Potty training: the sequel... Day, um... lost count

I was going to write this post yesterday.

It was going to be about how well the potty training was going - or had gone.  I really felt as if we were at the end of the 'training'. That it was pretty much behind us.

That was if I had written the post yesterday.

But I didn't. I'm writing it today.

And today we somehow took an exit on 'Potty Training Happy Highway' and landed on 'where-the-hell-are-we?-are-we-even-on-the-map-anymore road'. With pot holes and crap.

Since we started the potty training, Zach had a few accidents here and there. He's only peed in his bed once, which I think is remarkable. We've done the 'go a week without any accidents and you can go to Toys R Us and pick out a toy.' (Yes, we totally went right to bribing this time.) We did the stickers on the chart for waking up dry and another chart for no-accident days. We've got a lot of stickers on those charts. In fact, there's only one hole on each of those charts for the past month. Woo-hoo! Awesome job! High five, Daddy-o! We've achieved 'potty-trainedness'!! We are awesome parents! Yes!

(Again... that was the mood as of yesterday...)

This morning Zach crawled into our bed, as he likes to do sometimes. He nicely snuggled in between Jean-Paul and I and slept nicely. Until about 6:15. Then he started getting wiggly. And restless. And laying on me instead of beside. For some reason he didn't want to lay in that spot anymore. I turned to lay him back down beside me and discovered why he didn't want to lay in that spot anymore. "Dude! You peed."

I took Zach and got him wiped down and changed and Daddy handled the changing of the sheets...

Fast forward to late this afternoon. Zach was mad at Mommy for not letting him watch more videos on the computer. He was in the playroom, finally, playing nicely. Mommy was getting a bit of work done. Then Mister Doodle came up to me and said, "My pants are wet." (He was also wafting. So he wasn't just "wet".)

I let him stand there for a moment because I don't want him to equate 'having an accident' to 'the best way to get Mommy away from her work'. (I debated this heavily in my head the whole time. Do I get up and tend to the boy immediately? Or do I let him stand there for a minute in his wet, stinky pants?)

Zach and I went upstairs and we did what we needed to do and put stuff where we needed to put it.

I asked him if he peed and pooped in his pants because he was mad at Mommy for not letting him watch videos. He said yes...

Let's hope this was the last "accident" Zoodle has....

He's lucky he's cute!

*last three cartoons credit: http://www.cafepress.com/+poopy-pants+postcards

Mommy, what's that?

I was about to get in the shower when Zach came into the bathroom. (There is no privacy when there's a pre-schooler in the house.)

He looked at me and pointed to my tummy. "Mommy, what's that?"
"That's my belly button, Sweetie."
"No. That."
"Oh. Those lines? Those are stretch marks from when you and Alex were in Mommy's tummy."
"I was in your tummy? And Alex was in your tummy?"
"Yes. That's where you grew. Right in there." (I pointed to my belly.)
"Why is your belly still so big? There's no baby in there now."

... Thanks, Zoodle. Thanks. (Time to get exercising, I think!!)

Where does he come up with this stuff?

Last night Zach, Alex and I went grocery shopping. We picked up a bunch of stuff including some of our standard cereals such as Cheerios and Special-K. We spied a new cereal on the shelves - Mini-Wheats Little Bites. The kids like Mini-Wheats, so I thought we'd give this new one a go. (Here's some more information.)

This morning Zach and I opened the box. I looked in and said, "Look how tiny they are!" and angled the box so he could look in. His response?

"Aw. They're so cute! They're tiny-tastic!" :)

(And he actually ate every single bite of his cereal this morning. That's highly unusual.)

She's finally sleeping

Alexandria had a hard time getting to sleep tonight. She's pretty excited for her first day of Grade ONE tomorrow. French Immersion, too! I can't believe it. She's six. She's going into a GRADE. The summer's over. Zach's three. It's 2010. What. the. hell.

Tonight Alex said, "I don't know if I'll be nervous tomorrow or not." She's such a sweetie. I told her it was normal and ok for her to feel nervous. And, it was also normal and ok for her not to feel nervous.

She came out of her bedroom about 15 minutes after we tucked her into bed.
"Is it really late at night or really early in the morning?"
"It's nighttime, Sweetie."
"Then why is it a bit light out?"
"That's not the morning light, Sweets. That's the sun not quite down from tonight. Go to bed, Baby Girl. We'll make sure we wake you up in time for school tomorrow." :)

Tomorrow we'll all go as a family to see her off. Mommy may cry a little.

Love her

Those who know Alexandria know she has a song in her heart and is often singing - either to herself or to the world. :)

Tonight she sang, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy. I have something to say" to the tune of "Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel. I made you out of clay."

I just love her so much.

"The More"

I absolutely love this concept. I just read a blog post by Elizabeth Potts Weinstein of Live Your Truth, and while most of her posts resonate with me, just one just blew me away. I was reading it and I usually am thinking, "So true, EPW. So. True." This one? I was screaming, "YES! That is it EXACTLY!"

Just as "The Nothing" in The Neverending Story is what is used to describe the absence of anything at all. "The More" is what is used to describe that presence of something else. Something missing. Something you KNOW is supposed to be there but, right now, isn't quite.

I not sure "The More" can quite be described to somebody who hasn't experienced it, just as "The Nothing" is so abstract a thought it makes your brain hurt if you really try to conceptualize it.

I have experienced "The More" moment. It was while I was talking to an amazing woman I met via Twitter. I now refer to her as my tell-it-like-it-is-truth-speaker.

As well-intentioned as those people are who try to steer my path to where they feel it should be, I know I feel "The More."

And because I feel it, it must exist.

And just as the-scariest-wolf-monster-my-tween-self-had-ever-seen embodied "The Nothing"; I feel "The More" is that flittering-something-or-other you catch out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn to really see it, it's gone. I'm now open to accept "The More." I've acknowledged "The More" and I even welcome "The More."

Photo credit.

This ride that I'm on is scary as hell, but I can feel it's right.

And, I leave you with this. Sorry, embedding has been disabled...

Holy crap, that was funny!

I had stumbled upon Mrs Brown somehow on YouTube. Someone somewhere shared a link and I watched a hilarious video. A while later I heard Mirvish was bringing Mrs Brown to Toronto!! Yay!! Then I saw the dates... The same week we were away at Mom and Tots Camp. Boo!!

Some more time passed and I saw Mirvish had extended the run! Back to YAY! But finances are shite. Boo!

Mirvish Productions (via their Twitter account) offered me a couple tickets to go see How Now Mrs Brown Cow - the fifth play in the Mrs Brown trilogy. Super YAY!! I made arrangements, found a date, and raced to the Canon Theatre on Yonge Street in Toronto.

Some words of advice:

A) Make sure you empty your bladder completely prior to the show starting - and possibly again during intermission. You may just lose control during the show. 

B) Make sure you're not seated behind an audience member who throws their head back in uproarious laughter - especially if you throw your body forward when you laugh. Lisa thought the person ahead of her was going to end up on her lap!

What show have you seen where people are laughing hysterically BEFORE the curtain even goes up?! People were *literally* doubled over with laughter at Mrs Brown (created and played to perfection by Brendan O'Carroll) and her antics.

There were a few microphone issues, and those moments were made absolutely hilarious. "Who's at the door, Mammy?" "It must the man with the microphone." And then there was, "Glad you got your voice back."

It felt as if we were watching a Carol Burnett skit when the actors lost it. Rory had an absolute bout of the giggles at one point and it was hilarious. There were a few moments throughout the show where there were actor giggles and breaking of character - planned or not, the audience loved it.

The play ended with not one, but two enthusiastic standing ovations.

I was very happy to hear Mrs Brown will be coming back in March (around St Paddy's Day) and bringing "Good Mourning Mrs Brown." I'm very much looking forward to seeing another part of the "trilogy."

And I got a shout-out after the curtain call. How cool is that? Mrs Brown thanked 'JackiYo' for spreading the word on Twitter. :)

*All links are non-affliate. I was given two free tickets to see How Now Mrs Brown Cow courtesy of Mirvish Productions.