We just completed our third drive up to Northern California, making it the fifth time that Jameson has been subjected to the 6 or so hour drive between us and our families. On all but one of the legs he has held up very well. The only bump in the road (metaphorically of course) was the return trip from Benicia and the DuPertuis family Christmas, but to be fair he could hardly be blamed for being grumpy. That day he was very excited to play with relatives at his great aunt's house, but the excitement mad an afternoon nap an impossibility. We left there just before five and a quick nap began immediately when we got on the road. This, we both knew, had no chance of being a good thing. After an hour nap he woke up and for a couple hours was fine, but when bedtime rolled around sleeping was the last thing on his mind. As it got later he got crankier and he let us know this by crying non-stop for 2 solid hours. He did finally fall asleep, but that was when we were about 15 minutes from home.
On our third trip we were joined by Papa, who gladly accepted his role as navigator and chief Jameson gofer. We stopped off in Merced to have lunch with Oma and Opapa who were more than happy to trade some lunch to the hungry travelers for the opportunity to spend time with their great grandchild. When we get the 4 generations of DuPertuis men together it gives Jameson an good chance to get a look at his future receding hairline in 30 year increments. Poor guy...maybe the strong Helbig hairline will be able to take precedence.
While in Elk Grove we spent some good quality time with Papa. We did the normal duck feeding, played some disc golf and made a trip to the mountains in search of snow. We didn't find much snow, but we did have a nice lunch on the rocky shores of Loon Lake where we (mostly Jameson) enjoyed throwing rocks into the water and watching the splash. This was the second year in a row that we were able to spend the week leading up to Christmas up there and it was especially nice this year, as we were able to help keep Papa busy leading up to his surgery.
The week led us into Christmas in Elk Grove. This was the first year that we really got Jameson any presents. We prepped him in the month leading up to Christmas by telling him about Santa Claus and introducing him to the elf on the shelf. He seemed to get that there would be presents and that Santa Claus wanted him to be nice (although he often confused the nice for naughty when asked which one he was supposed to be) but I'm not sure that he really got the concept. On Christmas morning we took him downstairs together and showed him the gift that had been left under the tree for him, a Cars II themed track with a remote control Finn McMissile car. He seemed to really enjoy it and spent lots of time playing with it. After about 1/2 hour we took him into the other room for stockings. This was a concept that he was not prepared for at all and I think he enjoyed the most. He would periodically throughout the day, and for a couple of days after, ask if we could check in his stocking again to see if there were any more presents in there that we hadn't gotten to the first time.
Jameson also got to spend some good time playing with his cousin Madison, and the two played great together. The fact that they are the same age is great! One night when he was having trouble getting to sleep I went upstairs to try and calm him down. We talked a little and he had some water. I went to put him down and he grabbed a teddy bear and thinking it was another stuffed toy he asked me "Is that Dumbo?" I informed him that it wasn't, to his clear disappointment. I located the Dumbo and gave it to him, to which he responded with the question once again "Is that Dumbo?". I don't know why, but that cracked me up. The idea that he had no way of knowing which stuffed animal was which, but regardless it was imperative that he was able to locate Dumbo before he could comfortably get to sleep.
It was a great Christmas and I have a feeling that when the holiday season rolls around next year he is going to be extra excited now that he has a better concept of all that is in store.
I feel like I'm having trouble these days singling out the cute things that he does. It is entirely possible that it is because he does so many things that crack me up that I can't single out specific ones, or it could just be that I'm getting older and having trouble remembering things these days. It does crack me up the random things that he spouts out from time to time that he remembers from way back. For example tonight on the way home from daycare he reminded me "we don't throw balls in fireworks. okay?" This was a recollection that he was having from a conversation that we had a month ago when we were preparing to watch the holiday fireworks in Manhattan Beach. While explaining fireworks I asked him if he knew what fireworks were and he guessed "we throw balls in them." In informed him that no "we don't throw balls in fireworks". Now a month later he feels the need to remind me of a directive/rule that I don't think I ever would have even imagine would even need to exist. I do also find it hilarious that he likes to punctuate many of his instructions to us with the question "Okay?" The way he says it is priceless.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
A quick update
My poor blog has been sitting neglected for over three months now, I can assure you however that the little boogerachi has not been subjected to this same neglect. My excuse is being busy and the fact that time flies, but I must remind myself that the time flying is actually the most important reason to write this blog and not an excuse not to.
One thing that we've done since last update is to purchase annual passes to Disneyland for the family. The decision was spurred by a trip that Pappa and Grandma made, for us to take Jameson for his first time. When looking at the numbers Sydney and I decided that we could make the passes worth while after 4 days at the park. Jameson and I just had our 4th on Friday, when his daycare was closed for Veterans day. The decision has been a hit! Favorite rides so far are the Tea Cups, Toon town roller coaster and the flying Dumbos. Of course there is the ride named after one of his favorite stars, Buzz Lightyear. When you ask Jameson what Buzz Lightyear says he answers "Fee nee nee AND BEYOND" (his version of the catch phrase "To Infinity and Beyond) with a strong emphasis on the "Beyond". In fact sometimes when you ask him what Buzz says he skips the Infinity part all together and just shouts "Beyond!". This past trip was the first time that we tried a roller coaster. It was a small roller coaster designed for the small kids and lasts only 20 or 30 seconds. While riding Jameson looked a bit concerned to me, but afterwards he was very excited about it and continued to talk about the roller coaster for the rest of the day wanting to go again. In fact when we were at California Adventure later on in the day he kept pointing to the big roller coaster "California Screamin'" and asking if we could go on it. We haven't gotten to go on Pirates of the Caribbean yet because it has been closed each time we've gone. Last time I thought that it would be open so we went there first thing only to be greeted by the sign telling us it was closed. So I explained to him that "The Pirates are closed". He seemed to understand, repeating back to me "Pirates are closed". The funny part is that now he likes to randomly turn to me and say "Pirates are closed daddy". Of course he's right.
He seems to have no fear of any of the rides that we've gone on so far (including the haunted house), but while we were there I was reminded that he does have a couple of fears that seem funny to me. First and foremost, he is terrified of air hand dryers in restrooms. Every time we are in any public place and we go to a restroom before we even get through the door he is already saying to me "We're not going to use the hand dryer Daddy". In fact he usually starts saying it as soon as he knows that we're even looking for a bathroom. He is also terrified of electric drills and screwdrivers. They send him screaming away. I'm not quite sure how to let him know that these are not things that he has to be scared of, but I'm sure like his fear of grass as a baby these fears will also dissipate with time.
He is also very into the word "Not" these days. He doesn't say it in a mean or emphatic way, but he uses it in very strange context and is almost always wrong in how he uses it. For example if we are walking through a parking lot to my car he will say, "We're NOT going to daddy's car", or when he's laid down on the changing table he'll inform me that "We're NOT going to change my diaper". This has been going on for at least a month and I still can't decide if he is trying to mildly protest the actions that we are taking or if he just really doesn't know what the word "Not" means. Each time that he says it I correct him saying "No, we ARE going to daddy's car" and that is usually the end of it. But then I worry that he thinks because the statement starts with "No" that this somehow confuses him.
This past weekend we visited Sydney's family up in Oakland. We prepped Jameson in the couple days leading up to the trip by teaching him to throw both hands in the air and shout "Road Trip!" He begrudgingly would do it, but it was clear that he knew this was not the normal way to prep for a drive and that we were just trying to get him to be silly with us. He loves to be silly, but he seems to get very shy and embarrassed if he thinks that we are laughing at something that he does that is cute. While we were in Oakland he really loved playing with his cousins Charlotte, Julia and "Baby Austy", and all of the new toys (especially the trampoline). We had a great visit and really enjoyed our time.
Often times I find that with Jameson I show my affection for him by reaching out and mussing his hair, whether its as we're walking along or sitting on the couch or in some other situation. The other day when we were sitting on the couch watching TV (which with Jameson is guaranteed to be one of 3 shows: Toy Story, Cars or Sesame street) and without even looking over at me he reached out and started petting my head. It cracked me up and warmed my heart at the same time.
One thing that we've done since last update is to purchase annual passes to Disneyland for the family. The decision was spurred by a trip that Pappa and Grandma made, for us to take Jameson for his first time. When looking at the numbers Sydney and I decided that we could make the passes worth while after 4 days at the park. Jameson and I just had our 4th on Friday, when his daycare was closed for Veterans day. The decision has been a hit! Favorite rides so far are the Tea Cups, Toon town roller coaster and the flying Dumbos. Of course there is the ride named after one of his favorite stars, Buzz Lightyear. When you ask Jameson what Buzz Lightyear says he answers "Fee nee nee AND BEYOND" (his version of the catch phrase "To Infinity and Beyond) with a strong emphasis on the "Beyond". In fact sometimes when you ask him what Buzz says he skips the Infinity part all together and just shouts "Beyond!". This past trip was the first time that we tried a roller coaster. It was a small roller coaster designed for the small kids and lasts only 20 or 30 seconds. While riding Jameson looked a bit concerned to me, but afterwards he was very excited about it and continued to talk about the roller coaster for the rest of the day wanting to go again. In fact when we were at California Adventure later on in the day he kept pointing to the big roller coaster "California Screamin'" and asking if we could go on it. We haven't gotten to go on Pirates of the Caribbean yet because it has been closed each time we've gone. Last time I thought that it would be open so we went there first thing only to be greeted by the sign telling us it was closed. So I explained to him that "The Pirates are closed". He seemed to understand, repeating back to me "Pirates are closed". The funny part is that now he likes to randomly turn to me and say "Pirates are closed daddy". Of course he's right.
He seems to have no fear of any of the rides that we've gone on so far (including the haunted house), but while we were there I was reminded that he does have a couple of fears that seem funny to me. First and foremost, he is terrified of air hand dryers in restrooms. Every time we are in any public place and we go to a restroom before we even get through the door he is already saying to me "We're not going to use the hand dryer Daddy". In fact he usually starts saying it as soon as he knows that we're even looking for a bathroom. He is also terrified of electric drills and screwdrivers. They send him screaming away. I'm not quite sure how to let him know that these are not things that he has to be scared of, but I'm sure like his fear of grass as a baby these fears will also dissipate with time.
He is also very into the word "Not" these days. He doesn't say it in a mean or emphatic way, but he uses it in very strange context and is almost always wrong in how he uses it. For example if we are walking through a parking lot to my car he will say, "We're NOT going to daddy's car", or when he's laid down on the changing table he'll inform me that "We're NOT going to change my diaper". This has been going on for at least a month and I still can't decide if he is trying to mildly protest the actions that we are taking or if he just really doesn't know what the word "Not" means. Each time that he says it I correct him saying "No, we ARE going to daddy's car" and that is usually the end of it. But then I worry that he thinks because the statement starts with "No" that this somehow confuses him.
This past weekend we visited Sydney's family up in Oakland. We prepped Jameson in the couple days leading up to the trip by teaching him to throw both hands in the air and shout "Road Trip!" He begrudgingly would do it, but it was clear that he knew this was not the normal way to prep for a drive and that we were just trying to get him to be silly with us. He loves to be silly, but he seems to get very shy and embarrassed if he thinks that we are laughing at something that he does that is cute. While we were in Oakland he really loved playing with his cousins Charlotte, Julia and "Baby Austy", and all of the new toys (especially the trampoline). We had a great visit and really enjoyed our time.
Often times I find that with Jameson I show my affection for him by reaching out and mussing his hair, whether its as we're walking along or sitting on the couch or in some other situation. The other day when we were sitting on the couch watching TV (which with Jameson is guaranteed to be one of 3 shows: Toy Story, Cars or Sesame street) and without even looking over at me he reached out and started petting my head. It cracked me up and warmed my heart at the same time.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Family on wheels
Sydney and I recently got the idea to purchase “hybrid” bicycles (a cross between a mountain bike and a road bike), with a child seat on the back for Jameson and just like that we have a new favorite family hobby! We bought the bikes with a little bit of trepidation as it was a good amount of money to spend on something that we didn’t have a lot of experience with to know how well our fickle rider would take to it. Previous experience was limited to a short ride in a tow along cart up in Elk Grove, which went fine, and a longer ride in a tow along cart in the South Bay, which went well on the 30 minute ride to Redondo harbor, but the way back quickly and steadily progressed from; pleadings of “Ah Done” that increased in frequency and volume and ended in all out crying. Happily though it was clear immediately, as we had hoped, that the improved vantage point that he gained from being in a back seat did wonders for his tolerance. He started our first ride in his new seat by laughing out loud for a full block as we coasted down Main street and made a turn for Dockweiler beach. Our next ride was the next night and involved a much riskier 10 mile round trip trek that took us down to 8th street in Manhattan Beach to say hi to my friends who were playing in our Thursday night volleyball game, then up to Wahoo’s for some chicken and rice and then back home. This trip also went flawlessly and he seemed to enjoy every minute, pointing out the beach, ocean, tractors, doggies and birdies to me as we went along. Any time there was an extended lull I would reach back to check on him by offering up a behind the back low five just to make sure he was still hanging tough, and each time he was.
After our two solo test rides we got Sydney in on the act. Our first ride was the same 10 mile loop to Wahoo’s. Then on 4th of July weekend we decided to head North for a trip up and around Marina Del Rey into Venice beach. Having never taken the strand so far in that direction we were both a little nervous, but aside from some tired legs the trip went great. We stopped in Venice at the sidewalk café for breakfast and then went over to the skate park to watch the skateboarders. Jameson loved watching them fly around in the park. We sat him up on the railing and he would say “Wow” whenever they would speed by or do a trick worth noting. The ride was about 45 minutes each way and we covered 17-18 miles, Jameson didn’t complain once. We duplicated this ride a couple of weeks later with similar success, but this time we were enjoying ourselves so much in Venice and at the bike shop where we stopped for air, helmets and a couple of other things that our trip extended a little later than we would have liked. Still, no complaints from the backseat boogit. On the way back once we got past the Marina and into Playa del Ray I started feeling him touching my back. This was not too uncommon as periodically he would do so, but this seemed to be going on for longer than normal. None-the-less I just assumed that he had his hand on my back and continued on. It wasn’t until another rider got my attention by letting me know that “your passenger is out” that I realized that it wasn’t his hand, but his helmet that was resting on my back. Apparently we had drifted too far into nap time and he decided that his seat was as good a place as any to go ahead and get the nap in.
On the potty training front: He understands what the potty is for as we have sat him down numerous times and he has been able to go, but he has yet to make the jump to letting us know when he has to go so that we can get him in the right spot. He doesn’t seem in any hurry for that.
This past weekend we had a birthday for him. Sydney’s sister and her family came down from Oakland for a visit. We had a great time with them. Their oldest daughter came down on Tuesday afternoon to spend some quality time with Sydney. Sydney was really looking forward to it and I think they had lots of fun together. On Wednesday night we went to a place called “Scooter’s Jungle”, which is a big warehouse building where they have put a variety of blow up “Jumpy Houses”. By the time I met up with Sydney, Charlotte and Jameson all that Jameson could talk about was “We go Jumpy house”. He was clearly excited, but I’m not sure if he actually knew what a jumpy house was, or if it was just the prospect of a house dedicated to jumping that was enough to get his excitement level so high. I’m confident that it lived up to all of his expectations for what it would be as we all jumped and played there until we wore ourselves out. Jameson had no fear of the 21 foot slide that we went on. As soon as we would get to the bottom he would start heading for the stairs to climb up again. Charlotte had a great time too.
On Friday we packed in another full day of fun that started with the Long Beach Aquarium, then El Segundo Beach and finished at Rock & Brews. Jameson’s favorite part seemed to me to be playing in the ocean waves. He had an absolute blast throwing sand into the water, getting knocked down by the waves and trying to keep his balance as the water rushed back out after the wave was gone. He even took a couple face fulls of water that left him coughing and me nervously patting him on the back making sure that he was OK. But as soon as he regained his breath he started laughing and I breathed a sigh of relief. I soon realized that my job for this stage of his beach fun was just to stay close and play catcher, keeping an eye on whatever the ocean would throw at us next.
Saturday we had his birthday party at Hilltop park in El Segundo. Sydney did all of the planning and it ended up working out very nicely. There were 3 of his friends from day care and their parents, the Whitney’s and then 3 families of our friends with kids from around here (minus one dad who was playing in the 6-man beach volleyball tournament in Manhattan Beach). We tried to keep it relatively small as we read somewhere that at these younger ages more people can tend to intimidate the kids and keep them from enjoying it. Jameson hardly seemed to notice the others around accept for his cousins and friends. All he wanted to do was go up and down the giant twisty slide that was there, which was probably actually intended for the age group a couple of years ahead of him. All in all I think that he had a great weekend and week off with his mom and hopefully it won’t be too hard for him to have to go back to daycare next week.
After our two solo test rides we got Sydney in on the act. Our first ride was the same 10 mile loop to Wahoo’s. Then on 4th of July weekend we decided to head North for a trip up and around Marina Del Rey into Venice beach. Having never taken the strand so far in that direction we were both a little nervous, but aside from some tired legs the trip went great. We stopped in Venice at the sidewalk café for breakfast and then went over to the skate park to watch the skateboarders. Jameson loved watching them fly around in the park. We sat him up on the railing and he would say “Wow” whenever they would speed by or do a trick worth noting. The ride was about 45 minutes each way and we covered 17-18 miles, Jameson didn’t complain once. We duplicated this ride a couple of weeks later with similar success, but this time we were enjoying ourselves so much in Venice and at the bike shop where we stopped for air, helmets and a couple of other things that our trip extended a little later than we would have liked. Still, no complaints from the backseat boogit. On the way back once we got past the Marina and into Playa del Ray I started feeling him touching my back. This was not too uncommon as periodically he would do so, but this seemed to be going on for longer than normal. None-the-less I just assumed that he had his hand on my back and continued on. It wasn’t until another rider got my attention by letting me know that “your passenger is out” that I realized that it wasn’t his hand, but his helmet that was resting on my back. Apparently we had drifted too far into nap time and he decided that his seat was as good a place as any to go ahead and get the nap in.
On the potty training front: He understands what the potty is for as we have sat him down numerous times and he has been able to go, but he has yet to make the jump to letting us know when he has to go so that we can get him in the right spot. He doesn’t seem in any hurry for that.
This past weekend we had a birthday for him. Sydney’s sister and her family came down from Oakland for a visit. We had a great time with them. Their oldest daughter came down on Tuesday afternoon to spend some quality time with Sydney. Sydney was really looking forward to it and I think they had lots of fun together. On Wednesday night we went to a place called “Scooter’s Jungle”, which is a big warehouse building where they have put a variety of blow up “Jumpy Houses”. By the time I met up with Sydney, Charlotte and Jameson all that Jameson could talk about was “We go Jumpy house”. He was clearly excited, but I’m not sure if he actually knew what a jumpy house was, or if it was just the prospect of a house dedicated to jumping that was enough to get his excitement level so high. I’m confident that it lived up to all of his expectations for what it would be as we all jumped and played there until we wore ourselves out. Jameson had no fear of the 21 foot slide that we went on. As soon as we would get to the bottom he would start heading for the stairs to climb up again. Charlotte had a great time too.
On Friday we packed in another full day of fun that started with the Long Beach Aquarium, then El Segundo Beach and finished at Rock & Brews. Jameson’s favorite part seemed to me to be playing in the ocean waves. He had an absolute blast throwing sand into the water, getting knocked down by the waves and trying to keep his balance as the water rushed back out after the wave was gone. He even took a couple face fulls of water that left him coughing and me nervously patting him on the back making sure that he was OK. But as soon as he regained his breath he started laughing and I breathed a sigh of relief. I soon realized that my job for this stage of his beach fun was just to stay close and play catcher, keeping an eye on whatever the ocean would throw at us next.
Saturday we had his birthday party at Hilltop park in El Segundo. Sydney did all of the planning and it ended up working out very nicely. There were 3 of his friends from day care and their parents, the Whitney’s and then 3 families of our friends with kids from around here (minus one dad who was playing in the 6-man beach volleyball tournament in Manhattan Beach). We tried to keep it relatively small as we read somewhere that at these younger ages more people can tend to intimidate the kids and keep them from enjoying it. Jameson hardly seemed to notice the others around accept for his cousins and friends. All he wanted to do was go up and down the giant twisty slide that was there, which was probably actually intended for the age group a couple of years ahead of him. All in all I think that he had a great weekend and week off with his mom and hopefully it won’t be too hard for him to have to go back to daycare next week.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
1st Pet
A couple of weeks ago we went to the pet store with my understanding that we were going there to “look” at the puppies. Instead, we ended up coming home with a fish. He is a dark red and blue crowntail beta fish named Charlie. He got his name on the car ride home, where we tried to get Jameson to come up with the name on his own, but he seemed a bit too young to get the idea that he could create the name himself. Instead Sydney and I threw out a number of names to see if any stuck (staying away from Nemo on purpose). When we got to Charlie it was a clear winner as Jameson echoed from the back seat “Chah Lee”, “Fish name Chah Lee” (the way he says it sounds more like a Chinese Kung-Fu master than the Tuna that he is loosely named after). Charlie lives on our kitchen counter and Jameson periodically wants to “See Chah Lee”, which first means that he would like to stand on the stool next to the counter and put his head over the top of the bowl to look down on him. Then he asks to bring the bowl down and set it on the ground so that he can sit on his stool and look at him. He usually asks Sydney or I to sit on the floor next to the bowl as well so that we can join him. He asks if we can feed him “Doe doe bar” (his word for granola bar) and whatever else he is eating at the time but so far we’ve been able to talk Jameson out of dropping these things into his bowl.
2 Weekends ago my mom (aka. Tu tu) and Will (aka. Wough) were in town for a visit from Hawaii. Jameson had a great time hanging out with them for the couple of days that they were here. We visited down town Manhattan Beach where he ran around on the pier chasing gulls and pigeons, had dinner @ Rock & Brew, rented bikes and rode down to Redondo Beach Harbor for a couple of beers at Naja’s, walked the entire square around El Segundo (from our house to grand street, to the strand, to Imperial then back home) and met Will’s niece and her husband near downtown at a place called Olvera street. While at Olvera street (which is a small walking street lined with Mexican restaurants and street vendors reminiscent of those that you would see in Tijuana at the border crossing) within minutes I knew that we had found our opportunity to get Jameson a small guitar, which is something that we had been talking about doing ever since he loved playing with one at a friend‘s house. There were many colors to choose from but it was no surprise to Sydney or I that when asked what color he would like Jameson quickly and confidently shouted, “Geeeeen!”. We also left Jameson in day care on Thursday morning so that I could take my mom to Hollywood Park, where she proved to be the top handicapper over Will and I, coming home the big winner.
The following weekend Sydney’s mom (aka. Omi) was in town for a quick visit from Santa Cruz. She really enjoyed playing with Jameson commenting that he has become so much more interactive. We also went to Rock & Brews for dinner to meet with some friends of ours and their baby (our out of town guests will certainly begin noticing a theme in our restaurant choice, but it is a great place for kids as it is all outside and people bring their children and dogs to sit on picnic style tables while enjoying good food and beer for the parents). On Sunday we visited the “Fiesta Hermosa” which is a street fair in Hermosa Beach full of craft fair booths centered around the pier. We also made our way up Pier avenue to the fire house where they were having a pancake breakfast fundraiser. Jameson got to look around in a fire truck and an ambulance, but neither of those was quite as exciting as his chance to see their mascot, one of the fireman’s daughters in a Dalmatian costume!
Last weekend Sydney was gracious enough to allow me to drive to Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker for the 3rd year in a row. I didn't do very well in the tournaments that I played in, but I really enjoyed the opportunity to play and am confident (boosted by the fact that my friend placed 74th out of 4,000) that someday I'll be able to make the money in one of the tournaments there. I really did miss Jameson and Sydney while I was gone and often times throughout the weekend wished that one or both of them were there for different things that I saw or did. When I got back home on Sunday it felt really great to see how excited Jameson was that I was home. I got there just after he woke up from nap time and he was quickly energized when I got home, running around the apartment showing off his newly improved jumping skills and dance moves. It's easy to forget about losing a poker tournament when you have the two of them to come home to.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Training Days. Warning: Toilet talk to follow!
We are at the age now when "Potty Training" has become a hot topic. The first questions that come to my mind, as with all of the other milestones that have come onto the radar in these early years, are: When & How? My warning to new parents is to get use to the answers, as they seem to be the same each time.
When: it varies based on the individual child, parental philosophy, net family income, eye color, side of the street you live on, etc… And of course there is “no need to be concerned if your child takes a little longer to catch on” which I’m sure is a canned response developed by doctors to answer dads who automatically start getting antsy asking, “does this mean that my child is not in the top 1% intelligence in the world?”
How: anyone you ask will tell you different, so pick from one of the dozens of theories and go with it. It often gives me the feeling that we’re just “winging it”, but Sydney doesn’t usually feel that we’re as lost as I do.
First things first: Sydney found us a used training toilet at a garage sale for $1! Given the retail price-tag of around $20 I feel pretty confident that this move alone places us in the upper echelon of the potty training elite. With the equipment requirements taken care of, Sydney found an article on timing that listed some of the signs that a child may be ready to start training and from it we were both lead to conclude that we’d be better off waiting, as the article warned that prematurely starting the process is not only frustrating to parent and child, but really doesn’t do much to speed up the end result. With that in mind we placed the little green Baby Bjorn trainer in the guest bathroom across from the real thing. From time to time either of us will have Jameson sit down on the trainer with his clothes on and explain to him that this is where he should come if he has to go “pee-pee” (which Sydney expressed concern over calling it, since he has already come to know the associated body part by the same name. While I can understand why she would worry that the noun/verb usage confusion that this could cause, I assured her that plenty of boys prior to ours have been able to work through it). Good enough for some soft training in my opinion, a full plan to be developed later.
Then one night last week as I undressed him for bath time he said to me, “Sit Potty?” Thinking that this was another practice session I said, “Sure, let’s sit on the potty” and so he did (which in and of itself is a very funny process that involves backing up, bending down putting his hands on the ground to help push his butt to the correct position before lowering himself down with not nearly as much accuracy as you would expect from such a process). Once he sat, he looked down and actually began to go “pee-pee” in the “potty” (and I do use the term IN lightly as most splashed out onto the floor and rug)! Despite having to work through some aiming issues it was an extremely successful and unexpected outing that I’m not 100% sure wasn’t a wonderful accident. None the less it was certainly an opportunity for Sydney and I to reinforce the behavior as very positive and he seemed to pick up on our excitement.
The next night, after changing an exceptionally stinky diaper, Jameson again asked, “Sit Potty?” To which I excitedly asked, “Do you have to go pee-pee?” Jameson responded, as he does to 90% of the questions we ask him, “dah!”. So I put him down and he ran to the bathroom and assumed the position again, but this time he looked down and nothing happened. He tried for a couple of seconds and then looked up at me and said, “’s broken?” not knowing what to say and doing the best I could not to laugh out loud, I told him that it was OK. He looked up with a confused look and said, “daddy help pee-pee". Unfortunately I couldn’t think of anything to help. I did even try to make running water sounds to see if that would “help go pee-pee”, but I’m thinking that is more of a cue that works by association later on in life, because it did nothing for him. He did get up and down a couple of more times in an attempt to make it happen, as though just sitting on the magic potty was all it took, but unfortunately our second attempt didn’t pan out. It may take some actual training yet.
Another funny thing he’s doing now:
We’re trying to teach him colors, so we regularly ask him what color things are, to which he without hesitation or contemplation proudly shouts, “Geeeen!” no matter what the actual color. We then correct him with the actual color which he disappointedly repeats with some prompting. If he seems to be getting too down on himself I’ll ask him with something that actually is green to help boost his confidence :)
When: it varies based on the individual child, parental philosophy, net family income, eye color, side of the street you live on, etc… And of course there is “no need to be concerned if your child takes a little longer to catch on” which I’m sure is a canned response developed by doctors to answer dads who automatically start getting antsy asking, “does this mean that my child is not in the top 1% intelligence in the world?”
How: anyone you ask will tell you different, so pick from one of the dozens of theories and go with it. It often gives me the feeling that we’re just “winging it”, but Sydney doesn’t usually feel that we’re as lost as I do.
First things first: Sydney found us a used training toilet at a garage sale for $1! Given the retail price-tag of around $20 I feel pretty confident that this move alone places us in the upper echelon of the potty training elite. With the equipment requirements taken care of, Sydney found an article on timing that listed some of the signs that a child may be ready to start training and from it we were both lead to conclude that we’d be better off waiting, as the article warned that prematurely starting the process is not only frustrating to parent and child, but really doesn’t do much to speed up the end result. With that in mind we placed the little green Baby Bjorn trainer in the guest bathroom across from the real thing. From time to time either of us will have Jameson sit down on the trainer with his clothes on and explain to him that this is where he should come if he has to go “pee-pee” (which Sydney expressed concern over calling it, since he has already come to know the associated body part by the same name. While I can understand why she would worry that the noun/verb usage confusion that this could cause, I assured her that plenty of boys prior to ours have been able to work through it). Good enough for some soft training in my opinion, a full plan to be developed later.
Then one night last week as I undressed him for bath time he said to me, “Sit Potty?” Thinking that this was another practice session I said, “Sure, let’s sit on the potty” and so he did (which in and of itself is a very funny process that involves backing up, bending down putting his hands on the ground to help push his butt to the correct position before lowering himself down with not nearly as much accuracy as you would expect from such a process). Once he sat, he looked down and actually began to go “pee-pee” in the “potty” (and I do use the term IN lightly as most splashed out onto the floor and rug)! Despite having to work through some aiming issues it was an extremely successful and unexpected outing that I’m not 100% sure wasn’t a wonderful accident. None the less it was certainly an opportunity for Sydney and I to reinforce the behavior as very positive and he seemed to pick up on our excitement.
The next night, after changing an exceptionally stinky diaper, Jameson again asked, “Sit Potty?” To which I excitedly asked, “Do you have to go pee-pee?” Jameson responded, as he does to 90% of the questions we ask him, “dah!”. So I put him down and he ran to the bathroom and assumed the position again, but this time he looked down and nothing happened. He tried for a couple of seconds and then looked up at me and said, “’s broken?” not knowing what to say and doing the best I could not to laugh out loud, I told him that it was OK. He looked up with a confused look and said, “daddy help pee-pee". Unfortunately I couldn’t think of anything to help. I did even try to make running water sounds to see if that would “help go pee-pee”, but I’m thinking that is more of a cue that works by association later on in life, because it did nothing for him. He did get up and down a couple of more times in an attempt to make it happen, as though just sitting on the magic potty was all it took, but unfortunately our second attempt didn’t pan out. It may take some actual training yet.
Another funny thing he’s doing now:
We’re trying to teach him colors, so we regularly ask him what color things are, to which he without hesitation or contemplation proudly shouts, “Geeeen!” no matter what the actual color. We then correct him with the actual color which he disappointedly repeats with some prompting. If he seems to be getting too down on himself I’ll ask him with something that actually is green to help boost his confidence :)
Monday, May 2, 2011
Months? Years? I don't know
Our son is 22 months old. I think I'm still supposed to refer to his age in months but honestly now days I'm more likely to say, "He'll be two in July".
The current catalyst for my "nth" attempt to keep a blog is part of a Mother's day gift for my wife Sydney. She, as the only reader that I currently know of for this blog, is always asking me why I don't update it more often, so for her I will make another attempt.
Let me be clear up front, Jameson remains the most incredible part of my and Sydney's life. She can't stop telling me how cute he is, and although I'm rarely as out front with it as she is I do agree. That being said I have definitely noticed that he is becoming more prone to testing the resolve of our instructions. I tend to be more stern with my instructions than she, but I struggle with trying to make sure that my instructions don't stifle his curiousity for exploring the world around him, while at the same time vowing that I will not be one of the parents who sits back and watches idly while their child runs amok on a path of wild destruction. About two weeks back we experienced our first temper tantrum :). It was set off by Sydney not wanting Jameson to drag his blanket through the garage and get it dirty, which resulted in her carrying it upstairs instead of him. What ensued started as harmless whining, that when ignored spiralled into full on crying, running from room to room in the condo and foot stomping, none of which could be consoled by anything that we had to say. It was definitely a new side and I decided to video tape it because I'm sure it will be fun to show him and potentially his family some day...
For the most part his actions make us smile more than not. Here are some of the funnier things that he has recently come up with:
- I had surgery on my shoulder a little over a month ago. As a part of my rehabilitation I have a medical chair with a mechanical arm that slowly moves my surgically repaired arm up and down to keep my shoulder joint from locking up (3 exciting hours a day!). The first morning that Jameson saw me using the chair he was quite confused, until he looked at me knowingly and said, "bobot". "Bobot," I thought? Then he repeated, "bobot" and I realized that he now thinks I'm a robot. Where he made that connection from I'm still not sure. He has a book with a picture of a robot in it, but it bears no resemblance to what is now refferred to as "daddy bobot chair"
- He also developed a strange obsession with "goff bahs" a couple of weeks ago when he saw a sleeve of mine sitting on the shelf (I wonder if that's how Tigre Woods started out). I think he likes that they are small and could do some damage if thrown hard enough at breakable objects. On a damage to throwablilty ratio for a 22 month old I'd say they're near the top of the list.
- He has also gotten pretty good at chatching a baloon that is thrown to him. Hopefully it helps to develop his had eye coordination. But each time I blow a new one up for him to play with he looks up at me ready to squeeze and asks, "Pop It?" I try to discourage him by letting him know that if he pops it he won't have it to play with anymore, but ultimately I leave it up to him...
- He attended his first SoccerTots class on Saturday. He did well for the first half, but the second half was a struggle that saw another mini tantrum form. It was hot outside and he was wearing long sleeves and sweats so I think he may have been too hot. He did kick his first goal in a drill though. First of many I hope.
- We made our first trip to the El Segundo plunge on Saturday, where Jameson enjoyed being whisked around elbow to elbow with all of the other 5 and unders and the sprinkling of dads. Sydney came in against her will amidst much discussion about the likely urine content of the 2.5 foot deep "kiddie pool"(Maybe that's why there was only one other mom in the pool). A little girl asked me what was on my shoulder, which given that I just had shoulder surgery does seem like a legitimate question; the problem was she was asking about the non surgery shoulder. My reply; "Nothing. Just hair." I thought it was funny (not as funny as Sydney of course) but her poor dad was a bit embassed. I'm sure Jameson will put us in plenty of those situations in no time at all.
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