A New Year and New Underpants

I've been kinda spacing off about what to blog about, but figured I ought to say something since it's been awhile. So, may as well talk about every mom's favorite subject: poop.

Right before Christmas we were celebrating a breakthrough with Sean, he was finally getting the hang of sitting down to poop. A few times he even got his pants off in time, put the potty seat on our toilet and sat himself down to take care of business all on his own. He had fairly consistent success for a whole week, then we went to visit my parents for a few days. He lost sight of the process there and had accidents in his pants every day. When we came home, he continued to have accidents almost every day. I think we've only been lucky enough to get him to go in the potty maybe twice.

Sigh.

I ended up tossing out a lot of the soiled undies, because we had a stack of ones that were really too small for him anyway. I went out and bought him two more packages of undies with his favorites guys on them: Spongebob, Woody and Buzz. I was hoping to try the "you don't want to make Woody and Spongebob all ucky! We need to make poopies in the potty so Spongebob and Woody stay clean" angle.

Day one in his awesome Woody underpants and he had an accident. Guess he doesn't really care if they get ucky.

*So as soon as I sat down to write this, Ella wandered over to me with a dirty diaper. Got her cleaned up and decided to try sitting Sean on the potty for a bit. He made a tiny "too-too"! I think I will leave his pants off for awhile and see if he wants to try again in a bit.*

Man, this potty learning business is a long process!

Captain Underpants!

I am so stinkin proud of Sean! He has been wearing underpants 100% of the day & night for the past week and been 99% successful with them! The one accident he had was totally not his fault, he was playing in the backyard and tried to get in the house to go potty, but a friend was using the potty already and he couldn't hold it any longer. :( Doug was outside with the boys and didn't realize that's what Sean wanted, so he didn't re-direct him to the fence. ;)

So far, we haven't been able to get him to poop in the potty. He still thinks he can stand there and poop, so we are still cleaning that up off the floor. His timing for it is amazing- he waits until I leave to take Aidan to school and Doug is in the shower. He uses the bathroom while Doug is showering so Doug can't sit him down on time. We've got to figure out a way to help him figure this part out, but at least he isn't pooping outside of the bathroom or in his pants.

He has made such great progress in this area, really over a short time. I'd say he started having pee in the potty success about 5 months ago and just gradually got better and better at it. It's kinda funny, because I looked into the Medicaid funded pull ups about 6 months ago and was told he qualifies after age 5. I hadn't sent in his paperwork since his birthday last month and it looks like I don't need to after all! Hooray!!!

Week Recap: Potty, Feeding, Sewing, Playing, Crawling, Remodeling

So, I haven't had a whole lotta typing time lately. Three kids in the house, little napping going on,and too many projects. So here's a run down of the week while the two littles are sleeping. First duo nap all week.

1. Potty Learning: Sean has done fairly well with this at home, but only if a) he wears just a shirt and undies and b) poop does not need to go in the potty.

If I put shorts on over the undies, he forgets that he is diaper free and has an accident. If I put him in a pull-up, he forgets that he can pull it down to potty and just goes on the go. So we use pull-ups while out of the house and sometimes have luck taking potty breaks out in public. We also slip a pull-up on for nap/bedtime, but I don't think he needs it then because he is usually dry.

He does not get that he needs to sit to poop. He runs to the potty, stands there, tooting away thinking the poop is going to jump from his rear to the potty. If I run in and sit him down, he lasts a few seconds before getting up to stand in front of the potty again. So, yes, we've been scooping poop off the floor. Or he does it in the pull up. We need to keep working on this, obviously.

Also, with MUCH excitement, Aidan taught Sean how to pee on the fence in the backyard today. Sean is officially ready for keg parties now.

2. Feeding: Sean had a follow up appt with his ENT this week, regarding his tube surgery. Tubes look great and Dr said he wants us to come in every 6 months to keep an eye on them. He feels confident that they won't fall out. I brought up Sean's feeding issues and reflux and asked if we should see a GI/get a swallow study done. Dr E was all over this, he said Sean absolutely needs to get checked out. He gave us a script for Prevacid and booked a feeding study in Wichita. From there, they will refer us for a swallow study and anything else.

At LAST!

We are too bring him there hungry, with foods he eats and foods he has trouble with (um, that would be everything!) They will watch how he eats and make determinations. I AM SO FREAKING GLAD! I want answers! I need to know if the current approach his school is using is the right approach for him. I need second opinions. I NEED ANSWERS.

3.Sewing/Knitting: I have been loving learning to knit and am totally ready to jump into a project. My friend/knit mentor is going to help me get started on my first diaper soaker soon. Hopefully next week. In the meantime, I've been knitting little swatches to practice knit/purl.

My friend Ellie came over yesterday and talked me thru a sewing project I've had sitting in a drawer. I converted a shirt and fabric into a playdress for Ella. It wasn't too complicated and I think I can make one again on my own fairly easily (providing, of course, that said child allows.)

4. Playing: Wednesday was the start of our summer playgroup. We love getting together with my momma friends and their kiddos. I really look forward to Wednesdays in the summer. Week 2 of baseball was a bit of a bummer. Aidan's got rained out and Sean was less than co-operative for his due to a lack of nap. Gotta work on that. Tonight we get to meet up with local families that have kiddos with Ds for a family playdate. Sean starts summer school on Monday, so I hope he enjoys seeing his school friends again.

5. Crawling: Eleanor is just so into crawling! Her current obsession is crawling up the stairs. She doesn't know how to go down them, so this is not so fun for me. The boys find it hysterical and love to crawl up with her. Must make a video.

6. Remodeling: Doug has spent what little free time he's had this week on the electrical work in the bathroom and drywall repair. He had to move the connection wires for the sink light fixture to accommodate the new mirror and also moved the switch plate and a wall outlet up higher so that it wouldn't be in the area where he is going to put up beadboard. Our plan was that I would be able to paint this weekend and then he can use evenings next week to install the beadboard/chair rail. Then we'd do the floor the weekend after this and get the sink installed so he could finish up with the baseboard. Not sure if our timeline is going to work out because he has some freelance work to do this weekend too. Oh well, eventually we will get it done!

So, I hope everyone is enjoying the warm days and having fun in the sun. :)

Well, that went by fast!

Why is it that a 3 day weekend sounds like a nice chunk of time to get things done in, but whips by so fast?

We enjoyed our time with Nana, she enjoyed time with this little one.

Aidan made this.

Doug and I started on this.


And Sean worked on gaining this.

Choo! Choo! All aboard the Potty Train!

Well, we are giving it another try! Sean has taken an interest in using the potty again. This time, he has actually had some success, so we are super excited and optimistic.

I have done soooo much reading up on potty learning, potty training your child with Down syndrome, and about other families that have gone through this stage of life. I even went to two presentations on potty learning- one by our local Parents-as-Teachers group and the other at our DSSW meeting. I should have a PhD in Potty Learning by now! Somehow, I feel that like everything else, it isn't going to matter what I know- it's about what Sean knows and how Sean feels. It's his body and he's the boss.

When Aidan hit around 3, I wanted to try potty training with him. I had done a bit of reading and thought he showed signs that he was ready. He showed us that he wasn't interested in using a potty chair, or sitting on the adult potty with a child seat. He wanted to pee standing up like Daddy. When he was tall enough to do it, he had great success quickly and went to undies full time within a month. Our challenge with him was #2. The boy refused to sit on the potty. He was scared, he'd say. He figured out how to withhold poop until he was home, then he'd strip off his clothes, put on a pull up and poop. He did that for a long time. I mean, a loooooong time. Like as in he was almost 5 before a bout with a tummy flu and leaky poops finally convinced him that he couldn't use pull ups anymore. We were extremely frustrated with him and tried many times and many ways to get him to stop using the pull ups.

What we learned from the experience is that we needed to trust him. Trust the process. Trust that he would get it on his own and eventually move forward. I really hope that this history with Aidan is going to help us as we go through the learning experience with Sean.

Back in August, we got a Baby Bijorn potty seat for Sean, it's size and sturdy design looked like a better fit for Sean. While he enjoyed sitting on it, he hasn't ever used it for it's intended purposes. In December, I bought a dozen cloth potty training pants to use with Sean. I thought we'd give it a go over the school break. Day one went so poorly, I decided to put it on the shelf again.

As summer approaches, I have again been giving it thought. Wondering if lots of nakie time and potty access all day would help. I started my reading up again, wondering if we should try the timed potty break approach once more.

Out of the blue, last week Sean decided to start trying to use the potty. He is attempting to pee at the potty, standing up. The first day he tried, he peed in there three times all on his own. So far this week he has had several days where he has succeed in peeing in the potty one or two times a day. He's tried sitting on the potty with the kid seat a few times to catch a poop in the potty, but we haven't had luck with that yet. He has even gone in the potty at school a couple times this week! It's been magical!

The pride he has in himself for accomplishing this little success is just wonderful. He beams with joy and has high fives for everyone! We are all so proud of him and I am trying to contain my excitement and give him time to keep working on it himself, without pushing him. I take a deep breath, because I know the trip may be long and I need to just appreciate the journey.

2 weeks of Vacation?

Oi.

So far I have decided:

1. I am a potty training failure.
2. No one will ever be allowed to give my kids nerf guns or any thing of the sort again.
3. Ella is going to kill her brothers with ear shattering screams if she does not get to nap for the next 2 weeks.
4. Doug is going to divorce me if I don't get to shower for 2 weeks.
5. Playdo is not a food group.

It's nice to know that the reality of SAHM-ing is shared with others. Check out this very true to life account at Princess Nebraska.

Blueberry Models

My favorite pocket diaper company, Blueberry Diapers, is having a contest! The prize is a $25 gift certificate to their store, so of course I had to enter. Luckily, they let you enter as many photos as you want and each one that the choose gets a gift certificate. It would be so fun if one of my photos won! Here's what I sent:








They look pretty darn cute to me and how cool would it be to see a cutie with Down syndrome selling dipes!

The OMG Grossest Post Ever....

aka "Why Cloth Diapers Rock and Sposies Suck" post.

So last night I had one of the nastiest experiences of my mothering life. Doug was working on the deck (as usual) and I popped outside for a few minutes to offer my opinions. Sean was watching Ice Age for the millionth time and Aidan was probably bothering him or on the computer.

As I open the door to come in, Aidan is rushing towards me, with his friend T that stopped by to play, and says "Seanie's poopy and he took his diaper off! He's on the stairs."

"Oh no!" says I, as I rush to find out where Mr Poopy is. What I encountered is a nightmare that stops me in my tracks. Sean has half way up the stairs, naked, with poop covered hands, feet and belly. I carefully made my way up to him, careful not to step in the trail leading to him, and carry him at arm's length to the upstairs tub. Sean, so proud, says "Uh oh! Poo Poo?"

Oh yes, uh oh is right! I stand him in the tub and rinse/scrub the mess off of him. Then I scrub out the tub & fill it with clean soapy bath water. This boy's gonna need some soak time to get the stink off.

Meanwhile, I fill up a bucket with Pine Sol and water, grab a rag and start scrubbing the trail to where I found him. I couldn't tell if he took it off upstairs then went down or downstairs then went up. Nevertheless, every stair got a scrubbing. Once I got to the mid staircase landing I saw the horrible truth. There lie the disposable diaper.

But wait! Where's the poo? It had skid marks but no pile? I carried it up to the trash, changed the water and went back for more. As I was descending the stairs I found the missing pile.

No, not on the stairs.
No, not on the landing.
There it was! Stuck like a flying poop bomb on the sheer curtain on the balcony door!

Oh.My.God.

I held the bucket below it, flipped it loose with the rag & plop it went into my Pine Sol solution.

Back up the stairs and flushed down the potty.

Sean is happily playing in the tub, amazingly (and probably because he is darn smart enough to know that Momma ain't happy) he isn't dumping cupfuls of water out of the tub.

I get another bucket of clean water & Pine Sol and head back down to remove the curtain & finish scrubbing the lower half of the stairs. As I get to the bottom, Doug comes in to see what is going on. I tell him what happened and say, "There, I think I got it all. Can you run this curtain back to the washer and bring me a clean CLOTH diaper to put on Sean. I'm ready to get him out of the tub."

He said, "You want to know something funny??????"
...
....
.....
......

"I put the sposie on him because I figured he was going to poop soon and it would be easier to clean up."

No.
No, it wasn't easier.

You see, Sean can remove clothes and sposies in 1 minute flat. The cloth diapers I use are a whole 'nother story. He can't unsnap those suckers now matter how hard he tries! That's why I switched our entire cloth stash to Side Snapping Blueberry Diapers. Worth every penny! And I would much rather flip a turd from a cloth diaper into a potty & flush it than scrub a child, a staircase and a curtain. Thankyouverymuch.

After his brilliant words of irony, Doug said, "Huh, looks like he got the tv too." Sure enough, Mr Poopy Artist smeared every inch of the flat screen with his lovely paint. I told Doug he could join in the fun and handle the clean up on that one himself.

Once everything was clean and the boy was safely contained in cloth and jammies, Doug mentioned that it still smelled a bit.

I think all the Pine Sol maybe made the house smell like a bear pooped in the forest.

Buh bye, Bob-bob! KAAAA-FLUSH!

Those were the words I heard Sean say a couple of days ago as I was sitting at the computer. I opened the bathroom door and saw him standing over the potty, watching the water swirl down the drain. With a big grin of excitment, he frantically gestured to me- the sink, the potty, the sink... the potty. I looked at the sink and noticed Aidan's cup that holds his toothpaste and Spongebob Squarepants toothbrush was knocked over. Wait a second, there is no toothbrush.

"Sean? Where is Spongebob?"

Sean claps, points to the potty and repeats "Buh bye, Bob-bob!"

Ahhhha.

Fast foward two more days, add in the 5 year old is "practicing" wiping his own bottom, at the expensive of half a roll of paper per potty use. I thought the plunger days wouldn't hit until he was a teenager spending too much time at the Taco Hut.

We have seven people coming for Christmas brunch and the downstairs potty is Out of Order. Buh bye, Bob-bob.