It's Potty Time!

A few weeks ago I was telling about collecting a sample from Samuel and mentioned it would be easier to start potty training. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea so last week we started. Well, I started. I was working with him every day. Friday was the day. On Friday, Samuel peed in the potty. He did on Saturday too! The first time it happened, I was so surprised! He was so slick about it and I hadn't even noticed until it was time to get him up and I almost spilled it in the floor. But by Saturday, he knew what he was doing. Then Saturday evening we tried again, just before bathtime. Not so much luck then. He peed in the bathtub. Close...it's in the same room, right? I'm so happy that we are getting a head start on this.

Not only is it Potty time, but it's Party time too! I've been working on Samuel's first birthday bash. It's not really a bash, just some friends coming over for cake and ice cream but it will be a bash to him.

That's about all that's going on around here right now. Will keep updating as things change.

A new find - This is BIG!

This is so cool and I am so excited to be able to share with you.

I'm working on something big. BIG big. Well, it's big to me. I've found this site, onetruemedia.com and I think it's fabulous. If you know about it already, just keep those comments to yourself. I want to think I was the one that discovered this on my own.

Samuel's first birthday is just around the corner and it seems like that should be about the time I should start fund-raising for Team Samuel's participation in Great Strides 2009. For a while I've been thinking about a video for Samuel and this site allows me to do it...for free. Yes, free. I love free stuff! And this allows me to put my photos, home videos and choice of music together just as I want it done.

While I'm not finished this latest project, you can be assured it will be posted here to be the next big viral video. First I need to finish "the book" (see post titled 9 months), a sweater while I'm still excited about it and this silly diaper kit I purchased a while ago. Oh who am I kidding, I'll stay up all night editing, tweaking, and rethinking my choice of music and it should be complete by 2 am. But first, for real first, I need to go make dinner. Hungry husbands aren't very sympathetic to those of us who are too creative to make dinner! :)

Stay tuned!

Erica

P.S. No, they didn't pay me to say any of this stuff about their fabulous site, but they should!

And all the medical stuff

While we were out of town we got a letter from PCH wanting to schedule a "CF Annual Visit". This is a time to meet with all members of the CF team to discuss Samuel's past year and set goals for the coming year. We should plan on being at the CF center for 2-3 hours. That appointment is set for October 7.

However, prior to the appointment, Samuel needs several tests. He needs lots of bloodwork, a urinalysis, TB skin test and a chest x-ray. I figured these things weren't going to take care of themselves so last week I started making appointments. This morning he had all his bloodwork and TB skin test taken care of. I felt bad doing this in one day, in one morning, but it's all done and we don't have to get more pokes. Samuel did GREAT with the pokes. I honestly believe he hates being held down more than he hates the sticks. As for the urine and x-rays. Well, the x-rays can be done later this week. We don't need an appointment for them. And the urine...

This afternoon we tried for the urine test but boys don't aim very well and he's even worse at peeing on que. To help this process, the lab gave me 2 collection bags. The idea is to give him a drink, lay him down for a nap with the bag strategically placed to collect what he releases during his nap. When he wakes, you empty the bag into the cup and all is done. I had the right idea, I guess. Drink? check. Lots to drink? check. Nap? check. Bag placement correct? I didn't have a diagram to follow but I'm confident that's a check. Bag 'O Pee after a nap? Not so much. See, the diaper and the bag were competely dry after the nap so I left it in place thinking "He has to go sometime!" About 1/2 hour to 45 minutes later I could smell that he had indeed peed and thought this process could be over. I laid him down to carefully remove the bag and the sample and change the diaper that had caught what was left when the bag was filled to the brim (yeah right). I was a little disappointed to find the diaper was soaked and the little plastic bag had worked it's way from the designated location. Not only that, but it was wet on the wrong side. Dry on the inside, wet on the outside. Fabulous. Thankfully, the nice lady gave me 2 bags. Now that I think about it, she probably gave me one "practice" bag and one "real" bag. If I mess up the real bag though, I'm going to have to go back to saying, "Here Samuel, just aim for the cup." I might as well start potty training.

We are still here

I know I have been very lax in my posts recently. I'll blame it on catching up after "vacation". But we are still here and there is so much to add. It might get done in several posts. I'll put all his medical news in another post.

So Samuel is now getting into everything and gets mad when I put the gate up to keep him out of our front room. Tonight he climbed an entire staircase (supervised) at Bishop Hudson's house. At our house, he's done the first 3 steps to the landing, then stopped. And, what's great is he knows how to back down them to get down. He hasn't tried (yet) to go down head-first. But he is training for the speed-crawling event for the 2010 Olympics. I'm sure he'll qualify. Last week, when he started the stair climbing, I left him for a second to get his juice and when I came back he had crawled from about 3 feet away and was sitting on the bottom step of the stairs facing the second step. I was gone for about 5 seconds I'm sure.
He's also starting to copy what he hears. Such as, I cleared my throat the other day...he did too. He was making noises, I made the same noise, he did it again. He's even trying to say uh-oh when I do. The lesson: I need to stop calling people idiots when I'm driving.

The last post I said he's got a tooth. Well, he's getting another one right next to it. He's been smacking his lips for over a week trying to suck it through. It's cute when he makes a fish face for sucking so hard!

I also told about his silly face. Well, I have multiple pictures of the silly face, or toothy grin, as I like to call it. He's such a silly!

We keep Lucy's dog food and bones on the floor in the pantry. Under normal circumstances Lucy would NOT take kindly to Samuel messing with her stuff. But there is always an exception to the rule and today was it:



While we were in Virginia, we had the opportunity to take Samuel to the beach for the first time. It was dusk but it looks like we were there in the middle of the night. Maybe Kevin couldn't see the waves coming in and that's how he got his pants soaked. Yeah, I'm sure that's what happened. :) Samuel liked the water once he was used to it. This pic is the first wave touching his feet and the second after this was captured, he started to cry. But only for a second and he was ready for more. He really wanted to sit in the sand...
Also while on "vacation" we started to have some issues with going to sleep. Thank heaven for swings! I don't know what I would have done to get him to sleep that night. I remember I put him in the swing then went in the other room with my mom. Kevin and my dad were in the same room with Samuel. I heard him stop crying and the silence turned into 5 minutes. I said to my mom, "Samuel is asleep." I turned the corner and he surely was soundly asleep.

Speaking of sleeping in funny positions... Today I went in to check on him and he had fallen asleep in some yoga-type pose. His legs were crossed and he was bent at the waist on top of them. On the way down he caught the crib bumper pad and squished it for a little pillow. I felt so bad for him being all twisted up but then remembered how much I enjoyed being in that position when I was pregnant with him. He gets it honest I'd say.

Some other fun stuff:

So much to say and nobody understands:



And this is a baby chair similar to a Bumbo. It's great because babies can't get out of it so you don't have to worry about them crawling all over the place...they just stay put!

Checking in from the east coast...

Samuel has one tooth and another making it's way in. I noticed the first one at the airport a week ago while we were waiting for our flight. Since it was delayed 3 hours and we didn't have anything else to do in the Phoenix airport, I was trying to keep him entertained and as tired as possible so he would sleep on the flight. A few days before, I thought I had heard a tooth scrape across a spoon but I could never see anything. He was also just not himself. He wasn't grouchy, just there. But at the airport, I could feel it and was so excited! I wanted to go over to the microphone at the gate and announce to my fellow passengers "My son has his first tooth! Finally!" but I just turned to another mom making conversation and shared the news with her. Thankfully, she didn't think I was crazy. Since we have been here he has started showing signs of having another break through. By the time we get back home to Arizona he should have 2 teeth.

He is also an avid crawler. He is really getting around quite well. You know your son crawls too much when the tops of his shoes and/or socks are dirty from dragging on the floor!

While we are away, I've been fortunate to have access to my e-mail while away. I get weekly e-mails regarding the growth and development of Samuel based on his age. Well, this week I got e-mails from 2 different sources regarding communication. Both sources encouraged parents to curb the baby talk. Do you hear the angels singing Hallalujah!? I believe teaching baby talk is confusing for a little one learning so much. I think of it like this: Imagine you were told the color red was actually blue and blue was orange and orange was really yellow and yellow was brown and brown was green and green was blue. You would have to relearn your colors. Well, if we always referred to a "bottle" as a "baba" then he would have to relearn this thing that gives him milk is really a bottle, not a baba. When giving him his bottles, I try to call it milk, not bottle, since milk comes from a bottle and juice from a cup. All this to say, I don't want Samuel thinking "So what else am I going to have to relearn?" I read about the importance of teaching children the difference between a cut, bruise, or scratch and not referring to all as "boo-boos". What a great idea! These sources also emphasize the importance of setting good examples of speaking properly. This doesn't mean I walk around the house saying, "Good day, kind sir" to Kevin, but, rather, just try to make sure what I say is something I want Samuel to say. At 10 months old, he is learning something new every second of the day. I really am trying to make it easier on myself to not have to re-teach him these important things later. While I'm on the subject, let me throw this out there: I'm not the best English speaker, but I'm determined to do my best.

Sorry no pictures this time. I can't get them loaded on this computer. I'll have plenty of pictures when we all get home. Thanks for checking in!