Potty Training?

Just a quick update on this. After our last paycheck (when we bought a box of diapers from Costco) I have to say I'm a bit lazier (see, before I was trying to make that last package of diapers last 2 weeks). I AM almost done unpacking the house though.
But we haven't given it up. Miriam wants to sit on the potty almost every time we take off her diaper. She never uses it, but she likes to sit there. She gets an M&M for sitting there (which I am not sure was the best idea). She plays with some of her bath toys. I try to remind her what a potty is for.

Basically, sitting on the potty goes something like this:
Climbs up step stool and sits down.
Turns around and points at jar of M&M's
Gets one M&M
Mommy says "If you use the potty to pee-pee you can have another" if she asks for more.
While chewing delectable chocolate, points at desired bath toy ("Duck!" or bag of letters)
Plays with duck or takes as many letter and numbers out of the bag as possible, telling me what they are and handing them over.

SO...I guess she's learning her letters and numbers and having a rather positive experience at least. I'm a little concerned about her understanding of what a potty is for though.
I'm considering trading M&M's for a sticker chart and re-thinking the "naked or underwear" question (while trying to relinquish my hold on maintaining my new carpet) as well as instilling an understanding that a potty is for, well, POTTY STUFF.

Before and After version 2

Hey, this half of the kitchen was finally clean (the other half wasn't - but now it is!) And yes, those are dishes on the counter on account of the dishwasher not working properly. Bummer!

Dining room before:
Dining room now! (still have to do floor transitions and quarter rounds) ignore the sticking up underlayment

Bedroom before:

Bedroom after:
Just for good measure, the bathroom:
Outdoor and more before and after posts still to come!

Under Construction: Before and After version 1 - The Floor

Grimace!

Almost there!
Me - dancing on the new floor

The original entryway (I don't have a picture that shows how far we extended the wood. 8 feet I think!)

Bring it on!

Step 1

Step 2 almost complete - my husband is awesome!

Finished pictures are coming - when I clean out the entryway!

What I am doing right NOW

Besides making dinner...

I went outside this afternoon to take pictures of the outside of my house...seeing as friends and family have been mentioning those the most (and I've been avoiding them because I don't want to show off how much work I still have to do to get ANYWHERE in the yard).

I hadn't seen my cat since I let him out last night. I was a little concerned, but he's a little wanderer so...

And then I heard it...the meowing. "Mal!" I called. "Mal!" and followed the nearly hysterical meowing to there. What? Didn't you see it? Check out that picture again if not. He's stuck 25 feet off the ground in a tree in my backyard (bottom left quadrant).

Seriously now what??

The art of cleaning

I guess no one was interested in how I blew up glassware. It must be more commonplace than I thought.

I am finally getting somewhere with this house. Unpacking is difficult! Especially when you are trying to do laundry and dishes and cook meals AND keep TV from consuming the entire morning.

Lately I've taken to trying to involve Miriam in household chores. This has been on my mind for a long time. I've put it off as something to do later, I think. Our little baby is almost 2 and time is not slowing down. So if there is a way to involve her I try to do it! She's already pretty good at mopping up spills (drinking milk and juice from a big kid cup = accidents). I love that she'll try to clean up after herself in those instances. How long will this last?

She loves to sweep. More often she grabs the broom and hands me the mop and we chase each other in circles in the kitchen. Yesterday I cleaned out the dining room (= putting all the boxes in the living room) and she helped me clean the floor. We had a great time hand washing the floor. Basically she existed in a big puddle of soapy water from dunking her rag in and out of the bucket. But she had a great time...until she accidentally hit her head on the table. I hope this doesn't sour her and floor washing in the future. Lastly, today she helped me do the dishes. I had a storage closet door open and she drug out the step stool. "Hey, she'll be tall enough to help me do the dishes!" I thought. One of my memories is helping my Dad do dishes. I have no idea how old I was when we started. Again, she LOVED the soapy water. I gave her a new sponge and her yellow bowl and that wooden spoon got REALLY clean. She cleaned (and played) the entire time!

What are some other chores I could get her to participate in?

Intelligence and just good common sense

These are not the words I would use to describe myself today.

Sometimes I wonder what gift I've been given instead of good common sense.

I have a rule for my husband: If you think it's enough it's probably too much

My new rule is: If you are not cooking it, get it off the stove!!

Story available upon request.

I wasn't even there to see it

Right, so, potty training.

I actually let Miri wear big girl underwear the very next day, from morning until naptime (I may have cheated and rolled up a washcloth to stuff in there every time because - hey - I just got NEW carpet). It seemed to help with her rash. But I couldn't get her to actually sit on her potty much.

She likes her froggy potty, most of the time, but that day it was like "you want me to sit on there? um, no!" So I was able to get her to sit on the big potty. For a few seconds. Frankly I think she just likes to say "done!" climb down, shut the lid, and pretend to flush. On day two of much the same, I did get her to hang out on the big potty - because of the M&M reward.

Thursday we went on bought one of those cushion seats that fit on the big potty, along with a step stool. Friday, I tried it out on her. She would just take the cushion seat off. "That doesn't belong there mom." (Actually what she said was "nokay!")

Saturday morning, I was leaving work around 10:30am (I subbed last minute for an early morning meeting) and I called home to see how things were going. Daddy says "guess what? I think we just used the potty!" Yes, the big potty. Yes, the cushion seat is on it. She used the seat, sat up there, and actually peed. And I missed it.

Sunday: diapers the whole day. I'm thinking I'll continue my half attempts to familiarize Miriam with the potty for the next month while I finish unpacking. I'll talk it up and have her try it and read potty books. But until I'm done unpacking, I don't know if I have this much focus. Although I hate to miss the golden boat, I mean, she did actually USE the potty for the first time yesterday. That has to count for something.

Will I ever pull it together?!

Want to post...should be gathering the mail that has distributed all over my house. I know there are some bills and maybe some instructions about where to send that bill for our homeowners insurance, because I know that big ol' check we turned in at closing included the first year of this.

In the meantime, I still need to buy Miriam a few items of clothing (ah remember the newborn days when everyone else did that for you??) and get some stuff for our yard.

Also, the constant running away every time I turn up with a diaper and the awful rash that appeared this week is really making me lean toword attempting potty training. If I had a clue what I was doing...