Potty Training

I have just finished training Alli to stop going in the house. Now I am lucky enough to start teaching Nicholas not to go all over the house. He is trying very hard to "go go" on the potty but we're not always able to make it there in time. Needless to say, I have cleaned up endless messes over the past couple of days. Today has been much more successful, though. I think the bribe to call dad at the office helped tremendously! I just hope we have seen the end of the smearing of the poop all over the walls. Hopefully by the time we arrive at Nana and Poppy's on Friday things will have greatly improved. If not, at least they will be there to help us!

Should I even write about this?

Our curious little boy has come up with a new way to say "Hey mom, my diaper needs changing!" This may make some of you gag but I am going to tell the story anyway. Nicholas has started to put his hand in his dirty diaper and decorate the walls with it. The first time I could forgive, the second time was annoying, but the third was just ridiculous! The first time I was a little nervous about upsetting him and causing him to have issues with his bowels. I have been reading too much about what happends to kids when they are potty trained but not ready. The next time I was upset and kept telling him it was disgusting and NOT to do it again. The last time I was highly upset because it was everywhere in his room. This time I yelled, something I hardly ever do, and for now it has stopped. So our next step is potty training, time to get rid of the old diapers!

Father's Day

This Father's Day, Nicholas made a T-shirt for his dad. We put his handprints on the front and wrote "World's Best Dad, Hands Down!" It is just the cutest thing I've ever seen. We took Jason out to breakfast at IHOP and then went over to Outdoor World in Orlando. Nicholas played his first arcade game. It was some type of driving game so Nicholas used the steering wheel and Jason hit the gas pedal. They were just too funny!

Summertime

Yesterday was our play group day and we brought Kailey with us. Courtney is teaching summer school so Kailey has been spending Fridays with us. Since it is so hot here, and it has finally stopped raining all day, Kristen put out a sprinkler and two kid pools. The kids had a great time swimming and spraying each other with the sprinkler. We put the slide into one of the pools and Nicholas taught all of the kids how to go down head first! The kids had watermelon for their snack and loved it! Nicholas kept going back to eat the other kids' leftovers! (Sounds like something his Uncle Markie would do, even now!) Kailey started out eating it correctly but then decided that the rind was much better! We are going to be so sad when they move in a couple of weeks. At least Jacksonville is only a car ride away instead of a plane ride!

Big Boy Bed

Yesterday we bought a brand new bed for Nicholas. It's a twin size bed with guard rails so it can one day be transformed into a bunk bed. Although it looks adorable in his room, it makes me very sad to look at it. I just can't believe that it is already time to change his room and take apart the crib! Jason and Nicholas picked out a truck comforter and sheets so the room has completely changed. Jason painted the walls a darker blue and so the bears that Nana so lovingly stenciled are gone. Every time the tears welled up in my eyes, Jason would laugh. He thinks it is great that Nicholas is growing up so fast, he can't wait to take him hunting and fishing. I can still remember Nicholas sleeping peacefully in his crib, only a week old, while Nana worked on the stencils.

Rain

Will this rain ever stop? Poor Nicholas is dying to go outside and ride his front end loader. Even his friend Kailey wasn't enough of a distraction today. Instead of having fun with her, he is grumpy and wants to be outside. Poor Kailey had every toy she picked up taken away from her. After several trips to time out, Nicholas started to give the toys back after taking them away. He even gave her a good kick in her shin. The poor girl is never going to want to come here again! If only the rain would stop and we could play outside again.

Monkeys

Nicholas' favorite book is Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Dr. Suess. When he wants us to read it to him he says "mokey, mokey" and hands it to us. He likes to repeat the little sayings like dum ditty dum ditty or whack whack whack. He just cracks us up. Part of the fun is that he has to play with Playdoh while we are reading to him. We are not allowed to touch the Playdoh, just the book. Each sitting requires us to read the book at least three times sometimes more. Since he loves the monkeys so much and they are a welcome change from the trucks, we decided to take him to the Zoo. He was so excited to see the orangatang (which we ofcourse called a monkey) that he was jumping up and down and pointing. We toured the rest of the zoo and even touched the sting rays. He loved touching the sting rays with dad like a big boy!! Anyway, when we went to the gift shop to find a monkey Nicholas wanted the orangatang instead!! I guess on the next visit we will clear up the confusion by seeing real monkeys and buying one, too!

Play Group

Almost every Friday we get together with a few moms and all the kids for a little play group. This week wasn't any different except that it has been raining here for four days straight. This might not seem like a big deal to most people, but for us Floridians it is huge. This is the land of sunshine where a quick shower refreshes our lawns and causes a few hundred car accidents. It then moves on towards the other coast leaving behind more sunshine and a perfect ending to the day. Needless to say, our little ones are feeling the effects of this weather. If the kids weren't fighting over the train then it was the cars. When the juice boxes came out the claws were flying, whose is whose? Then Nicholas was pushing and grabbing and the other kids were too. It was just chaos. All of us mothers looked at each other wondering what we had done to deserve this torture. Then a miracle happened, the rain stopped. We rushed the kids outside despite the gray sky and finished the play date relatively calmly. Where oh where is Mr. Sunshine?