Success!

We've been having a successful weekend here at the Koschmann house. I've been successfully avoiding my "to do" list (difficult for a mom you know) and Nick successfully completed stage 1 of a new batch of beer, Lucy has been successfully learning Kings Corner (a card game) and Murray has been successfully using the potty.

Now, some of these accomplishments are much greater than others. Murray for example is a champ! We've been making this potty training push for a few weeks now...and while we've been successful, it's just been in the past few days that Murray has moved into the "independent" stage of it all. Getting up from the table and announcing "I have to go potty" and being successful.

This morning while I was at a 2 hour Bible study the nursery worker said he went potty 5 times!!! They were drinking lots of juice and water, but hey, that's quite a success! Friday morning the boys ran errands and he stayed dry throughout the 2 hours of errand running with only 1 potty break in the midst of it! Way to go Murray! We are so proud of you and your accomplishments!

Lucy's accomplishment is just as entertaining...while maybe not quite as much of a milestone. She asked to play cards the other day and I told her I wasn't sure there was a card game she could play. (We have a "Go Fish" deck of cards...so I know she wouldn't go for that). I then remembered a Koschmann favorite: Kings Corner. So, last night we sat down after dinner and she was on daddy's team for the game (Murray was on mine, but he just counts and draws cards...and knocks on the table).

What fun we had! It was even more fun today to see her making decisions and pulling cards out of Nick's hands to play. She's really getting the basics and I'm sure if we keep playing soon she'll be able to be her own team.

What a joy my children and family are and what a great way for us to spend time together. I'm so proud of how they're growing and changing every day. Just wanted to give everyone an update on our successes...if you come visit get ready to drink some beer and play some cards!

Diary of a Potty Training Mom

So, I think I'll leave this up today as we make yet another attempt at getting Murray fully potty trained. I know he's young, but I also know that Lucy was potty trained by this point, and I know he gets it because as long as he's naked he's successful. Alas, fall is upon us and so is chilly air...so between colder weather and my tiredness of his naked behind, we're giving underwear a try again. I'm setting the timer for 20 or 30 minute increments and having him sit.

It's 10:30 in the morning and so far we've been fairly successful. We had 3 successful potty breaks, and then a poopy accident, however he screamed for me as it was happening and cried about it. This is a step forward...he's never seemed to care about an accident before. Hooray...maybe we'll get there in the next few days! (We'll see if this optimism continues throughout the day). He just sat and didn't go...so we'll see what happens in the next 20 minutes.

10:58 am SUCCESS!!! dry underpants and pee pee on the potty!!! Now it's time for some painting before lunch...well, at least 25 minutes of painting before we try again.

Success again!!! dry underwear and pee pee in the potty!!!

Well, we had 2 more accidents. I ignored the timer and let him go a few more minutes and he was slightly wet. Then he sat and did nothing but while eating lunch he had an accident. Thus ends the morning. He's in a diaper and taking a nap now....we'll give it another try this afternoon.

This afternoon was an epic failure. We went through 4 pairs of underwear in less than an hour. I guess he had told me he didn't want underwear and he proved it! So, he's back in a diaper. We'll give it a go again tomorrow morning...maybe we'll wear underwear in the morning and diapers after nap for the next few months? This boy is certainly throwing me for a loop!