He can climb the full flight of stairs alone. Of course I am right behind him. Usually. This morning I was busy doing Important Computer Stuff and I heard "Momma!"
From the ledge.
I moved slowly, so as not to startle it, and took him and his pajama bottoms back down to safety.
Yeah, he's taking off his clothes now too. We just don't know how clothed he will be when we get him up in the mornings. Definitely no socks, and occasionally he has chucked his pants too.
He is saying a few words. He says Momma, Daddy, more ("mah!"), occasionally he'll say "amen" after we say grace. Today he is carrying around his container of puffy cereal and saying what sounds like "snack." He waves at everyone when they walk away from him, and raises his arm when we say "Thank you Jesus!" or "Hallelujah!"
And those of you who know Splenda's real name will find this especially sweet - he calls her Ellie. When Mr Lemon takes her home for the new week, he will wander around "Daddy? Ellie? Daddy? Ellie?"
It is heartbreaking.
(As I write this, he just took off his pajama pants A.GAIN.)
He has no interest in walking. He cruises around everything, can pull himself up to standing on toys, walls, legs, but walking takes too long. He is a busy person, with things to do, and crawling is faster for him. He climbs on everything he can get a kneegrip on. Yesterday he did a roll in the bathtub, getting his face and ears wet. He grabbed my shirt and hauled himself up out of the bathtub.
For this reason, I am not a fan of doing his bath. He shrieks for me - but not Daddy. Lucky for me, in a few months I won't be able to bend over the tub for an extended period of time, so Daddy will be on permanent bath duty.
Zesty never really took to his paci. We'll put it in his mouth to quiet him when it's time to go to sleep, but there's not an attachment to it. He doesn't have a favorite blanket or toy, or stuffed animal. The only favorite thing he has is food. And more of it.
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Mr Lemon and I have a predicament to bring to the interwebs.
Potty training.
I know. We're early. We're planners, what can I say? Nothing like getting an argument started a year in advance.
Mr Lemon keeps saying things like he should be the one to potty train Zesty, since ... well, you know. The standing and the peeing. The passing on of manly traditions and the teaching of putting the seat down when he's finished.
I'm all for passing the buck on that task, but my thought is to teach him bladder control, and learning to actually go to the bathroom or wherever the potty chair may land - period. We can teach him to stand and aim and put down the seat later. Because what if I'm in WalMart? I'm not going to stand Zesty up to pee. I'm also probably not going to take a step stool with me.
What do you think? Do you think a man is better equipped to potty train a little man than a woman?
(And I did not mean to say it like that, but am I going to delete it now? No way.)
19 comments:
He sounds like a busy guy!
Love that he calls her Ellie, that's so sweet.
As for the stand-uppage to potty and all that...can't help ya. I have two girlies. The oldest (almost 4) peed outside standing up quite often last summer. Maybe I should send her over to teach Zesty? ;)
I've done the potty training around here because, well, I'm the one who's with them all day every day. I didnt train my son to stand up, he sat down while learning. It wasn't long before he wanted to try standing up like daddy and that was totally fine. For learning, though, sitting was easier.
I can't believe he's almost a year old. I love reading about his little personality. So precious.
Michael never was really interested in potty training until him he discovered he didn't have to sit down. After that he had no problems.
I so wish you all lived closer!! I would love to be around for some of those mornings!
Start potty training with the sitting position!!! After he masters getting to the potty BEFORE he does anything, then let Mr. Lemon teach him the stand and aim postions.
First of all, being the mother of 4 children, I am going to say once and for all do not attempt it until he's at least 2 or 2 1/2. You will literally spend the next year or more potty training a child who is not mentally ready for this. Trust me on this one. Please. Don't even bother. I know you're probably tired of the diaper stage, but you will make yourself crazy trying to potty train Zesty at 1.
And as for whether a man or a woman is best, it truly doesn't matter. As Theresa said, he needs to learn first by sitting down. Once he has figured out that pee goes in the potty and can make it there successfully, teach him to stand up. I have 2 boys and this is how we taught them.
AND, since I'm being very opinionated here, don't use pull-ups at home. Save them for outings. Children of appropriate age will potty train easier when they feel it running down their legs. Not so pleasant. Have some good carpet cleaner (I recommend the kind you would use for puppy accidents) and many, many pairs of undies! :)
Our two little boys are too much alike! We started potty training Wesley at 4 months. No joke. Now, he is not fully trained at 12 months, but he is on a very good schedule. I pretty much know when he is going to go #2. It's more training yourself than them. It's just practice and having them sit down even for just a moment. As cute as the little potties that make noise and flushing sounds are, they are a HUGE waste of money. We tried that with Madelynn and she never used it. She just liked the sounds. Oh, they NEVER make the training seat front high enough for a little fella. You WILL get wet on many, many times.
(Beth - this is definitely for next year or later. We're just arguing in advance. :) I needed some blog fodder - lol!)
Start potty training now. I mean right now. Stop what you are doing and put him on the toilet. Now.
There is a book I used...Toilet Training in less than a Day. I was recommended this by another mom-friend with four children whom I respected and looked up to highly. Both of my kids totally had the concept in less than a day. It took 4-5 days of practicing that concept, but within a week, both were totally potty-trained. There were a few things that I "tweeked" in the process to make it work for us, but overall, the book helped us a lot. You might want to read it (check it out at the library) and see if you think it will work for you. Just sharing a resource. :) Best of luck! (And...we started him sitting...just make sure if you do sitting, he remembers to "push it down"...makes quite a mess when he doesn't!! LOL!)
Misty
I don't have kids of my own but I have nannyed and potty trained many kids. It doesn't matter if you or Mr. Lemon potty trains him. start with sitting down. It may be easier for you, and Later Mr. Lemon can do the stand and aim procedure. and you can reinforce the putting down of the lid.
Jodi
We've always started training with sitting. It evolves to standing all on its own because of the desire to be a big boy. You do have a while before you need to start, though. Boys in general don't begin and aren't ready with coordination or verbal skills until well past two. (According to my experience and several pediatricians:))
Clothes for toddlers are overrated. :)
I can't believe how one year has flown by!
Uh...yeah, I'd say you're jumping the gun a little! It's easier for all of you if he starts learning sitting down, and you won't need to clean the wall behind the toilet as much. And it'll be easier for your peace of mind if you let him decide when to potty train. Most Pediatricians will tell you only to worry if Z's still not trained by the time he's getting ready for kindergarten. Also, if he gets interested in wearing "cool" underwear he might be getting to the point.
I think its great the Mr. Lemon wants the job of training!! Woo Hoo for him. But you will probably be better able to train him because you are home with him. For consistency sake, it should be you. I trained Sam with sitting and he is already asking if he can stand. The bladder control really is the issue, more than the standing. Z is doing so many things!! I think it's great!!
Oooh! I forgot to mention that if you get one of those little seats for Zesty to sit on that you put on the toilet...beware! My little girl got so used to using that that we had to take it everywhere with us. Including church. That wasn't embarrassing, un uh. =)
When he starts acting like it's bothering him to be wet or poopy then buy him a little potty and show him what to do with it. Then leave him be. He'll take it from there. Both of my kids trained themselves around 2.5-ish and I have one of each gender (as you know) whose personalities couldn't be more different. Save yourselves the headaches and let him do it. ;)
P.S. Since you cloth diapered, you may have better luck with little boxers for him. Cloth training undies were pointless for my guys since they felt like cloth dipes (sorta like PullUps for paper diapered kiddos). Xan wore boxers (SewBaby.com has THE cutest pattern!) and Chanel just went nakey under playdresses.
I'm in the midst of training my 3rd boy. If I had to wait for Mr Chaos to train the kids I'd STILL be changing diapers on my 8 yr old. He has no tolerance for wet carpet.
Train him sitting. (You are more likely to get accidental number 2's out that way.) He'll soon bore of that insignificant task. That's when you bring out the big guns: "Pee like Daddy." Suddenly it is a new trick he can learn and training is interesting again.
I have so strong feelings regarding this AT ALL.
And rather than hijack your comments, you know where to find me if you REALLY wanna know.
Well, I just have to add my two cents here. I agree with about not attempting until he is two or older. And the best piece of advice came from the mother of three boys. It's more about training yourself to take him to the potty every 15-20 minutes, asking him if he has to pee-pee. Our little guy wouldn't use a little potty because he wanted to pee like Daddy, sooooo I got a little step stool and let him. It didn't take any time at all for him to be potty trained. I don't remember much about the poo-poo part of it but I'm sure if it was too much of a nightmare I would have remembered. *grin* Oh, and he only wet the bed two or three times before he was okay at night.
Bottom line, I think the key is to be patient and not try to train them too early.
I have toilet trained about a 100 children. Boys are fun. I usually turn the boy to face the tank of the toilet making it easier to transition to standing to urinate. It also keeps his urine i the toilet and not all over the bathroom.
SSH
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