Same gender sharing.

having kids close together I have run into a few small bumps. One being sharing.

I don't think I saw it as much with the first 2 because they were different genders. So they were really interested in different types of things. There were a few things that they would (and still do) occasionally fight over, but they seemed to always find a way to work it out. Well I have not been so lucky with Judge and John Paul. They are 26 months apart so they didn't have much in common until John Paul started walking. Now it seems they fight over everything. Either John Paul has something Judge wants r Judge has something John Paul wants.

I know there have been a lot of big changes in Judges life lately. He started potty training, he moved out of his crib, and John Paul moved into his room. I can know that change can be hard and sometimes unwanted, so I am trying to be understanding when he get passive over small things like toy cars or his train table. I know he is going through a lot and that John Paul can sometimes be a pest, but that doesn't change the fact that he is going to HAVE to learn to share with his brother. Before he knows it he is going to have 2 little brothers to deal with not just 1.

It's hard to decide what to do when John Paul wants the play with something that belongs to Judge. Some things I know John Paul will "mess up" (like taking apart his train table) and this gets Judge really upset, but what do you do. I have tried just reminding Judge that I will fix it and making him share with John Paul, and that seems to work at times.

I am taking it slow. I am making Judge share with John Paul here and there. I am kinda stumped on what I should let Judge "OWN" and what is going to be considered community property. There are a few things like Elvis, Pillow, Roxie, and Blanket that are sacred and belong to a specific kid. As far as toys? It used to be if you didn't want to share a toy it had to go in your room and you could only play with it in your room. But now Judge and John Paul share a room so everything in the room has become "community property".

I guess I will have to keep an eye on things until John Paul gets less destructive.

10 things men can NOT do in the bath room.

After being married for almost 6 years I have found that there are just some things that men are incapable of doing in the bathroom. No matter how much you scream and grip it is just plain impossible for men to correctly accomplish these tasks.

1. Lifting or lowering of the toilet lid

If the man lifts the lid there is a 100% chance he will not lower it, thus the women in the house will fall into the toilet. Then on the other hand if he doesn't lift then the woman of the house will sit in urine, plain and simple.

2. They can't change the roll.

If the toilet paper in the bathroom has run out, will then it's just out. No more is being made or they are unable to find any so therefore the toilet paper roll shall remain empty FOREVER.

3. Replacing the soap.

Once the soap is gone (like the toilet paper) the company has failed to reproduce more so we shall all stink until we die.

4. Replace the lid on the tooth paste.

Apparently the lid is put there for store purposes only. Once the lid is removed it either doesn't fit the tube anymore, or disappears and therefore the tooth paste will not have a lid for the duration of it's life span.

5. Cleaning the hair brush.

Either the hair will slowly degrade inside the hair brush or the hair brush is supposed to be disposable, I haven't figured out which one yet.

6. Cleaning the sink after shaving.

I am not sure what my husband thinks will happen to all the hair that is left in the sink. I can only presume that he thinks it will magically disappear or blow away.

7. Removing empty bottles of shampoo from the shower.

There is apparently a magical fairy that comes and throws the bottles of empty shampoo and body wash away. I would like to meet her and tell her to brush up on her job skills because she sucks!

8. Drying the floor after a shower.

It's a bathroom so the floors should be soaked 24-7????

9. unclogging the drain in the shower.

ENOUGH SAID.

10. Picking up their DIRTY CLOTHES.

Once again I believe that men believe that there is a magically little fairy that flies around after them picking up there dirty underwear and sock just because they have chest hair.

So after 6 years of marriage I have learned that either MEN are inherently lazy OR I need to hire new fairy's and tip them better next time.

Road Block

Yes I am very proud my little man is pee trained, BUT the poop part isn't happening. He has been using the potty for almost 3 weeks and hasn't pooped once on it. He continuies to wait until he is in a pull-up or he just uses his big boy pants. I understand this will take time. Everyone keeps telling me that poop take longer to learn, but I am pregnant and cleaning poop out of underwear....well lets just say I am at the end of my rope.

I had hoped that if we just kept with it then something would click, but that hasn't worked. I have been positive. I have begged, hey I have even tried shaming him. Nope nothing. So on Wednesday we took Annabelle to the toy store (she learned her phone number and address). We picked out some really cool new toys and I have them hanging in the bathroom. Do you think he cares, NO! He is content to set there and look at them for the rest of his life.

I am at a road block. What do I do? Do I buy a bigger toy and try bribing him with that? Do I make him sit there until he goes? Or do I just take him outside and hose him down every time he poops his pants and hope he gets it then? (<-- this is Dennis' choice.)

UGH. He HAS to be COMPLETELY trained by September! He needs to learn to poop on the potty, use it without the potty cushion, and learn not to completely undress every time he needs to go. There is still so much he needs to learn and I see the time slowly slipping away from me. I am NOT giving up, he will get it. Yes this is a little frustrating but it was frustrating in the beginning when we started out, and look at how far we have come. This will just take time and I need to accept that. I am sure it will get a lot easier once I do.

YES HE IS!

Well I can say that Judge IS potty trained. He has a few accidents here and there and he has not learned how to poop on the potty, but he is completely "pee" trained!!

I am still not sure how I am going to teach him that the poop belongs in the potty, but I am making him clean up his messes and I will just keep reminding him that he needs to make poop on the potty. I am also promising him a trip to the toy store when he finally poops on the potty.

I am so happy I did not give up. There were several days where I wanted to say "I quit" and I wanted to put him back in diapers, but I DIDN'T!

There is light at the end of the tunnel if you are potty training. DON'T GIVE UP! It will happen. I will not lie, it's not going to happen over night or when you want it to. Stick with it and when you feel like you are going to pull your hair out just remember you are strong and you can do it. If your a mom it should be a piece of cake compared to giving birth and all those mid night feeding. Potty training has nothing on sleep deprivation.

I am so proud to see our work has paid off. It was only a week and a half but it did seem like an eternity. WE DID IT!!!

The next challenge is going to be seeing if you can go out of the house. We are starting slow. I took him to sit with the ladies on Monday and I brought his potty cushion and he went while we were there. But I am not carrying a potty seat around forever. He is going to need to learn to use big potty seats without the cushion we have at home.

New pictures of the kids.

I know it has been a while since I posted updated pictures of the kids so I thought I would. We had a water balloon fight in the back yard today while daddy was mowing. Here are a few pictures I took.

Potty Boot-Camp Day 5

OK things are getting easier. No he isn't peeing on the potty, but I feel this huge weight has been lifted. I think it is because I have accept that it's going to take time! Oh well, he pees on the floor, I am NOT going back. By accepting all this it taken ALL of the frustration out of the process. He will eventually get tired of cleaning it up and then start using the potty, if not.....oh well. I can't make him learn I can just make it possible for him to learn.

He is continuing to stop the pee when it starts coming out, but he is still not letting it come out while he is on the potty. So we get damp underpants every 30 minutes. I am trying to find a way to explain to him that it is good to stop it when not on the potty, but he needs to let it out once he makes it to the potty. I will do more reading tonight and see if I can find the answer. Maybe another mom has dealt with this.

Another thing that I am trying to decide on is what do I do when he stops the pee and sits on the potty. Do I make him sit until he pees or do I set a timer. The reason I am having a problem deciding is because he can hold it for hours. I put him on the potty after he starts and make him sit there but he holds it in until I let him up or pees just a little and then ask to get up. But if I set a timer, he gets up then right after he gets his underpants, he wets them a little.

I did make a reward wall today with all his match box cars (see picture below). I am hopeing this gives him a little more incentive in the bathroom.

Lets hope something clicks tomorrow.