Peyton's Song

Peyton wanted me to sit in his fort with him yesterday morning and play music with him. His music set consists of a set of drumsticks, a tambourine, some bells, and a shaker. As I obliged and played both the tambourine and bells simultaneously (I know, I'm multi-talented, right?), he came up with the words to a song all on his own.

"Mommy, Mommy went to town; On an airplane on vacation; Hooooo, hooooo, hooooo, hooooo....."

By "airplane", he meant a G6, and "vacation" clearly means a trip to New Orleans because that's the only place we ever go on vacation.

I didn't have a video camera to capture the actual moment that the song was composed, but we did encourage him to recreate it later. Not quite the same, but you get the idea:

Halloween

We had a fantastic Halloween weekend! Friday night, we went to a nearby community that has a big pumpkin festival - all of the workers carve pumpkins and then put them on display. It was really very cool.



It put me in the mood to carve a pumpkin, but there really wasn't any time....maybe next year.
Peyton had a great time listening to the live music and running around to touch all of the pumpkins. I even caught him blowing out the candles inside of one. I think another kid showed him how to do that.

Then Saturday night Patrick and I got dressed up and went to party! He was an artist and I was his painting. Peyton helped him paint my shirt.



Trick-or-treating in our subdivision is usually pretty quiet, so some friends invited us over to their house in a neighborhood full of kids. It was worth the 45 minute drive! There were tons of kids running around in costumes. Lots of Buzz Light Years, Princesses, Harry Potters, etc.




Peyton was the only pilot, and he had a blast. He got the hang of the trick-or-treating thing pretty quickly. He would run up to the door and yell "Trick-or-Treat!", but more in the tone of "Gimme some candy!" At one point, he turned to me and said, "No, Mom, you stay here (at the end of the driveway). I go by myself." Alrighty then. He's 2 and he's already embarrassed by me. I was hoping I had another few years before that would happen!


After he was completely exhausted from trick-or-treating, we let him pick out a piece of candy to sit down and eat. He chose the M&Ms. And then thankfully he had no idea that the rest of the candy completely disappeared right to Daddy's office. (I had to sneak a few pieces for myself too, of course!)

I think by next year, he'll be a little wiser, and we won't be able to get away with that.

Fall Happenings

Fall in North Carolina means lots of fun - beautiful weather and the NC State Fair!
The hit of the fair: the Pig Races (literally) and the corn.



He doesn't need help.








Don't touch his corn.




Why do I bother shucking it for him at dinner time?

We also spent the morning recently at a pumpkin farm. You can shuck corn to feed the goats and pigs, but they were way too full to eat. Instead, we played in a corn filled play area.

There was a big pile of hay to play on, a hayride, and Peyton got to pick out his own pumpkin from the patch. He had a great time!




We have also started celebrating Halloween. A local Mom's group sponsored a "Trunk or Treat" where kids can go trick or treating from car to car, all decorated for the season. Peyton's current obsession is airplanes. He loves to go to the observation deck at the airport and watch the airplanes take off. So, I bought him a pilot costume for Halloween. Here we are leaving for trunk or treat. And of course he has his monkey bag with him. Because pilots need luggage!

Sign of the Cross

We've been working on Peyton's prayers, keeping it mostly simple: the Angel of God prayer, and the Glory Be prayer.
Then we started working on the sign of the cross. Here's how that is going:
Us: In the name of the Father
Peyton: And of the Mother (although it sounds like "and of the mudder")
Us: Ok, and of the Son
Peyton: And of the Moon
Us: No, there's no moon in this
Peyton: Yes, and of the moon
Us: Fine, and of the Holy Spirit
Peyton: AAAAAAAAA-Men!

Uncle Matt and Aunt Abby Got Married!!

Peyton was in charge of the rings again, this time for Uncle Matt and Aunt Abby.


It was a beautiful wedding at Michabelle's Inn in Hammond, and Peyton certainly left his mark.
I'll let you see the video for yourself.






At least he walked up the aisle.



Always thinking about how to keep him entertained, we bought a couple of disposable cameras to keep him occupied. It took him all of about 10 minutes to shoot an entire roll of film. Most of them came out like this:
I think there is an abstract artist in there screaming to get out.

But a couple of them came out pretty good. Here's a picture of the paparazzi:

Adventures in Nola

Last week, we traveled to New Orleans for Uncle Matt and Aunt Abby's beautiful wedding. This would be Patrick's brother Uncle Matt, not to be confused with my sister's husband, also Uncle Matt.
As the days were getting closer to the wedding and the suitcases were pulled out and packed, our little man woke up with fever and an ear infection. Lovely. We worried about how he would feel on the airplane and whether we'd have a screaming kid on our hands when the pressure changed. Luckily, he did really well. We gave him some good doses of antibiotics, a little ibuprofen, benadryl for good measure, and some tasty apple juice to drink during take-off and landing. Besides yanking on his ears a little bit, Peyton didn't seem to care about them at all, so our potion of meds seemed to do the trick.
We landed in Tampa for a small layover, but didn't have to change planes. Patrick asked if he could get off and get something to eat for Peyton, which they allowed, but this left Peyton and me up to our own vices. While we were just sitting around, I asked the flight attendant if Peyton could meet the pilot. Next thing I know, I hear a voice beaming, "Hi! I'm First Officer Joe!" and there was one of the pilots standing there to greet us. He invited us to sit in the cockpit and take a look around. I admit, all of those buttons scared me a bit. And it scared me to let my two year old within 10 feet of them. All we needed was for him to open up the luggage bin with one small touch of a button and have everything fall out of the belly of the airplane. When Patrick got back from getting food, Peyton was sitting quietly in his seat with his new airplane wings pin and coloring a picture of a Southwest airplane. I guiltily had to admit that we sat in the cockpit without him.

While hanging out at Lollie and Pops's house while we were home, Peyton took to playing my mom's guitar and singing his own song. I have no idea what he is singing, but it has something to do with New Orleans. That's really the only two words I can make out.





Wedding details and pictures to come....

Red Light, Green Light

Patrick and Peyton were playing a game. Patrick would say, "Red means....?" and Peyton would yell out, "Stop!" "Green means....?" "Go!" This went back and forth a few times. Then Patrick thought he'd mix things up a bit and try to stump Peyton. He said, "Yellow means....?" And to his surprise, Peyton answered in a very drawn out way, "Go reeaaaaallll ssssllllllloooooowwww....."

An Adjustment

Peyton has started his new school, and he's doing pretty well. His teacher told me that he had one of the best first weeks she has ever had with a new kid. Patrick told me she tells everyone that, but I'm going to believe that she was telling me the truth. But he seems to be doing well there. They have a different theme each week and they focus on different topics within that theme each day. One week they did music, another they did sports. Last week they did feelings. Now, when he's mad about something, he tells me he's "grumpy." They have lots of toys and trucks to play with and a big yard outside where they play twice a day.

While things were going pretty well at school, we noticed that he started waking up super early in the morning and waking up in the middle of the night, which he very rarely did before. He came in our room one night around 2:30am talking about the blue airplane outside his window. He went on and on and on....in my incoherent state at 2:30am, I kept putting him back in his bed, and he kept coming back! Patrick had a little more sense about him and finally rocked Peyton back to sleep. We came to the conclusion that he was missing all of the hugs and cuddle time that he got with us, and Mrs. Lauren when he was with her. He just seemed to want to be held a little more, which was totally fine with me!

However, all the hugs in the world wasn't preventing him from coming to our room at 5am to tell us that he was awake and ready to watch cartoons. We'd bring him back to his bed and he'd come wandering back to our room a few minutes later. At a more appropriate time, we would just get up. In his mind, if he was persistent enough, we would just give in. For him, he didn't seem to be grasping the concept that there was an actual time when it was time to get out of bed.

We decided that he was a little too young to tell time, but started looking for something that would help him understand the difference between night and day. And it was time to be drastic. $35 for a freakin' night light seemed a little extreme to me, but I decided that if I could sleep until 6:30am (I've stopped dreaming of ever sleeping until 8am again!) it would be worth every single penny. So we invested in the Good Nite Lite and crossed our fingers that this would help him understand the difference. We set the timer in the back so that at 8pm, the night light looks like a moon. At 6:30am, it turns into a sun. Well, by golly, it worked! He gets so excited about waiting for the sun to come up. There have been several mornings where I can hear him in his room talking to himself or singing, but he stays in there until he sees the sun. And then he throws his door open and comes running in our room to tell us that he sees the sun!

Our master plan backfired slightly this weekend, however, when it was time to take a nap. He informed us that the moon wasn't on. Right. We wondered at that point whether we would have to buy another one of these lights so that he would take a nap. Luckily, we convinced him that it was ok to take a nap without the moon. The pleasant part was that when he woke up from his nap, he stayed in his room because he didn't see the sun. Hee hee. I was tempted to use this to my advantage, but decided that I didn't want to push things, so I went and got him up.

This morning, I was afraid it had all come to an end. He woke up about 5:45am and came to our room to tell us that he needed to potty, which is fine, we have no problem with that. But my concern at 5:45am was that I had 45 minutes more to sleep and I figured I could just kiss those precious minutes good-bye. After he went potty, I told him that the moon was still on so that meant it wasn't time to get up. I explained that he needed to go back to bed until he saw the sun. I figured he would come back 15 times in the next 45 minutes. But back in his bed he went and he stayed there until 6:30am. Now, of course I didn't go back to sleep because I expected that at any minute he was going to come running back into our room. But I'm ready to sing the praises of this night light because it actually works!

Taking the responsibility off of us as to whether he's supposed to stay in bed or get up has made things much easier. He's willing to listen to the sun and the moon. Is there another light out there to tell him when to pick up his toys? Or when to wash his hands? Oh, the possibilities!

Peyton's New School

Peyton will be starting a new daycare on Monday - Children's Campus at Southpoint. Today we stopped by to introduce him to his new playmates and teachers and visit for a little while. I explained to him before we went that he was going to be going to a new school with new teachers next week. I told him that we were going to visit today and that I was going to stay with him while he played but that next week he would go by himself. He seemed a little apprehensive at the thought of being left there but I explained again that I would stay with him today. Then he wanted to bring his backpack. I'm still wondering how he knows that kids bring backckpacks to school. Although not necessary, the teacher did say that he could bring his backpack and put it in his cubby everyday if he insisted.

We arrived to his classroom and all of the other kids were eating their snack. He took advantage of all of the toys being available and dove right in to play. With what, you ask? The trucks, of course! The teachers kept the kids at bay for a little longer and let Peyton explore the room and get used to his surroundings. After about 10 minutes, Peyton put his hand on my cheek and sweetly said, "Mom, you go home now." I think he's going to do just fine on Monday. Me, on the other hand, that's a whole other story.

Peyton the Musician

We were recently at our friend Jason and Rebecca's house and Peyton was watching "The Princess and the Frog". Its a great movie, based in New Orleans, with fantastic music. Peyton has always been a fan of music, tapping his foot to the beat and shaking his booty. Recently, he has started to play air trumpet when he hears a trumpet playing.

Patrick and I met in marching band, of course, and so its only natural to assume that Peyton would play music one day too. Its not to say that he won't be a linebacker too, because he seems to be on a trajectory that makes him large enough to be a successful one. But if he's going to be a football player, he will need to have full appreciation of the band nerds that provide the entertainment.

It turns out that many of our friends here in NC also played in band in high school. We've joked that we could probably put all of our friends together and have a pretty decent band. Anyhoo, our friends Jason and Rebecca are exact replicas of me and Patrick. They met in high school, they both played in the band, went to college together, Rebecca went to graduate school with me, and she even had a dog named Zack growing up. Jason whipped out his trombone while we were there and started out by letting Peyton play with the trombone slide to make different noises while Jason blew into the trombone. Then he started letting Peyton blow into the trombone himself. I think he does pretty well for a two year old. Check it out!

NOLA!

We recently came back from a great trip to New Orleans for a few weeks. It was jam packed full of fun. We had my cousin Jesse's wedding, my cousin Michael's wedding, the Foret family reunion, a couple of 4th of July celebrations, Matt and Abby's wedding shower, and side trips to the aquarium, City Park, the movies, and the science museum. Patrick and I even got to spend a few days by ourselves - we spent a few days in the French Quarter and took a trip to Gulf Shores and had a great time.


Here are Claire and Jesse:


Here is Peyton and his cousin Abby - nothin' but trouble, those two!


For more pictures of our adventures, click on this link:
NOLA pictures June/July 2010

Peyton didn't like that we left him behind and protested by peeing himself and completely forgetting that he was potty trained. Potty training is a lot of work and I was pretty disappointed when he was no longer cooperating. Thankfully we seem to have him back on track - I actually had no idea how effective the treats and stickers were. I reintroduced those and they seemed to have the effect we were looking for - he hasn't had an accident in quite awhile. In the meantime, he has learned how to pee standing up and has learned how to pee on a tree. Each were desperate attempts to make going to the potty more interesting and appealing.

Since then, he and I have been hanging out together and checking out what all the cool moms in Durham do with their toddlers. Its been quite a lot of fun. Peyton will start his new daycare in just another week. I think he's looking forward to making new friends and learning all kinds of new things!

Random Peytonness

Peyton often does things throughout the day that make me laugh, scratch my head, and wonder "where in the world did he pick up on that from?!" I'm off right now until I start teaching in August, so Peyton and I are getting to spend quite a bit of quality time together. At first, I worried about how I would keep him entertained, knowing that when he gets bored he gets into trouble. Usually a lot of it. But we're actually having a great time together - blueberry picking, Gymboree classes, story time at the library, outings at the park, etc. And he manages to stay out of the trouble for most of the day, although he has his moments.

Anyway, this morning he did something that I thought was interesting. We were standing in the bathroom and I was trying to get him dressed. He's not usually interested in cooperating and has some kind of strategy to stall. This morning, he was distracted by the box of kleenex in the bathroom. He pulled a kleenex out and quickly put it up to his nose and said, "A-choo! A-choo! A-choo!" He was acting like someone that was having an allergy attack, yet all it was was a bunch of sound effects. Where did he get this from?!

Clearly, he's watching and observing everything around him. He's starting to make connections and understand larger concepts. He spent the afternoon at Lauren's yesterday and she even said she was impressed at how much he's developed in the last 3 weeks since she'd last seen him. His thoughts are starting to come out in much clearer sentences, and he's able to express himself more clearly. Its really amazing to see him develop. I'm having a great time at home with him!

A Mischievous Little Ring Bearer

My cousin Jesse and his beautiful bride Claire asked Peyton to be the ring bearer in their recent wedding. I was honored that they wanted to include him in their special day, but I immediately started worrying that he wouldn't fulfill his very important duty on the big day. He's 2, with a mind of his own, and a very strong-willed one at that. If he didn't want to cooperate, there was going to be no convincing him otherwise. My Aunt Dede assured me that it was ok if he didn't do it, and that I didn't need to worry about it. Whew!
As the big day approached, we took Peyton's measurements for his tuxedo, bought him some fancy black shoes (which I had to hide because he wanted to wear them all the time. He loves shoes - gets that from his Nanny!), got him a nice haircut, and even practiced walking up the aisle at our church after mass one Sunday. The practice went off without a hitch - Patrick took him to the back, explained to him what he needed to do, and I sat in the front. We practiced with the ring bearer's pillow from our wedding, and sure enough, he walked slowly up the aisle toward me smiling, delicately holding the pillow, and looked like he was a pro! As well as our little practice went, I figured we might not be so lucky on the actual wedding day.
On the morning of the wedding, we had about an hour's drive to Rayne, LA, after spending the night with the Gulottas in New Iberia. This had been carefully planned so that Peyton would take a nap on the way to the wedding. He slept the whole way there, and I was grateful that everything was going according to plan. The next part of the plan included eating lunch and getting dressed in Aunt Donna's cottage. Peyton insisted on only eating the grapes on his plate, and none of the cheese and crackers. But at least we convinced him to put the tuxedo on. Either we took his measurements completely wrong or he's grown a few inches in the last few weeks because the tuxedo pants didn't quite reach his ankles. We also put a pull-up on him because I didn't quite trust him enough to tell me when he needed to go potty and the last thing we needed was for him to pee in his tuxedo. Then we would have had a bottomless ring bearer.
We arrived at the church a few minutes early, long enough for Peyton to have a tantrum or two in the dressing room with the bride and bridesmaids. Oh, boy, I thought. This may not go well. I took my place at the front of the church and Patrick held him in the back. He kept telling Patrick that he wasn't going to do it and would throw himself on the floor crying. Meanwhile, I was holding my breath as the last bridesmaid walked up the aisle and Patrick placed Peyton into position next to the flower girl. She was older, understood reason a little better, and accepted our explanation and instruction to just walk down the aisle with or without him. Patrick told Peyton to go, and I finally started breathing as he took off running down the aisle. He ran towards me, although he held the pillow in both hands, but left the poor flower girl in his dust. This was nothing like we had practiced, but he got to me and said "I did it!" He was so proud. He then flopped on the floor in the middle of the aisle, so I leaned over and scooped him up so that the bride could make her entrance. It wasn't elegant, but he made it up the aisle.



Once the ceremony was over and it was time for pictures, I was hoping that Peyton would be a little cooperative and pose for a few. He is notorious for not wanting to have his picture taken. Seriously, what is the complex about? He's 2! As the bridal party stood in position, we carefully placed Peyton next to the flower girl and ran out of the frame for the photographer to get his shot. Unfortunately, Peyton was quick in wandering away or turning around so the photographer was having trouble getting the perfect picture. The best man offered to hold him for a quick shot, which Peyton protested, arms flailing and screaming. I'm sure the pictures came out great. We gave up after a couple of minutes, and tried to move on to the reception hall. On the short walk from the church to the reception hall, Peyton saw some tractors and ran off into a field. He gets distracted easily. Gawd, it was hot outside!
Once coaxed inside, he became fascinated with the candles on the tables and wanted to run around and blow all of them out. I let him blow out a few and then I cut him off. I know, I'm mean! Meanwhile, he spied some grapes on the food table and started grabbing them with his dirty hands until I made him stop. I'm not so sure the people that he cut in line appreciated his dirty little hands in their fruit. I thought that if I made him a plate of fruit he would stop grabbing it off of the table. But he apparently didn't want pineapple. Just grapes. He threw them back in the bowl. I retrieved what I could remember was his, but I'm sure some got away. Sorry about that, wedding guests. He pretty much spent the rest of the reception running around, touching things he shouldn't, and trying to take sips of other people's drinks. At one point, he took a sip of someone's wine, just as Patrick and I dove in to try to stop him. (Please don't judge me). When all was said and done, he was sleeping before we hit the interstate. It had been a long day! He sure was a mischievous little ring bearer. Its a good thing he's so darn cute!

Advances in Spelling...Well, Maybe Not

You may remember a post a few months back about Peyton's spelling abilities.
P-E-Y-T-O-N
Whats that spell?
Tobi!
So, we've continued to practice, and I was starting to think that I had him convinced that not all words spell Tobi. This was progress.
Tonight, as we played with his letters in the bathtub, he started placing letters in an order and calling them out:
P-O-O-I-U-T
He looked at me, and as serious as could be said, "That spells rocket!"
Now, just so we're on the same page, even though he didn't get the exact spelling of rocket correct, I still think my kid is a genius. He was clearly on his way to spelling it correctly.

Outta There!

There are some times in a little boy's life when he needs to sit and ponder the wonders of the world. Or, he just needs a little more time to get all of the poop out. With Peyton, we read books and look through Daddy's magazines, which are conveniently located next to the commode, in order to pass the time. His Pops taught him to stay "Outta There!" whenever he's watching a baseball game. This should be done with a flick of the thumb. Since we are raising him as a Tiger Fan, we've also tried to teach him to say "Geaux Tigers!". You'll see that Peyton gets a little confused between the two:

No Accidents!

I don't want to jinx the situation, but Peyton hasn't had an accident since Wednesday. This is really great. He's been able to hold it for longer periods of time and seems to have the general idea of the potty concept. We've been busy the last couple of days with Gymboree classes, lunches with friends, trips to the park, grocery store and swimming pool and he's done great with all of this.
Everywhere we go, the first thing I look for is the restroom. I've actually been quite surprised with the level of cleanliness in most of these restrooms. I really haven't been grossed out yet, and I get grossed out in public restrooms pretty easily. I actually tend to avoid them at all costs. But with a little one that can pee or poop at any second, I've made sure that if I need to make a run for it, I know where I'm going and the quickest way to get there. I'm going to be really embarrassed one of these days when he makes a big stinky poop in one of these restrooms, but so far he has saved these for home. We are still reminding him to go to the potty every hour or so when we are home, and I'm noticing some resistance that I actually think is because he knows he doesn't really need to go yet. Other times, he'll go without much of a fuss and do his thing. I think we're going to need to start giving him some opportunity to tell us on his own that he needs to go, since he's only done this a few times. I think we make him go frequently enough that he can hold it in between and he doesn't have a need to tell us.
I think that big accident the other day upset him enough that he realized that he needs to go on the potty and not his pants, which is exactly what I needed to happen. I feel like we've done pretty well with the potty training, and I really shouldn't complain. He's pretty much got the hang of it. After reading that stupid book, I thought he would get it in a day or two, but as I talk with other moms and read stuff online, he's picked this up pretty quickly, and 5 days is really reasonable.

Day 6 - A Success Story!

Out of the blue this morning, Peyton told me he needed to go pee-pee on the potty. We rushed into the bathroom and he easily peed on the potty. I made such a big deal about it that he told me "Be Quiet, Mom". But this was grounds for a celebration. He had never told me that he needed to pee-pee before. It was only the pooping part that he had figured out (which I was extremely grateful for). There were a couple of other times throughout the day that he asked to go to the potty and there were some times when I asked if he needed to go that he responded "yes" rather than his usual "no". We survived the day without any accidents, too, which I thought was a HUGE accomplishment! So, maybe, just maybe, he's starting to get the hang of this. But I've been a mom just long enough to know that just when you think you've got it figured out, something unexpected happens to ruin that feeling of accomplishment. But today I'll take what I can get, and I'm happy that we've come this far. I'm anticipating that tomorrow will be a good day too, since its my birthday and only good things can happen.

Dear God, is it Already Day 5?!

I bought a book several months ago. "Potty Training in One Day". I read it front to back, reread the important chapters, and I was easily convinced that this method would work. I was on the bus one day when another woman, a mother herself probably, commented, "that's rather ambitious!" when she saw the title of the book I was reading. I thought, obviously, you haven't read this book. The author was completely convincing that this was a foolproof method. Basically, you and your child potty train a doll that is capable of going pee-pee on command. As the doll has accidents, you and your child explain to the doll that he needs to tell you when he needs to go to the potty. He shouldn't go in his underwear. You use a system of stickers and treats as rewards when the doll is successful. As you're doing all of this, your child is supposed to be picking up on the concept of going on the potty. All of the rewards gets them super excited and anxious to go on the potty too. As the day progresses, you give the child underwear and they start the process of potty training. Because they've taught the doll, they understand the concept, and its easy as pie to get them to hold their pee and go on the potty. Yeah, right! As I'm writing this, I'm laughing at myself for ever falling for this crap. I've always known I was gullible. But seriously, I can't believe I didn't know better.

So, here we are. Day 5. I guess we're still seeing small improvements. Yesterday afternoon, I decided that Peyton and I needed to get out of the house. We went strawberry picking (which was a hoot, Peyton loved eating more strawberries than he put in his bucket), and we were probably gone for about an hour and a half. I was pretty impressed that Peyton was still dry as I was getting him out of the car. As we were entering the house, I noticed him start to grab his crotch and took this as a sure sign that he needed to pee. I hurried as fast as I could to the bathroom, but before I knew it, there was a puddle on the floor in the hallway just outside the bathroom. So close! A little later as he and his Daddy were watching 101 Dalmations, he confessed that he had an accident. I thought this was promising because he at least told Patrick that he'd gone in his pants. I was cautiously optimistic.

Today, a babysitter came by the house to stay with Peyton while I went to work. (Mrs. Lauren is away this week.) We started setting the timer for longer periods of time, and the report from the sitter was that he told her when he needed to poop, as he did for Patrick yesterday. So this was a really good sign. He seems to have the hang of pooping. She also reported that he only had one accident that morning. I asked if he told her or if she just noticed it on her own and it turns out that Peyton peed in his pants, said nothing, and continued to play with his trucks. Ok, he had the afternoon to redeem himself. When he got up from his nap, I took him to play at a neighbor's house, who coincidentally is also potty training her daughter, so we commiserated together and offered each other some moral support. He did pretty good while he was at Kalina's house, going to the potty twice with about an hour in between. The difficult part was getting him to take a brake from playing with all of the cool toys to try to potty. Once home, however, we started having a little trouble. He was difficult all through dinner, which ended abruptly after he started throwing his food. He continued to be whiny and cross (probably because all he'd eaten was a little bit of rice for dinner), and all of a sudden peed all over himself. This seemed to upset him even further. This may sound harsh, but I was actually quite pleased that he got upset that he peed on himself. It contrasts with the morning accident where he was perfectly content to wear wet underwear. My hope is that the accidents will become less frequent if they upset him.

So, tomorrow we enter day 6. I don't think there is any turning back now. We have a big morning planned: a gymboree class and then lunch with my lab on Franklin street. I plan to have a bag packed with clean underwear and clothes, probably several sets, because I'm bracing myself for the worst. This could turn into a disaster.

I realize these posts are getting longer and longer, but this is quite therapeutic for me.

We've Made it to Day 4!

Ok, so I admit that I was close to giving up yesterday. As we go through this process, I feel like I'm a new mom again with the feeling that I have no idea what I'm doing! Yesterday evening was a little rough. The novelty of the potty was wearing off and Peyton was really over the whole thing. He was being less and less cooperative, which probably had a lot to do with the fact that he's been cooped up in the house since last Thursday. First he had fever, then its been raining and now we're potty training. At one point he bit me, and I had just about had enough. I thought, maybe he's not ready. He goes on the potty just fine when he wants to, but he was starting to resist sitting on the potty. He was still not telling us that he needed to go either.

Patrick stepped in and took over and Mommy took a break. He seemed to do a little better with Dad, and Patrick had to give me a little pep talk to convince me to keep going. Today as we enter day 4, they spent the morning together while I went to work, and I think it helped tremendously that Peyton had a Gymboree class scheduled this morning. Patrick got there ahead of time to let Peyton use the potty, which he did with no problem, even in a strange bathroom on a strange potty. Patrick asked the teacher to tell Peyton that it was time to use the potty mid-way through class, and that worked really well too. Once they got home, Peyton told Patrick that he needed to potty and sure enough he pooped! This was quite a large victory for us. It was the first time that he told us on his own that he needed to go. We're hoping that he will continue to do this, but only time will tell. We will start increasing the amount of time between the reminder of the beeping timer, and hopefully he will start to voluntarily go on his own. But for now, we're happy with baby steps and so far he hasn't had an accident today!

A Glimmer of Hope for Potty Training Day Three!

Yesterday afternoon went pretty well, especially because there were no accidents! Every 20 minutes when the timer goes off, Peyton knows its time to go to the potty. We have noticed that if you ask him if he needs/wants to go to the potty in between, he won't do it. The buzzer seems to have the effect we need though because he races to the bathroom immediately. He's potty chart is filled with stickers and he's gotten lots of treats, and even some special presents!

When he woke up this morning, the first thing he talked about was putting his underwear on. I take that as a good sign. However, he didn't want to put shorts on. We've been letting him run around in his underwear for the last few days, but a babysitter was coming over this morning so I thought it would be appropriate for him to have pants on. He didn't agree. So, he's still running around in his underwear, which is fine because we haven't left the house in three days. Tomorrow, however, is a different day, and he's signed up for a class at Gymboree. He will not only need to wear shorts over his underwear, but there won't be a buzzer that goes off every 20 minutes to remind him to go to the potty. I suspect we'll have some accidents tomorrow.

Potty Training Day Two

Peyton has no problem going pee pee or poop in the potty. None whatsoever. He gets stickers on his potty chart and he gets a tasty treat, like an M&M, jelly bean, piece of cake, piece of brownie, etc. But he also has no problem peeing in his underwear. I was secretly hoping that this would make him uncomfortable or that he would at least be bothered by the fact that Thomas the Train was now all wet. Nope. So, we now just set a timer every 20 minutes or so and he goes in the potty then. He seems to like the timer method. We're just hoping that he doesn't feel the urge to pee for the rest of his life every time he hears a beeping noise.

Potty Training Day One Update

Well, we've not been quite as successful this afternoon, as we've had a few accidents. We knew that these were bound to occur, so we're doing all we can to protect our furniture and carpet. After the last accident, Peyton was disappointed that he didn't get a treat. I explained that he wouldn't get a treat this time because he went pee pee in his pants. The conversation that followed went something like this:
Me: What happened? Did you have an accident?
Peyton: Yes
Me: You have to remember next time to tell us when you need to pee pee on the potty.
Peyton: It's too hard....

Its too hard?! Are you kidding me?! Where does he come up with this stuff? How the hell does he know what is hard?

Potty Training Day One

Today is potty training day. Oh boy!
We've been talking about the potty and where pee-pee and poop belongs and we've been reading books about the potty and talking about underwear. Peyton will usually go when we sit him on the potty, so he knows exactly what to do. And he's started asking to have his diaper changed after he pees or poops in it. So, we've been laying the foundation for the potty training concept. This weekend works out as the perfect time to transition to underwear and go the whole nine yards on potty training because Peyton is running a fever and we're home bound anyway. So far this morning, he's peed in the potty every time we've sat him on it (about every 20 minutes a timer goes off), and just after lunch he sat down on the potty and pooped. Yay! So far so good.....

NOLA

We are starting to have conversations more and more with Peyton. Most of the time, he completely shocks us with what he comes up with. Yesterday, he started talking about airplanes, and then he told us he was going on an airplane.

Mommy: Where are you going on an airplane?
Peyton: New Orleans (This came out of nowhere for us - how the heck does he know this stuff?!)
Daddy: Oh yeah? Who are you going to New Orleans with?
Peyton: Daddy! Me and You, Daddy!
(How come Mommy wasn't invited?!)
Mommy: Who are you going to see in New Orleans?
With some prompting, he names all of his grandparents: Lollie, Pops, Gramps, Lulu, and Papa.
Peyton: And Blackie! (Of course, yes, lets not forget the dog! He hasn't stopped talking about Lulu and Papa's dog since he visited in March - too funny!)

Unfortunately, we don't have any plans to come to NOLA anytime soon. He'll have to keep dreaming!

Peyton's 2nd Birthday

Peyton's birthday has lasted a very long time. He got to celebrate with the Ragas family at Chuck E Cheese a few weeks ago, then he got to celebrate at the park last weekend with all of his little pals, and then we took him to the NC Zoo for his official birthday on April 2nd. I guess its no wonder that he woke up the other morning and wandered around the living room saying, "Presents, 'r you?....Presents, 'r you?" over and over again.

The weather was beautiful for his party at the park, and I learned a very important lesson: It is far less stressful to have a birthday party at a location other than your own home. It took about 15 minutes to set up, and about 15 minutes to clean up. The kids had a great time running around the playground, writing on the sidewalk with chalk, and eating cake. Way better than spending 2 days getting ready for the party and 2 days cleaning up afterwards, and much better than fighting over toys in our living room, that's for sure!

Here are a few fun pictures from the party:

Peyton and his pal Camden


The shelter with all of the food

Peyton and his girlfriend Amelia

My friend Laura made the cutest cake ever for the truck-themed party. As you can see, Peyton thoroughly enjoyed it!

We had a blast at the zoo on Peyton's birthday. Again, the weather was gorgeous and it was a perfect day to be out at the zoo. Peyton loved seeing all of the animals and making animal noises. I'll let him tell you all about what he saw (my apologies for letting him talk while he was eating. Its the only time he's sitting still long enough for us to have a conversation with him and catch it on camera). You'll hear that the highlight of the day was not actually seeing the animals, though.



Some pictures of our day:

Peyton and his monkey friend



Playing in an ostrich egg. Those things are huge!



Checking out the elephants



Peyton and Daddy hanging out by the giraffes


I'd say it was a fun and successful trip to the zoo. This was Peyton before we made it out of the parking lot to drive home:

Doctor Mommy

This was a conversation Peyton and I had at dinner tonight:

Me: What's Daddy's name?
Peyton: Patrick (although it takes a trained interpreter to understand this)
Me: What's your name?
Peyton: Peyton
Me: What's my name?
Peyton: Doctor Mommy
Me: Jessica
Peyton: Silence....then Doctor Mommy
Me: Jessica
Peyton: Doctor Mommy
Ok, I give up. We'll work on this later.

Singing Fool

Peyton loves, loves, loves to sing. One of his favorite songs to sing is one that his Lollie taught him, the blackbird song. He has even been working on the hand motions.

The Little Chef

I think that we may have a budding chef on our hands!


Peyton and his pal Amelia made yummy cupcakes today at Mrs. Lauren's. I can only imagine the patience he had to practice in order to wait while Amelia had her turn to make the cupcakes too.

He looks quite serious, reading the instructions very carefully.





And then he got to taste his creation!

Breaking News: Important Dates!

So, I never thought the day would come when I could actually say that I have a defense date. All those years of many experiments gone wrong, a few experiments gone right, a million worms sacrificed, data analyzed, tears shed, its finally coming to an end. Sort of. I won't quite be finished in the lab, but I'm defending. Mark your calendars.
Monday, March 29th at 2pm.

For those of you more interested in the graduation ceremony itself, I will receive my hood on Saturday, May 8th.

P-E-Y-T-O-N

Peyton has gotten really good at recognizing letters and saying his ABC's. Each night in the bathtub, we play with foam letters and practice spelling things. This is a conversation that we have nightly:
Me: P-E-Y-T-O-N What's that spell?
Peyton: TOBI!
Me: No, it spells Peyton!
Peyton: No, Tobi!

I guess when we were home at Christmas, he wandered into my sister's room and started reading the letters on a wall hanging in her room - T-O-B-I. At the time, we were really impressed that he recognized and could say all of the letters correctly. We told him that spelled Tobi. So, now he thinks that everything spells Tobi.
Ok, well, I guess we'll keep working on this.

Adventures in the Snow!

We got lots of snow this weekend in NC! We haven't seen this much snow in NC at one time in a few years. Yesterday it was really windy and still snowing/sleeting, but this morning the sun was shining and everything was so beautiful covered in snow. We bundled up in lots of layers and headed out to play. We made a sled out of the top of a cardboard box and we even tried to make a snowman, but it became clear to us that we are true southerners and we don't really know what we're doing. Our house is at the top of a big hill and the road slopes down from us, so it made the perfect place to go "sledding". My mom has been in town, and has had to stay a couple of more days because of the weather, so she got to enjoy the snow too!

Here are a few pictures of the snow:












Here is our attempt at sledding:

Songs and Cheers!

We've been teaching Peyton all of the important songs in life - the LSU fight song and the Saints' song among them.

I think he's already a little tiger in training!



He knows the Saints' song too, but he knows we want him to sing it for the camera and he's only willing to cooperate to a certain extent, so here is a shortened version of the Saints' song:




As the "Pants on the Ground" song went viral, we decided he should know that one too!

A Good Laugh

Its always fun to make Peyton laugh. Every now and then we find something that just makes him crack up. We got the video camera out after I just happened to blow a raspberry and Peyton acted like it was the funniest thing he'd heard all day. We had a good time listening to him laugh so much.