Snow Snow Snow...

We have had snowy weather for what feels like a month.  The first storm we hunkered down and stayed inside...I am a woose haha.  The second storm we got the girls snow boots on and brought them outside.  Seren loved it and walked all over the driveway and stomped on the snow.  Kendall stepped on the snow and promptly freaked out when some stuck to her snow boot.  So we gave in and went inside.  We hibernated through another storm or two and played inside.  No fun.  So this last storm, even though it was a light dusting, I put there snow boots on again.  We ran some errands...they are getting good at being "my little ducklings" that follow me when I put them down to walk (although Seren still likes to run away from me when she feels it's safe... ie the library and the shoe store). 

 

We came home and out into the driveway they went to play and leave footprints.  No freaking out.  Kendall LOVED it.  Seren was giddy.  Yeah!! I'm thinking maybe we'll try throwing on snow pants today and see how that goes over.  

Getting two in one picture on my normal camera...hard.  Getting two with my phone camera...nearly impossible.



Loving the bent knee cheesy grin

So stinking cute...love her




Silly goose wouldn't look at me...she loves to "cheese" for the camera now too

Beautiful girl...so lucky to have her

Did You Have Fun?

I have discovered a new way of going about my frustrations when the girls makes messes or do something I didn't exactly want them to do.  I admit in the past I have been frustrated by this type of thing...the telling them not to do something repeatedly and still having it happen.  I admit that I have yelled at them, swatted their bottom on occasion and even been the cause of tears (mine and theirs).  I have to remind myself that they don't have long term memory like I do.  And they definitely don't have reasoning.  I read an article once on child discipline and that asking a toddler why they did something is like asking a wasted or tweaked out fraternity boy the same thing.   Their reasoning isn't completely present...most of the time it's fully absent.  They don't really know why they did it.   It seemed like a good idea at the time and it was fun.  What more do you want them to say?  You won't really get anywhere until the reasoning is in place.

So telling Kendall and Seren no one day may not carry onto the next day or the next 5 minutes.  And there isn't really a reason or purpose to some of their crazy or (at times) damaging behaviors.  But they are learning things with every "experiment" they do and every nerve they might step on (unfortunately).  So today I tried a different method.  When Kendall smeared her peanut butter and ketchup (chicken nugget fail turned into PB sandwich) all over the table and herself and I wanted to scold her I remembered this and gently told her food goes in your mouth not on the table and then asked her "Did you have fun though?" and the cute little munchkin nodded enthusiastically.  So hey my nerves and patience may suffer a little but I hope they are at least having fun with it.

Throwing In The Training Pants

Update #2:  I gave up.  I kept telling myself before I started that I would not give up.  In my reading/understanding this wasn't a good thing and led to defiance on potty training and trouble later on.  I did it anyway.  We had a good morning and were mostly dry for a few hours.  Seren had a little accident and Kendall was dry.

I even tried the pour warm water on both of them...they didn't pee with it but it seemed to help get the idea  going (so thanks Brenda) and Kendall was excited so we claimed it was a pee pee just to bolster her confidence.  I gave her a sticker and praised like crazy.  We tried the potty sticker chart today and this seemed a good motivator.

During a dry/clean check just before lunch I noticed a small dab of wet from Kendall so I figured they needed to go and were holding it.  We sat on the potty and sang songs and read books for 5 or 10 minutes.  I told myself we wouldn't leave the bathroom until they peed on the potty or had an accident.  They both tinkled on the potty.  Yeah! I thought.  Success! I thought.  They were both so happy and picked their stickers and got praised.  Then less than a minute later Seren was in her spot in the front room soaked and dribbling to the floor.  I tried to help her to the bathroom quickly without success.  And while we're rushing to the bathroom Kendall starts crying from the kitchen.  You guessed it.  She soaked herself too and left a big puddle of pee at her feet.  I gave up.  I threw them in the tub and told them we were done potty training. We got out of the tub put on diapers and clothes and I packed up all the potty training evidence.  I'm sure I wasn't all smiles and pleasant about it but I hope I wasn't mean about it either.  Accidents have not gotten to me but these both did...to be on the potty and use it a little only to pee all over less than a minute later just cooked my goose.  I'm sure it's relatively normal but it was my last straw in saying they aren't ready enough for me to be ready.  I think they could be ready if they were a single child but to be able to focus on two girls who are only on the verge of being ready is not helping me.  And I need to be just as patient (or doubly patient) about it since there are two of them.

I have been reading some more too and the fact that lots of articles say training before 27 or 30 months is a waste of time or too difficult on kids has helped my attitude.  One article even talked about the concerns that training early can lead to with later toileting troubles.  So I will take comfort in these and forget the idea for a few months.  Focus on all the verbal/communication stuff and hopefully when they start picking that up quicker then we will be ready for lots of potty success.

Potty Plea for Help

Okay we're giving it a go today.  The girls are down for a nap so I'm looking for help or suggestions.  I know some followers here have twins.  So....Seren has done amazing.  I used the Potty Training in One Day method complete with peeing doll from the thrift store.  We've drank lots of juice and had lots of salty snacks and rewards.  As soon as we were done training the doll and ready for big girl panties I put them both on the potty (we only have one floor model; plus a couple insert style, one with a ladder) and "da da da da" the music went off almost immediately with Seren.  She pee'd full on and with the music reward I think she honestly tried harder to push more pee out.  Awesome!  She has also been dry all morning with no accidents yet.  She has only used the potty once so I still expect quite a few accidents here as well (although I would love to take a miracle of none if it happened HAHA).

Kendall has had a harder time.  She was excited for the potty and her panties but she sat on the toilet for a few minutes and no luck.  We watched a potty video and came back to it every 10 minutes.  She had an accident in her thick cotton panties (thank goodness we went that route...the Gerber ones caught most of it despite being soaked).  She was upset and I said it was okay and to just try to use the potty (in case there was any left).  No luck.  Changed to a dry pair and set the timer again.  Watched some more potty movie.  She went to the potty but when I wanted to help her try she got upset and said "no...up up" while pulling her panties up.  So we went back to the movie and a couple minutes later she was wet again.  She was upset at being wet and uncomfortable.  We sat on the potty again and had her clean up the little mess.  No scolding.  Time for lunch.  Tried the potty with both of them before sitting down to eat...nope.  Sat them down to eat and Kendall wanted to get down and on the potty but nothing.  Finished eating and again she wanted on the potty but got upset if I tried to help her pull her panties down.  She didn't go.  Seren wants to try and nothing but she's still dry.  Seren gets up and I look over at Kendall and she's soaked her third pair of panties and the laminate flooring all around her (big accident).  She comes over and I have her sit on the potty and nothing more.  Change to dry panties again and have her help clean up the mess (Seren wants to help clean up too).

So...no scolding or dwelling on it even though the third time I had to check myself as I caught myself saying "what are we going to do with you?" in a light tone.  But anyway no punishment and just matter of fact clean it up, move on and try again later.  I've begun just letting her get her own panties down and this has helped with the defiance to not sit on the potty (I think).  I'm going to try putting the potty chair in the bathroom with our adult insert model with ladder attached.  Then I think I'll be trying to just entertain them to keep them on the potty for 5 minutes at a time every 10 or 15 minutes.  Hopefully if they both have a potty to sit on then it will be easier to "sit and wait it out".

Any other tips on the chaos that is potty training twins??   I reward them both for trying and for "dry and clean" checks.  When Seren used the potty she got two crackers and Kendall got one for Seren's success.  Should I reward Kendall too?? I don't want it to feel like punishment if one uses the potty and the other does not at that time.  Blah!  Didn't expect easy but didn't expect them to be so different in their potty method either.  Hoping Kendall can have some success after their nap so I can heap on the praise and get her spirits back up.

Update:  Kendall had no successes all day :(  Poor girl.  She was so exhausted and I think done with the idea by bedtime.  And once her diaper went on for bed she promptly pooped in it (twice)...so I hope this doesn't mess up her rhythm.  I did okay though and didn't scold her or anything...I think she was just frustrated with it.  Seren did pretty well.  She had a few accidents after nap but nothing major (one during dinner which I kind of expected and one that dribbled to the carpet).  Other than that she was dry and able to pee on the potty a few more times before bed.  Diapers are back on for bed of course.

Now I'm just trying to figure out my next play.  Do I try Kendall with no panties or trainers on...take the safety net away?  Do I not try to train her and just focus on Seren for now?  Not my idea of a fun way to spend a week but I don't want to give up yet either.  I have read a few times that once you start you shouldn't quit or the child(ren) just think they don't have to try next time either.  Maybe that's wrong too.  Who knows what the expert advice is these days.

Potty Training Put Offs

I have been off and on again about the idea of potty training for a few months now.  The girls were interested and sitting on the potty frequently before the holidays but I put it off because I didn't think the holidays would help at all.  Now the holidays are past and I've been waiting for a good time to jump in.  I want to start on a Monday so we have a good solid week of being able to stay home and work on it before going anywhere (i.e. church and weekend activities).  I have a friend who has recommended the thick cotton training panties by Gerber.  She had difficulty training her girl so her daughter has grown out of some perfectly good training panties and this friend offered them to me.  But she doesn't come to visit until the 19th and I'm not even sure they'll fit  (2T and my girls really could use 18 month...skinny things).  Also we're going to start a music group with Early Intervention the following week (that is once a week and runs until the end of March) and I would love to give this a good shot before getting into that.  So  I'm putting it off again when I really don't want to.  I want to get on with it while the girls are still excited every time I mention "big girl panties" and "using the potty".

Any thoughts or tips on potty training?  Also would love tips on how to tackle potty training twins?  Thanks!

First Haircut - Seren

Seren received her first haircut today. I have trimmed bangs for her a couple of times but nothing else. Today we went gung ho and cut a couple inches off the back as well. I debated a hair cut at a salon but decided she'd probably freak out and I was just as likely to have similar results doing it myself. She sat patiently and didn't cry...she looked cross-eyed at the scissors cutting her bangs. The hair cut turned out pretty cute...a little choppy and blunt but it works. It makes her look more grown up. I have a two year old and she's looking the part now. I asked Kendall if she wanted her hair cut as she whined a little during the 10 minutes it took. She politely said no. It may be another year before she needs one anyway although her beautiful red locks are filling in pretty well these days.

After

After - side view

Before

Before - side view