3 Years, 12 Months!

I know, it's been 18 days and no big birthday post.  It's just not happening this year, much less than last year.  It's just too hard this year, I cannot accept it.  From his fitting into 4T pants, to him insisting he is 5, to this sudden expanded vocabulary and expressiveness.  It's just too much.  I need my baby!!!!!!!  Or get knocked up again... but that's a post for some other place.

Anywho, here is the synopsis of the celebrations:

The Potty Thing

We've been potty trained for a while now and I'm still not fully satisfied with it.  Not with the results, we're doing quite good, but how it all works.

My child only pees 2, maybe 3, times a day.  While this is good because I don't have to make a potty stop every couple minutes, it can be quite frustrating with planning.  I know he can hold it for several hours but that is several hours after he has gone.  So if he has not gone I do not have several hours.  And I can't make him pee.  I've tried sitting him on the potty when he has not asked and he simply does not pee.  So I have to resort to back ups like diapers or disposable trainers just in case he decides he needs to go when there is no way I can take him, like on the bus.  It would be great if I could have him pee right before we leave and know with certainty that I can get to my destination that is only an hour away with no problem.  But he won't pee.  And if I have a time I need to leave by and he does not pee I have to go through the process of undressing him to put on a disposable trainer.  Then when we get to our destination undress him in the bathroom to get him on underwear.  Too much hassle!

Missing Out

Every day I feel like I put down to bed one kid and get a whole different one the next day after work.  I'm missing out on so much and it makes me real angry.  Every day I'm told of the new things he says and does and tries and I don't get to experience them.  He is like a one hit wonder, he'll say something or do something once and then you won't hear or see it again for a long time.  And what's worse is that I can't even say it's all for a better future.  I'm at a crappy job earning less than most high school drop outs.

I look at this little person, A PERSON, and I don't recognise him.  I had a baby, I strapped in a baby into that car seat not too long ago.  Where did this little person come from?  Who is this?  I don't even recognise him anymore.  He does things and says things that are totally strange to me, completely unlike who I had with me before.  He is practically a stranger sometimes, at that really saddens me.

This really bites, and I am unhappy.

Potty Training - Week 11

Days 71-77

9/6-9/12

I may be getting ahead of myself, but I think we have achieved day time potty training.  It took 11 weeks but he is now consistently telling me when he needs to go before he goes and we had only one accident this week (half a block away from home) so I think we've got this.  He has even told me he had to poop and pooped in the 'the big potty.'  I think a little celebration is due!

I am not naïve, I know we may face some regression and accidents will continue, but I refuse to let that burden our accomplishments.  Right now, at this moment, we have done well.  He has mastered this skill and I am proud.

Night time potty training is another obstacle.  He does wake up most days dry but still has days where he wakes up with a wet diaper.  I am not stressing this right now.  I do try to get him to pee before he goes to bed but we still have times when I find him sleeping on the couch or I simply send him to bed because he's being cranky.  All in time.  I am proud of what has been accomplished nonetheless.

I will now stop the weekly potty training updates.  The last couple of entries have been difficult since I have no time and there is very little to report.  The final hurdle was pending for a while and now we have passed it.  I will now only post a potty training post when there is something of note to post.

The Attack

Today I was attacked, scratched in my face, neck, arms, and hands.  I was attacked by Nicholas.

A tantrum over not getting his way turned really violent turning our visit to The Happiest Place On Earth into a scary ordeal.

It started during the flag retreat ceremony.  We do this ever time we go, it's something I feel we need to do and it is by far not the first time we do it.  He accidentally lost his soothie during the ceremony and it rolled in front of the conductor.  It wasn't even in his mouth, he had it in his hand, and he wanted to go get it.  I told him he had to wait and he was not happy with that.  He started throwing a tantrum over it but I stood firm that he had to wait.  It would have been easy to just let him go get it but they're paranoid there with their performers and I know having him approach the conductor was going to cause issues with them, even if for the briefest moment.  And really, he could wait.  It was almost over.  Patience, right?  So I told him that if he did not calm down and wait he would not get to go play on the firetruck like he wanted to.  He did not calm so when it was over and he had his soothie I told him we were not going to play on the fire truck and we were going home.  All hell broke loose.

Potty Training - Week 10

Days 64-70

8/30-9/5

This has not been the best of weeks and I need to focus on the accomplishments: he is now telling me when he needs to go to the bathroom... sorta.

He does it most of the time which makes those times when he does not very frustrating.  I have tried to figure out what it is that makes him not tell me.  At first I thought it was because I was in the bedroom but then he did ask while I was in there.  Then I thought it was because he needed to poop and it was different.  But then he did tell me he had to poop.  I thought it had to do with him playing or watching a movie, but then he did stop playing to tell me and go and he did tell me in the middle of a favourite movie.  Every accident has been a poop accident but then he also does tell me in time so I am very confused.  I want to know why he won't tell me so that I can fix it.  These accidents are bad in that he ends up trying to clean himself and makes a horrific mess in the bathroom.  I just don't get why he won't tell me sometimes.

Potty Training - Week 9

Days 57-63

8/23-8/29

This week was the first full week we used the new toilet/potty thing.  It works, when it gets used.  He still won't tell me though my sister says he tells her so there have been accidents.  Lots.  *sigh*

Ok, so lets talk about this contraption.  It is called Mommy's Helper - Padded Potty Seat with Step Stool.  I got it from Walmart.com and got shipped for free to the store that is a few minutes from where I live.  Assembling it was quite easy but you do need to pay attention and follow the very simple instructions.  Then it was time to put it on the toilet.

Potty Training - Week 8

Days 50-56

8/16-8/22

Another late one.  I hate not having the energy of time to do these on Monday night or sometime Tuesday.

Anyway, potty training is going great, I think.  The week was typical with a few accidents, all at my place of course.

On Friday my sister was unable to take care of him so my mom came and took care of him.  I told her that he is now using the regular toilet exclusively and that he will not tell you when he needs to go so he needs to be asked about two hours after drinking.  I told her that she needs to watch for signs that he needs to go because he will always answer no and if four hours have passed go sit him anyway and he will likely pee.  I left worried about what I would find when I returned in regards to potty training.  Nicholas doesn't do well with change and my mom has not watched him for an extended period of time without me near by since he was about a year and a half.

Well, like always, I was surprised!

My mother said that she never had to ask him if he wanted to go pee.  He came up to her and told her every single time.  Not only that but he pooped!

When my mom left we went to Walmart to pick up the potty adapter we got.  It was very easy to build and put on the toilet.  I will give it a review once we have used it for a week.  So far, however, we both like it.  I like that I do not have to be holding him which is much easier on my knees and back.  He sits comfortably and looks more relaxed like when he was on the little potty.  I think he likes that he can climb it too.

Potty Training - Week 7

Days 43-49

8/9-8/15

This one is a bit late, been procrastinating.

Week has gone ok.  We went to Target after work last Tuesday and he used the restroom at the mall!  Super happy about that.  Since then he has not used the potty.  Instead he will now only use the regular toilet or 'big potty' as he calls it.  With my bad knee and back there is no way I can hold him there every time so I have purchased an adapter with a step latter attached.  I will be picking it up later this week and we'll see how that goes.

He *sometimes* will say 'yes' when asked if he has to use the potty, but always clarifies that he wants to use the 'big potty.'  He still does not tell me on his own, accidents are still common, and WOW, been doing this for almost two months now.

Very short but, really, there is not much to report.  That and I don't have the energy to go into details on the accidents.

Lessons: Mommy Roles

When I was pregnant everyone would tell me about all the things that motherhood would entail.  I would be a full time driver, teacher, on call nurse, etc.  But there are a lot of things that no one told me I would have to do.  True, they are part of the job, but I was not expecting them until I was doing them.

Trip to the Park

A trip to the park.  All pictures, no explanation needed.

Potty Training - Week 6

Days 36-42

8/2-8/8

Things are going well, I think.  Accidents are still common at home but not at my sister's, ironically.  He still poops in his underpants, which is frustrating.  This last time, however, I was putting laundry away so I don't have the full story. 

I suddenly heard him say, "I want YAY" which is what he says when he is done using the potty.  I ran out and found him standing, NAKED, and pointing to the potty.  There was poop in there.  Soon I found out there was also poop in his underpants he took off himself.  So he either started, took off his clothes, sat and finished or he dumped some of it onto the potty.  He is too smart and both are plausible.  I couldn't tell by simply looking at his hands because he had been touching himself, something we still need to work on.

I have stopped keeping my chart, sadly.  I really enjoyed that but it just doesn't work anymore.  He holds his pee for a very long time if he doesn't want to stop playing.  Even if I sit him down and know he needs to pee he will hold it and tell me he wants to get up.  I hope he stops this before he gets a UTI.

I have been wondering  how long I will be keeping up these updates.  Right now we are still in 'training' mode so I want to keep documenting the progress.  But progress has slowed down quite a bit, the only thing missing now is for him to tell me when he has to go and for him to go himself when he needs to and not when he has already had an accident.  I fear this is still far away.  So for now I will continue my weekly update until we have reached these goals.

Working

Funny, I am typing this at work, with about 13 minutes before I start.

I told someone, when asked how I liked my new job, that I'd probably love it, find it perfect, if I didn't have a three  year old.  They were perplexed.  So let me go through this again.

The job itself is what I love doing most: typing.  All day.  LOTS of work, never a 'down' time so the day breezes by rather than crawl.  The people are nice.  There is AC and a well stocked break room.  My job is fairly easy.

Potty training - Week 5

Days 29-35


Tuesday - Friday 7/26-7/29

This was my first week of work and I was not able to do it all myself.  My sister took over the daytime and it has gone well.  She has taken notes throughout the day like I was so keeping my charts has not been difficult.  All week only three accidents total, one at my sister's place and two at mine, so I guess it was a good week.

He is much more consistent in responding 'yes' when I ask him if he needs to go but still only about 30% of the time.  But this is improvement nonetheless and am sure he will get it eventually.

Saturday 7/30

Had a major accident this morning, poop everywhere!  Well, not entirely everywhere but in a whole lotta places including an upholstered piece of furniture.  On the bright side I found him sitting on the potty, diaper and pants around his ankles, so there was an effort.  This will teach me to actually get up and go check on him when I hear him calling for me.  I found it odd but thought he was just being pesty like he usually is in the morning.

Then he peed.  While laying down on the carpet.  And did not attempt to even get up.  I discovered this accident when I got him up to change him.  Completely wet and who knows how long he had been laying on his pee.  Had no choice but to wash him down or deal with a pee smelling child in this heat.  Wash down it was.

He has peed on the potty successfully twice and I'm just too tired to keep track so today there is no tracking at all.  I'm pretty upset about that.  I've been very diligent with it for five weeks now.  Need to find energy.

Sunday 7/31

Today we did laundry in a disposable trainer.  Though he has been holding his pee for many hours at a time I did not want to risk an accident at the laundromat.  He had not peed in two hours and we needed to get going.  Sat him down one last time and he didn't pee and thus  my decision was made.  He didn't end up having an accident, when I took it off it was still dry.

Potty Training - Week 4

Days 22-28


Tuesday 7/19

Two accidents.  Also, he finished his potty chart.  Need to make another.

Wednesday 7/20

One accident, so better.  Still no new potty chart.  I am noticing that he just likes putting the stickers on the chart so I will try to keep that in mind as I make the next one... whenever that is.  I need inspiration, trains are getting old.  I guess that reflects the fact that I am not a 3 year old.

Potty Training - Week 3

Days 15-21

Tuesday 7/12

Today was interesting.  It started off with Nicholas telling me he needed to go to the potty!  This is great in the potty training progress!!  I took him and he peed.  It wasn't completely smooth as I was uncertain of what he was trying to tell me but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

He had three accidents.  One was a real messy poop.  I don't have anything to blame for these accidents other than bad luck.  He usually goes at least two hours between peeing, the first two were an hour and a half apart so I wasn't anticipating them.  And he didn't give any signs.

The third accident was the poop.  I should have anticipated this since he had not pooped in two days and it was a little over three hours after his previous accident.  He wasn't constipated which, for cleaning purposes, was bad.  He has gotten into the habit of sitting on the potty as soon as his dirty underpants have come off so poop got all over the potty seat as well.  The interesting thing was that when he was done he told me he had to go to the potty so he is obviously a little confused.

Wednesday 7/13

Nothing of note today, he didn't ask to use to the potty again though we did talk about it.

He had one accident right before bedtime which I only found out about because he came up to me asking for paper.  I gave him some printer paper thinking he wanted to colour some more and he said no and pointed to the roll of paper towels.  I gave him a towel and he went over and started cleaning the floor.  So I asked what happened and sure enough he had peed.  I took over the cleaning and he went to the splat mat, removed his underwear, and sat on the potty.

It's not the first time he does this cleaning after his accident and I am not sure how to take it.  On the plus side he knows it's not ok and that it needs to be cleaned up.  I was worried that with his stubborn, non caring attitude that he would not care about the mess or being wet in urine.  On the down side I am not sure if he sees it as ok since it just gets cleaned up and he gets clean underwear.  I know not to punish accidents but I do not let him choose a clean pair of underpants since he always chooses a Thomas pair.  Instead I choose one of the non Thomas ones and he has to wear it.  But it's just underwear and he quickly gets over it.

Today I also made a new potty chart.  Yup, he finished the other one.  This one is similar to the old one but instead of one long train it is three trains with four carts.  No numbers this time and he has to get a star on the four carts as well as the engine for a treat.  I really think he just likes the putting stickers on it aspect anyway and with so many more successes than accidents, overall, I think it's fair.

Thursday 7/14


Today we had no accidents, he finished the first row of his train chart, and got a cookie for it.

He took a nap today and did pee during his nap.  I am not calling this an accident, though, because he was asleep and there was nothing either one of us could have done to prevent it.  I was in the bedroom and he came distraught and looking for paper again.  I gave him a paper towel and he tried cleaning himself.  He was upset he had gotten his Thomas underwear wet.  I was glad he had been laying on a mattress pad that I have on the couch so the newly upholstered couch didn't get wet at all.  Three books have minor damage.

Friday 7/15

No accidents today and he did poop in the potty.  He asked once, at the end of the day, to go to the potty but I get the feeling that it was more to stop me from scolding him since he was not listening at the time.  He did pee that time.

Saturday 7/16

Today was a bad day for potty training.  We had to be out more than half the day and unfortunately no way to make it potty training friendly.  Since I have no more diapers I put a disposable training pant on him and packed some extras.  I changed him once while we were out and, of course, could not keep track of drinks or pees.

When we got home the disposable he had on was dry so I took it off and asked him if he needed to go.  I had changed him about 40 minutes before and he had not had a drink so I did not push it.  I put a pair of underwear on him and went to the bathroom myself.  When I returned he had peed.  A lot.

UGH!!!!!!!!!  AAARRRGGG!!!!!!!!!

He peed one more time this evening and I managed to get him to the potty just in time (I'm learning well, aren't I?) so my tracking for today is very short.  We'll see what kind of damage this day had on potty training tomorrow.

Sunday 7/17

Worst. Day. Ever.  At least on the first day of potty training I was expecting and ready for this kind of day.  On the 20th day?  Nope, not at all.  He didn't make it to the potty not once.  He didn't give any of the cues I have learned and been relying on to take him to the potty on time.  And it seemed like he was doing it on purpose: spreading his legs and watching himself pee.  Whether it's regression because wearing the disposable training pants yesterday confused him or him acting up like he always does after those long saturdays or a combination of both is beyond me.  I didn't even keep good notes today.  I guess I sort of gave up too since I felt so defeated.  I just hope tomorrow is a better day.  It has to be.

Monday 7/18

Good day over all.  Peed in the potty all day and had a poop accident.  A couple of cues but not too many, just sitting him two hours after ever drink.

Potty Training - First Two Weeks In Review

Tomorrow (today, I guess, judging by the time) will be the first day of the third week of potty training.  While I have been making regular posts on how we are doing (click 'Potty Training' under labels to the right for the play-by-play), they have been focused on the details of actual potty training and not on how this is affecting us overall.

Potty Training - Days 11-14

(7/8)
The new chart was a hit.  I heard him get out of bed and come into the play room then exclaim "WOW! A train!"  It made my morning.

Which was needed because it was another stressful day for me.  He only peed twice today, at 1pm and 5:30pm.  Both times on the potty but it was worrisome.  I looked over the charts and he has been drinking the same amounts so maybe he is just holding it again because he doesn't want to stop playing.  Which makes sense since he did wet his underwear several times.  But then doesn't because I make him stop and sit on the potty more often when he does this.  Hopefully it's just something he is trying out and will stop once he sees it's better to just pee.

Potty Training - Days 7 to 10

Monday (7/4) was hard.  He had two full accidents and only made it to the potty once.  Again, the heat didn't help.  Thankfully I was armed with lots of extra underwear that my mother brought on sunday.  He showed an interest in the Thomas one, which is good.  Last time potty training was attempted he didn't want them on at all.

I decided to use a potty chart so I went online for inspiration.  I came up with a very simple design, three rows of four boxes, and drew it out on Tuesday (7/5) morning.  I outlined the boxes with colourful markers, drew in numbers 1-3 in the first three boxes and an ice cream bowl in the fourth.  I figured that since we've been averaging 1-2 accidents per day with a total of 4-5 times he pees that it would take him at least 24 hours to complete one row and get his ice cream.  Well, this boy surprised me!

No real accidents on Tuesday!!

And poop in the potty!

He had one 'mini' accident when I caught him about to poop under the table.  But after he took off the dirty underwear and sat on the potty he peed and poop some more on there.  I took this as good rather than bad since the previous two poops had been in his diaper or completely in his underwear.  Maybe now he realises that it's not so bad and will continue to poop in the potty, as long as I get him there in time, of course.

Pondering the Future: Patriotism and Americanism From Afar

*Started this post on the 5th, however, potty training has kept me from finishing it until now*

I've been thinking a lot the past few days.  It started on the 1st of July with Canada Day and my thoughts have kept taunting me since.  And as I looked around yesterday I found that instead of having answers I had even more questions.

Potty Training - Day 6

Bad day for cleaning, good day for learning.

My mother came over again.  No visitors or kids but she stayed much longer.  She made breakfast and finished doing my dishes and cleaned my stove.  Plus she left food.

I can't pee with an audience and I believe it is a private thing.  I knew it was time for him to be put on the potty but I didn't want to force it.  I don't want him thinking he can pee in front of anyone and I don't think he'd be comfortable.  I was also distracted by my mother wanting to see pictures and whatnot.  So he had an accident.  I was able to rush him over to the splat mat so only half got on the carpet.  This has happened before and like before I told him to simply stand and wait for me.  My mom, wanting to help I'm sure, started asking him why.  I told her to shut up.  Yup, not nicely at all.  She also tried to get him, probably to clean him and change him, but I told her to leave him alone, and again not so nicely.

Potty Training - Day 4 and 5

7/1/11

Today was a much better day.  Only one accident and it was because I was distracted.  Also, the bubbles seem to be working real well in cutting the time on the potty.  Either that or I'm waiting too long and he just can't hold it much longer when I sit him.

He pooped in his diaper before I took it off this morning.  That was good because I was beginning to worry, the last time he had pooped was on monday and he usually doesn't go more than a day without pooping.  I'm expecting this to be the trend for a while until he gets comfortable going on the potty.

Potty Training - Day 3

The third full day of potty training and I am not feeling much confidence in where this is going.  He peed five times and only one was an accident.  This sounds like progress but it really isn't.  He isn't making progress, I am.

After the first time he went in the potty I dressed him and we went to the market.  There were some things I needed and since he can go a couple of hours without going I braved it.  It went well, no accidents.

Potty Training - Day 2

Today I got up and gave him his cup of milk as usual after I took off his diaper and put him in his underwear.  There was some protest but it wasn't a full blown battle like yesterday so that's an improvement.  I sat down at my desk and looked at the post-it with the potty trips.  I grabbed another post-it and wrote down the time, today I was also going to keep track of when he had a drink.  This could give me something else to help me anticipate.  I also wrote down the how long it had been between each pee.  Though the times were clearly written down in front of me it made it easer to have the length instead of having to do the math in my head every time.  I am horrible with math and even worse with time math.

Potty Training - Day 1(.5)

I have decided to document our journey through potty training.  So many say the details, like pregnancy discomforts, get muddled and forgotten soon after it is over.  I don't want to forget this journey, it is proving to be a difficult one and one which I must undertake without choice: I have a very limited amount of diapers and no money to buy more.

6/27/11

After bathing Nicholas on Monday I reached down for a diaper and realised my supply was much more limited than I had thought.  I put a disposable training pant on him and he quickly fell asleep for a nap.

The 'New' Playroom

It's 1:30am.  WTH am I doing up at this time??  Cleaning, that's what.  Hurricane Nicholas came through today will full force leaving behind a disaster zone that makes Katrina look mild.  These past couple of days have been rough, he's been acting way out of character for him and by the time he is in bed I have been too exhausted to attempt cleaning up.  Today I had a little extra energy, we had a surprisingly ok evening after his nap, so I went to work before FEMA has a chance to try and 'help.'  

Cleaning up, while it took almost an hour, was a breeze!!  All thanks to my new set up and system (yay!).  I didn't move too much of his things around but did take out my bookcases from the playroom (aka living room) which has left an incredibly nice space.  Moved a couple of things around and I have been incredibly satisfied with the result.  And since insomnia has kicked in, I shall tell you all about these changes.

Painting Fun!

The latest creations from my little artiste!  Don't look too hard, it's abstract art :P

This started as the Island of Sodor.  The green is the island

and the blue is the water.

The Play Kitchen

I just spent about 30 minutes picking up various play kitchen accessories.  And while this is not the first time, and not going to be the last time, I find myself thinking about why I got him this kitchen and (the very few) critics of my decision.  As I pick up I do not mind one bit.  It's one of those things that was a great decision.  Now let me tell you why (because I need positives today) :-P.

While I don't want to raise my kid genderless, I do believe in not holding him to his perceived gender.  He does have the boy trains and trucks and dinosaurs but he also has the girl baby doll with bottle.  He talks about castles and is currently obsessed with the colour pink.  The kitchen seemed to me pretty gender neutral.  Go to any restaurant and you'll notice most of the cooks are male.  On TV most chefs are male.  And if cooking was really such a 'girl' thing then men living alone would starve.

His kitchen

He Lied!

Ok, so maybe it's not something to celebrate, but it was funny.

I gave him orange juice a while ago and went to the bedroom.  He comes in about 20 minutes later and we're playing around on the bed, laughing and giggling, and then he mentions that he wants juice.  I ask him what happened to the juice I gave him and he doesn't respond.  We played some more, tickled some, and then he asked again.  I asked him again what happened to his juice and again he didn't respond.  This happened several times.  By the third time I started thinking that either he didn't see the cup (even though I told him I was putting his cup on the table and he nodded) or he finished it already (in which case he gets water).

Half an hour after he came into the bedroom he gets off the bed and starts climbing up the ladder to his bed so I figure he's not going to leave me alone until I get him is drink.  I get up to go and he bolts off the bed and running to the living room.  When I get there he is cracking up trying to get on the couch, once he succeeds he picks up the cup, right from where I left it, and can't even drink it because he is laughing so hard.  At me!  That little trickster!

So I take back what I said yesterday.  My kid does lie; he lies so that he can laugh at me.  I have the class clown don't I?

Kids Say The Darnest Things!!! (Except My Own)

I need to start with a disclaimer: I am not judging the parenting of anyone.  The things I have observed are not 'bad' just interesting.

Of all my friends on facebook between 70%-75% of them are parents with kids of various ages with 60 of those having kids the same age as mine (give or take a month or so).  So I get to see a pretty good sample of what other kids the same age as my own are doing and, for the most part, they're doing the same things as mine.  One thing that is not the same is some of the things these kids say or talk about.

Grandma Is 'Special'

My mother is always complaining that Nicholas doesn't like her.  Nicholas likes very few people and if you ever don't do things his way he stops liking you.  Yes, this includes me.  He doesn't like me a lot of the time.  My mother tries playing with him the way she thinks he should be able to play.  I tell her that he isn't one of her perfect and super intelligent children (we must have been since she is always saying that me and my sisters could do more than him at his age) and cannot comprehend much less play the way she wants.  So he gets frustrated and upset and doesn't really want much to do with her.

You got mail!

Nicholas likes to help me get the mail.  I open our mail box and give him the junk mail to throw away in a trash can that is next to all the mail boxes.  When we come in through the front gate he starts singing "Check the mail!  Check the mail!"  He rarely gets mail, usually cards around his birthday or christmas, so it's been a while.  When he does get mail he gets real excited.

Yesterday when we got home from Disneyland we checked the mail and he had mail!  From none other than Mickey!!  Not exactly.  He got a magazine sent to annual pass holders and it had Mickey on the cover.  He was so happy he kept saying, "I got mail from Mickey!"over and over again.

Happy with his mail.

Silly

So we have some recent silliness.

I brought home my goggles from my chemistry lab:

He was just in a very silly mood:

My boy, acting silly:

More silliness, this time with the harmonica.  Please ignore the Nutella moustache :P

A little silly concert:

National Train Day

Ok, almost a week later...

On Saturday, May 7, we took a trip to Union Station in Los Angeles for National Train Day 2011 and the 40th anniversary celebration for Amtrak.

Happy to be on the train, on our way to see the trains!

Not 'Graduating'

I just went into the campus bookstore and was bombarded with graduation stuff.  Everything from shirts, to stuffed animals, glasses, key chains - everything.  And the realisation that I'm part of this year's graduating class hit me hard.  I can't breathe, my heart is racing, and I'm sitting here outside the library crying.

I will not be walking in two weeks with the other graduates.  I will have 'earned' my diploma but refuse to join in commencement.  It's suppose to be a celebration of achievement.  I don't think this is an achievement, at least not a good one.  It's quite the opposite, a horrific event.

'Easter'

Here are our 'Easter'* pictures.

Picked a flower outside El Torito.  Goodies provided by loving aunties. 

(The box has a BIG bag of m&ms)

Lessons: The Sickies

I consider myself lucky for having such a healthy child.  He rarely gets sick and he is such a trooper when he does.  He tries to be his normal self but sometimes the illness brings him down and he gets whiny and cranky and clingy.  This week it was a cough with a slight cold.

He started maybe Friday with a cough.  I didn't think much of it, people cough without being sick.  Then Saturday he was cranky and had a fever.  He didn't grub on french fries.  That's when I knew he was sick.  He suffered this cough Sunday night and every night since then, not eating much and being very whiny.  I love my baby and don't like him feeling sick like that.  I was tempted for a moment to call the doctor but I know what he'll say: fluids, rest, tylenol for the fever, bring him back if he doesn't get any better in a week or to the ER if his fever gets really high.  Why bother?  So I decided to take matters into my own hands and play pharmacist.

I spent about 20 minutes standing in front of the children's medicine section at the Walmart comparing boxes.  I decided on the Triaminic for cough, grape flavoured (yuck!).  It says for kids 4 and older so 3 1/2 is close enough and I wasn't going to give him the full dose anyway since he doesn't take meds often.

I tried it right before bed, at 10pm, with surprising success.  It is much more liquidy than the tylenol and I knew the grape flavour wasn't going to be a hit.  I used a siringe and little by little with plenty of silliness from me he took 3/4 of a teaspoon (the box said 1 teaspoon for 4-6 years) with little mess.  Then I put him in bed.

Big mistake.

Within minutes we noticed he was happily playing in his bed, no coughing, and no intentions of sleep.  I kept telling him to settle down and he would, for a few minutes, before starting up again.  Then I heard velcro.  There is no velcro on his bed so it only meant one thing.  I stand up and look into the bed and notice lots of skin.  I stand on my bed and see a fully naked, laughing, Nicholas.  So I climbed up the bed and put the diaper back on, telling him that if he took it off again he had to wear underwear (I know, BAD!!), dressed him and tucked him in.  A few minutes later his feet were hanging off the side of the rail.  *sigh*  So I tell my SO, over Skype, "Good thing they don't add alcohol to cough syrup anymore!" and reached for the bottle that was still on my bed.

I'm taking very basic chemistry right now, the professor calls it toy department chemistry.  Right now we are learning about organic chemistry, at a very basic level, and I am actually understanding this tuff.  So I start reading the ingredients list and actually understanding what this crap is and what it looks like.  One of the 'inactive' ingredients is sorbitol.  The -ol ending tells me it's a type of alcohol.  Double *sigh*  He finally fell asleep around 12:30am.

Sleep!

This is the post that got lost.

It seems Nicholas has always been an interesting sleeper and I have gotten some very interesting sleep pictures.  I wanted to compare them and this seemed like the best way to do it.  Enjoy!

Ten days old, momma is the BEST place to sleep!

I'm Selfish

The post that got lost is not coming for a while.  It was full of pictures and I just can't do that right now since I need to re-select those pictures and with my computer going in for repair tomorrow I rather just wait until I get it back.  Anyway...

There is a daycare in my apartment complex.  All the apartments are like mine, one bedroom apartments.  Someone thought it would be a brilliant idea to rent three of them and run them as a daycare.  I guess it works.  I see these kids, mostly preschool aged and younger, all the time and I often see them being dropped off or picked up as we go in and out.  I have yet to see one kid be left in tears and have seen several leave crying not wanting to go home.  Whenever I see that I get a pain in my stomach.

Here I Go Again

Seems like I like moving.

I spent almost an hour working on a post today with the old blog.  I was almost done and needed a special character which I know the keyboard shortcut too.  I pressed something wrong, there is no other explanation, and the whole post was deleted when it sent me to another page.  It's not the first time it happens but the other posts had not been so far along and I was easily able to do them again.  I had tried to write posts in word program and then copy & paste but that app didn't support it.  So I am still very much upset that all that work was lost like that.  I'm already loving the autosave on here :D.

I will work on the post that should have gone up today when I have time again.  Hopefully this week.