What I have been doing instead of blogging

-Redeeming my massage for toilet training the boys. If theyre both about 75% there, thats 150% toileting success :)
 -Going out to dinner for our anniversary
-Attending a family bar mitzva in Westchester
-Checking out the new 16 handles in.our neighborhood. The kids loved it. Thanks jdeal
-Washing countless loads of wet pants and underwear daily (like I said, 75 percent of the way there)
-Cleaning the kitchen cabinets
- Nursing my yummy baby who is 4 months old today!
- Hanging out with my sister, her husband and their cute kiddos who are visiting from Israel

-Cleaning more kitchen cabinets. The fridge is next....
-Planning Passover menus and shopping lists

Basically, life is hectic, busy and good.

Progress Not Perfection

It has been over a month and we are not quite there yet on the toilet training front. We have definitely made progress though so I am trying to focus on that.
Other parents of children with Down Syndrome have shared with me that their children are time trained, meaning they dont request to go to the bathroom, rather are taken at fixed intervals.  That would be fine with me, we are just trying to lenghten the time between trips to the bathroom. Right now we are at every 30 minutes which is frankly annoying and not sustainable.
But we are slowly working on it. I am realizing there is no quick fix rather this is a long process.
I am also trying to remind myself of all the things my husband said last week when speaking about inclusion. Our children are gifts rather than burdens who have a lot to teach and give to us. It may not always feel that way when we are the ones doing all the giving: the trips to the bathroom,cleaning up the accidents and the laundry (oh, the laundry!!) But its true. They teach us more than we give them.
And when we finally get there (may it be speedily, in our days), that amazing feeling of accomplishment will be worth it all. Until then, we will be focusing on all progress rather than trying to attain perfection.
Have a wonderful shabbos!