The Duke Turns 7 Months Old

It's hard to believe, but the Duke is 7 months old!!! He's a happy, easy-going, little guy! He ADORES his big sister and is completely intrigued by the cat! My guess is that he's nearing 20 pounds.  He absolutely loves to eat!!!! He's mostly drinking formula at this point. It's just too hard to keep up with his appetite (basically 8-10 ounces at every feeding)! Although he still gets his mommy's milk in the morning and a big bottle of breastmilk almost every other night.  He has also been enjoying various fruits and vegetables, as well as oatmeal cereal.  His favorite snacks are Mum Mums! He loves them and it keeps him occupied for quite a while!

Lukey continues to nap 3 times a day.  He usually naps around 9:00, 12:00, and 3:00.  His bedtime is around 7:00 pm. and usually wakes around 6:30am for a quick feeding and then back to bed for an hour or so.  I can't complain too much! Although we are still dealing with the occasional night of "crying it out."  I think this is partly due to his teething.  His bottom two front teeth are in!

Luke can sit up pretty well at this point.  Occasionally, he tumbles over!  He loves playing with his little toys and puts just about anything and everything in his mouth!      

My happy 7 month old!

SO BIG!



Lukey and his BIG sister



He LOVES her and she tells me frequently, "I love Lukey, Mommy"

Still has his baby blues!

Buddies

Big boy sitting up

Handsome Harry..... LOVE him!

Chocolate!

I had a not-so-brilliant idea to have two 3 year olds make a snack with chocolate frosting! My first fail was the Nilla wafers contained eggs.  So, I had to improvise and have Mya use animal crackers.  My second fail was to think these little guys would actually make the crafty snack rather than eat the chocolate frosting! Regardless, they had fun!

Attempting to follow my directions and spread the chocolate onto the cookie.

Nah! Too good.... Aiden loved the kisses and the chocolate frosting!

The cute acorns they were SUPPOSED to make!

YUMMY!

I had to include this picture.... look at the chocolate on the wall behind Aiden!

This was too funny not to include! Mya was on Day 3 of potty training.  She insisted on Aiden sitting right in front of her to watch her pee.  The funniest part was that Aiden literally sat there and rooted her on for several minutes while Mya tried! Someday when these 2 are in high school this picture will have to be shown! Don't worry.... we made sure she kept her privates hidden! And... Aiden's Mommy was with us during the entire thing!

She Did IT!!!

We have been trying (off and on) for a while to get Mya potty trained. I will be the first to admit that it is 99% my fault that Mya is 3 years and 3 months old and still in diapers. She started showing interest probably a year and a half ago. I thought there was no way she was ready and kind of ignored her interest (BIG mistake).  I then put her into pull-ups about a year ago because she was taking off her diapers and running around naked (another sign I missed.... or ignored).  I think a big part of me didn't want to mess with the hassle of the training and having to take her to public restrooms. Then, I found out I was pregnant with Luke and everyone said she would just digress anyways.  So... again, I chose to not push the training. By this time, she completely lost interest. She couldn't have cared less. In fact, she would've sat in a soiled diaper for hours if we didn't change her.  I talked to her pediatrician about it thinking she would be disgusted with my parenting and encourage Mya to go. But, I was wrong. She told me to stop talking about it and leave her alone. It was completely a control issue with Mya.  And, she had all of it. 

2 days ago I had it.  I was SO sick of diapers. With Luke and Mya in diapers, it was just TOO much! Not to mention, I consider Mya very bright and there was NO reason she wasn't going on the potty. She had gone before so I knew she was able to do it.  I told her she needed to put on undies after her nap. This wasn't a completely new thing to her. She had worn undies before, but never consistently went potty. This time, she FLIPPED OUT! She did not want to wear them. This triggered my "control issues" and it was now a battle of the wills!  Mom vs. Mya.  I grabbed ALL of her diapers and told her I was getting rid of them. She screamed. I'm not talking a little whine or a little tantrum. I'm talking a blood-curling scream. She was PISSED.  I told her that the garbage man was taking them to a giant hole in the ground (not my best parenting moment). Or, maybe he would give them to little boys and girls that needed them.  Regardless, I hid them and she thought they were gone!!!  She wore undies that evening, but never went to the bathroom.  I tried bribery (candy, ice cream, chucky cheese, new Barbie, pop, gum, etc) and threats (no Caillou, no treats, etc.). She held out until her bedtime when I put a diaper on her.

The following morning (yesterday), she had to put on undies again. She held her pee and poo until 11:30 am. Still nothing. I left for the gym, and Matt was in charge. He was confident he could get her to go.  At about 11:45, I got a text that said, "You can thank me later." Attached was a video of Mya peeing on the potty! WOOHOO! I was impressed.  Later, he informed me that he told her that she was going to have to ride in an ambulance and a doctor was going to have to cut the pee out of her (not his best Daddy moment).  Now... I'm no psychologist, but this may screw our daughter up for awhile. But, heck... she peed in the potty! She went several more times yesterday. I took the kids to Culvers to celebrate and she even peed there! I am HOPING and PRAYING that we will be completely potty trained by 2012.

But for now, I'd say Mom 1 vs. Mya 0

Daddy sent this pic to my while I was at the gym. I'm sure those around me were wondering why I was giggling to myself! This was her successful pee! (Perhaps the bottle of water Matt made her drink helped!)

Peeing at Culvers!

SO EXCITED!

Flushing with her foot like Mommy!

Celebrating with Italian Ice at Culvers!