Progress

We’ve been trying to potty-train Zach now for several months and progress has been almost non-existent.  All of his little buddies are now veterans on the potty and I’m starting to be a little embarrassed that I’m having so much trouble, especially when parents ask me for advice in clinic about potty-training.  Being a parent has made me a very humble pediatrician at times.

Anyway, we had a breakthrough today!  On the advice of our friends in Montana, I’ve been letting Zach run around naked as much as possible.  Last night this resulted in him crawling through the dog door and pissing and crapping in the dog’s yard.  Joe (bless him) even went out and used the dog’s poop scooper to clean up the mess.  Zach was thrilled (about having his poop scooped), and so was I.  Hey, any poop not in the diaper is progress, right?

Then this morning, I took him outside to pee, he crawled up a pile of gravel with his naked little body and procedeed to thouroughly mark his scent over the entire pile, even scratching with his foot cover up his pee; it was like watching a cat in her litter box.  Then a few hours later, I couldn’t find him anywhere.  He usually disappears like that when he needs to take a dump.  Oh SHIT!, I thought (pun totally intended) as I raced around the house looking for the pile of crap that was waiting for me somewhere.  I noticed the bathroom door was closed and I peeked my head in, and there was Zach proudly holding the cup from his potty which was filled with pee and a huge turd.  I have never been so proud.

A Year of Arlo

I took the boys to Graysmarsh Berry Farm yesterday to celebrate Arlo’s first birthday.  Arlo LOVES strawberries and he was in heaven.  He just sat in the row of berry plants smashing strawberries into his mouth until he was covered in a mixture of strawberries, drool and dirt.  I wasn’t sure how the kids would do while I picked berries, but they were awesome.  I picked 12 lbs of strawberries (Zach picked three, berries that is, not pounds and said they were “yucky”) and I even had some time to make some freezer jam once we got home.  Arlo will love that!  Later in the day, we took the kids to the weekly Concert on the Pier and enjoyed our friends, some snacks, great music and sunshine.

And what to say about my birthday boy?  The sweetest baby ever- with eyes so big and blue that sometimes it is like looking into the ocean.  He is in this sweet stage now where he is not quite a baby and not quite a toddler.  He is going to be a busy little man, he can really get around crawling now and is starting to be quite proficient at cruising and transferring.  Walking days are definitely just around the corner.  He is so expressive too- saying “Mama” and shaking his head for “No” are his favorites, but he is also waving, pointing and clapping and starting to imitate other sounds.  He has more of an attitude lately too- freaking out when we have to take something away or when he doesn’t get what he wants, so I can see my “easy” baby is going to turn into an opinionated toddler!  He is definitely a mama’s boy, still nursing and can’t bear to have me out of his sight.  And I love that he will eat almost anything!  After dealing with Zach, it is such a relief to just put food in front of Arlo and just watch it disappear.

Arlo’s birthday will always be a little bittersweet for me.  Every year we celebrate a year with him, it will be a marker of another year without my sister.  She was everywhere with me yesterday- helping pick berries and then taking the kids for ice cream, trashing the kitchen together making jam and then dancing on the pier with the kids.  I miss you Jess.

 

Me Help You

I got called in to a C-section this morning at 5:30- Zach had crawled into our bed, so the call woke him up.

“Momma, is wake up time yet?”

“No bug, go back to bed.”

“Momma, you going to work?”

“Yes, sweetie, there is a sick baby that needs Mommy’s help”

“Is ok I come with you and help?

“That is so nice, but the baby only needs Mommy.”

“Please!  I will listen!”

“No, sweetie, stay here”

“Ok, is ok then I watch a movie?”

Sigh… looking at my watch.  “Ok you can have a movie”

“And a picnic”

“Ok, a picnic too.”  I start his movie and dash downstairs to get his food.

“No momma, a bigger picnic”

I get him a little more food and wonder what excuse I can use when I’m late to the OR.

“Ok Momma, I’m fine now.  You can go now.  I love you”

So we are at the Farmer’s Market

Our usual Saturday haunt.  I am really trying to feed our family as much local, organic food as possible and I also keep vainly hoping that if Zach helps me pick out a vegetable he may actually eat one someday.  Anyway, we are wandering around after making our purchases and Zachary walks up to a stand of lettuce that is toddler height and TAKES A BITE OF THE DISPLAY LETTUCE!  I cannot even begin to describe both my horror and supreme satisfaction.  Luckily the vender was super nice, laughed and tore off the pieces that he had bitten and gave them to Zach and THEN HE ATE MORE.  I was flabbergasted.  Joe and I eat salad almost every night and this was the first time he has ever shown any interest.  At home today, we wandered down to the garden and sampled some of our own lettuce, which he did try (!) but didn’t like.    

So, if you bought some green leaf lettuce from Lazy J, Saturday sometime after 11:30, please make sure you wash it carefully.

Montana

How do you even begin to describe a two week, 2500 mile road trip with your husband, 3yr old, 1 yr old and dog?  Chaos, love, adventure, discovery, and fatigue are all the words that initially come to my mind.

We rented a tent trailer and headed out- me with fairly low expectations of how this was going to go.  Our first day was at Mt. Rainer- complete with snow and mud at our primitive campsite and not even a glimpse of the mountain.  It was a little harder than we had anticipated to have both kids at a primitive campsite so we decided to re-group the next night and stay at a Motel 6 in Pasco, WA.  That was hands down the WORST night of the trip- Arlo was so exhausted and out of his element and he SCREAMED bloody murder all night.  After that I think we hit our stride- Joe found campsites with grass and playgrounds and the kids finally succumbed to fatigue and learned to sleep great in the car and in the camper.  

Making Pancakes in Kamiah, Idaho

We took the scenic route through Idaho and Montana, going through Yellowstone and the Beartooth Pass.  I wish I could say we did all these wonderful things in Yellowstone, but the truth is the kids were exhausted and couldn’t deal with stopping, so we just drove through.  But at least we had something wonderful to look at while they napped.  In Billings, we stayed with Joe’s friends and met their 16 month old son.  Then we headed to Helena and stayed with friends who have goats, a sheep, chickens, tractors and lots of room for boys to roam.  Not to mention the keys to the Montana City Fire Department- Zach had a blast playing in the fire truck.

We headed home and made a drive through Browning, MT (where Joe and I met) and then up to Glacier National Park.  We had hoped to drive through the park on the way home, but an avalanche closed the road that day.  This is the second time I have visited Glacier and the second time an avalanche has closed the road the day I arrived!  We at least had pie at the St. Mary’s Park Cafe, though we did nothing to deserve it (unless nursing all night counts for something).  

KOA in St. Mary Montana, just outside of GNP

Arlo at Lake McDonald in GNP

We didn’t have any major malfunctions until the day we left Glacier- the window in the back of the truck broke and we had to put Elowa up in the cab of the truck with the rest of us.  We were pretty cozy!  Then later that afternoon a tire blew on the trailer and we (I mean Joe) had to stop and fix it.  The boys were super cute with all the tools and what could have been a bummer, was actually kind of fun.

We eventually made it to Winthrop, WA and had a chance to check out the beautiful Methow Valley.  I hope we have a chance to head back there and spend a little more time someday.  Then we cruised through Seattle, saw some friends and then hopped on the ferry and suddenly, we were back home.  

Before we left on this trip, I had been worried about so many of the details- like getting any sleep and how the hell were we going to drive that far with two little kids.  But in a way, the worst things turned out to be the best things.  I didn’t get great sleep- but I got to cuddle with Arlo and nurse every night.  Those days are precious and will end soon so it was so sweet to have that time with him.  And being in the car was actually fun- we had to drive, and we had to be together and we tried to make it fun.  I would crawl in the backseat with the kids to entertain them and nurse the baby (no small feat btw to lean over a carseat and nurse while someone else drives, applause please) and when the kids slept, Joe and I actually had some time together. 

Some of our time in the car was a little rough- when Zach got really fried he would yell “MY BOTTOM HURTS! STOP THE CAR! I NEED EXERCISE! ” at the top of his lungs in this screeching voice that only a toddler can perfect.  I also did not enjoy his song of “Bad Momma, Bad Momma, whatcha gonna do?” (think the “Bad Boys” song from Cops- how the hell does my 3yr old know the Cops theme song when we don’t have a TV?!)  

Taking a break from the car in Idaho

I really owe Joe a huge thanks for this trip- this was something WAY out of my comfort zone and it turned out to be so much fun and was so good for us.  Thank you Joe, I love you.

Leaves in it

A few of my friends have been raving lately about green smoothies.  I’ve been eyeing the recipes as a way to get something green into Zach’s body but have been very skeptical- mostly because I think it sounds gross.  Hmmmm, maybe this is why Zach is such a picky eater, because his mom has food issues too…

Anyway, on the way home the other day, I asked Zach if he wanted a smoothie for snack when we got home.  He said yes, and I asked him if he wanted pink, orange or green smoothie.  To my surprise, he chose green.  ”Ok buddy, but that means we will put leaves in it, is that ok?”  He said yes, so when we got home we made our smoothie- orange juice, a frozen banana and some spinach.  Zach was very excited about the spinach and kept adding more and more… puree and wal-lah, electric green smoothie.  I poured it in a green cup, gave him a green straw and stood back AND HE DRANK IT!  Not a lot, but enough.  And the baby tried it too and sucked down an entire cup (no surprise, how many 11 month olds do you know that would do anything for falafel?) So after, my guinea pigs tried it, I gave it a tentative taste… not delicious, but not gross either.  I made him a peach smoothie today- and he sent it back saying it needed “leaves it in”.    Good thing the spinach is sprouting in the garden, ’cause we’ll be making more green smoothies!

Festival

The weekend here was glorious- warm and sunny and only slightly marred by Joe and I taking call.  We spent most of the weekend at the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts.  This is the first year Zach was big enough to take into the events.  Saturday we saw some African drumming by Chata Addy and Sunday some of his preschool friends performed on the marimbas.  Zach seemed to really enjoy himself- though it may have been the ice cream for lunch on Saturday

and the frozen yogurt for lunch on Sunday and not the music that sealed the deal.

Dejected Zach after his yogurt leaked out the bottom on the cone… 

Even Joe and I got to enjoy some grown-up time and music.  We left the kids at the babysitter Sunday night and went to listen to some music with friends.  Can’t remember the last time that happened!  Anyway, my new vow after this weekend is to have more music in our lives and more date nights for mom and dad.  Good things for everyone!

Last day of “Pre-3″

For the last two years, Zach and I have been going to a co-operative preschool class for toddlers.  Since Arlo was born, it has been our “Mommy Zach special time” and really has meant so much to both of us.  I’ve made great mom friends through the class and Zach has developed some real friendships too.  And today was our last day.  I didn’t expect to be teary about it, but I will really miss our class and I just can’t believe Zach isn’t “pre-3″ anymore.

Teacher Nicole and Zach at the water table with two friends

I’ve learned so much about Zach (and myself) from class.  He likes to observe things for a while before he tries them and he wants Mommy in arm’s length when he does.  He is a little slow to warm up to new situations but then is a total fireball.  And lately, he has actually been starting to share (!), take turns (!!) and help clean-up (!!!!).  So I feel like the class is ending just as we are hitting our stride.

Zach and friends doing something important in the sandbox

As for myself, I think the class has really helped me with realistic expectations as a parent.  It is great to see the other kids misbehave and then watch to see how other parents deal with the same issues we have.  When Zach has issues, I always take it so personally, as some sort of defect in my ability to raise him.  But that expectation of myself isn’t realistic.  No parent and no child is perfect, we just have to learn to work together the best we can, not trying to be perfect, just “good enough”.

Lullaby

Each night when we put Zach to bed, we sing him a song.  Recently, he seems to enjoy having us make up a song about our day.  I have no musical ability at all, so the songs are pretty terrible, but he loves them.  And now he sings songs back to us.  We’ve had a rough few “Mommy Zach days” the last week and this was the song he came up with tonight while I was putting him to bed…

Mommy, I love you when you are angry

I love you when you are sad

I love you when you are frustrated

I love you when you go to work and when you pick me up

I love you when you are……. (long pause) different

 

So sweet, though I hope he is expressing unconditional love and not that he thinks I am a basketcase!

Which is worse…

me letting Zach do this to Arlo or videotaping the entire thing….