Tag Archives: Toilet training

I think my son, Brennan, was a little over two years when he became obsessed with taking his diaper off. That was back in the day when diapers with snaps were a rarity so toddler removal was fairly easy. Thankfully, he grew out of the phase and I learned my lesson by putting him in pants that also had snaps. Then, a few months before he turned three he started the potty training process; we went with the naked approach which was effective, however, it created a little nudist! Many times I could be heard exclaiming, “Brennan put your clothes on!” Naturally, these phases passed but there’s one phase that we recently went through that had me wanting to rip my hair out!

It started out with an obsession with pajamas. Brennan would get dressed in the morning and by lunchtime he was in a new pair of PJ’s. Afternoon … Read More

As promised, here’s an update of Cooper’s potty-training progress: Zero, Zip, Zilch, Nada, Nothing.

Cooper turns two on February 23rd. He’s an outgoing little man with dirty blond hair, big blue eyes and dimple. He loves balls, trains, cars, his Bear and his pacifier. And he hates the potty. I mean, he really seems to dislike it, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. I can understand why the big toilet, with the high seat and loud flushing noises might intimidate a little kid…but I’m not sure why he’s so hesitant to even sit on the training potty. I can count on one hand the times I’ve gotten him on it and most of those times have required bribery: a chocolate chip or a TV show. Even then, he sits long enough to get his chip and is up and running. I wonder if the plastic … Read More

Happy 2013, everyone! Here are some highlights from the past year:

• We took trips to Florida, Vermont and Tennessee to visit family (and on one of those trips I used only my Thirsties, including on the plane).

• Kate, our four year old broke her arm not once, but twice, but learned to ride a two-wheeler and swim underwater completely on her own despite the time she spent in a cast.

• Lauren started first grade and has taught herself how to do front handsprings on the trampoline. She’s has a very active social life for a seven-year old and would be happiest if she could have back-to-back-to-back playdates.

• Cooper, who will turn two in February of 2013 is finally putting two words together “blue car,” “yellow car,” “daddy’s car,” and “kick it.” He can also name almost every kind of ball: “Foobbah, boccabah, backetbah.” For someone who has two older sisters

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It is hard to save those pennies. Sometimes we just have the bare minimum to start cloth diapering, so what we choose to use has to stretch our dollar to the extreme.

I remember when my son was a newborn, and I invested in a stash of organic one-size hemp/cotton fitted diapers. I was so excited that I would have a stash of organic, absorbent, and premium diapers. After I washed them up and tried them on my baby, I realized that they were way too big and bulky. They were also not very soft, which was a big issue with me. I wanted nothing but softness and comfort for my baby. (I am sure that resonates with all of you!) Being that I could not return them, I had to use them, knowing that they were making my baby uncomfortable. They were very absorbent, which is important, but … Read More

Since much of my life involves walking around circles and picking things up off the floor, feeding six dependents (three fur babies, three of the human variety, plus one husband), cleaning up after six said dependents–and my favorite, laundry– it’s easy to get caught up in all of these every day chores that I like to gripe about.  I’m glad that at least once a year, there is a time when I am reminded to sit and reflect and be thankful for all of the wonder, opportunity, love and good fortune that surrounds me. Here are a few things for which I am grateful this year:

My Dog: My dog Bear is well over 12 years old. She’ll be 13 in February and I appreciate every day that I have with her. I got her from a local shelter when she was 11 weeks old and I have known her … Read More