Today Jonathan provided me with classical material for a documentary. After all , this is what this blog is. First he showed a true sense of independence and target orientation and secondly he “treated” his father to the worse kind of slapstick comedy scenario.
This morning I woke up to the noise of Jonathan wondering about the house. He usually gets up and comes directly to our bed to say good morning, cuddle with mommy and daddy in under the big duvet and even get a chance to jump on the big bed. Sometimes he goes to the living room to play with his toys. This morning he chose not to come and visit us, but rather he walked into the kitchen. When I heard him dragging a chair, I got up to see what he was up to. I found him standing on the chair he had dragged. He had placed it next to the kitchen desk, so he could climb it and reach a box of chocolates that was standing on it. As I entered the kitchen he lifted the box and asked me to open the wrapping of the treats. I told him he cannot have the whole box, but “just one” - so he took one in each hand. He then again requested that I open the wraps, so I opened one treat (the least bad of the two in terms of sugar amounts) and he has sweet puffs for breakfast. One thing is for sure, I moved the bread knives to a higher place...
Today Jonathan's daddy took him out on a “boys afternoon out”. They went to visit a German speaking playmate. These meetings take place once a week and its always fathers and sons. I took the chance to go out with my siblings and so the afternoon together became the whole evening together for father and son. To conclude the evening, my husband gave Jonathan his daily bath. However, as my husband saw fit to report to me immediately, live from the scene of the crime, things took a special turn – towards the slapstick comedy. Just as my husband had put Jonathan into the bath filled with warm water, he turned his back on the boy for a split second and just then Jonathan decided to doo doo in the tub.
The significance of this event is doubled when one takes into account that this kind of “accident” is rare for Jonathan, in fact this is only the second time this has happened to us (I was the victim the first time). So my husband took Jonathan out of the tub, to drain the filthy water and clean it, and just as he did so, Jonathan peed on the bathroom carpet (significance thus tripled). It was at this stage that my husband called me with a full report. The call was short and concise, after all there was much to do – clean the tub, wash the carpet and get Jonathan into a new water filled bath and clean him up too. After this, both my boys were so tired that Jonathan went directly to bed.
We are just going through the first stages of getting Jonathan “off” the diapers. As the boys were from home today, Jonathan was wearing a nappy. Perhaps the confusion of the potty training in what got him all exited. Can this be the reason for today's display? Who can tell. We however have a funny story to smile on for days to come (even my husband can laugh and enjoy, now that he is no longer standing in a room that is literally “full of shit” with the prospect of having to clean it up).
Showing posts with label potty training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potty training. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Great moments of learning and potty training
Every parent has many moments of joy and laughter with their children. Every toddler does these really sweet things. Yet each child has in stock some magical surprise for his/ her parents. And when you stand there, watching your toddler do that little something that takes your breath away – the joy of parenthood is complete!
Especially in the age (about two years to two and a half years of age – Jonathan's age now) in which toddlers still do not speak perfectly and communication is hard – it is most amazing to see how much they learn – always. Children are like a sponge, so the books say, and it is these special “great moments of learning ” that show us how true that saying is. I experienced three of these with Jonathan today and I am happy to utilize my 101st blog entry by sharing them with you.
The first moment of learning was that when Jonathan got up today, he walked alone to the bathroom, placed his toilet seat on the toilet, removed his diaper and sat himself on the toilet and then did both “big” and “small”. This is not the first time Jonathan uses the toilet, and we are however also very far from the end of his “potty training” and yet this routine like “getting up and going to the toilet first thing” was simply so very cute! He later balanced this perfect record by peeing 4 times in one hour in the living room in the afternoon and totally refusing to go to the toilet in order to pee, but also refusing to put on a diaper again. One of the kindergarten teachers said to me that not only the toddler must be ready for “potty training”, but also the parents. Parents must be ready to face the challenges of cleaning after “mistakes” that may occur any place. After chasing Jonathan off the couch today, I have a more complete understanding what she meant. Yes, potty training is also difficult for the parents not only challenging for the child.
The second great learning moment of the day was that Jonathan insisted on putting in a washing machine. To be more exact, he wanted me to open the cupboard in which the washing soap is. He likes the giant bottle that houses the softener. I explained he needs something to wash in order to use the soap – so he helped me fill in the washing machine. Then he helped me close it and pour in the various soaps - last but not last the softener, and then he turned the machine on.
The third and especially magical moment entails the fact that I found Jonathan this afternoon in the kitchen, standing on a chair near the sink. Then he took the sponge and put soap on it, turned the tap on and was trying to wash the dishes. He did this alone, I was not in the kitchen, and we have never discussed dishes before. This is a totally “self learning” action. Learning by watching mom wash the dishes every day. More is the pity that it did not occur to me to run and get my camera to record my new and oh so cute “dishwasher”.
I asked him what he wants and why is he washing the dishes, Jonathan said he wanted juice to drink. It also looked like he was enjoying playing with the running water. For the reason of saving water (Israel is a hot land, we need every drop) I stopped the dish washing charade (hence no camera...) and explained that water is not a game. Then Jonathan assisted me in preparing his juice – he remained standing on the chair and helped me pour apple syrup into his drinking bottle. And that was the end of today's kitchen performance. It was also the last of the day's magical moments, as I spent the rest of the day cleaning puddles of pee (my husband calling for me in panic every time a “great peeing moment” occurred), rolling up the carpets (despite Jonathan efforts that they remain where they are) and arguing with an obstinate “toilet refusing” little boy.
Yes! If you have not yet guessed – we are on the first trails of the potty training process. But potty training is not all bad, even in the hardest moments, one finds a sense of fun. Both Jonathan and I were laughing when I chased him through the living room in order to clean him up (after he made a big doo doo in his pants) and to prevent his smearing poo on the couch. He got a bit smeared despite my efforts (how fast can a poo chasing mommy move?) but the good news is, the couch fabric is easily cleaned! As we face the challenge of teaching our first born to use the toilet and control his bowels, its nice to know that our furniture is inexpensive and that it cleans easily...
Especially in the age (about two years to two and a half years of age – Jonathan's age now) in which toddlers still do not speak perfectly and communication is hard – it is most amazing to see how much they learn – always. Children are like a sponge, so the books say, and it is these special “great moments of learning ” that show us how true that saying is. I experienced three of these with Jonathan today and I am happy to utilize my 101st blog entry by sharing them with you.
The first moment of learning was that when Jonathan got up today, he walked alone to the bathroom, placed his toilet seat on the toilet, removed his diaper and sat himself on the toilet and then did both “big” and “small”. This is not the first time Jonathan uses the toilet, and we are however also very far from the end of his “potty training” and yet this routine like “getting up and going to the toilet first thing” was simply so very cute! He later balanced this perfect record by peeing 4 times in one hour in the living room in the afternoon and totally refusing to go to the toilet in order to pee, but also refusing to put on a diaper again. One of the kindergarten teachers said to me that not only the toddler must be ready for “potty training”, but also the parents. Parents must be ready to face the challenges of cleaning after “mistakes” that may occur any place. After chasing Jonathan off the couch today, I have a more complete understanding what she meant. Yes, potty training is also difficult for the parents not only challenging for the child.
The second great learning moment of the day was that Jonathan insisted on putting in a washing machine. To be more exact, he wanted me to open the cupboard in which the washing soap is. He likes the giant bottle that houses the softener. I explained he needs something to wash in order to use the soap – so he helped me fill in the washing machine. Then he helped me close it and pour in the various soaps - last but not last the softener, and then he turned the machine on.
The third and especially magical moment entails the fact that I found Jonathan this afternoon in the kitchen, standing on a chair near the sink. Then he took the sponge and put soap on it, turned the tap on and was trying to wash the dishes. He did this alone, I was not in the kitchen, and we have never discussed dishes before. This is a totally “self learning” action. Learning by watching mom wash the dishes every day. More is the pity that it did not occur to me to run and get my camera to record my new and oh so cute “dishwasher”.
I asked him what he wants and why is he washing the dishes, Jonathan said he wanted juice to drink. It also looked like he was enjoying playing with the running water. For the reason of saving water (Israel is a hot land, we need every drop) I stopped the dish washing charade (hence no camera...) and explained that water is not a game. Then Jonathan assisted me in preparing his juice – he remained standing on the chair and helped me pour apple syrup into his drinking bottle. And that was the end of today's kitchen performance. It was also the last of the day's magical moments, as I spent the rest of the day cleaning puddles of pee (my husband calling for me in panic every time a “great peeing moment” occurred), rolling up the carpets (despite Jonathan efforts that they remain where they are) and arguing with an obstinate “toilet refusing” little boy.
Yes! If you have not yet guessed – we are on the first trails of the potty training process. But potty training is not all bad, even in the hardest moments, one finds a sense of fun. Both Jonathan and I were laughing when I chased him through the living room in order to clean him up (after he made a big doo doo in his pants) and to prevent his smearing poo on the couch. He got a bit smeared despite my efforts (how fast can a poo chasing mommy move?) but the good news is, the couch fabric is easily cleaned! As we face the challenge of teaching our first born to use the toilet and control his bowels, its nice to know that our furniture is inexpensive and that it cleans easily...
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Winter blues: Jonathan's great moment summary of the last two months or so
I did not have a computer, so some events have accumulated. It become recently cold and rainy here (winter for real for a change), so going to a friend to write has also not been an option. Jonathan is as cute as ever, is creating headlines for me on a continual basis – so here is a short summary.
His conversation and words improving every day. He now, more or less, repeats everything he hears and is always asking “ma ze?” , what's this? In order to find out new words.
Jonathan actually took a dump in the toilet for real! He did this twice this week. Following these events he was unwilling to wear a diaper and I let him run around without one, as he was home sick anyway. The result is that he wet his pants – although I asked him repeatedly if he needed to go to the loo. Funnily he seams to be getting it backwards – he wets his pants but does “bigger things” in the toilet. All the books say it usually goes the other way around.
Although we are not really trying to get off the diapers yet, because its winter here and this is a more summer sort of thing (roll the carpets and let him run with no clothes on, and no diapers either - learning to control one's needs with only the floors getting messy from time to time), Jonathan is expressing a growing interest in the toilet and a lessening willingness to wear diapers. We hope to try and get him off the diapers in Passover, when he has a week at home during the holiday. |It is then considerably warmer too.
Jonathan has understood from an early age that if he is not tall enough, he can get a chair, climb on it and reach his target. Now the shelves have also become a legitimate device for the same purpose. This is how he surprisingly reached the DVD player earlier this week at last. I turned my back for just a minute and whoops, he changed the CD in it alone! I have been keeping the DVD player high up as part of the mechanism to control the time Jonathan spends watching his DVD disks. But as his climbing has taken on a new turn and he has successfully changed DVD's at my mothers without breaking the player, I decided to bring it down again and keep controlling Jonathan's DVD intake by only putting up his CD's when we are done watching them for the day.
The first result of this policy was that he enjoys it very much and changes the CD's more often. The second result was that he reached to his fathers DVD collection, as he could not reach own – and broke one of the films. We are now reminding him that he is not permitted to touch the CD's in the shelves – just the one's in his box – which still remains high up....
Jonathan has been sick for a few days at home, and DVD played a major role in his entertainment, as it was cold outside. This morning he was to go to Kindergarten again – he refused. Even my leaving the house did not work! He has in fact recently been more willing to let me go out of the house and even says “buy bye” nicely if I Go out. This morning, I left indeed and my husband took him to kindergarten later, after he got his “DVD morning fix”. Even so, I think Jonathan likes his kindergarten and after today, he will remember again how nice it is and tomorrow morning it will be easier to get him out of the house.
His conversation and words improving every day. He now, more or less, repeats everything he hears and is always asking “ma ze?” , what's this? In order to find out new words.
Jonathan actually took a dump in the toilet for real! He did this twice this week. Following these events he was unwilling to wear a diaper and I let him run around without one, as he was home sick anyway. The result is that he wet his pants – although I asked him repeatedly if he needed to go to the loo. Funnily he seams to be getting it backwards – he wets his pants but does “bigger things” in the toilet. All the books say it usually goes the other way around.
Although we are not really trying to get off the diapers yet, because its winter here and this is a more summer sort of thing (roll the carpets and let him run with no clothes on, and no diapers either - learning to control one's needs with only the floors getting messy from time to time), Jonathan is expressing a growing interest in the toilet and a lessening willingness to wear diapers. We hope to try and get him off the diapers in Passover, when he has a week at home during the holiday. |It is then considerably warmer too.
Jonathan has understood from an early age that if he is not tall enough, he can get a chair, climb on it and reach his target. Now the shelves have also become a legitimate device for the same purpose. This is how he surprisingly reached the DVD player earlier this week at last. I turned my back for just a minute and whoops, he changed the CD in it alone! I have been keeping the DVD player high up as part of the mechanism to control the time Jonathan spends watching his DVD disks. But as his climbing has taken on a new turn and he has successfully changed DVD's at my mothers without breaking the player, I decided to bring it down again and keep controlling Jonathan's DVD intake by only putting up his CD's when we are done watching them for the day.
The first result of this policy was that he enjoys it very much and changes the CD's more often. The second result was that he reached to his fathers DVD collection, as he could not reach own – and broke one of the films. We are now reminding him that he is not permitted to touch the CD's in the shelves – just the one's in his box – which still remains high up....
Jonathan has been sick for a few days at home, and DVD played a major role in his entertainment, as it was cold outside. This morning he was to go to Kindergarten again – he refused. Even my leaving the house did not work! He has in fact recently been more willing to let me go out of the house and even says “buy bye” nicely if I Go out. This morning, I left indeed and my husband took him to kindergarten later, after he got his “DVD morning fix”. Even so, I think Jonathan likes his kindergarten and after today, he will remember again how nice it is and tomorrow morning it will be easier to get him out of the house.
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