One week later...

I am happy to report that week 1 of our official potty training has gone very well! We've definitely had our struggles, but Ethan has gotten really good at #1. He had 4 accidents at school on Monday, 2 on Tuesday and then none on Wed or Thurs! Well, no #1 accidents anyways. Today was the first day that he managed #2 on the potty and that was pretty exciting! We were at The Krangle's so we had to call daddy right away. We've been telling him how we have a big present for him for when he does his first #2 on the potty so he was very excited to get home. When we pulled in, he said "does daddy have a really big present for me?" I was concerned because I wasn't sure what a "really big present" was to him. We had gotten him a toy from Little Einsteins (Rocket) but I had no idea if that was "really big". Luckily he followed his inquiry with "maybe it's a garbage truck. Or a cement mixer or a dump truck". I felt relieved that we were in the same ball park. He was very excited with his present as you can program it to fulfill your "mission" by pressing a sequence of buttons. Steve was very excited about it too. It was truly the most annoyingly packaged toy we've ever gotten for him, but it was worth it!

On Friday we had Stephanie, Charlie and Will and Katie, Caleb and Adelina over for play time and lunch. With 5 kids it was pretty crazy, but it was great time. The kids all got a long really well and didn't bother Adelina too much. It was great for us moms to catch up but we didn't take any pictures! How times have changed. I wish I had though. You wouldn't believe how grown up these boys are these days.

Before our friends got here, Ethan was doing his best teenager impression. This is my Tetris game and Ethan has no idea how to play it. In fact, I don't even think it was on, but he was really into it.



Today Ethan and I had to get out of the house so that Steve could paint E's room and Bridget and Katie had to get out of the house so that Mark could do some yardwork so we decided to get out together. We took the kids to The Ecotarium in Worcester. E and I drove to their house to put the carseats together and I had to take a couple of pictures of the kids together. I'm having prom picture premonitions over these. How cute are they!?

They were so excited to see each other. They are both doing well at their new schools, but there's nothing like old friends...even at their age.

Turns out Ethan can fit both of his feet inside of 1 polar bear footprint.

It was impossible to see anything through this microscope but that didn't stop E from trying again and again.

Outside there were many bubble stations and the kids kept trying to do the one that put them in a bubble tube, but it was too windy to work out.

Around noon, when looking for a place to get lunch for all of us, Bridget and I discovered that their snack bar was only open "in season" and that season apparently ended at Labor Day. The kids had already eaten the fruit bars and oyster crackers that I had brought so we only had the oyster crackers (yes, Bridget and I both randomly packed oyster crackers!) and teddy grahams that Bridget had brought to eat. Ethan does not do well without lunch and/or a nap so by the time we went on the train ride at 1:00, he was pretty out of it! He did enjoy it though. At one point you go through a tunnel and it gets really dark. I was worried that he would freak out about it but he was very quiet while we were in it and when we got out he told me he wanted to go through again. I was so relieved!

It was a beautiful day, and the Ecotarium was pretty cool but the day was exhausting. Keeping up with a potty training toddler in public is crazy! He peed all over my leg at one point after declaring he didn't need to go. We were all starving by the time we left! Bridget and I were having trouble keeping it together but after we had lunch we were a little better.

The good news is that Ethan's room is almost all painted! Steve got half done while we were gone and he's up there now finishing it. Ethan is sleeping in "Auntie Jamie's" room tonight so that's pretty special for him. He'd better sleep in a little tomorrow...

Big Boy Weekend

It was all family all the time this weekend. None of us had any plans with anyone but each other. It's been a long time since that's been the plan for the weekend! Saturday was errand day and we visited the library and then got E a haircut. He slept until 8 (well...first he woke up at 5:30 but mercifully fell back to sleep) but was apparently exhausted by the time we got to Fantastic Sam's at 11. He kept yawning and sat so still. He got a great haircut as a result, but we were worried he was getting sick.

He got to pick out a toy to hold while he was getting his haircut and he picked Lightning McQueen...one of his favorites these days.




Little man with a lollipop...it was a very serious day.



We ran several more errands after that and he fell asleep on the way home. He proceeded to take a 3 hour nap! At that point, we were sure we were in for a sick baby, but he woke up just fine. We were planning family movie night anyways. We had borrowed the movie Cars (starring Lightning McQueen...) from the library and we were ready to go! Unfortunately, Ethan could not sit still and the movie had so many scratches it kept stopping or jumping from scene to scene so it was really annoying.




Today was a really, really big day. Ethan has been going on the potty for some time now but only sporadically. After consulting with his teacher at school, we decided to go cold turkey and quit diapers for big boy underwear. Ethan picked these for his first pair.



After a slight adjustment...we were on our way! These little guys have so many things to learn. He was wearing these in the morning and after his first time on the potty he wanted a new pair. I tried to tell him that underwear was not like diapers and you don't get a new pair every time you go. This was not ok with him. He refused to put these back on so we let him pick a new pair with the understanding that they would be the pair he wore for the rest of the day (baring the inevitable accident...).

We bought all kinds of underwear for this kid. We knew we were going to need a lot and he likes variety so we got Thomas and Spiderman and Lightening McQueen and trucks and some regular ones. He loves them all.

OK...I've never claimed to be an artist or have any creativity so hold the comments on Ethan's ghetto potty chart. Every time he tries on the potty he gets to have a sticker. Every time he goes he gets a sticker and 2 M&M's. Every time he gets a new sticker, he sticks it on top of the last sticker. I have no idea why...

There's a funny story about the stickers though. Steve and Ethan went to get stickers together. Ethan picked out 3 of the same sets of Thomas stickers but Steve thought he should have some variety so he picked our a pack of stickers too. Well, that got Ethan thinking that daddy was going through potty training too. Last night, E went in the potty and got a sticker. Steve went in after he did and he asked me if daddy got a sticker too. Of course I said that he did so Ethan grabbed "Steve's stickers" and went running to the bathroom yelling "Daddy! Daddy, you get a sticker too!".

Ethan is very proud of himself and super excited about his big boy underwear but clearly has no idea yet how to tell when he has to go until he's gone. He'll go almost every time we put him on, but if we don't ask, it's accident city. Actually, even when we do ask he'll often reply with "no thanks...I just went in my diaper. The wet doesn't seem to bother him at all. Luckily his teachers are on board with our cold turkey plan and they said they'll deal with the cleanups as long as we supply lots of changes of clothes. Wish us luck this week!!

Labor Day 2009

This weekend was worth the wait. This was the summer that wasn't, but this past week was beyond gorgeous. It was almost painful to go to work instead of playing outside all day it was so beautiful. We were very fortunate New Englanders to have that weather hold through Labor Day this year.

The 3 of us drove down to Grandma's Jan's house on Friday afternoon and traffic wasn't even that bad. We couldn't wait to hit the beach for sunset so it wasn't long before we left the house and headed to Dowses.



Ethan refused to put on his bathing suit or a swim diaper so this was the clear alternative. He loves being naked boy.






It was actually a bit chilly so he did let us wrestle him into a sweatshirt after he splashed around a bit.



There's something about this picture that makes me nervous for the Ethan of tomorrow. He looks like he's up to something here.




He was showing off some of his latest dance moves for us.



This is Ethan with Andrew. Andrew's almost 4 and he had a super cool Superman fishing rod. He was absolutely adorable and went right over to Ethan and tried to teach him how to cast. It was really so sweet and with the setting sun it was like looking at a scene from a postcard.

Blowing sea foam...

It was so hard to leave on such a beautiful night. When we got to the parking lot we noticed that the moon was rising as the sun was setting. What a night!

Back at Grandma Jan's, Ethan was spoiled rotten with a front row seat for Thomas movies and a gourmet dinner of Spaghettio's.

Us grown ups were relegated to the sun room so that we didn't bother Ethan and Charlie.

On Saturday we met Jamie and Matt for a day at the beach. We drove down to Brewster and went to a beach that you have to walk to down a beautiful trail to get to and we had the place almost all to ourselves!

Guess who was naked again? This time with his water socks on. I have to say...he does not a speck of sun burn on him!

On Sunday, we went to Woods Hole with Grandpa Cliff and Louise. The Aquarium was closed but we had a yummy lunch at Shuckers on the water.

The drawbridge went up a bunch of times while we were there which was cool to watch. Except for the time that we got caught in our cars.

Ethan tried to fix Steve's glasses for him after he ripped them off.

I have to say that this is the most ridiculous bridge. You have to pass through here to get out of the harbor. You couldn't even fit a canoe under this thing!

This was the view of The Vineyard as we drove the Falmouth coastline. We were following the route of the Falmouth Road Race which made me long for my days of road races. They are embarrassingly far behind me now. It might be time to run a few. I need some new tshirts.

We left the Cape before 11 this morning to beat the traffic getting home. We were glad we did as I had a text from Carina that told me it was backed up 10 miles to get over the bridge! We were home in time for lunch and all the usual start of week chores. Tonight we had a family cookout in honor of the holiday. After our burgers, dogs and corn on the cob we decided to make s'mores. This was Ethan's first time!

He loved it but only ate about half of it. The little bit of chocolate he did eat wired him up straight to bed time. It's unreal how crazy that stuff makes him.

Only 3 days of work until another weekend...