Let the Potty Training Begin!

This little cutie was standing in front me this morning as I stepped out of the shower. She was pulling on her pajama pant with one hand and pointing at the toilet with the other and saying, "Poop." I assumed she either had just gone poop in her diaper or was just telling me what she has seen others do in the toilet. However, she has sat on the toilet a few times in the past after seeing one of us use it, so I decided to set her on it anyway. Far be it from me to discourage the use of the toilet!! Much to my shock and amazement, the instant I had her diaper off and sat her on the toilet, she pooped! Then she signed that she was all done and said, "done." My big girl! So exciting! After we praised her, she went into my room and got out a pair of Benjamin's underpants from the laundry basket and put them on. She was so upset when I made her take them off and put on a diaper! I really never expected to start this so early, but I think I'm going to buy some pull-ups tomorrow and see how far we can take this!

By Popular Demand

I've had several requests to post a picture of Benjamin's wall destruction. I initially didn't post a picture for two reasons - 1. I didn't want him to see me taking a picture of it, for fear he'd think I'm impressed by his masterpiece and 2. a picture really just doesn't do the level of destruction justice. I wasn't sure how to take this picture to give you a good view of it. However, to appease my fans, I made an effort today while Benjamin was in school and here you go.

Benjamin's wall 'smiley face':


Here's a picture of the holes he'd made a week prior to the smiley face, using the corner of his "Return with Honor" picture that was on his dresser. (It was immediately removed, along with all other hard objects. Which unfortunately gave me a false sense of security that there was nothing else he could use to damage the walls. Ha! Never underestimate him.)

Too Stunned to Take A Picture

It's always an adventure with Benjamin around. He's gotten in the habit of picking Isabella up and taking her where he'd like her to be whenever it suits him. I've tried to get him to stop since she's far too close to his own weight for this to be safe. However, the other day he did it again, and I warned him to put her down, but he ignored me and immediately thereafter accidentally dropped her on her head. So, he went straight into time-out while I calmed her down. While I was holding her I heard a lot of banging in his room. This is not unusual when he's upset about being in time-out, but the strange thing is that I recently cleared his room of all hard, breakable objects which he was in the habit of hurling in anger. So I listened carefully in an attempt to identify the source of the sound. BAM! It went again. BAM! again. After another bam, I heard Benjamin say, "Another hole!" That's when I set Bella down and threw open his door. He had turned the glider's footstool upside-down and was smashing the leg of it, systematically, down the length of the wall. "What are you doing?!" I shrieked in horror. There were already 6 or 7 holes, evenly spaced in a line and he was gearing up for the next one. "I'm making a smiley face," he calmly responded, "See?" (pointing to the holes), "Can you see it?" Needless to say what happened next need not be recorded for posterity.

So, what we're left with now is the question of how do we get him to fix that without turning it into a terrible mess and a lot of fun? I mean, it's putty and paint - that's supposed to be a punishment?

And as a follow-up, a more harmless adventure - I got out of the shower, to see a toilet paper trail that started in his room, went down the hall, into the living room, and so forth, throughout the whole house, including the basement. The entire roll was empty. "Why did you do this?" I asked. Why do we as parents always ask why? Do we really expect a good answer?? This time the answer actually made me laugh, though. He said, "I asked you if I could do it. I said please." (Of course, I'd been in the shower at the time and never heard him utter a single word.) "What did I answer?" "You didn't say anything. I don't know why." How convenient. Again, I forgot the camera at the time. I'm sure there will be more opportunities.

Window Art

One of my favorite things lately are our window crayons. So much fun and so easy to clean up. However, you have to keep a careful eye on Isabella whenever they're out. Coloring on the windows is just too similar to coloring on the walls, the furniture, and the floor. Before we began tonight, I knelt down in front of her and said very clearly, "Only widows (pointing to the window), not walls, not chairs, not floor (pointing to each in turn and violently shaking my head). Only windows. Promise?" She gravely nodded her head and then reached for the crayon in my hand. Sadly, I got distracted during the creation of the masterpiece, and I had apparently neglected to specify one other key location. Must be more specific next time.

Superwoman to the Rescue!

What a great birthday/Halloween we had! So busy and so fun. We were almost never home all day between swim lessons, church parties, Halloween story time at the library, and of course, trick-or-treating! It was a great day. Isabella looked so cute that I had complete strangers asking if they could take pictures of her. Except for the random dad who corrected his daughter's, "What a cute girl" comment by saying, "That's not a girl, that's a boy." Her hair is growing! Just be patient!


However, boy or girl, Superwoman could almost never be photographed without her thumb in her mouth. I think it really adds to the look. :)