February- a short but busy month

Simon wearing his dinner. Gotta love guacamole.

After reviewing the month’s activities, Emily realized that she and the boys were sick the first half of February: coughs, colds, teething (Simon), a bout of croup and a trip to the ER for oral steroids (James). Ugh! Also, during this time, James wavered in his resolve to “use the potty like a big boy” and the potty-training battle began in earnest. So, the first part of the month wasn’t all that memorable, at least not in a good way.

Simon packing for the trip to Mike and Sarah's house.

Fortunately, the rest of the month was vastly more interesting. Mike and Sarah invited Emily to tag along with Mom and Dad on their trip, so they all flew out to Michigan together. With Hayden’s baptism, the move into the new house, and all of the kids’ activities, it was a really busy time for Mike’s family. So, the second half of the February flew by quickly for everyone. This was a fortunate thing for Em and the boys, since they have been anxiously awaiting Jay’s arrival (which is now only a couple of weeks away).

James and Simon have loved spending time with their cousins. After just a few days, Simon was reaching to be held and squealing with excitement when the kids returned from school. (Much to his mother’s dismay, shrieking has become one of Simon’s favorite pastimes.) Also, Simon started walking full-time just days before we arrived in Michigan which means that he gets into trouble quicker. It has been great having cousins around to help keep tabs on him. James and Anders have had good days and not-so-good days but overall, James is grateful to have a consistent playmate. Anders has taught James a lot about robots, TRIOs, and drawing and he is a great potty training coach.

James and Anders cleaning...using WAY too much soap.

This month, Emily spent her time entertaining and refereeing the little ones. She helped Sarah to organize and decorate the new house and watched American Idol for the first time in years, which was fun. She also worked on her annual PNP certification and James’ potty training, which wasn’t as much fun.

Without a doubt, potty training is Emily’s least favorite part of parenting so far. Argh! After weeks of every coercion and positive incentive Em could think of, James continued to have accidents. He would go days with only 1 or 2 accidents and then relapse and have several in one day. Reluctantly, Emily decided to employ the Peterson family stand-by: the “cold shower method”. It only took a few days for James to respond, but Em thinks he achieved a record. Has anyone else given a kid more than 4 cold showers in a day?