Successful?

Ellie has been showing the tell-tale signs of potty training readiness. She’s dry at nap time. She loves to sit on the potty and actually goes. She rips off her diaper the minute she wets it. I’ve always followed my kids lead. When they show an interest I think I better run with it before they decide they’re not interested after all. It’s worked so far…all the kids have been potty-trained around two years old. I count this as one of my greatest blessings.
And so I’ve been working with Ellie. Oh how I hope this is not a false alarm!

Today she was playing outside in the fort of our swingset. I watched her as she took the toy kitchen pot she was playing with (our little kitchen is up in the fort) and squatted over it. I knew immediately what she was doing. “Ellie!” I screamed. “Come down here and go in the potty!” I cajoled. But to no avail. She smiled and showed me her filled pot.

This isn’t the first time she’s done something like that. A couple days ago I found her sitting in a little mixing bowl in the middle of the kitchen. I will not disclose which bowl for fear of some family members (err, Scott) not being able to look past this happenstance and never being able to use the bowl again. I guess she couldn’t resist…it was just the right size for her little bum. Why not use it for a potty? I assure you it was disinfected properly.

Now obviously Ellie knew she needed to go each of these times; and it was never on the floor. So can I count these as successes?

Puh-lease Mom!

Sometimes the constant badgering and begging ("Puh-lease Mom! Puh-lease with cupcakes on top!") of the kids gets to me and I give in. A few weeks ago it was true spring-like weather (not the horrible cold, windy weather of late). I was outside working while the kids played. They claimed that it was just so horribly hot they were going to die (just wait kids...it will get that way soon!). Could they pul-lease go through the Elmo sprinkler?!

Now, the kids ask me this EVERY time it's a little tiny bit warm and I have to tell them that it is not as warm as they think and will freeze if they get wet. Besides that, it means changing clothes and bringing down four towels that will invariably get dirty enough to have to wash. It means slathering everyone down with sunscreen. It means little pieces of grass sticking on their legs and brought all over the house and wet bodies in and out of the house. It always seems like a lot of work when I can't guarantee they will make it worth my while by spending enough time out there. But this time...I relented. It was pretty hot, and surprisingly there was no wind at the time.

I'm glad I gave in. The kids had a blast, and I enjoyed watching their laughter. Ellie was not interested in getting wet, but LOVED laying in all the towels. (She also discovered the joy of her swimming suit and didn't want to take it off for a few days). The kids even stayed outside for an hour which was more than I expected.

Spot and Dot

I think Jared understands that I will never allow a dog. Taking matters into his own hands, he’s decided to be the family pet, “Spot” the big dog (never, never call him a “little” dog). He crawls on all fours, when he wants to be held he jumps up and pats his “paws” on your chest until you pick him up, he whimpers when he doesn’t get what he wants, barks to get our attention and wants to drink water from a bowl. The other day he licked me. Yuck! I told him to please never lick me again. “Bark, bark, but I’m Spot mom.” I explained to him that I don’t like real or pretend dogs to ever lick me. “But mom, I love it when dogs lick me!” Some people like it, some people don’t. Now he just licks Ellie. And Ellie has joined the bandwagon. She’s our new puppy “Little Dot.” She has picked up very quickly on all the dog mannerisms. It’s all a little too real for me!