In Need of a Panda

Collin and I were reading a book today about Zoo animals.

We got to the page about the Panda, and he began telling me all about them before I had a chance to say a thing.

He began to tell me about how Panda bears eat bamboo. Lots and lots of bamboo. And how ween need a Panda bear be cause we have bamboo in our back yard and the panda will eat it all. But then we don't want the panda to get hungry, so we need to grow more bamboo to feed the panda.

His thought process in impressive! I tried to tell him that a panda would not be very happy in the yard, but we all know he didn't believe me.

Arguing with Ones Self

We are, again, trying to nighttime potty train Ethan. 

I bargained with Tony that since he's up nights, anyway, he could do nighttime trips, and I'd do morning time trips. I forgot that he'd be gone and I was on my own anyway. Bummer. 

The key is not to wake him up, just take him sleeping assume the potty-Ingrid position, and quietly tell him to go. It usually works. 

Tonight I went to get Ethan and take him to the bathroom. Preliminary check of his bed was all good, he was still dry. This has posed a challenge, especially when he throws a tantrum like tonight, so it was a good sign.  

As soon as I scooped him up he started stirring. First some mumbles. Then, "NO!"  Then "YES!" shortly thereafter. 

Mumble. Mumble. Moan. "YES!"  "YES!"

I'm gearing up for the pissed-off toddler screaming tantrum that will happen when he wakes and finds himself in the bathroom. 

I stand him at the toilet, drop the pants, his eyes flutter. "YES!"

(Quietly) "Ethan, go pee in the.... " Success!

I didn't even have to wipe the bowl afterward. 

Now, if I'm really lucky, Collin won't have nightmares and I'll get almost seven hours' sleep before my alarm goes off. It's not likely, but I can dream, can't I?

In Collin's Dreams

Ethan woke up at 6:30 this Sunday morning. And he'd wet the bed... again. We spent some time cleaning him up and then snuggling on the couch. 

I was wandering through the house collecting laundry, when I hear Collin's voice coming from his room, counting. I go lay down with him, and he snuggles in close.

Then he tells:

"There was a little, teeny, tiny yellow car with a propeller in the dead grass. I picked it up and was trying to get home." (Now I know this is a dream.)

"I was 15 strong (we discuss unit and amounts all the time) squeezing the car to keep it from flying away.  I squeezed it really hard!

Me: "Who else was there?"

Collin: "The people in the car were tiny!"

Me: "Maybe they were scared of you because they were tiny, and you were humongous, like Kevin" (We watch the Minion Movie a lot.) "Then what happened?"

Collin: "Then our house disappeared and we were trying to find it."

Me: "Where did it go?"

Collin: "It was a mystery and we were trying to find it."

That was the first time he's ever told me about a dream!

Collin is also working on learning to spell his name. He spells it so often, even Ethan is spelling it! I tried to teach Ethan to spell us own name a few days ago. When I got to "h", he said it was gross.

I was spelling to for his again this morning, and again, "gross", and resumed spelling Collin. Tony laughed and reminded me that when I was a kid I didn't like the letter G, and felt bad for F that it had to be next to such an awful letter.

We're all a little weird!

I wub you

The house is dark, and I'm tip-toe-img around the house, hoping they don't hear me. But I hear them. 

"I wuv you, Ethan."

"I wub you, too, Col-yin."

I think things have finally clicked for these two. Last night I went to go check on Ethan, and he wasn't in his bed. I thought that little stinker was in my bed again. I went to check on Collin before retrieving the little one, and two little heads pop up to look at me. 

No whining about being squished. No complaining about invasions. No pushing, kicking or hitting. No jumping or kicking the walls (as is Ethan's habit I'm Collin's bed). They were both laying quiet and snuggling. 

Whatever possessed me, I went over and scooped Ethan up, before they could have the chance to fight. They both protested for Ethan to go back to Collin's bed. Who am I to argue brotherly love AND SHARING?!?!

This was how they spent the night. The entire night!  It was adorable!

Tonight they asked to do it again, I agreed, there's a lot more taking this time... they've counted to ten a dozen times, and lots of renditions of Twinkle a little Star. 

We've been awfully busy lately. School started in August, Tony had two weeks of and I was relieved of child drop-offs and pick-ups. And then all the social and networking groups geared back up after the summer break. And I signed up for a civil litigation class in Sacramento.

And then my evening-time babysitter dropped off the face of the planet. 

I've been a little stressed. 

This morning started with Tony setting the house off before five am, as somehow be panel got deprogrammed. 

It ended with a car wash, because the boys love it, a picnic in the living room with chicken nuggets and French fries, and a walk with the dogs. 

I'm exhausted! But it was a really good day. 

Question: do we think they'll go to bed anytime soon?

Snarky Four Year Old

I went to Collin's room to wake him up this morning, but the first thing I do is check the bed before I sit. Yes, he has wet the bed for the third day in a row. 

I wake up at 5:30 to get completely ready before waking them, or it won't be happening. So, after strategic placement of my washed, pressed, and dressed self, I begin waking him with kisses, back-rubs, and a wake-up song to the tune of happy birthday. 

He rolls over and tries to ignore me. 

I persist. 

"I need you to stop talking, and leave me alone to sleep." This kid....

As I type this, I am sitting on the front porch step, in my nice work dress, in 95 degrees, waiting for my son to realize that he is, in fact, able to get himself out of the car. His screaming doesn't affect me much anymore. 

It's been 20 minutes. 

Little conversations

Me (talking to self): Alright. What do we need?

Ethan (mouth full of sandwich): Um, cauliflower. 

Me: You're adorable!  Can I keep you?

Ethan: Um, no. 

It's not the first time I've asked him if I can keep him. He consistently says "no". Does that absolve me of college tuition?

Potty Training the Second Child

(Throwback post from June that never got posted)

Ethan loves the toilet. He'd follow Collin into the bathroom, stand on the stool, and drop his pants. Then look at me like: "What now, Mama?" He could also start and stop peeing on command, which was the routine during every bath time. Yuck!

Tony had a two week vacation, therefore I planned for him to potty train the boy. I trained (am still training) Collin!

Day 1: He peed everywhere until lunch, when he finally made it to the toilet for the M&M reward. Now after every successful peeing in the potty, he yells "Yay, Candy!"

Day 2: "Yay, Candy!" still continues, and he's now taking himself to the potty half the time. 

Day 3: He thinks he's got this down, now he's testing Daddy's patience and peeing everywhere. His favorite is to pee on the back porch step, through the screen door while he's inside the house. It's delightful!

Flash forward a week and he has no wet accidents, but successfully located poops are troublesome. 

Flash forward to the present (October) and he poops in the potty 4 times a day without hesitation, and without the reminder of a reward. He will, however, wet his pants on purpose, for no known reason, but especially if he's having a tantrum.

While we work that out, I'm still buying extra strength pet stain and smell remover, by the gallon, and I pour it straight into the washer. The pet store knows us all!