Glow Stick

The weather in northern California slowly is warming up after a very wet February. While we're not out of the woods of a drought by any means, it's nice to see the sun, especially after Daylight Saving Time. My attractive wife and I are especially happy for the extra daylight which allows Jack to romp around in our condo association's shared back yard area.

This evening, we hung out with neighbors Dewey and Day-Day and Pavel and Zenia. It was still a little cool to eat dinner outside, but we enjoyed being outdoors together for a time. I played catch with Jack.

As dinnertime approached, we all retreated back to our respective units. Day-Day gave Jack a green glow stick, which Jack later wanted to take into the bath. For fun, we turned out the lights in the bathroom. The glow stick gave off a pleasing light as Jack played around with it in the bath.

Poops Ahoy

My attractive wife had the day off from work and she ventured to Target (aka, The Mothership) and bought Jack some Cars-themed big boy underwear. Jack loved them and after dinner wanted to try them on. We told him they were for wearing after he knew how to go to the potty. Jack announced he was ready to go potty now! He raced upstairs and tried to sit on the toilet before I could get the training seat on it. I told him he would have to first remove his diaper. He decided he'd had enough and ran back into his bedroom were I helped him out of the diaper and into his new underwear. He loved it and ran downstairs to show my attractive wife.

We kept trying to tell him the underwear was for when he knew how to use the potty. I finally got them off him and ushered him back into the bathroom where I drew up his bath. Early into it, he got that far-away look he normally sprouts when he's getting ready to be poopies. Uh oh.

"Buddy do you need to be poopies?" I asked. "No, I was just gassies," he answers. "Are you sure you don't need to be poopies?" He then answered in a whisper, "Be quiet," which he's said several times when I've called him on going poopies in his diaper. My attractive wife said from the hallway he had already been poopies this morning. Jack wiggled around in the soapy water and then seemed okay.

That's when I see it submerged in the water. "Buddy, you went poopies in the bath!" Jack continues to deny it. The commotion draws my attractive wife's attention from the other room. When she sees it, she screams, "Oh, he was poopies!" This causes a peristaltic chain-reaction in Jack who realizes what he's done and he starts crying. I carry him out and put a towel around him while my wife rushes downstairs. She returns with a giant stainless steel ladle and hands it to me.

I'll spare you the clean-up details but let's say I was thankful for the high amounts of fiber in Jack's diet and the power of bleach. We gotta get this kid potty trained.

Serenity. Now.

There have been plenty of times when either my attractive wife or I have yelled out in true Frank Constanza fashion, "Serenity now!" when dealing with our rambunctious three year old. Tonight was oddly different. Instead of resisting every step of the bed time process, Jack slipped subtly into the groove. We came out of the bath and watched an episode of "Ni Hao Ki-Lan" (the Chinese Dora). Jack contemplatively drank his milk laying between my outstretched legs, his own legs crossed.

He didn't fuss when we put on his jammies. He howled with delight at two sessions of the "Hey Now" song (the latter one with me dancing alongside him at his request). He didn't resist brushing his teeth. He was his normal spastic self saying "good night" to mommy in the bedroom but acquiesed to giving her a kiss and moving back into the bedroom.

Here's the kicker, he sat in the chair with me, Bibi Bear and his blanket and snuggled while I read him three books! After the last one, he turned off the light, climbed into the crib (yes, he's still in a crib; we're bad parents) and started playing quietly with my Palm 125 (circa 2000). He's figured out how to light up the screen and enjoys playing with the calculator function.

As I write this (2121 hrs) I can still hear him via the monitor rooting around in his crib but serenely.

Pretty Lady

So we went to church today. I must admit we haven't been going regularly since my return from Iraq, mostly because Jack is in a continual state of hyperness and talkativeness and the prospect of him sitting still and quiet doesn't bode well. While I was away in Iraq, my attractive wife largely opted out of taking Jack to church (and I don't blame her; two parents vs. one three year old is much better odds than one parent vs. one two year old).

Given the rain today, we opted to try and get out of the house. We were a little apprehensive but he was pretty good. We sat up front, near the choir hoping it would entertain him. My attractive wife presciently decided to pack a coloring book, washable crayons, a couple of hot wheels, an empty tennis ball plastic container, and a ball. All of that kept him pretty busy in the pews. After communion he got a little uppity and we discreetly went to the back of the church near an alcove that has a three-quarter scale color statue of Saint Teresa.

When Jack was six months old, he was baptized in the same church and he had a keen interest in this statue which is very life like. I remember Jack reaching out wanting to touch the statue which my father, who was holding him, thought very cute. That day Jack wore the same baptismal gown I wore when I was a baby. Jack's yet-to-be-born baby sister also will wear it (although with pink ribbons).

Photo taken on June 26, 2006

Today, when we passed by the same statute Jack once again expressed interest exclaiming, "Look! A pretty lady."