Potty Dance

We are officially in the throes of potty training at the Lansford house. An episode at the library last week put me over the edge and convinced me that we need to bite the bullet and get our little one trained. 

We are only three days in, and have the "hiccup" of Crew being at the sitters for half of the day now, but I remain resolute that we can get this done. 

On the up side, Crew is a good sport about "Potty Practice," loves his big boy underwear and putting stickers on his Lightning McQueen potty chart and does really well when he needs to go and he is already on the potty for a regularly scheduled practice.

Our accidents keep falling in between regularly scheduled times on the potty. Any suggestions, fellow Moms?

Adding a sticker to his Lightning McQueen Chart

Cashing in on a reward for a successful potty time!

a little bit o' pixie dust

Despite the title, this is not another Disneyland post. However, our trip definitely resulted in a full on Peter Pan "stage" for our little man.

It's so cute and has continued, going on, three weeks now, so I wanted to be sure and document the details. 

Right after our trip, Crew started referring to himself as Peter Pan. He even insisted that we use a British accent as to sound more like the movie (i.e. Peeta Pan). 

A week later, my in-laws were in town and somehow within the week, my mother-in-law was Wendy, Uncle Chase was Captain Hook and I was Tinkerbell. Towards the end of the trip, Crew rounded out the rest of the assignments making Baylee "Darling" (Mrs. Darling), Cole the Crocodile and Taylor a mermaid or Tiger Lily (he seems to flip back and forth on any given day). Rylee got stuck being Nana the dog. And while she is fighting it like crazy - like Chase clarifies below, what the little prince says - goes. 

 

I have no idea how long this will last, but I am truly loving it.

Our "Spooky" Halloween

Crew was such a blast this year. He totally caught on to the concept of Halloween. Every pumpkin, ghost or skeleton he saw was met with squeals of excitement and comments to the effect of "Spooky Halloween, right, Mommy?"

The new found understanding created a minor catastrophe when the week before Halloween he got it in his mind that he did not, in fact, want to be a train conductor. Nope, he was heck bent on being a pumpkin. As in the costume you put on your infant because they are unpredictably chubby, can't walk and frankly, can't refuse in favor of something cooler. 

Luckily, a visit to the party store for a train whistle = crisis averted. 

I had fun taking photos of him during a church Halloween party, on his way to a daycare party and then of course, the big night.  

Crew rocked the Trunk or Treat Halloween games. There was no foolin' this kid with fake eyeballs and veins. He immediately yelled, "It's noodles, Daddy!"

Finally made the connection between Trick or Treat and getting free candy.

Sporting his loot from the party

On his way to his DayCare party with a belly full of ghoulish treats

Hurricane Sandy had Dad working from home on Halloween so we got an early start with the fun!

Ready to Go!

And for your viewing pleasure, Crew at his first door.

IMG 0753 from Maura Lansford on Vimeo.

Stuck on You

At the end of our Target purchase today, the young cashier handed me a sticker and asked,"Would your son like a sticker?"

Truthfully, I almost handed it back. To date, any attempt by me to interest my son in stickers has been met with blank stares and immediate disinterest. "Why waste a sticker?" was my knee jerk reaction.

So glad I took the sticker with a quick thank you.

As we made our way out of the store, I stuck the sticker on the end of his nose. He was a little annoyed so I gestured to him that he should return the favor and put it on me. He did so, and immediately started to laugh. We continued to play our little game all the way to the car.

The game even acted as a welcome distraction from our usual "fight mom as she puts me in the car seat" routine he started to pull last week.

By the time we made it home, the sticker had lost its stick, was smashed at the bottom of his seat and long forgotten. Still, I couldn't help but smile at the fun I'd enjoyed from our simple game.

Nap Time

My son is such a good napper. He takes two really reliable two-hour naps per day. Nap times are my sanity and are what literally allow me to keep my job. On the occasional day nap time is interrupted or cut short, I almost don't know what to do with myself.

I used to know Crew was ready to get up by this little whimpering noise he use to make. I would head to his room and get him out of his crib.

Recently - and I think its his new found ability to hang on to his Binky for the entire nap - I've noticed that if I don't check on him, I don't even know he's awake.

Instead, I walk in to to find him just chillin' in his favorite position. Backside, arm up, with one leg propped on the bars of his crib. As if to say,"Take your time, Mom. It's all good."




Cutest child ever. Um...yeah!

He likes it! Hey Crew!

Now that Crew is creeping up on 7.5 months old, I decided that we really needed to take the plunge and try some rice cereal. I have avoided it for a few months now because nursing is so easy and honestly, this cloth diapering mama is not looking forward to the changes it will bring to our diaper changes. :)

That being said, we surged ahead.

Crew was already familiar with his baby spoons and bright orange bowl, as we had been letting him play with those when he started showing interest in our food at meals. He loves to suck on them and more recently is throwing them on the floor and then looking up at me expectantly to pick them up.

I mixed his cereal with a little bit of milk so it would be a recognizable flavor. As I inched in for the first bite, I decided to follow the wise advise from Hitch: I would go 90% and let him come the remaining 10%.


At first he didn't seem sure how to best work the spoon. However, after a few awkward licks, sucks and a little spill, we started to get the hang of things. Worked like a charm. He ate almost the entire serving.




Since the initial introduction, we have limited cereal feedings to about once a day. But looking at this face makes me think I should be doing them more often. This little guy really likes his eats!

Game Faces: Crew @ Utah Football Game

So as much as I love to stay positive about what I post on my blog, I have a little confession. Remember when we were so excited to take our 6 month old son to a University of Utah football game?

We gave it a whirl last weekend and came away with a big fat FAIL on that one. As a preface, I did the best I could to create the best scenario possible.

Fact: I woke up an hour early to get his schedule "on track" to have him just waking up as we arrived at the game. Hopefully, giving us three happy (awake) hours to cheer on the Utes. I was sure that he might be a little fussy at the end from being tired, but Cole and I agreed that we could live with leaving a few minutes early if need be.

Fact: I had a full bottle to handle the hunger situation.

Fact: We were armed with our baby ear plugs. Having successfully used them through several Bees games this summer, I was silly enough to think they would block out most of the noise.

Result: Crew was in the stadium a total of 2 minutes before he was belligerently screaming. Nothing I did could calm him down. I learned that my son is talented enough to cry and drink a bottle at the same time.

So Crew and I retreated under the stadium, found a little shade and snapped this phone pic.

And, yes, Aunt Baylee will be babysitting for the rest of the season. :)