He has been using the potty on and off (mostly off) for a while now. Usually going pee before bath or on a fluke during the day while I change his diaper and ask if he wants to try. We bride. So if he feels like eating a Smartie at that moment, he might humor me and go on the pot to get one. Which is fine. But today it just struck me that it would be a nice time to get serious about it. Cameron's actually been telling Hayden that we were going to start phasing out the diapers near his birthday. But, after talking with a friend today and listening to her advice about rewarding for being dry AND for going on the pot really struck home with me. It is about being DRY too, not just producing the goods. So, we started that after nap. He peed like 4 times on the potty and pooped once all from 4:30-8pm. He pees A LOT. This is sort of annoying. But, I had to remind myself, I can't get fed up when we are only a few hours into what is SURE to be a P-R-O-C-E-S-S.

So, we put him to bed in his special new Diego "undies" (really just pull ups) and he did good. Calling us back up to poop (which he did) and then calling us back up to pee (which he never did). Five times he tried to go on the potty. Nothing. Then I told him it was time for bed and he pops back up saying, "I HAVE TO PEEEEEEEE" and I said, you know, it is ok to go in your Diego undies. He says, "IT IS?!?!" and he stands there and goes. Damn it. I just didn't want him to have all this anxiety about not getting his Diego undies dirty and then I am up and down 17 times a night before he actually goes to sleep. So, go ahead...soil yourself...it's what you know.

I am more than happy to get him potty trained during the DAY first. Then we can work on night. All in due time.

Other things on the horizon are getting him a new big boy bed. He isn't all that excited actually, but Cameron and I are. I am sure this might come back to bite us as he will inevitably try to get out of bed now. Great. Not sure how this will all go, but I think we are taking the plunge this weekend. Wish us luck! We are changing the theme of his room too. Maybe this is too much change?? The more I think about it right now, the more I think maybe it would be good to get him used to his bed first and THEN change the decor. I think we are going for a dragon theme (kiddie type happy dragons, not scary ones).

Hayden is talking up a storm now. We carry on normal conversations about things and it is so great. He still loves many of the same toys; trains (although not AS much as in the past), cars and trucks of all kinds (he LOVES his garbage and fire trucks!), books, and his "friends" (stuffed animals). He is not the best sharer in the world as I have talked about before. And that still continues. He does OK, but really has a hard time letting his friends just play with his stuff. We are working on it. He is a good boy, so I can't complain. He uses his manners and hasn't ever really been a true tantrum thrower, so I am thankful for that. He definitely has his moments, that's for sure, but all in all he is a good boy.

He loves to be busy. We are out and about everyday, sometimes doing several different mom's group activities in one day. It is nice to have a group of great ladies to hang out with. Their kids are wonderful and we really do have a great time. We have also been keeping busy as a family on the weekends. Taking hikes and being active. We've been going to bike races on Friday nights (and some on the weekends) and we have had a lot of fun doing that. We are going to take a trip to San Diego in Sept. We will see the zoo, Sea World and the beach. It will be our first "real" vacation as a family. We did to NY when Hayden turned one, but that was to see family. This one will be just us, alone, having fun and relaxing (sort of) for 4 days. Aaahhhh, nice. Stay tuned....

Hayden has been taking to talking back lately. I was very annoying in the beginning and he was spending more time that usual in "time out". It is fairly harmless still at this point, but still, rude nonetheless. But, now we have implemented a policy that everytime he talks back (sometimes after one warning depending on my mood and what he says) a toy is taken away and donated (as he says) "to some other boy who uses his manners". That's right bucko. It's gone. This has really cut down on the back talk, so I am happy we thought to do that.

Hayden is very excited to turn three. He is counting down the days on his paper chain and can't wait for his party and cake. We are having another family get together. I like that he has his birthday in the summer. It is fun to just do a BBQ and invite friends over and hang out and enjoy the sun.

That's all for now. I will be writing more as family arrives and we have the party. We are also getting him his big boy bed and going to our first Mariner's game this weekend (all blog worthy). -- mam