Major Improvements!

Well to start this post I have to tell you where we started to help you understand how much of a celebration is in order for where we are now.  About a month ago Bob and I were completely exhausted.  The boys were not sleeping.  They would not fall asleep on their own. Bob would take Landon to the pitch black basement and cuddle with him until he fell asleep and then we would put him in his bed.  He would then wake up within an hour and we would put him in bed with us because it was the only way we could get a nights sleep.  I would cuddle with Carter as he would twirl my hair until he would fall asleep.  I would carry him to his bed.  He would sleep there until anywhere between 2-3am when he would come to our bed.  So this leads to four people in one bed and only 2 of us getting a good nights sleep.  To make matters worse, afternoon naps were always hit or miss and I was dragging.  I was getting irritable and snippy with everyone.  A new mom from playgroup with three boys, two of which are 2-year old twins suggested a strategy from a book she read.  The book is called 5 Nights to a perfect nights sleep for your child. We read this book together, Bob and I, and immediately agreed to try this strategy.  The process was to put the kids in their beds.  As you lay them down you say, "Mommy and Daddy love you very much and we are teaching you how to fall asleep on your own." We continued this until they fall asleep.  The first night the boys were up out of their beds constantly...it felt like we were going through a revolving door.  Landon fell asleep in one hour and it took two hours for Carter.  They woke up three times that night and we started the whole process again.  It has been about a month of this continued process and the boys are sleeping in their beds all night long.  Landon usually wakes up once but is quickly back to sleep.  Carter wakes up between 8:00-8:30am and Landon is wide awake at 7am.  Now the only thing we have to work on is sleep training ourselves...we are so used to waking up that sleeping through the night is taking some practice.  I tell you rolling over and only feeling Bob there is weird.

This is a peacefully sleeping Carter!  Nothing better than a good night's rest!

Now just when you thought that it couldn't get any better...Carter is potty trained!  Oh my can you stinkin believe it!!  It started when I began to noticed that Carter was heading to a certain spot to poo.  I grabbed him and put him on the potty.  When he started to poo on the potty he was excited.  He would get two M&M's and a sticker for a chart.  He began to tell me when he needed to poo but still didn't recognize when he had to pee.  I decided that he wasn't going to wear diapers anymore just big boy underpants.  We went to Meijer and he picked out a potty seat for on top the regular potty.  He choose the one with Lightening McQueen on it, along with a pack of Cars 2 underpants.  I can't tell you how many times we would be running to get to the potty to go.  I am the crazy lady running through Target heading for the restroom.  I have noticed that out of habit I look to locate the bathroom in each place we enter.  Landon is very interested in what Carter is doing.  He gets an M&M when Carter goes potty and helps him choose which sticker goes on the chart.  It is so cute now because Carter does the deed and Landon flushes it down.  Carter is no longer wearing a diaper at anytime of the day!  I feel liberated!  This is a great accomplishment for him and we are totally stoked! 

Carter showing off his big boy Cars 2 underpants!

Such a cute little booty in underpants!

As you can see now that these little improvements have helped to make our lives a little easier!  I bet you can hear us celebrating!