Disney World.....

We are here!!!!  After driving from Calgary to Spokane--a 7 1/2 hour drive--a night in a hotel at the airport, and then a day of flying, we made it into Orlando at 7:00pm local time last night.  The kids were well behaved on the flights.  We even had a seat for little Goob---even though we didn't pay for one!  We always take on car seat on the plane in hopes that there will be an empty seat, and then we can buckle in the baby.  If there were no extra seats, then we would have just made Na-Na sit in it. 

Cob and Tree had their own little backpack with their Nintendo DS and games, along with a little bag of candy, a small coloring book, and a few crayons.  Na-Na also had his own backpack, with his headset in it, along with some candies.  Na-Na used Daddy's Ipod to watch Dora and Diego episodes.   Throw in a few snacks from the flight attendant, and a glass of pop as a special treat, and they were all happy!!!!! 

Goob is at the toughest age---really, what do you take along for him???  He was content to sit in his carseat, eat snacks, look at the magazines in the seat back, and eat icecubes!!!!  Goob even used the potty on the airplane!!!  he told me he had to poop, so off we went.  I let him shred some toilet paper, and he finally relaxed and let himself use the toilet.  Today, we did not have as much success.  We were at Animal Kingdom all day, and he pooped on the way home---oh well, we haven't officially started yet!

Prepping for Potty Training!

Well, it is almost that time for Goob!  We go on holiday for the next couple weeks, but when we return home and have settled back in, I think we are going to give potty training a try.  This will be the youngest (19 1/2-20 months) I have attempted this monumental task......
Cob was 2 1/2 when he was fully trained, although we started when he was 27 months.  He has proved to be the most trying so far......Tree was 25 months, and was good within a week---even at night!  Na-Na, I'm sure, would have trained at 20 months, but we were off on an adventure (Thailand/Vietnam), and it was Christmas (which means travelling) so that didn't quite work out.  He was trained at 24 months, again within the week. 
The signs that I have been waiting for:

• quick to tell me he has pooped in his diaper
• an interest in watching others use the toilet
• his ability to talk (or at least express to me what he needs)

For the past two weeks, everytime I catch him going poop in his diaper, I use phrases such as "Are you going poop?", "Do you have poop in your diaper?", "Does it feel yucky in your diaper?".  I use this to get him to associate the sensation with the action and word.  We have only sat on the potty a handful of times, but they have always been fun!!!  Tearing toilet paper into tiny shreds, ready books, singing songs. 
Yesterday, I could tell that it was getting close to time for him to go---lots of grunting, and just standing still.....my Goob's telltale signs that a poop is on the way!  So, we go into the bathroom, and sit on the potty.  After 10 minutes of  "playing", and telling him to put his poop in the potty, not his diaper, he finally relaxes and poops!  What a celebration we had when it was done!!!  Every family member had to check out the poop in the potty, and lots of praises for our "big boy!".  Then, as a special treat, Goob got to make a phonecall to Grandma and Grandpa and tell them his big news!!! 
It will be like this over the next 3 weeks--random use of the potty if the timing is right, lots of discussing about using the potty instead of the diaper, saying "tell mom if you need to go poop", etc.
I'll keep you posted as to how it turns out!!!!

Updates

Just a quick change to make my page a little less boring looking!!!!  I am still trying to figure all this out, so please bear with me.  The background comes from: thecutestblogontheblock.com

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day

Since we are off to Florida early next week, the kids miss their Valentine's parties at school. Me, being the mom that enjoys any excuse to make cute things for the classmates, encouraged the boys to pick a treat they would like to hand out. We took the first round of hand made valentines to my 5 year old's preschool. He wrote his own name on the back, and did all the glueing!!!

Lollipop Flowers

My 6 1/2 year old has chosen to make these:

Dynamic Duo

 

And as a special treat for the teachers, I have chosen to attempt to make these:

Berry Sweet Bouquet

 

All of these are from a website that I absolutely love. I get most of my cake ideas for birthday froms here, snack ideas for school, etc. Here is the link for their cute Valentine gifts!!!