I'm finding that I get great enjoyment out of making cool things for my kids out of boxes. It's cheap, and the possibilities, of course, are endless. Check out my little play house and Paulo's costume in the making:
Note the little toilet, sink w/ mirror, and the little stool to stand on. These are important areas of the house these days (Potty training is still going really well. No accidents today, and we ran quite a few errands).
This was a baby wipes box that I turned inside-out and made into Wall-E. Now that I've completed the structure part, Hunter is going to help me with the skins.
A week and a half ago, we were challenged in our parenting class to begin potty training our toddlers. Up until that class, I had felt like I didn't want to commit to it, but my teacher presented a very straight forward, do-able method which, for the first time, caused me to take it seriously. I took the potty training challenge, and today, Day 5, I can report we've had much success.
Here's the technique. You go out and make a big deal out of buying underwear and treats to reinforce. Then, once you put them in underwear, there's no turning back (except for nap or night time). You fill your child up with plenty of liquids, and then every 20-30 minutes, you say "It's time to go potty" --NOT "Do you need to go potty?". Give them an opportunity to go, and eventually, it's bound to happen in the toilet sometime, because they've been drinking so much. Then you make a huge deal of it and give them a small treat. Food can be a very powerful reinforcer. Pretty soon, they'll learn to associate the feeling of needing to go with going to the toilet, and they'll begin to wait until they get there. And of course, they'll associate the going with the treat. It's also extremely important that when they do have an accident, you are really laid back about it, and just say "oops, it was an accident" and clean it up. If you get angry, they will associate the feeling of shame with potty training and won't want to do it. And I guess once they start waking up from naps and night time dry, then you can put them in underwear at those times, too. Not bad, eh?
I am very proud of Paulo. The first day, he pee pee-ed in the toilet five times standing up and only had three accidents. the next day was harsh because we had our first poo poo accident. Gradually, he has learned to tell me before he goes, and he rushes to the toilet to pee. He even shooed me out the door one time because he wanted to do it on his own. He has successfully peed in a public bathroom at the doctor's office, has learned to pee and poo poo sitting down on our toilet. I am so impressed.
I must say, though, that I had no idea how intense it would be. At the end of the third day, I looked in the mirror, and this is what I looked like.
I've had little time to do anything else. It's getting better though. Paulo has learned to hold it a little longer. I'm just so proud of my big boy. He is such a fast learner.
Saturday was a very fun day. One of Hunter's projects took us down to Zuma beach in Malibu again, so we decided to make another family excursion out of it. It was supposed to be a cooler day, so we didn't bother bringing bathing suits and instead just brought toys to play with on the beach. When we arrived, hardly anyone was there. This is usually a very busy part of the beach swarming with surfers and families and people playing sand volleyball. Well, there was a reason why it was so empty. The wind was quite strong. I thought, well, that's okay, we can have fun making a little fort that will block us from the wind. But no matter how many different ways I tried to seal off our fort, the sand kept coming in through the smallest holes and just swarming all over. Andre was soon covered. Paulo, who had the best seat in the house, got sand in his eyes a few times (if you can imagine with eyelashes like that). And I was getting the worst of it. Soon the wind started to get stronger...and stronger...and stronger. It began to get quite ridiculous. I had Andre completely under my shirt and somehow he was still eating sand. Just when our fun on the beach finally crossed the line and became not-so-fun, Hunter appeared and said "Come on, we're getting out of here." Unfortunately, the pictures do no justice to the situation we were in, but as Hunter put it, the wind was so strong that the sand hitting his legs actually stung his skin, and as he approached my little make-shift shelter from a distance, he said it looked like a brown sand-storm cloud was hovering around us (think Lawrence of Arabia). He thought, "Look at my poor wife--we're out of here." So we disassembled the "tent" and made a mad dash through the sand to the car about 200 yards away. Paulo was afraid by the strength of the wind and needed to be carried, so Hunter hoisted him up on his shoulder (like a soldier does to his wounded comrade in combat) with all our beach equipment in the other hand and kept running. Meanwhile I had Andre under a blanket and was running, too. When we finally reached the safety of the car, I looked back at Paulo and with eyebrows raised and a huge silly smile on his face, he said "It's fun, the beach?" He is so cute. If anyone is an example of having "joy in the journey," as mentioned in President Monson's talk, it's Paulo, or all children, for that matter. What an adventure!
I finally did it! In 2007, I had a goal of submitting my application for naturalization by the end of the year. Well, I was a little late. I submitted my application in January, and my oath was today, 10-09-08. It was a massive event. 6000 people took the oath in my ceremony, and mine was supposedly one of three held today. Needless to say, I waited in many long lines, but all the while, everyone was extremely patient and courteous. There was excitement in the air. Of all the people there, I only noticed two ladies who were together trying to make their way further up in line, but the funniest part is, I ended up sitting next to these two ladies anyway.
I really am proud to be an American. I feel grateful that I was able to become a citizen in time to vote next month. Heavenly Father loves each of his children. It is a strange feeling to be surrounded by thousands of people who represent the many different countries of the world. It is overwhelming to think of all of Heavenly Father’s children, and extremely humbling to think of His love for each of us. I will treasure this experience, for it only happens once in my lifetime.
This is only about half the room, by the way.
Well, it appears I've followed in Ma's footsteps and have been coming up with various charts for rules, bedtimes, and chores. Paulo seems excited to be able to help out by putting away the utensils, especially since he gets to put a sticker on the calendar. Such a good boy.
Paulo's latest thing is playing airplane. On the long drive home from the Longbeach airport, Hunter was pretending to be a pilot speaking over the intercom. Paulo thought it was hilarious and keeps asking Hunter to do it again. They built this model airplane together. Unfortunately, it hasn't lasted very long. It's already busted in about twelve places.
Last weekend, we drove down to Longbeach to see Jon on his layover (on his way to Haiti). We stopped at a Jack-in-the-Box for burgers and then said goodbye. Quick visit, but very fun.
Note the little toilet, sink w/ mirror, and the little stool to stand on. These are important areas of the house these days (Potty training is still going really well. No accidents today, and we ran quite a few errands).
This was a baby wipes box that I turned inside-out and made into Wall-E. Now that I've completed the structure part, Hunter is going to help me with the skins. 
It just gets propped up on the sides of his blanket, like this:
Tah Dah!...
I've had little time to do anything else. It's getting better though. Paulo has learned to hold it a little longer. I'm just so proud of my big boy. He is such a fast learner.
This is only about half the room, by the way.
Last weekend, we drove down to Longbeach to see Jon on his layover (on his way to Haiti). We stopped at a Jack-in-the-Box for burgers and then said goodbye. Quick visit, but very fun.
