Magical Morning

The boys woke on Christmas morning to see the tree lit up and a train rolling around the tracks. Apparently, Santa had set it up in the middle of the night. And that made him hungry so he ate almost all of the cookies we had put out for him. His reindeer must have been hungry too because they ate almost all of the carrots. J and D were so excited to see all their presents and to see what Santa had brought them. D just now told me that his favorite toy was the Woody doll that he got that has a guitar and a real pull string. He's sitting next to me as I type this singing the theme song from Toy Story. J just told me that his favorite toy is a globe that has a joystick that maneuvers an airplane around and tells about different parts of the world. Funny, I thought his favorite toy was the train and that D's favorite was Buzz Lightyear. It was interesting watching them that morning. Everything that D opened J wanted and when he didn't get the same thing he stood in the middle of the room and lowered his head. He looked so pathetic and I felt really bad for him. I remember that feeling - wanting something so bad and not getting it, wishing it was yours. Of course, it wouldn't matter what J got as long as D got something different then that's what J would want. But seeing his little sad face made me think it's happening to J too soon. He's too young to have that feeling already. Once the excitement of the day wore off a bit J was fine and really happy to play with his train set.
The best Christmas present I got that day was that D decided he was done with diapers and didn't want to wear them anymore. And that was that - he hasn't worn them since. He's had a couple of accidents but only in the first few days. Since then, we've gone to the Uncles' house for the day and a playdate at an indoor playplace without incidence. He's still wearing a diaper at night but the rest of the time he's in underwear. I'm so proud of both of them.

I put a spell on you

Taken Saturday, December 10th just before we headed out for the SFVMOMC holiday party.

Potty Training

J has potty trained himself. He decided last week that he didn't want to wear diapers anymore and, for the most part, he hasn't. See, at our 3 year appointment the pediatrician told them that they're now big boys and that big boys use the potty and don't wear diapers. I let it slide because I am of the philosophy that they'll do it when they're ready. But, J is an interesting kid - he's very aware of pleasing others and it is extremely important to him to live up to others' expectations. So after a few days passed, he did exactly what the pediatrician told him to do. D, on the other hand, doesn't give a hoot about what other people think and seems to have gone in the opposite direction. He was really close to being potty trained but now that J is, he seems to have absolutely no interest in it. He's perfectly happy in a diaper and doesn't really care that J doesn't wear one. I plan to work with D over the holiday break but if he doesn't get trained, it's ok. They move to the preschool side of the daycare the first week of January and he'll get it. I just am fascinated by the way it seems to be playing out. It's like having my own live case study!

Snow Day

I'm a bit late in posting about this but, oh well. Last Saturday (12/10) I took the family to the feature animation Holiday party. For the last 3 years we've had parties that cater to those with children, with many different activities for a variety of ages. This year, they trucked in snow. There were several spots throughout the plaza area that had piles of snow and one spot had a large pile over several bales of hay and the kids were sliding down the "hill" on discs. This was the first time J and D have seen snow. J was especially enthralled. I imagine this is what was going through his brain - "What? You can make it into a little ball and hurl it at someone's head? COOL! And - it gets slippery and makes people fall down? AWESOME! My favorite things - throwing things at people and watching them fall down." He's so much like me it's scary. T - if you're reading this, I just can't help it. It's funny when people fall down.
Anyway, the boys had a great time playing in the snow and then they discovered the hill with the disc hurtling down it 150 miles per hour and that's what they wanted to do next. So, T took them to the top of the mountain and they waited for their turn. I stayed at the bottom so I could catch them before they hit the street a block away. No, I am not overreacting!! We told the boys they need to hold on really tight but of course the first bump they hit, they let go. But, being little kids who like to fall down, they thought that was fun. They went down the hill 4 or 5 times and then we convinced them that it was time to get some dinner. They munched on grilled cheese sandwiches and then we found out that there was prime rib inside the ABC building so we abandoned the sandwiches and headed indoors. On the way to the dining room, there was a section devoted to story-telling and the story-teller was already hard at work. The boys and I sat down to listen and T went hunting for the meat. After we ate, we found the boys' friend from daycare, F and they all played for a while. Then we discovered the craft table, where J then discovered scissors and that is where we spent the remainder of the evening. J cut up his piece of paper into as many tiny slivers as he could while D peeled off the backing from the mitten stickers, stocking stickers, heart stickers, etc. and put them on his face. A colleague of mine snapped a photo of that and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turned out. Finally, at 9:30pm we told the boys it was time to go and we headed home. What a night!

3 years

I took the boys to the Doctor today for their 3 year check up. J weighed in at 27 pounds and is 36 1/4 inches tall. D is a whopping 25 pounds and 36 inches tall. When I first went into Dr. Shulman's office for their 1st checkup, I think J weighed around 6 pounds and he was 2 months old. D was probably just over 5 pounds. We went to Dr. Shulman's office once a week for the first month, then it went down to every 2 weeks, then once a month. Even after we got through those critical first months, we were in and out of the doctor because the boys got sick so often. D has had pneumonia 3 times and has been hospitalized twice; J has had croup several times and was almost hospitalized for it once. Today, the Doctor said "either you're seeing someone else or the boys' health is very good". We've only been to the office once since their 2 year check up. What a difference! They're on track developmentally and while they may be small, they're feisty and smart and doing just what 3 year olds should do. And that is the best birthday present I could have asked for them.