Guess who's coming to dinner?

Had a hard time getting Zac motivated for school today.  They are building a new Fred Meyer behind our house, he really just wanted to watch the "confucktion site" to see "W'at dumb fuck doin?" (translation: Construction site - what dump truck doing).  I put on my best excited voice and said "DO YOU KNOW WHO'S GOING TO BE AT SCHOOL TODAY?"

It's true, it's Friday, and good things happen on Friday's.  There's dance class, for one thing.  There's a couple of children who are not there other days of the week, not to mention his beloved teachers.  I honestly expected a logical answer from my two year old.

His eyes lit up, and he said "SANTA?!?!?!"

He's developed a cute way of saying no, it's a "I'm just joshin' ya," sort of "naaaaaaw" no.  He answered his own question about Santa with a "NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW."

He thought for a second.  "BARACK OBAMA?!?!?!?!?!"

"NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW." Not Barack Obama.

He thought a little more. "MAMA! Is it GRANDMA?!?!?"

I feel like a total jerk for being the one to have to tell him it's not Grandma, either.  It's just the same people you see every day.  Maybe I can make up for the Grandma disappointment by taking him to the pediatrician this afternoon.

Speaking of snuggling.....

I read this on the scary mommy blog this morning - it sort of sums it up.

My husband has told me time and time again to cut the cord… no f*****g way! I’m waiting until that thing rots and falls off. I mean, for how much longer is he going to say “I love you” when he walks out the door, or hug me in front of his friends, or ask me to lie with him at night? Frankly, I don’t know, but I won’t be the one to stop it.

If he’s 40 and wants me to lie with him and scratch his arm, I’ll be all “Move over, Megan,” or whatever his unappreciative, son-stealing wife’s name is.

Holding hands with my boy
 

Songs my mama sang me

Tonight's bedtime was spectacularly better than last nights, but still a bit off-routine from what has become the norm. We had a busy morning at Seattle's Pacific Science Center, then a late nap, late dinner, late bath all added up to tears when we put him into his crib.

"No! No! Need mama! Need Mama snuggle on couch!" He cried, the tears were barely contained by his long lashes. He reached for me. "need Mama! NEED MAAAAAAMAAAAAA!"

We snuggled for about an hour, talking softly and singing songs. He picked his favorite stuffed bear, Poppy, and let out a sigh of content. His eyes were droopy.

"Mama snuggle Thackie. Thackie snuggle Poppy."

He fell asleep with me singing "Shenandoah" to him. I keep saying I want to record a cd of songs I sing to him regularly, included the silly ones we've made up together. I want to call it "songs my mama sang me". Many are unique to me and Zac, but many are songs my mama sang me, too.

If I ever DO this, I believe we took the album cover photo today. We found a giant acoustic guitar, and climbed in it.
















Sweet dreams, my son.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:NW 85th St,Seattle,United States

Potty Training

Zac has become very interested in the potty.  He's asks to sit on the potty, and tells me when he needs a diaper change.  We've had multiple success with getting to the potty in time to urinate, no pooping yet.  In Zac's world, everything that happens in his diaper is poop. 

A few weeks ago, he asked me about underpants.

"Thackie got underpants, mama?" He asked.

"Do you want underpants, buddy?" I replied.

"YEAH! Underpants" He gave me his best big boy grin, so enthusiastic!

"What will you do with underpants?" I was honestly curious how much he knows about the whole potty thing.

"No pooping mama.  Underpants not for pooping.  Diapers for pooping."  He was really serious in his reply, like he's got it all figured out.

Santa brought Zac 14 pairs of underpants for Christmas - 7 cars themed, 7 Thomas themed. He immediately went from being a toddler to being a college student, and promptly put a pair on his head.

A week or so ago, I got a wake up in the middle of the night over the monitor.

"Mama! MAMA! I POOPED OUT MY PENIS! MAMA! MY JAMMIES WET! Maaaaaaaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaaa!" he called out.

When I got upstairs, he was standing in his crib, pulling his wet jammies away from his body.  I asked him what happened. 

"I POOPED.  OUT MY PENIS. Change diaper, Mama?"

While getting him changed, I talked about pooping and peeing, and how pee is just wet, while poop is smushy.  I didn't go into which body parts make what happen, but I did tell him we had much bigger problems if he'd actually pooped from his penis.
Over the weekend, he had over 2 hours of time in underpants with no accidents (no using the potty, but no accidents, either).  What I don't know about potty training would fill a book, but I'm pretty sure his awareness of what has happened and what is needed means a step in the right direction toward diaper freedom.

Bath night

Z has started tucking his fork away in his shirt when he wants both hands free during a meal. It's both practical and weird.

Tonight, he insisted on sitting on his potty, completely naked except for a blue tube sock on his right foot, and a penguin themed slap bracelet of his left wrist. He then took his keyboard and balanced it on his lap, like only a little rocker who's currently sitting on the toilet can, and proceeded to play and sing into the microphone. He was attempting to sing "row row row your boat" (which he calls "whoa whoa"), but he kept getting lost in other modes of transportation. My favorite was "whoa whoa whoa whoa twain"

Once his creative muse had left him, he handed me the keyboard and barked an order. "Mama sing! Mama whoa whoa,", hopped up off the toilet and ran into the bathroom for his bath.

Brings new meaning to the phrase "rock out with your cock out"
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Merry (belated) Christmas!

Also, this.  Because I can.  And because he's just SO STINKING CUTE!!!!!!!  It seems the reality of Santa's "naughty list" hit home while sitting on Santa's lap.

Aquarium Trip

Over the Christmas break, we took Zac to the aquarium.  It's small enough that it's easy to see everything, and big enough a two year old can get a good run on, just in time to tire him out for a nap.  He really liked the otters, the seahorses and "Nemo".

Literally, nose to the glass, watching "Nemo"

He was decked out in his Ohio State track suit, a Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa.  When we stopped to get our tickets, the lady at the counter said "OK, two adults and one little buckeye".

We stopped in the gift shop on the way out (cleverly, the most direct way out of the aquarium is through the gift shop.  "Know your audience" - it's the first rule of stand-up, and apparently the first rule of public attractions, too.)  After a fair amount of deliberation, Zac picked out a stuffed spotted baby seal as his new friend to take home.

After lunch, we were driving home, and he started with the questions.

"People make 'dat?", he asked, holding up his seal.

"Yep, a nice Chinese lady made that," Mark told Zac.

"China lady make 'dat?" Zac repeated.

He spent the rest of the afternoon asking about various things in the house - "China lady make 'dat?", "China lady make 'dis?"

Our little sponge continues to soak things in at a rapid pace. I just hope he's not at childcare asking "China lady make 'dat?" at this exact moment.