Henry and I were talking tonight before he went to bed. After we talked about his friends parents, and his friends' parents' children, I asked him who my little boy was. He said "No Dad, I'm a ..." and I interrupted him and said "Oh, I mean who is my big boy". He again chided me, "No, Dad, I'm a FULLY big boy.
Which he is, now. Let me tell you why.
#1: The boy is three! Henry turned three almost a month ago. He will make sure you know all about it if you ask him how old he is. For his birthday, we went to see Kung Fu Panda. We also had a big family party, for which Mommy baked him a Lightning McQueen cake. That's him licking it. Much like he licked his birthday cupcake the year before.
#2: He digs on fireworks! Long gone is the boy that cowered and cried at the Clintonville fireworks in 2007. That boy has been replaced by a running, wiggling dervish that exclaims "Whoa" every time a firework would go off. We had the entire Thornburg family together (no small feat) to see the Clintonville 'Works this year, after getting the entire Rayo family (even more difficult) together to see the UA parade. It was a minor Family Miracle, as well as being a ton of fun. We also got to see our good friends Josh and Jen, who have been to every one of Henry's fireworks experiences (the streak is alive and well at, well, 2 years in a row).
#3 (and most importantly): Henry goes potty! Yes, you read that right - no more poopy diapers, and all other accidents are very rare. We had taken advice from everyone: some told us to bribe him, so we started amassing a small toy store in the bathroom. Others advised a more visual reward system, so we charted out the progress and amassed a small nation's worth of "potty stickers". We've been doing that for over a year. Do you know what worked? None of that ... we just let him have accidents in big boy pants. And boy did he ... he pooped right on Lightning McQueen underoos ... he peed on Carpet City ... he had accidents at school so bad that we had to take his clothes outside and hose them off ... with the "laser" high pressure setting.
But it worked. Henry is a very proud young man, and we are ecstatic for him (and for us!). Now the mountain of prizes (read: bribes) is whittling away quickly, and soon he'll just be pooping for pooping's sake (or he'll hold out for more prizes ... we'll find out soon!)
Three cheers for Henry! Our Fully Big Boy.
Which he is, now. Let me tell you why.
#1: The boy is three! Henry turned three almost a month ago. He will make sure you know all about it if you ask him how old he is. For his birthday, we went to see Kung Fu Panda. We also had a big family party, for which Mommy baked him a Lightning McQueen cake. That's him licking it. Much like he licked his birthday cupcake the year before.
#2: He digs on fireworks! Long gone is the boy that cowered and cried at the Clintonville fireworks in 2007. That boy has been replaced by a running, wiggling dervish that exclaims "Whoa" every time a firework would go off. We had the entire Thornburg family together (no small feat) to see the Clintonville 'Works this year, after getting the entire Rayo family (even more difficult) together to see the UA parade. It was a minor Family Miracle, as well as being a ton of fun. We also got to see our good friends Josh and Jen, who have been to every one of Henry's fireworks experiences (the streak is alive and well at, well, 2 years in a row).
#3 (and most importantly): Henry goes potty! Yes, you read that right - no more poopy diapers, and all other accidents are very rare. We had taken advice from everyone: some told us to bribe him, so we started amassing a small toy store in the bathroom. Others advised a more visual reward system, so we charted out the progress and amassed a small nation's worth of "potty stickers". We've been doing that for over a year. Do you know what worked? None of that ... we just let him have accidents in big boy pants. And boy did he ... he pooped right on Lightning McQueen underoos ... he peed on Carpet City ... he had accidents at school so bad that we had to take his clothes outside and hose them off ... with the "laser" high pressure setting.
But it worked. Henry is a very proud young man, and we are ecstatic for him (and for us!). Now the mountain of prizes (read: bribes) is whittling away quickly, and soon he'll just be pooping for pooping's sake (or he'll hold out for more prizes ... we'll find out soon!)
Three cheers for Henry! Our Fully Big Boy.
