Handy Jacob

I was upstairs last Saturday afternoon when Jacob yelled..."Mom, I'm going to the auto parts store!"  "He's not going to be able to fix it!"  Jacob apparently didn't have much faith in the task at hand.  As I come downstairs I see that Scott is attempting to fix the latch on his tail gate.  It's not that Scott isn't handy, it's just that projects usually take longer than expected.  However, in this case, along with Jacob's excellent ratcheting skills, the task was accomplished in no time.  Bravo, team! 

Jacob in the fall

Are you ready for some football?

It's not too scary if Dad goes too. 

Are we at the beach? 

Yee-haw!

Driving back to the playground after a quick potty break. 

Booty Camp

Day 1 - all smiles

The potty station (he had to set it up himself)

An example of the phrases which you have to repeat.  Constantly.  I think I heard Scott saying them in his sleep.

Poor kid - no toys to play with on the first day.  Thankfully he found this carrot (which he called his cement mixer).

End of Day 1.  Are we done yet?

Day 2.  A few more toys and his Vikings jersey.  It's going to be a good day. 

Look...it's Jacob "potty" hat! 

Really, potty training is fun if you just find stuff to put on your head. 

We've pretty much dropped off the face of the planet this past week due to our intense learning project.  Jacob's initial day of Booty Camp was this past Sunday.  It was a really long day for all three of us, but the hard work paid off.  We then had three follow up days (Monday - Wednesday) with as few distractions as possible and no major activities or trips.  I'm happy to report it is now Friday, and with the exception of a couple of accidents, he has pretty much figured out this going potty thing.  I was skeptical of this program and if I remember correctly I think Scott had to talk me out of a tantrum mid-afternoon on Sunday, but looking at the big picture I think a few days of intense training and consistency beat months of Pull ups.  (Although, we still do Pull ups at nap and nighttime).  Needless to say, I am looking forward to this becoming second nature for Jacob and not constantly talking about pee and poop or saying "Listen to you body!"  I'm also certain Jacob is not going to want me to show these pictures to any future girlfriends.  As one of my friends recently said..."Parenting isn't for wusses".