Happy New Year
December 31, 2006 | Filed Under General | 1 Comment
from all of us at welikedogs.com
Once upon a potty
December 29, 2006 | Filed Under Eaglet, Photos | 2 Comments
We decided it was finally time to get Ben a potty of his own. Let me make it clear: we are not officially potty training. There is no major push, no pull-ups, and no underwear. He is starting to show some signs, such as interest in the potty, telling us when he is about to or has gone, and hiding to go number 2.
Our game plan is simple: he can sit on his potty while we potty or if he tells us that he wants poo poo.
He was very excited when we got it out. He immediately wanted to take his pants off, so he must have known what it was all about.
After dinner, we sat him down, took some pictures, and read some books. Before too long, he went potty and was rewarded with an M&M. Yippee!
Funny/weird side story: after sitting on the potty, Ben kept saying “pants!” and getting really upset. I thought he wanted to put his pants back on, so I grabbed the pants that he was wearing all day. “No! No baby pants” he protested, and added “cool pants!” Jason and I exchanged a puzzled look, and I asked Ben to show me his cool pants. He took me into the bathroom and picked up the pants he wore yesterday (which were still laying on the floor, of course). We have no idea what made one pair cool and the other “baby” pants; the only thing that we could figure is that the “baby” pants had an elastic waist, while the cool pants were a little pair of Levi cords with a zipper and snap (a Christmas present!). Is it possible that he has picked up on this difference?
Funny side story #2: I stood on top of the toilet to take these pictures, with Ben scolding me the entire time: “Mommy! Sit down!” The second time in a week that he has scolded a naughty adult for standing on furniture.
-Rachel
The good, the bad, and the ugly
December 28, 2006 | Filed Under Dogs, Eaglet, General | 4 Comments
We picked Ben up from school last night and were pleasantly surprised to learn that he had a good day. There was none of the usual aggression he suffers after several days of a cookie diet and nonstop attention. Unfortunately, he was suffering from car bum–extreme constipation from a prolonged ride in the car. We headed straight the store to pick up some “sweet candy juice” in prune flavor, which definitely got things moving again.
At some point, I tweaked my back last night, and I spent most of the night lying flat and whining. Ben joined me, sitting on my stomach while we read books. We were reading a book about a boat race, and Ben pointed to each boat and said things like “big boat,” “daddy boat”, and “mommy boat,” so I asked him “Where’s Benny’s boat?” He obligingly pointed to a pretty tugboat. Then, I asked him “What’s your name?” I had been working with him before the holidays on this question, but not since, so I was very surprised when he said clearly (well, maybe not clearly, but understandably) “Ben Eagle.” We had a great time all night asking him his name and hearing him declare himself. I’m not exactly sure what it was about it, nor if I can clearly explain how it felt, but as Jason and I met eyes each time he said it, I know he felt it too.
Later, Ben had another surprise for us during tubbie time. Jason was bathing Ben, and I was just hanging out in the bathroom with them. Ben’s new favorite game in the tub is “get pengie” in which they balance a toy penguin on the faucet and use a spray bottle to blast him down. Ben cackles like crazy, and Jason and I can’t help but join in. Before each blast, Ben initiated the count. Usually when he plays cars or trucks, he will announce something like “two, free, GO!” Last night, it was a little different. “Two, free, two, free (pause), five, ix, seven, eight, nine, TEN!” Incredulous, we asked him to repeat it several times, and he did. When asked, “What comes after three?” He would proudly declare “Yellow!” Poor kid has so much bouncing around in his head. I can’t imagine what it must be like to figure out really abstract ideas like counting, letters, and colors all while trying to learn to communicate. Ben’s not a genius. He’s not super advanced. In fact, in some areas, he is probably delayed a little. But I am so proud of every little victory he has, every step he takes, and everything he learns. He is the good.
This morning, I dropped him off at school alone, before returning home to pick up Jason. We had a rough night and had slept in. I delivered him to his classroom, and Ella (a little friend) rushed up to give him a train, which are usually the prized toys, especially to Ben. He refused to take it, so I held it and thanked her. A few seconds later, Trevor (another little friend) approached to offer Ben another train. Again, he refused it. I stood and began inching away, but Ben turned and grabbed hold of me, burying his face in my legs. A teacher in the room came over and picked him up and asked him to play with her, and he burst into tears. I just kept walking. I turned to look through the window after I had made it out of the room, and I saw his red face. He was sobbing. My eyes instantly teared up too, and I had to resist going back in to hold him and make it all better. I’m very grateful that he so rarely does this. I can’t imagine going through it every day. It was bad.
I went to bed last night at my normal bedtime, but stayed up later than usual engrossed in a book. Eventually, I dosed off and was pretty soundly asleep when I woke to hear Jason yelling “What is that smell? It smells like “sh!t in here.” I figured out what was going on just about the same time that Jason found the source of his mystery smell. It was about 2:30am, and the dogs had just come in from outside, where apparently, Scout found something to roll in. Although I got up to find the dog shampoo and towels he could use, Jason was kind enough to handle the bath. It was about 4am when I felt a wet snout nudging me and heard Scout whining. Grumbling, I rolled out of bed to take her out. We spent lots of quality time in the yard, as she squatted and paced. My poor girl had a very upset belly. It was not only an ugly night, but also smelly.
To end the post on a better note, after picking Jason up for work, we made a couple of stops. The work coffee stand is closed this week, so we pulled into FiveBucks where I got a delicious pumpkin spice latte, and to Panera where I got a yummy egg souffle. Food fixes everything you know!
-R
Introducing…
December 27, 2006 | Filed Under Photos | Leave a Comment
the welikedogs.com photo gallery.
Putting pictures directly into the posts can be nice, but sometimes it is too labor intensive (like when there are tons of holiday pictures). Also, I like to look through old pictures sometimes and it takes forever to go post to post. I’ve been keeping a secret gallery for a while, and I’ve decided to share it with you now.
I’ve added the holiday pictures to the gallery, linked below and to the left. The gallery allows me to write as much as I want about each picture, and allows you to see larger versions (well, depending on what I upload), view them as a slide show, and comment on individual pictures (things like, please send me a copy of this!).
Let me know what you think about the gallery.