...this summer has been one of the most challenging summers that I've had. Don't get me wrong, it has been great in many ways too - when I say challenging, I don't mean bad! After talking with some of my mom friends, I've come to realize, partly why this summer has been so rough.
- The boys don't take their afternoon nap anymore
- A somewhat failed attempt at potty training in June, led to Ellis deciding on his own that he was ready to be potty trained in July.
- Their speech has picked up quite a bit - which has been a mixed blessing (I'll explain later)...
All in all, this is just one of those summers where there is a TON going on with them developmentally and with only one of me and two of them during the day, my head was spinning at times!
I always wondered what I'd do when I didn't get that 2-ish hour break in the middle of the day. How will I get any of my own personal things done, or if anything else, just take a breather? And aside from that, what will we do during that time so it doesn't turn in an "I'm fighting my nap and totally cranky right now" moment? Well, the answer is - I really didn't get my own personal things done - except for things that I can do while they are (hopefully) playing nicely together. Taking a breather? Nope, didn't happen either. And I decided to usually plan something fun during their normal nap time - trip to the park, library, an art activity, etc. Something they really liked, which would give them less chances of fighting with each other. This sometimes led to them falling asleep before we got to where we were going, but hey, thats fine too (and I just learned to pack a book with me in case they did fall asleep). Did I mention that if I ended up coming home once they fell asleep, they would throw a fit when they woke up - wondering why we weren't at the location we were originally planning to go? That's why I packed the book and just read in the parking lot until they woke up!
In June I was gung-ho at starting to potty train and after 5 days I gave up. Every few days afterwards, Ellis would tell me he had to go pee pee and ran to the potty. I think it was more or less because he wanted to use the iPad (that was their reward before for sitting on the potty). After a few days of no luck, I decided to put the portable potties away - thinking I would just pull them out a few months later to see if either was interested. The next morning, Ellis saw the potties in my bathroom (they were in my shower drying after I washed them the night before) and he said "pee pee mommy" so I let him go through the process again, making a note to myself to put them completely away later that morning. Well, guess what? He peed! I was floored! Once he peed, he didn't want a diaper on again and an hour later my naked boy yelled again "pee pee mommy!" Yet again, another successful pee. He did very good the rest of the day - a couple accidents, but dang, I was shocked. I wanted to follow his lead because Mr. Stubborn doesn't like to be told anything, he has to call the shots. So the next day, I asked if he wanted to wear underwear or a diaper and he said diaper. I think that day he only peed once on the potty. No desire the next day either. Okay, so maybe it was a fluke.
A couple days later, he started this all over again with saying he had to pee and actually went. The few days that followed were hit or miss, but more hits, which made me think that maybe this was it. This continued and he got better and better each day. The day before our trip up north was his first day with no accidents at all. Since then, he's had a few accidents - mainly because I've learned that I can not ask him if he has to go. If he has to go, I have to let him tell me. He resists me asking, and that has turned into a few "no mommy, no!" moments when I just know from his body language that he has to go, yet his legs go weak when I try to take him to the bathroom before he pees all over himself. So, we had a few days where our schedule depended on when Ellis peed last, or how close a bathroom was to the place we were going, but we're getting there. Now we are just working on him going to the bathroom in places aside from at home, to prep him for going back to day care and preschool in a few weeks. Logan - well, thats another story. He says "pee pee" every so often, so I take him to the potty hoping he will be like Ellis and just randomly go, but he hasn't. Still a work in progress for him. But hey, 1 out of 2 potty trained is better than I was thinking we'd have at the beginning of July.
Their speech has definitely picked up a bit. I wish I remember how much they were talking back in June, but I definitely understand a lot more of what they are saying. They can tell me what they want to do, want to eat, what happened to make them cry - which is the good side of it. The bad side of it is the "no mommy" that I hear pretty much daily. I remember back, maybe 6 months to a year ago, when many of my mommy friends said to be careful what I wish for. Of course I wanted them to talk more, but once they start forming an opinion on things, things got a little tricky. Say for example we are taking a bike ride (them riding bikes, me running with Bella) and one wants to go one way and one wants to go a different way. Hmm - what to do when both opinionated boys won't give in? Deal with one screaming kid who won't ride his bike at all, and the other one who is flying down the street, excited to go his way - oh yeah, and don't forget the dog I have with me too! Or, when we get into the car to go to the park and one is excited to go to the park and one wants to go to the library. I assume that he will be fine once he sees the park, but no - he is screaming in the parking lot and doesn't want me to take him out of the car. Or when one wants to go downstairs to play and one wants to go outside. One wants to watch Thomas the Train and one wants to watch Peppa Pig. Shall I go on? Having two with the same mentality (versus two kids of different ages) has definitely pushed me to my limits with trying to figure out how to resolve the issue. Now don't get me wrong, these things haven't been an issue every day, but when I finally sit down at night I definitely feel a bit more tired than I remember feeling last year.
But as much as this summer has been a bit stressful at times (and there will always be some sort of stress at each different stage, right?!?), we've also had some awesome, awesome fun. Lots of playdates where the boys actually play with the kids we are with - versus being in their own little world just playing around the other kids. They are communicating with each other and us - saying the cutest damn things - I wish I could remember everything they have said. They mimic practically everything they hear, and much of it has been with an English accent thanks dearly to Peppa Pig. I don't know how many times my phone has rang and I hear one of the boys say "Hello, Daddy Pig here". One morning I made pancakes for them and Logan busts out with "Mmm, delicious". I did a double take, but then a few days later, realize that Peppa Pig says that when she is eating too. Oy! We took them to their first carnival and they saw fireworks for the first time, although Ellis isn't a fan of the loud noises! We have gone to the zoo where they love watching the animals even more now that they really know more animals - and we plan to go to the Toledo Zoo next weekend as long as this stupid water issue is taken care of. At the splash pad, they had a TON of fun too. I didn't have to chase them around to make sure they didn't run away, or go in the water with them to get them acclimated to it. Today, we took them to their first movie: Planes 2. Since the movie has been out for a few weeks, the theater wasn't full at all, but I think everyone that was there could hear a repeated version of the movie from Logan. He was so excited he literally repeated most of the first 5 minutes and giggled so much. Troy was trying to get him to stop, but he wasn't going for it. Troy even attempted "shhh"-ing him and Logan then looked at Troy and said "daddy, shh" over and over. It was hilarious! Luckily he stopped shortly after and only had a few more spurts of some random shout-outs. The boys love painting, coloring, doing puzzles - man do they love doing puzzles. We got them different 12 piece puzzles but they fly through those and have done a few 24 piece puzzles with a bit of assistance.
So, what was the point of all my rambling? I haven't blogged in a while so even though I've been home all summer, it hasn't exactly been easy to get away and update what we've been doing, and this has been why. Plus, I gotta keep it real - I am not one to fake it and act like our summer has been perfect. Just as they are learning and developing, so am I. I always will be, as they move into a different stage of development. I laughed the other day when Nicole told me that one day she told Morgan and Parker that she was going to have a time-out and since she is 36 years old, she has to sit for 36 minutes. What an awesome idea (although Morgan didn't like it so much)! I've had my share of moments where I've walked away from a situation to just breathe, get some water, take deep breaths! But, as Steve Carrell quoted in one of his upcoming movies: "You gotta have the bad days so you can love the good days even more." So true, and regardless of these occasional stressful moments, I'm still so lucky to have these boys in my life - how can I turn Ellis away when out of the blue, he says "hug mom" and gives me the biggest hug EVER! Just love it!
And a blog post wouldn't be complete without some pics to wrap it all up:
 |
| A trip to Troy Nature Center |
 |
| Rock climbing outside the Nature Center |
 |
| Splash Pad |
 |
| No fear at all sticking their face right in the water! |
 |
| A little bit of hopscotch fun! |
 |
| Fun with magnets and paper clips |
 |
| Who says a water table can't double as a pool? |
 |
| Cousins all cozy, watching a movie at Grandma and Grandpa's house |
 |
| Cute story: At my dad's birthday party last week Ellis said he wanted birthday cake. Well, anyone that knows Ellis knows he doesn't eat cake, but my mom gave him a small piece. After whining about wanting "BIRTHDAY cake" Morgan actually told us that she thinks he wants the candle that was in my dad's cake. Gotcha! So, I gave him a candle, and lit it and he sang Happy Birthday to himself and blew out the candle. "Again, mom, again." - about 5 more times! |
 |
| Mr. Independent wants to try to blow bubbles himself. Needless to say we lost a lot of bubble solution this week! That's the only way they'll learn though, right? |
 |
| Playing catch at the park. |
I haven't uploaded any pictures from the past few days, but hopefully soon! Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!
