Hard Core Potty Training: Day 1

I have a reached a point where I am sick and tired of changing the poop diapers of a child that knows when he has to go, but refuses to use the potty. Two nights ago, I told Jayden that if he went poop in his diaper without telling me first, he was going to get pow-pow. That’s the Puerto Rican way of saying you’re going to get a spanking. You know what Jayden did? He held it. He hasn’t gone poop ever since. Can you believe the stubbornness of this child? So that’s it. Today, I’ve decided is the day. Enough!

I started by removing Jayden’s diaper and I put on his undies. He was not happy and Esteban had to hold him while I get his underpants on. We took him to the potty several times and nothing. Then he went outside to the screen room where no one was looking and pooped in his undies. So, I gave him a spanking. I hated to do it, but following the advice of books has gotten me no where so far. While I cleaned up the mess, Jayden sat in his potty chair looking sad. I explained that he should use the potty if he has to go pee or poop and he said ok.

The rest of the day, I took him to the potty every hour or so. Success was rewarded with candy. He was loving that part. He only had two accidents. Once, he peed half in the potty and half on the floor. (That’s still a success to me.) The second time, he must have leaked, caught himself and stopped the flow. I took him to the potty and he finished his business there. For nap, he wore a pull up, which was inflated by the time he woke up. And at bedtime, he wore a diaper. We went through 3 pairs of undies all day. I’m utterly exhausted, but it was a very good first day indeed.

Old Skool Freestyle

So now that I have an iPhone, I figure I should work on building a music library. Right now, my library consists of lullabies and nursery rhymes. So I start searching iTunes, looking for a potential ring tone. I’m looking for a song I can identify with, that has a catchy beat or tune and that’s different from other people’s ring tones. I start listening to clip after clip. I thought maybe I could get a great Salsa tune or a Merengue song with some pizzazz. Maybe I could search for an inspirational tune among the Contemporary Christian songs. Or what about a show tune? And before you know it, I’m thinking of all kinds of crazy tunes like Shaft. I performed my first dance to that song. Or the Pink Panther theme. One of my first plays was the Pink Panther. I was going way down memory lane and before you know it, I was on the hunt for 80’s freestyle.

I am probably dating myself here, but I grew up on what we used call club music or freestyle. I don’t know who else listened to this stuff and can relate, but I sat at my computer, cracking up all by myself. I was amazed at how well I could remember most of the beats and lyrics. There were songs and artists I haven’t heard of or thought of in what seems like a lifetime. Some songs took me back to specific parties, events, girlfriends and boyfriends. And so I had myself a night of freestyle listening to the likes of Judy Torres, India, TKA, Noel, Coro, Lissette Melendez, Expose, the Cover Girls, and Stevie B. to name a few.

A Day At The Pool

Finally, Esteban and I have a day off together and of course, there's rain in the forecast. But we got up, had breakfast and took a chance. We went out to the Jim Beech Recreation Center and had a great time. We were probably there for a good two hours before the rain drove us away.

Here's Maya splashing around with Daddy.

Golly, these kids love the water. It's amazing!
Maya is just adorable. We're so blessed with her.

Jayden is so independant. I adore his free spirit.

Everybody is keeping their eyes on the clouds.

Except for Jayden, of course. Such a wild child!

Maya only wants to be with Daddy and Jayden is eyeballing his next water jet he's going to attack.

The Stall: Can you Spare a Square?

I went running into the bathroom and when I go to grab the toilet paper, I notice that the roll is out. Crap! So I say, “Oh no” in a loud voice and Jayden comes running. What is it mommy? I explain that I am out of paper and ask him to go get more. When he doesn’t come back in the next minute, I know something went wrong. I call out to him again and no answer. After several cries for help, he finally arrives with two or three squares of paper and I had to laugh.

Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine is in the stall and asks the lady next to her to please spare a square and the lady says no? Well, that’s exactly what I thought of. I made due with what I had and moved on. Later, I found out that there were no back up rolls in Jayden’s bathroom which is why he couldn’t help me so he did the next best thing. What a smart boy!

Cute Things That Maya and Jayden Say and Do

Maya tries to throw her sippy cup in the sink when she’s done with it and she can’t quite reach so she gets on her tippy toes and she still can't reach but she looks so cute trying. She also tries to put on her shoes. She can’t even get a toe in but she tries and looks so funny doing it. She’s like Jayden’s shadow. She follows him everywhere and when he’s still asleep she wants to go running in to wake him. She copies everything he does and he eats it all up.

Jayden walks around saying “that’s strange” about everything and anything. He cracks me up. Sometimes it makes total sense and other times, he’s just plain ‘ole silly. The other night, I gave him a cookie and after he was done, he came back for more. I didn’t want to give him a second cookie, but then he said “Cookie, mommy. I’m cookie monster.” I was cracking up.

The iPhone 3G

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always gotten whatever the free promotional cell phone was. Almost two years ago, I fell in love with the pink razr and I just had to have it. I hunted around and found what I thought was a great deal with a Cingular vendor. Almost immediately, I began to have issues with the phone and Cingular would not back it phone because I didn’t get it at the Cingular store so I was pissed. I ended up with a remanufactured phone, but it turned out to be a bad battery. So, I got the replacement battery, but the poor refurbished phone never made it. Never again. I was through with Cingular and through with vendors.

Ever since, I’ve been waiting patiently for my contract to expire so I can get a new phone, a smart phone. I wanted a phone that could do everything. I’d been eyeballing the Blackberry Curve and the Palm Centro. And then the new iPhone came out. Now, I don’t own any iProducts at all. Never really gave it a second thought, but we have several iPhone fanatics in the office and before you knew it, I was thinking it was a really cool phone. I mentioned one of its features to Esteban one night and before you knew it, he was on the band wagon too.

Well, last night he told me that he was buying me the iPhone as an anniversary present and I couldn’t be more excited and nervous at the same time. Today, I went to the Apple Store and waited 3 hours in line with some not so patient people by the way and got what I have to say is the fanciest gadget I’ve ever owned. A PDA, web browsing at your fingertips, instant email access, music, camera, GPS… Oh yeah, and a phone too. I’m so looking forward to playing with the phone. Thank you darling for my early present and for always working so hard for me and our kids. I love you!

The Scale

So during one of my many visits to Publix, I stepped on the scale and I didn’t like what I saw. I mean, I never like what I see on the scale and I always weigh more than what I appear to weigh. But this time, I noticed that my downward trend had stopped. Instead, I was beginning to gain weight again. This was not acceptable. Now I had eight extra pounds that I didn’t have a few months ago.

So while I’ve never been a fan of diets and have always eaten whatever I’m in the mood for, it’s time to bring out the reinforcements. First, I called my neighbor and said it was time to start our walks again. Because of the incredible heat, we had traded our walks in for the shady swing set or for pool time. And while we were never big walkers, we were out there once or twice a week. And because we are usually pushing two in strollers and tugging along two toddlers who can’t decide if they want to walk or sit or just stand there, it takes us almost two hours to go around the block a couple of times. So even though it wasn’t exactly a cardiovascular workout, I really feel that it helps me out tremendously.

I am also back to taking the stairs again at work. Since Maya was born, I’ve started to have issues again with my heel spurs so I was avoiding the stairs, but no longer. It’s on now! Plus, I am starting to replace more meals with cereal. I am home alone with the kids at night. No sense in having a huge supper. Whenever it makes sense, I make the kid’s dinner and then I have a bowl of cereal. This was working like a charm for me before. I have big hopes this time around.

After my first week, I noticed that I dropped one pound. Now, I’ll have to re-weigh myself. Hopefully I’ll have lost at least another pound.