We're in the $$$$

Because we're not buying diapers or nighttime pull-ups anymore!

I told James that after vacation he is a big BIG boy and would just wear underwear to bed. James actually reminded me about this when we came back. I had purposely waited two nights to get used to the time zone change and for all of us to get some good nights of sleep (anticipating that we might need to get up several times in the night to change sheets, help him to the potty, etc.)

This is the picture I took of James in his underwear on the first night. He was pretty darn proud of himself.

This is his self-portrait.

Results from Night 1: Bedtime at 8pm. I checked on him at 10pm and he had wet the bed already :( I woke him up, took him to the potty, and changed his sheets. He is pretty groggy but cooperative. No accidents the rest of the night. But he was slightly wet AFTER he woke up. Ooops.

Results from Night 2: A friend suggested restricting James' liquids in the late afternoon/night. After dinner he was only allowed sips of water if he was thirsty. Bedtime at 8pm. I checked on him at 10pm and he was dry! I tried to whisper to him, asking if he needed to go potty. He sleeps pretty hard so no answer. I tried again at 10:15ish and finally pulled him up to wake up. He didn't say a word but staggered to the potty. He went and then stumbled back to bed. Dry until the morning but again slightly wet AFTER he woke up. Mental note: Encourage him to go potty first thing when he wakes up.

Results from Night 3: Same as Night 2 but NOT wet in the morning! It is so hard to wake him up at the 10pm check. He is such a heavy sleeper! He reminds me of his Tia Kiki :)

Pre-Kindergarten

James has advanced to the last daycare room before he hits REAL school. His new teacher is Ms. Melissa (another one). I have yet to figure out the other assistant's name. It's so confusing all this movement and staff turn-over.

With this new move, we are telling James that he is a BIG BIG boy. After our vacation we are giving up nighttime pull-ups! He is actually pretty excited about that.

We are always working on the potty training. He is doing really well during the day now but it's still something that we adults have to monitor.

Sometimes when there is a POOP involved, I monitor from a distance :)

Where did March go?

I'm behind on blogging again. So rather than do many little posts I'm going to just put all of my favorite pictures from the middle of March to the end below. I'll try and comment on each picture so there's some background, but they are just general cuteness.

James "helped" me make a dessert of pudding, crumbled chocolate chip cookies, and assorted toppings (whipped cream, sprinkles).

He was very serious about his sprinkles.

His Daddy enjoyed a pudding too!


I know James is my child when he shows such enthusiasm for good food. Red grapes are the best!

We're back to enjoying bath time. What a relief!


Waiting for his two stories at bedtime.


Just playin'.

"My Mommy is the best cook!" I made James a mini homemade pizza. He took a few bites, but wasn't too impressed.

We love that James is starting to do chores and understand that he has to help around the house. Here Jim is showing James how to fold towels. He loved it!

"I did it all by myself!"

James left a Batman at Grandma Rose's house so one day we received a package with this note. I love that these are the same squiggly faces that I grew up with. My Mom is famous for her little squiggly faces! "You make my heart happy!" is a James saying. Grandma Rose loved hearing that from her little man!

Playing around the house.

One day James started to pick the flowers from my hibiscus tree. In this picture he was very proud to present me with a flower. I loved it too!

Relaxing.

Before bathtime.

I don't remember why but James is crying for his Daddy in this picture. Jim was out of town, and James was asking for him.

Jersey and hat day at daycare. It occurred to me later that it was probably Twins gear but we weren't the only rebels that day. Lots of kids were in Vikings and Wild gear, not just the Twins (that fit the baseball theme of Open House Night.)

Bounce houses are fun!

James is playing "dead" with Ethan and Russell. I dislike that word coming out of his mouth!

Cute!

James told us he was going to "work" in Daddy's office. We found that he folded all of the washcloths. Yay! Huge praise that day :)

One winter day, James and I went to the playground in our snowpants.

I hate snowpants but it was worth it to see this smile!

And this one.

And his pride in climbing to the top of the climbing wall.

And then we met the other James. Another family was at the playground and we found out that the other James was also four years old!

In the car, going back home, James told me, "Mommy, that boy was James too. He was four years old too. And he's a heartbreaker." Haha. I think James has heard others calling HIM a heartbreaker so many times (because of his beautiful eyes), that maybe he just thinks all James' should be heartbreakers!

Funny- on the potty with goggles!

I took a picture of the day's journal entry. Each day the kids practice their letter or number of the day, and their names.

Meow! Cute artwork that I've promised to Tia Kiki.

There is no such thing as taking too many pictures of my adorable son! I hope this blog entry wasn't too overwhelming.

Determination

Not to tell you James' business, but he was on the potty for about 35 minutes tonight. Constipated. He locks himself in the bathroom lately so I had to get him to open the door. I kept my ears open, wondering what was going on. I eventually heard soft whimpers. Poor baby.

He ended up giving up but I told him that tomorrow the poop will come. I gave him big hugs and told him I was proud of him. He's a good little boy.

A Great Saturday

I love a relaxed morning. I also love a happy, cheerful boy who offers to help make breakfast. James had this idea that he wanted banana and chocolate chip pancake balls. I happen to love that combination so we set to work.



It's too bad James didn't like them :( He prefers the regular chocolate chip pancake balls, so I made him those instead.

We got ready for the day because we had decided to go to the movies!! We saw Tangled, one of the newest Disney movies. I actually loved it. It was a great story, with a great Princess character who didn't wait to be saved by the man. Yay!

We just HAD TO have popcorn, you know.


And then a couple of video games. James picked his Daddy's absolute FAVORITE arcade game. They worked as a team to play Galaga.



Back home for an attempt at naptime (not going so well lately), and I found James with a new outfit on. He didn't have an accident but he changed his pants and put his shirt back on backwards on purpose. I didn't mind. I was glad he didn't have an accident! One naptime last week he had an accident and changed himself, but neglected to put on another pair of underwear. Ooops.

Rough and tumble play with Daddy. They play together like I just can't :)

James has been practicing his name. He was drawing a bunch of pictures for me (love them! I will take pictures later) and later I found his signature on one piece of paper. It was a small piece of paper and I think he ran out of room for the last letter. Nice though, huh?

Finger painting later on that night. Messy.

Intense!

Look Daddy!

Fun times :)

Tuesday

When I went to pick up James from daycare today I tried to sneak up on him because I was told he was snuggled on the floor with books. I found him like this-



His first words to me? "I had an accident." Yup, big wet spot. Yuck.

Tuesdays are usually Mommy and James nights because Jim goes to pool. We played and watched TV. James doesn't eat much lately. His canker sore is pretty much healed, as far as I know, so it's just James being picky/crabby.

I wasn't expecting Grandma Laura to stop by but she brought James a gift. He really enjoyed his "Superhero Penguin". (He can't distinguish between superheroes and villains yet.)

Here he's playing with the Penguin character as I fill the bath. He just insisted on being pantless.



Goodnight!