Potty Humor

The Potty Learning battle continues and I am delighted to say that after digging in his heels and refusing for so long, Bug is well on the way to saying "Bye-bye" to diapers. In less than a week, we have gone from his previous resistant state to almost there. Bug has been able to keep his pants dry all day and has even had a couple of naps in underpants without incident! We aren't quite ready for overnight, but getting close there too. This morning, his diaper was just a little wet (compared to the typically sodden overnight diapers) and he took it off and peed first thing! He is currently getting a sticker to put on a chart every time he pees in the potty and when the chart is full (35 stickers), we are going shopping for some Star Wars underpants. Very exciting stuff!

Turning to the promised humor, my sister-in-law is also working on the whole potty things with four-year-old D. According to my mother-in-law, one morning, D woke up and pronounced with some alarm, "Someone peed in my pants!" All I can say is that I hope it was someone he knows. If this is not the most hilarious thing ever, I apologize. Maybe if you aren't living in the potty chair, it isn't nearly so funny, but I just about fell over laughing when I first heard it and still get the giggles when I think about it.

On a non-potty note: Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Nearly Finished Object

I finished Bug's slippers today, except for felting. Since that means they are HUGE on him, that isn't a trivial "except." I am planning on knitting Bean's slippers before felting both pairs. So I have actually been doing a little knitting in odd moments, but not much to show for it. I have been swatching for Bean's sweater and leggings, but still haven't completely decided there. I have also been keeping on with my sock "purse project," and have just started shaping the toes. After that, a heel and weaving in ends and I will have a new pair of socks.

Even though the weather has been cold and snowy and perfect for knitting, I have been in a minor knitting funk. I think I just have too many irons in the fire at the moment and things will settle down and get back to normal soon!

Adventures in Potty Learning

* sigh *

Goin' Commando!

We have been working on potty learning at our house. We have been trying this off-and-on for quite a while, but it has moved to the forefront again now that Bug fights diaper changes tooth and nail, and this has led to a bit of a rashy situationl. Earlier in the week I told him that if he wouldn't cooperate with diaper changes, I wasn't going to put a diaper on him. I gave him the choice of underwear or bare butt and he has been alternating between the two, with some success. There have been some wet underpants, but there has also been some spontaneous (as in, without CONSTANT reminding from mom) peeing in the potty chair. Of course, Bean can NOT tolerate nakedness unless she is participating, so she has been trying out the potty too. She tends to be on the more accidents/few successes side of big brother, but she, too, has gotten some pee in the potty on occasion.

Anyway, on to today's adventures...we had our usual Friday library and lunch date and while we were there, Bean went into the ladies room (right next to the children's area) to check out the potty. While we were in there, she announced, "Poop." This has been her way of saying that she wants to remove her diaper (and all of her clothes) and sit on the potty. Well, since we will have to tackle public restrooms at some point, I decided I was game to try. Unfortunately, I missed the subtleties of tense in her statement. When we were removing the diaper, it became clear that she had been using the past tense, not the future. Oops. So I worked on getting her cleaned up while debating the possibilities. I didn't have any clean diapers with me since both kids are big enough to handle in car changes if necessary. I really couldn't leave her naked in the bathroom while I ran out to the car. I didn't want to put the filthy diaper back on her. I decided that the best I could do was put her jeans back on without a diaper and hustle everyone home. We had to get Bug disengaged from the trains and check out books, and the whole time I am thinking, "For the love of wool, please don't let her poop anymore, and if she does PLEASE don't let it come out the pants leg." Fortunately, Bean took it in stride and we made it out and home just fine!

Bug's turn came later. After he got up from his nap, I gave him the choice of undies or bare butt, but he was insisting on a diaper. I just let him keep protesting and finally he decided that he wanted pants without undies or diapies. So, we just put his jeans on to much giggling on his part. Must be that pesky Y-chromosome...

Bug meets his match

Today, we were standing in line behind another mother and her two little boys. One looked to be about Bug's size and the other was a bit younger than Bean. Bug did his usual über-social thing and went up and introduced himself and started chatting. While he usually does this to adults, who never quite know what to make of his conversations, in this case, he found another little dude that spoke his language. The conversation went something like this:

Bug: My name is [firstname] with crayons.
Other Little Dude: I got a new truck at home.
Bug: [Bean's firstname] calls me Geeky, 'cause she can't say [firstname]. What's that on your shirt?
O.L.D.: It's a pretend spider. My name is [name].
Bug: We had a spider at Grandma's house and I played too.
(etc.)

Both little guys were jumping from topic to topic having the greatest chat. And every couple of minutes, Bean would throw in her two cents worth, with great enthusiasm and little clarity. It was all I could do not to roll around on the floor laughing. Even the receptionist we were waiting in line for was trying to follow the conversation. I really wasn't sure we were going to get the two little guys pried apart when we were ready to go! Before today, I wouldn't have thought there was anyone who could go head-to-head with my little Mr. Non-Sequitur.

Just Super!

Yesterday was our "big" Superbowl party. It was a wild rocking time with the four of us (the animals also came and went) and lots of snacky stuff. We had spinach dip, eight layer dip, sausage bites, and jello. And of course, lots of chips, veggies, pretzels, etc. for dipping.

* Aside for the Jello backstory *
Jello has become Bug's new favorite thing. A couple of weeks ago, we went out to eat and he got Jello as the side dish for his kids meal and was completely taken by it. It certainly wasn't the first time he had ever tasted it, but apparently the time was ripe and he was in the midst of a serious dietary Jello deficiency. So after much nagging, we got a few boxes last Thursday and have had it nearly daily since then.

Okay, back to the Superbowl party. While Mom was making the party treats yesterday morning, Bug had to check if I had remembered Jello. Well, I hadn't so I made up a batch right away, but it hadn't set yet when we set out the rest of the treats mid-afternoon. To keep Bug from having a complete conniption fit, I told him that the Jello was extra special and that we couldn't have any until kickoff. Anyway, after we had a little bit of party snacking, the kids were getting tired, so we decided to work toward a nap. Bug was up on my lap cuddling and acting sleepy and we had the following conversation:

Mom: You know what? I think we are all feeling kind of sleepy and we should go upstairs and have a rest before the game starts.
Bug: What game?
Mom: The football game.
Bug: What football game?
Mom: Ummm, the Superbowl football game?
Bug: What Superbowl football game? [ponders for a moment before the light goes on] Oh, the Superbowl football game with jello!
Mom: Yeah, that one.

Anyway, a nice time was had by all and we were happy the Colts won. We had trouble deciding who to root for since we had been cheering for the losing teams in both the AFC and NFC championships. In the end, we decided to go for Indianapolis, since they had this former Hawkeye starting in offense, this former Hawkeye starting in defense, and this South Dakota boy (by way of Yankton, Rapid City Central High, and SDSU...not to my folks, yes, I lied on the phone). Also, Coach Tony Dungy seems like such a good egg in the big ego sports world. He never raises his voice or swears. Besides, a good friend in grade school and Kitty Daddy were both huge Steelers fans when Dungy was doing good things there (late 70s), so why not?

I think Bean may have been cheering on the Bears, as she spent most of the game on the sofa with somewhere between three and six stuffed bears. She didn't seem too upset by the loss though. She also provided an alternate half-time show, complete with singing and dancing. She and Prince did quite the duet of "Purple Rain"!

This morning, Bug's first request was to have "leftover party" for lunch.

Brrrrrrr...

This morning at 11:00 am, as we set out for our lunch and library Friday, it was a balmy, near tropical 1.6°. That's Fahrenheit, folks, a toasty -17°C for you SI and metric loving people. And now, two hours later, the thermometer hasn't budged. The forecast high is 7°F and I think we already saw that in the wee hours of the morning. Now that we are home from the library, I think we are STAYING PUT! We have new books and videos from the library and I think some binkits and perhaps hot cocoa might be order, as well.

This week's outings went more smoothly than last week, though yesterday at the grocery store, Bug had to stop everyone and announce "My name is [firstname] and my foot isn't owie anymore." Which, of course, means that he had to explain that he had a hurt foot last week. It was about even odds whether he said his foot got hurt because he was having a pillow fight with daddy, or just gave the abridged version: it hurt because daddy hit him.

Today, at the library, we didn't have anyone flipping through the phone book looking for CPS, but Miss Bean did manage to make two smaller kids cry. She has adopted big brother's method of plowing into and grabbing away when some has something she has. Since she is built like a two-year-old Mack truck, it is certainly a bit intimidating. I really don't think she actually hurt anyone, since I managed to intercede before it got physical, but when she is in bulldozer mode, I would certainly be scared if I were smaller than her!

I have been knitting away in my spare moments, but nothing exciting enough for its own post. I have one of Bug's slippers done and the other just needs the second sole before they are ready for felting. Though I will probably wait until I can felt both Bug's and Bean's slippers together. The second red, white, and black sock continues on in my odd moments. I am getting pretty close to the toe decreases and then just the heel will remain (I am doing "afterthought" heels, so that's the last thing that goes in). Miss Bean's sweater and leggings have been stewing in my head. I have started swatching since I would like to do interesting hems and cuffs. I have been perusing Knitting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein, which I have out from the library and have a couple of ideas that I want to try out. Swatching pictures coming soon, I hope...

Who knew...

...that "Ring Around the Rosey" is a contact sport that falls somewhere between football and boxing for violence?

Zee ART, eet ees a process...

"Vat is dees? You dare dee-sturb zee petite artiste??? Zee nerve of zome pipples! No understandink of zee creative process and zee artistique temperment"

Though it clearly wasn't too serious of an infraction, because a nanosecond later this was the temperamental artist:

Clearly all has been forgiven! Note the purple on the face and the red on the hand. Painting of the artist is just as important as the painting of the paper. This masterpiece is by big brother Bug (who only had a little paint on his face):

It's the ocean and there are mama fishes and baby fishes. Don't hold me to this, but I believe that the fish are the different colors up at the top. I'm not an art expert though, so I may have misunderstood.

In other news, we have been having cold and snowy weather. What?? Cold and snowy?? In Wisconsin?? In January?? Yeah, we got pretty spoiled by our mild end to 2006. If you want an idea of just how low the humidity is:

It's doing that all by itself. Bean and her brother had a "rassle" on the living room floor and when they stood up, she looked like a little dandelion.

Mama's been fighting a little cabin fever and the winter blahs. I get the whole bear/hibernation thing. It sounds kind of nice to just snooze until spring. But on the bright side, I did get the paper I had been working on submitted last night. It will mostly likely be in The Journal of Green Building's winter edition.

Parenting Awards

Any minute now, I expect the Parenting award equivalent of the Prize Patrol to pull up...

Yesterday was library day and Bug is becoming more social all the time. He found some "fends" to play trains and color with and was delighted. After they left, a mom with a toddler boy came in and Bug started chatting her up. At one point he told her that he has an owie foot, because Mommy left and he and Bean stayed with Daddy and Daddy hit him. Okay, a few details were left out. What I believe happened is that Wednesday evening when I was at the 'Bou working, Bug and Daddy were having a pillow fight or boxing with foam blocks or some such other highly physical rough play that little boys and daddies delight in and Bug fell or got sideways with the world and somehow bumped/bonked/twisted his foot. He is pretty pleased with his war wound and will tell anyone who will stand still long enough about it. However, I occasionally step in to clarify some of the details of the abbreviated version.

Then, as we were checking out and getting ready to leave, Bug announced to the librarians that we watched Snakes on a Plane. The two librarians gave each other a pronounced they-let-the-four-year-old-watch-what? look. So I explained that Daddy rented it and was very excited to see it, but that Bug, Bean, and I were too little to watch anything but the first few minutes.

Just to be icing on the cake, I got most of Bug's first clog done and discovered that I had done the colors backwards. His clogs are light blue with navy soles and cuffs, so I had bought one skein of navy and two of light blue. I got the proportions wrong...the clogs take about twice as much of the sole/cuff color as of the upper color. I did the same for Bean. The good news is that there appears to be enough navy left for the second sole of the first clog and the whole second clog and Bean's will be smaller and take less sole/cuff yarn. I won't even touch the second skein of upper color for either kid. I guess I know what color my new purse is gonna be... *sigh* I guess it was just one of those days.