Progress, progress, progress!

Wow, Crewser is doing so well with the potty training!  He will now sometimes get me or Greg to take him in to use the bathroom (instead of me just randomly put him on the potty).  Our next biggest hurdle will be keeping him dry when we are out and about...for now he wears a diaper, but this week we will switch to "Pull-ups!"  Last night we were at my parents for dinner and as we were leaving he went into the bathroom and went potty...I'm so impressed with my little man!   

In other "Big Boy" news:  Last week we came home from being out and I put him down in our hallway and went back out to get some bags out of my trunk.  When I came back in Crew had taken off his hat, unzipped his coat, and had his shoes off....now he does it almost all of the time!  It made me stop and realize that he is not a baby anymore, but growing into a wonderful little boy!  Also, we have been asking him how old he is going to be and he will say "Two!"  He tries to hold up his two fingers, but hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet!

I had a coupon for free cards on Shutterfly and since I had already bought my Valentine's cards I decided to create St. Patty's Day cards.  I had bought this shirt to take his pic in for the card....thought I would share the pics because he is just sooooo darn cute!

He is always in motion, so it is hard to get a photo some days!

Crewsie...

First, I want to say HAPPY 22 MONTHS to my little man!  I CANNOT believe he will be two in two months!

Tomorrow (Jan. 28th) will mark one week of potty training for our Crewsie Bear.  On Monday I was ready to give up and try again next month until Greggy gave me a pep-talk.  He said you can't expect Crew to be trained in three or four days...afterall, we don't expect them to learn to crawl, walk, use a fork, talk, etc. in just a few days so why would potty training be any different.  I was used to people telling me "Oh, yeah my kid potty trained in a weekend" but the people who were telling me this had three and three and a half year olds...I had to get it out of my head that a weekend of 'potty boot camp' was going to do the trick.  Well, I hung in there and we kept trying...and it has gotten better and better everyday!  As a matter of fact this morning Crew did not have one accident ...YAY for Big Boy!  He peed every time I put him on the potty and even went poopy!  The key to getting him to go #2 is to give him privacy...I notice if I step out of the bathroom he goes, but if I'm there he won't go.  He is by no mean 100% trained, but I feel like we are well on our way!  Hopefully, I am not telling you in a week that we are back in diapers!

One of Crewsie's favorite books "Just me and my Mom" by Mercer Mayer...I loved Mercer Mayer books when I was young!

 I love the little underwear...so adorable!  He also has some Mickey underwear and tighty-whitey's...now I need to get him some little boxer briefs!

 Crewsie dancing around at his Mother Goose program!

My Shrimp...

Crew had his FOURTH swim lesson last night!  He is in the "Shrimp" class and he has had soooo much fun (3 lessons left!).  They have learned how to blow bubbles, kick, paddle and use the kick boards and noodles.  He loves it and does so well in the water...it is obvious by the way he jumps and splashes around!  Yaya and Popa even visited last night!  Hope you enjoy the pics of the little shrimp!

Kick, kick, kick!

 Silly man!

 Splash, splash, splash!

 Learning to lay on his back and kick!

 Smiley boy!

He was waving at Popa and Yaya!

 The look on my face cracks me up...the ball was aimed at someone's head I'm sure!

 learning to paddle...

Loves to jump in!

 I love that he loves the water!!!!!!!!!

Attempting potty training...

Sometime in mid-December I casually started putting Crew on the potty and to my surprise he started using it (and I mean #1 and #2!).  At the time, I couldn't believe he was actually going on it.  Well, I wasn't 100% fully prepared the day I started...for example I didn't have "big boy" underwear and I only had one training potty.  I also decided that it maybe wasn't the best time to start because it was right before all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays so I decided to hold off until the new year.

Well, we are almost at the end of January and I decided I better get my butt in gear and give it 100%!  We started last Friday (Jan. 21st) because I knew I had four full days before we had anything going on.  So far it hasn't been horrible, but it hasn't been great.  Of course he has had accidents, but he has also been going on the potty too.  He won't say potty, but he will go to it sometimes.  The other times I am always anticipating him needing to go.  He does a really good job at being able to "hold it" but then when he does pee on the potty and we think he is finished, we put his big boy underwear back on and then they are wet 10 minutes later because he didn't completely empty his bladder (one of the biggest problems).  Also, I have noticed he isn't going #2 as much and therefore has gotten a little constipated (Crew has never had this problem before)..this was a problem last night and no fun for anyone!  So very long story short we are still trying, but if it doesn't get a little better this week we might hold off for another month and then try again!

In more exciting news...we booked a trip to Florida for the end of February and we are soooo excited...we CANNOT wait to get out of this AWFUL weather and hit the beach!  Bonita Beach here we come!

Lunch and a haircut...

Tuesday we were meeting one of my friends for lunch...since we were all ready going to be out and about (in the freezing cold weather) I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get Crew's first professional haircut!  I have been triming Crewsie's hair for a while now, but I never could get it perfect and it was growing out pretty uneven.  We were meeting for lunch in Stow/Hudson area and there is this cute little kids salon called 'Snip-its!'...unfortunately, they are closed on Tuesdays...insert "Debbie Downer" sound effect.  So I ended up finding this little salon and the girl did great.  She had a couple little kids of her own, so she was very patient and understanding.

 These shots were from the morning...while I was getting ready, Crewsie was lounging on our bed.

 It started off pretty good...

To distract him, I let him play with the camera

 Notice he is wiping at his mouth...he was acting like he had a mouth full of hair...DRAMA QUEEN!

 The last five minutes were pretty bad...he hated when she went around his ears with the scissors!

 After lunch he passed out after being in the car for about 30 seconds...a haircut and lunch can really wear you out!

 One of him at dinner after I spiked his hair up with some gel...what a cutie pie!  He looks so grown-up with his new 'do!

My little pirate fightin', sombrero wearin', pancake eatin', doggie lovin' boy...

Here are a bunch of miscellaneous pictures from the last week.  Above:  Although, Crew was wearing his pirate costume from Halloween I told him we were fighting the bad pirates...he thought his Grinch would help scare them away!  Below:  Last Sunday Uncle Blake and Aunt Casey arrived home from Mexico and suprised Crewsie with an awesome sombrero!  Thanks Uncle Blake and Aunt Casey :)

 Crew's new 'thing' is sitting up in Yaya and Popa's window...kind of scary!  He is definitely all boy and not afraid of ANYTHING (except Santa!)!  hahaha!

 I just love him in his p.j.'s!

Sunday, we went to Yaya and Popa's for a pancake breakfast....Crewsie loves his Mickey pancakes!

 Sometimes I feel like he grew up overnight!?!  Below:  Hangin with Chloe...he loves doggies!

 We call her "Chlo Bo" or "Bo, Bo" ...so now Crew is saying "Bo, Bo!"