we love our dog, otto. but otto, being a wheaten terrier, is a bit anti-social. this is a bit of a problem in colorado where everyone has dogs and everyone takes their dogs everywhere. so otto must stay at home. which means he misses out on dog parks like the one at elk meadows bark park in evergreen. ramona and i go there w max and his mama and their dear dog, tayo. tayo gets to get off leash and out of the backyard, run around wide open spaces, explore, and fetch innumerable sticks. ramona and little max get to get some fresh air, get to know the mountains, and have plenty of room to run and climb rocks and discover new plant life. it’s also a great place for them to learn how to act around and treat other peoples’ dogs since there’s always a lot of them there.
of course, there aren’t a ton of photos of dogs since i am known for training my camera on ramona bean. but they’re there. and each time we head up there, to get out of the city, but not too far, i am blown away that a place this beautiful and this accessible, is a 30 minute car ride from my front door. i am so thankful ramona gets to grow up in these sorts of surroundings.
what do you love about the place you live?
dear ramona,
when the camera comes out you say “file!” and give me what you must think i look like when i smile: scrunched up, squinty eyes, clenched and bared teeth. it’s so so hilarious. you’ve also started running to the front door to pose. thanks for being so cooperative.
i love you, silly grin and all. love, mama.
psst: a very simple tutorial on making a superhero cape of your little one’s very own.
a portrait of ramona, once a week, every week, in 2013. inspired by jodi’s project.
- i’ve got a new post up on mom.me about making art prints w your little one
- please welcome my new sponsor tentiko and don’t forget to check out the giveaway!
- i just love mountain vs plains so much.
- every thursday from 12-2 at winter session‘s head quarters, The Outpost, tifamade will be serving up sandwiches and salads for there or to go. yummy!
- making these chocolate chip cookies this week!
- us mamas sure do have beautiful bodies.
- crazy things moms have tried to ban. i can’t tell if this is just so hilarious or just really really sad.
- my mom always had a four day work week growing up. i thought it was the most wonderful arrangement and wish more folks could have access to work environments that got the benefits of shorter work weeks.
- a father’s letter to her little girl about her future husband. i’m blessed that this is essentially what i grew up hearing from my father (and how i saw him treat my mother).
now, obviously, all children are different. but this is how ramona learned to use the potty:
1. we (being my hubby and i) decided early on that we weren’t going to even think about potty training/learning (i’m going to call it learning from here on out as ramona was the one that decided she wanted to learn and did so) until ramona showed us she was ready. i didn’t even think about it that much as i have never had any problem changing and washing dirty diapers.
2. ramona started making obvious signs of when she was peeing or pooping. i mean, i could always tell when she was pooping by her poop face, but she started to make it more obvious when she was peeing now too. that got me interested.
3. so we talked about what we ourselves were doing on the pot a lot. if you could be a fly on the wall at our house you’d hear: “yeah, mama’s going potty,” “mama tooted,” “say bye to mama’s poops!”. TMI? trust me, i know i’m giving away some of my dignity writing these words for all the interwebs to read and maybe, if i run into you, quote. but trust me on this also: everybody poops.
4. and then, when she seemed to understand what we were doing on the toilet, we moved her into undies. and she was SO excited about them. and she totally wet her pants on the floor not two minutes after i had just gotten done bragging to my mom on gchat how ramona wear undies.
5. soon after, she started asking for a diaper whenever she needed to do anything. she didn’t like getting her undies wet. each time, we’d set her on the toilet and encourage her to pee. we bought one of these to help her feel comfortable on the seat. still, she’d refuse to do anything and wait until a diaper was put on her.
6. one day, miraculously, she just peed. so we gave her a chocolate chip. (there’s a photo on my phone of the first time she pooped in the toilet that jp sent me. i’ll spare you that).
7. we continued to give her one chocolate chip every time she went pee. and, if she pooped (which was almost never) three chocolate chips.
8. soon enough, she was looking for excuses to pee. she was so darn proud of herself and pretty slick about figuring out how to get chocolate chips (we never gave her any for just sitting on the potty. only for, ahem, producing).
9. now, besides nap time and bed time, this girl is in undies and usually dry. there’s maybe an accident once a week and it always coincides w long car rides where her mother forgot to offer her a trip to the toilet before they departed. for a while there she was reserving pooping for diaper time (nap time and bedtime) but as of today she seems to have gotten the hang of it (meaning, she seems to have understood just how many chocolate chips she gets when she does a #2).
10. for the record: more times than not, as of recently, she doesn’t even ask for the chocolate chips. that just seemed to get her excited about using the toilet in the first place.
as every child is different, i’d love to hear what worked for you. or what you plan on trying when you feel the time is ready for your little one. i’m also curious: when does the potty learning through nap time and overnight start? how does it happen? for those of you with older children, i’d love to hear how it went for you.
i’m pleased to introduce you to tentiko, a new small business in denver and this month’s featured sponsor on A Denver Home Companion. tentiko strives to offers local and authentic experiences to those looking for real world interaction. they seek out and curate many unique things to do in denver, and then offer you the opportunity to participate! it’s a local catalogue for fun things to do that help you get to know better the wonderful things about denver and the people in it.
from coffee cupping to longs peak summit attempt. from mushroom foraging to farm and creamery tour w one of denver’s best chefs. there’s also neighborhood walking tours, glassblowing workshops, and watercolor monotyping (i had to look that one up and it looks awesome!). there’s cupcake decorating at a local bakery. and journal making. i love that what tentiko does is put so many varied activities, focused on local craftsman/historians/personalities, in one place for the people of denver to access.
the reason i’m so stoked on them? they created this company out of a love of community, a love of craft, and a love of the denver area. which is pretty much what i’m all about. here’s what they say about themselves:
Our goal is that our guests will fall in love with Denver by exploring it in new ways. They will learn more about something they care about or explore a new passion. They will meet amazing, passionate hosts and share the experience with old friends and meet new ones.
tentiko is generously giving $50 toward one experience to a reader of A Denver Home Companion! make sure to pop on over to their website and leave a comment back here saying which class you’re interested in. you can get extra entries by liking them on facebook, following them on twitter or pinterest, signing up to hear about upcoming events, and sharing this giveaway on any of those previous platforms. phew! this winner to this giveaway will be announced on next thursday’s post. good luck!
welcome
