At The Risk of Jinxing Myself...

I think I can finally say that we are officially POTTY TRAINED!!!!! Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (And as anyone who's been through this with a boy knows...every one of those exclamation points has been earned...LOL) And yes, I said "we" because goodness knows, this is NOT one of those things that a child does alone.


I've been wondering at what point I could "officially" say we'd crossed the finish line? At first, I thought, well, he really should be out of pull-ups completely, right? Yes, even at night, right? Then, as time went on, the bar began to lower...OK, well, what's the big deal about wearing a pull-up at night anyway? I mean, come on, heck, some nights when I'm dead tired (after making a post midnight post), and I get the urge that wakes you from a sleep you really, really need, or keeps you from getting there to begin with, I wish I was wearing a pull-up so I could avoid having to deal with getting out of bed and trudging through the cold air to the potty. Besides, I know kids that are 5 and still wearing the "safety net" pull-up to bed, and surely their parents consider them "potty trained", right? And on and on and on went the rationalizations...


So, down came the bar....well, just a little bit anyway! And I decided that success for us would be defined as the moment that I could remove ALL of the little pottys scattered throughout my house...in my kitchen (which sported a kids urinal AND a potty...oh joy) and in just about every bathroom. So, this past weekend, I plotted the final steps of this journey and planted the seed with my little guy by saying oh so nonchalantly..."I think you may be getting a little too big for those silly little pottys, don't you? I think it's time you shared JJ's bathroom...the "big boy" bathroom. What do you think?" And I held my breath and waited for the "no, I want to keep my pottys" but alas, it didn't come! Instead he sad calmly..."momma, you're right" (How often will that happen in my lifetime?)


So, the next day, in the spirit of "striking while the iron (or in this case, the potty) is hot"...out went the pottys!!!! POOF... GONE...NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN!!!!! When Jake returned from school that night, he didn't even notice that the pottys had been removed from the kitchen...at least until he ran over to the spot where they once lived and said..."ut-oh, momma, I have to go potty and my pottys are lost"...Though I was tempted to repeat our prior conversation, something told me that brevity was my best bet at this point and I simply pointed to the "big boy" bathroom and off he went. And there's been no looking back since!!! Of course, JJ just loves the fact that Jake now feels he's an equal owner of the big boy bathroom and it certainly makes for interesting conversation between the two...LOL


Jake's been doing really well in his new class in school. They were going to give him a month to see how he would adjust before making it permanent, but he's already giving the other kids and his teachers a run for their money. It's kind of funny, because anyone who works with him at school and even our new babysitter, Melanie (Mel), all say the same exact thing...wow, he's just so smart. Of course, I always love hearing that...though some small part of me wonders how it will be to raise a kid who's smarter than me...LOL It's bad enough that they usually THINK that they're smarter than you...in this case though, he'll be right AND he'll be smart enough to know he's right...LOL Hopefully, I'll be given a larger allowance of those little "mommy lies" to help me make it through.


Speaking of school, we did have two little incidents last week that the teacher brought to my attention. Seems Jake had a little altercation with one of the other kids, a girl no less. The first time, the teacher told us that he was "squeezing her face" and that she moved this little girl to another table (they had been working at the same table) and that Jake went over and found her and did the same thing again. After which, she had a little sit down with him and he snapped back into line. The next day when I arrived to pick him up, she said that he had pushed this little girl off of her chair. This time, she had a little chat with both of them and he apologized and gave her a hug to say he was sorry.

The next day, I was afraid of what I would hear when I picked him up. As the teacher approached I cringed and she actually laughed out loud because she could tell I was worried about what she was going to report. But this time she said that she finally figured out what was going on and that Jake just really liked this little girl but didn't know the "appropriate" way to approach her. So, she brought them together first thing in the morning, formally introduced them (he has 25 kids in his class and he doesn't know all of them yet) and gave them a project to work on together. She said he was thrilled and worked really well with her and that she didn't expect any further trouble. Although I was admittedly relieved to hear that she figured out what was going on, it obviously means we'll need to work on our boy's approach to women...LOL Obviously, pushing them out of chairs and squeezing their faces won't get him too far...which may not be a bad thing during the teenage years, when I'd like for him to not get too far at all. So much for our ladies man...

Since Christmas, Jake has grown another 3/4th of an inch. That makes almost 2 inches since Thanksgiving...which, ironically, was just about the time I purchase a gazillion 3T pants...uggh. The growth spurt combined with the new "no pull-up" look (which means the crotch on his pants can now come up a little higher and makes the legs even shorter) means that almost all of those pants are just about to be too short on him. And to think, my mother still counts each and every thing he eats all day long to ensure that she gets enough calories/nutrition in him...somehow I doubt that's necessary any longer! With the addition of those 2 inches, he's now 3 1/2 feet tall!! And he weighs in at about 35 pounds. At age 3...oh my!

These days it's actually possible to have a conversation with Jake. It usually takes everything I have not to laugh because he frequently uses a wrong word in the middle of a sentence which totally changes the meaning of what he's trying to say, even though I know exactly what he's saying...it can be sooo cute. I've come to realize that there are a few words that he's a little confused about, one being the word "fired". When I want him to hurry along and get into the car or his carseat or jacket or any of the other thousands of steps it takes to get him up, dressed, fed, in the car and to school, he'll always ask why I'm rushing him and I usually say something like "We have to hurry along because I have to go to work and if I'm late my boss is going to fire me". Well, the other day, he told me that my boss was mean and that he didn't like him. This came as quite a surprise to me, since he's never met him and I certainly have never said anything bad about him in front of Jake. After asking a few questions, I came to find out that Jake thinks the word "fired" means that somebody burns you with a fire. Ahhh, mystery solved! Who could like someone who sets your mommy on fire, eh? Needless to say, I don't say that anymore...LOL

Well, that's all for now. Just getting over whooping cough and I need to get some sleep!

p.s. Lines of the week...

Jake: "Momma, why do you have to go to work?" Me: "Because we need money to pay for all of the things we like and to get that money, mommy has to work" Jake: "What if I give back all of my toys, could you stay home with me then?"

JJ, Jake and I were sitting at the table eating pizza one night...when Jakey asked JJ to cut his pizza into 2 smaller slices. JJ: "Jakey, what if I cut them each in two again, how many would you have?" Jakey: "I'd have 4 slices" JJ: "What if I cut them again?" Jakey: "Silly JJ, I'd have 8 then!" JJ: "Holy crap, he's right!"

While I was observing Jake's class one morning (when I was supposed to be at work)...another child about 5 walked past Jake and asked him what time it was...to which he replied, "it's quarter to 9" (OK, admittedly, I was amazed at that response, especially since he was right) The other child stood there with a confused look on his face as he obviously had no clue what that meant. Jake, noticing this look, said ... you have 15 minutes more to play before circle time. I shook my head all the way to work...

Yet Another Telltale Sign That My Baby Is Growing Up...

Just a short post here because it's LATE...but I just couldn't let the day go by without marking a wonderful accomplishment for my not so little, little guy. Today was Jake's first day back at his Montessori school after being off with his mommy and nanny for close to 2 weeks. After a tiny bit of fussing, and deciding that he would rather go to school than stay home alone with Fritz and Quincey, we were on our way (Nanny and I tell him a little white lie about her having to go to work on Tuesdays, so he doesn't think there's an option that he can stay home with her...yes, yes, yet another little mommy white lie).

When we arrived at the school, I naively walked him into the Stepping Stones classroom where he's been since last Sept. About three steps into the room, his teacher, Mrs. Fedora, looked up at us with a very perplexed expression. She then proceeded to say "good morning" and point us right back out the door. To my utter disbelief, over the break, they decided that Jake WAS ready to move up to the primary classroom (where the kids are anywhere from 3 to 6 years old). I was shocked, but trying not to make a big deal of this whole surprise, lest I panic Jake.

Well, it turns out that he was MUCH more prepared than I was for this transition!!! He did a complete 180 degree turn, walked down the hallway to the entrance to the "big boy" classrooms and looked back at me like "are you coming, Mom, or what?" I was trying to give him my best "sure, heck, I'm coming" look...until I realized that my legs were not moving...LOL All I could think of was...hey, where was my little transition meeting? Sure, he went and visited the other classroom before the break, but what about easing mommy into this who new thing??

He must have sensed what was going through my mind...not to mention that I was standing there like a dope (LOL)...So, being the trooper that he is, he came back to get me, took my hand and said "we have to go this way, mommy". We approached the entrance to the hallway leading to the "big boy" classrooms, and it was there that I was stopped abruptly by the office lady, Mrs. McDaniels. I must have had quite a panicked look on my face, because she proceeded to tell me that normally, parents are NOT allowed to walk their children to their classrooms, but since it was his first day, she would let me accompany him there to make sure he was comfortable and ok. (I think we both knew that what she was really thinking was that this would hopefully alleviate any possibility that I would either pass out right there, create a big scene, and ultimately screw up drop off for all of the other kids and parents OR pick her up and throw her out of my way...LOL)

So, Jake and I took that long walk down the hallway, passing four (or so) other classrooms until we got to the last one, The Jacques Cousteau room (heck it couldn't be a name that I could easily spell?). I stood there frozen, holding his backpack and nap bag in my hands staring into this BIG, HUGE, classroom full of what seemed like thousands of cool, intellectually stimulating kid things and a LOT of other kids...most of whom looked WAY older than my baby boy (though not necessarily bigger). And for just one brief moment, I thought about scooping him up into my arms and taking him back to the little classroom with the rocking chair and all of his other little friends. Right at that tenuous moment, a cute little girl came running over and said "Jake, we've been waiting for you to come and join our classroom!!" She took his hand and with only a stolen kiss on the head (and no hug) off he went into the world of "big boys"...

His teacher noticed me standing there, again I can just imagine the expression on my face and how pale I must have looked (I forgot to put on blush before leaving the house, so holy cow, I had to be way scary), and she walked over, put her hand on my shoulder, told me she would take really, really wonderful care of my son, took the nap bag and his backpack from me and told me to have a nice day. HAVE A NICE DAY?!?!?! I felt like saying...Hey, I'm staying right here...you don't really expect me to leave him here, do you? Which, I'm sure is WHY they have the "parents can't walk their kids to the classroom policy" to begin with! And then, she shut the door and there I stood, all alone in the hallway...a world away from my little baby boy turned "big boy".

I tried my best to be brave and headed back to the car. Even got in and started it, well, momentarily any way. And spent the next few minutes convincing myself that the people I was supposed to meet with at 9:30 (at work) were basically idiots and that it was waayyyy more important to ensure he was ok on this very important day. Car off, door open, back into the school, past the office lady guarding the door (she knew better than to try to stop me) and back down the hall. Luckily, this school has one way glass outside each classroom, so I was able to watch him without him knowing I was there (and I say this not because I was worried that he would run to me, but more because I worried he would be embarrassed that his mommy was having separation issues...LOL).

Needless to say, he was doing GREAT!!! He had taken his own coat off, hung it on his hook, put his nap bag where it goes and his backpack and was now sitting in "circle" next to his friend Paulie (a child he got to know in afterschool care...ironically, the son of his former teacher). The teacher was reading a book to the class about animals and asking them to act things out with her and he was SUCH a part of the whole little group that you would have NEVER known that this was his first day (unlike his mom...who you could spot as a primary class parent newbie from a mile away). He was AMAZING!! So confident, answering questions, listening quietly, taking his turn...I could NOT have been prouder!!! After a few minutes (ok, more like 20), I made my way back to car and even managed to get myself to work.

Nanny picked him up at about noon (he has half days on Mon and Tues) and he proudly told her that he had even gone to the potty by himself. And hey, this is no small feat, either!! The pottys are not in any room off of his classroom (like the old room), he has to go back down that hall, out to the main hallway and across from the office to the boys room to go...BY HIMSELF!!! He said he did it twice, and when I heard this, all I could think was WOW!!!!!

I have a feeling we're all going to be given a run for our money now...the class will be learning the continents, states, the sign language alphabet and all kinds of other things I have NO idea about. And they still predict he'll be reading in just another few months...which, anyone who has ridden in a car with him lately can tell you, is getting easier to believe...he reads ALL of the road signs now...CAUTION, NO TURNS, No stopping or standing, Speed Limit signs, Do Not Enter, you name it! At 3!!! It scares me to even think what he'll be doing at 4?? Binomial equations?

Only one new picture to post tonight...one of the very best surprises for my birthday (which was the 5th) was a picture sent from our girl, Smidgie (aka Jo-Jo, Jordan, Smidge). How darn cute is she?? Especially love the bedhead!!! LOL

Hope everyone has an amazing week...we're certainly off to a great start!