4 Miles

We are here visiting James’ family.  We left Friday afternoon, and began the 10 hour drive out here. I was hoping for an easier time then our drive to Chicago at Easter. Alex no longer screams in his carseat all the time. But we discovered he has about an hour to an hour and a half time limit of how long he can be in it—even at night, when he normally would be sleeping.  So we had a number of stops, and it ended up taking 12 hours. And (this might be why he was waking up), he appears to be teething (or has a cold).  He’s gnawing on his hands (or anything else he can grab), drooling, and has the runny nose/watery eyes, sneezing and slight fever that his brother would get every time he teethed. Yesterday we tried to catch up on sleep.  

Today we went to church, and then visited James’ Grandparents at their nursing home.  James’ Grandmother is not doing well at all.  She had a series of strokes last week, and is unresponsive right now.  We were told to bring funeral clothes to the trip. Right now her condition is the same. She has lost her pain reflex (for those who know…for those who don’t know, that’s one of the last things to go).  Anyway, it’s a bit of a sad touch to our family vacation, but not as sad as it could be. She lived a long life, and was a strong Christian.  She’s had Alzheimer’s for awhile now.  But please keep her and the family in your prayers. All of James’ aunts have come to town for the weekend, and it has been a nice family time as we get together each night, sit outside, and they share stories about the past.

On a lighter note, we also got to go on a REAL train ride today. We drove out to a near-by train museum, and we got to ride on a 6 mile section of the old Reading Railroad.  Will had a fun time, though he thought the whistle was loud.  We rode on the caboose, which was pulled by the diesel engine right in front of us on the way up the track. Then the engine went on a switch track and moved to the other side of the train, and pulled us back, and the caboose was at the end of the train, where it belongs.  Sadly, I didn’t bring my cord to connect the camera to the computer, so pictures will have to wait. 

Yesterday was a day of firsts. It was my first time to take the two boys to the Children’s Museum solo.  This was a big deal, because it requires two hands for me to help Will at times. And Alex doesn’t really do well in the stroller yet—plus there are areas where the stroller just can’t go (like the Merry-Go-Round they have that Will loves to ride). We’ve had several people say they have Sunglies (the things to carry babies with), but they kept forgetting to give them to us. Last week we got 2 in the same day!  Anyway, you saw Alex in one in it on the picture of him at the company picnic.  So I learned how to put it on myself, and we were off! It went well. It was the first time I went with Will on the Merry-Go-Round, and Alex’s first time to go as well.  He didn’t like it to much.  Then we went to the kids room, and had a fun time watching Will play in sand and water and with trains.

We put sand in our first sand box Tuesday night, and Will got to play it in it for the first time Wednesday afternoon as well.  He was very excited to see sand in the box (it had been sitting empty for awhile). 

Finally, we decided to give Alex his first taste of rice cereal yesterday.  He’s been appearing more and more interested in what we’re eating at the table.  But, he did not appear ready, so we’ll wait while to give it another try.

Will: Mommy, my tummy hurts!
Me: I'm sorry. Is it a hungry hurt or an owie-hurt.
Will: An owie-hurt.
Me: I'm sorry. (I get this complaint a lot, and a second later he's off playing, so I don't usually pay it much mind.)

Less then 1 minute later

Will: Mommy, my tummy hurts.
Will (after a pause): Is it a hungry hurt or an owie-hurt?
Will: It's an owie hurt. Wait! What's that noise? It's a tractor! (= Riding lawn mower)

Remember what I said about my own words being used?  And what's with this talking to himself?!? And see how quickly he's distracted?

Will: What color is this train?
Me: Blue
Will: Very Good! 

It’s very odd to hear your own words and inflections being repeated back to you.

Today was the day of James' company's annual Family Fun Day. For the second year, it was hosted at a near by park. (Just a quick aside, last year, we had to drive an hour and 15 minutes to get there. This year, it was a 5 minute drive. Last year, we had just Will. This year we had 2 boys. Just amazing how much changed in a year!)  We told will this morning we were going to the park for a picnic. He was very excited, and wanted to know if there would be cake. I’m not sure how picnic became synonymous with cake in his mind. We had the first beautiful day in a long time, and it was a fun time outside. 

They had brought in a variety of entertainment for the kids (a guy with animals—“Safari Steve”, someone to paint faces, a guy to sing and play with the kids and a magician. (You can see a picture to the left of Will pointing to a skunk he brought.)  Will had more fun just running around. He really wanted to go to the swings/slides.  I was going to take him, but we ended up getting distracted with playing on the bridge and the creek.  It was a nice time of throwing rocks in the water, floating leaves, walking along the shore, and racing the dandelions that he’d thrown into the water. It was nice to see Will have fun with the simple things, and not HAVE to be entertained the entire time.  I want to keep encouraging that!  As we were leaving, though, Will was upset. He kept saying “I want to go to the park. I want to swing and slide.”  So, not only does Picnic = Cake, Park must = Swing and Slide, or it is not a park.  (Oh, and they did have cake to celebrate the May birthdays…Will was very happy.)

Here is Alex meeting the lady who painted faces. He got to have a smily face put on his cheek. Will chose to not have that done.

I wish I had a good reason for why we didn’t have updates all week on the web site.  There was nothing THAT exciting going on this week. Yet we were pretty busy and so there was no time to post.  I will say I had a very nice Mother’s Day. I feel my main gift was James watching the boys all day Saturday, so I could scrapbook.  I also got flower for outside. The previous owners left us outside a decorative black hook that is used to hang flowers on. I wanted a basket to hang out front on that hook. James tried to sneak out that morning and hang them for me while I was getting ready for church. Will came running into the bathroom to tell me Daddy was getting Mommy’s flowers. I told him “Don’t you mean Daddy is getting the newspaper?” (I was TRYING to let James surprise me!) The problem was, the beautiful basket was too heavy for the hook and by the time I got to see them, the pole was bent half-way to the ground.  So, this week I repotted the flowers in a large pot and they are sitting on our front stoop.  Once we get back from vacation, I plan on getting some annuls to mix with the plants we already have to add some color to the front flower beds (we have LOTS of hosta—if you’d like some, let me know, I’ll be splitting them next spring), and then I’ll put a picture up of all the beauty.

I'm sure some of you are waiting breathlessly for an update on how the James (TM) Method of training is going. We have successfully moved the potty to the bathroom ("Whew!" says I). Now we're stuck trying to figure out how to get the boy to wear underwear.  Our newest idea is to try a bigger size to see if the underwear being easier to pull up/down will make the next step easier. I am seeing an improvement with him trying to dress/undress himself.  And he was not happy when he was wearing a diaper and got it wet, yesterday.  So, we're still in baby steps.  

I have started giving Will a treat when he goes in the potty, and then another if he wipes himself (otherwise, he’d just run out and tell me he’d gone in the potty and it was treat time).  The other day he was playing and stopped suddenly, saying “I go pee in the potty!”  Then he came out of the bathroom yelling, “I get a treat! I wiped!”  James asked him “Did you not go pee in the potty?” I think he was thinking Will thought he could just wipe, and get a treat. I had a worse thought. “Where DID you go pee Will?” I asked.   “There!” he said, as he led us back to the bathroom, showing us the puddle on the floor—close, but not quite IN the potty.  Needless to say, no treat was rewarded.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

I’m not able to write a nice entry about how blessed I am to be a Mom (which I know I am), because I’m just too tired (from being a Mom ).  I do want to say both James and I know we have been VERY blessed to have two incredible Moms, who worked hard to raise us spiritually & physically. Thank you Moms! We love you!

Well, we had a break through.  Maybe.  After going through 4 pairs of undees in 1 hour The Tort and I just about had it with this potty training thing. 

Then Eureka hit.  No, I didn't go running through town naked, but I did decide to let The Tort run around naked.  I took the potty seat and placed it in the living room. 

My thoughts were:

"Can't be any worse then it has been!"

"Boy, if this doesn't work, Tina is going to kill me for letting The Tort pee on the living room floor!"

and "Is he EVER going to get it."

I told him: "The Tort, this is your potty.  I am going to put it right here in the Living room.  When you have to go pee please go to the potty in the living room.  I am not going to put underwear on you so if you leak you will be incurring the wrath of mommy on daddy.  You don't want daddy to DIE do you?  No? Good! Go pee in the potty."

Less then 15 minutes later, while I was completely ignoring him, he said, "I gotta go pee on the potty," and promptly ran to the potty and peed.  In the potty, not on the floor.  I was amazed but figured lightning can strike any ware ONCE.  Let see if this stuck.

Lo and behold, 15 minutes later he did it again.  My brilliance hath shown through once again-ith. 

The day has been much better and far less stressful this way.  It is the only time he has told US he needed to go instead of us telling HIM. 

Tina can confirm this because he did it several times between the time she got home and he went to bed. 

YEAH!!!! PROGRESS!  So, how do we move from naked in the living room to clothed in the bathroom?  I think we will do baby steps.  Slowly move the potty to the bathroom and then slowly add clothes.  Good thing it is summer so we don't have to worry about a dick-cicle.

Saturday, Alex turned 4 months old…and I celebrated by being gone all day at a Scrapbooking Day. It was good for everyone. James got to spend time with the boys, and came up with a better way to potty train Will. I'll let him share, but I will say, when I came home, Will would yell, "I have to go pee on the potty!" and run off to pee in the potty. That is a BIG change from yesterday. James is our potty training pro! (But I know he WOULD NOT like it if I said "I think I'll leave all the potty training up to him!") Alex saw me come in the room this evening and gave me a HUGE smile, which was sweet to come home to. And I feel I accomplished a great deal on the scrapbook & had fun scrapping with my friend Krisha!

Alex's biggest accomplishments this month have occurred in the last week or so. He is suddenly turning over from his tummy to his back, and he has discovered his thumb (as documented in the pictures below).  He really likes that thumb. And he looks so cute with it in his mouth. Many people have commented on his long fingers. With his thumb in his mouth, the fingers almost seem to cover his mouth and nose.  He loves to sit in his Play Center/Ex-a-Saucer and look at us, look at himself in the mirror and bounce.  He is getting up one to two times a night, something I would like to decrease (of course!). He continues to smile and laugh a great deal. We continue to thank God for him daily.