Progress

***WARNING: This is a potty training update. If you think potty talk is crude, skip reading this entry!***

My potty training approach was much like my "nursing" approach...why read books, why get advise...this is a natural process, it will just happen naturally. I should have learned the lesson from my failure in nursing, you can always use help, support and advise!

The story begins in October. We were still at the old house, just shy of moving into the new house. I always heard that big, major changes cause potty-training set-backs, so I was not going to attempt to begin potty training until we moved. However, at that time, Claire was staying with Becca and Becca was potty training Jonah (3) and Claire and Sophie took an interest. So I bought her a potty with no intention of working on potty training. But the child is smart I tell you! After giving her a bath, I would wipe out the tub and for several weeks, I would turn around and she would be sitting on the potty and actually going potty! That's as far as we got in October and November.

Fast forward to December. Mom (me) was on vacation for a couple of weeks around vacation and I thought this was an ideal time to train her. I still had not picked up the first book or asked for the first piece of advise, but I had been around moms and toddlers enough that I had a few tricks in my back pocket. Like the one where you give them as much juice as possible throughout the day, set the clock to go to the potty every 10 minutes and they are trained in one day...that one didn't work for us. All it did was make her revolt from wanting to sit on the potty at all.

Back to square one.

We took a little break. I wasn't passionate about potty-training and neither was she!

Fast forward...February. I walked in to pick her up from school one day and her teacher, Anna Claire, asked me if I had even considered starting to potty training because, as Anna Claire said, "she WILL be 3 in November." My gracious, I thought. The child just turned 2. Aren't we rushing the pressure and she has 8 more months until she is 3.

But since Anna Claire was new and I wanted to atleast show her that I was somewhat interested in her opinion, we went to Sears and bought panties and began our potty journey again.

Since I am running out of time and your attention, we are doing really well on potty-training as of today. Claire has not had a pee-pee accident in some time and is actually telling us when she needs to go and not us reminding her when to go. #2 is a different story, but we have made alot of progress the last few days. We are on 2 days in a row of going in the potty!!!

Our only remaining obstacle is public restrooms. Bill, inadvertantly, reacted to a dirty bathroom in Wal-green's a few weeks ago and said it was "nasty" and now she won't go in public restrooms. I don't blame her, but carrying her potty around in the back of the Tahoe is getting a little old!!!!

Goin' Fishin' Part 2

And, Goin' Fishin' Part 2...a few details behind the afternoon.

Simply put, we, all 3, had a fun time. Claire could barely contain herself as we were getting ready. As daddy did some chores at the church, Claire and I practiced fishing in her Valentine's life-jacket and her Barbie (she actually calls her Bella) fishing pole. We took some photos...


And, then we were off. We only had a couple of hours to be on the water, but you would have thought we were going to there all day the way I packed snacks, changes of clothes...

And here's Bill's two happy girls...

And the funniest part, we packed her potty with us on the boat. (By the way, she is doing a mighty fine job with potty training lately). She is relieving herself in the picture below, if you look carefully, you'll see the potty.

Goin' Fishin' Part 1

Just a small amount of self-sacrifice can lead to so much happiness in a home! If I would only be so smart to offer larger doses in my life.

This past winter, Uncle Don loaned the TN/AL Cato/Jones family his fishing boat as Bill's nephew Craig began to take a bigger interest in fishing. The boat arrived in need of some shelter and as the family with the new 2-car garage, we became the proud home of the boat!

Bill has been itching to get on the water since the day the boat arrived. Craig, Owen and Bill had been out a couple of times, but as the weather started getting warmer, Bill's conversations revolved more and more around fishing.

Like a child awaiting Christmas, he asked me earlier this week if I thought, just by chance, Claire and I would be interested in going fishing with him on Saturday. "Why sure!" was my response. I love the water and it was supposed to be a beautiful d.....wait, a beautiful day? A beautiful day for sowing grass in our new yard? A beautiful day for cleaning the house with windows open? "Bill, there are many days this summer to go fishing, but only a few optimal days to sow grass," I responded.

And, in his ever-so humble and sacrificing way, he responded, "Okay." "Okay" without a grimace, without a fight. An "okay" with a smile like only Bill Cato can give that said in his mind, "well, atleast I'll be on some type of equipment grading the yard."

And then the Lord began to speak to his wife. Throughout the day on Friday, I received, not 1, but 2 words from the Lord that I needed to go fishing with my husband. So I called Bill and said, "We're going fishing!" And, again, in a way only Bill Cato could make a 220 lb., construction worker, Carhart-wearing, equipment operating man do, he turned back into the child before Christmas and said, "oh, the Lord has been good to me!!!"

So, yesterday afternoon, after a few chores, we loaded up the truck with boat in tow and headed to the water!

As we pulled away from the house, he looked over to me and said, "This is one of my biggest dreams come true. I don't think anyone could upset me with anything right now. I got a wife, a baby girl and a fishing boat with me today!!!"

And the Lord returned the favor and was "good to me" yesterday by seeing a husband walking around on cloud nine! And today, guess where he is...he's out on his second favorite piece of equipment grading my yard!!!