typical lunch

The children like it when I fix them “a little bit of everything,” as they call it, on their trays. Today, after VBS, K is having blueberry yogurt, half of a sandwich with a couple slices of chicken on it, a handful of “Unburied Treasure” (that corn puff snack with white cheddar cheese on it from Trader Joe’s), half a dozen slices of pepperoni, a handful of pistachios and some apple slices with a caramel dip. E is having vanilla drinkable yogurt, some granola bites, several slices of pepperoni, a couple of the same chicken slices (Oscar Meyer processed deli meat) K has and some raisins. Oh, and both children have a slice of lemon poppyseed bread that I made yesterday. My biggest problem is after fixin’ all that for them, I don’t feel like fixin’ myself anything to eat.

panicky

Sometimes I think I love my little boy so much that I won’t get to keep him. I know it sounds nuts, but I have this fear (irrational though it may seem) that he’ll be abducted or get a fatal childhood disease or die in a wreck or something. I am terrified that I won’t get to watch him grow up. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that he is such a little boy, such a child, such a delight as a very three-year-old-ish 3 year old as opposed to his sister, who has acted 25 since the day she was born and has been trying to ditch the family to go live on her own ever since she knew that was possible. I don’t know. I just know that I have trouble envisioning him grown up and if I add that to the fact that I love him with all of my being, that winds up translating into this sense that he will be taken from me sometime soon. It’s a reverse separation anxiety — it’s not him who is anxious about being apart from mommy but rather me being anxious about having him out of my sight. Maybe it’s a delayed reaction to missing him so much while he was at my parents’ house a couple weeks ago. I don’t know. I just know that I’m afraid I’ll lose him, and it makes my head hurt and my heart pound just thinking about how much I love him.

in the mind of a 3 year old boy

The Incredible Hulk and Captain Hook (from Peter Pan) have melded together in E’s brain. He is now pretending to be The Terrible Hook.

and again

It looks like last night wasn’t a fluke — E peed in the potty again this morning. yea, we really may be actually going somewhere with this potty training business. finally.

getting these milestones out of the way

E peed on the potty tonight!!! I’m so encouraged. maybe this kid won’t be in diapers until he’s in college after all!! seriously, this was the first time he’s ever done it. and I’ve been putting him on the potty (much to his dismay with all the screaming and crying fits) forEVer. He immediately said, “I’m a big boy. I want underwear.” He was all sad that I said he couldn’t wear underwear to bed (he peed during bathtime, so right before bedtime). we’ll get there; it’s soooo exciting that he was pleased and really thinks he can do this now. whew! he got his green M&M and got to put a sticker on his little chart I made him (yes I’m bribing him; I don’t care; whatever works). anyway, had to share my joy. also, registered K for swimming lessons this morning. Wednesdays at 2 for the next 8 weeks. I’ve been told that really, once you teach a boy to swim, you’re pretty much done with him. So, I figure that K is toilet trained and can read and do basic math (seriously, it’s amazing what they do in Kindergarten these days) and and should be able to swim by the end of the summer. I’m almost “done” with her. E should be potty trained by the end of the summer (our goal is August 1 so he can be in preschool music camp at church). I’ve only got reading and swimming left for him. (and to brag a bit, he can spell his own name correctly at this point. we won’t dwell on the fact that K could write with a pencil and count to 100 when she was 3). anyway, really just wanted to share about the potty training actually beginning for real. yea! maybe he’ll be trained before I’m 41.

light at the end of the tunnel

oh. my. god. E pee-peed on the potty tonight. during the bath. he got out of the tub and got on the potty and peed. praise to God and Allah and all that’s holy — we might just get potty trained after all. well. one day. like maybe before my 41st birthday.

cheap playtime

I sprayed a few piles of the cheap (Barbasol) shaving cream onto the dining room table this afternoon and let the kids play in it. It works like fingerpaint, and then it virtually dries up. You should wipe it down with a wet cloth when finished. It sure was fun. E got himself covered so much that I just put him in the tub and bathed him. At least we don’t have to do a bath for him tonight!

potty training

I took E’s diaper off this morning and told him that he could poop in the potty. We endured weeping and gnashing of teeth for 35 minutes before I caved and put a diaper on him.

his imagination

E: “Mommy, on my evil phone I heared you say you have a problem. So what’s up with your problem?”
Me: “Your evil phone? I have a problem? I’m just not sure, E.”

great day

I took E to a make-your-own-pottery place this morning and did his footprints on a tile. They couldn’t find any little tiles, so I said I’d come back next week and do his handprints when I pick up the footprints. Then they called me and left a message that they had found the smaller tiles, so when K got home I took them both back over there and we did E’s hand prints and then one hand print of K’s. I’m working on having their hand and foot prints made at various times in their lives. My overall plan is to make a table one day with all the different tiles. I envision an wrought-iron table with some kind of inset where I can lay the tiles. I haven’t found the right table yet, but then again I am no where near done with making the tiles.

When we were done making the tiles, we went next door to Cold Stone for ice cream. Then we played around the outdoor fountains in the shopping center. We finished our afternoon with a trip to Target for a few things. The kids were good, and we had fun!