A rare....

....but brief, sighting of the elusive Husbandus Roberto malootianus. 

 In spite of heroic efforts to tame this rare beast, he was soon off into the wilds again.

It's time...

...to recommence evening walks.

ALERT: This post is full of parental blather about offspring potty training.  Yes, I am becoming that parent. Consider yourself warned.

I haven't really talked about our potty training endeavors lately. Maybe I'm afraid to jinx things, who knows. But after reading the book Diapers Are Not Forever a few weeks ago, he has wanted to be all underwear all the time.

As an aside, if having a child has taught me anything, it's taught me the power of books. 

This was to the point where he pitched a fit one morning before school, so I said to myself that we'll have to take the plunge sometime, and put undies on him. His teachers were so excited for him and he was obviously proud--as indicated by him telling EVERYONE.

Aside #1, little boys in tightie whities might just be the cutest thing ever! 

He didn't make it all the way through the first day, but he's made it through just about every day since then. His teachers are really good about sticking to a schedule, so they're really helping him succeed. He's had a couple accidents once we get home, but I think we've figured that out.

In order to help this all along, Rob and I decided that we'd stick close to home last weekend and really work on getting him trained at home. We planned on taking him to the potty every hour. And had about 4 accidents before noon on Saturday. We just looked at each other, absolutely perplexed. We're intelligent people, Zack had been doing so well at school, what in the world were we doing wrong????? So I googled potty training and read that a lot of people start by taking their kids every 20 minutes or so, and start working up to longer stretches. Ooops. So we regrouped, and decided on every 30 minutes. We also started using a kitchen timer, telling Zack that the buzzer meant that it was potty time. This strategy worked much better---no accidents, and no arguments about going to the potty (since the buzzer was telling him to go, not Mommy or Daddy). A random reinforcement schedule of M&Ms also seems to help.

The big test was the other night when Zack asked to go get pizza for dinner. I said that sounded great, hiding my anxiety about him having an accident at the restaurant. We went to the bathroom when we first got there and then also after we finished eating. He did great! He wanted to be in the stall by himself (OK, I know you're an independent kid, but could we slow down a sec?), gave running commentary about the woman's feet in the next stall (where did I put that shell to crawl into?), and pooped on the potty!!!! I wish I could have recorded his expression when I'd peek in to see how he was doing--just a big grin and shaking his head no, and I'd duck back out. A couple minutes later, I'd peek back in and same thing. Then all of a sudden there was an "I pooped, Mommy!" He was so proud of himself.

So we seem well on the way to having a big boy in our house.

Just ask him. He'll tell you.

Ipe Bear-Bear Blanket

If you were knitting something, and a boy with eyes like these asked you if what you were knitting was a blanket for Bear-Bear (Most Beloved Animal in All The Land), what would you say? I said, “No, but would you like me to knit one for you?”

“Yes.”

“What color would you like?”

“Ipe.” (Translation: White).

I didn’t hop to it, and was asked several times if I was knitting a Bear-Bear blanket. I finally started two nights ago.

“What color would you like?” (Never hurts to double-check.)

“Ipe.”

“Is this color OK?”

“Yes.”

“Would you like it bigger than the one you already have?”

“No.”

I cast on and knit a few rows, then checked in with him.

“Is this size good?”

“Yes.”

And last night I finished the first thing that Zack asked me to knit for him. And this morning I asked him if it was okay.

"Yes. Take it to Balwyn and Elena?" Translation: Can I take it to school with me?

"It's still wet, but it'll be dry by the time you get home tonight."

"Ok. Bear-Bear sleep with it tonight?"

"Absolutely, Buddy."

Update: I was informed the other night that the new blanket could not directly cover Bear-Bear because it's "not very soft. The old one is soft." Which is true, the new one is wooly wool while the old one is softer. However, he still says he likes the new one and needs it in bed with him, so it's still a success in my book. 

We survived.

I'm not sure he's perfect yet, but we survived Zack's 3rd birthday party. There were about 10 pre-schoolers and 2 babies, along with parents. The general consensus was that Rob and I were brave and that the party was a success. Zack got a big kick out of having his friends from school show up at his house, which was just what we were hoping for. He also had a lot of fun with Grandma and Papa and Uncle Geoff. He was very sad to see them go.

"Nirvana is coming. The mystic portal awaits."

The next weekend, our friends Deb and Shawn came down with their parents and their two daughters. What a great weekend! We even had a beautiful, warm Sunday so that our visitors from the North could soak up a little sun and warmth to take home.

Zack helped me make cookies for the weekend. He cracked the egg, poured in the flour, and added the chocolate chips. He stole a few for himself, which he lined up on the counter, all pointed the same direction, before he ate them.

Play-doh was a big hit for all the kids.

And while I'm updating, here are a few pictures from the snow in January.

On other fronts, Zack had started wearing big boy underwear. It started with a book we got him for his birthday, called Diapers are not Forever. He wanted to wear underwear to school the next day, so we figured we'd try it. His teachers were very excited and supportive. He's been doing really well with it--the past two days he's had no accidents while at school. He's very proud of himself, as are we.