We are all in recovery mode after our busy busy day yesterday! We were up a little too late so Michelle & I were super sleepy this morning even though the babies did pretty well last night (i.e. Isaiah & Avery were each only up once). Michelle offhandedly said she was going to nap when the babies did but I think she was still shocked when I actually crawled into bed after putting Avery down and she happily joined me for a nice little morning snooze. It was lovely!
There was a flurry of activity that was NOT relaxing after everyone was up from the morning nap & had already nursed. We were partway through changing diapers when I went to dump out the potty. Unfortunately it wasn't until after I'd dumped a big load of poop in that I remebered that that toilet was clogged. It didn't look too bad so I tried to flush, which turned out to be a bad idea as the bowl rapidly filled with poopy water and proceeded to overflow. Michelle came hustling in with a naked Avery & some towels so I could clean up the mess and while we were at it we mopped the entryway where Humphrey peed last night. He never does that, but we had him in our bedroom most of the afternoon/early evening because it was just too much to manage him & the babies at the party. And as we were filling the little pool for the party Humhrey was having a blast attacking the water from the hose & probably drank a lot more than usual! Check out this video of his attack the water game!
Anyway, back to our relaxing Saturday! We all had an easy lunch of leftovers from yesterday's party and then went outside to hang out in the grass. (Such a great sensory experience for the babies!) and Michelle's second great idea of the day was to bring out iced coffee and leftover cupcakes for us while the babies played!
mmmm good
playing outside
working hard, but having fun
I grabbed some bolted cilantro from the garden or the babies to play with/eat and they had fun with that. Ellie was determined to figure how the new sippy cup worked. They also really enjoyed watching Humphrey as usual. And Avery does more than watch him as you can see!
mmmm
lookin' good Avery!
sooo close
fun with mama
my silly little goose grabbing for the phone!
"What?! I am being gentle!!" (And Humphrey's being sooooo good!)
And then Avery takes it to the next level!
Avery is funny because she doesn't like the way the grass feels on her belly when she tries to army crawl so she is really trying to crawl on all fours in the grass.
The babies seem to be settling into the two nap schedule a little better now so it's easier to make it to the naps without getting crabby and have finally started extending their classic 45 minute naps on a more regular basis. This just generally makes the day flow better and feel a little easier.
"relax?! what does that mean again? and do you think it'd be alright if I just pull to stand on this armrest?!"
"I'm such a big boy!!"
"Is this the right smile for the cheesy 'little baby in a big chair' picture you're going for Mommy?!"
After the afternoon nap we went for a short walk along a river just a few miles from our house. It was nice and relaxing until the last 100 yards or so when Avery screamed her head off because she was fighting a catnap! What's not to love about days like this!
I'm well aware that many of you will, upon reading the first part of this post, think that we have finally lost our minds, but keep reading! I've honestly been putting off writing this post because of the "you're nuts" reaction, but here goes!
A little over two months ago Michelle and I were noticing that practically every time we took Avery's diaper off she peed. So one day I decided to bust out the little potty chair. At first I just put Avery on immediately after taking her diaper. After a day or two and a few successes I decided to just start putting them all on whenever I did diaper changes. I even came up with a little potty song to help entertain them and give a consistent little song they could associate with being on the potty. At first Avery was the only one who ever went in the potty, then Ellie started catching on, and a couple weeks ago it started to click for Isaiah. Now we give them an opportunity at every diaper change and when we notice that they're trying to poop, which often seems to happen during dinner and the bedtime routine!
It's a potty party for Ellie!
Sometimes all three will pee or poop in the potty at one diaper change and sometimes no one goes, which is totally fine. It's hard for me to estimate how often they go in the potty, but I'd guesstimate it's somewhere around 50-60% of opportunities. But every time someone actually poops on the potty it's one less poopy diaper I have to change and that makes me happy! And although I have no grand illusions of being out of diapers any time soon, I figure this has to be helpful. If nothing else the potty will not be a scary unfamiliar thing when official potty training time comes. Sometimes we use the "big kid" potty in a pinch so that will be familiar too.
"don't drop me mom!!"
So, feel free to think we're crazy, I'm over it. I'm pretty sure my parents thought we were nuts for doing this until they came to visit for a couple of weeks and actually saw how often they actually go. I'm also sure that just reading this post means that both of them now have our little "potty party" song stuck in their heads, which they undoubtedly thrilled about! =)
The other bonus about the potty time is that it forces us to pause and just be with each kiddo one on one for a couple minutes at a time. They will often reach for our faces or just chat with us. After we sing the potty song we just hang out with them for a minute or two chatting and being silly with them. (If they are actually pooping we hang out for quite a while! I've rushed the process a couple of times and been given a clear message that they weren't finished when they continued pooping on the changing table!) And really, it's kind of nice to just have that little bit of time to just connect in the midst of our busy busy days.
