Potty Training #2 - and photos of my lovely boy-beans!

Soooo tomorrow is the 14th (halfway through September already?!?! How on earth?!!). And Matthew's birthday is June 14th. He's 3 and a quarter tomorrow. And you know what kind of milestone that is for our boys? That's right. No more nappies, starting tomorrow! Yipes. I'm a teensy bit nervous, because I DO SO HATE potty training! But we wait till they're 3 and a quarter after I read this beautiful little nugget of advice on a large family blog once, before Arthur was even 3. I can't even remember which blog it was, as I was blog-hopping at the time, but anyway this lady said that with her BOYS, she always waits till they're that age and then it's very quick and easy. She does not recommend trying it earlier with boys. So, that's what we did with Arthur (having not had great success when he was 2 - we really didn't give it a good "go" though, at that age), and he did the entire thing completely by himself in 5 days. He had no accidents after that, and very few during the 5 days actually. I didn't have to make any effort at all as far as "training" went. On day one I told him the rules - you know, tell Mummy if you need to do a wee or a poo, sit on the potty and make sure you're pointing in the right direction, etc! Not much else. And he did it fine. I had no intention of trying him at night without nappies for a good while (especially with Neil and his siblings all wetting at night until their TEENS - it's a family history for them in previous generations too), but 2 weeks later he asked if he could try going to bed without a nappy. I was dubious (!) but I let him try, and he has been dry day and night ever since.

So it was a definite success trying that method with Arthur. I am sooooooooo hoping it will be just as straightforward with Matthew!

We have talked to him about it today, and mentioned it a lot in the last few weeks, so he knows it's coming. Tomorrow morning when we change him out of his night nappy, he will choose a pair of Big Boy Pants (billions to choose from, as he'll move right into the ones that Arthur just outgrew - age 3-4 size. I just bought Arthur a load of underwear in age 5-6 (where is my baby?!) on Monday.) and then we'll have the potties (all 3!) ready on the stairs to grab and use at any necessary moment. Arthur doesn't use them any more (though he will if he can get away with it!), and I really want Matthew to start using the big toilet pretty much straight away, but for the first week we'll use the potties so that I can get a feel for how quickly he's picking up the cues to go. If he does like Arthur did, then I'll move him right on to using the big toilet. If he needs reminding tons, or only tells me he needs to go once he's started going already, or has lots of accidents, then we'll probably persevere with the potties till things are a bit more settled. If I need to take him frequently (and urgently!) then it won't be easy with a baby or toddler in arms most of the time, or breastfeeding, preparing a meal, or trying not to disturb little ones in both bedrooms taking a nap! So having a potty (or two!) downstairs will be much more handy to start with. Matthew isn't too pleased about that, because he has been for a wee on the big toilet quite a lot of times already, at random times, and he loves to do it! Sometimes he really doesn't need to go, but squeeeezes out a few drops for the praise and fanfare he receives! :) So he will be eager to get to the point where he can go on the big toilet.

We'll do the same reward system we did with Arthur. He will get one Smartie (the chocolate kind, not the sour things!) for a wee in the potty, and 3 for a poo in the potty. Once we're dishing out waaaay too many Smarties in a single day, we'll shift to a new toy car (the little Matchbox ones - they LOVE those!) at the end of a given period of time (say a full day at first, and then progressing to a few days or a week) if he has had no accidents in that time. Arthur was feeling left-out (so he told me!) at the thought of Matthew getting Smarties and new toy cars in the next few weeks, but I reminded him that he had the same stuff when he was learning not to use nappies any more, and Matthew wasn't allowed to have them back then. Now it's Matthew's turn. And one day it will be Nathan's turn too. Arthur suddenly realised the benefit of his brother earning new toy cars - it will mean that HE will get to play with them too! ;) So I'm sure he'll be cheering Matthew on with much enthusiasm!

I am glad that we're not quite ready to start homeschooling yet - I did not want to start homeschooling AND potty training all in one week, haha! That sounds a little bit crazy to me! ;)

Our 3-seater sofa was taken away! :( I miss it already! We really did use it so much, all day and during the evening too. It was our most-used sofa, and so we miss it and do a lot of sitting on the floor right now, lol! But it was taking up too much space and something had to go in order to have a proper school area for Arthur. And it had a broken arm, so it was the one to go. The boys got quite upset about it really truly going, just before the men with the van turned up to take it. Matthew especially. He kept saying (tearfully!) that he didn't want the lovely sofa to go, and that it wouldn't be as comfy without it! :) We reassured them and told them there would be more space in the room, the sofa was broken, our new table would fill the space and wouldn't that be fun, etc, etc, but they still looked unhappy when the men turned up. Matthew was sitting on it, mournfully eating his snack (for the last time!) when the men came in, and I had to take him off it so they could take it away. THEN they couldn't fit it out of the front door! It wouldn't go at all, and we remembered we've had a new front door fitted since we moved in! Oops! So in the end those men MASSACRED my lovely sofa! The boys watched in horror as they used a sledgehammer to smash the back and sides in and popped off the feet with a crowbar! They used a Stanley knife to slash the fabric! The boys put their hands over their ears and watched with open mouths, only looking away to say to me, "Poor sofa!" now and then. I have to say, it's only a sofa, but I didn't like to see that happen to it, with all the lovely history behind it! :(

Anyway, the long and short of it - the sofa is gone and the living room feels surprisingly large without it! There's some exposed concrete where it was because the carpet was cut away by the previous owners to put a fireplace in (which we had removed when we arrived because it was leaking carbon monoxide and taking up too much space) and the sofa had been hiding that. Right now the boys are using the concrete area as a car park for their toy cars and having a blast doing so! The school table will cover it, and I plan to get a rug to go under the table. I can't wait till the table and chairs arrive! They should be here mid-week I think. Also the Active World Trays (for the little ones) are finally on their way. I phoned the company and chased them up on Saturday and they realised they were in stock after all (tsk!) and dispatched them for me. The Right Start Mathematics curriculum isn't here yet, but I'm expecting it to take a week or so since it's coming from the States.

I am looking into bits and pieces of extra stuff we'll be doing (aside from the main curriculum-based stuff like maths and reading) and getting those things bought and prepared. I think we'll be looking at starting school officially around the beginning of October, hopefully. It doesn't really matter WHEN but I like to have a goal in mind. Arthur isn't 5 till November, so I am not feeling like I'm in a hurry, but I'm eager to get started now that other kids his age have started school. Also I think we're going to have FUN! :) He is very excited about it too!

Okay it's getting late and I have been sooooo exhausted today, so I should get whatever sleep I can. Benjamin has been having a growth spurt (again?!) and he is also not sleeping well in the day again. He will go to sleep fine, but can't stay asleep for longer than 30 minutes, but most of the day it's more like a couple of minutes or less (frustrating!!!), shortly after I stop whatever method was used to get him to sleep. It's really exasperating and it interferes with looking after the other boys, and he doesn't get the sleep he needs, so I am not sure what to do about it at his age.

Anyway, to bed! But first, photos. I took all these ones the same day I took Benjamin's 2-month photos that I posted last entry. These are of the other boys so I didn't post them last time - here they are now! :)

Matthew Binks doing his "cwoss" face (looks more mischievous to me, but he insists it's a cwoss face!):



Arthur saw this and decided it was too much fun to miss out on! So here he is joining in, doing his cross face:



They insisted I take photos of them doing various expressions, at this point. So here are my two silly sausages doing various faces! Two cwoss faces!...



Sad faces:



Surpwiiiised!



Scared! They had to look at each other to figure this one out, I think. They see each other like a reflection sometimes - I know I haven't explained that very well, but I have seen them doing this before, looking at each other's faces to see and copy the expression they see there.





Happy! I zoomed in on this one because I wanted to get a clearer view of their eyes, to show how different they are in colour. Matthew's are a greenish-grey - well, they are a clear grey colour with a tan ring around the pupil, and sometimes those rings look more merged which makes them look generally greenish. Anyway, this photo shows their eye colour quite accurately. See how Arthur still has that one patch of grey in one of his irises? They used to be that colour all over and then they filled in with splotches of brown from about 4 months old, until they were all brown except for that one patch of grey that never got covered.



Here is little Nathey getting ready to lie down for his afternoon nap. I have NO idea what on earth is up with the colour in this photo. I can't seem to fix it, but oh well. The green wall isn't that sort of green, and Nathan's eyes ARE blue, but not quite that blue! ;) He was sleepy, and I love this photo of him all glazed over resting on the cot side.



Of course after that he perked right up and started being cheeky and sweet for the camera :)





Nathan has books in his cot at all times. He's the first of the boys to really be interested in books at bedtime or nap time. He isn't even all that satisfied with the five he's got in there, and often stands in his cot at nap time reaching out towards the chest of drawers (with a stack of books on it), saying, "'Toh-woh, 'toh-woh!" (toh-woh is how he pronounces "story" at the moment). We tuck them in down the side of the mattress against the cot bars on the side of his cot that's against the wall, so he doesn't lie on them and wake up with book corner marks on his forehead, hehe! Also he can access them easily and see what stories he's got to choose from. He has learnt to put them away as if they are on a bookshelf, and that's nice too. He LOVES his books in his cot, and always spends time "reading" them before going to sleep, even in the dark, bless him! It's a routine for him, and even if he can't see the pages at all, he'll still pick the books up and turn the pages till he's come to the last one and then shuts the book! :)

While he was doing this, Arthur came upstairs to use the toilet, and when he had finished he asked if he could come in and spend a bit of time with Nathe. Matthew and Arthur most often call him "Nathe" now (well, mostly "Nafe", since they're not too great at the "th" sound in general!). They also call him Nathey and Nathan, but mostly Nathe. So I had my camera in my hand and Nathan was cheery and wakeful still, so I agreed. He sat on the floor and talked to him sweetly through the bars in a voice that adults might use to talk to very little ones. He is SO sweet with his little brothers. He still thinks Nathan is "so cute" and "such a sweetie" and "such a little one" and really loves him. He likes to spend time with him and to make him laugh. Mind you, he does also exploit his little brother's adoration and will constantly ask him to fetch some more cars for his game when he doesn't feel like getting up and going to the car box for more cars! Nathan beams at the happy privilege of being asked to fetch something for his biggest brother, and trots off obediently, returning quickly with a car in his outstretched hand and his eyebrows high in a sort of "is this okay?" question mark. When Arthur takes the car, Nathan puffs his chest out and does a little quick sigh with a HUGE smile that says, "Oh! My offering was acceptable! I feel so special!" or something like that! ;) They're ever so sweet together, they adore each other.

Anyway, so I took some photos of Arthur sitting with Nathan while Nathey read his books. Nathan was so engrossed in his book, but after a while of Arthur saying things to him and being too busy to respond much, Arthur suddenly said, "Nathe? Kiss through the bars!" and leaned in. Nathan smiled such a sweet little happy mischievous smile, and kissed Arthur through the bars :) I'm so thankful that I had my camera in my hand, because I would have kicked myself if I hadn't! Nathan went straight back to his book after that, but Arthur smiled at me a lot and said how sweet Nathan was :)











After that I asked Arthur to go back downstairs so that Nathan could go to sleep. Here's my sad little boy sitting dolefully after his beloved brother left (he was not happy that Arthur went downstairs!):



Ahhh, my heart-strings!!! He had a good nap after that though :)

A photo of Arthur, which reminds me that he is still my little sweetie, despite having three younger brothers. He's still so little himself!



Lovely Matthew:





I love my little boys!!! And now I am going to bed :) Back soon! I think I may be getting in the swing of posting more frequently again, which I'm happy about! I hope I can keep it up!