Gettin' on the Potty Train

This post is quite late... perhaps 2 months overdue. But here it is, my little boy is becoming a big boy. We had talked a lot about it, and bribed and bribed to no end, but he wouldn't try it. Then one day, he was in the bath and looked down at himself like something was going to happen, so I snatched him out of the bath, put him on the potty, and there was our first success. I'll have to look back in my journal for the date on that (don't hold your breath). He was immediately rewarded with a new movie, Toy Story 2 which we bought on iTunes. Nothing better than bathing while watching your new movie. 

After his first success, Lincoln turned to me and said, "Mom, I wanna get on 'The Potty Train'". Music to my ears. YES, PLEASE get on The Potty Train, Lincoln!!! Anyway, it has been a long, hard process. I'm about ready to just give up until he decides doing it in his pants is gross. We've had many #1 successes, but never a #2. He's got his pants off and on so much that he takes them off even when we have company. When we had a play date, one of the moms went downstairs to check on the kids and Lincoln was running around with all the little girls pants-less. Then, my friend Wynne was visiting, and she was downstairs in the guest bedroom, Lincoln was in the playroom, and I was upstairs making dinner. Lincoln yelled something to her about needing to go poop, so she ran in to see if she could get him to the toilet, but he had already left a trail on the carpet. ARG!!! Then a day or two later, I noticed there was something streaked across the TV. I couldn't imagine what it was, but I guess after leaving his trail, Lincoln had "wiped" with his hand and then thought the TV was a good spot to clean his hand off. Anyway, lots of laundry, lots of wiping up, lots of nagging and tears (more from me than Lincoln). The best bribe so far has been his teddy bear vitamins. Double plus for me, a potty success AND he takes his vitamins. Someday... someday.

Oh, two more funny little things: 1) Benny will sit on the potty fully clothed, and then will stand up and scream "Yay!!" and then ask for candies. 2) I was working on a project and I could hear that the boys were pushing the kitchenette chairs over to the kitchen counter or something. Wasn't sure what they were doing, but gave them 10 seconds before they got into too much trouble. Turns out that Lincoln had pushed a chair up to the cupboard where we keep the reward jelly bean jar. He and Benny were both standing on the same chair snacking, but Bennett was totally naked. I suppose Lincoln was trying to help potty train Bennett or something. Too funny! 

Dinosaurs for Breakfast

The video below is just a little taste of the chatter that goes on at our house. This is actually a pretty tame sample. Lincoln's imagination has really blossomed in the last several months. One of his favorite things to do is to pretend he's looking for baby dinosaurs, a game he came up with on his own, and we embellished. He'll pretend to grab them, he'll let you hold them, he'll eat them, put them to bed, etc. As a result, copy-cat lil' bro has kinda latched on to this whole dinosaur thing, and tries to get me to go on a dinosaur hunt with him all day.

Another funny thing that Lincoln has started to do in the last several months is request that we sing "The Squirrel Song", or "The Diaper Song", songs I've never heard of. I'll tell him, "I don't know that one, how does it go?" and then he'll make up a tune repeating "Diaper, diaper, diaper...." or whatever word he had on his mind at the time. Then when he's through, he'll ask me, "Did you like that one?". Loved it.

Lincoln and Bennett just went in to get caught up on some immunizations. Initially Lincoln only got 2 and Benny got three, but then after all the drama, the nurse realized Lincoln was missing a Polio vaccine, so after leaving her office, we had to go back in. Lincoln actually went back in willingly, which was surprising, but Bennett knew that nothing good happend in there and had a big melt-down in the hallway. Throughout the day, especially after his nap, Lincoln would moan and moan about his sore arms and say, "I got hurt. She poked me". Too funny. Anyway, that explains a little bit about some dialogue in the movie. With no further ado:

A Few More...

I got a few more photos from Laura from our trip and thought I'd post a few more:

Could Benny's face look chubbier?

Natural History Museum

Trying to tame the rascal.

It didn't work.

Sunday stroll with the second cousins, Lilly, Sophie and Tim.

McD's breakfast with L's new best friend, Papa.

Could the grocery store be any more fun?

This is how Lincoln was most of the trip... fixated on the iPad. The times he wasn't were shown above. 

Pool Party in Philly.

Matt just woke up. Give him a minute.

Last, but not least, Lincoln and Matt had a little guy's afternoon out the last day we were in DC. Matt took Lincoln to see "The Lorax", which Lincoln loved. I think he loved the popcorn and candy more than anything. Then they had a hot dog for dinner. I was supposed to pick them up, but we missed several of Matt's phone calls, so to pass the time while they waited, they did a little photo shoot. When I finally did show up, Lincoln ran to me holding the pictures and said, "Look what I made". He and Matt had obviously had a good time. In reference to the 3rd shot down, Lincoln said, "Look mom, I do my fingers". Too cute.

East Coast Tour with the Baby Brigade

We just returned from a fantastic trip to visit my grandparents in Washington DC and we also hit NYC and Philly. Travelling with kids is crazy, but we managed to have a good time despite the crying children.

First stop, Jefferson Memorial:

Trying out the leash. It actually helped quite a bit!

Mayhem at the Natural History Smithsonian

Beautiful blossoms in front of the White House. The weather was fabulous.

Benny was happy as long as he had his stick. Lincoln looks like a caged animal.

Minnie having a good snooze in the stroller at the White House.

Laura taking Lincoln on a walk-jog. Lincoln and Benny both love their Autie Lala.

Cheese.

Blossoms and flowers everywhere. We loved it!

Lincoln and Lincoln.

Vietnam War Memorial

Peek.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Jefferson Memorial across the water from the MLK Memorial.

Washington Memorial again.

Benny just woke up to Minnie's harassment.

Ron, Kitten and kids came up from VA to visit us.

After church snuggle.

Grandma making another fabulous meal while Kathryn offers her moral support.

Kat the Kitten and Minnie Mouse.

Having a laugh with the great grandkids.

It's funny cause Lincoln has only met Great Grandpa and Grandma Mecham two or so times in his lifetime, but he sure latched on to them as his family and friends. He was full of hugs for "Papa". Very cute.

I forgot to mention one funny thing that happened. Sunday, while lunch was being made, Lincoln went down to the basement by himself. Matt went to check on him a while later and found him with both feet stuck to a sticky mouse trap in the corner by the TV. Lincoln couldn't move and wasn't sure what to do. When Matt came down, Lincoln announced, "I'm stuck". I think his socks are still on the trap. Sorry Grandma, we forgot to clean that up.

Benny playing on the Mall.

Lincoln "helping" Bennett.

Freedom!!!!

Snack time.

Rollin' in to NYC.

This is my favorite picture of the whole trip. A bunch of zombies. This illustrates well how we felt much of the time. BEAT!!

Curious Minnie, laughing Lincoln.

Terrified Lincoln, laughing Minnie.

Times Square

Rockefeller Plaza

St. Patrick's Cathedral. There were SO many amazing, old churches in Manhattan.

Inside the Cathedral.

The first night we were here, we wandered around a bit, saw where the Empire State Building, and then went to a "Chinese Fusion Restaurant" which was actually all Korean. Then we went back to our hotel. When we got back to our room, Lincoln burst into tears because as we were driving from DC to NYC, Laura kept telling Lincoln that we were going to see the "Big Apple", and he was very disappointed that we hadn't found it that evening. Day 2, we headed to FAO Schwarz and were relieved and delighted to finally find "The Big Apple" right next door to FAO Schwarz.

FAO Schwarz

The "Big" Piano

Lego Statue of Liberty

Hot Dogs at Central Park

We didn't get a photo of this, but Bennett loved having us chase all the pigeons with him in the stroller. He would call them "geese". You can tell he is not a native New Yorker. "Go get 'em.. geese!!".

Another funny tidbit about New York: many of the elevators going down to the subway are used as urinals by the homeless or crazies. It is so stuffy and rank in there, we all wanted to die. As a result of us expressing our displeasure, Lincoln got in the habit of saying, "Eww, stinky pee pee!!", no matter what the elevator smelled like. One time, we got in an elevator, and it actually, to our delight smelled like cleaner. The janitor, kind of a gruff black woman, followed us onto the elevator. As the doors closed behind her, Lincoln said, as usual, "Ew!!! Stinky pee pee!!!". We told him, "No, it actually smells good in here". The woman had a good laugh and said, "He's used to the elevators smellin' like piss!!". We all laughed. She was doing a good job at her station. I couldn't think of anything I'd like to do less than to be a janitor at a subway station in NYC, bless her heart!!

Dinner with the Arrington Ladies

View of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Financial District from atop the Empire State Building.

Chrysler Building on the right. Note: Benny spilled his milk on himself. It is not urine.

Beautiful garden dining in Little Italy.

Nap time in front of the World Trade Center.

WTC being rebuilt.

Trinity Church. Saw Alexander Hamilton's grave here.

NY Stock Exchange onWall Street. Matt seems very happy to be there.

As we walked up to where the Staten Island Ferry loads and unloads in Battery Park, this is what we saw:

Lady Liberty.

The ladies with Lady Liberty (the dot) in the background.

Shake Shack Time!!!

Waiting for our food at the Shake Shack with the Empire State Building in the background.

NYC Temple. 

Swings at Central Park

Grand Central.

Matt went swimming with Lincoln at our hotel in Philly in his shorts that he uses for pajamas, so he stole my sweats for PJs. NOT a good look. Laura and I about died of laughter.

They are going to love this photo when they get older.

The Second Bank of the USA in Philadelphia.

Independence Hall

Enjoying a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich from Jim's Steaks (since 1937) in the car.

Tried to get a nice picture with Grandma before we left. This is the best we could do.