Ah, potty training! If you've been through it, please, um, HELP!
Christopher is great about sitting on the potty, but he's not actually going in it yet. He hides in the closet to "go"! So if you have any good tips, please post a comment. Adam and I would love to hear your ideas.
And the poor guy gets really frustrated when he sits there for a few minutes and nothing happens. So we're trying not to pressure him, just encourage him as much as we can.
We're praising him for trying. But how do we help him to actually "go" in the potty?
We have till Thanksgiving until baby #2 is born, so we have about 6 months, give or take, to complete potty training. Is that doable? I hope so!
Coppelia, Adam and Christopher-in-training!
Monday, May 04, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The potty diaries
Potty training, take 2! A few months ago, at our friends Mark and Kristy's house, Adam and I found Christopher sitting on a potty. Wow, we thought, this is it! He's ready! Adam ran to Walmart, bought a really cool potty and we were ready to go! But Christopher decided the potty was yucky. There was no way he was going to sit in that thing. So we let it go for a few months.Then, when our friend Jessika from church told Adam how she had potty trained her son, Talan, we decided to try that tactic. We took Christopher to the store, and he picked out "big boy underwear". Power Rangers! We told him that when he's ready to wear big boy underwear, he can wear these. And the underwear waited in his drawer for a few weeks.
Suddenly, a few days ago, Christopher announced he did not want to wear diapers. He wanted to wear his Big Boy Power Ranger Underwear. Yay! So, I went on a google-fest, googling everything about potty training. Mayo Clinic has some great info. And I found one lady's idea of using a timer the first few days, to get him used to going to the potty.
Day 1: The underwear was on right after breakfast and the timer was set to every 10 minutes. We had a few accidents, but every 10 mins., Christopher sat on the potty. And each try, he got a star on his special potty chart!
Day 2: Breakfast, underwear, timer at 15 minutes. He almost made it to the potty to poop (almost.) And he almost made it to pee (that time without the timer, he just ran to the potty!) We'll make it next time!
Day 3: Busy day for mom and dad, so no real attempts at potty training. But more tomorrow!
Daddy took these super cute pics of Christopher. Too cute!
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Christopher smilin' at home!
Since all the pictures that I posted yesterday were from 2007, here is one that I took with my NEW phone! :)
More to come...maybe...one of these days! :)
Love,
Coppe
More to come...maybe...one of these days! :)
Love,
Coppe
Monday, December 01, 2008
A fall 2007 photo album...and it's not a typo!
Yes, the title says it all. The pictures you'll see here below are a cute collection of mostly Christopher pics (with a few random ones thrown in) that I had taken with my cell phone. A few days ago, it started acting weird, so I knew it was time to start shopping for a new one. I always look for the cheap-o ones, the ones that are free with the service contract, 2 for 1, that kind of deal. But Adam decided this would be an early Christmas present! So we went to see what they had (and of course, I went for the deal!) :)
They had a blackberry special where, after the rebate, you got it for free! Unfortunately, the girl who told us this was misinformed; the special ended one day before. The phone ended up costing us, but it was way less than the actual retail price. So I'm very happy with my new blackberry curve! :)
Before I surrendered my old pink Razr, I wanted to save all the pictures and address book info. So I started e-mailing the pictures until I realized....there are a TON of pictures! So the girl at the store said, no problem. Take it home, move the pictures via bluetooth to your computer and bring the phone back later (they have a rebate for that, too!)
So here I've been for almost an hour (!), moving pictures from the phone to the computer via bluetooth (a pretty cool thing if you've never done it.)
I saw my sister do a cute little photo album, so this is my first one. I hope you like it!
And by the way, the pictures range from August to November...2007!! (Again, it's not a typo!)
(Maybe the cool new blackberry gets me motivated to take pictures...and post them...more often!)
Love,
Coppelia
They had a blackberry special where, after the rebate, you got it for free! Unfortunately, the girl who told us this was misinformed; the special ended one day before. The phone ended up costing us, but it was way less than the actual retail price. So I'm very happy with my new blackberry curve! :)
Before I surrendered my old pink Razr, I wanted to save all the pictures and address book info. So I started e-mailing the pictures until I realized....there are a TON of pictures! So the girl at the store said, no problem. Take it home, move the pictures via bluetooth to your computer and bring the phone back later (they have a rebate for that, too!)
So here I've been for almost an hour (!), moving pictures from the phone to the computer via bluetooth (a pretty cool thing if you've never done it.)
I saw my sister do a cute little photo album, so this is my first one. I hope you like it!
And by the way, the pictures range from August to November...2007!! (Again, it's not a typo!)
(Maybe the cool new blackberry gets me motivated to take pictures...and post them...more often!)
Love,
Coppelia
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Is Christopher a Toddler or Teenager?
Christopher has been so funny lately!
He will turn 3 in January, and it seems the closer we get to his birthday, the more he's becoming a big kid (read: teenage angst is starting to rear its head!)
He made his first few attempts at the potty..then decided it was yucky! He thinks it's gross that he has to deal with poo, and wiping and flushing! HAA!!! Neither Adam nor I have been able to get him to try it again. So we'll let it go for now, and try again later.
He's much more vocal about what he wants, when he wants it. We used to have no real resistance from him regarding what needed to be done (clean-up, eating dinner, taking a "tito aguas" or bath, etc...) But now, if he doesn't want to, it's gonna be a fight!
Seriously, is he a toddler or a teenager? It used to be that he'd wake up early and come in to wake us up. Now, we have to turn on the lights and start waking him up half an hour early...and he still wants to keep sleeping! We'll say it's time to get up, and he'll say "go away!" I thought this didn't start 'till he turned 13!! HAHA!
Our days have taken a wonderful shape recently. We've been waking up early to share breakfast together. After work (around 1:30pm), we have a snack or lunch, and go to the gym (where Christopher loves the Kids' Club). Then, it's home for nap time. Then Dinner. Then sometimes I go to my rehearsals for "The Music Man" and Adam does bedtime, or I stay and hang out until it's bedtime.
We are truly blessed. I love our family routine right now. And the fact that it's so flexible is amazing. Thank you, Lord!
Coppelia
He will turn 3 in January, and it seems the closer we get to his birthday, the more he's becoming a big kid (read: teenage angst is starting to rear its head!)
He made his first few attempts at the potty..then decided it was yucky! He thinks it's gross that he has to deal with poo, and wiping and flushing! HAA!!! Neither Adam nor I have been able to get him to try it again. So we'll let it go for now, and try again later.
He's much more vocal about what he wants, when he wants it. We used to have no real resistance from him regarding what needed to be done (clean-up, eating dinner, taking a "tito aguas" or bath, etc...) But now, if he doesn't want to, it's gonna be a fight!
Seriously, is he a toddler or a teenager? It used to be that he'd wake up early and come in to wake us up. Now, we have to turn on the lights and start waking him up half an hour early...and he still wants to keep sleeping! We'll say it's time to get up, and he'll say "go away!" I thought this didn't start 'till he turned 13!! HAHA!
Our days have taken a wonderful shape recently. We've been waking up early to share breakfast together. After work (around 1:30pm), we have a snack or lunch, and go to the gym (where Christopher loves the Kids' Club). Then, it's home for nap time. Then Dinner. Then sometimes I go to my rehearsals for "The Music Man" and Adam does bedtime, or I stay and hang out until it's bedtime.
We are truly blessed. I love our family routine right now. And the fact that it's so flexible is amazing. Thank you, Lord!
Coppelia
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Inexplicable bedtime joy
Children are a blessing from the Lord and I was blessed tonight. My husband, Adam; our 2 year old son, Christopher; and I usually share the bedtime ritual. Adam takes care of bathtime ("tito aguas"="ba~nito con agua!"), and we both do the story/prayer/tuck-in time. But Adam was working tonight, so it was just Christopher and me. So after "Tito Aguas"/story/prayer/tuck-in time, I stayed with him, hanging out a little while longer.
And I just had the coolest time!
Christopher's really been flexing his imagination muscles recently. During lunch today he was "serving" Adam and me imaginary "ocholalis" (chocolate milk), and bringing us imaginary airplanes and race cars for us to play with. Then we asked him what else he had in his "imaginary store", and he had ocholalis, airplanes, race cars, a toothbrush, apple juice, pan 'lali (chocolate croissant), and a few other favorite things!
Tonight his imagination kick continued. He has a little stuffed coqui (puertorrican frog) that my friend Stacey gave him for his birthday in January. Adam and I taught Christopher the "Oh, coqui" song (yes, the Menudo one!) And Christopher actually sings it to the little stuffed coqui as he tucks him in bed. But tonight, it wasn't just songs and tuck-in. He was giving the coqui imaginary ocholalis, ice water and race cars so he would sleep better! You have to understand that Christopher loves races cars and oftentimes takes 3, 4, 5 or maybe 8 (!) to bed with him, and just crams them all around him. So, he figured coqui would like this, too! He's just so sweet! Christopher, the coqui and I took turns kissing each other, sharing imaginary sippy cups of ocholalis and ice water, rearranging the race cars and patting each other on the head "good night". I loved it! It's so much fun seeing him engaged in "serving" others. :)
I love seeing how his imagination works. It's so fun to spend time with him! And you should have seen him in his little Superman pjs! It's too cute!! :)
This was definitely a good night. (Now, I can't wait for Adam to come home from work...) :)
Coppe
And I just had the coolest time!
Christopher's really been flexing his imagination muscles recently. During lunch today he was "serving" Adam and me imaginary "ocholalis" (chocolate milk), and bringing us imaginary airplanes and race cars for us to play with. Then we asked him what else he had in his "imaginary store", and he had ocholalis, airplanes, race cars, a toothbrush, apple juice, pan 'lali (chocolate croissant), and a few other favorite things!
Tonight his imagination kick continued. He has a little stuffed coqui (puertorrican frog) that my friend Stacey gave him for his birthday in January. Adam and I taught Christopher the "Oh, coqui" song (yes, the Menudo one!) And Christopher actually sings it to the little stuffed coqui as he tucks him in bed. But tonight, it wasn't just songs and tuck-in. He was giving the coqui imaginary ocholalis, ice water and race cars so he would sleep better! You have to understand that Christopher loves races cars and oftentimes takes 3, 4, 5 or maybe 8 (!) to bed with him, and just crams them all around him. So, he figured coqui would like this, too! He's just so sweet! Christopher, the coqui and I took turns kissing each other, sharing imaginary sippy cups of ocholalis and ice water, rearranging the race cars and patting each other on the head "good night". I loved it! It's so much fun seeing him engaged in "serving" others. :)
I love seeing how his imagination works. It's so fun to spend time with him! And you should have seen him in his little Superman pjs! It's too cute!! :)
This was definitely a good night. (Now, I can't wait for Adam to come home from work...) :)
Coppe
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Fun with Ding Ding!
Today was a great day...but it didn't start out great.
I was ready to spend the day skulking around, throwing myself a big pity party because I just found out that we have to move in 30 days. Unfortunately, the owners of the house we are renting had to foreclose. And Adam is not here (he's working in NC for the summer) so I'm going through this alone.
I had reason to skulk.
But, I got up early and thought it would be fun to go to Barnes & Noble with Christopher. They have a yummy cafe with breakfast sandwiches and Starbucks mochas and the kids section has a Thomas the Tank Engine railway that kids can play with. Christopher loves it, so off we went!
Once we got there, I started feeling better. The breakfast was GREAT (I wanna go again!) And Christopher was having a blast with the trains, while Mommy read a book about making healthy snacks (which she really needs to start making). :)
All of a sudden, my friend Wendy calls. She's going to the Folsom City Zoo. Do we want to come, too? YES!! The Zoo has an actual train that Christopher could ride. He got really excited when I told him about it. So we played a little more at the bookstore and then left to meet our friends Wendy, Tim, Kaynen and Kenya.
We crammed everyone into Tim's work pickup truck (all 3 car seats fit in the back, and all 3 adults fit in the front!) And off we went to the Zoo.
It was a fun, cute little retreat of a zoo. It's cool because it has rescued animals, so it's sort of a sanctuary. And you get that feeling of "sanctuary" as you walk around. We all really enjoyed it!
My two favorite animals from this trip were a tiny squirrel monkey that Christopher loved, too, because 1. It's a monkey, and 2. It had a little jungle gym in his cage!; and an albino peacock. OK, I know the cool thing about peacocks is their beautiful coloring....but you just have to see an albino peacock up close. It is one of the most beautiful birds I've ever seen!
So one of the funniest parts of our little zoo trip was when Wendy told us that Kaynen (2 years old) started to differentiate between his name and his sister Kenya's. When Kaynen says his name, it sounds like he's saying "Ding Ding"! So of course, we're all trying to get him to say it in the car on the way there. :) It's so cute!!
Wendy, thank you for making my day great! You called at just the right time...and gave me the perfect excuse to not spend the day skulking. It was really a lot of fun hanging out with you guys (like it always is)!!
Proverbs 27:9b (The Message)
"...a sweet friendship refreshes the soul."
Coppe
I was ready to spend the day skulking around, throwing myself a big pity party because I just found out that we have to move in 30 days. Unfortunately, the owners of the house we are renting had to foreclose. And Adam is not here (he's working in NC for the summer) so I'm going through this alone.
I had reason to skulk.
But, I got up early and thought it would be fun to go to Barnes & Noble with Christopher. They have a yummy cafe with breakfast sandwiches and Starbucks mochas and the kids section has a Thomas the Tank Engine railway that kids can play with. Christopher loves it, so off we went!
Once we got there, I started feeling better. The breakfast was GREAT (I wanna go again!) And Christopher was having a blast with the trains, while Mommy read a book about making healthy snacks (which she really needs to start making). :)
All of a sudden, my friend Wendy calls. She's going to the Folsom City Zoo. Do we want to come, too? YES!! The Zoo has an actual train that Christopher could ride. He got really excited when I told him about it. So we played a little more at the bookstore and then left to meet our friends Wendy, Tim, Kaynen and Kenya.
We crammed everyone into Tim's work pickup truck (all 3 car seats fit in the back, and all 3 adults fit in the front!) And off we went to the Zoo.
It was a fun, cute little retreat of a zoo. It's cool because it has rescued animals, so it's sort of a sanctuary. And you get that feeling of "sanctuary" as you walk around. We all really enjoyed it!
My two favorite animals from this trip were a tiny squirrel monkey that Christopher loved, too, because 1. It's a monkey, and 2. It had a little jungle gym in his cage!; and an albino peacock. OK, I know the cool thing about peacocks is their beautiful coloring....but you just have to see an albino peacock up close. It is one of the most beautiful birds I've ever seen!
So one of the funniest parts of our little zoo trip was when Wendy told us that Kaynen (2 years old) started to differentiate between his name and his sister Kenya's. When Kaynen says his name, it sounds like he's saying "Ding Ding"! So of course, we're all trying to get him to say it in the car on the way there. :) It's so cute!!
Wendy, thank you for making my day great! You called at just the right time...and gave me the perfect excuse to not spend the day skulking. It was really a lot of fun hanging out with you guys (like it always is)!!
Proverbs 27:9b (The Message)
"...a sweet friendship refreshes the soul."
Coppe
A week in the life of a temporarily single mom
I am a temporarily single mom. My husband, Adam, is working for the summer in Charlotte, NC.
It's going on 5 weeks and I miss him! But...
...I am super proud of my hubby for what he's doing. He's working for Audio Ethics, a sound/production company that is exactly up his alley. He was even part of the production crew for a Newsboys concert. Fun!!
So, here's a recap of what my week looks like as a temporarily single mom:
My Day
6ish Wake up & get ready
7ish Wake up Christopher/breakfast/morning TV
7:30 Joanna's here so Mommy goes to work!
7:30am to 2:30pm Fun with "Nanna"
2:30pm Mommy's home!
From 2:30pm on, each day's a bit different:
Mondays we grab a bite to eat, then go to Mommy's voice lessons, then it's home for dinner/TV/Bathtime/Sleepytime
Tuesdays we grab a bite to eat, wait until it's 5:30 (sometimes Christopher naps), go to my Hip Hop class at the gym (where Christopher loves the KidsClub!), then it's home/dinner/tv/bath/sleepytime
Wednesdays: home, grab a bite to eat, hang out or run errands until it's time for the routine
Thursdays: similar to Wednesdays
Fridays: similar to Thursdays
Some days we'll throw in a trip to the mall play area or library in the afternoons. Those are always fun!
And I am very grateful that God provided us with a wonderful "Nanna"! Joanna Scales is a wonderful girl from our church who needed a part time job for the summer--while we needed someone to take care of Christopher for the summer. Perfect!
Joanna (Christopher calls her "Nanna") comes to our house every day, from 7:30am to 2:30pm, takes Christopher to the park, lets him color all he wants, and makes sure he is well taken care of while Mommy works at Air 1 radio (www.air1.com).
Joanna's family is like our extended family here in CA. Her Mom, Jan, lives within walking distance, and they often take Christopher on errands and other fun stuff like the "pito madona" (Parquecito de McDonalds/McDonald's Play Area).
As if that were not all, Joanna's little sister, Natalie (Christopher calls her "Nani") is Christopher's favorite friend from church! Natalie is 11 years old, but she loves Christopher and he loves his "Nani". So every now and then, he'll get to play with Nanna and Nani while Mommy's away.
It's all worked out great. Thank you so much, Lord, for providing for all of our needs.
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
Love,
Coppe
It's going on 5 weeks and I miss him! But...
...I am super proud of my hubby for what he's doing. He's working for Audio Ethics, a sound/production company that is exactly up his alley. He was even part of the production crew for a Newsboys concert. Fun!!
So, here's a recap of what my week looks like as a temporarily single mom:
My Day
6ish Wake up & get ready
7ish Wake up Christopher/breakfast/morning TV
7:30 Joanna's here so Mommy goes to work!
7:30am to 2:30pm Fun with "Nanna"
2:30pm Mommy's home!
From 2:30pm on, each day's a bit different:
Mondays we grab a bite to eat, then go to Mommy's voice lessons, then it's home for dinner/TV/Bathtime/Sleepytime
Tuesdays we grab a bite to eat, wait until it's 5:30 (sometimes Christopher naps), go to my Hip Hop class at the gym (where Christopher loves the KidsClub!), then it's home/dinner/tv/bath/sleepytime
Wednesdays: home, grab a bite to eat, hang out or run errands until it's time for the routine
Thursdays: similar to Wednesdays
Fridays: similar to Thursdays
Some days we'll throw in a trip to the mall play area or library in the afternoons. Those are always fun!
And I am very grateful that God provided us with a wonderful "Nanna"! Joanna Scales is a wonderful girl from our church who needed a part time job for the summer--while we needed someone to take care of Christopher for the summer. Perfect!
Joanna (Christopher calls her "Nanna") comes to our house every day, from 7:30am to 2:30pm, takes Christopher to the park, lets him color all he wants, and makes sure he is well taken care of while Mommy works at Air 1 radio (www.air1.com).
Joanna's family is like our extended family here in CA. Her Mom, Jan, lives within walking distance, and they often take Christopher on errands and other fun stuff like the "pito madona" (Parquecito de McDonalds/McDonald's Play Area).
As if that were not all, Joanna's little sister, Natalie (Christopher calls her "Nani") is Christopher's favorite friend from church! Natalie is 11 years old, but she loves Christopher and he loves his "Nani". So every now and then, he'll get to play with Nanna and Nani while Mommy's away.
It's all worked out great. Thank you so much, Lord, for providing for all of our needs.
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
Love,
Coppe
Ocholalis, chuchuquen, and other cute words!
Christopher is now 2 1/2 years old, and it seems everyday he adds new words to his vocabulary! Just a few weeks ago, I wanted to make sure we were on the right track with his language ability. We are bilingual, and I wanted to make sure he was learning both English and Spanish to his advantage.
A speech therapist came to do a free evaluation, and almost as soon as she walked through the door she could tell Christopher was fine. But she went through all the questions, and evaluated his interaction with us and with her.
I thank God that her evaluation reassured us (me) that he was more than fine. His language ability is above average for his age. Praise God! Thank you, Lord!
I had been concerned that it seems as though his vocabulary is 50% English/50% Spanish. But she said that he is "code switching" between the languages and that's perfectly normal. :) YAY!
One cute thing that happened during the evaluation:
She asked us how many words he knows. I don't know! So Adam and I started saying out loud all the words we know he uses:
Mama, Papa, Abuelayabuelo (for all 4 grandparents), water, TV, Cars, Truck, Chuchuquen (choo choo train), titoagua (for ba~nito con agua/bathtime), ocholalis (chocolate---for chocolate milk), leche, pan, tena (avena/oatmeal), chukuman (superman), batman, lollipot (emphasis on the "t"!), jugo, pititas (for papitas/french fries), hammer, bob (bob the builder), wall-e (he doesn't really like wall-e), Thomas (the train), Max & Ruby, Dora, Diego (and pretty much all other PBS and Noggin characters)...
All of a sudden, Christopher interrupted us and said "Jesus loves me"!
How could we forget those most important words?!
We all laughed, and I was extremely proud. My son's first "evangelism" experience--sharing his love for Jesus with the speech therapist.
Thank you, Lord, for a loving son...who is learning to love you, too.
Coppe
A speech therapist came to do a free evaluation, and almost as soon as she walked through the door she could tell Christopher was fine. But she went through all the questions, and evaluated his interaction with us and with her.
I thank God that her evaluation reassured us (me) that he was more than fine. His language ability is above average for his age. Praise God! Thank you, Lord!
I had been concerned that it seems as though his vocabulary is 50% English/50% Spanish. But she said that he is "code switching" between the languages and that's perfectly normal. :) YAY!
One cute thing that happened during the evaluation:
She asked us how many words he knows. I don't know! So Adam and I started saying out loud all the words we know he uses:
Mama, Papa, Abuelayabuelo (for all 4 grandparents), water, TV, Cars, Truck, Chuchuquen (choo choo train), titoagua (for ba~nito con agua/bathtime), ocholalis (chocolate---for chocolate milk), leche, pan, tena (avena/oatmeal), chukuman (superman), batman, lollipot (emphasis on the "t"!), jugo, pititas (for papitas/french fries), hammer, bob (bob the builder), wall-e (he doesn't really like wall-e), Thomas (the train), Max & Ruby, Dora, Diego (and pretty much all other PBS and Noggin characters)...
All of a sudden, Christopher interrupted us and said "Jesus loves me"!
How could we forget those most important words?!
We all laughed, and I was extremely proud. My son's first "evangelism" experience--sharing his love for Jesus with the speech therapist.
Thank you, Lord, for a loving son...who is learning to love you, too.
Coppe
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