Charts, Books, and More

These sweet cheeks have been spending a lot of time on the potty the last couple of days.

I am sorry, but I have to brag about Eli's 100% dry day yesterday. Being only his second day, I was blown away by his progress. He adores adding stickers to his chart:

Nope, we aren't actually putting stickers into the categories. Eli likes trains and has train underwear (...he doesn't know Thomas specifically...) After Eli finishes, I hand over the stickers and he adds as many as he'd like to...wherever he wants. It makes him happy.

Last night, we wanted to celebrate Eli's dry day with ice cream and picking out new big boy underwear...boxer briefs! So, while in the back of Walmart near the toys, I hear a little voice say, "I gotta go!" I almost turned around and said, "Oh really?" as my mind kicked into gear...AHH! I grabbed him and nearly ran to the bathrooms all the way at the front of the store. Yeah, silly us....we took him out of the house without diapers on his second day of training...I know, I know! I truly expected to have pee all down the front of me by the time we got to the bathroom, but the boy held it. Wahoo! He had his first experience with a public potty and was successful. (As long as you forget about the repeated touching of the nasty public toilet. Eeeew!)

Today: Day 3....Eli is still doing great. Only one accident so far. I'm hoping that we didn't just have a lucky streak to start out and that he is actually ready for this. If not, I'm totally willing to back off and try again later. We honestly are so proud of him and how far he's come!

On another note, Eli and I love books! We both love to read, and we both love to use the library.

We have been faithful patrons since Eli was walking...around 10 or 11 months or so. Matt and I did the "good parent" thing and read to Eli daily starting at a very young age. It didn't take long before we got a bit tired of reading the same books over, and over, and OVER! Especially once Eli decided on favorites. To keep mixing it up and to keep us from going crazy reading the same books night after night and day after day, I decided to take Eli to the library to pick out new books. And this began our monthly visits to the library. Each time our books are due (every 3 weeks....) we head back and always make time to go in and pick out new ones...even renew a couple of the favorites of the batch. It is often hit and miss finding good reads, but we always come out with a few super picks. And with it being a challenge to find good ones, I thought I'd share our top picks from last month for all those parents looking for good reads.

This is a great book about garbage trucks and their job. Eli requested this one several days in a row. We have read other books by Kate and Jim McMullan and have enjoyed them all. Great illustrations and a fun opportunity to use great voices!

Eli knows this song from a CD that we checked out from the library a while back. He loves any book that has a song that goes along with it. Miss Mary Mack by Mary Ann Hoberman was no exception...and the story goes on much longer in the book than in the song. Very fun!

The first time we read this, I feared that Eli might get a little scared. And he was...but only for a brief moment. This story is a cute and witty tale about a mouse outsmarting all the animals out to get him in the forest. If your child is not too skittish, definitely check The Gruffalo out.

And this classic won Eli over very quickly. He walks around the house with a hat on his head saying, "Caps for Sale!" After our second read, Eli and I acted about the monkeys and the peddler's back and forth exchange. Eli ended up in giggles each time. Don't pass this one up for it's "old" appearance and copyright; it is worth it!

We currently have a new batch of books from the library at home. We are figuring out our favorites, and when we do, i'm sure I'll share! Let me know if you try any and like them...or if you have some titles to share. We love new, good books!!