Day 5

Erik comes home this evening. Xander and I are excited. I know Nick will be, too.

Erik said his talk went well. It sounds, so far, like he got a lot out of the conference.

Today I brought Nick and Xander to two stores in a row, Target and Winn Dixie. That's a dangerous thing to do, but they did very well. I did buy Nick a box of animal crackers to keep him happy in Target. Now that he has an easier time communicating with me about food, he points to everything he wants and is not happy when he doesn't get it. He pointed to basically all of our groceries as I picked them out and as they were bagged. Including the raw meat. I may leave him at home the next few times I go grocery shopping.

One of the reasons to go to Target today was to pick up training pants for Nick. Today I brought down the potty chair and showed it to him. I know this sounds crazy, but I'm thinking about starting him on a potty routine. My first plan for potty training Nick was to wait until he asks about how Xander does it, and then hope he picks it up fast from having an example. In the last week, though, I've seen how much Nick is learning. He likes to learn new things and ways to communicate about them. It might be a perfect time to teach him about the potty and what we do in there, along with the Baby Signs book and DVD from Leslie. He will be interested and very much less resistant than he will be in a few months. It will make more work for me, and it won't happen quickly, but it might go more smoothly. The one thing I don't want to repeat from the experience with Xander is all the stops and starts. I want to move steadily and progressively once we start. If common sense dictates a pause in the training, I'll have to take that into consideration. So I'm not 100% sure about starting this early.

Nick also needs to be kept busy and not bored at this stage. Potty training could come in handy that way.

Last night Nick woke again at 4:40 AM. What is it about that time? One night he woke me at that time, the next night Xander did, and the following night Nick again! I have a very hard time getting back to sleep at that time of day.

Now we are eating waffles, blueberries, and bacon for dinner. I was going to make pot roast but forgot to put it in three hours before dinner time. The kids are very happy with it; Erik's not home yet. We are also watching Prince Caspian again. I allowed this because I was having a great time talking on the phone with my friend Charity. While having a meaningful conversation with her, I let the kids have outside playtime, blew bubbles, watered plants, weeded the garden, refilled the bird bath, got drinks for the kids, changed a dirty diaper, put on a movie, put Nick in independent playtime, and made dinner. The afternoon went by nicely fast.

So... here is Xander's quote of the day: "Aslan is a amazing good guy! And even powerful!"

You have to imagine it said with the utmost expressiveness.

I forgot about his interaction in Target with a stranger. A young woman was piling another box on top of a precarious pile coming out of her cart. In a clear, strong, loud voice, Xander said, "Mommy, that is TOO MUCH!"

The young woman laughed and said, "I think you're right. You are smarter than I am. This is probably too much!"