There's an APP for that - Potty Training

I just recently got an iPhone and am navigating the world of "apps". There are many useful FREE apps and many of my favorite stores have apps!


Yes, there is seriously an app for potty training! It's the Pullups iGo Potty App! (just search "potty" in the app store). And it's a hit at our house! You can set the app (the "potty") to call however often you want it too (or you can just open it and have it call "on demand"). Then your child has to "answer" (push the green button) and a little tune plays while they go potty. If they have a successful trip to the potty they get rewarded with a "sticker" and collecting 10 stickers unlocks a game (3 games total on the app)

I think this app is hilarious but it works! Then the potty "calls", Bug will answer and go (or at least try). Now we are at the stage of potty training where he is starting to ask to go potty when he needs to instead of having to be reminded constantly. But instead of "Mommy, I need to go potty!" he says, "Get your phone, Mommy! I gotta potty call!" ROFL!

We love this app.

What's your favorite app?

See more apps.

Life with a Two-Year Old: Store Names

See that little cutie pie right there? He makes my heart soar! :)

So I posted this on Facebook a few nights ago but I wanted to put it in a more permanent place so I could find it later and remember it.

Since Bug is my little shopping buddy (he's literally been with me on like 98% of my shopping trips in the last 2 years...) he's very familiar with "stores". In fact, just about every morning he wakes up and the first thing he asks is usually, "Go to stores?" If not that, then he either asks, "Go to school?" or "Go to church?" It's how he determines what day of the week it is, I guess. lol.

So here recently, he has developed his own names for some of the stores we frequent:

CVS: "ABC stores" because of the big CVS. He always points out the letters on the signs and shopping carts.

Food Giant: "that my G stores" he says because he recognizes the big G as being the first letter of his name.

Kohl's: he calls this one "ABC stores" too. Must have something to do with the all capital letters on the sign like CVS.

Walmart: "star stores" because of the big star between Wal & Mart on the sign

Winn-Dixie: "Daddy's Stores!" because Hubs works there!

I love how every store is plural too. LOL!

Life with a Two-Year old: He wants a "buggy"

Ok, so this post has nothing to do with seeing the savings but this had a buggy in it, so it's relevant!

As you may know, my son, know on the blog as "Bug", is two and a half. And he's my little shopping buddy. I do 95% of my shopping with him. The perils of having a husband that works nights/weekends - I don't have the luxury of leaving Bug home on Saturday morning while I go shopping, because Hubs is either at work or asleep because he didn't get home until nearly 1am from work.

So anyway, being a "bargain shopper", you know that you never go to just one store. So we go to a lot of "stores". Sometimes I have to find creative ways to make it seem exciting because when we're on our way to the fourth store of the day, Bug's just not into it.

So one thing I play up is the buggies (shopping carts, if you're not from the South) at the store. CVS has the buggies with the cars on the front (Bug thinks it's a "firetruck"...so we call it a "firetruck"...), Publix and Winn-Dixie have "race car" buggies. And Walgreens and Target don't have anything special on their buggies but at Target he can help me push and at Walgreens (because I usually don't have much to get) he gets to sit in the "back" of the buggy.

So I use all these things to entice him and curb a meltdown at the next store. "Look! It's the firetruck buggy! Stop crying and you can drive the firetruck..." You know, that kind of stuff!

Well, Bug's Meemaw was over here the other day and she asked him if there was anything he wanted for his birthday. He told her, "I wan it buh-dy." I asked him to say it again. He said it again. I said, "You want a buggy?" "Uh-huh!" He said, "I wan it buh-dy!"

Totally random. He has never mentioned wanting a buggy before!

So....he's getting his very own child-sized shopping cart for his birthday!

My crazy Bug!

Toddler Talk Thursday - Vacationing with a Toddler

I'm so excited to be the feature blogger this week for Toddler Talk Thursday!! How did I get to be the feature blogger? Well, I suggested a topic for this week and it was picked to be the topic! YAY!

This week's topic is: Vacationing (or traveling in general) with a Toddler!

The first trip we took with Bug was to the beach when he was 9 months old. And not because I thought taking a 9 month old to the beach sounded like fun, but because my cousin was getting married and my dad was paying for the trip. :)

So while the wedding was beautiful, the family times was great and the beach was gorgeous...taking a 9 month old to the beach was a nightmare:
That was a our trip in a nutshell right there. That was 4 minutes and 37 seconds after we set foot on the beach the afternoon we got there.

Toddler Talk Thursday!

I'm a little late but I didn't want to miss Toddler Talk Thursday this week! This week's topic is keeping your little one entertained this summer!

I have been fortunate enough to cut back my work hours (outside the home at least) to part time. Which leaves me more time to spend with Bug.

I plan on taking him to some of the activities at the local zoo that go on during the week that I normally can't take him too. We're members, so we'll get in free!

Parks, picnics, sitting on the porch eating ice cream we bought off the ice cream truck are all on the agenda for this summer!

And my father-in-law has a pool! We've already been twice in less than two weeks and will be going back Sunday! I see this being a once-a-week thing! (He lives 35 minutes away...if he were closer it might be an every-other-day thing!)

And of course, on the days we can't go to my father-in-laws, there's always the baby pool, a hose pipe and some sidewalk chalk!

I think next week's topic should be vacationing with a toddler!

Toddler Talk Thursday - Catch Phrases

This week's Toddler Talk Thursday topic is catch phrases, those cute things your toddler says over and over.

Bug has so many! "Awesome!" is probably one of my favorites because he does a little fist pump when he says it. LOL!

He also randomly tells people "Happy Birthday to you." hahaha!

Here are some other things he says that are tooooo cute:

• "I so sorry"
• "Silly me"
• "I not like that"
• "Me do it!"
• "I'm okay!"
  

I hope you'll check out Toddler Talk Thursday!

Maybe next week we can talk about "Big Kid Beds" since Bug just recently got his big boy bed!

Here's Bug being a monkey:

Toddler Talk Thursday - Bedtime Routines

This week's Toddler Talk Thursday is about bedtime routines!  I love Bug's bedtime routine!

My husband works a lot of nights, so a "normal" bedtime routine does not include Daddy.  :(  But I still love the little routine that we have.

We start in the rocking chair and read a story or two (or three...).  I'm such a sucker for an extra story.  We'll read our Bible story for the night out of his beginner's Bible (they are very short stories).  Then I'll ask him to pick a book or two depending on how late it is and we'll read those.  Then when story time is over, he'll play the love you big card on me.  "Wanna read Wuv You Biiiig, Mommy!"  He knows he'll get an extra story out of me if we read his choices first and then begs for I Love You as Big as the World.  I can't turn that story down!  :)

Toddler Talk Thursday - Let's Talk Easter Baskets!

I am SO excited about Bug's Easter Basket this year.

1) Because I love giving him stuff!  :))

and

2) Because I got everything for next to nothing (which I love doing too!)

Gripster Review

Vivevita makes a great product called Gripsterz.  I was sent a Gripsterz by QuestionMoms to review.  I was excited to try it out because I have a very active 2 year old!

Each Gripsterz comes with a Grippy monkey ring with attaching clip, two vine straps (1 ft & 2 ft) with an attaching clip, an adult handle, a wrist strap, a convenient storage bag and a Grippy book for kids.

We tested out our Gripster on a short trip to Walgreens one day so I could get a feel for it.  I connect the shorter strap to the monkey and clip it on the buggy.  Then I use the longer strap with the wrist strap on one end and the adult handle on the other (this I can slip over my wrist.)

Toddler Talk Thursday - Bedtime Stories

I'm so excited because my topic got picked for this week's Toddler Talk Thursday, so I get to be the featured blog!  :)))

This week's topic is: What are you and your toddler reading before bed?

Bug LOVES books and that makes me SO HAPPY because I LOVED books when I was a kid.  I was quite the book worm.  My mom read to me every night.  I read on a 2nd grade level in kindergarten.  And I think it had everything to do with my mom reading to me and instilling in me a love of books and reading.  I'm so glad Bug is headed down that path too!

Toddler Talk Thursday - Up in the middle of the night?

I love Toddler Talk Thursdays!

This week's topic is:

Does your toddler ever wake up in the middle of the night?  If so, what do they want and how do you deal with it?

I was very fortunate to have been blessed with a baby that sleeps!  Oh, how Bug has always loved his sleep!  When he was a newborn, he would wake up twice at night to eat and that was pretty much it.  Nap times were always a breeze too.  He was still taking 3 naps a day at a year old!  Two at daycare and a "cat nap" when we got home in the evenings which allowed me a little down time and time to get supper ready!  He willingly took two naps a day well past the age that most kids do and the only reason he went to one nap was because of the class he moved into at daycare only took one nap.  It was a rough couple weeks adjusting to that too!

Toddler Talk Thursdays - What's in your toddler's toybox?

What's in Bug's toybox?

Well, the short answer to that is hardly anything because the toys are scattered out all over the house.  :)

We have several "toy boxes".  We have one that stays in his room which is mostly filled with what he's NOT playing with right now.  Then we use the bottom two "cubbies" in our (very large) entertainment center in the living room to store toys.  One holds puzzles and a bin full of books.  Another holds a bin of random toys.

Then we have two storage boxes that slide under the couch when not in use (awesome!)  One has firetrucks, dump trucks, garbage trucks, etc.  The other has....

Toddler Talk Thursday - Little Helpers!

I LOVE Toddler Talk Thursdays!  And I hope that you don't mind if I take a short break from deals and coupons to talk a little bit about the toddler that rules around here!

This week's Toddler Talk poses the question - how does your little one like to help.  My 2 year old LOVES to unload the dishwasher!

I took this picture a year ago - here he is at 17 months (this was around the age he began wanting to do this particular task) unloading the silverware and putting in the silverware drawer.  I didn't even have to tell him where to put it, I guess he had seen me do it enough times!

Toddler Talk Thursday - Toddler Beds

When I saw the topic of this week's Toddler Talk Thursday, I knew I had to chime in!  I have been battling with this issue for a few weeks now.

When do we move him to a toddler bed?

April 2009 - 6 months

Oh, I have gone back and forth about this!  He's 28 months old and STILL in his crib.  I know other mothers moved their kids to toddler beds before the 2nd birthday.  Me...I'm just not ready.  I LIKE that he can't go anywhere when he's in his crib.  He has NEVER tried to climb out and seems perfectly content.  And I sleep better knowing he is contained.  His bedroom is on the other side of the house from ours - with a bathroom, basement steps and a kitchen in between = lots of stuff to get in to!  So I've already got a baby gate to put up at the door to his room when we do put him in a toddler bed.

But WHEN?

Toddler Talk Thursdays!

It's been a while since I participated in Toddler Talk Thursdays and I hate that I never seem to have time for it because it's a fabulous idea for a blog hop!  I know that most of you follow my blog for all the money-saving madness but a lot of you out there are moms just like me and it's nice to share about our kids!

Toddler Talk Thursday was created as a place for moms and dads of toddlers to come together over a weekly topic and share ideas, go-to toys, or products. It is a great way to meet other bloggers of toddlers. Each week the topic will be different; we invite you to link up, share your weekly Toddler Talk!

This week's toddler talk is about loveys!


Bug has ALWAYS been a "blanket baby"!  He looooooooooooooves his blanket!  We have three that are all similar (not exactly the same, but similar) and he is equally happy with any of them and has been known to carry two around at the same time!

Even at a just a few weeks old, he was attached to his blanket.  He would get fussy and everyone around me, eager to give the "new mom" some "advice" (read - tell the dummy what to do), would tell me, "oh, he's hungry" or "have you checked his diaper?" when I knew what he wanted.  To be wrapped in his blanket so he could go to sleep.  ("Wow" everyone would say, "that's all it takes to quite him down?")

Here he is at close to 5 months old with one of his blankets.  It's funny...he still sleeps like that!  :)))




For Christmas last year (2009) we got him "Boo Bear" which is one of those loveys with the bear head and small blanket attached!  at 14 months old, leaving the house with "Boo Bear" was much easier than leaving with a blanket.  And he was going to moving up to a new class in daycare where constant blanket dragging around would not be possible, but a smaller lovey to help in the transition was perfect!

I can't believe I don't have a better picture of him and Boo Bear that I can easily find.   

This was last summer when we turned his carseat forward facing - he was loving it! - so I snapped some pictures.  He's got Boo Bear in the seat with him.  :)))

He doesn't carry Boo Bear much anymore (read - it's not a life or death situation if Boo Bear doesn't make it out of the house with us).  He will drag one of his blankets around the house most of the time and he MUST have it at bedtime/naptime.  And occasionally, will ask to take it with us in the morning - which is fine.  When we get to school, we leave it in the car, tell it "bye", and it's waiting on us again at the end of the day.  (Oddly enough, he gets by without it at naptime at school just fine!)


My little boy is growing up!


Thanks for reading my Toddler Talk Thursday!

Toddler Talk Thursday

I have to admit that I don't have time to do some of the more "fun" blogger things.  One of which are link-ups.

But this one seems simple, fun and relevant to me.  So I'm going to try to do it consistently.

It's called Toddler Talk Thursdays.  You can visit the host's post here.

If you've followed my blog for a while you know I have an almost 2 year old.

Today's topic is food!  What is your toddler's favorite thing to eat?

Here are Bug's top ten foods:

10. Salmon Patties
9.  Chicken Nuggets
8.  Salad with ranch dressing or coleslaw (seriously!)
7.  Cereal Bars
6.  Chicken Quesadillas
5.  Any kind of fruit cup - mandarin oranges, peaches, pears, applesauce
4.  Green Beans
3.  Fish Sticks
2.  Yogurt, pudding or jello - any flavor
1.  Bananas

I would declare this semi-healthy!  He will also (usually) eat spaghetti, baked beans, corn and pizza (with veggie toppings!).  Hot dogs are the only other meat he'll eat.  Toaster waffles are a breakfast favorite.  And Gerber Li'l Crunchies are a must have away from home!  And forget the kid's meal at Chik-Fil-A.  Get the boy a chicken salad sandwich! 

What will he NOT eat?  A PB&J sandwich or mashed potatoes.  But he'll eat salmon, salad, chicken salad and coleslaw!  Crazy, right? 

And this picture shows my top piece of parenting advice: if you give your toddler spaghetti for lunch, you might as well let him top it off with chocolate pudding because he's a mess anyway!