Potty. Trained.

We have been working on potty training in our house for a while. Our little dude decided sitting on the pot was a cool thing to do last summer, and we arrogantly figured that in his obviously genius state it would only be a month or two before he was out of diapers and going about his "business" like a big kid. Wrong. Rookie parenting mistake. Nine months of reinforcing peeing in the potty with jellybeans later we were no closer to wearing undies, and the only thing our genius child had learned to do was manipulate our desire for him to use the potty into stretching out bedtime, delaying nap-time, and earning as many beans as possible. A master negotiator, Wheeler would shut down mid stream request his bean, eat it, then push out some more and demand another bean for his efforts. After we wised up and closed the free bean factory interest in using the potty diminished almost completely. Not wanting to scare him off we figured we would back off, stay encouraging but positive, and he would show us when he was a little bit more ready. Well... that proof of readiness came like a smack in the face the Sunday Wheeler decided to fake a dirty diaper to get out of nursery class.  This kid knew exactly what he was doing and was playing hard ball... and since both of his parents share his competitive genes, we stepped up to the plate. Undies were purchased and a giant box of favorite Cars characters was placed on the ledge beside the toilet. The deal was as follows: You can open one car for keeping your undies dry all day long, and one car for pooping in the potty. 3 weeks later all the cars on the ledge are earned. Diapers are gone (except for nighttime) Accidents are few and far between, and we are basking in the next 4 1/2 months until we get to start changing dirty diapers all over again.

Wheeler's News

Wheeler has been waiting patiently to share his big news. At the end of this summer he is going to be a big brother!  He has let the cat out of the bag on a few occasions by casually lifting up my shirt and asking to "see it". And pointing out "my baby" ( an ultrasound picture on our fridge) when guests come over. And he has already decided that the only two acceptable names for Swan baby #2 will be Finn McMissile for a boy and Holly Shiftwell for a girl. (Yes we watch Cars2 just a little bit too often in our house).
Matt and I are also very excited about becoming a family of 4. For those who don't follow, we have trouble getting pregnant and so we feel relieved and excited to have made it successfully through another series of fertility treatments. Similarly to our efforts to conceive Wheeler, we used a combination of Metformin and Clomid medication with a trigger shot and this time around an IUI. By fertility standards it is a fairly non-intense treatment, although when you are in the middle of it all with the emotional swings and constant Dr. appointments it doesn't feel like such a walk in the park. The entire process took about a year as we had a few other health complications to address before starting the medication.
So now it is the fun part! And this pregnancy has been going very well so far! Wheeler helps to keep me busy and active and the first trimester has flown by with nothing more than a little feeling overtired and the constant desire to stuff my face. It is a catch 22 for me when I am pregnant... I feel sick if I don't keep something in my stomach, but all the eating makes for early weight gain and a less than lovely looking pre-bump bump. Oh well, c'est la vie. Time to bust out the belly band and pretend that it is just a really big baby. With this pregnancy I have craved my usual lemonade, big glasses of milk, mashed potatoes, and this time around bagels and pickles.
We don't know if it will be a boy or a girl yet. My hunch changes on a weekly basis. But we will find out soon and keep you posted. Updates and pictures to follow!

Party at the Park

 In an effort to make up for having a lousy birthday that is crammed in right between Christmas and New years birthday, we threw Wheels a party the end of January. We talked it up big time making sure that he knew it was a special 2 year old party just for him. He helped deliver and mail the invitations (that he was very excited about because they had his picture on the front) and we counted the sleeps for his special day.
 The morning of his party Wheeler was a crazy man. His energy was fueled by the cupcakes he was watching me make, the treat-bags with bubbles and toy cars sitting on the counter, and the excitement of having Grandma and Papa Swan staying at our house. (They moved back from their year long adventure in Malaysia that same week) I felt like I was equally as crazy. We had decided to have the party at a park around the corner. But the night before it decided to rain. So while I prepared the food, I was also mentally preparing for 10 toddlers and their parents to invade my little house. For those who aren't aware just how neurotic I actually am... the 2 things in the world that throw me over the sanity ledge are last minute changes in plans, and having people see my house in a gross and messy state. So it was good times from about 8:30-10:30. But then the clouds parted, the sun came out and we made it over the park.  Sigh of relief!
The party itself was great and went off without a hitch. We were slightly upstaged by another party going on at the park with a BBQ and gigantic bounce house. Sorry Wheeler. Not for you. But the kids were just happy to run and play on the playground. The weather was beautiful. And we had lots of good food. We were smart and just ordered sandwiches and wraps from the deli. And I got to try out some fun pinterest ideas like rainbow fruit kabobs, and veggie cups with dip.
After lunch we sang happy birthday and blew out the candles ( a few times). Then cupcakes. A Lightening McQueen Pinata. (candy eases the blow of another kid opening presents right in front of you when you are 2.)  And birthday presents.
It was a great day. Wheeler was so excited to be the center of attention (when is he not in our house...) But it felt good to do something extra special and all about him. I don't think it is going to be an every year occurrence. As a first time mom I had little idea how much effort, time and $ goes into throwing a kids birthday party. Maybe by his 4th or 5th I will be ready to attempt it again.
Here are some of the pictures taken by Wheeler's grandpa at the party.