Hey.  Remember this?

Hard to believe that same little baby burrito is now this:

What Porter is Wearing:

• Finally growing out of those size 24 months pants.  I think he is outgrowing a pair a day!
• Still in size 6 diapers…
• Size 2T and 3T shirts
• Still size 8 shoes
• Still in 2T pajamas

What Porter is Eating:

• Strawberries, apples, grapes, oranges
• Raw veggies only: cucumber, celery, carrots, lettuce
• Has given up on chicken of all kinds.
• Meatballs are still okay.
• So are tacos.
• Salami and bacon are still favored as well.
• Would eat cheese and pickles for every meal if I let him.
• Bread, biscuits and buns of any kind are accepted.
• Tried his first jelly beans on Easter weekend!
• We try to get him to try foods he hasn’t tried before.  His response?  ”I can’t.”  Or “I don’t like those.”

What Porter is Saying:

• It seems as though Porter is connecting with his Tallahassee roots since he seems to have developed  Southern accent.  Only certain words though.  It is like he adds in a syllable.  Can’t is now cay-int.  Down is now day-own.   Aaron thinks Porter is slowing sounding like Paula Deen.
• Porter says all sorts of funny things nowadays; it’s hard to keep track of it all.  Tonight at bathtime he was calling me Computer.
• “I can’t” is an often heard phrase in our house these days.  ”I can’t pick up my toys.”  ”I can’t wear underwear.”  ’I can’t eat this.”
•  Porter can, however, tell us how much he loves us.  ”I love you very much, Mom.”  And “I love YOU!  And you love ME?”  It’s adorable.

What Porter Likes These Days:

• The train that Aaron brought him back from Chattanooga.
• Going to see Mommy or Daddy at the theatre.
• Having one of his trains “listen” to stories as we read before bed.
• Cuddling on the before I get ready for work.

What Porter Doesn’t Like These Days:

• Using the potty at home other than bathtime.
• The mere mention of Pull-ups or underwear.
• Eating anything we order him when we go out to eat with the chips and salsa, celery, french fries, lettuce or cheese being the exceptions.
• Getting read for daycare.

What Porter is Doing:

• We’ve reached this really awkward phase with Porter and my boobs.  In the last week he has started fluffing them like pillows, saying “Ooh, cozy” and then burying his head in my chest.  We’ve talked about how cuddling with mommy is okay, but touching me–or anyone– like that is not okay.  I’ve talked to him and Aaron and has talked to him, but he did it again tonight.  I think we may have to start putting him in Time Out for it…
• Singing a call-and-respond version of Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song (Day-O)”
• Doing a great job using the potty at daycare one to three times a day.
• Consistently uses the potty every night at bathtime.  He actually gets excited to use the potty at that time.
• Singing songs from The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That.
• Cleaning up pretend messes.
• Doing a really well consistently using forks and spoons!

Porter is going to be three years old in only one month’s time.  Let’s start the monthly update before I start crying wondering where my baby went…

 What Porter Is Wearing:

• Size 6 diapers…I got him to wear a pull-up once last weekend (size 2T-3T) which was a major accomplishment!
• Size 2T and 3T in shirts but some brands of 3T are still WAY too big.
• With the exception of one pair or 2T pants, all pants are still 24 month size.  This is strictly due to length.  Most 2T pants are too long on him.
• 2T pajamas still fit him perfectly.
• Now in size 8 shoes.

• Fruit
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Cheese
• Pickles
• Crackers
• Hot dogs
• Salami
• Tacos
• Peanuts
• Sunflower seeds
• He now requests “crunchy chicken”–he no longer will eat chicken without a coating on it.  In fact recently he is barely eating chicken at all.
• Cereal in a bowl with milk and a spoon (this is major!)
• Still won’t touch pizza, macaroni and cheese or grilled cheese
• He pretty much won’t touch anything else.  When do kids outgrow the picky eating phase again…?

What Porter Is Saying:

• Porter is talking non-stop these days and he is saying some incredibly funny things…here is an example:

Me: (after getting Porter out of the bath tub) Look, your fingers are all pruny.

Porter:  My fingers are all wrinkly–just like Daddy!

• He has started adding in “t” sounds to words.  Didn’t is now Didtint.
• Overall he is becoming more expressive and conversational.  Tonight I asked him to pick a book for me to read at bedtime and he walked over to the bookshelf and said, “Oh The Cat in the Hat!  This is perfect!”

What Porter Likes These Days:

• Being outside!
• Thomas and Friends “Rescue on the Rails.”
• Trains, trains, trains.
• Did I mention trains?
• Giving hugs and kisses.
• Going to the car wash.
• Bubbles.
• Talking.  A lot.
• Pretending.

What Porter Doesn’t Like These Days:

• Using the potty at home at any other time besides bath time.
• Pull-ups.
• Underwear.
• Most food we want him to eat.

What Porter Is Doing:

• Being sneaky.  While I was sick last week I caught him using his Elmo step stool to try to reach cookies on the counter, he managed to steal my flash drive from my computer and my notebook for work (both were in his room.)  This was all in that matter of an hour’s time.  Last weekend, I was in the shower for all of seven minutes and I came out to discover him upstairs (totally off-limits without me or Aaron to supervise) rummaging around in my bedroom.
• He is doing really well on the potty at daycare.  There have even been some days during which he stays dry all day and uses the potty successfully each time!  But he had an off week this week and we still aren’t progressing at home (other than the bathtime potty try.)
• He has moments during which he is obstinate and demanding.  I’m seeing glimpses of the “Terrible Threes” I keep hearing so much about…
• Porter likes to help me feed the cats.

What We Are Working On:

• As always, potty potty potty.
• Picking up his own toys/mess.
• I want him to be more involved with dressing himself , but he has no interest.

Since Aaron and I are working almost every weekend in April, we are only going to have a small, small get-together for Porter’s birthday.  A few family friends, snacks and cake.  Then at the end of April we are taking a trip up to NY to see my parents.  Unfortunately with work and the rising gas prices, we really can’t afford to give Porter the big shin-dig he deserves.  But I do think he will definitely have a Thomas the Tank Engine cake!

Porter has been consistently using the potty at daycare once or twice a day, but not so much at home.  About a week and a half ago we decided to take a more structured approach.  This was quite different from our former approach which was ask P if he would like to try sitting on the potty, he would protest and then we would give up.  Obviously, this was a terrible system.

One weekend we decided to take him to the bathroom and encourage him to use the potty at 9am, noon, 3pm (all the times he goes at daycare) and before bathtime.  Porter was not pleased about any of this–especially the daytime visits.  He was rather uncooperative that first weekend.  But we did have some success at the evening try before bath.  All last week he used the potty most nights of the week!

Here is how the evening potty visit goes:

1.) He strips down for bath.  He has no desire to only partially disrobe for potty.  Apparently it is all or nothing.

2.)  He gets a small treat for just sitting on the potty.  So far we have used M&Ms or chocolate chips (these things just happened to be what we had in the house.)  He gets a single M&M/chip just for sitting on the potty without his diaper.

3.)  We use to read Porter a book about the potty while he was trying to go, but recently he requests “privacy” so we leave the bathroom and wait in his room (two steps from the bathroom.)

4.)  He does his business–hooray!

5.)  Then it is appropriate clean up, flushing, hand washing, etc. all while we celebrate his accomplishment.

6.)  He gets a “big treat” for his efforts which is one single Hershey kiss (again, ’cause it is what he have in the house.)

And finally, step 7.) he gets a sticker on his potty chart–which frankly he couldn’t care less about.

But again this weekend, no luck trying the potty during the day while at home.  I thought we were on the right track when Saturday morning he tried to teach one of his stuffed animals to use the potty–even “reading” a potty how-to book to his stuffed doggie in the bathroom.  Sadly, things went down hill from there.  By the afternoon Porter was telling me he was “scared” to use the potty.  I asked him why and he said, “Monsters.”  I asked him where he thought the monsters were and he pointed to the wall.  That only happened once.  The rest of the time it was “I don’t want to sit on the potty!” with a lot of whimpering, whining and fake crying.

Despite those experiences, we are still trying to patiently stick with the routine and rewards and I am very happy with the progress we have made so far.  I am hoping that the success in the evenings will eventually make him more cooperative during the daytime bathroom visits at home.  Mornings have been rough here (Porter doesn’t want to get ready for daycare) so we have yet to incorporate a potty visit after he wakes up.  I’m hoping that in a few weeks time he will actually want to put on a pull-up or big boy underwear, but we’ll see.

I was sneaky and recorded Porter reading  “My Big Boy Potty” to his Magenta doll (from Blue’s Clues) on the potty:

You know, there was a time in my life when Friday night was a big deal.  It meant anxiously counting down the hours, then minutes until class got out or work was over.  Then it was a night full of hanging out with friends, having some beers, maybe seeing a movie or going out to dinner.

Now things are different.  I have bills to pay and mouths to feed so no money to spend all willy-nilly on cocktails and nights on the town.  I’m tired.  And besides I can’t drink like I use to and I’m in bed by 10:30, so even if I could go out I would have one drink and fall asleep in a booth somewhere…did I mention the part about being tired?  And of course the biggest difference: I’m a mother.

So now Friday nights are exciting in a different way.

Last Friday night there was squealing, clapping, dancing, and laughing in our house.  Was it because we were blowing off steam from a long week of work?

No.

It was because Porter pooped in the potty.

Yes for the first time ever, Porter pooped in the potty!  Not only that but at our pre-bathtime potty time he said, “I’m going to poop in the potty.”  And he DID.

DOUBLE.  AWESOME.

There was so much whooping, hollering and clapping that if you were walking past our house you would have probably thought someone inside hit the lottery.  But no, it was just two overly excited parents wildly and loudly praising their son and his momentous achievement.  And though Aaron and I did celebrate our own fantastic parenting skills over a beer after Porter went to bed, Friday nights are quite different now.

And I am very much okay with that!

Just a note: The blog was hacked this week.  Not cool.  My husband and our hosting service have got most things back to normal, but there are still a few kinks to work out.  Please be patient during this process and if you notice anything weird (other than that title in the wrong place in the header above) please let us know.  Thank you and down with internet scum!!!

Now where was I?

Oh yeah, Porter turned 34 months old on Wednesday which means we are just a mere two months away from his third birthday!

What Porter is Wearing:

• Slowly growing out of his 2T shirts.  He needs more 3T shirts STAT.
• Even though he is 34 months, his 24 month pants still fit well.  He wears one pair of pants that are 2T.
• He wears 2T pajamas right now, but he’ll be out of those in about two months.
• Still in size 5 diapers (more on our potty progress later.)
• Just about to bust out of his size 7 shoes.

What Porter is Eating:

• We have entered the “This is your dinner: take it or leave it” phase of parenthood.  We use to give him dinner and then if he refused it we may give him something else later.  I use to worry that he wasn’t eating enough or thought that he would wake up hungry.  I’m passed that now.  He needs to be eating what we are eating.  His pickiness is getting ridiculous.
• He is now refusing to eat chicken and beef.  He pretty much won’t eat any meat that isn’t deli meat, hot dogs or bacon–all of which is loaded with junk.
• Still refuses to eat pizza or macaroni and cheese.  When he was offered a piece of pepperoni pizza recently he said, “Pizza is yucky to me.”
• However, he will gladly eat lettuce of all kinds, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, celery and lots and lots of fruit…
• …except blueberries.  He ate them when he thought they were grapes, but we let it slip that they were something different and now he removes them from his plate.
• He will only eat potatoes in fry or tot form.  This has always been the case.
• Porter now enjoys sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
• He and I both loveChobani Greek yogurt.  
• We also have been sharing bowls of popcorn lately.  Porter finds the popped kernels really fun to look at (and then eat.)

What Porter is Saying:

• Porter seems to have reached the non-stop-talking part of toddlerhood.  This is fascinating to me since I am a fairly quiet person.  He is saying all sorts of funny stuff these days–mostly because his imagination is going full-tilt.
• Porter has started referring to me and Aaron as “you guys.”  Pittsburgh hasn’t taken a hold of him yet since he isn’t calling us “yinz.”
• He likes to call things “cute” or “pretty.”
• He asks us for privacy during diaper changes if both parents are present.  All thanks to this book.
• After he has gone to bed, but has yet to fall asleep he likes to open his bedroom door to tell us things, such as “Mommy, kangaroo is sleeping.”
• Sometimes he will come to the bathroom door while I am in there.  He’ll knock and say, “Mommy, you in there?”  I will respond with yes. “Can I come in?”  I will ask him if he needs to or wants to try to use the potty.  He replies, “No, I just want to watch you.”  Great…
• Everyone is his “best friend” lately.  Even his toys.  ”This is my best friend Toby, the steam tram.”
• Restaurants are now referred to specifically as “food restaurants.”  Not sure why the change…

What Porter Likes These Days:

• “Cooking” in his kitchen
• Books
• Puzzles
• Pretending
• Dancing
• Singing
• Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood

What Porter Doesn’t Like These Days:

• Using the potty at home.

What Porter is Doing:

• Porter is creating long and involved imagined scenarios.  It is fascinating to witness–both by eyes and by ears!  I think I am going to write a post just about his imaginings.
• He is “reading” (and by reading I mean reciting word for word) books to us and to his stuffed animals.
• There has been lots of spontaneous dancing lately.
• Singing the theme song toMister Roger’s Neighborhood.

Can you believe that I haven’t done a monthly update since OCTOBER?!?  With my crazy work schedule, the holidays and then my grandfather’s passing I just let months slip by.  I have so much to tell you about!

P delivers a spirited rendition of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" on Christmas Eve

What Porter is wearing:

• Size 2T shirts, but with a few 24 month shirts still in the mix.
• Mostly size 24 month pants with a few 2T pairs creeping in.
• Still in size 5 diapers.
• Would be in size 2T underwear if he let us put them on him

What Porter is eating:

• He is on a huge vegetable kick right now.  As always, raw vegetables ONLY.  I just can’t believe that a toddler can enjoy salad so much.
• Chicken use to be his favorite, but now it is hit or miss.
• His “on again/off again” relationship with wheat toast with peanut butter is back “on.”
• He still refuses typical toddler favorites such as pizza and macaroni and cheese.
• Spaghetti and meatballs use to be our “go to” food since we knew he loved it.  We were eating it once a week.  Now?  He could take it or leave it.  Depends on his mood.
• He likes olives now.  Green only, please.

What Porter is Saying:

• A lot.  So much, in fact, that a whole post is in the works solely devoted to what he says on a daily basis.

What Porter Likes These Days:

• Cuddling under “cozy blankets.”
• Books books books.
• Thomas Thomas Thomas.
• Timmy Time
• Puzzles!

What Porter Doesn’t Like These Days:

• Wearing his winter hat.  He’d rather wear his hood on his coat.
• Using the potty at home.

What Porter is Doing:

• Imagining.  In the last three months, his imagination has blossomed.  It is just amazing to watch him play and to play with him.  He likes to hide from “monsters” by sitting on his bed with the covers pulled over him.  He isn’t scared of the “monsters” or anything, he just thinks it is fun to hide from them!
• Having a “party”–which means he turns the overhead light on in his room and spins in a circle until he falls down laughing.
• Having a “kangaroo party.”  Same definition as above with the addition of him throwing his stuffed toy rabbit named Kangaroo up in the air.
• Cooking in his play kitchen that Santa brought him.  He only serves water and hot dogs at the moment.  And he keeps his eggs in the dishwasher.
• Playing trains!  Never gets old.
• “Reading” books.
• Hopping around on all fours pretending to be a frog.
• Running.  Always running…
• He can recognize his name and some words–like zoo and school.
• He likes to refer to himself by using his full name–first, middle, last.
• And…HE IS USING THE POTTY AT DAYCARE!!!  Not all day, but one time most days–sometimes more!

Okay first off, do you know how hard it is to talk about the potty to Porter and not accidentally say the word “port-a-potty”?  Ugh.  So difficult.  It honestly never crossed my mind when picking out his name.

But anyway…

Since Porter decided “Hey, this potty thing isn’t so bad!” every day has been different.  We haven’t pushed him; we’ve let him lead when, where and how long he wants to practice on his potty.  That means some days he doesn’t even look twice at the potty and that’s okay.  During the week we are only with him for an hour in the morning and then a few hours after daycare.  That leaves little time to really work with him on the potty.  However this past weekend, Porter wanted to sit and hang out on the potty whenever we were home.  He peed in the potty THREE TIMES IN ONE DAY on Saturday!

Needless to say we are very proud of Porter’s progress, but there have been a few things we’re getting use to.  Porter now likes to drop his pants, take off his diaper and sit on the potty for long periods of time.  He carries the potty around the house with him, diaperless, pants around his ankles, so he can do activities in other rooms.  He bellies up to his train table while on his potty.  He wanted to watch Daddy work on putting his new dresser together, so Porter set up shop in the dining room.  This potty migration means that Porter isn’t always situated on the potty when he “goes.”

Accidents happen.

But for the most part, things are progressing.  Onward and upward!  Or outward…?

For months I have been fretting over Porter’s lack of interest in the potty.  Pretty much every parent I know as well as his teachers at daycare told me not to worry, he is still young and there is still lots of time for him to become interested in being diaper-free.  We noticed that on his notes from daycare this week Porter was at least sitting on the potty four times a day most days of the week.  This was a change from two to three times on the potty three times a week.  Aaron and I were glad that his trips to the potty, even without “remnants” left behind, were growing in frequency.

Today I geared up to paint our bathroom.  The landlords had painted it a dark blue-green, which in my opinion didn’t go well with the 1970s mustard yellow tile on half the walls and floor.  I was happy to finally have the time to change it.  I cleared the small bathroom of its contents which means that Porter’s potty chair went in Porter’s room.  Porter’s potty had been in his room before, so I thought that he’d just sort of ignore it like he has been doing.

SO NOT THE CASE!

He walked right over to the potty and sat on it.  Something he hasn’t done at home IN MONTHS!

Aaron and I both exploded into applause and cheers.  There were hugs, kisses and lots of high-fives.  Porter LOVED the attention, so he sat on the potty again.  He got the same, very enthusiastic reaction.

And just like that, it happened.  Porter wanted to get to know the potty!

In the beginning of the afternoon, Porter was just sitting on the potty with his pants on.  But as the afternoon progressed, Aaron slowly worked with Porter and as I primed the bathroom (twice, ugh.)  Through lots of encouragement and songs made up on the spot, Aaron managed to teach Porter how to drop his pants then sit on the potty.  At one point as a show of solidarity, we all were pantless in Porter’s room at Porter’s request.

That’s what family is all about, right?  Supporting each other.  Even without pants.

We read a lot of book while he was on the potty, including The Big Boy Potty by Joanna Cole which Porter really, really likes.  It really is the perfect book for him right now.

Porter just couldn’t get enough of the potty and because he was so interested–for the first time EVER–we didn’t want to stop encouraging his behavior.  While I was still priming the bathroom, Aaron eventually got Porter to sit on the potty without a diaper.  This was a huge step for us.  There was lots and lots of cheering!

Then things took a turn we didn’t expect.

Now that Porter knew how and was encouraged to take his diaper off, he didn’t want to keep a diaper on.  He didn’t want underpants either.  We tried a swim diaper (because it was the closest thing to a pull-up we had) but that only confused him.  ”Swim trunks on?” he said.  As a result of no diaper, we did have one accident.  No pee in the potty though.  Later in the afternoon he peed in his diaper while sitting on the potty, but told us right afterward.

At one point in the afternoon he decided that he wanted to sit on the potty in the kitchen, so he dragged it from his room down the hall and planted the potty in the middle of the kitchen floor.  He sat there for quite some time.  He could have put the potty on the back porch for all we cared–we were just SO HAPPY that Porter was finally warming up to the potty!

We aren’t sure if today was a fluke or if Porter has finally entered this stage of Toddlerhood–but either way, it is rather exciting.  And we are praying that he keeps his pants and diaper on through the night!

I have to give a huge thank you to Aaron who did a great job both encouraging and entertaining Porter today–even though he was sick.  Thank you!  You did such a great job!

Have any good potty training advice or stories to share?  We’d love to hear it!

Saturday Porter officially turned two and a half years old.  Aaron and I had the following exchange while out to dinner that night.

Me: Can you believe that he is two and a half already?!  We’re halfway to three!

Aaron: We’re half way to five!

Me: jaw hits floor

And scene.

What Porter is Wearing:

• Finally graduated to size 5 diapers!
• Finally has officially outgrown the remaining pairs of 18 month size pants!
• A few 24 month and 2T shirts are getting a little small, but it really depends on the brand.

• He actually ate cantaloupe this month!
• Still completely uninterested in typical toddler favorites like pizza and macaroni and cheese.
• Still loves his tacos and guacamole.

With each passing month, our baby is evolving into a little boy.

What Porter is Wearing:

• Still in size 4 diapers.
• Just graduated to size 7 sneakers.
• Shirts range from size 24 months through 3T (depends on the brand.)
• Size 24 months in pants.
• His size 24 months hoodies still fit, but he’ll probably outgrow them before we get to winter.