Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for two things.  Recently we have successfully {so far} tackled two big steps as parents: potty training Elaine, and moving Nolan into Elaine’s room.  Maybe they’re not really such big steps.  But they are two things that I was particularly scared to do.

I was already nervous about potty training.  Everyone has a different method, a different timeline, and a different kid.  I didn’t know which one would be best for us.  We tried twice and failed…Elaine wasn’t ready.  I thought she was, but she wasn’t.  It didn’t help me any when my mother-in-law told me that the two hardest things she ever did were potty training and teaching the kids to read. 

I was going to wait and do the potty training thing after the holidays.  Elaine turned 2 at the beginning of November.  She is talking much more, and we have been “practicing” getting her pants/skirt down and up by herself.  I knew she could understand now. But the holidays are busy times.  Elaine must have read my brain somehow, and decided to do this potty thing a week before Thanksgiving.  Perfect timing.  But she was ready.  And she basically did it herself.

We still have an occasional accident, and we still have to remind her when it is time to go, and she still wears a diaper for naps and bedtime.  Lots of reward stickers, and a bag of M&M’s later, she is potty trained.  {Insert sigh of relief}.  So much easier than I thought!

Nolan started out sleeping in our room.  When he became more sensitive to noise and light, we moved his cradle to a corner of the living room.  He outgrew the cradle and was upgraded to a pack ‘n’ play.  Yet he was still waking once in the night to nurse. 

We just took a trip to Massachusetts.  Ben told me that when we returned home, he wanted to “integrate” Nolan into Elaine’s room.  It was great timing for him to announce this, because while visiting Ben’s family, we all shared a room.  So Nolan and Elaine napped and went to bed together.  With no problems. 

I was worried that Nolan would cry in the night and waken Elaine, and then we would have two awake kiddos in the middle of the night.  But Elaine has been sleeping through any noise Nolan makes.  Nolan is doing great at finding his paci without mom.  Mom is doing okay ignoring Nolan’s cries in the night and waiting to feed him until the morning.  {Insert sigh of relief}.  So much easier than I thought!