Progress on the Potty

While Noah is not yet "potty trained" he has made some significant advancements. First, the number of messes has dramatically decreased. The really good news, though, is that twice today he was "caught" in the bathroom trying to take his underwear off and get on the potty. That is two times that he knew he had to go and didn't wait to be taken.

What I think is so humorous is the difference between Mihaela and Noah. Mihaela asks permission to do everything. Even stuff she is always allowed to do (like go to the bathroom), she seeks approval first. While she potty trained very easily, we would never have caught her trying to go. She would've asked to be taken. Noah, on the other hand, doesn't ask permission to do anything, even stuff he knows he should. He just gets it in his mind to do it, and off he goes.

The Mom Song (set to the William Tell Overture)

This is very, very funny. I heard many of these growing up.

Noah and books

Noah has picked up "reading" this week. He has never been one to sit still and let you read to him. He has basically ignored books. This is such a sharp contrast from Mihaela who loves book. She takes books everywhere. We have had to limit her to only 3 books in her bed at any one time because she would slowly collect an entire library of books in her bed.

However, as we have been potty training with Noah (who doesn't really have accidents as long as we take him potty, but has yet to tell us he needs to go) we have been reading to him while he has sat on the toilet. It seems to have sparked an interest in books. He now will bring books to me to read to him. He has decided to let me read him a good night story and this evening he actually took a book to bed with him...and was "reading" it when I shut the door.

Now, the books still have to be short and you have to do lots of interaction with him (where is the tree? Let's count the berries. etc...). But it is such a vast improvement. By the way, speaking of counting the berries. He does count to ten. Its thick, but he has the rhythm and sounds of counting down.

I Like Mushrooms

For the past week or so Mihaela (our 3 1/2 year old) has been announcing at odd times that she likes mushrooms. While Erin and I found it weird, we really didn't find it too odd because she is ALWAYS telling us what things she likes, doesn't like and what her favorite X is. This is just part of her growing up and developing. Also, mushrooms are a staple in our house. Erin and I eat mushrooms in almost everything. You then consider that Mihaela has uncommon eating habits for a 3 year old (she eats Applebees wings and celery) it really isn't surprising that she would like mushrooms, although neither of us really have given her any.

Yesterday when she woke up from her rest she asked for a snack. I told her sure and asked her what she wanted. She went to the cupboard, opened it up and examined its contents. Not discovering anything that "suited her fancy" she said, "I want mushrooms for snack. I like mushrooms." I told her we were out of mushrooms right then and she said, "No we're not. We have some." I said, "oh...we do....where are they?"

She pointed to another cabinet situated above the counter. Now, we don't keep our mushrooms in the cupboards, they go in brown paper bags in the fridge. So, I open the cupboard and ask her point to the mushrooms, thinking she will point to a can of mushrooms. She says, "They are right there, on top of the popcorn." I look on top of the popcorn to find, not mushrooms, but MARSHMALLOWS.

Now that makes sense.

Are you dead, mon?

I am not dead and everybody in the immediate family is OK. I don't think I've ever neglected this blog for so long. So, let me give you a few pitiful excuses of why I took September off.

1. My wife's father has continued to struggle with cancer. In Sept. he was rushed back to the hospital because he couldn't breathe. He has been having radiation treatments and Erin has put a lot of time over at her parent's house spending time with her dad and comforting her mom.
   


2. I had two 5 day/4 night trips. One week I went to NYC for my organization's Annual Conference. I spoke at two of the sessions and spent a lot of time preparing for those in the first couple of weeks of Sept.


3. Another week my boss and I traveled to Orlando to provide training to BETA testers of the application that we are about to release. Preparing for this dominated my time the second half of the month.


4. We are releasing a web application that we have been coding since January to out BETA testers in mid-October. Anytime you are nearing a deadline, you seem to just enrapture yourself in the code, trying to finish up all those little details and get things working exactly right.


5. I've started reading again. My big hobby and passion is reading Sci Fi/Fantasy books. For the longest time I just haven't read because reading is like a drug to me. When I pick up a book, I can't put it down. When I was going on my trips, I knew I would need airport/airplane reading material. Since Sept. 9 I have read:
   
   
   • Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb (Book 1 of Soldier Son Trilogy)
   
   
   • Forest Mage by Robin Hobb (Book 2 of Soldier Son Trilogy)
   
   
   • The Eye of The World by Robert Jordan (Book 1 of the Wheel of Time Series) (I'm rereading the entire series because it has been a long time since I read it. Two days after I decided to reread the series, Robert Jordan passed away.)
   
   
   • The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan (Book 2 of the Wheel of Time Series)
     
   
   
6. Finally, I just haven't been interested enough in any news stories lately to comment on them. It is too early to be excited about the Presidential run. And all the news stories just seem so overblown. Maybe I am just becoming to moderate in my old age. It just doesn't seem like there is really anything happening to get one's feathers all in a ruffle.

Let me take a few moments and update you on the children. Mihaela is 3 1/2 now and precocious as ever. She seems very grown up for a preschooler.

Noah will be 2 1/2 next month and still is not talking quite the way we would like. He is getting better, but his words are very "thick" and he is only using one word to convey entire meanings. If this Language Development Chart is accurate, he is about 9 months behind where he should be. We are going to be having his hearing checked very soon to see if that is an issue. He is in the process of being potty trained. We started last week with the "Naked & $75" potty training method and are having a modicum of success.

Lannom just recently has his 6 month check up and is doing well. He is 15 lb 5 oz. He is working hard to crawl. He is up on his hands and knees and rocking back forth. He likes vegetables, but is not a big fan of fruit. He only likes Rice cereal; he can't stand oatmeal. We are holding off on introduction wheat into his diet right now.