"Not Pooh."
 | |
| This is a terrible picture. But it's the only one I have of Ben's tour with Goofy. So cute. |
I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. ~Henry David Thoreau
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Not Pooh
As per our agreement, we went somewhere fun today, despite the fact that last night I threw up an entire month's worth of food. Such is my commitment to Adventure. We got the perfect parking spot. Main Street was drowning in strange construction boxes and walls. We went on four rides in less than an hour because there were no lines. Ben got to play with Pluto for like ten minutes because there was no one else around. Goofy gave Ben a personal, hand-held tour of the museum because, again, no one else was around. We had the run of the place. Then it started raining. Something I was entirely unprepared for. We went on all of Ben's favorites, except for Winnie the Pooh, because it started raining and not one of us had the proper clothing. In the car on the way home, I asked Ben what rides we went on. His response?
"Not Pooh."
"Not Pooh."
Friday, January 28, 2011
Ben Gems
"What the heck?"
(after walking in on his pal using the potty) "Adalee, where did your penis go?"
(pointing to a picture of a corn dog on a menu) "What's this?"
"A corn dog."
"I love corn dogs." (he's never had one)
"You're my big, huge mommy. That's my big, huge daddy."
And my all-time favorite:
"Ben, do you want a baby brother or a baby sister?"
"Baby sister."
"What do you want to name her?"
"Baby Jesus. Lightening McQueen."
(after walking in on his pal using the potty) "Adalee, where did your penis go?"
(pointing to a picture of a corn dog on a menu) "What's this?"
"A corn dog."
"I love corn dogs." (he's never had one)
"You're my big, huge mommy. That's my big, huge daddy."
And my all-time favorite:
"Ben, do you want a baby brother or a baby sister?"
"Baby sister."
"What do you want to name her?"
"Baby Jesus. Lightening McQueen."
Thursday, January 27, 2011
My Peach
Yep. It's true. I'm growing a tiny human in my belly. For the next 27 weeks(ish), this is my excuse for:
--being crabby
--not showing up to things
--whining about everything
--going to bed at 3:00pm
--living in a pig sty
--wearing my pajamas any moment that I'm not at work
--claiming toast as cooking
--cooking toast for dinner at least four nights a week
--neglecting my child
--forgetting to wear shoes or pants
--eating fruit snacks and chex mix for breakfast
--not blogging
--everything else
After August 3rd (or thereabouts), I will still continue to use this innocent little one as an excuse for stuff. I'll just be able to offer it up as proof.
I can't wait to meet you, little love. :)
Pump It Up
So last summer I renamed this little bloggy blog "The Adventure," all pumped up about how I was going to be all kinds of adventurous. The summer before that I'd used August as Adventure Month. We did all kinds of cool things and went all kinds of new places, and it was amazing. I was super bummed I hadn't thought of it earlier. So the following year (last summer) I set out with the goal of at least one new Adventure every week. I was no fool to think that I could do some new, fun, exciting thing once a week during the school year, but the summer was ready to be experienced. And I did it. Kind of. I really don't know where my summer went, to be honest. I had all kinds of grand ideas. Because I can't be spontaneous spontaneously, I started planning my Adventures while my kids were taking tests in June. I know, Teacher of the Year, yada yada. But I had valid reasons--for certain places, Ben was free under two, so I had to squeeze those in before July 17. I followed through on a few of my Great Ideas--like going to the park at least once a week, and
I hit a few places on my list. I didn't quite make it to the beach at least once a week, but that wasn't so much my failure as it was the weather's, seeing as the sun didn't come out until the last week of August, and a cold ocean is not a fun ocean. Anyway, I digress. I failed (kind of) at the summer adventures. And I intended to continue adventuring into the school year. I knew it wouldn't be once a week, but I really really wanted to be more deliberate with how we spent our weekends. So often we don't really plan ahead, and what ends up happening is we sit around Saturday mornings saying, "What do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" And so on, ad infinitum until we end up running errands and maybe going to the mall.
I suck at Adventure.
This summer, I will tell you right now, will not be as adventurous as I'd like it to be, for reasons you will learn within a couple of days. Suffice it to say, the Adventure needs to commence, like, NOW.
So in a rare moment of the adventurous spirit and spontaneity, last Saturday when the usual conversation commenced, one of us (I really don't remember who) said, "I wish we could go to the zoo." And then we did it. Seriously. We went online, renewed our San Diego Zoo passes, got in a car, and drove 90 minutes to the zoo. AT THE SPUR OF THE MOMENT.
I could pass out I'm so proud of us.
Not only did we do something fun, we spent money on it, and we actually went more than 10 minutes away from our house. As a bonus, Matt's sister and her boyfriend, who live in SD, were free and were able to meet up and spend the day at the zoo with us.
So now I'm feeling all spunky. I'm pumped and ready to do something fun every weekend. Stop laughing, this is happening and it's real. I will force my husband into a chair and refuse to let him say, "Maybe. We can think about it." I will not let him get up until he has conceded to fun, damn it.
I guess I'll have to do it tonight, because it's already Thursday.
Without further ado, a few photographs from our Zoo Adventure.
I hit a few places on my list. I didn't quite make it to the beach at least once a week, but that wasn't so much my failure as it was the weather's, seeing as the sun didn't come out until the last week of August, and a cold ocean is not a fun ocean. Anyway, I digress. I failed (kind of) at the summer adventures. And I intended to continue adventuring into the school year. I knew it wouldn't be once a week, but I really really wanted to be more deliberate with how we spent our weekends. So often we don't really plan ahead, and what ends up happening is we sit around Saturday mornings saying, "What do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" And so on, ad infinitum until we end up running errands and maybe going to the mall.
I suck at Adventure.
This summer, I will tell you right now, will not be as adventurous as I'd like it to be, for reasons you will learn within a couple of days. Suffice it to say, the Adventure needs to commence, like, NOW.
So in a rare moment of the adventurous spirit and spontaneity, last Saturday when the usual conversation commenced, one of us (I really don't remember who) said, "I wish we could go to the zoo." And then we did it. Seriously. We went online, renewed our San Diego Zoo passes, got in a car, and drove 90 minutes to the zoo. AT THE SPUR OF THE MOMENT.
I could pass out I'm so proud of us.
Not only did we do something fun, we spent money on it, and we actually went more than 10 minutes away from our house. As a bonus, Matt's sister and her boyfriend, who live in SD, were free and were able to meet up and spend the day at the zoo with us.
So now I'm feeling all spunky. I'm pumped and ready to do something fun every weekend. Stop laughing, this is happening and it's real. I will force my husband into a chair and refuse to let him say, "Maybe. We can think about it." I will not let him get up until he has conceded to fun, damn it.
I guess I'll have to do it tonight, because it's already Thursday.
Without further ado, a few photographs from our Zoo Adventure.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Naked Weekend
Saturday morning was lovely. We randomly decided to go to the SD Zoo, and we had a blast. But this entry is not about animals. It's about nudity.
Because when we got home and I went to change his diaper, Ben announced that he would not be wearing clothes. Any clothes. At all. Nor would he be wearing any form of fig leaf, if you know what I mean. Now, this is not the first time that Ben has eschewed diapers and/or clothing. It has not worked out well for us in the past. There have been a few times that Ben has suddenly decided he's going to be a potty-using man, and each and every time his little body is just not quite up to speed with his heart. I think the idea behind the bare-butt potty training methods is that in recognizing one's bodily functions, one will begin to anticipate them and rid one's body of waste in the appropriate facilities. Not Benjamin. He'd be playing, he'd start to pee, he'd notice the fact once he was about halfway done, then say, "clean it up, Mommy," then walk away. Lather, rinse, repeat for two to three days. Never once would he anticipate the function. Never once did he seem at all cognizant of the trail of mess and stench that he was leaving in his wake, and the frazzled, nauseous mother who followed him around smiling and saying, "oops! that's okay! next time tell me when you have to go!" and using more Resolve than someone who owns a pet with dysentery.
This time, however, it has been different. Within a half an hour of doffing his diaper, he announced the need to defecate, sat on the potty, and pooped in it. Within another half an hour, he announced the need to urinate, sat on the potty, and peed in it.
Today has been mixed. He didn't want to get out of his diaper or clothing this morning. Previous attempts at the Pull-ups method of potty training have failed as miserably as the bare-butt method, so I have to admit I was a little bummed (hahahaha...bum...) that he didn't want to be naked. We'd had such a successful evening that I was hoping to ride the momentum through. Now, I know that consistency is important. BUT (hahahaha...butt...), I feel very strongly in not pressuring him to use the potty (or go about it in a way he is uncomfortable, i.e. forcing him to be naked or forcing him to wear a pull-up). No healthy, fairly normal and functional 18-year-olds I know wear diapers, so I feel like it's safe to say that some day he will master the art of the toilet. Nothing good can come of pressuring your child into doing something they're not ready for. So imagine my joy when the following occurred. We were going to go to breakfast and run some errands. So I told Ben I needed to change his diaper and change him out of his jammies. I took his diaper off and asked him if he needed to go potty. He sat on the potty and peed. I mean, seriously? Is it really this easy? We rejoiced, we put a pull-up on him for our outing, and went about our morning. When we got home he wanted to be naked, so naked he was. Sadly, our winning streak slowed when the little man was playing so passionately that he didn't notice that he had to go and peed all over the floor. Dang it. At least it was just pee. We cleaned it up, he asked for a pull-up, and he got one. The rest of the day vacillated. He pooped one more time in the potty, and didn't need to go any more before his nap, during which he wore a diaper. When he woke up he wanted a pull-up, and I gave him one, and he peed in it. I changed him into a new pull-up and he pooped in it. Now he's naked again, as per his own request.
Rules about Potty Training I'd Previously Had:
--I would not do the bare-butt method because a) I don't trust anything that promises to train your child to do something in three days or less and b) I've known kids to be traumatized by it.
--I would not use the little potty because it's a waste of an extra step. I'd go straight to the special seat on the big potty.
What Has Happened in the Past Two Days:
--Ben has only once used the potty while he's had on a pull-up; he's used the potty a half a dozen times while naked.
--He will only go in the little potty.
What I've Learned from the Past Two Days:
--The bare-butt method appears to be more successful and effective.
--The bare-butt method is more messy.
--The bare-butt method is much more stressful (for me).
--Watching your little boy play for hours and asking him repeatedly if he has to go potty is mind-blowingly boring and annoying.
--In certain things, kids do what they want, when they want, and how they want.
--Truly, it is useless to try to potty train a kid when they're not ready. It is a messy uphill battle. When they're ready, it will work much better.
--Having convictions about what you will and won't do as a parent before you actually are one is an exercise in futility.
He obviously can't run around daycare naked, he's not ready for underwear, and he has only once successfully used the potty while wearing a pull-up. So we'll just have to improvise. We shall see if this weekend's work is just a waste of two days or if we are actually well on our way to saving $40 a month.
Because when we got home and I went to change his diaper, Ben announced that he would not be wearing clothes. Any clothes. At all. Nor would he be wearing any form of fig leaf, if you know what I mean. Now, this is not the first time that Ben has eschewed diapers and/or clothing. It has not worked out well for us in the past. There have been a few times that Ben has suddenly decided he's going to be a potty-using man, and each and every time his little body is just not quite up to speed with his heart. I think the idea behind the bare-butt potty training methods is that in recognizing one's bodily functions, one will begin to anticipate them and rid one's body of waste in the appropriate facilities. Not Benjamin. He'd be playing, he'd start to pee, he'd notice the fact once he was about halfway done, then say, "clean it up, Mommy," then walk away. Lather, rinse, repeat for two to three days. Never once would he anticipate the function. Never once did he seem at all cognizant of the trail of mess and stench that he was leaving in his wake, and the frazzled, nauseous mother who followed him around smiling and saying, "oops! that's okay! next time tell me when you have to go!" and using more Resolve than someone who owns a pet with dysentery.
This time, however, it has been different. Within a half an hour of doffing his diaper, he announced the need to defecate, sat on the potty, and pooped in it. Within another half an hour, he announced the need to urinate, sat on the potty, and peed in it.
Today has been mixed. He didn't want to get out of his diaper or clothing this morning. Previous attempts at the Pull-ups method of potty training have failed as miserably as the bare-butt method, so I have to admit I was a little bummed (hahahaha...bum...) that he didn't want to be naked. We'd had such a successful evening that I was hoping to ride the momentum through. Now, I know that consistency is important. BUT (hahahaha...butt...), I feel very strongly in not pressuring him to use the potty (or go about it in a way he is uncomfortable, i.e. forcing him to be naked or forcing him to wear a pull-up). No healthy, fairly normal and functional 18-year-olds I know wear diapers, so I feel like it's safe to say that some day he will master the art of the toilet. Nothing good can come of pressuring your child into doing something they're not ready for. So imagine my joy when the following occurred. We were going to go to breakfast and run some errands. So I told Ben I needed to change his diaper and change him out of his jammies. I took his diaper off and asked him if he needed to go potty. He sat on the potty and peed. I mean, seriously? Is it really this easy? We rejoiced, we put a pull-up on him for our outing, and went about our morning. When we got home he wanted to be naked, so naked he was. Sadly, our winning streak slowed when the little man was playing so passionately that he didn't notice that he had to go and peed all over the floor. Dang it. At least it was just pee. We cleaned it up, he asked for a pull-up, and he got one. The rest of the day vacillated. He pooped one more time in the potty, and didn't need to go any more before his nap, during which he wore a diaper. When he woke up he wanted a pull-up, and I gave him one, and he peed in it. I changed him into a new pull-up and he pooped in it. Now he's naked again, as per his own request.
Rules about Potty Training I'd Previously Had:
--I would not do the bare-butt method because a) I don't trust anything that promises to train your child to do something in three days or less and b) I've known kids to be traumatized by it.
--I would not use the little potty because it's a waste of an extra step. I'd go straight to the special seat on the big potty.
What Has Happened in the Past Two Days:
--Ben has only once used the potty while he's had on a pull-up; he's used the potty a half a dozen times while naked.
--He will only go in the little potty.
What I've Learned from the Past Two Days:
--The bare-butt method appears to be more successful and effective.
--The bare-butt method is more messy.
--The bare-butt method is much more stressful (for me).
--Watching your little boy play for hours and asking him repeatedly if he has to go potty is mind-blowingly boring and annoying.
--In certain things, kids do what they want, when they want, and how they want.
--Truly, it is useless to try to potty train a kid when they're not ready. It is a messy uphill battle. When they're ready, it will work much better.
--Having convictions about what you will and won't do as a parent before you actually are one is an exercise in futility.
He obviously can't run around daycare naked, he's not ready for underwear, and he has only once successfully used the potty while wearing a pull-up. So we'll just have to improvise. We shall see if this weekend's work is just a waste of two days or if we are actually well on our way to saving $40 a month.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Santa Pooped My Pants
Actual conversations I had with Ben today:
Me: Ben, did you poop?
Ben: Nope, I didn't.
Me: Are you sure? There's poop in your diaper. If you didn't do it, who did?
Ben: Matt
Me: Who put poop in your diaper?
Ben: Santa Claus brought poop in my diaper.
(he's talking on one play phone, I'm talking on the other)
Me: Ben, what did you do today?
Ben: I built my tracks. I don't have my brown cars. I miss my brown cars.
(the conversation I can hear right now between Ben and Matt, recounting a certain famous Bible story...see if you can figure it out.)
Matt: So what happened?
Ben: The rain fell on the earth and it flooded. Then the big huge boat went on the water. Then it fell on the rock. It went fast.
Ben: Donald Duck gave Daisy his heart.
Me: That's right! And you know what? Daddy gave Mommy his heart!
Ben: No.
Me: Ben, did you poop?
Ben: Nope, I didn't.
Me: Are you sure? There's poop in your diaper. If you didn't do it, who did?
Ben: Matt
Me: Who put poop in your diaper?
Ben: Santa Claus brought poop in my diaper.
(he's talking on one play phone, I'm talking on the other)
Me: Ben, what did you do today?
Ben: I built my tracks. I don't have my brown cars. I miss my brown cars.
(the conversation I can hear right now between Ben and Matt, recounting a certain famous Bible story...see if you can figure it out.)
Matt: So what happened?
Ben: The rain fell on the earth and it flooded. Then the big huge boat went on the water. Then it fell on the rock. It went fast.
Ben: Donald Duck gave Daisy his heart.
Me: That's right! And you know what? Daddy gave Mommy his heart!
Ben: No.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Disneyland Stole my Phone and my Money
Okay, so maybe stole isn't the right word. Maybe I (semi) voluntarily gave them my money when Ben fell in love with a stuffed Winnie the Pooh and my bleeding mother's heart caved. And maybe I lost my phone, somewhere in the vicinity of the Pooh store or ride. And maybe I bought an overpriced hot dog because I was starving and didn't want to wait until I got home to have lunch. Let's just say it was an expensive day at the park. BUT, glory of glories, someone actually turned my phone in! So as soon as Matt gets around to calling them back, I will no longer have to live in the pre-cell phone dark ages. And Ben carries his pal Pooh around everywhere.
For the record, I actively avoided the Pooh phase. I just felt like it was so cliche. But it was on TV one day, so I recorded it, and Ben hasn't looked back. When we went to D-land the other day it was the only ride he wanted to go on. Once we went on it, he went into the store (of course the ride dumps you off into a store), and he just wanted to stay there and play with the Pooh toys for the rest of the day. When we left with Pooh he said he was done and wanted to go home. We'd seriously done nothing but the Pooh ride and the Pooh store. This from the kid who talks constantly about wanting to go to Disneyland.
I forced him to do a few more things, like go on the island to see if my uncle was working and see Mickey. But he wouldn't go on anymore rides, and other than being excited about Mickey once we got there (if only to show him Pooh), he just kept asking to go home. So I grabbed a lunch, despite the fact it was only 11 and Ben kept saying he didn't want any (sometimes I have to win--and he ate anyway, big shocker), then we hit the lost and found and went home.
For the record, I actively avoided the Pooh phase. I just felt like it was so cliche. But it was on TV one day, so I recorded it, and Ben hasn't looked back. When we went to D-land the other day it was the only ride he wanted to go on. Once we went on it, he went into the store (of course the ride dumps you off into a store), and he just wanted to stay there and play with the Pooh toys for the rest of the day. When we left with Pooh he said he was done and wanted to go home. We'd seriously done nothing but the Pooh ride and the Pooh store. This from the kid who talks constantly about wanting to go to Disneyland.
I forced him to do a few more things, like go on the island to see if my uncle was working and see Mickey. But he wouldn't go on anymore rides, and other than being excited about Mickey once we got there (if only to show him Pooh), he just kept asking to go home. So I grabbed a lunch, despite the fact it was only 11 and Ben kept saying he didn't want any (sometimes I have to win--and he ate anyway, big shocker), then we hit the lost and found and went home.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
January Spring
Normally I'm a season girl--I like weather that appropriately corresponds to the calendar. I have been known to vehemently, um, share my feelings when the weather departs from my expectations. This week it is warm and sunny. I'm good with it. I feel a little like a traitor to myself, but I'm oddly at peace with that. Maybe I'm just vitamin D deprived; who knows. But Ben and I enjoyed a beautiful day soaking in the sun at the farm and the park.
