Saturday, September 27, 2008

Maybe real success has been achieved!!

We have had success again with the potty. I figured out I wasn't making him sit long enough on the potty to do anything. Who knew it could take 15 to 20 minutes for him to get poop out. Thursday morning Connor said his tummy was hurting. I knew he had to go to the bathroom because it had been 4 days. So, I made him sit on the potty until he at least tried to go. 20 minutes later there was a pile big enough to stop up my toilet!! Then today he said a couple of times his tummy hurt and I made him sit and set the timer for 20 minutes. If he hadn't done anything within that time he was allowed to get up. We looked played with cars, wrote in his notebook, looked at 2 new pooping books. Finally this evening he told me he had to go poop. I took him in there and gave him his books and went to finish feeding Savannah. Within 5 minutes I heard, "I did it Mommy! Yeah Connor!" Sure enough it was there. So, maybe we're on a roll!!

He is very smart for his age. I think that but I've had several people, including a psychologist, tell me that. It's the "Odom brain" as I call it. All the Odom's are smart...Danny's sister and brother were both valedictorians of their classes...Danny probably could have been. I'm always telling him to "dumb it down" for me. :-) I know Connor's smart, but last night he blew my mind! He knows he's 2 and knows how to show 2 on his fingers. We are starting to try to teach him that on his next birthday he'll be 3. He can already do 3 (actually all the way through 5) on his hands. He was sitting in Danny's lap and Danny said if you take 2 (showed 2 fingers on 1 hand) and 1 (showed 1 finger on the other hand) how many to do you have? Connor had to count but he got it right. So, Danny started doing different combinations of numbers on each hand. Connor started catching on pretty quick. The next thing I know, Connor said, "3 and 3 makes 6" with no hesitation to count. I don't know if he had already thought about it and had it figured out or what. As soon as he did that Danny and i looked at each other and my thought was, "What the heck?" After that you could tell by the look on his face he was answering wrong on purpose. He's learning about teasing. Friday night the kids and I had gone up to Danny's parents so Connor could go see Grammy and Granddaddy. I was feeding Savannah at the table and Connor came to get a little food. Grammy and Granddaddy came over to sit with us and Granddaddy was teasing Connor about little things. Connor was really sure what to think. After he got done he got down and was standing there. There was a bottle of water on the table. Granddaddy asked if it was his. Connor told him it was. He watched him and as soon as he put it to his mouth to take a drink Connor said, "No, it's mine." and grinned. He was teasing Granddaddy. It was really cute to see him do that.

It's hard to believe that Savannah is 9 months old today. As I've said before she is crawling everywhere. But what's really funny is when she wants to change directions, if it's off to the side she'll crawl, but if she wants to make and 90 or 180 or even and 360 degree turn, she drops to her belly and uses her arms to turn herself. She is actually very fast that way. She has learned how to sit on her knees. It took her a couple of days, but I think she's figured out how to get back to the sitting position. Today while she was in her bed supposed to be going to sleep I checked on her (via my TV - we have a camera in each kids room that goes directly to our TV - very nice in the middle of the night!!) she was sitting on her knees playing with the mirror I have in her bed. A few minutes later I heard her talking so went to look at her again. That time she was sitting on her bottom, but her legs were through the rail and hanging down. It was cute - it looked like she was just hanging out, but she didn't like it too much. I had to go get her unstuck. :-) She is starting to go after Connor now when she is crawling around. Connor hasn't figured out yet that she isn't as fast as he is. Once she can't see him I guess she forgets about him and goes to something else.

We will be heading down to Orlando in a couple of weeks. We go down every year in October for Halloween Horror Nights @ Universal Studios. For the past few years Mom, Dad, Rick, Gabi & the kids have come down too. Rick, Gabi and the kids will be there, but I'm sad to say that Mom and Dad will not be able to make it. With them just moving to Arizona 2 months ago they are not able to go. There goes the built in baby sitter. :-) [just kidding Mom :-)] I'm a little anxious to see how the trip down goes with Connor and the potty. He won't sit on a big potty without his set sitting on top of it, so I guess I'll take that with us and take it in wherever we go. :-) We've made the trip before this year so it won't be new for Savannah and Connor has made it several times already. He's great on trips. The last time, Savannah did great on the way down, but not so great on the way home. She was just 5 months old though. It's usually a 10 hour car ride...we'll see how long it really takes. :-)

Monday, September 22, 2008

2 steps forward, 1 step back

I'm sad to say the "success" was short lived. Connor has decided he doesn't want to do that any more. He will still do the "first thing" in the potty but that's it. I'm not exactly sure how to "make" somebody go to the bathroom. I know that's the hardest part of potty training but it doesn't make it any easier trying to figure out what to do. He needs to go because he gets "backed up" way too easily. I've tried telling him we'll put a diaper on just so he can do that but he doesn't want to do that either. He's always had issues with that so I guess it's just harder for him to deal with. So, who know how long it will take for him to do it. I just know I can't give up.

He also going through this weird, clingy phase (hoping anyway). He may be jealous if Savannah because she definitely takes a lot of attention - being that she's always into things and she's VERY clingy. Even if he is jealous of her, he doesn't take it out on her. He still loves her and loves on her and cheers her on with her accomplishments. It's very sweet!!

Even with all the frustration the past couple of days he still makes me laugh a lot during the day. This evening was a great example. He didn't take a nap today for some reason. Maybe because he knew that when he got up from his nap we were going to play outside. He was in his room for an hour and 45 minutes and nothing. Thankfully Savannah slept almost 3 hours. Because he didn't nap I told him we weren't going out until after supper. He ate supper - very fast. :-) As I was cleaning him up he asked, "We going outside now?" I told him yes. He said, "Good, I have energy!" I have no idea where that came from, but it got a chuckle out of me. While we were outside he was playing golf with Daddy. Danny hit a ball. I asked Connor if he could hit it like Daddy. Connor's reply was, '"Of course!" It's funny because just this past Saturday I was talking to a friend about how to instill confidence in children so as they get into Middle School they still have that confidence. I'd say Connor is on the right track right now. :-)

Savannah is into everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. I am constantly pulling things out of her mouth and have no idea where they came from. I vacuum in our great room everyday and she still finds things. She spots things from across the room that even I can't see! She's a bundle of joy. She loves her brother, that's for sure!! She had a big time tonight "playing" outside. Connor rode his 4 wheeler around the circle drive while I pulled Savannah and she just smiled at him the whole time. She loves to be outside as much as Connor does I think. She absolutely loves riding in the wagon. I walked up to the top of our driveway pulling her in the wagon to get the mail this evening. She sat there looking around, trying to get grass from the bottom of the wagon, and every once in a while would make an "uuhhhh" sound - because we were on gravel. Then she'd smile. She's starting to learn and pick up on more things. I'll say "bye bye" and most of the time she will wave one of her hands. The other times she just looks at me and smiles. She got into a sitting position from her belly by herself for the first time today while in her crib. Of course when I bring her downstairs when she's on her belly and gets tired of crawling she just lays there whining. :-)

That's about all that's gone on this week. I'm sure I'll have more Connor stories to share over the next few days!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Success is a great thing!!

Ok - so a week ago today I started the whole potty training thing with Connor. I was really dreading doing the whole process...I've put it off and put it off and put it off for months. He's always done the major "transitions" so easily...was off a bottle @ 11 months, never had a problem with going to a toddler bed or a big boy bed (twin mattress) I just knew that potty training was going to be a headache. I'm glad to report that my fears were not needed. He caught on to doing #1 very quickly. He had accidents last Monday, one at school on Wednesday and a slight one Thursday, but stopped it and finished on the potty. Other than that there have been no accidents....so far. I know, it's only been a week. He is too smart for his own good though! By the 4th day he had figured out to go a little, hold it, get his jelly beans, then have to go again, hold it, get his jelly beans, etc. He did this 3 times in a row. I finally told him he had to have go big or he wouldn't get them. He's not pulled that trick since then. After that incident I have also cut back on the number of jelly beans he gets every couple of days. He's now down to 3 per time and tomorrow it will be 2. Although, I don't think it will be a big deal. I think the excitement of getting jelly beans is starting to grow old. Today, a couple of times he didn't even eat them. Now, #2 is a whole different story. I know that that is usually harder for kids to do. I just didn't realized what I'd have to go through to get him to do it. He's had constipation problems his whole life and has to have Miralax every day. Apparently he can hold it really long time. So, by Friday when he hadn't gone in 5 days, 2 additional actions had to take place. He finally went Friday evening and we flushed it so he could see it go down the toilet - I've heard that some kids are afraid of where it goes so I tried that. We had a couple accidents on Saturday but I really didn't care - he was pooping! Then today, all the sudden he decided to do it. We've had success today all around. He was very proud of himself - not to mention me too! How about that - only a week to get both "things" in the potty. We'll see if it will continue!!

Savannah is crawling everywhere and making me baby proof my house. She is so different from Connor! I never had to baby proof my house with Connor. He never got into anything he wasn't supposed to. If he did I could tell him no and he listened....still does for the most part. Savannah wants whatever she's not supposed to have!! The other day Connor was playing with his cars. I pulled out some of his cars with big plastic wheels that Savannah could play with and gave those to her along with some of her toys. She was good for about 5 minutes until she saw Connor with his hotwheels. She started crawling toward them. As for the things that were in her way, they got shoved away or tossed aside. Anything that I put in front of her thinking it would deter her...did not! I moved her and she started crying. Connor would have just found something else to play with. Right now, her favorite thing to go after are cords that are plugged into outlets. Anything I miss picking up or vacuuming she finds and it goes to her mouth. She loves to crawl over to the couches and look under them to see what she can find. When Connor was her age if a baby or child was crying he would looked concerned. Savannah - she smiles or laughs. :-) She's a lot louder too. I wish you could hear what I hear right now. :-) All those differences and I love them both more than I thought I'd be able too!!! They are both at a fun age right now. I've been so blessed with the two of them - two beautiful, happy, loving kids!!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Sometimes you learn how smart your kid is in the funniest way

Ok, so since I posted last a few milestones have taken place.....

I had said that Savannah was really trying to crawl and then 3 days later she pretty much started crawling. Granted, it's not very fast. Actually she's pretty slow but it's cute to watch. She's sees something she wants and you can almost see her mind working, trying to figure out she's going to get to it. She no longer crawls one step but actually made it about 5 feet today before plopping down. She has a one track mind too. This morning we were all upstairs in the loft playing. Connor has his cars all over the place up there with a road rug and his little people airport and little people garage. He has quite a few hot wheels but also has some plastic ones which Savannah can play with. I set her up quite a bit away from Connor and gave her 5 of her toys and 5 of Connor's cars that she can play with. She sat for a few minutes and played. She then spotted Connor and started heading toward him. I put her toys and the cars in from of her. The literally either pushed or threw them out of her way to be able to get to Connor and his toys. It was quite funny to watch.

I started potty training with Connor yesterday. I wasn't sure I would have the patience to do it right now with Savannah having a cold and me getting her cold or having allergy stuff going on. But I had decided to start because I knew I would just keep making excuses. I put Connor in his big boy "under-roos" as we call them and we started the day. By lunchtime and 4 "accidents" later I was really starting to question my decision to do it right now. I had called a fri(end of mine, who I call for everything I question, 2 times. The first time was to ask what to do because he started crying before we even started walking to the bathroom and then another time because I wasn't sure how long to make him sit on it if he didn't do anything. (For those of you wondering - it's no longer than 30 minutes.) So, after lunch we put on his "night, night under-roos" (pull-ups) and went down for a nap. He didn't do anything during his nap and went and sat on the potty and went pee pee -YAY!! We cheered and clapped and then he got his 5 jelly beans (he'll get 10 jelly beans when he poops). No more accidents during the day. He also held it all night. This morning when I went in to get him we went straight to the bathroom. He told me on the way, "I almost went pee pee in my bed." He sat down and did his deed. He did it 2 more times this morning. After his nap he did go in his pull up which I think was my fault because I didn't get him soon enough. But he didn't do anything this afternoon or evening - which makes me a little concerned because I know that he knows how to hold it. One time this morning when we were playing in the loft he asked, "I go pee pee in the loft?" I told him, "No, if you need to go pee pee you need to go sit on the potty. Do you need to go?" He shook his head no. I then told him that we would go in there when the timer went off. So, 5 mintues later we went and he went. So, we'll have to see how the "holding thing" goes. He goes to school tomorrow. I asked him tonight if he was going to use the potty at school. He said, "Ummmm, no." So, I'm not so sure how that will go.

Now, to cover the title of this blog: While Connor was sitting on the potty one time yesterday, I brought some toys in thinking if he wouldn't think about what he was supposed to be trying to do. We were pretending to be doctors. He was checking my ears, nose, eyes, & heart first. As he got to the heart he said, "I'll listen right here. Now, take a deep breath." I'm not sure where he got to take a deep breath because they don't ask him to do that at the doctor's office yet. I just thought, Holy cow! I know he's smart, but he keeps on amazing me with things that I never would have thought he knew. His brain is retaining so much information right now. Of course, maybe all kids are like that - I don't know since I've never been around any like I have Connor, obviously. It just blows my mind sometimes.



Those are the latest milestones we've reached. Hopefully things will continue to go somewhat smoothly!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Maryville...home, sweet, home

Well, I survived the trip, but unfortunately the VOLS didn't....we lost in OT 27, 24. Other than that, we had a great trip. We had fun with the family. We went on a bus tour of Hollywood and got to see some celebrity homes. Went down to Malibu to eat and then went to the Santa Monica pier. That was a lot of fun. Sunday Danny and I had a day just the two of us. We drove to Santa Barbara - about 2 hours away. We had a day of leisure...stopped when we wanted to, not because we had to change a diaper. On the way we got to see some dolphins about 25 yards off the beach and some people surfing. Up in Santa Barbara they had an arts and craft show where everything was handmade...very neat. The weather was nice too. It was just a lot of fun....'til we went to the game anyway. We got home Tuesday after a very long day. We were supposed to fly through Houston but had our flights changed Sunday because we were afraid of the hurricane. So, we flew to Newark, NJ instead....literally from one coast to the other...it was a 5 1/2 hour flight. We had just enough time to go grab a sandwich to eat on the plane. We rushed on the plane and then sat there for 1 1/2 hours waiting to take off. The pilot knew we were going to be a long time so he let us have our phones on which led us to learn that apparently on Aug 28th the EPA started a new regulation at JFK and Newark Airports....they now limit the number of flights taking off during an hour. I'm not sure how many can now leave during one hour. All I know is it was a long time on a small plane. We made it home Tuesday night around 11 after getting up at 6 am in California - which was really only 9 am here.


I got the kids Wednesday and was very glad to see them!!!!! They both were very happy to see Mommy and Daddy! They both did very good while I was gone. No problems from either of them. Savannah developed a little cold but other than that everything went very well.


Now on to new and wonderful things about the kids:


Savannah is now really starting to try to crawl. She gets up on her hands and knees, will crawl one step and then plop down. She will do this until she gets to whatever it is she wants to get to. Gone are the days of her playing on a blanket and hello to having to vacuum every day!! :-) Of course, her favorite things to go after are Connor's toys. I have been working with him on sharing. And so far if she gets something of his, he'll say he wants it. But I tell him that he wasn't playing with so she can for a few minutes. Then, he'll say, "Yay, Vannah, she got the toy all by herself." So far, so good on the sharing. She is off baby food and loving any real food that I give her. Last night she ate baked chicken, corn & asparagus. She LOVES to watch Connor play and to play with him. One of their favorite things to do is for Connor to push her around in her walker. Once I figure out how to put videos on here, I'll post one!


Connor still doesn't like me to leave him at preschool but he's fine after about a minute of crying. I think there are a few kids that he doesn't know how to deal with. Like the little girl that doesn't "use her words" but her vocal chords by squealing about things. He's not real big on squealing and/or loud noises. Wednesday night and yesterday morning he told me he wanted to go to school but he "didn't yike dose kids." I don't know what that's about but he knew that he didn't like them. I asked him why he didn't like them and he said, "I don't know." He has seems to have made a couple of friends. He always talks about the same 3 kids.


He's turning into a little man! While I was gone he stayed with some friends. Sunday, after church, they had gone out to eat. There was an older couple complimenting her on how well behaved the kids were and they played with Connor and Savannah. As Rachel and the kids were getting ready to leave, Connor walked up to the man and asked him, "What's your name?" The man told him. Rachel told Connor to tell him, "It's nice to meet you." So, Connor stuck out his hand so the man could shake his hand and said, "Nice to meet you." It's amazing what kids pick up without you realizing it.

I guess that's all for now. I know there was more I wanted to say but this is already a long post so I'll save those stories for another day.