Training

There's alot of training going on in our household lately. First, Sean is almost fully potty-trained but the road here was a bumpy one.  He got the pee down pretty quickly and enjoys peeing while standing up like "Dad".  He likes the hands-free approach and wiggles his hips when done.  This can prove pretty hazardous because he dove in head first the other day into the toilet.  His teacher found him wet up to his elbows and a nice size bruise on his forehead after hitting the rim.  Going #2 is another story and we've had many messy surprises in his pants that poor Dad has to deal with.  We hear it's a common problem for toddlers to resist going #2 in the potty so we'll just have to keep on top of it, be patient, and carry alot of extra underwear.

As many of you already know, we are firm believers in regular sleep schedules and training our kids to sleep on their own.  We started sleep training Ava last week and she still struggles to fall asleep without any assistance.  Some days are better than others but it's mainly the naps that she struggles with.  Bedtime still has some crying but when she's out, she stays asleep til at least 4am and goes right back to sleep after a quick feed.  Naptimes are definitely a different story.  She cries before sleeping (if at all) and doesn't stay asleep for very long.  There are lots of short power naps throughout the day and crying before sleeping.  It's been mentally and emotionally draining on the whole family to hear her cry so much and sometimes we just want to throw in the towel.  We'll probably give it another week to see how she does and we are REALLY praying for some progress.