest into my chest.

Silly, bunny.

Before Matt arrived home we ventured out into the garden for a little fresh air and brought along his push-walker. I really love how he's not discouraged at all when he loses his balance and tumbles because he just grabs the handle and hoists himself back up. He really had a blast.

Finally we picked an apple off the apple tree and washed it off. Then sat out on the patio where Ryan enjoyed his first proper bite of a whole apple.

I got him started with a small nibble just to break the skin, but he carried on for the next 30 or 40 minutes munching away and even managed to eat half before dropping it on the floor shortly after Matt arrived home.

Now I'm just hoping all this activity will make for one tired little lad who wants to stay in his cot tonight and let Mommy and Daddy have their sleep, too.


::fingers crossed::

Year 2 Day 345: This is What Happens...

...when your eyes aren't ON him for a split second!

Matt has a habit of taking his jeans off downstairs so he won't wake Ryan with the noisy belt when he comes up to bed at night. Because of this, they can be found usually draped over the back of the sofa. I've gotten so used to this it's like part of the living room furniture until he returns home from work.

I have recently arranged things in a "baby-safe" manner so Ryan has full run of the front room when in the walker. Certain things are blocked off, like the fire and small end tables, so he can scamper back and forth without worry of pulling something onto himself.

Apparently I forgot about the jeans.

When I saw him I could only laugh because he jets around the room now like a crazed lorry-driver and it seemed as if the jeans were as much a casualty as would be an innocent bug smashed against someones grill on the motorway.

This photo was a last minute addition as I didn't start reviewing photos for the blog until after he had gone up to bed. I took it because he was using me as a climbing frame and he was so truly ticked by the fact he was pulling himself up and then the camera would appear.

Upon closer inspection...(besides the bogies)...

I didn't notice anything throughout the day, but the more I look at this photo it seems his fourth has cut through as well. That's only about a week from his third!

But hey...I'll take that. No huge change in his temperament this time. Could this be a sign that he's just used to it by now? I doubt it...but hey!


Roll on toothy-peg number FIVE!!

Year 2 Day 339: Look Ma, No Hands!

See...now he's just a show off. He only just started pulling himself up on furniture and in his cot, sitting up on his own, and crawling...but now he's going to take it one step further.

Yep.

Now, when he's holding onto the sofa, he lets go with one hand...or BOTH...and tries to just walk off after something -- forgetting that he doesn't yet have the balance. I told Matt I'm going to start calling him Ryan 'No Fear.'

I was lucky to get a bit of a lie-in this morning...which was nice. Matt reported to me that Ryan whinged off and on the whole time I wasn't downstairs. I guess Mommy cuddles are the best medicine when teeth are giving you a hard time.

Year 2 Day 336: Holy Milestones, Batman!

The boy was simply driven to sleep tonight when he boycotted all naps this afternoon because he was too busy pulling himself up on furniture, sitting up on his own (even though I missed him actually DO it because I was in the kitchen getting his porridge), and...get this...

CRAWLING!!

Yep...it's still not perfected like a Maggie Simpson crawl...but he is purposefully moving forward in a creeping/crawling manner. I even have a video...LOOK!





I'm so proud and I'm SOOO in trouble!

And what's the best thing to end our perfect little day with? A bedtime story from Daddy, of course! (Best story-reader EVER!)

Year 2 Day 329: A Stand-Up Act

There was no comedy tonight, however, when I witnessed my eight-month-old pulling his entire baby body to stand at the walker...wow! He had done it only once a few weeks back when I went with Emma to the cinema (Matt sent me a text while I was in watching the film to report that he had done this), but this was the first time I saw with my own eyes, that he used his own initiative to pull himself up.

I did have to keep my foot on the base so it wouldn't slip out from under him.

But there you have it! All on his own! It's a toss-up whether we will see him crawl or walk first. I know boys, as a rule, tend to hit things developmentally slower than girls sometimes, but I will do everything I can to support and encourage what he is ready to move onto next!