Today was a beautiful day so we decided to take some pictures out in the backyard. But~ before uploading the pictures, I wanted to share some wonderful news. Imanuel is potty-trained! Well, almost. He now goes diaper-less during the day, but out of fear, we still have him wear one during his nap and at night. For those who want the full scoop, feel free to ask! All I can say is that I feel so liberated! It’s a wonderful feeling…
However, because I know so many of you are interested… 
here are some tips that were crucial in Imanuel’s successful training:
1) When starting to train, take the diaper off and put underwear on.
2) Use a cup for boy to pee in before making transition to toilet. Have cup handy at ALL TIMES.
3) Rather than asking child if he/she has to go all the time, (or sitting child on potty for long periods of time) keep a hawk’s eye and when you see signs of actually going, move calmly and quickly – especially for #2 so child doesn’t end up holding it in (aka: stage-fright as Uncle Justin calls it).
4) Have child go directly into toilet (via potty-seat snap-in & step-stool) so you don’t have extra mess to clean and so there isn’t another scary transition from little potty to big toilet.
5) Use incentives such as sticker chart and/or yummy snack that is reserved only for successful potty.
6) Don’t get frustrated or discouraged! And only use positive pressure! Once Imanuel got it, within a few days, he became proficient.
7) I prayed and I honestly believe the Lord gave me wisdom to know what to do for Imanuel. We could always use help from Someone who knows our kids even better than their mom!
Okay, now that I was able to get that out, 
, here are some pictures from this past week of us and the boys.
I think we took these the day Micah turned 6 months.
Imanuel wanted me to take this picture. He put Mr. Potato Head together all by himself (- can you tell)?!
These next few pics were taken today in the backyard…
Micah is now over 22lbs. (We think he’s trying to set a new Guiness Record.)
They weren’t too excited (especially Micah) but we managed to get a few good ones. And for the last tip of the day, don’t try to take pictures of your kids when they should be napping! Good night!
Thanks so much for all the tips! Today I showed Juan the picture of Manu’s potty seat attached to the toilet (from your other post) and asked him if he wanted his seat on the big toilet, too, like Imanuel. He was very excited and sat there for quite a long time (cheerfully). I told him I thought he looked a little bit like little boy king Joash on his big throne (from the My Bible Friends picture). But he told me “No, I look like Imanuel on his potty chair.” Give Manu a hug for us and tell him thanks for the inspiration. (Maybe we’ll start the underwear thing tomorrow). :)It was great seeing you this weekend—though much too brief. :(love to all…
tell imanuel that i LOVE his mr. potato head! ;)thanks for the hardcore hang-out time this past weekend. it was nice to spend some real time with you guys. 🙂
Thanks for the tips Judy! I’m starting to potty train Josiah but for now, haven’t been successful 🙂 Will try your methods hehe…adorables pictures of your boys!
so precious! The last pics of both of them is just so great! I’m looking forward to potty training Daniel. We’ll seee how it works…..Keep up the good work!