[Scene:Â Liam is sitting in my lap reading me Goodnight Moon for the 5th time in a 15 minute period.]
Liam: This looks like a real page-turner! Hmmm, I wonder what this is about?
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Neither Matt nor I have any idea where he could have learned this phrase — but it’s pretty hilarious when it spontaneously comes out of the mouth of a 2.5 year old.
Below you should see a video of Liam singing the theme song to Barney:
Lyrics:
I love you
You love me
We’re a happy family
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you
Won’t you say you love me, too
This week has been more of the same: more exhaustion, more sleepless nights, more aches, more weight gain, and much more peeing. This train is barreling towards the station at 1,000 mph and we still can’t get there fast enough for my taste. On with the pictures…
Week 29 in my pregnancy with Liam (Lesson learned: If you’re going to wear horizontal stripes while pregnant (especially on the lower half of your body) never, never, NEVER, have your picture taken while doing so. Also — I’m totally jealous of the fact that I could wear long-sleeves at this point during my last pregnancy.):
Week 29 during my pregnancy with Baby Girl (I felt like there’d been a major increase in size between this week and last week and I think that these pictures show that quite nicely. Also apparent: the amount of sleep deprivation I’ve been experiencing. By the time I finally give birth my eyes will be little more than tiny slits almost completely obscured by puffy bags and face fat. I can’t wait to meet this little one and take my body back for myself!):
This party’s over, fellas.
After our first day of employing the “naked time” potty training method, I’d call it a raving success. We’ll see what tomorrow holds — there’s still a lot of ground to cover — but I was terrified about today and all in all, things went very very well. Here are the stats from today:
Successfully peed in the potty: 8
Successfully pooped in the potty:Â 1
Accidents: 1
Accident to alerting parental unit ratio:Â 1:1
Peed in the potty after sitting down without prompting:Â 1
Peed in the potty after being placed there, but seemingly on cue:Â 1
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Here are some pictures from the day (after all — there isn’t much cuter than a bare two-year-old hiney):
“Whatchoo lookin’ at, Mama?”
“What? You mean other kids potty train without a weeble village on hand?”
Bare-bummed scootering:
This is what caramelizing onions looks like when you’re 29 weeks pregnant and have spent the entire day being hyper-vigilant about someone else’s bodily functions:
Fingers crossed that tomorrow goes just as smoothly!
[Scene:Â Liam and Matt are getting ready to go outside to sweep the back deck.]
Matt:Â Do you need any sunscreen on your penis?
Liam: Ummmm, no. I don’t think so.
This morning we started making our first major attempt at potty training. Liam went naked from the waist down all morning and the count thus far is encouraging:
Successfully peed in the potty:Â 5
Successfully pooped in the potty:Â 1
Accidents: 1
Accident to alerting parental unit ratio:Â 1:1
Peed in the potty after sitting down without prompting:Â 1
We’re also learning things about Liam. For example — he’s not a fan of pooping when anyone is looking at him. Matt and I both thought that this would result in him waiting to poop until we put him in a diaper for his nap or for the night (especially since he asked for a pull-up this morning when he clearly needed to relieve himself). We were pleasantly surprised when I asked him if he needed to poop (since he was clearly uncomfortable and holding his bum) and when I put him on the potty he instructed me to go into the hallway. I suspected that what he wanted was for me not to talk to or look at him (since for months when he goes in his diaper the only way to know that it’s happening is that he is out of my sight line and completely silent — and silence is not a natural state for him at any other point), so I took the chance to go to the bathroom myself and then check my e-mail, making sure to only shoot undetected sidelong glances in his direction. A few minutes later he called out to tell me that he had pooped in the potty and was all ready to get up. I was a bit skeptical since I hadn’t heard anything from him, but lo and behold the boy had done it!
All in all, I think the morning has gone pretty well. Fingers crossed that we keep making progress as the weekend wears on…
[Scene:Â Liam is sitting, naked from the waist down, on the couch (which is covered with towels as a precaution) reading art books with Matt.]
Liam:Â “I’m’a sit here on the bed with Monet and the penis.”
This morning we took advantage of the cool(er) temperatures (meaning that it was bearable, although still hot enough that I could have wrung my clothes out afterward) and headed to the Gardens. We spent two hours wandering according to Liam’s druthers (which surprisingly did not include any time in the flower fountain, despite my intricate preparations for just such an occasion). Here are some pictures from the morning:
This was my view of Liam for most of the morning:
Smile?
Again?
Contemplating a swim:
“That’s very clever Epicurus, but what I really want to know is how to work this thing…”
Hidey-hole:
“Reading” me the sign:
Favorite manhole cover:
“Reading” me the recipe:
During a brief respite from all the running I got the chance to take my favorite series of pictures from the day. I’ll let them speak for themselves.
And, he’s off (again)!
Reading with Mr. Froggie:
Living dangerously:
Intently checking out the dew-covered spider webs:
Closer inspection:
Hanging out in Peter Rabbit’s den:
Strengthening his core:
“You comin’ Mama?”
I never did figure out what was happening here:
Favorite benches:
Sheer concentration:
Success!
And then it was time for a nap, for both of us.
On Sunday Liam and Matt took advantage of our designated water-use day and washed the cars. It was hard to get good pictures because Liam’s propensity to sling, spray, or splash water my (and the camera’s) way kept me a bit further from the action. Here are a few of the shots I got:
Reporting for duty:
Approximately two seconds after spying the sprayer:
Matt realizes that an immediate tactical change is necessary:
Liam happily shows off his sprayer skills:
Properly preparing his instrument:
Helping Dad:
Showing off:
Time for a rinse-off:
Thoroughly enjoying his rinse-off:
Our little leprechaun:
He’s definitely our pot of gold:
Moving on to work on the van (and losing his britches in the process):
I’m ready:
The lovers, the dreamers, and Liam:
After the inevitable demise of his shorts:
After the inevitable demise of his clothes:
It was great fun and reminded us just how happy we are to be out of the drought!
Today we went to Gran and Granddaddy’s house to celebrate Granddaddy’s 62nd and Greatdaddy’s 85th birthdays. Here are some pictures from the afternoon:
Liam reads a book about his favorite subject:
Rocking with Courderoy:
Golf balls!
“Helping” Greatdaddy with the present opening:
Granddaddy just thinks he’s going to get a look at his present…
Birdbooking with Greatdaddy:
“Hey Liam, do you know what that is?”
“GO JACKETS!”
I’m honestly not sure what was happening here, but it was definitely a keeper:
Off to pick Gran’s blueberries:
Pay no attention to the woman behind the bush…
The End.