Age 2 Part 2 | Lip Picking, Nose Digging, Sneaking Toddler & Poopy Diapers Flying

"I guess we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy ..." ~ Seal

2 1/2 is a busy age with awesome conversations, play and a few bad habits!

I have to admit that life has been CRAZY since he turned 2 1/2 years old. It has been months of him sneaking around to tear off poopy diapers, lip picking, nose picking and sometimes he even has a little taste of his finger (YUCK). I am starting to wonder WHAT'S UP with that because he is so persistent about the picking. When not the lip it his is nose. I am frustrated that I cannot make him stop and hopeful that it will resolve on it own ... sooner than later!

Here's what life is like every 10 minutes or so these days (he is just about 2 years 10 months old) and so busy! I am grateful that my husband and teen help a lot!

Me: Max, are you picking your lip.

Max: NOOOOOOO (in a very loud and matter of fact like tone), I'm picking my nose!

Me: Well, stop picking your nose. It's yucky!

(Hiding my laugh - I go to Facebook to share this funny moment with my family. I look up because it's so quiet to find that HE DISAPPEARED)

Me: Max, where are you?

(No answer. I look in his bedroom because that is the only place he could be ... all of the other doors are locked to him from getting into everything. He jumps a mile high when he sees me because ... he was picking his nose in private this time - LOL.)

Me: What are you doing Max?

Max: AH, NO, it's the nose monster!

(He sounded just like a cartoon character, LOL, now I'm a nose monster? OK?)

So, I instruct my nose picking toddler to follow me out of his bedroom (to the living room) and I sit at my desk to write a post. I look up to see if he's come out of his room ...

Low and behold he's there with his pants at his ankles and quietly taking of his diaper - YIKES!!!

Just so you know, he does not poop on the potty, so we're potty training his way (uh hum) where we have to telepathically sense when it's time to dash from the pulled diaper to the potty because he likes to work independently these days - You know?

Our toddler is almost 3. He picks his lip and nose. He pees on the potty. He rarely poops on the potty!

We've had some crazy crazy crazy potty training moments this month ...

He will pee on the potty pretty much every time and often lets us know that he has to go. On  the other hand, he will not tell us when he has to poop and he rarely poops on the potty at all.

This has been a stage of poopy diapers flying everywhere and his sneaking into Desitin, wet wipes, bathrooms, wiping poop on windows and dropping poop on the floor. It's not that we aren't watching him, but that our 2 year old is so fast. We can do nothing solo in the house any more. Going to the bathroom, doing dishes, washing clothes, typing on the computer, getting everything ready for a bath, etc., is all a two parent job with this particular son (my other children did not require this extra potty training care at all). One parent has to literally sit with our son while the other parent does what is needed.

Believe you me, there is no more poop schedule or estimating when it is time, it is like our son can make himself poop, too. For example, if he has a temper tantrum that requires our putting him in his room (he gets like this sometimes when he's exhausted), we have to listen well and peek in whether he is crying or not because sometimes we come in to a poopy mess. It is something he started when he turned 2 and is inconsistent about, therefore we cannot assume that is how his body reacts when angry.

LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH!!!

We've have to watch our little bird like a hawk these days! he's so fast, creative and independent at almost 3 years old.

In motherly love,
Lea

Potty Training 2 Year Old Toddler Boy - Dad & Mom Are Doing The Potty Dance For Sure

It's a joyful week in the Hunt home :) Our toddler has started potty training; WOO HOO!!! Our younger teen has gone to bed at a decent time for the past few nights. My oldest son (who is sadly not talking to me) just had a baby girl named Harmony. Our dog made his first "autotune video", web work has been steady for me and I started a work at home business that is starting to grow. In fact, quite a few new people joined our 90 Day Weight Loss Challenge this week and I am excited for them. All in all, not everything is perfect around here and I will get into that another time, tough I have remained faithful that the Lord will resolve all issues and grateful for the blessings despite storms.

Potty Training A Boy Is Not Hard - Just Wait Until They Are Ready!

Potty Training has been a walk in the park compared to buying the best potty chair for our son. Although, Max had only "let go completely" and had a full pee one time on our potty, has gone a few drops twice in his potty chair on many occasions and had one full pee today, too. He has always liked to sit on the potty and loves the extra attention that he gets when he does his "duty". Yet, it has taken Max a week to fully comprehend that he can pee it all out at one sitting. He is doing really well so far!

Knowing When Toddler Boy Is Ready To Potty Train

We introduce potty training a few times over the past year. We started around 1 years old, and have kept a potty chair in the bathroom ever since. He loved the entertainment of the potty chairs, as well as using them as a seat and stool while in the bathroom. Yet, our son was totally uninterested in potty training prior to his second birthday. I know that our 2 year old is ready to potty train because 1) he keeps taking his diaper off when very wet, 2) he pulls at the elastic on the thigh areas of his diaper (stretching it to get in the diaper), and 3) our toddler gets extremely cranky if he wakes with a saturated diaper. Another contributory factor, as to why he can start potty training now, is that he is really good at not urinating when not wearing a diaper. On the other hand, his "gift" at holding his pee prohibited our toddler from fully releasing while sitting on the potty chair. It took his over an hour of holding his pee before he released all of the way. I am thinking that he will get over this as soon as a potty routine has been established for him.

Choosing The Best Potty Chair / Worst Potty Chair In My Opinion

Regardless, today, we received our BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair and BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer in the mail. One would have thought that my husband struck gold when our box arrived; I have never seen him so excited. We ordered the both the BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair and BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer from a woman on Ebay. Aside of a few Thomas the Tank Engine stickers on the potty, both were in perfect condition and cost just a little over $20 for both potty seats; saving us over $40 including shipping. We wiped them down with bleach, set the potty in the living room and the seat on the toilet, took our baby our of his diaper and proceeded to familiarize him with both of them. We were all so excited to see that our baby fit comfortably on the BABYBJÖRN Potty products because this is our 4th potty chair. I really do not feel like buying another one. NOTE: Aside of our son having to learn how to sit on the BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair without bumping his private area (took a few independent attempts to sit alone) on the high pee guard, he was more comfortable with using it. We chose the BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair because of that high pee guard; most of the animated potty chairs were lacking in guard areas and seat room. We chose the BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer because of the decent sized pee guard and seat with a whole that looked large enough for a toddler. It snaps to the toilet seat securely, our son fits in the contoured design well and sat in it comfortably today. I think it will work well for him, but I will have to report on that later. NOTE: I did notice a red impression line on his bottom and this bothers me. I do wish that the BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer was made with a softer seat.


BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair and BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer

Our first potty chair was the older version of the Fisher Price Cheer For Me Potty. I bought it about a year ago from a local garage sale, and it was our best potty chair. It was in excellent condition, with an awesome pee guard and was very sturdy. Our baby loved sitting on this potty chair for extended lengths of time. He listed to the music and played with the flusher a lot. Unfortunately, his older brother broke the sound button on the back of the potty chair. Our baby lost interest in this potty chair when it could no  longer entertain him.


Original Style & Newer design of the Fisher Price Cheer For Me Potty

Our 2nd potty chair was a newer model of the Fisher Price Cheer For Me Potty. It was not of the same quality as the older model. The plastic was not as solid, the seat / guard area seemed smaller and the sensor did not work as well as the other potty. Most importantly is that Fisher Price had replaced the pretend toilet paper holder, that he LOVED because it played music, with one that really held toilet paper. We could not possibly use that toilet paper holder as intended with our adventurous little boy; he wanted to play with the toilet paper too much.



Our 3rd potty chair was The First Years Disney Pixar Cars Potty. Aside of the colorful design, stool capability and very soft seat, The First Years Disney Pixar Cars Potty was pitiful to say the least. Although this potty chair has a very soft seat, it is way too small for toddlers and has an extremely small pee guard that makes it almost impossible for a 2 year old boy to use. The seat cushion is removable thus prompting our son to remove and try to play with it all of the time. The one interactive feature on this potty chair is a little clutch that makes a "rev" car sound. This feature kept coming loose when he used it thus encouraging him to get up and lift the seat (very annoying when trying to get toddler to focus on potty training). The whole plastic area under the seat cushion would pull apart at that time. This potty might work for boys potty training 1 years old or younger, though has not been a comfortable and reliable option for our son. We wasted our money on The First Years Disney Pixar Cars Potty.

Well, this is all that I have to share about our potty training experience so far. I hope that this information was helpful to anyone trying to decide which potty chair is best and some details on potty training a 2 year old boy. I would love to hear about your potty training experience through the comment section of this blog or our new Google+ Moms Community. See you there!



In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child