Happy Birthday, Martin and Potty Training

First off, I am guessing it is a universal truth that Moms rewarm their coffee or tea many times a day. Ha ha. I was just thinking about that earlier today as I warmed up my mug of tea for the fourth time. I am finally drinking the last half while my boys nap.  I don't judge the number of times I rewarm my tea as a good or bad thing. Mostly it just meant I was busy. Busy is good. I am glad my kids keep me busy. I love them. 

Jared had off three days between his old job and new job. So, instead of enjoying ourselves, going on a few day trips, or relaxing, we decided to attempt the 3 day potty training method. Ugh. It is the most exhausting thing I have EVER done as a parent. Nursing. No problem. Sleep training. No problem. Eating real food. Easy. Washing cloth diapers and cleaning out baby poo. Simple. Potty training. Ugh. Jared and I were so tired and in such bad moods for the first three days. 

Days 1-3 were awful. We wanted to quit after day 1, but we pressed on. It was horrible. We just sat there and watched him for any sign of anything funny going on. It was so tiring, even with two people.   Day 4 and 5 were better and more promising. He actually started going by himself to the potty. We had a little setback at church because he was terrified of the big toilets and their automatic flushing. So I am going to have to start working on going in big potties. For now, I have ordered a cheap potty to put in the bathroom at church. Any tips on using larger toilets in public restrooms are welcomed!!! I don't know what to do about them. 

This is day 6. So far, we have had no accidents.  He has run to the potty at least 11 times this morning. Yay! I know this is going to be a process, so I am not celebrating yet. Some days I am sure he will do wonderfully and other days he won't do so well. But I am so glad for the good days. 

Martin is in his room, supposed to be napping, but that doesn't happen much anymore. He is reading Cat in the Hat. This is what I hear:

"Shake hands, one, two"

"No no!! Cat away!! No play!"

"Bump!" That is probably his favorite line in the whole book. Then something went bump, how that bump made us jump. 

"Big broom, little broom" 

Happy birthday, little buddy. You are my favorite oldest son. You are a joy. I love you so much. I love your imagination and your sweet, cheerful spirit. You make me laugh and smile so often. You are such a wonderful older brother. I am so happy you love Warren and want to help with him. It is cute how you pat him, fetch me diapers, share your cars (I see you sharing your least favorite cars - we will have to work on that), and bounce his chair when he cries. I thank God for you all the time. What a blessing you are. Happy birthday. I am glad you were born. 

P.S.  I am glad the city sent the street sweeper to our house today for your birthday. I am glad I moved my car off the street so they could clean under it. I am glad it had been 2 or 3 years since I had moved the car while they swept, so you could see them back up several times and the sweeper beep. I love that all your cars are beeping as they back up now. 

P.P.S. I just sneezed and he said, from his bedroom, "bless you, mommy." It might be my favorite thing that he says. 

Note: if you hear paper ripping and you know your son has no paper in his crib, you should go check on him. He is probably ripping up A BOOK, something he has never done before, while you write a Sweet post about his birthday. I have explained the consequences of ripping books to him. 

These two boys keep me busy. I have to go rewarm my tea again. 

Cindy took this picture at dinner last night. Who does he look like?