My son – who is 21 months old is doing really, really well with the transition to underwear! He’s made huge strides since two months ago.  For starters, he always tells us when he needs to go.  No more mommy and daddy guesses – nope, now it’s all his doing.

It makes me so happy to hear him calling for me during the day and after naps to go “boo boos” (poo-poos) and “pee” – which of course ends in a successful trip to the potty and my son asking for help putting on his “unnies” (undies).  Oh and clapping. Yes, lots of clapping is to be done after a successful trip to the potty!  And I just love it!

Mine and my husband’s goal for our son is to have him potty trained by his second birthday (fully trained by day, and partially trained – wearing Pull-Ups at night is the realistic goal)  and so far our little monkey’s right on track!

I find that the hardest part of potty training is taking him for outings. Especially  if I’m not familiar with the place and can’t find a washroom in a panic if need be.  So far he’s been great, and can tell us he needs to use the potty and still hold it for 10 minutes more, so that’s definitely helpful but the thought that he’ll have an accident and it’s all my fault is always in the back of my mind.

We are still using Pull-Ups on him at night, but each morning he wakes up, calls us to take him to the potty and low and behold: his overnight Pull-Up is bone dry and the potty is full!

Have you potty trained a toddler? How old was he/she and how long was the process from start to end?

My son loves books.  Ever since he was one day old he has been subjected to them by his father and I.  Actually, before he was even born my husband would read to him (my belly) an adorable story called “My Daddy and Me” by Tina Macnaughton each night before we went to sleep.   After I delivered my son at the hospital, and just following our first nursing session, my husband recited the story to my son and  he of course, recognized it (or so we felt).

Today, my son has a pretty regimented reading routine.  Each morning, before lunch he and I sit down on either the floor or a chair and read books together.  It always begins the same way: I point to the words as I say them and he points to the pictures and calls out each word he points to.  He flips the pages and jumps up to trade it in for another once we’re finished. We typically read 2-3 more books throughout the afternoon.  After bath time, which my lovely hubby facilitates each night,  they will then sit on the comfy blue glider in our son’s bedroom and read  bedtime stories together.

I’m so pleased to know that we are installing a love for books and reading in our son. It’s comforting to know how much he really appreciates the time we take each day to do this with him.

What’s your child’s reading routine like? Does he/she spend time looking at books at home?

Do you have any favourite stories that you really enjoy reading to your child? Tina Macnaughton has also written “My Mommy and Me” – but unfortunately I haven’t found it in stores thus far:(

My little man has come down with a high fever, vomiting and overall fussiness.

It all began early yesterday morning when he absolutely refused to eat breakfast. Full on REFUSAL.  The whole shebang, turning his head, hitting my hand away from his face, spitting out the food that did enter his mouth, everything. He only conceded to drinking diluted apple juice-which I felt was like a home run seeing as I couldn’t entice him to eat anything at all.

Later that day he seemed really lethargic – only wanting to sleep or lay down.   I checked his temperature and low and behold – it was 102.  I usually don’t administer Tylenol or Advil unless he’s showing signs of discomfort, so I didn’t give him anything.  A few hours and a bowl of dry whole grain Cheerios later, he became extremely fussy. I gave him a dose of Tylenol and put him down for a nap.  He fell asleep instantly but woke up in what seemed like a night terror.

He was crying and screaming when he woke up. His eyes were glassy and he wasn’t making direct eye contact with us.  I swore he was still asleep so I just picked up his soother, plopped it in his mouth and that was it – he closed his eyes, put his head down on his pillow and fell back asleep for one more hour.

When he woke up he ate little bites of food but a good amount of water.  He eventually began throwing up later in the evening, in typical toddler “projectile” fashion.  The poor guy, he was miserable.   I ran him a cool bath and he played happily in there for half and hour or so.  His spirits were lifted and everything just seemed to be getting better.   After his bath I read him a few stories and then took his temperature again.  It had gone up half a degree to 102.5.

I brought him downstairs to our living room and encouraged him to rest on the couch, where I could keep a close eye on him.  He promptly fell asleep so after an hour my husband carried him up to bed and he slept 14 hours until this morning.

Today he’s been awake for 4 hours and has already spent his day crying, fussing, vomiting on the floor, bed and bathtub and eating very little.  Luckily I’ve managed to slip him small mouthfuls of hot cereal every few minutes while he’s distracted watching TV (which just happens to be the only calm-inducing method at this point).

I just put him down for a nap and he’s already asleep. Here’s hoping he will wake up feeling a little better!

No blog post today – my son’s come down with something – which means there’s no time for Mommy Time today.