January 2014

January in Florida can be pretty perfect. While we continue to have cold snaps throughout the month, the warmer days are amazing. Absolutely no humidity and the best breeze imaginable. And lucky for us, we didn't have too terrible of a winter this year. That being said, Rich renewed our Universal annual passes so we were busy continuing to put them to great use. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Universal is simply the best. For the price of one pass you have access to both parks, Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure. Prior to kids, I never realized the endless attractions for them. Both parks have a little splash pad area that is great for our hot summers. We don't always make full days out of our visits. Instead, we'll go for a few hours here and there, and even go in the evening after work. It's a nice change of scenery for us all. That's definitely a perk living only 15-20 minutes away from the theme parks.

This month we had a MAJOR milestone. Spencer was officially potty trained at 33 months, 3 months shy of his third birthday. This was a huge accomplishment because just like with his speech, we thought it would never happen. He showed interest at 18 months for about a week, then never looked back and never wanted anything to do with the potty. We tried to reintroduce him multiple times, but he would literally scream and run away from it. As if it were a monster or something. LOL


I could go on forever about the process, but I'll (try to) keep it short. For months we had been trying to prep him for a 3 day potty boot camp. I read many ways to engage him and prepare him for what he's to do. I talked to him during every diaper change about where our pee pee and poopie goes, and helped him identify when he was wet. Anytime he pooped, we would take it to the toilet, dump it in there, and he would flush it. That was a huge deal for him and he would be so proud after each flush. I truly think this helped him warm up to the idea, and made him more comfortable around the potty.

I hadn't allotted the time for said boot camp. I was waiting for the perfect weekend that we all could commit to it, but Spence had plans of his own. One Saturday morning Spence woke up and said he wanted to wear big boy underwear, instead of a diaper. I wasn't going to argue with that. So as he sat on the couch, protected with a towel, I repeatedly reminded him of his duty if we were to wear big boy underwear. I also was relentless, continuously asking him if he had to go pee pee. Poor kid just wanted me to go away, I'm sure. What seemed like hours passed and still no production, but I still continued to nag him. Then while running around and playing, he decided to go pee. Where else other than his big boy underwear and all over the floor. He panicked and yelled to "clean him up". As Rich went to pick him up to clean him off, I objected and made him stand in his wet, uncomfortable underwear for a few short minutes. I'm sure Spence was confused all to hell, but my goal was to make him really feel what it's like to not be in a diaper and to be wet. It isn't very comfortable if you ask me. So after that mishap, he was sitting on the couch again and I noticed him getting antsy. He was doing a little seated pee-pee dance. We attempted to place him on the (big) potty to try and go, and just like the past year, he refused to sit on it. While rejecting the potty, he stood in the bathroom continuing his pee pee dance routine. I knew he had to go and that it would happen at any moment. <Disclaimer: This is against my parenting style, but I feel this was necessary> Without hesitating, I picked Spencer up and placed him on the potty… forcefully. I held him there while he was kicking and screaming. I felt horrible. You would've thought I was murdering the kid. But….. within seconds he peed! The tantrum instantly stopped and with tears in his eyes he looked down into the toilet and was amazed at what was happening. Once he was done he was SOOOO proud, as were his parents. Even Cam was clapping and yelling "yaaaaaay". It was quite the moment. As mentioned, I would never make my children do something against their will, but I feel if he didn't get over that initial fear, he would've been 5 years old before he was trained. Since I knew he was about to go all over himself again, my instinct was to just put him on that damn potty. And that my friends, is how Spencer was potty trained. That first day he had 2 other accidents. The second day, he had 1. We used pull-ups at night for two nights, and rid of those because he was doing so well. I couldn't believe how easily he took to all of it. Once we requested those undies, there was no turning back.

So that was Spencer's excitement. It's exciting for us all. Although now, going to the bathroom takes precedence over most things these days.

In January, I went public with my creations by finally doing something with my Etsy shop I opened a couple years back. The photo coasters I made as Christmas gifts back in 2011, I am now offering worldwide :) While in my crafting mode, I've also begun making cupcake toppers and cake banners. These are party supplies I've always bought from others so I figured why not start making my own.

                                            This is the start of PhotoJeNNic Creations.

You can find more of our items for sale on (click me)
We can custom make items specific to you party theme.




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