29 and 11

I realised the other day that I haven't written too much lately about the kids. Which is a shame, because they are pretty great. So I thought I'd do an update on where my two cheeky monkey's are at lately.

Georgie. Where do I start? She is almost 2 and a half. She is bright and clever and independent. She is always a couple of steps ahead of me, and I swear some days I can just see the wheels turning in her little head. She is such a little mama. She 'mothers' poor Charlie to death at times, but she is also so incredibly helpful, and such a little mimic, and is terribly funny!

 

 She is on her way to being toilet trained, and wears undies almost all of the time now, and is only still in nappies when she sleeps. And oh, how she loves to swim! Every time we step foot in a pool I get comments about how good at swimming she is, how much she loves it, or how enthusiastic she is. I swear she is part dolphin. We have just started swimming lessons this term and she loves it! She is one of the very youngest in her class, but she holds her own with the bigger kids. She is getting very capable in the water now, and my only trouble is making sure she is not too capable. She does have a tendency to just jump in, whether someone is ready to help her or not! But she is a good little swimmer.

 

 She loves routine. She loves to dance, and is turning into a little chatterbox. She is also turning into a real little girl, loves to dress in 'pretty dresses' and is getting so beautiful. She is my girl, and she is lovely.

And Charlie. How I adore my boy! He is the most awesome little baby boy in the world!

He is so sweet, and cuddly. But he can also be a little ball of mischief as well. He is 11 months old now, (almost 1!) outgrowing a lot of his soft baby chubbiness and he is starting to get a lot more muscular. He is standing up on everything and his favourite thing to do is push around kitchen chairs, walking behind them and making a tremendous noise. He will be walking soon. He also LOVES  food with a passion, especially big people food!

 He is a practically perfect baby and has been sleeping the night through since he was about 6 months old. He has basically ruined me for another baby, should we ever have one. He tends to be quite cheerful most of the time, and rarely gets grumpy. Mind you, when he is grumpy he will sometimes hit and pull hair and lash out a little. His philosophy seems to be "If I'm unhappy, I'm going to tell the whole world about it and make them unhappy too!" It will be interesting to see if he sticks with that one as he gets older! It's definitely a good thing he is rarely cranky! Before I had him I wasn't too sure about being a mummy of boys, but he has made me so incredibly grateful to God for a son. Because I love this kid to bits.

We have been jogging along steadily. We are hanging out for holidays, and a break. This last week has seen a bit more limping (it's been a rough week). But for the most part, we are doing okay. I am doing much better, and my bad days are not so bad. And, though we have our struggles and our difficulties, life with these guys is pretty good.

It is time....

It's starting.

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I think that I am a little stupid. I'm not 100% sure if its the right time.... But I've decided to start to toilet train Georgie. I must admit, it feels a little early, she's only 21 months old. But I've seen kids toilet train at 15 months, and others wait until they're 3. I know children toilet train when they're ready, regardless of age. And it does seem like she is ready, even if I'm not.

I've helped toilet train many children before when I worked in childcare. But it's a whole different kettle of fish when its my child. When it's all on me. It's hard when we have to do it in real life. Not in a controlled child-centered place. But everywhere. In the car, over at a friends house, when we're shopping.... when it comes to that I have no clue.

Basically I thought we would just try for a month, before it gets too cold. Hopefully it will happen quicker than that. My plan is to put Georgie in undies just at home for the beginning, but when we go out, she can wear pull-ups. I will take her to the toilet as often as she wants to. I will ask her if she needs to go often, and I will try really hard to watch her for signals. I know it could be hard with a baby as well, but I'm determined to try.

We will use the potty at home because that's what she's used to, and she's already been using it with a little success, and she is still quite little to reach the toilet. Plus if I have my hands full with Charlie there is less risk of her falling off the toilet and hurting herself.

I would use treats, but Georgie isn't really into 'treat food'. She's not a big fan of sweet foods like chocolate or lollies (no idea how that happened!). Her favorite food is probably cheese. But I thought I might get some stickers to use as a reward and see if they work. I have no idea how this is going to go, but we can only try right?

 So do you have any toilet training tips or advice for me? How did you toilet train your tiny people?

I'm linking up with the awesome Jess from Diary of a SAHM for #IBOT. Why not come check out some of the other bloggers who blog on Tuesdays? And say hi to Jess while you're at it!

 

Just as a side note, did you also imagine the baboon from the Lion King saying 'It is time!' when you read that title? I totally did when I wrote it. (Yes, I am nuts.)