Sibling love

As I have said before, Raleigh LOVES Cole. Everything he does or says is just funny to her. Case in point....I was at my Mom's house for awhile visiting today, and I had Raleigh in her exersaucer. Cole was jumping in front of her to make her laugh, and it worked, of course!! She was laughing at him and jumping along with him. This video is really cute, hope y'all enjoy!

I just love it when babies laugh. You can't help but laugh with them.

He did it!

Obviously I'm not very good at updating this blog! I know everyone says this, but we have truly been very busy lately. But boy do I have some big news to share with y'all!

After venting my frustrations to everyone I know, and after endless times of praying for patience and understanding why Cole was refusing to potty train, he has finally done it. And, on his on will, of course, because after all, he is almost 3 going on 30!!! Yesterday, I made up my mind that he was going to wear "big boy" underwear all day. NO PULL-UPS...just underwear. That way, everytime he had an accident, he could really feel it. (Note: I have tried this before, but after a huge mess, Eric and I said never again until he was trained!!) Well, he did pretty well. He did pee all over my couch once, but I made him help clean it up. He was not a fan of this! So anyways, after lunch I nursed Raleigh and laid her down for her nap. As I rounded the corner to Cole's room, I noticed he had, "The Look." (Mom's understand what I mean by this) So I simply asked him, "Cole, do you need to go poo-poo?" To my amazement he responded, "Yea." So off to the potty we ran! I was cheering him on and telling him he could do it. Y'all, as soon as he sat on the potty, he went!!! I was seriously in shock. For those of you who don't know, I have been trying to potty train him since he was 18 months. So, needless to say, it's been a long time coming! I have never yelled and cheered for something so hard in my life! I'm sure my neighbors heard me, but I didn't care. It was just me, Cole, and the poop!! (Yes, most of you think I'm just plain gross at this point, but if you are a mom who has ever tried to potty train a most difficult toddler, then you can totally relate to me.) We celebrated and laughed and clapped and just had a party. Cole was so proud of himself, as he should be. We called all the grandmas and even the great-grandmas to tell them of his success. My mom even came to our house to bring him cookies and his favorite milk from Starbucks; yes, I have my son hooked on Starbucks as well! She also bought him 2 books. After the festivities ended here, I took him to Target and bought him a new toy as promised. Well, make that 2. He got a new train and a small truck. (hey, it was only $.69!) After Target, we stopped by Nana's house to celebrate with her. She gave Cole $1 and told him he will get another when he goes again! We then came home and baked cupcakes. I am aware that I may have gone a little overboard with the celebrations and rewards, but I wanted to make sure he knew just how proud of him we all were.

Here are some pictures from Nana's house yesterday. Look at Raleigh sitting up!!! She has not mastered the art yet, but she is doing really well. She just turned 5 months yesterday. I'm happy and sad all at the same time. Especially with her trying to sit up alone, I know that means soon she'll be crawling. She looks nothing like an infant anymore. I mean, look at the rolls on this child! She is still nursing every 2-3 hours during the day, and has decided she doesn't want to sleep through the night anymore, but I still love every moment I get with her. And now that Cole is almost fully potty trained, I am one happy girl!

Cole vs. the potty

OK, I'm well aware that I'm not the only mother who has ever struggled with potty training a child. It is a major issue that mom's are always talking about. But how do you train a very smart, strong-willed child?
Bless his heart, Cole is wonderful. He is everything to me. He is beautiful, smart, hilarious, full of life (and energy), and is just an absolute joy to be around. But, he is VERY strong-willed. I am happy about this, because I know he will grow up to be an independent, "can do" man one day. But, it makes for very difficult toddler years; for the both of us! I have been trying to train Cole since he was about 18 months old. I bought him this wonderful little potty that sings every time you use the bathroom. Brilliant, right?! Um, not so much. He hated the potty; told me it was "too yucky!" So, I backed off for awhile.
His second birthday came, and I was at this point about 3 months pregnant with Raleigh. I didn't want 2 in diapers, so I was determined to train him before her birth. I bought one of those small seats you put over the big potty thinking he would like this better, and indeed he did. He was showing all of the promising signs; staying dry during naps and bedtime, telling me after he "went," and hiding when he had to poop. I would sit him on the potty and every time he peed, I would celebrate and jump around and praise him for everything! He too, loved this! He would call Nana and GiGi and inform them of his good doings! But, this too quickly faded. Before I knew it, Raleigh was born and we were buying diapers for 2 children. Ok, y'all, this gets expensive! Newborn diapers are crazy enough; we would go through easily 15-20 diapers daily when she was first born. So, my determination came back in full force; I would have him trained by his 3rd birthday.
Cole will be 3 on August 24th. I can't wait! I'm planning a luau theme. He is really excited as well, and sees me buying all these decorations, and he knows they are all for him and his big day. But will he be fully potty trained by then? Maybe not. After he and I did "battle" for 3 hours yesterday, (yes, 3 hours!) I have come to the conclusion that he is smart enough to know what he is doing, and he is testing me. I desperately tried to get him to poop on the potty yesterday, trying everything from one extreme to the other. And after going back and forth to the bathroom for 3 hours, I finally gave up. Yes, he is testing me. He's good at it. He knows me very well. So, I have decided to try one final thing; pretend like it doesn't bother me. If he wants to go on the potty, great! If not, great! This may sound crazy, and it probably is, but I'm desperate and I don't know what else to do. Maybe if he sees that I'm not pressuring him to go, then he'll want to do it on his own.
Or maybe, Daddy will be off for seven days starting tomorrow and he can try............ :)