First Harvest and a Good Night's Sleep

Yesterday was a good day at the Bowman garden. Jack helped me to harvest all these vegetables! He has been a good helper out in the garden. He will pick weeds (I just have to keep an eye on the things that he thinks are weeds!) He also got a little excited when we picked the red tomatoes. He then started handing me green tomatoes as well. And I was pleasantly surprised when at dinner he ate his whole serving of squash and zucchini that we had sauteed. I kept reminding him that he helped them grow and that he picked them from the garden. That seemed to make all the difference! We even got one small sugar snap pea and Jack had half of it! Hopefully taking some responsibility in the garden will make him be a bit more adventurous in his table habits. I wonder if that would work with Tommy for his eating squash, zucchini, and tomatoes! Hopefully soon we'll have some cucumbers, peppers, jalapenos and others to go with our harvest!

On another note...Caroline slept all the way through the night last night! There wasn't a peep out of her. Before last week, she was still getting up for a 3am feed. After I taught my week long class at NKU, I knew that feed had to go. I was getting up at 3 to feed her and then at 5:30 to get ready for the day. I had an awful hard time actually getting back to sleep after feeding her. Starting the day at 3 and going all day was just not going to happen in August. So last week began the process of breaking that feed. The first couple of nights were really rough. I let her cry (and Tommy was happy to enjoy the guest bed in the basement and not hear anything!). Jack didn't wake up in his room next door either. Then she started waking, fussing a few minutes, and going back to sleep. Her first feed would then begin at 6am. That will work out great for August. I will be able to feed her once before school. But last night, I rolled out of bed for my 3am pumping (building a freezer supply) and didn't hear anything from anyone. Then at 6:30, I heard Tommy getting ready. He assumed I had fed Caroline already but was surprised when I said I hadn't. I was bad...I woke her up to feed her. I know, I should let a sleeping baby sleep, but there is something nice about having her on a good feeding schedule. It just helps out with our day and keeping a 2 year old happy as well. So I fed her and she went right back to sleep! Yay for Caroline!

First Swim and new photos

The summer has been lots of fun. We are trying to do fun stuff, but I tell you, it's a different world with 2 kids!

Here's Caroline at her first swim party. She got in a little float and fell asleep in about 10 minutes. Atleast she didn't cry!

Jack had a great time swimming...once we finally got him in. He really did have a good time. He just didn't like the noodle here! He keeps asking to swim in the big pool. I guess we'll have to make another trip to a big swimming pool, not just his kiddie pool in the backyard.

Our friend Lauren took some pictures again last weekend. We took some family photos and then some for Caroline since she is now 3 months old!

They love each other!

Pretty girl! She's getting so big.

Caroline and Daddy

Yay! We figured out how to do video on our camera and now I can upload to our page! Here's the first video Tommy made. He got Caroline talking to him.

Quick Update

While everyone is sleeping, I'm taking a break from grad school homework! Only a couple more weeks and I'll have my masters...whohoo! Anyways, about Jack. He's doing great still with the potty. The last two nights, he's even slept in big boy underwear and woken up dry. He doesn't want to wear a diaper anymore, which I think is a big deal in the whole process. He likes to pee and really likes getting a sticker. The pooping...we're still getting there. Those have been the only real accidents we've had. He has gone a few times and is sleeping with the little dinosaurs and frogs that he's gotten as incentives. So, I guess we found some good prizes. And better yet, a huge bunch of them only cost $1 at a yard sale. Good buy, I guess.

One thing that I think has been good as well is keeping a little potty in the back of the car. He says he likes to pee in Mommy's car. Kind of scary! He will tell me he has to go, I pull over, and he pees in the back of the pilot. Good thing for IKEA's $3 potties!

I hear Caroline stirring. Better get her before Jack is up too. It took him a while to go down today. He told me "no nap Mommy" and that "Jack slept good last night." Well, Mommy won. I needed to get some homework done!

Yay Jack!

We are on day 5 of potty training. Day 4 was such a good day. Jack was able to wear the same pair of big boy underwear (with dinosaurs, I might add) ALL day long! That's right...absolutely no accidents. We even visited the ENT for a tube check-up and he stayed dry the entire time and peed on the potty while there.

He's also been waking up dry from the night and after naps. Today when I put him down for nap, he was adamant about not wanting a diaper. So, we'll see how he does during nap with no diaper! What is the worst that could happen? I might have to wash sheets. But if it makes him feel like a big boy, I'll let him try.

I also like to think that Jack got a bit of my mathematical blood. He likes to examine the volume of the urine after he's gone. It's either a baby pee or a big, big pee. That a boy!

We've just got to really get him comfortable with pooping though. He did manage the other night, but wanted to hold my hands while performing. I guess it can be kind of scary for them. Oh well...we'll just keep the incentives coming.

These have been some long days of potty, nursing, potty, laundry, etc, etc...but it's really starting to pay off. I'm so proud of the little guy...and I think he can tell by my excitement. We've also learned a lot of new songs while waiting on the potty!

Potty Training: Day 3

So far so good in the world of potty training. Today was a big improvement over the others. This morning we've only had one accident and actually had poopy on the potty! That's a big thing. Jack's also realizing when he has to go and initiates the sitting on the potty. We've tried to stay home to really focus on that. We did sneak out to a pool party with David and Michael yesterday. Caroline and Mackenzie also had a playdate of their own.

Jack can barely keep up the 12-18 month swim trunks! He eventually just ran around in his swim diaper.

The girls really get along well.

Adventures in Potty Training

This week we are determined to really get down to business with potty training. Jack's been going pee-pee in the potty for some while now, but not with any consistency. I didn't push it too hard knowing life was about to change dramatically. Now he is done with school for the summer and we need to do this now. We are hibernating for the week and mastering the potty. Here are some pictures from day one. So far so good. He has gained 4 stickers on his potty chart and left one little surprise on the carpet for me. Only a couple of accidents. Not so bad so far!

Tommy and Jack also took a fishing trip yesterday. I think the picture says it all.