Potty Training and more...

So, last week I decided it was time to try potty training Parker. Actually, HE decided he was ready to try sitting ont he potty. He has been showing signs all summer that he was ready, but when asked to sit on the potty, he would run screaming into the other room. Last week I spent Monday just talking about how "tomorrow we are going to try sitting ont he potty." He seemed a little bit interested, and at least didn't scream when I brought it up. Tuesday morning off came the diaper and on came the pull up. First I tried having him sit on the potty every 30 minutes. No luck. He would go in his pull up right after he got up from the potty. So off came the pull up and onto "big boy underwear." This was actually a good thing, because Parker was thrilled to be wearing "THomas" and "Diego" underwear. But, after 3 pairs of wet underwear and no success in the potty, back to the pull up and down for a nap. So far no success. I debated on whether or not to continue after he woke up, but decided I better at least be consistent for the day. When he got up, off came the pull up and back to big boy underwear. Then, to my surprise, about 1/2 an hour later, I walk into the front room (where his potty was, we put it there so he could watch a show and "relax" while trying) and he is sitting there going! All by himself! Wow! Could it really be this easy? He has been going ever since! Granted, we haven't left the house in underwear yet, because right now he will only go in "his" potty, not a regular toilet. We also have not tackled "number 2" yet, but I'll save those details from this blog so that you will continue reading...

Here is Parker showing you that he can sit on the potty. He really is smiling, even though he looks to be in pain!

Another "fun" part of the day here at the Hall home is dinner time for the twins. As anyone out there with multiples can attest, the only thing worse than a hungry crying baby is two hungry crying babies. I have found that the easiest way to feed them is at the same time, alternating bites from one mouth to the other. This way one is taking a bite while the other is swallowing, and, if I am fast enough and create a speedy rhythm, I can keep the food coming at a fast enough pace to keep them from crying. It is not that I don't feed them enough or that they are so starving, but they really get jealous when they see the other one getting a bite when they are not getting one. (This is not a good sign for the future I have decided.) When we started feeding them baby food, we also learned very quickly that it was easier to feed them with no clothes on. Carrots and sweet potatoes are hard stains to get out, and bibs definitely do not provide the needed coverage to keep the food off. Maybe wrapping them in saran wrap would work, but that is also a choking and suffocation hazzard, so we opted for nudity. Okay, not full nudity, we keep the diaper on, otherwise there would REALLY be a mess to clean up!

Can you SEE the amount of food on their little bodies?! It is amazing they get anything in their mouths!

After they eat they go straight into the kitchen sink for a bath. Josh and I have set up a sort of assembly line clean up routine that works out well. He bathes the first one while I start cleaning the kitchen area (baby food usually covers most surfaces within a 5 foot radius of the babies). Then I take baby #1 (usually Wyatt because he cries when he is not first. Hmmm, is this a complex he is forming due to the fact that he was the second to be born? Dad? What do you think?) and dry and dress them. Josh gets baby #2 (Brynley doesn't mind being second, becaeu she can hang around and lick up any stray or extra food she may have missed durring the feeding. She will eat whatever whenever!) and bathes her, and I come get her and get her dressed while Josh cleans up around the kitchen sink that is now SOAKING WET within a 5 foot radius of the sink due to excessive splashing and kicking during the bath. The rest of the kitchen gets cleaned sometime before bed. Mission accomplished!

Here are a few more photos of play time around the house...

Here is Parker teaching Wyatt and Brynley to play "tackle." Basically, the game is that Parker runs at you and tackles you. It started out as a form of football, but soon he gave up on the football part of the game, because the tackling was the part he likes best. Wyatt and Brynley are tough, too, they pretty much just roll with the punches when they get tackled. It is a gentler form of the game when he plays with the babies, too, like a slow motion tackle that doesn't hurt them. It is pretty funny to watch! Notice Wyatt is this picture, he still fits under the coffee table quite easily. I have had to look for him a couple of times when rolls under there and doesn't come out!

Wyatt and Brynley in their exersaucers! Wyatt looks a little freaked out, I know. Check out those thighs on my little Brynley!

Here is what happens when Josh lays down on the floor to play with the kids on a Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure where the kids went, but at least he has found a good use for that boppy pillow!