![Adventures in Potty Training With Walt (Part 2)]()
by Catherine | Jul 21, 2014 | Family
Since the last time I wrote about Adventures in Potty Training With Walt, I am proud to report that he is officially potty trained–just in time for preschool! Yay!
Waiting until Walt was ready and life settled down this summer was definitely the right decision. It’s fantastic to be in a place with parenthood where we don’t compare our kids to other kids’ timelines. We’re learning to take the cues from our kids and help push them along when they’re ready. Waiting until he was 3 was the right decision for Walt, and he has totally dominated this potty training stuff.
For the first two weeks, the strategy was visiting the potty every 30 minutes. For every successful visit, he got to pick out a “potty present.” (Like I wrote in Part 1, I got the idea for “potty presents” from Philip’s mom. It’s just a bunch of small, inexpensive items in a bin that Walt gets to choose after going on the potty.) Bribery ended up being a great motivator for Walt. In fact, he was doing so well with the potty presents, that we ended up flying through them.
Instead of making a run to the store for more potty presents, I decided to create a sticker map. We had used a sticker map for Jane when she potty trained, too.
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| Jane’s sticker map |
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| Jane, “paying” for her coveted Hello Kitty lunchbox with her completed sticker map |
When we started using the sticker map with Walt, he got to put 1 or 2 stickers on the map when he successfully used the potty. (I’ll let you figure out what earns 1 sticker and what earns 2!) Every time he reached a marked square, he got to pick out a potty present. When he reached the end of the map, he got to go to Hobby Town to pick out a new engine for his train table.
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| Looking for the right engine |
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| Making his way to the register with his sticker map and engine |
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| Walt, “paying” for his new engine Luke with his completed sticker map |
Walt’s on his second sticker map.
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| Walt’s 2nd sticker map |
We promised him another trip to Hobby Town to pick out an engine when he gets to the end.
In the last few days, Walt has started to tell us when he needs to use the potty instead of waiting for us to ask. He is in big boy undies all day, and he wears pull-ups to nap/bedtime. He’s almost always dry when he wakes up. He hasn’t had an accident in four days despite an eventful weekend with a roadtrip to Omaha thrown into the mix. He starts preschool in a few weeks. I am excited for him to go, and I’ll be anxious to see how he continues to do with potty training away from home.
I’m so proud of my big boy! Way to go, Walt!
![Outdoor String Lights for the Deck]()
by Catherine | Jul 20, 2014 | The Homefront
Before our housewarming party, we decided we wanted to have outdoor globe string lights–a la Parenthood. I had visions of our family sitting al fresco, just like this scene from Parenthood:
I found this blog tutorial, and Philip said it looked like a fun way to add some ambience to our deck. The blog tutorial was very helpful and made the project a breeze!
I bought these globe string lights at Target.
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| Photo from Target.com |
Philip headed to the hardware store to get the rest of the gear.
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| Ladies, what’s cuter than a guy who can take on the hardware store with two tikes? |
I’ll let you read the blog tutorial from BrightJuly for their step-by-step instructions. A few pointers we learned along the way:
- Have the hardware store slice the PVC pipe at a 45 degree angle so that it’s easier to place them in the ground
- Use a long drill bit to make the holes in the ground straighter
- Test each string of lights before hanging them
- Make sure two people are hanging the lights. The globe bulbs are fragile!
- Make sure your outlet can handle wattage of your lights. We ended up using 4 of the Target globe lights to circle the deck, and we split them on two different outlets so that we didn’t overload the circuit.
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| The lights aren’t as cute with flash photography. Here we are, enjoying the deck while the kids catch lightning bugs (do you call them lightning bugs or fireflies?) with Papa and Maddy |
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| Philip snapped this pic of the deck while I cleaned up after our housewarming party |
Voila! Just like Parenthood, right?! Who’s coming over for a drink on the deck?
![4th of July Photo Recap]()
by Catherine | Jul 19, 2014 | Family
We’ve been enjoying our vacation time so much that I haven’t had a chance to blog in awhile. I thought I’d pop in with a photo recap of our first Fourth of July in Lincoln. What a fun day it was!
After a leisurely start to the day, we met up with a bunch of other families at the neighborhood park for a parade and picnic.
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| Their first time on a merry-go-round |
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| Totally loving it |
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| All lined up for the parade |
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| Circling the park with push-toys, trikes, bikes, and strollers |
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| Pushing Harry on the baby swings |
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| Learning that swings go back AND forth! |
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| Very excited about his 4th of July dinner |
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| A special ice cream cone treat |
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| Boys loving their ice cream |
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| Really getting into it |
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| First sparkler experience! |
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| I took this right at the moment their sparklers ran out. Sad, sad pouty faces! |
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| This picture perfectly sums up Jane & Walt’s polar opposite reactions to fireworks. Jane was terrified, and Walt couldn’t get enough of ’em! |
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| Jane decided the fireworks were better once she had Daddy’s soundproof earmuffs on |
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| Walt opted for some eye protection |
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| The kid couldn’t get enough of riding his patriotic school bus |
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| Watching the neighbors light off the daytime stuff |
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| Brothers going for a ride |
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| Awwww, I love Walt’s face in this pic! A father’s love is irreplaceable. |
After playing in the driveway and watching the neighbors light off the daytime stuff, it was the kids’ bedtime. They were beat from their big day, and they didn’t care about the nighttime fireworks. Philip and I couldn’t believe it, but they went straight to sleep because they were so exhausted. We brought the baby monitor out to the driveway, poured some wine, and watched the neighbors’ fireworks with Monty. It was the perfect end to a perfect day!
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| Even neurotic Monty loved the fireworks. He sat happily on my lap without any shaking or whimpering, and he loved his glow necklaces. |
!["We didn't start the fire…"]()
by Catherine | Jun 30, 2014 | Faith
Over my breakfast, I read about the First Martyrs of the Church in Rome. We celebrate their feast day today. American Catholic gives a great summary:
In July of 64 A.D., more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He shifted the blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, many Christians were put to death because of their “hatred of the human race.” Peter and Paul were probably among the victims. (emphasis mine)
“Wow,” I thought, “It must have been crazy living in a time like that.” There were people so scared of Christians that they started fires, accused them of hating the human race, and killed them.
A few hours later, I heard the blessed news that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Christian-run Hobby Lobby. In summary, Justice Alito said, “The Supreme Court holds government can’t require closely held corporations with religious owners to provide contraception coverage.”
Then, The Examiner shared the reactionary Tweets from those hoping to see the Christian-run company burned to the ground. I’ll let you go to the link to read the most explicit Tweets.
“[L]iterally burn hobby lobby (sic) to the ground,” one pro-abortion liberal screamed on Twitter.
“I hope all your stores burn to the ground,” another person said.
“#HobbyLobby are scum of the earth. Burn every single one down, build a homeless shelter there instead,” a third person said.
And then came this:
Sound familiar? Paranoid, scared people accusing Christians of hating humanity? And then starting fires out of paranoia?
On this feast day dedicated to the Roman martyrs killed by a paranoid Christian hater in a fire, sing it with me and Billy! “We didn’t start the fire…”
![“We didn’t start the fire…”]()
by Catherine | Jun 30, 2014 | Faith
Over my breakfast, I read about the First Martyrs of the Church in Rome. We celebrate their feast day today. American Catholic gives a great summary:
In July of 64 A.D., more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He shifted the blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, many Christians were put to death because of their “hatred of the human race.” Peter and Paul were probably among the victims. (emphasis mine)
“Wow,” I thought, “It must have been crazy living in a time like that.” There were people so scared of Christians that they started fires, accused them of hating the human race, and killed them.
A few hours later, I heard the blessed news that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Christian-run Hobby Lobby. In summary, Justice Alito said, “The Supreme Court holds government can’t require closely held corporations with religious owners to provide contraception coverage.”
Then, The Examiner shared the reactionary Tweets from those hoping to see the Christian-run company burned to the ground. I’ll let you go to the link to read the most explicit Tweets.
“[L]iterally burn hobby lobby (sic) to the ground,” one pro-abortion liberal screamed on Twitter.
“I hope all your stores burn to the ground,” another person said.
“#HobbyLobby are scum of the earth. Burn every single one down, build a homeless shelter there instead,” a third person said.
And then came this:
Sound familiar? Paranoid, scared people accusing Christians of hating humanity? And then starting fires out of paranoia?
On this feast day dedicated to the Roman martyrs killed by a paranoid Christian hater in a fire, sing it with me and Billy! “We didn’t start the fire…”
