Transitions

As I mentioned in a past post, I anticipated many transitions for Aaron this year. Becoming a big brother, moving out of his crib, potty training.

We haven't had much progress on potty training. We still ask if he wants to sit on the potty or use the potty when he says he has to poop, but he declines. I'm not at the point yet where I want to push the issue. I think there has to be an interest on his part. We talk about it a lot. We talk about kids he knows who use the potty and don't wear diapers. We talk about the time he peed on the potty and how fun that was. We even look at pictures of him reading his book on the potty. He has shown signs of better bladder control, though. He'll often be dry when he gets up from a nap and goes longer stretches between wet diapers. All of which is a good sign of readiness for potty training.

I had hoped to have a big boy bed for him 8 weeks before Audrey's arrival. That hasn't happened, but we did finally find a bed to buy. It is a bunk bed with a trundle - so basically 3 beds in one. We had planned to get him a twin bed with a trundle so we could start him on the trundle and then move him up to the bed after he was used to sleeping on a twin mattress without falling off. But then we saw twin bunk beds with trundles for not much more than a day bed with a trundle, so we decided to get him that. and since the beds can also be two stand-alone beds, we'll be all set for when Audrey transitions out of her crib in a couple of years. Hopefully the bed will arrive next week. Now we are trying to find affordable mattresses that don't take 2 weeks to arrive. I did take him to a mattress store with me yesterday to look at mattresses and he ran around saying "big boy bed", so I'm hoping this will be a positive transition.

We've been trying to prepare Aaron for becoming a big brother. We talk about the fact that he is going to have a baby sister and that he is going to be a big brother. Some days he says "No baby sister. No big brother!" Other days he seems less opposed to the idea. We talk about what he's going to do with his baby sister (kiss and hug her, not hit or throw her). It's going to be a hard transition for him. I'm so glad we have Kim. At least she will remain a constant in his life and I won't have her deal with Audrey for the first month or two so that she still has one-on-one time with Aaron. And I know she will also help Aaron cope with the change in his life.

In preparation, I am also trying to encourage more independent play. Aaron is quite capable of independent play and is especially good about it around Thom. I tend to get down on the floor with him the first sign of frustration he shows or as soon as he asks. So when I find him playing well by himself, I try to be invisible. I also suggest he go play with his trains or play with his animals, things he tends to do on his own pretty well. Or I put him off when he asks me to do something, saying I need to do xyz, but I'll be there in 2 minutes. Often he will start playing by himself and I'll sneak back into the dining room and sit at the table and just observe.