Pictures

I added what pictures I had, but clearly did not take enough.

Wardrobe Update

An occasional obsession for spurts of a few days has been wearing underwear on his head as a mask (pulled down so he is peeking with one eye through the leg hole). Of course one day last week, he insisted on wear them to school because he was a superhero and that was his mask. Luckily they are clean underwear. I am pretty sure Allen would have been horrified, but I figured what harm could it be, I'm sure he'll take them off at some point. They thought he was hilarious and much to my surprise he was still wearing them when I picked him up at the end of the day.

Then another day last week he insisted on wearing "sock-hands" another mini obsession where he wears exactly what is sounds like - a pair of socks on his hands like mittens. These are his "spider-man gloves". Again, he wore them most of the day; only taking them off to eat. Not because it was difficult, but because they might get dirty.

And then the icing on the cake was this wonderful holiday weekend. We started Thursday morning not wanting any clothes and Allen found a pair of black pants and convinced him they were black spider-man/venom pants so he was thrilled. The trouble- no matching shirt. Allen tried a black shirt which said "Elmo is my Homeboy" to which Gavin cried, "That's not a venom shirt, that is my homeboy shirt. I don't want my homeboy shirt." So he figured he didn't need a shirt and would be like the one 5 second scene in spiderman where Peter Park has no shirt on (how he has latched on to that scene, I don't know). I told him he had to wear a shirt to thanksgiving (to which he replied over and over again that he would not get cold-obviously totally unaware of the social niceties we all play especially when extended family is around) and agreed to wear a zip up jacket as a compromise. What jacket does he grab- a puffy royal blue vest (clearly not serving my purpose of looking "normal" let alone not having sleeves to stay warm). Not exactly what I had in mind! After much "discussion" we convinced him to switch to something else and wore it zipped up all day - no one really could tell that he was not wearing a shirt underneath it.

What did he find while at my parents - Mimi and Poppy, but the pair of black knee high hose my mother had taken off after a long day of cooking and being the hostess. He couldn't be more pleased because now he had a pair of black spider-man/venom GLOVES! They might have been alittle stinking, but he was thrilled and insisted on the one's Mimi wore and not a clean pair to come home. Then for the entire next day, he wore "Mimi's gloves" a lot of the day.

(knee high hose on his hands)

Saturday, also insisting on still wearing his venom pants we at least convinced him to wear a solid black shirt as a venom shirt, but he wanted desperately to be outside without a jacket so you could see his venom "costume". So we put a second black shirt (the "homeboy" shirt underneath). This worked, but later in the day, he decided to be regular spider-man and put his Halloween suite on (which we wear almost daily).

In my attempt to convince him to take off the outfit I found a new shirt he had not wore with a robot or car or something on it. He was excited and immediately put it on over his spider-man suite. Now, let me remind you that he is wearing two black shirts, a spider-man suite, venom pants and now a new forth shirt (feels alittle like the 12 days of christmas). How is this child not burning up. Luckily-no plans for going out into public, so who cares.

Sunday I told him we had to take some of these clothes off, he was clearly getting hot, rolling them up etc. What did he find and want to wear? A pair of blue swimming trucks with bugs all over them and you guessed it NO shirt. Talk about one extreme to the other. Oh and don't forget Mimi's socks /knee high hose on his arms.

This morning, I said he could wear his bug pants (which he really wanted to show his friends at school). If he wore a pair of pants underneath because it was cold. So he went to school in a red striped shirt, blue swimming trucks with blue pajama pants underneath and Mimi's hose on his hands. They have to think we are NUTS!

I am learning to chose my battles and honestly, who cares if he matches right now. It does, however make for some interesting pictures. I'll try to post some soon.

Potty Training Update

Potty training is obviously going so well I haven't had anything to report in a long time. Our first accident since our 2nd week of potty training was while he was napping at daycare last week. He woke-up saying "I am still a big boy, I tried." - How cute. I know our second child will be an absolute nightmare because everything has gone so well with Gavin. That is an honest hesitation I have for having a second. It can't go this well twice.

Update

All is still going very well with potty training. I finally broke down and bought pull-ups for nighttime. Luckily he doesn't mind them.

Otherwise, we got his Halloween costume (Spider-Man)on Sunday and he has worn it every evening since then. It was a battle to get it off the first couple of nights, but that is improving. He will at least wear a jacket while eating meals so he doesn't completely ruin it before Halloween.

I'll get pictures up soon.

Sign of a Good Day for a 2 year old

If a two year old could have a concrete measurement of a good day, I am sure it would be by the amount of dirt between their toes. I'm pretty sure Gavin had a fun day today.

We spent the morning at the Down Syndrome Indiana fundraiser called the Buddy Walk Downtown. It was a cold, but beautiful day. However, from all the rain this week, it was a muddy muddy mess. I wish these pictures truly showed how dirty he reality was. His pants, shirt, and shoes were covered in mud. He insisted on wearing crocks, which I wasn't thrilled about with the cold weather. In hindsight, they were probably perfect because they are so washable. The bad thing was they would get stuck in the mud and he would walk out of them.

The other "interesting" part of the day was this was our first truly public/large group outing were there were lines for a bathroom (portalet). Luckily we never had to wait for more than 1 person, but the portalet was absolutely disgusting!! I thought they were bad to go in myself, but imagine a 2 year old and everything he wants to touch, let a lone needs to touch just to get up on the potty and pee. Luckily I bought a potty seat to take with us places so he doesn't fall in and this was the first time we really used it (THANK GOD!). On top of that, imagine the level you must bend down to to help a 2 year old get their pants up... It was not fun.

Luckily they also had portable hand washing stations with running water, soap....

Later that night we went to hear Allen play in the Muncie Music Festival which was cold, but fun. Gavin enjoyed watching his daddy play drums and the music. Of course, again we were at a large public place with limited bathrooms. This time there was alittle more waiting, but at least it was an indoor bar bathroom (not exactly my first choice, but after the morning a major improvement).

Days 12-10/9/09

OK...I'm tired of keeping track of actual days now that we are in double digits, but I can't believe it has only been 2 weeks. Gavin is doing so well, you'd think we've been working on this for quite a long time. We have not had any accidents since last Sat (day 11) and I am very proud of him. Last night we had 2nd public outing with a family gathering for Allen's grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. His 4-year-old cousin, Jackson, was there to play with (who is of course potty trained) so it was good for him to see another kid have to stop what they are doing to go to the potty. We haven't seen his other cousins (twins) since we started this process.

We also are on day 3 of trying undies at night. He has been waking up at night dry and really fighting the diaper, so we reluctantly tried it. So far....so good with that aspect of potty training too. I'm sure that is where our biggest trouble will be, but no yet.

Potty Training Day 11

Sorry for the delay in posting. Been busy I guess. Today (Sat) he woke up dry again which is making us consider undies at night because it is definitely a battle to get the diaper on him. But we did have alittle bit of a rough morning. We finally got him dressed (luckily shirt only) with undies and we were in our bathroom while I was getting dressed (We were going to Monkey Joe's the bouncy house in Castleton) and next thing I know Gavin is standing on our step to the sink and peeing everywhere!! I mean everywhere (he woke up dry so there was a lot of pee). I grabbed him and put him on the potty (undies and all) where he finished.

When asked why, he said he just wanted to pee. That made me alittle nervous for our first outing to a public place, but we went anyway. He had no trouble at Monkey Joe's. FYI, they have a toddler size toilet in the women's restroom. I was glad our first public outing went well. I was worried he'd get distracted and pee in the bouncy house. That place is fantastic, by the way. He was so exhausted by the time we were done he could barely keep his eyes open.

Potty Training Day 10

Gavin did well at school. He got distracted watching TV and peed in the living room :(, but at least we didn't make 10 trips to the potty trying to poop/stall going to bed.

Potty Training Day 9

Another successful day. Today he was doing a combination of stalling so he didn't have to lay in bed and trying to poop (it was hard for me to tell which). Poor little guy pushed till he was red in the face, but was very proud when he was successful. Of course, as soon as he layed in bed he popped up and said he had a giant poop that he had to get out. So, back we go; me waiting in the bedroom and him in the bathroom door shut by himself-scary. When finished, he was very proud ran to the top of the stairs and told Allen that he had one giant poop and one tiny terd! Very exciting.

Potty Training Day 8

Woke up dry again and made it all the way to school without going to the potty. The kid is a camel or something. No accidents at school. He still won't let either of us come in the bathroom with him and is luckily not being too messy. Of course the challenge is, it is not like he knows how to wipe, so then you have to chase him down after the fact. Oh well.... He is still very excited about the "plop" sound and giggles which is pretty funny to hear from the next room.

Potty Training Day 7

I don't know when it is going to go down hill, but still on the up and up here. No accidents at school. Had to stop twice on the way home for false alarms, but I think it was so cold and windy he wasn't willing to try to pee. Made it home without a problem.

He continues to insist on going completely alone and it took 4 trips at bedtime with pooping little tiny terds each time, but he did it totally alone and was successful. Of course it works as a great stalling tactic too.

I'm not sure when we'll venture into nighttime undies, but he has been dry every morning this week I believe. I'm not quite ready for that yet.

Potty Trainin Day 6

We picked Gavin up from Allen's parents in the morning and he was wearing pull-ups, but had not had an accident in them. He has 100% decided to pee standing up which is definitely messier; oh well. He tries really hard to aim appropriately, but just has a hard time.

Made one stop on the way home because he thought he had to poop. I wasn't quite sure how were were going to manage that outside, but we were going to try. Luckily it was just a toot and we peed on a mulch hill.

Woke up dry from his nap, no accidents during the day. We went to a friend of mine's 30th (or 1st anniversary of her 29th) birthday party. Our first outing while potty training. No accidents and he actually insisted on going to the bathroom completely without me; wouldn't even let me in the room. We had several trips withing about 10 minutes, but was successful every time. The first one he stood on the floor and definitely had difficulty with aiming since he is so short (only a minor mess). The second time I tipped over the trashcan to stand on. Then when he went on his own, he tipped the trashcan himself and actually peed and pooped all by himself. I'm not quite sure how he managed to do it since the seat was up and he must have balanced on it to keep from falling in. Either way, it worked.

Stopped on the way home to pee on a tree in the dark. Another successful day.

Potty Training Day 5

Another good day. No accidents. We were going to Allen's 10 year high school reunion, so Allen's parents were going to keep Gavin. I felt a little guilty having grandparents watch a little boy on day 5 of potty training, but luckily it has been going very well. We took 5 extra pairs of underwear/pants and hoped for the best. Apparently things went very well. They went out and bought pull-ups and a potty seat (which Gavin got to pick out-Sesame Street).

Potty Training Day 4

Today was the most successful yet. No accidents at school and only one "false alarm" runs to the potty. I convinced him to sit on the potty while I read him a book so that he would stay on the potty longer in hopes of preventing 5 partial poops. I know he likes standing to pee at school on th miniature potty, so we also tried standing on a stool to pee, but that was pretty messy. Going to go back to sitting on the potty at home for a while.

Potty Training Day 3

Another successful day. Woke up dry, made it to school without peeing and no accidents during the day. Once we were home, it was definitely alittle more interesting, but he honestly did a fantastic job.

We were watching videos on youtube when he jumped up and said he had to poop. Ran to the bathroom and he said it wasn't ready yet so we went back. Jumped up again; still not ready. Third times a charm and we successfully pooped and peed on the potty (very excited about the splashing...what a true boy).

Then we played with trains upstairs and we again jumped up and ran to the potty. We almost made it, just alittle terd in the undies but damn it he tried really hard. Back to playing with trains when he looked down and said, Oops....peed on the floor. Poor kid, can't blame him he's always been able to just pee whenever he wanted and now all of a sudden can't.

Clean undies and immediate ran to the potty again....didn't make it-pooped. So within 1-2 hours we went through 3 pairs of underwear and 5/6 trips to the potty. I wish I could have just convinced him to sit there for a while the first time and we probably would have gotten it all out at once, but at soon as alittle poop came out he wanted to jump down because he was done and go play. Definitely a change from a diaper were he could take 20 minutes to be done. Oh well....

We couldn't ask for it to be going any more smoothly. I kind of feel like I am cheating!

Potty Training Day 1 and 2

Well....we have officially begun potty training (YIKES!!). So far it is actually going much better than I had ever anticipated. I would not be surpised if it goes well for a couple of weeks and then falls apart though.

Background: He has actually be sitting on the potty at night before bedtime for several months and successfully peeing on the potty but has shown no interest otherwise. His cousins (3 years old) have completed potty training and he has seen them do fun things like pee on trees and I think that is part of the reason he has been interested recently. So, on Sunday I looked outside while at my parents house only to see Gavin at the back of the yard, pants around his ankles and diaper 10 feet away. When I asked what he was doing he told me he was pee on a tree and didn't want a diaper back on. The next day (monday) I approached daycare to see what they do during the day for potty training and I let them know we were going to start. On the way home we stopped by Target and Gavin got to pick out lots of fun undies with Cars, Nemo, Spider-man...

We put on undies in the car on the way home and had a very successful evening. At night he is still wearing a diaper.

Day 1:

Woke up (dry diaper), put on undies but would not sit on the potty because his "pee was not ready yet". I figured this was not going to end well because we eventually had to get in my car and head to school. I think I asked him every 5 minutes if he had to pee and finally he said yes, so we stopped on the side of the road and peed on a fence. That was a lot of fun, but at least he did not pee in my car.

He did very well at daycare (the took him to the potty every hour) until shift change at about 5pm and he went 2 hours without being taken and had an accident (I'm not sure the 2nd shift people even knew we had really started). I was pretty impressed; one accident on the first day.

Once home he did very well, but got sucked into a movie and peed on the floor (clearly going to have to pay attention when watching movies). Otherwise no accidents.

Day 2:
Woke up dry, wanted undies but not to sit on the potty, hid behind the chair and peed. When ask why, he said he didn't want to sit on the potty. After that, we made it to school successfully. NO ACCIDENTS at school!! I was very impressed. No accidents once home either.

Wish us luck! :)

A Day at the Farm

Gavin and a wonderful day with his cousins as his great-grand parent's farm. He got to drive a combine down the driveway, run in the corn field, sit on tractors, and the best part....play with 5 week old border collie puppies. I'm not sure the day can get any better for a 2 1/2 year old.

Recent Gavin Videos

This is a video of Gavin's favorite part of the State Fair. With millions of dollars of professional games and rides....Gavin preferred the tarps.

I've been a slacker

Wow....it has been a really long time since I've posted. I think facebook has taken over alittle bit. not a whole lot is going on here. Gavin is doing very well and really enjoyed x-mas this year and playing in the snow.

We are currently working on the very beginning phases of potty training. At this point, I can't quite call it potty training because it he more likely to pee or poop on the floor next to the potty and not actually in it! At least it is a step in the right direction I supposed. I'll get some pictures up here ASAP, but if you'd like to see recent pictures check out our shutterfly page which has the most recent pictures from December.

http://gavintucker.shutterfly.com

Megan