Halloween and other business

I realize I never put up Halloween photos of the boys, so here are my little pumpkins! Other updates to speak of...potty training is pretty much no longer in the 'training stage' I'd say. Ethan only went poop in his underwear once the very first week and since then he's gone in his potty (usually people say that's the hardest part and I think he's got it. He sometimes resists sitting on there to poop, but we are persistent in telling him we need to sit there and try). Other than that, he's not really had any major accidents to speak of and usually even tells us now when he needs to go. We're still doing pull-ups at nap/night, but that's the least of my worries right now. Ethan lately has really been testing his boundaries with defiance to see how far he can go with you. For instance, I told him he needed to stay in the kitchen with his juice box at Grandma Hickman's....he watched me the entire time and slowly walked towards the kitchen and then proceeded to put one foot on the carpet...ugh, this kid. Lots of people tell me that 'terrible 2's are nothing, compared to the 3's...so, maybe just the point in his life? He's still a lovable boy when he wants to be, with randomly telling me, 'Mommy, I love you!' - melts my heart!!

Carter is growing like a weed! Just in the past week he's starting really grasping toys well and screeching and babbling a LOT!! He rolls over from his tummy to back on occasion and when on his back and sitting in his activity chairs he really gets his arms and legs moving, so he can have momentum to get himself partially on his side sometimes from his back to tummy position. He also giggles now.

Here are some pics of the last few weeks in no particular order from Halloween thru Thanksgiving.

Potty Training

Well, we decided to start potty training Ethan on Saturday. After the first few hours I was sure that it was going to be a bust, when Ethan told me twice that he 'needed to go to the bathroom' AFTER he in fact already went in his pants. But, after a few accidents Saturday morning, he finished strong with earning 9 stickers for the day and a total of 3 accidents. We are still asking him every 20 or so minutes if he has to go, but I'm sure once he gets in the routine of thinking about whether he needs to go that he'll just initiate it himself and he's already proven to be doing just that. Everyone has told me that #2 is the harder to train and I figured it was only a matter of time before we'd have to deal with it. Last night before dinner Ethan insisted that his butt hurt and I needed to put some cream on it. I should've known from the skid mark in the undies of the impending doom. But, I gave him the cream and went about making dinner. Sure enough, we're sitting at dinner and I looked across at him while he told me his butt hurt and he was literally shaking - I think from his attempts to keep holding it all in, which didn't work (after 3 days of not going). So, lesson learned, when Ethan tells me he needs butt cream, sit him on the potty! Dave was the lucky winner of cleaning up the first mess as I 'conveniently' had to feed Carter (ha ha - I actually did though). Overall, I am very happy with the progress and feel like diapers are a thing of the past!! Even if we still have to do diapers/pull-ups during nap/night, I feel like a free woman!! WAY TO GO BIG E!!!

In other news, Carter officially got his first cold this weekend! It started in the wee hours of Saturday morning when he woke to eat and I could hear the raspy sound in his chest and he was sneezing a lot through the day Saturday. Luckily Dave and I were so exhausted on Saturday night that we went to bed @ the equivalent hour of 7:30 (for daylight savings) because Carter had a real rough night and his cold was in full swing by Sunday morning. I stayed home with him yesterday so he could be cozy with Mommy, although he was definitely a little crabby boy!! He's been sleeping well through the night and so hopefully this cold is on its way out!! Nothing worse than a poor little 3 1/2 month old that can't breathe!