It’s Official…

Thomas is in BIG BOY UNDIES!!!  Yahoo!  It has been a long time coming and every week he seemed more “ready.”  He had started to tell us he would be “right back, go poop” and was asking to be changed.  He for a long time has been good about knowing when he needed to go pee (and was diaper free for many parts of the day) but always wanted a diaper to do his business in.  I was also pretty worried about the logistics of having no diapers and a newborn. 

After being in Minnesota and realizing that he was getting out of the pool to go pee and consulting with my mom, mother in law and a few friends that had recently transitioned into big kid undies Mike and I decided it was time.

We talked about it with Thomas on Saturday and Sunday and Monday morning we went for it.  He really didn’t put up a fight or say “no” he was more excited about getting to be the same as his Dada and Mama.  Monday we had 3 accidents, but the biggest triumph was seeing him need to go #2 and getting him to do so on the potty.  We had the “poo poo puppy pez” ready and waiting for our first triumph.  After getting 4 pez candies in his puppy dispenser, calling Daddy and his Grandmas we were hopeful it would happen again.  Since the first day he has yet to have an poo accident.  Tuesday he had a couple accidents and then since Wednesday he has been accident free.

I have to be honest because I think he was so ready it really wasn’t difficult.  Once he figured out that he wasn’t in a diaper on day 1 and 2 and he started to remember that he needed to not get his pants wet it was great.  Since the beginning he would for the most part tell us if he needed to go and we gave a few reminders.  The first few poos we were watching him like a hawk to see when he needed to go, since then he will go by himself and yell to tell us what he is doing. 

There were a few hiccups of being in big boy undies that we didn’t consider: 1-naptime is a lot shorter because after catching him mid pee on day 2’s nap he has not been wet during a nap again. 2-he doesn’t like putting a diaper on for a nap and most of the time won’t (so we sneak one on) 3- he has started to wake up at night if he needs to go potty.  He still is not ready to be diaper free at night and probably won’t be for some time.

On the other hand, the joy of not carrying around diapers, needing to change him and his poo diapers and filling up the landfills even more is absolutely amazing. Oh and it is pretty darn cute watching him run around in his “big boy unnies.”  I also never thought it would be so easy going out with him because I thought we would have accidents.  Knock on wood that has yet to happen!  He and we are pretty proud that he is in big boy undies. 

Travel Babies

Don’t know how we were blessed with great air travelers but we were.  We also didn’t have too bad of a car trip either.

Elin’s first flight was pretty good.  She cried for about 2 minutes when she was fighting sleep and that was all.  She slept all but the last 45 minutes on the flight.  Thomas was a trooper for the 3 hour flight and watched a little Man-a-ga-Gar, colored, played with stickers, had a few snacks, read books and entertained Mike and I. 

The drive from Woodbury to Cloquet both babes slept the whole way.  On our way back Elin was pretty upset the last 10 minutes of the ride.  She was done sitting in her seat.  We made it safely to Woodbury and she was happy again.

Our flight home was the most eventful flight we have had thus far.  All was going great when we got to the airport.  Thomas was exhausted and finally fell asleep in the car.  So Mike was carrying him.  After a much too short nap we boarded the plane and wanted him to watch a movie and fall asleep.  Elin was already fast asleep in my arms.  Then the beverage cart came.  Mike took the tray table out and after he finished his drink Thomas went to put the tray back in.  Somehow, he pinched his finger between the armrest and tray table and instantly he was crying with a loud (I really hurt myself) shriek.  That is when we saw the blood.  So we now have a super over tired, overly dramatic normally, 2 year old with a pinched and cut finger.  Poor guy.  It took us about 10 minutes to calm him down and then I was able to get him to sleep.  Once asleep I could finally see that the cut was not as bad as I originally thought.  Oh the drama!  Thomas the rest of the flight was great and couldn’t wait to get his suitcase again.  As soon as he got it he happily exclaimed, “yay, go see Dama and Bampa and other Dama and Bampa’s house.”  No little buddy we are far far away now in Seattle and headed home.

Thomas’ First Time Fishing

We headed back to Big Lake to try our luck with taking Thomas dock fishing.  Let’s just say it was equally successful and adorable.  We were all very excited about his fishing.  The first time he put the pole in the water he caught a fish.  At first he was ok with help but by the end he was telling us all he wanted to do it “on my own.”   In 30 minutes he caught 8 fish and had a blast, I think all of us big kids did too!

A night in our life…

Here is a glimpse of our life on a typical night.  Jenny, of Jenny Boyle Photography, did a perfect job of capturing it all, well everything but the noise!  As I looked again at all these pictures it is fun to see a night essentially frozen.

I can’t wait to look at this pictures in a few years or decades and remember the chaos, perfection and imperfection that each night in our home brings. 

Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as Mike and I do.  There are a lot of pictures…she gave us over 200 these are our favorites.