Joshua's Therapy

Joshua had his new therapist come to the house today. Ironically, we knew her before as she lives on the street behind us, and is very good friends with some good friends of ours, the Deludes, (aka: a Ruffing)

Her name is Jen, and Josh clicked with her right away. In watching the way he was interacting I began to notice something. He had changed in the two weeks since he'd seen the other therapist. Jen hadn't seen Josh before, but from reading through his info. made note of the change as well. His vestibular motor problems seemed to have "caught up" to where he should be for his age. I told her we had been doing more "work" with him with regards to getting him on the swing outside, using the trampoline inside, and giving him some time in the kidney bean box we have in our living room. Mike has also been doing more physical rough housing with Josh like putting him up in the air, and swinging him around...a reason why Mike himself is probably still in PT! :)

Jen also told us that it could account for his more aggressive, and temperamental behaviors over the past few weeks. Sometimes when one area of a child's senses are changing and growing, other areas become "stressed", causing new behaviors that can be temporary...as long as we stay on top of it. Although it's been tough to go through, I was glad to hear of this possibility. He HAS been very aggressive. Bekah, Ethan and I have been taking the brunt of it...usually hitting, kicking, biting, and body slamming. Bekah is going to be a, (as a friend of mine put it), pretty little girl you don't want to mess with! :) Heheheh...watch out boys!

In the meantime we have some more tricks up our sleeves to help him with this growing adjustment that is going on in his body. We look forward to more whistles, blowing straws and flutes to help develop his lung strength and facial muscles, as well as more of the aggressive behavior as we try to help him through all this. At least for know, Jen feels fairly confident that we are looking at his issues being Sensory Integration in nature. We both feel that developmentally he will catch up quickly, which will help with regards to teaching him some coping skills for the sensory issues he does have. It does mean that come July 4th, when he turns 3, we will be looking for outside therapy's in the areas of OT and speech, but since those are services Ethan is already receiving, we hope to get Joshua in to see the same ones that see Ethan.

Amara Rose

I'd like to introduce my newest niece...Amara Rose Yvette Karlosky! She was born today at CMC, very quickly, at 1:11pm...only 41 minutes after Sherry's water broke!!! She weighs in at 7lbs. 4.5oz and is 19 1/2 inches long. She has long black hair...more than Rebekah does now!

Sherry was amazing. She's been in labor for several days, and at her appt. on Friday was told she was 2 1/2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. When she called me this morning I could tell from her voice that this was it. She came over with Jack and labored for a little while longer, but the contractions were coming fast and furious. I brought her over to CMC around 11am, where her friend Kathy met her, and Mark came from work about 20 min. later. I then made it back over there (after finding out that she was 6cm and 100% effaced), with a quick call to Mike to come home and take care of the kiddos. Good timing, I made it right around 12:30 as they were moving her back to the bed...and then she was here! It was amazing.

Welcome to the world little girl!

The Past Few Days...

...have been very interesting!

My poor boy Ethan had a difficult week last week. I was on the phone with the docs. most of the week trying to figure out how to help him with his stomach pain and lack of BM's. We ended up having an x-ray of his abdomen done and found out that he was about 3/4 of the way constipated... right down into his rectum. (graphic I know...but it is what it is) So, we had a choice, enema or 2-3 days of increased dosage of his laxative. The enema would be quick and uncomfortable, the laxative would be slow, crampy, gassy, and uncomfortable. We bribed Ethan with a Popsicle and did the first of two enemas on Thursday. It didn't clear him out as much as we'd hoped, so the second enema came on Friday...that one worked...boy did it ever. Poor kid! On, Saturday night, he started eating again. So far we've had two good days of eating, but tonight we were back to belly pain, and no BM at all. Still waiting for the appt. for his endoscopy...needless to say I'm getting impatient.

During all of this, however, Ethan remains a trooper. Thursday was such a beautiful day, that following his enema, I put a diaper on him just in case, and we went outside to enjoy the sun. I was hoping that the running around would help the medicine along a bit.

It was Rebekah's first time outside using her new skill of walking. She took to it like she'd been doing it the whole time. In fact, she joined the boys in throwing, jumping into, and destroying my leaf pile. They were all absolutely filthy when it was time to go in, which was awesome.

On Friday, we had a field trip. The homeschooling group I am a part of does organized field trips here and there. This one was to The Butterfly Place down in Westford MA. Ethan was very excited as he is a big fan of a video we have by Max Lucado called Hermie. It's about a very common caterpillar that asks God why he isn't special like other caterpillars. God always tells Hermie that He isn't finished with him yet. It's a great story, and Ethan really likes it when Hermie becomes a beautiful butterfly. With that in mind, he couldn't wait to "meet" Hermie and his pal Wormie.

Until we got there...

I've never had Ethan listen to me so intently...don't touch anything and stay next to me...and HE DID! He was curiously afraid. He wanted to see and be near everything, but he was afraid of what would happen should a butterfly land on him. For those of you who've never been to such a place...it's an atrium filled with beautiful plants and flowers, and LOTS of butterflies flying around in every direction. It is truly an awesome sight. If you think Ethan was afraid, check out Joshua...sheer terror. I've never seen him so truly terrified. He doesn't like anything in his face, so for him the thought of one of those unpredictable flying "things" coming anywhere near him sent him into a panic. Thankfully, they have bench's in there to sit on, and because they are away from the main source of plants and flowers, the butterflies don't come over too much. Of course, who was the one kid they kept trying to land on...??? So, I just sat down and held his hand and rubbed his leg, and calmed down and did fine, unless one came to close. I couldn't take him out of the stroller while we are in there because they have strict rules about children under 3 being in a stroller at all times. Towards the end, both he and Ethan were doing better, but still wary of those beautiful, flying creatures.

Then you have Rebekah...pointing, laughing, and say "butta, butta, butta" every time one would get close to her. She loved it!

We had a picnic there afterwards, and then bought the kiddos their very own caterpillars to watch grow into beautiful butterfly's. They are these tiny little things, and require very little care. Every morning the boys look forward to saying hello to their new little creatures. Can you guess what they named them....???? That's right...Hermie and Wormie.

Tidbits

It is with mixed emotion that I tell you my baby girl is growing up! She officially weaned herself a week ago today. All of my kids have weaned themselves...Ethan was the week of his first birthday, and Joshua was 11 mos. old. So, she did nurse the longest at a little over 15 mos. old. Still, it's bittersweet because although I won't miss the biting down when she was teething, or the waking in the middle of the night for a little "snack"...I will miss that closeness that comes with nursing. Yes, I know I have another one on the way, but each one has its own special way of nursing. Another milestone reached, and even more independence gained...by both of us! :)

This young man is proving to be our medical anomaly. Even Dr. Hofley has said that she wants to "get to the bottom of Ethan". We feel like it's all happening again, like it did two years ago. There was a period of about 3 weeks between waiting for the endoscopy and then waiting for the diagnosis, that were just hell. He wouldn't eat, drink, or sleep well. Now, he's doing it all again. It's like pulling teeth to get him to finish the smallest amount of food, or even to drink a little bit of water. We've even made sure to make his absolute favorites...tacos, chicken nuggets and french fries, omelets, but he just won't finish any of it. He wants to sleep, or lay down most of the day...but still has his spurts of energy. We've increased his Prevacid dose to see if it helps with the belly ache he complains about every time he sits down to a meal. We're just waiting on the phone call to tell us when his scope is scheduled so we can get on with some possible answers. Please pray for him, and us as we make our way through this...again!

And then there is Joshua! We are looking at his at-home therapy to start next week. We've been trying some of the suggestions made to us on how to "wake up" his mouth...and he will have none of it. We even purchased a John Deere cornstalk teether that vibrates when you bite down...another suggestion from the therapist...and he did it...once. He won't bite down on it again. He makes everyone else do it, but other than that, he's perfectly happy just playing with it. They also wanted us to do a hearing test to rule it out as a possibility for his speech delay...he passed it with flying colors. It was done yesterday at his pedi. office. Basically it's the same one they do on newborns. It just tells you whether or not any air is getting in and bouncing off the ear drum. If the child passes then you know that the canal is clear of fluid build up which can cause garbled hearing among other things. Other than that, Josh is his same ornery, noisy self that we know and love!!

Head Spinning

The boys had their 3 month checkup with Dr. Hofley today. She is there GI doc, and has done weight and height checks on them for quite some time now. She has been an incredible source of information and support.

So, today, we received some awesome news...and some not so awesome news.

Joshua is officially thriving!! He gained a little over two pounds, and grew just about an inch!! He actually looks a little chubby! :) She said in the past three months he has flown up to the 5th% for weight, and overall is doing exceptionally well. It's safe to say that, from a GI point of view, Joshua is finally okay!! She still wants to check his weight every 3 months to make sure that this is a curve that he will still on...but yipppeee! He is also scheduled to have a bone density test done to make sure that during the time of any malabsorption he may have had, it hasn't effected his bone density. From our lecture on Friday night, we learned that it should be done 6-12 months after a gluten free diet has begun and health has returned.

The head spinning part, unfortunately, is with Ethan. He is officially "failure to thrive"...again! He hasn't gained even an ounce in the last 3 months, nor has he really grown in height. She is concerned because with Joshua responding so well to the diet changes, Ethan should have had even slight improvement over the last few months. Some recent studies have talked about the possibility of refractory Celiac Disease, as well as something we learned on Friday night which has to do with a bacterial overgrowth in the intestines. Something else she has seen in children just like Ethan, is eczema up and down the lining of the esophagus, and digestive tract. Needless to say, all of this means Ethan needs another endoscopy. They want to see where the health of his intestines stands, as well as check out what kind of enzymes he has in his gut. In the meantime we are to put him on a probiotic, and use Duocal on everything he eats and drinks. He had some blood work today to check on the levels of the fat soluble vitamins, A, D, and E. What a trooper...he was excited to see the blood fill up the tubes...even if it meant a little pinch first! My brave little guy!

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Belated of course. Being the excellent husband that I am I failed to do anything special for me wif of 7+ years. Once again when she said she did not want anything - I took her at her word. Silly husband, so I screwed it up. So here I am apologizing.

My lovely wife was 33 yesterday. A mother of 3 soon to be 4 as you probably figured out by the post below this one. She works tiredly (not so much tirelessly these days being preggers and all!) raising our kids. If any of you reading this knew me when I was that tender age of 5, just think of 2 of me running around. Plus a spectator egging them on. Our little sweet Rebekah is learning fast. She bring them to the doctors, play dates and home schools. Her days are busier than mine!

Through all of the chaos she still has time to run our Celiac support group plus a Bible Study. No wonder she sleeps in until 7:00 on the weekend!

She is an amazing mother, friend and wife! (and baby oven) So happy belated birthday sweetie!

Love ya!
.me

In a Heartbeat

We heard it...the wonderfully rhythmic sound of the next little Ouellette's heart pounding frantically inside of me.

On Friday, I had my first midwife visit. I am 13 weeks today, and they usually don't need to see you until the end of your first trimester, beginning of your second. With the last three pregnancies I have been in for an early ultrasound, or blood work or checkup of some sort since my miscarriage in 2004. I'm pretty sure I waited this long with Ethan, but that was sooo long ago, I honestly don't remember. So, it was nice to finally be "seen" by the midwife and to hear that wonderful heartbeat.

Still, the moment was bittersweet as I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath over the past couple of weeks, until a good friend of mine found out she had miscarried her baby. It was then I realized what had been bothering me...the fear of miscarrying again. For all the joy that hearing that heartbeat brings, you can't imagine the sorrow and loss of not hearing that heartbeat, unless, like so many of my friends, you've been through it.

Take a moment and say a prayer for all of those tiny hearts that have begun to beat today, that they may continue to grow in health. But, please, take the time to say a prayer for all of those whose hearts stopped beating so soon.

Winter/Spring Flip

This is how my kitchen looked yesterday, as I attempted to put away winter coats, hats, boots, and slippers.

This is how my boys looked as I was pulling out and trying on various spring and summer time jackets, sneakers, sandals, and hats.

I remember dreading this time of year when I was a child. I hated trying everything on, and finding out my favorite sweater no longer fit me, but fit one of my younger sisters. It took ALL day. Well, nothing has changed. I still don't enjoy it. Especially since I'm now on the buying end of things. Fortunately for us, our children don't grow very fast, but the many friends, and relatives, and in some cases very giving strangers' kids do...so we have LOTS of hand-me-downs. LOVE THAT!! Unfortunately, I still have all of their clothes to do. If you don't hear from me for awhile, I may be buried under a large mountain of kids clothes, and unable to move. Gotta love the change of seasons! :)

Happy Easter!

Easter was celebrated a little differently at our house this year. When I say different, I mean due to some food issues...we didn't do a lot of stuff we did last year.

First of all there was breakfast. I think that if I were a first time mother, I might be appalled at the thought of what it was that these kiddos ate for breakfast. But since I'm not, and we have so many limitations now in their diets, we figured it wouldn't kill them to break the rules when it comes to a "traditional breakfast".

Ahhh...breakfast of champions!

Yes, that would be a plate with a purple bunny Peep, some Starburst Jelly Beans, and yes, an incredibly delicious chocolate covered donut. Mmmmmm....yummy! Did I mention that they also had some slices of ham immediately following the sugar breakfast? And, before we left for church, I did make sure their belly's were full of bananas and apples, so if you are the candy patrol...back off! :)

We traveled to my brother-in-laws house for dinner this year as it is the last holiday we will be spending with them before they move to Ireland for at least 2 years! So, we did like we did for Thanksgiving, and just made our entire dinner before we went over, and just had to warm it up and eat. It works out so much easier, because I don't have to question everyone about everything they did to their food, before my children can consume it.

All-in-all, it was a very tiring, but truly wonderful Easter for us. Ethan is going to have a difficult time when his cousins and Aunt and Uncle leave the country, so hopefully we will have this memory to carry him through a little while.

(We're finding Ethan to be the more difficult one to photograph now!)

IFSP

For those of you who aren't familiar with Early Intervention (EI), IFSP stands for Individualized Family Support Plan...and we now have one for Joshua.

Upon a recommendation from Ethan's OT, as well as our own observations, we decided to have Joshua evaluated for sensory issues and developmental delays. He will be 3 yrs. old in July, so as far as EI goes, we don't have a lot of time. However, after going through what we have with Ethan, the earlier when can intervene the better it will be for Joshua in the long run.

It was hard for us to decide to have him evaluated because we just didn't want to "jump the gun" every time one of kids seems to have an issue. Since Ethan's development was anything but typical it has been hard for us to determine whether or not Josh's development was right on track or a little behind. Mostly because in so many ways the issues that Josh has are completely opposite of what Ethan had.

For example, Ethan was talking quite clearly and "intelligently" before he was 2 years old. Joshua is really difficult to understand by just about everyone else, except me...and even then, I struggle with understanding what it is he is trying to communicate to me. Ethan has slept through the night since he was 4 mos. old, Joshua hasn't slept through the night since the day he was born...(okay, maybe 5-6 times since then!) Ethan has/had many issues with upper arm strength, Joshua has issues with lower leg/foot strength. It took him much longer to walk, and still he's just gained confidence in doing some more jumping and running...inside.

That's just a few...and I know that many people may look at it saying..."well not all kids are the same"...but when you are in a family that has experience with sensory and developmental issues, it's never far from the realm of possibility that other children may have similar issues.

We saw Ethan's neurologist last week, and she's been following him because she is doing research in the area of connections between gluten and neurological problems. She found Ethan's case intriguing and wasn't surprised that we were having Josh evaluated as she pointed out his speech delay before I said anything. She also said she wasn't surprised because Josh had been on gluten for the first 10 months of his life, and it may have caused enough of an upset in his digestive system to throw off some of his neurological developmental. Obviously, not to the extent of his brother who went three years on gluten!

So, now we have a plan written up to help work on Joshua's speech issues, and motor planning. They feel that his speech issues may have to deal with low oral sensory input...which would explain the pocketing of food, over stuffing his mouth and then not swallowing or spitting it out, as well as his speech. As for the motor planning...they believe he has it all up in his head, he just can't make the smaller muscles in his body do what his brain is telling them to do. In testing him, he flew through the tests up to 24 mos. old. But once they added in another step to bring him up to a 24-30 month old, he started to fail the testing...he is 32 mos. old. Again, not far off...but enough that if we don't intervene early (see Early Intervention), that testing gap may get bigger. They also noticed he has low to normal muscle tone in his lower leg and feet muscles. This may explain why he walks and stands toed in all the time...it could also explain why it has taken him longer to achieve some climbing, jumping, and walking milestones.

Besides all that, they will be looking into some sensory issues like tactile and vestibular motor problems. After a few weeks of therapy they are hoping to give us a better picture of exactly where he stands...is it developmental...is it sensory...is it something else...or is it all of the above. At least, for now, thanks to EI, they come to us to do his therapy. Currently, Ethan goes out on Monday for OT, Tuesday for Speech Therapy, and Saturday for a Social and Communication Class. I am ever grateful, at least for a little while, that they will be coming to me.

As Requested...

I was asked today to post some more video of the kids doing stuff...more specifically, Rebekah walking. I think some of her "Aunties", (more specifically Jaime), enjoy watching their little girl growing up! So, enjoy!

First Quarter Review

Yippeeee!! We successfully completed the first quarter of Kindergarten! Ethan did excellent. I submitted his grades and other than a B in Science/Health and Art, he had all A's. Pretty simple grading system really, and I'm so proud of his success. It took us 16 weeks to complete the 10 week lesson plans, but keep in mind we had a week for potty training, Christmas, New Year's, as well as various sick and snow days. All in all, not a bad timeline.

His new schoolroom is working out well also. One of Mike's coworkers donated the old wooden school desk, and Ethan's Tripp Trapp chair fits perfectly. He loves to store all of his "scissor work" inside the cubby of the desk!

We now look forward to starting the second quarter work next week. I'd like to finish up before the summer even though I know Ethan may want to continue to do his schoolwork. I'm hoping that once we get rid of the snow, and start seeing some warm weather and ground, he may change his mind about sitting at his desk to learn his numbers and letters! :) We have plenty of time though because he technically doesn't begin Kindergarten until September and Seton gives you up to 2 years to complete the program anyway. By the time we get through everything it should time out just right for him to begin 1st grade in September of next year if not sooner.

Notice Anything Different...??

Pictures...As Promised

Emma has an overnight!

The Potty Training Prize...a farm tractor (shocked I know!)

This little girl is crazy about her beans!

All bundled up for a snow day...nice and warm.

My nephew Jack...on guard!

Joshua...lounging...it's a lot of work walking around in that suit.

See...I think we found E.T.!

"The Snow Boyz"

Potty Training Diary...Catch Up

The reason I haven't posted in a few days isn't because of potty training. Nope...not at all. Actually, it's because the "morning" sickness I've been having has been down right nasty. To the point where I'm having some difficulty being vertical for too long!! Thank God for my husband. He's been great!! Since he's been home, I've been able to take advantage of some much needed rest. In fact, on Thursday I slept for a large part of the day. The only time I don't feel nauseous is when I'm laying down or asleep. Other than that, it pretty much feels like I'm coming down with the flu every minute of every day. To make it even worse, I'm starving! All I want however is red meat, fruits and vegetables. Nothing too salty. My only other craving has been peanut butter cups...by the hand fulls...can't seem to get enough. Anyway, it's been interesting. Again, thankfully, my Mike has been absolutely awesome with everything!!

As for the potty training...it has gone much better than we anticipated. Ethan has just been awesome about it. He absolutely refuses to be in a diaper now, and for the first time on Wednesday, he actually did a BM. I gave him three choices...big toilet, little potty, or the diaper. He flat out refused the diaper, but was struggling with the big toilet. So, I told him to try using the little potty. It worked. I think it was a matter of body positioning. He's still pretty small, and his knees and feet don't really have any where to go on the big toilet to help him out. Now, he's been using the big toilet for urinating, and the little potty for BM.

Mike took him out on Wednesday, so we put a pull up on him. He came home dry! We were amazed. Not so amazed that we will be putting him in the car without a pull up on quite yet, because he does tend to fall asleep in the car and I know he can't hold it while he's sleeping.

Josh has no interest at all. Not even for choc. chips. That's okay...I think he'll change his mind in a few months...he's not quite three, and I'm not worried about him right now. It's actually easier for me to keep track of one "underwear boy", right now rather than two.

All-in-all...we will call this week a success. I know we will still have our ups and downs, but it's great to see my little guy really grow up and make some progress this week. He's had a lot of struggles with everything that is bathroom/diaper related that this is long overdue.

I'll post some pictures later...must go eat the red meat that my hunter-gather brought home...from Outback...mmmm

In Other News...

Rebekah has been doing an incredible job with walking. She has done it much sooner than her brothers, (Ethan was 15 mos. and Joshua was 16 mos) as she is not quite 14 months old. She's been taking a few steps since Valentine's Day, but this past week has just started to take off. She should be walking all over her brother's in no time...they'd better watch out, she is a force to be reckon with.

The Potty Training Diary...Day 3

Another great day!! Ethan is doing really well, despite a couple of accidents he had today. Both accidents were more a result of mommy and daddy not paying attention to time and place, rather than Ethan just not going. So, that's good news. He LOVES wearing his cute little dinosaur underwear. He has some Thomas, Cars, and Spider Man underwear but the spidy ones chafe him on the inner thigh. We'll see how the others do after a good washing.

However, if he's focused on an activity...like using his play dough...he won't think to stop and take a break in the bathroom. Which is what happened today. It taught Mike and I that we need to make sure he's used the bathroom before such activities, as well as give him a 15-20 min. bathroom check during his activity.

Unfortunately, we haven't had another successful BM since Sunday afternoon. We are getting concerned about him holding it for so long, because he does constipate easily. We've even offered him the "diaper-out" like the behaviourist suggested, so that he can at least go like he did before in the bathroom. But, he actually refuses to go back into diapers...which is great...but he still needs to go to the bathroom. So, we are going to up his laxative dose tomorrow and see if that helps to move things along!

As for Josh...hehehehe...he's not doing so well. He yells at me when I remind him it's time to use the potty, and doesn't like being disturbed from his playtime now. I'd say the novelty has worn off for him. However, we are keeping him in pull ups during the day, so that if he asks to use it, we can let him try. Who knows, maybe he'll show more interest once Ethan is doing a more regular job.

The Potty Training Diary...Day 2

Sooo, potty training day number 2 was...to say the least...interesting. I bet no one can guess just how interesting. No matter how many of you have been through this potty training thing, I'm willing to bet none of you have dealt with what we had to deal with today!!! Pretty confident, hun? Let me tell you why...

First a little back story here...we've been having some "issues" with our toilet for the past couple of months. It's been slow to flush, and would occasionally, (1-3 times a month) get clogged up...usually over nothing really. I figured that maybe one of my little angels had flushed some paper, or cloth or something, and eventually it would dissolve and pass through. Well, on Saturday we had the equivalent of Mount St. Helens in our bathroom. Okay, minus the exploding ash, and hot lava...but still quite an overflow of liquid pouring out of our toilet. Needless to say, I called Heritage to come out and take a look. No problem, they came first thing this morning.

After talking to the plumber regarding what was wrong with our 41 year old toilet, and trying a few cheaper options with no luck, we had the pleasure of replacing our toilet...this morning...while potty training...with a very nauseous mommy (icky morning sickness)...and relatives visiting..(thankfully it was only Lee Anne and Pete, but still). Did I mention it is our ONLY toilet...besides the little kid potty!!! Good times, good times.

Amazingly, Ethan did quite well through it all. Unfortunately, we've discovered, that he's too tall for the little potty, and whenever he'd try to pee on it, it would just end up all over the floor. He was also quite attached to the old toilet, (oddly enough since he rarely used it!) and had a difficult time dealing with it being hauled off to that special toilet trash heap. Once the new toilet was installed it took everything in him not to push the plumber out of the way so he could flush it and watch the new way the water would go down the hole. At least it kept him interested in using it...which he did about 50 times today. Probably a good thing we replaced the toilet. I'm not sure it would have been able to keep up with our kids. We've already replaced the innards to that toilet about 3 or 4 times since we've lived here...it would have never survived.

Josh on the other hand managed to fill his underwear twice, completely, while we were distracted by either the plumber, the visitors leaving, or anything else that took our eyes off his little butt for 10 seconds!! So, he was placed into some pull ups...much to his dismay. (He loves his underwear) We were done and it wasn't even noon time!!

We'll see what tomorrow brings...but it can't be worse than having to replace the one toilet in the house...can it???

The Potty Training Diary

We officially began our week long effort of training our two boys on using the potty. And boy are we in for it!! We decided to start today after church, because I knew we were going to go through a "novelty" stage of using the toilet...and boy did we ever. I've never seen so much activity in our tiny little bathroom before. And for those of you who have been to our house, you know how very tiny our ONE little bathroom is!

Let me tell you, I was tempted to break out the camera. We have a little potty, and of course the regular toilet with one of those little seats on it. (Our boys have very tiny bum-bums!) At one point, Ethan was on the big one, Josh was on the little one, and I was sitting on the floor trying to keep Rebekah out! (She is very unhappy that she isn't part of the "party in the bathroom"!) Despite the crowd in the bathroom, we had decent success today. Of course getting a handful of mini choc. chips afterwards never hurts your chances at success. (We can't do M&M's because they have dairy in them...so we found these mini chips by Enjoy Life that are dairy, soy, gluten, and nut free...and VERY tasty!) For the very first time today, Ethan actually did a BM on the toilet. He has NEVER had success with this. Maybe all the prep we did before hand actually paid off. He has been awesome at going into the bathroom every single time he needed to go, even though he was still going in his diaper. Even Josh, did pretty well. A couple of times we caught him standing with his little legs crossed saying..."oh-oh, water"...as it drips down his little leg.

I'm not sure what they were happiest about: being virtually naked from the waist down...except for those cute little boy underwear; being allowed to eat handfuls of choc. chips at every successful use of the toilet; or being able to sit down on one of the toilets and be cheered on to do what they needed to do!

So, for the next week, I will try to post the good, the bad, and the ugly of our potty training event, praying that we will have at least one diaper less child when all is said and done. And I know, that we will have our setbacks, etc....but it will be a really great start in the right direction!

Cooperation

About 30 seconds of playtime peace...