Last week Mrs M came home from work desperate to show us all a video on Youtube for a product called the 'Squatty Potty'. For those of you unfamiliar with the Squatty Potty and its crazy unicorn video viewed 17m times on Youtube, here its is...
The video has become a hit around the house and has spurred on many fun quotes over the last week or so. For the first time in a while too the boys have actually asked if we can review one through the blog (So if you are reading this Squatty Potty, We're up for trying it out).
Today while pottering around the house (because it was so cold outside), Opeie requesting possible his must bizarre LEGO building session and asked if we could make a quick Squatty Potty scene. I like to think I'm quite accommodating with the boys ideas so we set to work armed with a lot of bright colours and a unicorn, enjoy.
Every day without fail Opeie does something that makes me so proud of him. Since starting his potty training 5 weeks ago we have not needed to go back to nappies and for the past three weeks there has been not one accident. He's used toilets wherever we have been and is always letting us know when he needs to go. Earlier while we were tidying the house i walked into the lounge and Opeie was sitting on the potty, he had taken off his shorts and pants and taken care of business himself, what an amazing little chap he is. I was dreading potty training but he has made it all look like a walk in the park.
It's great to know that he is confident enough to go himself and just shows how much more independent he is getting. Lets just hope he never gets to the point where he doesn't need us at all, I don't ever want to feel obsolete.
Well done Opeie I'm so proud of the way your growing up, your an amazing little boy.
Surprise Surprise another post based around potty training, I'm sorry if the updates are boring but when we decided to take on intense training to get him in to a great routine, choosing to not leave the house to much over the last couple of weeks has ended up taking up all of my time. Good news is that its going really REALLY well so far but.... its costing us a small fortune.
To keep Opeie motivated and to lesson the accidents (which there has only been a couple of), we sorted out a box of new toys, Lego kits and fun things for every time he successfully takes care of business. As you can imagine when that means 4 or 5 successful potty visits at least a day, the box needs restocking quite regularly.
Mrs M came home from work yesterday armed with a stack of mini boxes and a genius idea, so once Opeie was asleep we got started on the plan. Opeie loves Lego mini figures and we have hundreds of them that we have collected over the years so last night we spent our evening making random characters ( one to fill each box ) with accessories and then decorated the boxes.
This morning Opeie woke up and went straight on the potty which he has done every day since we started his training (clever boy). After relieving himself he said 'box' and seemed excited about the new Lego boxes that had taken over his reward box. We had decorated the boxes with stickers from a Lego sticker book that nanny and grandad had brought the boys last week.
Opeie has had another successful day today with no accidents and the new Lego boxes have been a hit. The great thing about them is that while hes building the figure i can go and fill the box up again for next time. Mrs M you are a legend.
I did something rather silly a week ago and I'm still feeling pretty guilty for it. Opeie has a lot of allergies/intolerance's to different foods and at times it can be frustrating finding him things to eat and keeping his diet interesting and full of variety. Every now and again we try him with a little bit of these things to see if he has grown out of it. Seth grew out of his dairy intolerance so we were hoping Opeie would too. Eggs really don't agree with him and we have tried to give him some over the last year to find out if its got any better but he's never been interested. Last week though while I was eating my lunch he came over to me, picked up some egg and munched it down. I didn't stop him as I though I'd see if his reaction had calmed down. Big mistake!
There was an afternoon and evening of screaming, tears and a nappy that I have never seen so acidic causing him very angry looking blisters. It almost looked like his skin had been burnt. Poor little thing was in agony and I felt awful. As bad as it all sounds, in some ways it was a blessing In disguise. Because of the blisters and general discomfort Opeie was unable to wear a nappy so that night we put him down in our bed commando despite how nervous we were about it. Opeie managed to stay dry so that morning we began 'operation intense potty training'. Me and Mrs M talked about it and decided it would be 2-3 weeks in the house for me and Mr Blister Botty and no Venturing to far from home, we want to get him in to a good routine. We're now on day 7 and he's been dry every morning and he's only had 2 accidents during the day but I think they were both my fault for not picking up the signs. I do think his new pants from Nanny and grandad are definitely helping the situation.
The past two days Opeie has told me that he needs the toilet and has taken himself to take care of business, I'm so proud of him. I really wasn't looking forward to potty training but so far it has gone really well. On the times that he doesn't tell me that he needs to go we have fallen in to a routine to make him go. Spider-Man has to try first then Opeie, then spider-man, then Opeie, then Spider-Man and then Opeie finally goes on the third attempt (he's adorable).
As there are lots of toys in the house that the boys don't know about we have pulled together a big box of super hero figures, Lego kits (which I had collected free from the sun) and other fun bits for Opeie to choose from once he has had a successful toilet trip. Once business is taken care of we have to stand by the toilet and say bye bye to give the fruits of his bodily functions a proper send off. Opeie's new found skill has also sparked some comical comments from him. Yesterday he led me to the potty and explained to me that he had in fact done a 'chocolate pooh' and the day before that he walked in to the room bottomless, smiling and clenching his Brobee teddy between his legs before simulating what he described as a 'Brobee pooh', delightful.
All in all its been a pleasant first week of potty training. If we need to pop out the potty comes with us along with clean pants and clothes but thankfully we've not needed them yet. I'm so proud of him but am also a little emotional about him not being in nappies now, he's growing up so quickly and it's amazing how much more grown up he looks in his big boy pants. But like everything that comes with parenting we are embracing it fully and I am smitten every day with the boy he is becoming.
Within the first few weeks of meeting Seth I was faced with the 'I need a pooh scenario' while alone with him. It's funny when I think about it now as I found the whole thing a little daunting. I had never had to deal with children's bathroom activities before and I found myself at a quandary. What is the protocol for this kind of situation? 'Right I need to just get on with it' I thought so I took him by the hand and attempted to lead him to the bathroom but Seth stood firm looked up and said 'on the potty', so now I was faced with having to wipe someone else's bottom for the first time (which was scary enough) but had the added extra of transporting it through the house too like some sort of dirty courier. Needless to say it all went fine and thus began my ongoing bathroom duties as a dad.
As a parent you end up going through all manner of (what would seem to most people) gross situations. It may just be me being clumsy but I can guarantee that at least every other day I poke a finger into the contents of Opeie's nappy while changing him. Yesterday while me and Opeie were in the bath together I was having a lovely relaxing time when I saw a bath toy I've never seen before float past me, delightful. But again it didn't bother me in the slightest. It got me wondering when did i become so relaxed about dealing with this sort of thing?
Apologies for there not being any photo's in this short post but under the circumstances...
