Potty Training and all its glory

I think my family would attest to the fact that my potty training skills leave little to be desired. I simply am not a patient person. I could never train animals of any kind, much less be able to "teach" my son the ABC's of using the potty. In the end, it is understood that I am the one who is being trained, not Sy. Today is a great example of that....I have been working diligently to listen for any tell tale signs that Sy would need to use the bathroom. He has me so figured out that during Jake's swimming lessons, we went to the potty at least 6 times. Sy uses some broken Russia and says "Mama, piska" (and I could tell he was enjoying this) A fun little game for him all because I don't want him to "fail" and wet his pants. Any child psychologists out there would tell you (and me) that I have the issues...and they are right. That couldn't be any more clear than the fact that both of my boys have developed the talent of holding their bowel movements for up to three days! This my guess is due to my constant question of "do you need to poop?" followed by "oh let's try", or some other verbiage I use to try and force them to go. At last, the pediatrician gave me the insight I was so desparately searching for....Sara..there are some things you can't make them do, and pooping is one of them. So there ya go, now I KNOW. 6 years into this and FINALLY I am on the right page! We celebrate, we do the potty dance, we say Good Job, we say Molladeetz (good boy in Russian, or so we think). But in the end, I am exhausted and Sy is oblivious. One a brighter note...we use less diapers! We just wash more clothes :( And even more fun than just every day potty training is getting to also teach them how to pee standing up. Jake likes to demonstrate of course, but the success rate is small and generally leaves us changing clothes more frequently. Yikes. Did I mention that I am not a patient person?

A Busy Life, But a Good One!

Long overdue on posting any pictures. Last week was our town celebration and so Jake was able to ride in the parade and then the National Guard brought some pretty cool equipment and we were able to check it all out.

Sy has fallen in love with animals and now most recently has taken a liking to horses. He went for his first ride with Jake and then was able to "ride" on his own. Very exciting for all of us because we were wondering if he would ever want to be a "cowboy"! If you can look close you will see he also has on his new cowboy boots. Watching him slip slide around in those was quite entertaining. He quickly realized they were not as comfy as his tennies!



Life is good. Although BUSY is the best way to describe our new life, perhaps it was always BUSY but never as noticable as when you have a two year old who is equally as BUSY!

Days then weeks then months....Oh My!

I thought I would be so diligent posting to this blog, but have not. It is not that there is nothing to report, just more about me not getting it done (like so many other things in my life!). But I am happy to report that Sy and the rest of us are doing very well. He is thriving and healthy. In the short few months since we have been home he has gained a couple pounds, and went from being scared of nearly everything to fearing nothing! And he likes to put everything in his mouth EXCEPT the food we put on his plate! I have never seen such a thing. He is a tough little guy when it comes to most things....he has already had two shiners due to playing with with the cousins. And he is at the perfect height to run in to so many things. His latest "Ouch" came as he went down the slide at Grammies house. They had strategically placed a dog bed at the bottom to soften the landing. Well apparently if you are going too fast when you go down the slide, the dog bed will act more as a trampoline and you will then propel yourself off of it and onto a much harder face landing, particularly if you forget to use your hands to shield yourself! When I first saw him, he looked at me and say "Mama Ouch". I would agree with that! ..................We are also seeing the beginning stages of "cowboy Sy." He has taken a real liking to Jake's horse and to his new cowboy boots (compliments of a loan from Ronna). So...once we get him a cowboy hat there will be no turning back. .....................Jake is growing like a weed and is the best big brother. He has perfected the art of snatching things out of Sy's hand (picture that meltdown!). He also loves to "set the trap" as he calls it. This game, also not one of Sy's favorites results in Jake getting to play with the toy that Sy is currently playing with (because of course that is Jake's favorite!) and Sy having a meltdown once he realizes what has happened. Parents all love this game, and might know it better as "bait and switch". They have also created their own word..."maneenee" which means "switch toys". This is not always sucessful and may result in one mad Jake Schlattmann when Sy opts to not "maneenee" when asked........... Jake is in baseball right now and loves it. Although game 1 was cancelled due to the monsoon rains that we are experiencing! Greybull, typically an area of less than 7 inches of percipitation all year, has become a tropical forest with rain and snow wreaking havoc on all sorts of things, particularly my SEPTIC SYSTEM!!!! Enough said about that! .........................Jake is having to take on a lot of extra duty assignments with a new brother and this has resulted in both positive and negative outcomes. Apparently his attention span is not as long as I had hoped, resulting in many times where "looking out for little brother" goes by the wayside and morfs itself into "fun things Jake will do instead". This is Jake reminding me that in fact he is 6 not 16 and babysitting is not in his future! Point taken.