Rainy day fun

My child loves the rain. He loves to watch it from the windows or the porch but he especially loves to play in it. I know we live in the lightning capital of the world and I am careful, but he's a little boy. He likes to jump in mud puddles and yell "Splash." And honestly, I love to watch him splash in mud puddles.

Last weekend, he and I were driving Daddy's car to the carwash when it unexpectedly started raining. Bummer. I told him it's pretty silly to pay to have your car washed in the rain and we turned around.

After we were home for a few minutes I had a crazy idea. Let’s wash the car in the rain. He helped me find the bucket, sponges and some soap and we got to it.

Oh the fun! Bubbles and rain are quite a combination for a two year old. We’re talking shrieking with laughter, both him and me. We had so much fun washing Daddy’s car we washed mine too. 25 minutes of unadulterated joy while my husband shook his head at our crazy antics.

:)

3 day potty training

I considered myself a potty training expert back when I was a preschool teacher. It was my personal mission to have kids out of diapers or pull-ups and in regular undies within 2 weeks of joining my 2 year old class. It was easy. Show them where to go. Let them flush the toilet. Give them a sticker. Piece of cake.

As we started approaching Justice’s second birthday, I thought “I got this.” Boy is it different when it’s your own kid and he’s at home with no bigger kids to learn from.

For the past 3 month or so we have tried various methods to get him on the potty with no real success. M&Ms would get him to sit on the pot but nothing happened. Pull-ups were no different than diapers in his eyes. Someone suggested letting him so go outside. That worked a little. He would go on command in the backyard but we couldn’t transition it to making things happen in the bathroom. In fact, when we sat him on the potty he would scream “Pee pee outside! Pee pee outside!”

He was frustrated. I was frustrated. And Brandon, my saint of a husband who stays home with him, was beyond frustrated.

Last week Brandon posted a comment on facebook asking friends for advice and someone suggested  Lora Jenson's 3 day potty training method. She said she’d used it with her second child and it worked great. I read the info and was skeptical but optimistic.

Holy moly, it worked! We started Saturday morning and his last accident was Monday just before nap. It’s Wednesday. 2 plus days without a single accident. I am completely blown away. In just 3 days, (in all fairness, they were 3 very long, very exhausting days) my sweet little boy has gone from screaming and crying when you asked him if he had to go, to standing up from his play table and announcing “POTTY TIME” with a smile as runs full speed to the toilet.

God bless you Lora Jensen!!! For detailed info check out her website @ 3DayPottyTraining.com where you can buy the eBook for $24. Money well spent.

A day at the beach

My husband grew up in Sarasota and most of our best friends live down there. Apparently, when you live in Sarasota it's mandatory to go to the beach at least once a month and invite your friends. For the last 2 plus years we've made excuses as to why it wasn't a great idea to take Justice out there. It's hot, it's a long drive, we're going to have to chase him around, he'll throw sand ... you get it. 

For some reason when the invitation was issued this time, Brandon and I looked at each other and shrugged. I guess you can only put off the inevitable for so long. We live in Florida - the kid's got to go the beach at some point. 

So at 8:30 this morning I gathered the towels, sunblock, folding chairs and enough goldfish crackers to feed an army of toddlers and set off for beautiful Lido Beach. You know what? It was REALLY hot. It took an hour and a half to get there. He threw a lot of sand. And ate a lot of sand. And rolled in a lot of sand. You know what else? It was AWESOME! 

No really. It was one of the best family days we've ever had. One of those days where your cheeks hurt from smiling so much. 

Justice absolutely loved it. He collected seashells and got to touch a crab that one of the bigger boys found. He pointed out boats and planes as they went by. He's still in that oh-so-fun toddler stage where he loves to dump things. At home, not so great. At the beach, amazing! He and Daddy sat at the tide line and filled bucket after bucket with water and then dumped it out. Why this is fun for him, I don't know but he was a laughing fool for more than 30 minutes. 30 minutes to this guy is an eternity.

At 2:30 we packed up our stuff and headed home with our cheeks a little pinker, our hair a lot sandier and our hearts absolutely bursting. On the long drive home, with a passed out baby boy, I began wondering what other things I've been putting off. What amazing experiences are out there that I am making excuses for? Hmm... let the next adventure begin.