The Joys of Having A Self-Potty-Training Two Year Old

Yes, you read the title right. Bug is potty training himself. Yay.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited that he's doing it and actually *wants* to do it. But, there are good and not-so-good things about him potty training himself. 

Good:

• +He goes potty when he needs to go.
• +He is always super proud of himself.
• +"I did it!" when he's all done.
• +He certainly looks cute in his super hero undies he got to pick out all by himself.

 Not-So-Good:

• -Oops.
• -Takes off his diaper when he feels like it, regardless of what is in it.
• -My hall bathroom has been taken over by potty-related stuff.
• -He's not the biggest fan of going #2 in the potty, yet.
• -He does silly little things, like get his head stuck in his training seat. (First I freaked out, then I realized I should probably take a quick pic or two. Then it took me about 5 minutes to get this off his head. As soon as I took it off, he gave me a huge hug and started laughing. Oh, Bug...)

Let's play a little game of I Spy... with a photo I took of my bathroom a few minutes ago.

I Spy...

• Batman undies
• Green Lantern undies
• Two diapers
• Training toilet
• Step-stool to wash hands
• Toy box
• Toy truck
• Open toilet
• Towel thrown on the ground

...Ladies and gentlemen, my bathroom.

Here's the thing, he's been self-potty-training since right before he turned two. He was at his grandma's house, and he decided to go. And go again. And again. I think in total, he went potty at her house 4 or 5 times in the few hours he was with her. All on his own, with no coaxing from her. He went #1 and #2 without a hitch. We were so excited, we got him pull-ups, we put a waterproof cover on his bed, pulled out his training toilet, and got him a training seat for regular toilets. It was awesome! Here was our little brand new 2 year old training himself to go potty with no push from Mom & Dad! He was doing so so well!

And then... Squidge was born. I knew a regression would happen when his little sister arrived, I just didn't think it would be so far back. He refused pull-ups, he wouldn't go potty at ALL anymore, and even asked us to put his training potty away. However, over the last 2-3 months, he's been starting up again, and over the last month, he's been doing REALLY well! There's still a huge fear of going #2. We had a tiny breakthrough the other day, but that was it. Hopefully we just keep moving forward and soon we won't have any more Buggy diapers to change!! It will be great to having only one baby in diapers.

My DIY Dresser Refurbishment

I just realized I haven't posted anything about my dresser refurbishment!

Okay, so here I was, 7.5 months pregnant with my second baby, and I *NEEDED* something to do. I was going crazy. We had been in our new apartment for 2 months, and nothing was unpacked, I didn't have a place for anything, and our dining room was rather bare. We had a dresser we got from our friend... 

Yeah, this is the dresser your mom probably had. And your aunt. And their best friends next door. And the girls they didn't know 5 states away. My mom had this dresser set. I think she said her parents got it for her from Sears. All I know is, this was one of the most popular dressers of the 1970s (no really, google it), and I had to do something with it. We were getting new dressers for our room anyways, and I thought, "HEY!" why not turn this one into a buffet thing to go along side the wall in my dining room?

This, ladies and gentleman, was my very own nesting project.

I went to my local home improvement store and picked out the paint. I chose a really pretty robin's egg blue color for the all-over, and a black to dry brush it with. I got my sanding sponges, paint brushes, spray lacquer, and the plastic drop cloth stuff. Then I had to get my husband and brother in law to move the dresser downstairs to the garage for me. My awesome friend came over to help me with the bulk of sanding, but mostly, I was on my own.

I ended up sanding this thing for the next 2 days.

After all of the sanding, I got to start painting. YAY! You know, there's something very satisfying about painting, especially after you've been sanding something for 3 days just so you could paint in the first place.

I know, the color looks different... but lighting is funky in a garage! Don't judge. It is a gorgeous color!

After the blue dried, I got to dry brush the black over it. I had so much fun with this part!

Now, it was on to the drawer handles/pulls... I didn't sand those, but I wasn't too concerned about it.

Then I got to put everything back together!!

Folks, friendly reminder. Don't forget which screws were for which pulls... I got to undo and redo about 5 drawer pulls. Yeah, about as thrilling as it gets, right there.

I let my husband and brother in law know I was done. They were SO EXCITED!

They hauled it upstairs for me, and put it in the dining room.

It looks SO GOOD there! I'm quite proud of my little nesting project!

If you have any questions about what I used or how I did it, please let me know! I'm happy to answer questions, this was a really fun project for me... and if I can do it, anyone can!

Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

It has been overcast all day... more overcast than it has been recently, and the temperature has gone down considerably. We're in the Summer-to-Fall transition, and I love it.

I love the view from my dining room...

This afternoon my son had the right idea: "Mommy, I want cookies." But, we didn't have any. As far as I knew, we didn't have ingredients to make any. I KNEW we didn't have any chocolate chips, so I checked my sugar cookie recipe. Nope, don't have baking soda, don't have vanilla extract... damn. Mmk, what else can I do? Oh right! My sister told me about some peanut butter cookie recipe with only three ingredients. I knew I had the bare basics, so between getting my baby to take a nap, and getting my oldest to sit still long enough, I looked into it.

Huzzah!

I think I found a good one here.

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Here's the lineup:

 

Guess how easy these were... go ahead! Nope, easier. Just mix up your peanut butter, sugar, and an egg. SERIOUSLY! Then you drop a spoonful onto a cookie sheet, criss-cross them with a sugared fork, and pop them in the oven for a few minutes. 

So then, after they're done, bring 'em out of the oven.

Let them settle for a minute or two, then they're ready to be put on a plate and/or consumed.

Don't forget the milk...

Here's the recipe! ::

• 1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1 cup White/Granulated Sugar
• 1 egg

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (f). Mix all ingredients until fully incorporated. Spoon 1 - 1 1/2 inch size balls onto a cookie sheet, then press the balls down in a criss-cross pattern with a long fork. To keep the fork from sticking, dip it in sugar after each cookie. Put the cookies in the oven for 6-8 minutes, taking care not to burn. Remove from oven, and let cookies set for 1-2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Make sure cookies are cool before eating. Enjoy!

I'm pretty sure my son just brought a chair into the kitchen... that means he's trying to stealthily find more cookies. (Little does he know, sound travels.) Now, if you don't mind, I have to go surprise him and eat some yummies :)