Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Just Talkin'- In his sleep
William talks in his sleep sometimes. It is usually very clear and even loud.
"School bus! My school buses"
"Watch out, I'm riding the moving walkway" - referring to the airport
"Let's go Mama! WooooooooW!"
"Look out on runway."
"School bus! My school buses"
"Watch out, I'm riding the moving walkway" - referring to the airport
"Let's go Mama! WooooooooW!"
"Look out on runway."
Friday, July 24, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Boxers or Briefs?
On Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 8:32 p.m., William Bradley Barron went pee pee in the potty.
I thought today would just be a typical day for William and me. I woke up and started putting away some laundry when all of a sudden William saw his Thomas underwear. "Mama, I want to wear my Thomas underwear today." Of course, I was shocked. But, I totally jumped at his curiosity and put the underwear on him. I explained that if he wanted to wear Thomas underwear than he had to keep Thomas dry. Thomas wouldn't want to be wet and if William felt like he needed to get Thomas wet, Mama would help him get to the potty. I also casually reminded him that if he went to the bathroom in his potty, he could go with Dada to Toys R Us and pick out a new airplane toy.
The first 30 minutes that William had the underwear on, he managed 4 accidents. We only have 4 pairs of Thomas underwear. So, we had to switch to wearing Mickey Mouse. I explained once again that Mickey needs to stay dry. If William thought he was going to get Mickey wet, then Mama would help him sit on the potty. I covered the entire downstairs floor with blankets and towels too. We had 3 accidents. Thing is, William wants to wear the underwear, but he didn't want anything to do with sitting on the potty. How do you potty train under these circumstances? Needless to say, we kept up the mission.
Around 12:45, William was playing with this airplanes under the kitchen table and like a broken record, I was asking him if he needed to potty. At one point, I didn't get a reply and I looked under the table to find William sound asleep. I quietly wrapped his body in a blanket because I was so afraid that he'd pee pee in his sleep.........but, 2 hours later his pants were dry! I was super proud!
By 4pm, I decided that we'd been indoors long enough and so we suited up for a trip to the pool. It was a great break from working on the potty training and it gave William a positive distraction. We got home around 6pm. He wanted to put his underwear back on and so I let him. After one accident, he asked for his diaper. I told him I was so proud of him for trying and working so hard. I also said that when Dada gets home, we'll tell him all about it. Just then, William's eyes got huge and he said, "Mama, Dada gets home William sits on the potty and then gets a new 747 baby jumbo jet at the store." I said, "yes, that's right. when you go to the potty, you can get a new airplane. But, you have to sit on the potty and not have accidents on the floor."
Dada got home around 6:45 and at 7:45pm, William was sitting on the potty with his diaper on. All it took was a little coaching from his Dada to get comfy on the potty! I was amazed, but then again, Dada can get William to do many things that I cannot. I cheered him on and told him that we could put stickers all over the walls of the bathroom, but William had to sit on the potty without wearing his diaper. It took a few minutes, but he gave in. I jumped at the chance once I saw him sitting on the potty, naked! We got out the Thomas stickers and the construction crew stickers and spent the next 30 minutes covering the wall with stickers. We made up stories about the trains and sang all the songs we knew.
Seconds before we raced out the door to buy the new airplane. William is clapping and shouting "YEAH WILLIAM!" His hard work is in the potty!
Then at 8:32 pm it happened. William gasped and shouted, "Mama, pee pee!" I quickly helped him get things under control and then William shouted, "Pee Pee get out of there!!!" I about busted out laughing. Once the experience "clicked" with him, he was beaming and saying SO FAST, "Mama, William pee pee on the potty! Dada!!!! Let's go get a new airplane!!! William did it!!!" He even picked up the potty and walked it over to Dada and said, "Dada, you want to see my potty pee pee?" Hilarious.
I knew that Toys R Us would close around 9pm and we only had 15 minutes to get there. William was running around so excited to get out the door and Dan and I were racing around to find the keys and our shoes! We jumped in the car and sped over to Toys R Us. The entire drive over there, I told William that it was night time and Toys R Us might not be open and don't worry, we'll be back in the morning if that is the case. William kept saying back to me, "Mama, you think Toys Us is open? You think they'll be open when we get there? You think Toys Us is open? I see an airplane in the sky Mama. You see it? I see the blinking light on the nose cone. I think it's landing. You think Toys Us is open? Dada driving really fast! YEAHHHH! WILLIAM!!!! I pee peed in the potty Mama! Get a new 747 baby jumbo jet!" He was bound and determined to get his airplane. We got in the doors with 5 minutes to spare.
William proudly brought home a Matchbox Sky Cargo airplane.
As we were walking up the stairs to the house, he looked up at me and said, "Mama, I need to say bye bye to my diaper and send it down the dark chute (pipe) like a cement mixer slide."
Never been more proud of pee in my life. Who knows what tomorrow holds.
I thought today would just be a typical day for William and me. I woke up and started putting away some laundry when all of a sudden William saw his Thomas underwear. "Mama, I want to wear my Thomas underwear today." Of course, I was shocked. But, I totally jumped at his curiosity and put the underwear on him. I explained that if he wanted to wear Thomas underwear than he had to keep Thomas dry. Thomas wouldn't want to be wet and if William felt like he needed to get Thomas wet, Mama would help him get to the potty. I also casually reminded him that if he went to the bathroom in his potty, he could go with Dada to Toys R Us and pick out a new airplane toy.
The first 30 minutes that William had the underwear on, he managed 4 accidents. We only have 4 pairs of Thomas underwear. So, we had to switch to wearing Mickey Mouse. I explained once again that Mickey needs to stay dry. If William thought he was going to get Mickey wet, then Mama would help him sit on the potty. I covered the entire downstairs floor with blankets and towels too. We had 3 accidents. Thing is, William wants to wear the underwear, but he didn't want anything to do with sitting on the potty. How do you potty train under these circumstances? Needless to say, we kept up the mission.
Around 12:45, William was playing with this airplanes under the kitchen table and like a broken record, I was asking him if he needed to potty. At one point, I didn't get a reply and I looked under the table to find William sound asleep. I quietly wrapped his body in a blanket because I was so afraid that he'd pee pee in his sleep.........but, 2 hours later his pants were dry! I was super proud!
By 4pm, I decided that we'd been indoors long enough and so we suited up for a trip to the pool. It was a great break from working on the potty training and it gave William a positive distraction. We got home around 6pm. He wanted to put his underwear back on and so I let him. After one accident, he asked for his diaper. I told him I was so proud of him for trying and working so hard. I also said that when Dada gets home, we'll tell him all about it. Just then, William's eyes got huge and he said, "Mama, Dada gets home William sits on the potty and then gets a new 747 baby jumbo jet at the store." I said, "yes, that's right. when you go to the potty, you can get a new airplane. But, you have to sit on the potty and not have accidents on the floor."
Dada got home around 6:45 and at 7:45pm, William was sitting on the potty with his diaper on. All it took was a little coaching from his Dada to get comfy on the potty! I was amazed, but then again, Dada can get William to do many things that I cannot. I cheered him on and told him that we could put stickers all over the walls of the bathroom, but William had to sit on the potty without wearing his diaper. It took a few minutes, but he gave in. I jumped at the chance once I saw him sitting on the potty, naked! We got out the Thomas stickers and the construction crew stickers and spent the next 30 minutes covering the wall with stickers. We made up stories about the trains and sang all the songs we knew.
Seconds before we raced out the door to buy the new airplane. William is clapping and shouting "YEAH WILLIAM!" His hard work is in the potty!Then at 8:32 pm it happened. William gasped and shouted, "Mama, pee pee!" I quickly helped him get things under control and then William shouted, "Pee Pee get out of there!!!" I about busted out laughing. Once the experience "clicked" with him, he was beaming and saying SO FAST, "Mama, William pee pee on the potty! Dada!!!! Let's go get a new airplane!!! William did it!!!" He even picked up the potty and walked it over to Dada and said, "Dada, you want to see my potty pee pee?" Hilarious.
I knew that Toys R Us would close around 9pm and we only had 15 minutes to get there. William was running around so excited to get out the door and Dan and I were racing around to find the keys and our shoes! We jumped in the car and sped over to Toys R Us. The entire drive over there, I told William that it was night time and Toys R Us might not be open and don't worry, we'll be back in the morning if that is the case. William kept saying back to me, "Mama, you think Toys Us is open? You think they'll be open when we get there? You think Toys Us is open? I see an airplane in the sky Mama. You see it? I see the blinking light on the nose cone. I think it's landing. You think Toys Us is open? Dada driving really fast! YEAHHHH! WILLIAM!!!! I pee peed in the potty Mama! Get a new 747 baby jumbo jet!" He was bound and determined to get his airplane. We got in the doors with 5 minutes to spare.
William proudly brought home a Matchbox Sky Cargo airplane.
As we were walking up the stairs to the house, he looked up at me and said, "Mama, I need to say bye bye to my diaper and send it down the dark chute (pipe) like a cement mixer slide."
Never been more proud of pee in my life. Who knows what tomorrow holds.
Monday, July 20, 2009
William takes the plunge!
William loves the swimming pool. He's a huge fan. To be honest, I really thought he might be timid around the water this year just because he's developed a sense of awareness to the world around him. He can be cautious at times and a daredevil other times. Turns out, the pool is nothing but fun for this little guy.
When we first started swimming this year, I told William he would get to wear bright orange "engine wings" (aka floaties but in William's world, they are airplane engines). He was totally on board with the idea and let me put them on his arms without any complaints. I also gave him the option of wearing his shark suit or just regular swim trunks, and he immediately chose the shark suit (the blue suit has a picture of a shark on it). It might seem like overkill, but my goal for William is to love the swimming pool and enjoy playing in the water without being afraid. When he's wearing his shark and engine wings, this little boy throws caution to the wind.
Today, I casually asked William if he'd like to jump off the diving board. I was kidding, but to my surprise, he said, "yes mama!" Sure enough, he walked down that plank like a pro. I told him to sit down on the end of the board and Dada would hold his hands. William did just that, and took the plunge into the water! When he realized what he'd done and that we were so excited, he quickly said, "do it again mama!" I think he went off the board more than 15 times. He LOVED it! Everyone else was cheering him on and impressed that a 2.5 year old was man enough to tackle the deep end of the pool!
WAY TO GO WBB!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
William's Road
William has loved airplanes ever since I can remember. He loved them before he could crawl and he can always see them from MILES away. Dan and I will be searching the skies after William joyfully yells, "there's an airplane!" Sure enough, the airplane is a speck in the sky. How he can see them when they are up so high is beyond us. We are amazed. It's like he's a walking control tower.
He has also always loved "wheels" of any kind. Most recently, race cars. He'll lay on the floor and drive them around the carpet so he can see the wheels spin and he'll make the "vroom!" noise and the "whooosh!" noise for his airplanes.
Today he wanted to build a runway for the planes and a garage for the cars. So, I got out the masking tape and together we created William's road. He asked specifically for 6 parking places in the garage and 5 parking places in the airplane hanger. He's logged hours playing in his room with all his cars and airplanes on the runways and road. Today we added a launch pad for the space shuttle per his request (see the X with the O around it). When it's time for a space shuttle to take off, William will hold it upright on the launch pad and shout, "4-3-2-1 BLAST OFF! woooooosh!" It's been a joy to watch his imagination take off.
I am sure we'll be constructing many more streets and runways. I better make sure I have enough tape!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Just Talkin'
Mama to William: Oh, there's a baby bird in that tree!
William to Mama: Oh yes, how cool. We should proally (probably) say good night to the crickets. (it's 9am in the morning)
William flying airplanes and one falls over and lands upside down.
William to Mama: Look Mama, my airplane landed on it's backside.
William to Mama: You wearing a cute pink dress Mama.
William to Mama (all in one road trip down our street): Wow, there goes a runner Mama and he has on his running shoes like William. And oh there is a man on a red bicycle crossing the street. Oh Mama, WOW! I see a Hot Rod and a dump truck on the street! Mama, and then I (william) said, "bye bye Target! See you in a bit. First William takes a night night rest and then Target in Mama's wheels. Target has a red circle Mama."
William to Mama: Oh yes, how cool. We should proally (probably) say good night to the crickets. (it's 9am in the morning)
William flying airplanes and one falls over and lands upside down.
William to Mama: Look Mama, my airplane landed on it's backside.
William to Mama: You wearing a cute pink dress Mama.
William to Mama (all in one road trip down our street): Wow, there goes a runner Mama and he has on his running shoes like William. And oh there is a man on a red bicycle crossing the street. Oh Mama, WOW! I see a Hot Rod and a dump truck on the street! Mama, and then I (william) said, "bye bye Target! See you in a bit. First William takes a night night rest and then Target in Mama's wheels. Target has a red circle Mama."
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Into the Wild Blue Yonder - Dolly Sods, West VA
The past few years, Dan and several of his buddies have gone camping in Dolly Sods, West Virgina. Every time he returns from a trip there, Dan just can't wait to take William one day. He would tell us how beautiful the scenery is along the trails, how the camping sites were along a creek and how William would just LOVE playing in the water and exploring the surroundings. Well, now that William is 2.5 years old, we thought it might be fun to give it a try.
If you read this blog regularly, you might recall the car camping trip that Dan took William on while I was in New Orleans visiting my sister. That particular camp out was a huge success, and so Dan and I thought William would be ready to take on the wilds of West, VA. The Dolly Sods camping trip was going to require a bit of a hike off the beaten path and into a remote area of the woods. We were confident that William would love the hike because he's just a child who LOVES being outside, all day, every day. We also knew that camping at Dan's camp site by the creek would give William endless playtime and that he'd be so excited to splash in the water. So, we were fired up and ready to roll.
We got to the Dolly Sods mid afternoon and hiked to Dan's remote campsite. William loved exploring the trail and collecting rocks to put in his backpack. He even wanted to wear his train hat which is rare because he usually doesn't like hats. However, he saw that Dan and I were wearing backpacks and hats and he was totally on board to be a part of the trio. Dan did have to carry William a little ways into the woods as some of rough terrain was just too rigorous for William to navigate on his own. But, we arrived at the camping location in good time.
What's really amazing is that Dan found this particular site on his own and marked the trail along the way with rocks. The markings were still in tack and when we got the site, all the firewood that he'd collected a few months ago (on the boys trip there) was still hidden in the trees and his fire pit was still perfectly intact with the log bench he'd rigged up during the last visit. I thought that was fun to think that this was our very own hidden place in the woods and how special it was that no one had found our secret place. Dan was right, the landscape is beautiful and the campsite was so picturesque. The creek ran right alongside a large stretch of grass where we could put our tent and let William play in the water.
Dan got to work on the tent and William and I went over to investigate the creek. The water was clear and flowing over rocks and William kept saying, "watertalls mama!" He was chomping at the bit to frolic in the water, so we changed his clothes and let him play with his cars in the creek. He had a ball. LOVED every second of it. We got the fire going and started roasting our hot dogs. William thought that was really fun and he kept watching for the moon to come out in the sky.
About 8pm, William started to let us know that he was ready to go home. He just kept saying, "time to go mama. time to go dada." Bless his heart, I really think he thought we were on one of our usual day trips where it's not uncommon for us to stop and hike around so he can play outside. I think he didn't realize that we were really going to stay the night. Dan and I tried our best to rally his excitement and we talked up the tent and how were were going to watch his airplane DVD in the tent, etc. He warmed up to the idea but then relented a few times with his innocent voice saying, "time to go."
Well, we climbed in the tent, watched our DVD and then our sweet little William just sobbed. He wanted to go home, he didn't want to stay in the tent, he had no interest in the sleeping bags. He just wanted to be home. Dan and I felt helpless. It was already close to midnight, pitch black outside and we were 45 minutes from the car. There was just no way we could pack up and leave. We did everything we possibly could to comfort William. I think his anxiety was a combination of being extremely tired, he was irritated by the rustling noise of the sleeping bags, not having much appetite that night, not having his familiar bedtime milk or routine (doesn't sound like a big one but in hindsight, I think that was key) and also, I think he really thought that we were there just to play for the day. We still cannot pinpoint his emotions that night because the previous camping experiences had been so positive. Nevertheless, it took a few hours to calm him down before he just passed out in my arms. I was able to cover us up in my sleeping bag.
We got up around 8:30am the next morning and William's first words were, "hi dada! good morning!" and he shot up like a rocket just chatting about being inside the tent, playing in the creek, watching the stars, etc. He was a new man. William was back to being the little camper we knew he is. What a relief to see the smile on his face and the happiness in his voice as he talked about the camp out. He was quick to add that it was "time to go" but we also knew that he was right. So, we packed up our belongings and headed for the car. Dan carried his backpack and a 32 lb. toddler most of the way, but we took a few breaks to cool down along the way. Once back at the car, William instantly fell asleep in his car seat. I know he had a great time and we can't wait to take him back. I think we'll have to ease him back into the entire experience with a few trial runs, but I know my little boy. He's first love is being outside. I am confident that Dan and William will have many, many wilderness adventures in the years to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
