Lake Erie

We now live a block from Lake Erie and about six block from public access in a park.  Today was hot and muggy, so after the potty training drama, we went swimming. The nearby beach is small, but not crowded at all.  The shore had sand and lots of rocks and shells...but after about ten feet out, the bottom was mostly sand. The water was nearly waveless and very clear, we the occasional seaweed and minnows drifting around.  I didn't think Jude we go in, but I had hopes that Tamlin would enjoy it.   However, both kids had a great time in their own way.  

Jude at first clung desperately to me...like legs wrapped around my hip in a death grip clung to me.  I gave up trying to wade in with him and just sat in the shallows with Jude only lap.  This was acceptable, especially once I started handing him rocks to throw.  The kid loves rocks.  He sat in the water around his chest most of the time, just throwing rocks to watch them splash...and then wandered the shore picking up handfuls of rocky muddy sand.

Tamlin was a little nervous at first...but plunged in and waded out right up to his chest.  He liked exploring with daddy...climbing over some of the big rocks, walking on the brake wall, splashing around, and being carried out into deeper water. He eventually found three rocks that he insists had to come home with us...though one of them was for Jude.  

We spent an hour playing on the shore and it totally reminded me of another reason why this move was a good one.  Then we came home and showered, of course.

Potty training update

Oh yeah...we are riding the potty training roller coaster.  By today, I feel there was progress of sorts...but I won't hold my breath yet.  Jude is a bit more stubborn than our first born and having Tamlin running around doesn't help too much at times.

Here is a brief recap, even if it is just for me to notice that there is learning occurring.

Day 2,

It was another naked butt day while we hung around in the kitchen.  Jude starting peeing but we often got him to the potty to finish.  Number two finally came on the bedroom floor in the I swear five minutes that neither Brian nor I was looking at him.  I knew it was coming; Jude is a morning pooper. I trid the timer set at 30 minutes intervals to have sit on the potty.  He resisted.  He mostly just wanted to sit in my lap and be rocked.  I was feeling a bit off too, so we did a lot of sitting together...and I got peed on several times.   We had been trying the small portable potty so far, but I wanted to get the seat for the big potty too.   The few times we sat Jude on the big potty he hated it...but I think it was the fear of falling in ( flash backs, Aunt Shelly?). We did all go to the store and dinner with no accidents, but i think that was because he was holding it all in.  We tried a few more times in the evening before bed, but ended with tears and no,no,no's.

He was dry through the night.

Day 3,

I had high hopes.  I got him excited about underwear with cars on it.  Jude did decide he liked the McQueen potty ring we got him, but still not thrilled about sitting on the potty.   Are best successes were right after naps when we placed him on a potty.  But mostly we would hear an "uh-oh" and he had started peeing into his underwear.  We sometimes could get him to finish in potty.  Argh.   He was still staying dry for long stretches but lacked the connection between pee and potty.  I broke out the doll babies.  Lucy and Carol drank juice and peed in the big potty.  They would say how exited they were to be big girls.  They took a bath with the boys and had several more demonstrations with the potty.  Tamlin loved it, Jude wasn't too sure about it.  We had some tears....I was ready to give up.

Day 4,

More tears.   More no no no.  More resistant to potty. More uh-oh exclamations. I was googling constipation and uti information as well as seeing if I was a crazy mean parent for still trying to do this.  Last night, I brought out the big guns...what worked for Tamlin...STICKERS and PRIZES.  

Day 5, 

I was cautiously optimistic.  The sticker chart was colorful and had trucks all over it.  I explained to Jude that every time he did his business in the potty he would get a sticker!  Yeah!  And every few stickers he would get a prize! Yeah!  Oh yeah, kid loves stickers. I even put a huge car McQueen sticker on the seat of the potty.   I set the timer and we started the day.   First two pees were misses and ended up in the underwear.  However, there were no tears when he sat on the potty.  He heard the ding and new it was fun fun potty time! It helped that I totally made up new potty songs and Jude loves to hear music.  Also, to help him relax, I let him hold whatever he wanted on the potty...often monster, or binky,  but then a toothbrush.  Yes.  The kid would gnaw on his toothbrush while he did his business. He was actually happy to go on the potty and sit! By nap time, we had him at least finishing in the potty after minor flow and coming over to me saying uh-oh.  But...after dinner...it happened.  Jude came over to me and said uh-oh BEFORE peeing in his pants and then got it all int the potty! Yeah!  There were stickers!  There was a new helicopter prize!  There were hugs and high fives from everyone.  It makes me hopeful for tomorrow...except going number two still hasn't occurred in the right place yet.

You go Jude.  Way to start becoming a big boy.

Moving Recap

Brian counted it up and this was move number 8 for us during our time together:
Move to Sharon, PA with Gennifer (Crash) and Steve for a summer or so
Move to New Wilmington, PA to duplex for a year or so
Move to Yellowstone / Florida for festivals for a year
Move to St. Paul, MN to "garden level" apartment for two years while I'm in graduate school
Move to St. Paul, MN to 3rd floor apartment for three years
Move to Grand Rapids, MI to 3rd floor apartment for a year
Move to Grand Rapids, MI house we bought for 6 years
Move to Vermilion, OH for new job

And each time we move, we have aquired MORE STUFF...
And this last move involved our kids too and all THEIR STUFF.

I swear I was ready to give nearly all of our stuff away instead of dealing with it. I think I spent most of April and all of May packing up all the stuff into boxes or deconstructing it into parts for moving.  In the end, all of our stuff fit crammed into 5 pods (6foot by 7foot by 8 foot crates) and two car-fulls.  We gave away about 5 car-fulls to charity organizations.  We had the junk guys take away another half a truck-full to the recycling center.  It was almost enough to through me off ever going to another garage-sale again and to ask only for experiences as gifts at holidays.

Oh, and the pods...they have been sitting here at our new place for a little over a week because the company hasn't found the time to come and get them. (At least they aren't charging us).

I have already informed Brian that are next move had better be our last move for a LONG time.  I want our next house to be our nearly forever house.

And our new rental?  Well, it isn't our forever house but it will do for awhile.  Brian, the boys, and I traveled out here and had to find a place to live in 48 hours.  We looked at several townhouses and apartments...each seemed way too small or way too close to neighbors or way too sketchy of neighborhood or way too run-down.  Then, on our way back to Michigan, I answered an add on Craigslist for a house to rent.  We met the landlord at the property and he told us the previous tenent had just skipped out on him and he wasn't sure how the house was left inside.  I prepared for the worst, but it wasn't too bad.

The positives:
 Tam and Jude loved the house because it had a playset in the yard.  The house is two stories, with three small (10foot square) bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  The plus was that the upside is nearly a completely open space with lots of storage nooks.  We are going to use it as the family room and play room and craft area. Additionally, the kitchen wasn't too small, the back yard is fenced, and there is a two car garage.  Oh, and a three season screened/windowed front porch!  The lot is a double lot, so we aren't staring right into our neighbors' houses.   I am so glad to be close to Lake Erie again.  The furnace is fairly new, as are the washer and dryer.  The entire place wasn't too dirty, just a little worn. 

The landlord is in his 50s and very nice.  He is a handyman and is very willing to fix whatever we need.  However, he can be quite talkative if you let him.  Overall, he seems like a very genuine guy.

The neighbors and neighborhood seem fine...actually it has been pretty quite here...even with a fire station at the end of the street.  Our across the lawn neighbors are musicians and have already been very friendly :-)

The negatives:
The paint choices were...pink, pink, orange, and badly painted.  One of the first things Brian wanted to do was paint every thing.  Thankfully, we have become really good at painting room. There was mildew / mold in the corners of the porch.  I however have a UV light to kill spores and then hit them with a fungicide and then paint for a triple kill. The carpet is older and pretty dingy.  He had them washed (they were damp) but I hit them again with my steam carpet cleaner with extra disinfectant soap.  The window screens have some holes...I'll see how much that bothers me at the height of mosquito season.  The gas was turned off, so our landlord hooked up an electric water heater for the week it took to get it turned back on.  The rooms are all smaller than what we had in our old house, so it does feel crammed a bit.  Food costs more here, but there are a few farmers markets to try and warehouse clubs nearby. The road it sits on lacks sidewalks, but is within a few blocks of a park with access to Lake Erie. I know that Tam can't wait to get out on his blue car or bike soon.

In the end...it will do for a year or two...and it is what we can afford for now.

Potty training #2

Yes, yes, yes... we are attempting to potty train Jude this week.
Yes, it might be a bit crazy but we are giving it a go anyways.
We starting talking about the potty and peeing in a potty and getting rid of diapers and becoming a big boy a while ago.

Shelly attempted to work with Jude last week while they were visiting, but had little success.

We are again utilizing the no diapers, no pull ups, bare butt, hard core for three days technique.

Day 1 Summary:
12+ misses on  the floor of the kitchen (mostly).
3 times peeing on mommy
2 wet pairs of underwear
0 poops anywhere
2 dolls drinking water and peeing in the potty.
5 successful completion of peeing in the potty, though started elsewhere.


Jude knows what the potty is.   He knows how to sit on the little potty when asked.  He liked to help baby dollies drink and go to the potty and then get praise.  He got better at "finishing" in the potty by the end of the day...and boy can he hold in the pee when he wants to.  Jude really got the idea that if he pees in the potty he gets M and M's.  Tamlin got sympathy m&m's too.  He stayed dry through nap, but I didn't get him on the potty fast enough after he woke up.  He really likes the underwear with cars on it.  I think he gets that pee and poop go in the potty since he declares uh-oh when he starts to pee elsewhere. 
I know the poop is coming...we may have to bust out some puzzles or new books for tomorrow for extended sitting on potty time while we wait for it.  I am cautiously hopefully but Brian isn't convinced quite yet.  And we haven't tried the big potty at all yet (I need to run out and get a potty seat).

Keeping our fingers crossed :-)

So much stress...

Really...
I think this is the most stressful I have ever been...ever...in my life...
I hate being a grown up.
I know it will eventually all work out.

To sum up...
I have a new job starting soon = yeah.
We have moved to a new rental house, which didn't go 100% smoothly = yeah and ugh.
Our new rental is smaller than our old house so we have lots of boxes and things in storage = ugh.
Rental was a bit dirty and mildewy and all rooms needed paint = ugh.
New house and job is closer to family, who we haven't seen in months = yeah.
We need to navigate the DMV to get new license and tags for Ohio = ugh
We have completely cleaned and landscaped our old house = ugh
Old house has been on the market almost 90 days with no offers = double ugh.
We have to figure out what to do with the house before money to carry mortgage and rent runs out = triple ugh.  We may have to consider a short sale if possible and take the blow to our credit.
Brian needs to look for work and we need to figure out working our hours and watching the kids = ugh.
We are potty training Jude in the middle of this = yeah and ugh.
 I find myself consuming more adult beverages of late...but our new rental does have a view of Lake Erie and that helps.

Ugh.