Potty Training Chronicles: Chapter 1

Liam is now 20 months old.  Waaaaayyyyy to young to start potty training right?  Well I may be bragging here, but my baby officially peed on his potty for the very first time tonight!!! Did you hear that? We had pee, in a potty, successfully....OMG!  
Bill and I bought Liam his little potty a few months ago, just to introduce Liam to the look of it, and to let him try sitting on it, playing with it..basically whatever he wanted to do with it.  A few weeks ago we decided to move it upstairs to the bathroom so that he could start associating the potty with the "big boy toilet" (k..trying to use appropriate words here..lol).  Whenever I change a poopy cloth diaper, I have Liam help me bring it to the toilet, and he gets to flush just to see what happens.  Gross? Too much information? lol.  Wellll...you may not want to read on then! lol

Every night before I give Liam a bath, I take off his diaper and have him sit on his little potty while I pour the water into the tub.  He always used to stand beside the tub while I was filling it, and usually ended up peeing on the floor...so I thought I would hedge my bets and plop him on his toilet.  And VOILA!  As I was filling the tub tonight, I look over, and there he is, peeing like a big boy.  I, of course freaked out (dunno if that's the correct response...haven't read the books yet..lol), praised him like craaaazzzzy and gave him a high five (that's the way we role in our family).  Who knew that a little pee in a little potty would bring such a high?

So I know it's early, and I won't be pushing the potty thing all the way yet, but it's nice to know that it is right around the corner for my little man.  Is it weird that I am looking forward to making a potty chart, getting out the colored star stickers and the smarties as rewards?  I can't wait to start doing things like that with Liam :)  Fingers crossed for some more potty time tomorrow night...stay tuned.  Looking forward to seeing that little tush in some spiderman undies sometime soon.

Come to think of it...Liam and I watched Elmo's potty training video on O, My Family yesterday.  Could Elmo have worked SO fast?  If so, WOO to Elmo! lol

Our Summer So Far

Okay...it has been awhile since my last post, but in my defense, it has been such a crazy, hectic, adventure-filled summer so far for the Adam's family. 
Liam is now 20 months old, and I cannot put into words how much FUN it is to be around him all of the time now.  He is one of the funniest little guys that I have ever met.  You can't be near him for more than a couple of minutes without cracking a smile.  I think his joy and jest for life are just so contagious....I spend my days with him just looking for that next adventure around the corner. 

I started a new job as a Customer Service Representative at TD Canada Trust about a month ago now, and the most difficult part by far has been leaving Liam for any amount of time.  He is being cared for by a dear friend of the family, Pauline, who has a daughter the exact same age as Liam (and by exact, I mean that Liam is literally only a few hours older than Ads), so I know that he is safe and comfortable and having lots of fun while I am at work.  But I am so afraid of missing those little moments with him.  Like he learned how to say "shoes" sometime over the last couple of weeks, and when I told Pauline, she said that she already knew, she had heard him say it a bunch of times.  I missed "shoes"!!!!  Working means more financial security for my little fam right now, so it is a necessary evil.  And I do get a strong sense of accomplishment from doing something new, and from helping to contribute to the well-being of my family...but dang I miss my baby! 

Hmm...how about a quick recap of our summer so far?  Or at least the parts that my mushy, overworked brain can remember right now. lol.  We are very much an outdoor family, so we have spent the majority of our free time in the fresh air. 

We have gone to our local beaches a bunch of times (we even found a dog-friendly beach nearby that we have loved going to in the evenings after dinner...there is just something about that time right before the sun goes down..magic). 

We went to Trenton for a (way too short) visit with my mom and some great friends.  My mom and dad moved into a new home this summer, so I had to make a special trip to say goodbye to the old pmq.  So many memories...but oh so many more to be made in the new house.  We had lots of fun with our friends Amber and Alexis while we were down :)

We have been to Ottawa a bunch of times for different things (ie. getting Liam fitted for his first suit...omg...CUTE x1000!).  As much as I am learning to appreciate Petawawa and its natural beauty, it is nice to head on back to the city occasionally.  Though we always breathe a little sigh of relief when we exit the rat race there. 

We have been to the cottage as much as possible (it's our version of paradise, and I am so pleased to know that Liam will truly grow up there), and have had the pleasure to share it with new friends and old family.  We brought Pauline and Addy up there for a weekend with us, our good friend James spent some time there with us, and my dad came up with me last time.  I spent my first week away from Liam and Bill (okay..4 whole days...but it felt like a week); I had to work, and Bill was on vacation, so we decided that him, Liam and Chloe would stay up at the cottage with his mom while I returned home.  It was such a weird experience to have quiet time to myself...to clean the house and actually have it stay that way for more than 10 minutes was wonderful...but to come home to such peace was a tad unnerving.  The look on Liams face when he first saw me back at the cottage was worth it though :) 

We have been fairly successful growing our first gardens in our front yard.  I'm thinking maybe I need to devote a blog to the garden soon, there is so much goodness there.  I brought Liam outside with me tonight just before bathtime to water the garden, and the first thing that he did was wander on over to the strawberry plants, point, look at me and said "uhhh" (which in Liam language can mean one of many, many things...apparently Bill and I have the dictionary hardwired into our brains, so in this case I knew it meant that he wanted one).  I love that he can do that.  Just pop on over to his own garden, and grab a fresh, pesticide free, organic snack.  Awesome I tell ya!  We even snuck a taste of the carrots that are growing...though they are the smallest ones ever.  Not too sure we're going to have much success with them this year.  Ok..onwards.....lol

We spent this past weekend back in our home town of Trenton, Ontario, attending the wedding of my best friend Nichole to her, now husband, Dave (the wedding itself was held in Picton, Ontario).  I was a bridesmaid in the wedding, so there wasn't a free moment the entire time I was there...but I hear that Bill and Liam had a great time hanging out with Bills parents and just relaxing.  Bill's mom is always at Liams beck and call, so I know that he was well spoiled.  And he got to spend an afternoon with my parents, where I'm sure that there was even more spoiling happening.  It is all good....family can love and hug on my baby as much as they want!  Liam was the ringbearer in the wedding, and he did such a fantastic job.  My friend Amber and I worried about how well our children would "perform" that day, and they both did WAY above our expectations.  That will teach us to underestimate them!  The wedding day was beautiful, and rustic, and so much a reflection of my good friend Nichole.  I had the best time, with the best people, and I was a little sad to leave it all behind to return home.

Now we are home.  Bill is currently working out in the field, which means that he comes home at night for a quick shower and change of clothes, and then is gone again.  So it should be an interesting next little while.  I work for the next two days, but then get to spend two whole days with my little man which I am so excited for.  What with our crazy schedules lately, I have been feeling a little robbed of time with him.  And he is changing and growing so very fast these days...I don't want to miss a thing.  I took him to his old playgroup today with Addy and Pauline, and I was amazed at how well he was interacting with the other kids, and at how well he was able to concentrate on little things (like playing with the trains at the train table...he played there for a good 10 minute stretch...amazing for my go-getter).  We will definetly be going more often now that we see how much the kiddies love it right now. 

And that is about it (or all I can recall right now.....fading....fading...lol).  I am off to work on a Halloween tutu for my little business Pauline and I have started (because I just didn't have enough on my plate already..HA).  Little PAAL's...check us out..just sayin' :)  Nightey night ya'll!