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. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Puddle, Puddle, Boy in Trouble

The price you pay when taking action photos near puddles.

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.

Summer Vacation, Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of summer break for the boys. Wow, are they used to being kept busy! I had my hands full keeping them occupied nicely.

They started the day wanting to play school and got out the worksheets their teachers sent home. They played outside a few times, we got out the big bubble wands for awhile. We filled the bird feeder again. Got them showered and dressed and had lunch with daddy.

Sean had about a 50% success rate with the potty. They played Captain Underpants for a bit.

We danced to Youtube videos. We read books. They watched Scooby Doo and let Ella take a nap. More playing outside while I made dinner. Ella fell asleep in her highchair after eating Goldfish.

We watched the bird feeder bandit and a few birds got to eat also.

Finally daddy got home after working late and we got to have our dinner. I left Doug in charge of kitchen clean up while I went to clean out our van. OMG, that really needs to happen more than once every 9 months! It took forever to get all the playground rocks from the school year out.

Today we are eagerly awaiting Nana's arrival. She is spending the weekend with us to help with the kids while Doug and I get going on the bathroom remodel! Yay!!

Let's Play Ball!

Back-to-back nights of baseball practice as we begin our first baseball season.

Sean is playing with the three year old group, at our request because they meet fewer times and play shorter games. I think it is going to be a great fit for him and hopefully he will catch on to the principal of the game. Interesting coincidence, the coach's wife worked at the daycare Sean went to when he was 2! She remembered him as soon as she saw him, so we didn't have to go into the "he has Down syndrome" explanation. The kids in this age group all had a lot of parent help, so I don't think Sean's disability is going to be an issue. He had such a blast, he loves to hit the ball and run.



We just need to work on running to the bases and leaving the bat behind. :)



Aidan is playing with the 6-7 year old group and it is coach-pitched. I was busy chasing Sean and entertaining Ella so I didn't get to watch much of the game. Doug said Aidan did great and hit the ball every chance to bat. He even caught a few balls!




We were worried that he didn't have enough experience to play at this level, since he'd never played before, but he is right in the middle. He was nervous about going, but really had fun and can't wait to play again.

Yay for baseball!

Wordless Wednesday: Happy 9th Anniversary, Husband!

My 300th Blog Post!

Wow! 300 posts and still plugging away! I'm glad I've stuck with blogging and that I've been so lucky to have readers and comments to encourage me along. So often I find myself thinking, "I should blog about..." or "Ooo! I need to get a video of this for the blog!" Aidan has it in his head that it's called "Mommy's Log" and says positive and negative things about it. Sometimes he will say, "Mom, take a picture of this for your log!" other times, "Don't put that on your log!" and sadly I also hear, "All you ever want to do is work on your log!"

This has been a great outlet for me, a place to keep track of what we have done and a place to reach out to others and learn from their experiences. I wholeheartedly suck at scrap booking in the traditional manner, and I haven't been the greatest at baby book records either. Hopefully 10 years from now, the kids will appreciate the blog archives as much as a scrapbook.

So those notes aside.... what have we been up to this weekend and what lies ahead next week?

We enjoyed gorgeous weather and fun with lots of friends and family this weekend.

Friday evening, Doug took Aidan and our niece Mackenzie swimming at the Y, while I stayed home with to late nap-taking kiddos. Aidan apparently gulped down too much pool water and after being spun around in his ring floaty by his cousin, he threw up in the pool. Oof! The lifeguard cleared the pool and shut it down to clean it out. Luckily it was close to closing time anyway.

Saturday, we had planned on hosting the monthly Young Families Supper Club dinner at the church. Around 2 pm, we found out the church had a graduation party booked and we couldn't meet there. Yikes! So we kicked in gear: got the house cleaned up, de-cluttered toys, stuffed piles in closets ;) and called our guests to tell them the dinner would be at our house instead. It all came together and we had a great time relaxing with everyone at home while all the kids ran wild through the house and yard. Fifteen adults and fifteen kids- the most we've ever had at our house!

Sunday, we went to church, made a trip to WalMart/Target and later the Hardware Store. We went for a walk in the evening, and wound down afterwards with a movie at home.

This week is the last week of school. Tuesday night we have Sean's first tball practice at 6 and then I have La Leche League at 7. Wednesday morning is the awards presentation at Aidan's school, then his first tball practice in the evening. And Saturday evening we have planned a double date night with friends to go out for sushi to celebrate our 9th Wedding Anniversary. We are also planning to start demo on the downstairs bathroom reno.

Summer break, here we come!