Potty Update...

Help...the day that I wrote my last "Potty " entry was the best and it has gone downhill:( Josh does not seem to mind peeing in his pull-ups and does not seem to think that he needs to tell me that he needs to go either. Unless I put him on the potty, he will not go in there! I talked to my mom about it and she reminded me of the saying..."it takes 21 days to break a habit!" I am not sure if this applies to peeing in your pants, but it sounds good to me. So, I will keep plugging away for a few more weeks and if that does not work, he just may not be ready. Or, I can resort to his favorite candy for a bribe...M&M's! We will see......

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Home Schooling

With long & cold winter days, comes creativity on how to spend our days! Caleb loves to learn and he thinks that his little brother should too! So, the other day, Caleb decided to have "school" in his room. He was the teacher and Josh was the pupil...he wouldn't have it any other way since he loves to tell Josh what to do and all the things that he knows! The subject was geography...Caleb's favorite of course!!

He wrote 32 of the 50 states down and for each state, he drew a little picture of something that was in the state. So, after a whole roll of tape and 1/2 a ream of paper, he was ready for class!

Josh surprisingly stayed pretty entertained and loved Caleb's school! He even got to make something that he likes...a fire truck! Caleb helped him with it and you can tell he is pretty proud!

Some of the things he came up with for the states are: Alaska-snow, Washington-rain, Oregon-ocean waves, Montana-mountains, New Mexico-desert sand, Utah-salty lake...

North Dakota-buffalo, Nebraska-Caleb (where he was born), Maine-lobsters, Arkansas-a little rock, Kentucky-horses, Minnesota-baseball, Pennsylvania-pencils, Indiana-corn, Loiusiana-guitars!

At this rate, Josh won't need to go to pre-school, he can just go to Caleb's school!!

Caleb has also really enjoyed reading books to Joshua. We get a few early reading books each week at the library and Caleb reads them to him. I think that Caleb loves having his little brother so interested in the book he is reading out loud. The level one books are already getting too easy for him, so we may have to bump up to the next level!

Potty Time!

I decided to go for it and start potty training Josh this last weekend. We wanted to wait until after the holidays...and then some, before attempting this! Things did not go all that smoothly with Caleb so I was a bit gun shy going down this road a second time. But, this time I had an all too eager big brother to "demonstrate" how it was done! Of course, I had to tell Caleb to sit down again...I am not that adventurous to have Josh attempt this standing up yet!

So with careful planning, potty chart, stickers, pull-ups, fun undies, and a sack of prizes, we started on our adventure! Well, we got through the first day with real undies and that did not go well. I quickly discovered that Josh must have an amazingly small bladder and went every 20 minutes or so the first morning! So, I switched to Pull-ups and beat him to the punch and took him to the potty every 15-20 minutes and it went better that afternoon. Then, the next day I got sick with the stomach flu and lets just say that Jon was not as much of a clock watcher, so we had a lot of accidents. But, yesterday went better and Josh actually told me a few times that he needed to go! He only wet 2 Pull-Ups yesterday!
So, as of now, he has earned 21 stickers on his chart and has come away with some loot...a Little Einsteins book and a Lightning McQueen race car! He is pretty proud of himself and we are too!

Josh also has a fascination with Caleb's snow boots and loves to walk around wearing them in his underwear...too funny!

Caleb's Quote...Am I Getting Old?!

The other day Caleb came up to me in the kitchen and said, "Mom, are you old enough to get an AARP Medicare Supplement Insurance card?" I have to say, I was so surprised by his question and had to laugh a bit before I said, "no, I think Mommy has to have a few more birthday's before I need one of those!" The things kids come up with!

2009 Started With A Bang!!

Yes, quite literally, we started it with a bang! We took the kids to a sledding hill here in Sioux Falls and we went down maybe 3 times before Caleb was knocked off his feet like a bowling ball hitting a bowling pin (he was the bowling pin). You know how you can see something happen before your eyes, but you just can't get there quick enough to stop it...that is how Jon felt! I missed it because my back was turned to help Josh, but apparently Caleb went down the kids hill and from across the field came a boy about twice Caleb's age (that should have known better) coming full steam ahead from the big hill. Instead of rolling off his toboggan or dragging his feet to slow down, he decided to run right into Caleb sending him up in the air, flipping totally around and landing on his left brow bone on a sheet of ice! Jon was running down the hill and made it there just after it happened. The boy simply walked by and said "sorry!" I told Jon, good thing I wasn't the one down there, I would have given him a piece of my mind!!

Ironically, Caleb had his annual physical scheduled with his pediatrician in about an hour, so we had him looked at right away. He had all the classic symptoms of a concussion: sleepy, headache and he vomited at the Dr. office. He sent Caleb to the ER right away for a CAT scan and thankfully they did not find any swelling or bleeding on the brain! That kid must have a thick skull!! So, that is how we spent the last day of 2008!!

We kept close tabs on Caleb and thankfully there were no further signs of concussion...so we proceeded with our plans to go to a water park a few days later! The boys loved that!

We also went to the Science Museum and played with balls...

gears...

raced some cars...

and played the piano!

Oh the fun we had...little did we know that Caleb was on his way to becoming REALLY sick :(

The next day he was running a temp of almost 104 decrees, so we took him to acute care of course concerned about the head injury. The Dr. on call diagnosed him with an ear infection. I didn't feel that was right because ear infections are usually secondary infections and he wasn't sick prior to this. So, the next day we took him to his regular Dr. and he said that he in fact did not have an ear infection! Go figure...augh!!! So he ran a complete battery of tests...snot suction, blood draw, chest x-ray and urinalysis. I, by the way, figured I was sure to catch whatever Caleb had after having to hold him and get completely sprayed with snot, tears and spit during the blood draw...I felt so bad for him. So, after all that, we discovered that he had Adenovirus...which is horrible and something to be feared!! He also had some fluid in his lungs. The doctor figured that he got it at the hospital or clinic...funny how you catch these things at places where you go to get healthy!! The fever started on Saturday and he finally stopped having a fever on Thursday this week!

Let's just say that it has been a llooooong week here at the Miller house full of fever, chills, snot, crying and tons & tons of hand washing and Purell!

No, the blue tongue is not a result of the viral infection, but it might as well be! He got a blue lollipop after his Dr. visit :)

As Promised...Christmas Pictures!

The day before Christmas was spent doing my usual thing...packing everything but the kitchen sink! I am getting pretty good at this packing thing though after all the trips to the farm this last year!

Caleb read Joshy the nativity story the night before we left. Josh enjoyed seeing what character was inside each little box!

We packed up the car and headed north...I should have gotten a picture of it! I don't think we could have fit in one more thing.

Christmas eve was spent playing games...

Anne read the nativity story and Caleb led everyone in a few songs. Singing Away in a Manger here...

And then it was gift time...

Jon especially liked one of Josh's gifts...wonder why?!

Caleb got a star theater for his room...perfect for a future astronaut!

And Josh got his own truck & 4-wheeler...the toy kind of course!

Then the next few days were spent playing with all the new gifts...

And playing outdoors...in the freeezzziiinnnngggg cold!

Actually, it was not all that bad...just the day that we decided to go tubing it was a bit windy!

Caleb covered every square inch except for the necessities...he needed to see and breathe!

Joshy on the other hand would have nothing to do with anything on his face...he started to gag when I tried to put a scarf over his mouth...I think he may be a bit claustrophobic?!!

"I know it's cold out here, but I am on a 4-wheeler and I will freeze before I get off!"

Yes, I even put on my Eskimo garb to brave the cold and take a spin on the tube. It is so much fun but a bit tricky to hold on to someone else and stay on the tube around the corners! I never fell off, but Jon and Caleb did a few times. I think my rear fit down into the hole better than Jon's...you think?!

Josh admiring Grandma's nativity one last time before heading home.

We had all our gifts and other gifts that came in the mail waiting for us when we got home, so the boys got to celebrate and open gifts all over again. We got Caleb the one thing that he said he wanted from Santa...a telescope.

It was nice to be at home again and play with all the new things all day!

We hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends. Best wishes for a great and joyful 2009!