Slowly but surely

The potty training saga continues but we are slowly gaining on it. Sarah is doing tons better at home and also managed through a doctors visit without an accident. As expected, daycare poses a different challenge. Monday was difficult for the both of us. She wasn't too interested in seeing mama leave and had a couple of accidents during the day. I wasn't too keen on leaving her either after talking to the teachers and daycare director regarding their limitations with potty training. But the teachers are being helpful, one in particular. I think she is willing to help because she has little ones herself. Sarah is the only one in the room right now in big girl panties. The rest of the class consists of one girl and the remainder are boys. All are in diapers. But I did witness something neat when I picked her up today. After she finished going potty as I was coming in, a little boy then wanted to follow her and sit on the potty. That's great! She still has an accident on occasion but it's usually when she is outside playing and becomes distracted. Or she has a hard time getting her panties down before sitting on the potty and gets wet.

The main limitation of the daycare is they are required by state law to contain all human bodily fluids especially with not have anything in the common play areas. So, no accidents where the other kiddos can frolic. I found an item call PODs for potty training kids on the internet on Monday. It's basically a panty liner for potty training kids. After reading some of the reviews by moms about the product, the majority suggested to save your money and purchase regular women's panty liners. So, that is what Sarah has in her pants while at daycare. It helps contain any leaks but still lets her know she is wet. In the meantime, I've ordered trainer pants that are very close to regular undies. We will see how those work out for daycare and long car trips.

For my friends who read this blog and potty training your little one (who may also be in daycare) is still on the horizon, here is some advice.

1. Do try the 3-day program. I think if anything it reinforces that you as the parent need to be as nurturing as possible during the potty training process.

2. Talk to your daycare. After having discussions with friends both in Anchorage and Houston, it sounds like the BP daycare centers got it together. However, it doesn't hurt to get on the same page and also figure out what is needed to help the process for both kiddo and teacher.

3. Plan ahead. The thing I wish I did was get cotton trainer pants just in case. I did buy a pack of Pull-ups before we started mostly as a security blanket but they are still sealed and setting on the closet shelf. I don't think I'll ever use them. But perhaps the organic cotton trainers might work. We shall see.

4. Don't get discouraged. I've had many people talk me from the ledge this past week or so. Thank you!

There you have it. Other than potty training, life is good in the Johnson house. I have a half marathon next weekend in Durango which I haven't been hard core training for so we will see how that works out. Then we are off to Delta, CO for a family reunion the last week of June/4th of July.

Come on Potty Train...whoo whoo!

All aboard the potty train! It's been one heck of a few days here at the Johnson's. What a way to burn vacation time, right? Well it wasn't a nice sunny day on the beach drinking fruity beverages with small umbrellas. But I wanted 5 solid uninterrupted days of mommy and me potty training time. We are still in the midst of potty training boot camp - extreme love edition. We are now on day 5 of the "100% guaranteed" 3-day training program (as advertised by the author of the book that our friends shared with us). I can only say that for the most part, our experience was pretty darn close to that of the Yancey family.

Before I begin with a small recap of the experience to date, I'd like to thank Kristin, Katie and my sister-in-law for the encouraging words and sharing lessons learned. Thanks!

Day 1 - Wed

The day started well with getting Sarah excited to wear her new big girl princess panties after breakfast. For the next several days, all she will wear is a t-shirt and panties. I've also been a broken record in repeating over and over that she should tell mommy when she needed to go potty. And for every successful capture in the toilet, she would get a couple of jelly beans. For the first day, it's like talking to the wall. As Kristin and Katie had to explain to me, your precious child up to this point in life had free reign on going whenever in their diapers. There wasn't anyone trying to convince them otherwise for two years up until now. So there was a lot of clean up, wet panties and startled looks as the pee trickled down her leg. We did manage, however, to contain all BMs in the potty. I watched Sarah like a hawk the entire day as instructed in the program. I would wait for the concerned poopy face and knew there was little time in getting the gift in the toilet versus, well you know where I'm going. She also woke up dry from her nap. Whenever we would get the slightest bit of anything in the toilet, we would praise like those way over the top college cheerleaders you see on TV. And, follow the praise up with jelly beans. The end of Day 1 couldn't come soon enough.

Day 2 - Thurs

I started at 3:45am when I went to check on Sarah to find she was wet in bed. That's part my fault because I felt bad about Day 1 being so difficult that I let her have the usual amount of pre-bed water which is a bunch. I planned ahead and had her sleep on one of those mattress covers that go over the mattress pad. I just put that on top of the sheet. So, it was easy to pull that off the bed and get her changed into new clothing. I also sat her on the toilet for a whole 20 seconds before she claimed "done". Day 2 seemed more frustrating than ever for both Sarah and I. We had one success right after lunch when she ran up to me and said "mama potty" and all the pee ended up in the toilet. Hallelujah!! She also had a dry nap. But from that point until 5pm, nothing else made it in the toilet. She was done with being a big girl in big girl panties and wanted to revert to being a baby with diapers. But at 5pm, while we were playing she had the half panic poopy face then said "poop". We were able to get the adult size gift in the toilet and offer a HUGE amount of praise right as Kirk walked in from work. This is when I also started the potty sticker chart to up the ante in addition to the jelly beans. We had one sticker out of four needed to get the first fairy doll because she a. told me it was coming and b. the deposit made it in the toilet. That was big. Oh, fairies are the favorite now including the "Tinker Bell" movie which is super cute.

Day 3 - Fri

We started with a dry bed because the water input was cut down to a minimum beforehand! We were off to a good start. At this point, I knew she was starting to get the point somewhat at least in verbally communicating that she had to go. Unfortunately, timing is everything. There was little to no forewarning. She would come up to me and say "mama poop" (*poop during the exercise to date = all bodily releases from down under) But as she was telling me, the pee was trickling. How do you explain to a 2 year old on day 3 of potty training the concept of forewarning? I'm still trying to figure it out. So the morning was full of accidents but another dry nap. After a long nap (not normal for Sarah), I knew she had to go. She had the look but was refusing to the highest. So I offered her two M&Ms to sit on the potty. She reluctantly sat down, enjoyed her M&M's while I read "Olivia Saves the Circus". Not two pages in did you hear the beautiful sound of liquid hitting the potty. And at this point, we moved from using the toilet attachment on the adult toilet to using the small kid potty Kirk's dad made for Sarah. Life was good. This got her a sticker. So 2 stickers down, 2 more to go. Later in the evening, she was on a roll. She came to me and said "mama poop", we made it to the toilet and she pee'd no problemo. Another sticker! Then after a while, she came to me again, said "mama poop" and deposited her BM right in the toilet. Hallelujah! She got 3 jelly beans, got to tell Kirk's parents on the phone and earned the 4th sticker which meant the big prize. Drum roll please....she got a Tinker Bell doll! Life was really good and Sarah was on cloud nine. The doll never left her sight. We had to put Tinker Bell in a special water proof cup in order for her to enjoy bath time. I was beside myself and drank 2.5 glasses of wine that night.

Day 4 - Sat

Another dry bed in the morning! It seemed the running streak from the previous night took a break and we were back to the lack of forewarning in time to contain all the liquid. We did have one success mid-morning. She had another dry nap and post nap I did the M&M sit on the potty convincing routine with success. She told us about needing to go poo in time to collect the gift and earn another sticker towards the next fairy doll.

Day 5 - Sun (today)

Another dry bed in the morning. She refused to go potty after breakfast though was looking suspicious. I was trying to give her space without physically picking her up to go sit on the potty. However, we are still challenged in the forewarning arena. While cleaning up, Kirk and I repeated that pee was yukky and made her help wipe the floor (OK, before you think of us as ogres, she held a clean paper towel and wiped down a clean spot on the tile floor). The past two successes so far today involved me saying I had to go but needed Sarah to show me where the potty was and sit with me. Both times we both went successfully. More jelly beans! Now if we get through nap, after nap and the evening poo with no accidents, she will have earned the next fairy doll. My brother and sister-in-law (parents of three kids) had to reiterate to me this morning that she is 2, is trying to figure it out, I should be happy with the progress to date and nothing in life is a guarantee including a 3-day potty training program. Give it another couple of weeks.... In the meantime, I'm looking forward getting out in the public with my daughter once again at a place farther from the mailbox down the street.

We tried to spice it up around here since we are stuck at the house. I piled Sarah and all her critters in a basket and pulled them around the house.

But being the process driven engineer, it's hard to do that sometimes. Now, our next hurdle is putting Sarah back in daycare tomorrow. I'm afraid that the progress made to date will be lost or become handicapped. They told me before we left last week that they wanted to put her in a diaper at nap time because "they only wash linens once a week". I told them absolutely NO DIAPERS will touch my child's body. I will do the daily laundry and bring tons of clothing plus spare linens. I will also replace the cot if in anyway it becomes damaged by my child in the coming weeks. Sigh. The saga continues...

Hot fun in the summer time

Before leaving for Denver, we inflated Sarah's new princess swimming pool that she got as a birthday gift from Kirk's parents. All three of us enjoyed soaking especially considering the temperatures are on average in the 80's deg F.

Kirk and I have been encouraged lately with two things...Sarah's interest in sitting on the potty and the fact we have two friends in the midst of potty training now. So I'm taking time off next week to give us a full 5-day stretch in hopes that we can capitalize on her interest in the potty and move to big girl panties. We are armed with M&M's, Jelly Beans and a couple of bigger prizes if all goes well. We shall see...wish us luck.

Road trip to Denver

We enjoyed 4 days in Denver via road trip in the Toyota last week/weekend. The ride both to and from Denver went really well considering it's over 6 hours with a 2 year old in tow. Sarah was a trooper, took great naps and enjoyed movies on the portable DVD player (which is a godsend).

We had a great time visiting my parents, Grandma Ann and Grandpa Jerry, whom we haven't seen in over a year. Jessie the dog was also a hit with Sarah though seemed a bit squirrely when our crazy kid was around because of her limited exposure to small children. Their newly remodeled home is very nice and they are now in the process of putting on the final touches. We hit all our favorites stores/malls while in town including Flatirons Crossing in Broomfield which I love. The Nordstrom there is quite large with the shoe department taking up over 1/4 of the bottom floor.

Aside from the shopping fun, we visited the Butterfly Pavilion which was really neat. Sarah was in hog heaven with the fish tank ("Dori" and "Nemo" were represented) along with being able to touch a starfish and walk through the butterfly room where the butterflies flutter freely. There was a turtle in the butterfly room that made an appearance a couple of times. Sarah also loved the bug room which I wasn't a fan of mostly because the critters on display are those that I ask Larry's Pest Patrol to target around our house. We skipped the opportunity to hold Rosie the tarantula. And I couldn't understand why Sarah was SO fascinated with the African cockroaches display. I guess that may be a sign that a stint in Houston could be on our horizon and she will be ready? We were fortunate to catch up with friends from Alaska and our BP days in Golden. We appreciate Alex, Katie and Ella offering their home for the occasion. We were able to visit with the Kroms and Grigels plus meet two not so new anymore babies. It was heartwarming to see everyone happy, healthy and enjoying life. Before arriving at the Yancey's house, we did a quick tour of the Colorado School of Mines campus. Boy has it changed in 12 years including Kirk's old house being torn down in what is now the acreage occupied by the new Student Rec Center. We tried to stop at the bookstore to only find out it was closed. Dang!

I know that Kirk is whispering to Sarah "don't worry sweetie, we will get a doggie soon. We will keep working on your mom so that the doggie can come sooner rather than later."
We had a combo celebration with my parents - Sarah's birthday, Kirk's birthday and Father's Day. Sarah has a new favorite thanks to Grandma Ann and Grandpa Jerry - a Cat in the Hat doll.
Before our departure on Sunday morning, we enjoyed sipping coffee on the deck and watching hot air balloons take off from down the street. The wind was blowing east so we tried to get pictures before they were too far away.

Call the doctor!

Last week Sarah was playing around in our closet. She likes to pull our shoes off the shelf and prance around the house with them on. So, she decided to put on Kirk's slippers which are size 11. She walked out of the closet and through our bathroom only to walk into the wall as she was entering the bedroom. I don't know what forces of nature led her to walk into the wall. Anyway, she started to cry and carry on. So I picked her up and put her on our bed to calm her down. In the midst of her of crying she exclaimed, "Call the doctor!" Too funny.

Sarah wearing my slippers after the incident. Maybe second time is a charm.

Family, Birthdays and Road Trips...oh my.

We had another jam packed weekend of fun. It started with a long overdue visit with my brother Andy (Drew). He was making his way back home to Orlando from a 3 week work trip that had him in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Honolulu. He managed to delay his flight from Phoenix to Orlando by a couple of days in order to make a quick visit with my older brother in Phoenix and come up to Farmington. It was great to see him!

Sarah and Uncle Drew next to the dressed up pig at the El Paso Grill Restaurant.

Kirk's 34th birthday was on Saturday. We started the celebration with a nice dinner on Friday night with my brother and then another smaller present opening celebration on Saturday after my brother had to leave. The dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting made by Something Special Bakery in Farmington was a hit! Kirk and Sarah were in heaven. Sarah sang the Happy Birthday song all weekend to daddy which was super cute.

We took a road trip on Sunday to Telluride for a swap meet of sorts and family visit. We caught up with Kirk's aunt and uncle who live in Telluride along with Kirk's parents and cousin Chris. I was hoping that maybe we would have the slim chance of catching up with TomKat in hopes that Sarah and Suri could have a play date. But we didn't make it to Mountain Village. Darn! We did enjoy a nice family lunch and had another cake celebration for Kirk's birthday. Chocolate on chocolate again but this time the cake was gluten free because both his aunt and mom have gluten allergies. Who would have thought that stuff would taste good? Kirk and his cousin also did a swap...his cousin now owns Kirk's Ford F150 and we own his cousin's pop up trailer. The trailer will allow for an upgraded camping experience now that we have Sarah. I have no interest in tent camping for the time being especially with a toddler. It's either camper trailer, really big rock star touring trailer or 5 star spa resort for me! ha! We are now working through plans on renovating the trailer with new fabric, curtains, and flooring. I put in the request to also paint flames on the side and have the twirling gangsta chrome wheels put on but I think my suggestions were disregarded...wonder why?

Sarah helping Uncle Jim put candles on the cake.

Kirk and cousin Chris being silly.

Sarah not to sure about the dragon hand puppet that Aunt Deree is showing her.

The girls in the craft workroom.

Sarah, aka the Bird Whisper, channeling her inner Snow White.

Having fun running around in the camper trailer.

Fun Pictures

Below are pictures from the past couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Daddy's little helper.

Now it's time to wash Sarah's car after helping daddy with his truck.Say goodbye to decorative wood chips and hello to landscape rocks with flowers.

Being silly.

Mama's helper with the flowers. Too cute!

Sarah LOVES to play in front of the mirror. She is "fixing" her hair.
It is getting warm in New Mexico...80 deg F and up. We broke out the tie dye t-shirt from the AK State Fair that we purchased last year before leaving Alaska.