Yesterday was officially day 2 of potty-training and by mid-afternoon I was ready to throw in the towel. I started on Wednesday - very gung-ho and with a plan in mind. As a side note, Micah's been using cloth diapers part-time since he was 1 month old and somewhere I heard a rumour that cloth-diapered kids tend to potty-train faster (since they can feel the "wetness" more). The problem is that Micah has never cared about being wet. His diaper can be sopping and he'd still be happy as a clam. Anyway, my plan was to put Micah in a cloth diaper, but without the extra absorbent liner or plastic cover, so we'd both be able to tell right away if he was wet.
I set him on the potty very consistently but with no success. We'd hang out in the bathroom for slots of 20 minutes or even longer - reading books, singing songs, naming body parts - until I was sure his bladder must be exploding. But inevitably he'd want to get off and within 5 minutes he would have wet his diaper. The only sign of progress was the handful of times he ran to me clutching his diaper declaring "wet!" Most of the time he didn't even notice.
However, I kept my spirits up and hoped we'd at least have some luck with going #2. On the morning of day 2, Micah was overdue for a "movement" :) and generally early in the day is a prime time for him. I planned to watch him like a hawk and not miss the opportunity to get him to the potty on time. I was relaying my plan of action to Erik while we made breakfast when suddenly Erik commented that Micah was awfully quiet in the next room. The smell was our second clue and the full diaper confirmed it. I guess all of our potty-talk must have put him in the mood or something. Once again, we were too late.
So, after a fruitless (& exhausting) effort, I've decided to scrap the potty-training for the time being. Or, at least back off and let Micah lead the way a little more. I just don't get the impression that he really understands or is interested - and I don't want to push him.
So, onto
Plan B: moving Micah into a big-boy bed. Luckily we recently inherited Rosanna's old twin bed when her and Nathan got married, so we'll skip right over the toddler-bed phase. My concerns are
a) how do you get a toddler to stay in a bed with no prison rails and
b) how do you keep him from falling out of bed in his sleep? Micah tends to cram his body into the corner of his crib to fall asleep and I'm not sure how he's going to cope with all the open space... For safety's sake, we'll start with just a single mattress on the floor and go from there. I'm thinking we might try to set it up for him this weekend sometime.
I'm learning patience through all of this for sure, and when I stop to consider my urge to rush, I can tell myself that it's highly unlikely that Micah will still be a diaper-wearing, soother-clad, crib sleeper 2 or 3 years from now. He'll figure this stuff out eventually. Unfortunately by that time we'll be working on training the next one...
Hmmm, how many kids did I say I wanted??
So, now the crib has taken on a new purpose - a fun "play pen" to put Micah in when I need to get him out of my hair for 15 minutes or so. Just toss a few books and toys in there and he's pretty happy!
OK, let's see here... 1-2-0-4...
"Granny, are you there?" 
Erik convinced me to let him give Micah a buzz cut the other day. We were kind of thinking of letting his hair grow out for awhile, but it was just starting to look like a helmut of white fuzz on his head.
The view from up here...
Today marks 28 weeks of pregnancy for me! This afternoon I had my 6 month appointment. Erik and Micah came along today and Micah freaked out when he saw the doctor (bad memories, I guess). He didn't feel safe, even though the doctor was poking at me and not him. When he was measuring my belly and listening for the baby's heartbeat, Micah was very concerned for me! What a sensitive soul - good thing he won't be in the delivery room!
As I mentioned before, Micah has gained a deep appreciation for blackberries. The other morning we found the mother-load of berries just up the hill and I picked this whole bowl-full (plus all the ones we ate while we picked, plus the first bowl-full that I accidentally spilled).
Here are some pictures from today. Micah has been playing with his baby bath tub a lot since he saw his cousin Noah getting a bath in it during their visit. Today I showed him how we could give his baby a bath. He decided it would be more fun to get in the bath with her. He was so cute, washing her face and her hands and feet. I'm sure he'll have fun being a big brother...
I was SO proud of Micah this weekend. We were invited out 2 nights in a row and I said "yes" even though Micah has never done well going to sleep at other people's houses. He has never really needed to learn since Erik's parents live upstairs and when we're with family he can always still sleep in his own bed. If we do go out, we usually have to head home when it's Micah's bedtime because getting him down in a strange place is futile. We've learned it's just easier to hang out at our place. But, I figured that he might be able to handle it now that he's transitioned to a regular bed. I was willing to give it a shot anyway.
Micah has been very pre-occupied with sitting on the potty since we had our little training session last week. I have to be honest - it's been a bit of a pain! Yes, I should be happy that he wants to be on the potty, but I think the only reason he likes it is because 1) he gets to be naked and 2) he gets to play with his "potty toys" (a selection of toys I kept in the bathroom to keep him occupied while training). So, I have to take off his pants and his multiple layers of cloth diaper, and, because I don't have a portable potty (rather just one that fits on our toilet seat), I have to sit in there with him. Of course, nothing usually happens.
Here is Micah sleeping on his 'big boy' bed for the very first time! We decided to set it up on Saturday morning and he was pretty excited about it. He went down for his nap perfectly fine. That night was a repeat performance - I don't think he realized that he could get out if he wanted. In the morning he actually cried until we came and got him even though his door was wide open. Sunday night was not so great. He cried out several times and after Erik lying down with him, etc., we just ended up putting him in his crib for the rest of the night and he slept better. I'm not sure what the problem was. He wasn't getting out of bed, but I think he just felt disoriented or something...
Yesterday was officially day 2 of potty-training and by mid-afternoon I was ready to throw in the towel. I started on Wednesday - very gung-ho and with a plan in mind. As a side note, Micah's been using cloth diapers part-time since he was 1 month old and somewhere I heard a rumour that cloth-diapered kids tend to potty-train faster (since they can feel the "wetness" more). The problem is that Micah has never cared about being wet. His diaper can be sopping and he'd still be happy as a clam. Anyway, my plan was to put Micah in a cloth diaper, but without the extra absorbent liner or plastic cover, so we'd both be able to tell right away if he was wet.
So, onto Plan B: moving Micah into a big-boy bed. Luckily we recently inherited Rosanna's old twin bed when her and Nathan got married, so we'll skip right over the toddler-bed phase. My concerns are a) how do you get a toddler to stay in a bed with no prison rails and b) how do you keep him from falling out of bed in his sleep? Micah tends to cram his body into the corner of his crib to fall asleep and I'm not sure how he's going to cope with all the open space... For safety's sake, we'll start with just a single mattress on the floor and go from there. I'm thinking we might try to set it up for him this weekend sometime.
