Independence

On the very first Sunday of this year, Jackson asked me to read "Its Potty Time for Boys" over and over and over again in nursery. So I did, and didn't think much of it. When we first moved to Wisconsin we bought him a little potty just so we would be ready when the time came. We figured it wouldn't happen too soon with all the changes in his life like getting a baby sister and moving to a new home. Well, after reading that potty book, Jackson wanted to sit on the potty the next day. He sat on it the whole time I gave Kaitlyn a bath. Then he sat on it the next night and when he stood up he peed. The next morning he got up and immediatley went for the potty. I ran to get something, and when I returned, Jackson had a surprise for me...well he really had two surprises for me...inside the potty! I couldn't believe it. I really wasn't planning on potty training yet. Jackson did pretty well that week, but then the next couple of weeks he didn't do as well and seemed to lose interest. I had started to like the idea of only changing one childs diaper so I got some fun charts and we decided on some treats that he could earn. So, lately, Jackson has been doing a lot of this...

and this...

(Good thing we get free toilet paper!)

and wearing these...

Gotta love the boots. He wears them everywhere, which is fine since its freezing outside. He also wears his orange hat and that blue "scarf" around his neck. I think that he thinks he is a train conductor or something. It cracks me up that he was even wearing the hat, scarf and his little red slippers while sitting on the potty!

He is now 2 years and 3 months old and must do everything himself! If I lift him into his carseat he insists on getting back down and climbing up again. He can basically dress himself including shoes and socks. He just needs a little help getting the shirt over his head. Tonight we went to the mall and he had to push Kaitlyn's stroller and if Kevin or I touched it he got upset. When did he grow up? It is nice that he sometimes gets jealous of me holding Kaitlyn so he'll climb into my arms and act like he is a baby and we get to snuggle.

As far as the potty training, we still have a ways to go before he gets to only wear big boy pants all the time, but at least we are excited about it right now. Hopefully we can get it done now before he has any other big changes in his life.