It’s been a long time since I gave an update on my little man!
Have I mentioned that he is the LIGHT OF MY LIFE?!?!?! Seriously. I couldn’t possibly love anything more than I love him.
School:
We (reluctantly) changed preschools at the start of this school year. He has always gone to our church’s preschool and we loved it there. The main issue we had was that they operated off the county school system schedule and were closed during summer and all the other school holidays. It was very inconvenient for us since we both work full time. I had friends and family that could keep Noah for me when school was closed, but I hated always feeling like I was burdening someone else with my problems. So we made the decision to switch schools. He is now attending the school that his three older cousins all attended and honestly, I couldn’t be happier. He is learning to eat new foods because the school serves a hot lunch to the kids (his previous school didn’t). He is learning so much. Just the other night, he was in the bathtub and recited the Pledge of Allegiance perfectly, I didn’t even know they were working on that! I feel like his new school is really investing in him and getting him ready for Kindergarten in ways that his other school didn’t. All of his teachers have really been working hard with us to get Noah completely potty trained as well! (More on that below!)
Potty training:
Two of the scariest words in the dictionary. Ha! I finally feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This has been the longest, most tedious process in my parenting journey so far! So back in February (his 3rd birthday), we ditched the diapers/pull-ups and went to underwear and only wearing pull-ups at night/nap. The problem we ran in to was that his previous school’s policy was once they had two accidents, they were put in a pull-up for the rest of the day. This obviously caused major issues in my potty training plan. So for the rest of the school year, that’s what we did. Honestly, I think that’s the main reason that it took us so long to get him potty trained. We didn’t have the support we needed from the people that cared for him for the majority of the day. That’s another reason we switched preschools. Through the summer, Noah stayed with a friend of mine sometimes and my mother-in-law sometimes. He started using the potty more and was peeing in the potty most of the time, but would NOT poop in the potty at all. Once he started preschool (at the new school), I had a few talks with his teacher about his potty history and the issues we were currently having. She told me that if he had 10 accidents a day, they would just keep working with him and KEEP HIM IN UNDERWEAR no matter what. Hallelujah!
Noah loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates and had been eyeing a toy named Bucky from Target for the longest time. We always told him that once he pooped in the potty, we would buy Bucky for him. His teacher suggested that we go ahead and buy Bucky, but sit him out of Noah’s reach but in eyesight, to be more enticing. So we bought Bucky, sat him on the top of the fridge, and explained to Noah that he could play with him once he pooped in the potty. It wasn’t long after that that one night Noah said out of the blue that he needed to go poop! We sat him on the potty, let him watch a show on the iPad and BOOM! Haha! It was glorious. We all jumped and screamed and celebrated and then we all played with Bucky! Since then, he has pooped in the potty several more times and understands now when he needs to go! He still has accidents sometimes, but for the most part I’d say we are potty trained! :):):):)
Becoming a big brother:
I will be the first to tell you that Noah is a Momma’s baby. I made him that way and I have no shame! He is my heart and I spoil the dickens out of him and don’t discipline him as much as I should. :) So I knew it would be a BIG adjustment for him to have to share me. Luckily, pregnancies last 9 months so we will have plenty of time to warm up to the idea of a little brother. He wasn’t too thrilled with the idea at first, but these days he talks about Cason like he’s already here with us! I’m sure he will be less likely to be so happy about it once Cason actually gets here, but for now he’s starting to like the idea of baby brother! This past Sunday, his Sunday school teacher was helping him draw a picture of his family and Noah made the teacher draw Cason in my belly!
Sleep:
The kid loves to sleep. I don’t know where he gets that from…. Right now, we usually put him in his bed at 7:30pm (I know it’s super early compared to most kids his age, but it’s what works for us!) and let him watch tv for about an hour and a half. He never comes out of his room once we put him to bed. He sleeps with a lamp on, so a lot of times he will get up and play with some toys for a while and then get back in bed. He still sleeps with his brown blankey and I don’t see that going away for a long time. We have had no problems with his big boy bed. I can’t believe he hasn’t ever fallen out. But he has requested a few times to sleep on the floor, so we oblige! He still naps from about noon-3 or 4ish on the weekends and takes a 2 hour nap during the week at school. He also still sucks his thumb when he sleeps.
Eating:
He is the world’s pickiest eater. And I was the exact same way when I was little so I can’t blame him! He loves chicken nuggets (some days), rice and beans, crackers, pretzels, “Yucky Charms”, and any kind of fruit or applesauce/yogurt. Other than that, you are lucky if you can get him to even try it. He tells me all the time that his teacher makes him try his lunch at school which THRILLS me because I know it’s not things he normally eats. I’m glad he at least likes fruit, though.
What he’s in to:
He loves to watch tv, so we have several shows that he likes right now. Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Paw Patrol, Doc McStuffins, Chuggington, Handy Manny, Dora, I think that may be it. His favorite toy to play with would either be his remote control Lightning McQueen or his train tracks/trains. He’s also been really into puzzles lately. This could also be up in the potty training section, but another trick that helped us was once he had an accident, we would lock up every.single.toy. in the playroom. Once he successfully used the potty, he could pick out a toy to play with. If he had another accident, any toys he had out would go back in the playroom to be locked up. Worked like a charm!
He also reallllly loves cutting the grass with his Daddy and riding his powerwheel out back.
He is my sweet sweet boy and I wouldn’t trade him for the world!
