Nate took the kids fishing this afternoon. He caught a 4 lb bass. Braylee caught a little minnow but according to her it was about 6 inches long! They were all pretty excited though about Daddy's big fish. Brax kept saying, "He has a really dirty mouth," and couldn't get close enough! Brecca was even brave enough to hold it although she wasn't quite strong enough to lift it up. Braylee wasn't interested in holding it. I don't know if she was scared or just didn't really care!
I am still working on my next Disney post (which is actually Sea World - not Disney) but I needed to post about Brax and his potty training - or I guess I should say lack of potty training! We never had any issues with the girls and I know it isn't fair to compare kids but come on! This kid child has ABSOLUTELY no interest in using the potty! He will use it occasionally and sometimes out of the blue he will say he has to go and run in and use it with no problem but it is the other 98% of the time that is causing us some issues. Remember, this is the kid that turned 3 YRS OLD two months ago. I did mention it to his doctor who says some boys aren't pottytrained until they are 4 yrs old and that is completely normal. We haven't pushed up to this point. We figured he would start when he was ready but will that time ever come??? It seems like we have tried everything short of outright bribing him to use the potty.
- Praise
- Threats
- Big boy underwear
- Pull ups
- Cheerios to "shoot" at
- Going outside
- Taking him with us so he can witness it first hand
We were seriously at a loss so yesterday I bought some M&M's at Wal-Mart and we are going to reward him for using the potty by giving him M&M's each time he goes. I didn't want to reward him for something that he should do on his own ( I know a lot of people do... I just didn't want to!) but desperate times call for desperate measures! I can just picture him going to Kindergarten and me sending M&M's for his teacher to reward him with each time he uses the bathroom with the rest of the class.
I explained all of this to him at Wal-Mart as I was picking up the M&M's. He had to go right away! So, the three kids and I left our cart unattended while we went into the Family Restroom at Wal-Mart and Brax proceeded to do his business. M&M's right off the bat! Score! He earned some more right before bed last night. This morning he got up and the first thing I said to him was, " Brax, let's go use the potty! " He says, " I already did." Hmmm... When was this????? "At the store, " he said. Yesterday! Apparently it still hasn't clicked for him!
We were up bright and early on Day 2 of our Disney trip. We had breakfast with the princesses scheduled for 8:25a.m.! Everybody was still a little worn out from the day before so we were a kinda slow getting around. Our breakfast was at Epcot and the park doesn't open until 9. It is so nice to be able to get in early and walk through an almost completely empty park to the restaurant. We did this same breakfast the last time and really enjoyed the princesses and the food. Bray had an exceptionally hard time waking up so she wasn't overjoyed to be there. In fact, any picture Braylee is in is because I specifically asked the princess to go stand next to her chair! Brax had also been talking about how he was going to kiss Cinderella but he was a lot of talk and not quite as much action!
Braylee was having the time of her life!
After we all met back up, we headed over to the Character Spot to meet some characters!
Brax got brave enough to kiss Minnie on the nose.
We had to stop for some photo opportunities on the way out!
We were all worn out by this point so we decided to head back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. The kids and I took a nap in our room while Nate and both Grandma's swam in the pool. We were up for a fun night at Downtown Disney later in the evening so we needed to be rested up!
Show us your muscles Braxy!
Check out that Rice Krispy Treat!
We ate a sandwich and then did a little window shopping. We stopped and watched a little show on our way out. Nothing too exciting but an enjoyable evening! Then it was back to the hotel for another good night's sleep!
Monday: Our plane left bright and early Monday morning - 5:45a.m. to be exact! This meant we had to leave our house at 2:00a.m. for the 2.5 hour drive to the airport. I thought we would have plenty of time but by the time we parked our van in the economy parking lot, took the shuttle to the terminal, got checked in, checked out luggage, and went through security, they were actually loading our plane! No waiting around for us although I would not have wanted to cut it any closer!!!
We got to Orlando about 1:00p.m. and got our luggage, picked up our rental car (minivan, actually!) and headed for our hotel. We stayed on Disney property at Pop Century. I know you can get some pretty good deals on houses and condos off-property but we feel the closer to the action the better. I would reallt recommend looking into it if anybody goes in the near future. It really isn't too much more expensive than off-site and you get some great benefits!
We checked in and then headed to the food court for a snack. Nate and Julia took the kids swimming while I unpacked our room and got things organized. We had a dinner reservation that night for around 6:00 so we went ahead and got around and headed that direction about 5:00. The hotel that the restaurant was in was really nice and our dinner was good. It was kinda a crazy place. The kids got to do some horse races and we all stood up and did the Hokey Pokey in the middle of dinner.
I am going to do a post to recap Disneyworld (more for my benefit than yours!) but first I have to mention a couple of dreams Brax has had recently. One night a couple of weeks ago, he came downstairs in the morning and told me there was a penguin in his bed under his pillow. "A weally, weally mean one!" I told him it must have been a dream and to go back up and check and I would bet that there wasn't a penguin under his pillow. He said, "No, I want you to do it!" So, I went upstairs with him tagging along behind and lifted up his pillow. You should have seen the look on him face. Complete shock! He looked around his bed and then under his covers. He couldn't believe there was no penguin in his bed!
Last night, I heard him crying in the night and got up to go see what was wrong. He was really upset. It wasn't his normal half asleep cry - it was more like an I'm terrified cry! He said, "Brecca pushed me in the thing where the crocodiles live and I was trying to get out and I couldn't." It was sad. This morning he really thought that Brecca had done that to him! It took some serious convincing for him to believe that it was all just a dream!
We made it home! Only probably most of you didn't even know we were gone! Actually, I didn't want to announce to the whole world (okay, maybe just the three people who read this blog - who already knew we were leaving) that we were leaving town and our house would be completely empty for an entire week. Like I said, not that it mattered since the few people who read this already knew we were leaving but it made me feel better and that's all that matters! OK, so moving along.....
We went to Disneyworld for the week. We had a great time but are relieved to be home. It is true when people come home and say they need a vacation from a vacation! I have spent the last couple of days catching up on laundry and trying to get things back in order.
I will post in detail about our trip later but just had a quick story. Disney has signs up all over the place advertising "Disneys Best Kept Secret - Disney Vacation Club" (Disneys version of timeshares basically). On our last night there, Brecca (who can read now) said to me, " Mom, I think I figured out Disney's secret." "Oh, you did?" I said. "Yeah," she said. "The characters at Disneyworld are actually just people who are dressed up in costumes. That's their secret!" I think I was a lot more disappointed that she had figured that out than she was! The next day Braylee asked why Pluto had a big zipper down his back so I am pretty sure she is onto them as well! :)
Here is a picture to tide you over for a couple of days....
