Dax's Journal

Backyard Antics 2

Backyard Antics

By George, I think he's got it

:::NEWSFLASH:::

Dax has gone pee pee on the potty FOUR TIMES already today. It's as if it is finally clicking for him. I've already run out to get him some pull ups.

Punk Rock

Last year Dax loved Halloween. He adored his costume and wore it several times. He loved pumpkins and skeletons and bats and witches. On Halloween night he ran to the door every time the bell rang so he could help dole out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

This year? Not so much. In fact, I think it is safe to say that he hates Halloween.

Since Dax refused to have anything to do with anything remotely resembling a Halloween costume this year (even turning up his nose at Thomas the Tank Engine, Nemo, Elmo, Tigger, and a very cute monkey), I had to find a non-costumey costume for this year's festivities.

This morning we attended a Halloween party at My-Gym. His behavior in the beginning was decidedly not Punk Rock as he clung to me like a small lemur and cried through circle time. But he eventually adjusted to the huge crowd of oddly dressed people and ended up having a good time.

His favorite activities included playing with some inflatable eyeballs and, of course, all manner of jumping activities. You know....like this....

And this......

He has one more party to get through (Monday night at daycare) and then he can put this silly Halloween nonsense behind him and move on to hating Thanksgiving.

I Love October

October is my favorite month. That's when the weather starts getting cooler and the leaves start changing. It's also when the pumpkin patches open for business. I can't explain why but I absolutely love going to pumpkin patches. This is where Dax comes in handy. I mean, who am I to deprive my son of such a rich autumn tradition?

This weekend we went back to Fog Willow which was a huge hit with all of us last year. They have lots of animals to pet, a giant haystack to climb, loads of pumpkins to choose from, giant hay jumpers to bounce on, and a very bouncy hayride that goes all around the farm (and through some really impressive mud puddles). It's also really pretty there.

Just to put into perspective how much Dax has changed since the last time we were there, I'm re-posting the picture I put up last year.

And this is from this weekend.

My how our little Pumpkinhead has grown.

Getting closer

For awhile now Dax has been "going pee pee and poo poo on the potty". I have to put it in parentheses because what he really does is SAY he's going pee pee or poo poo but he's just sitting on the pot with his diaper still on while he flushes a small forest's worth of toilet paper away.

Very recently he has learned to take off and put on his own pants. He is also able to remove his own diaper. So I wasn't entirely surprised today when I walked into the bathroom a mere 30 seconds or so after he did and found him like this.

He usually uses that little step stool to reach the sink to wash his hands but he very cleverly figured out that he could use it to climb up on the potty. I was impressed with him for figuring all of this out.

Now if only my clever little man would figure out that the potty is for more than just toilet paper before the EPA comes after us.

Picky

When Dax first started eating solid foods he was willing to try anything. Not only that but there were hardly any foods he didn't like.

Those days are long gone.

Now I have to beg, bribe, and trick him into eating anything other than chicken nuggets, cereal, yogurt, spaghetti, white rice, and mandarin oranges. I know some mommies would be thrilled that their little one would eat such a varied diet. Believe me, I know some kids will eat nothing but marshmallow fluff and then only if it is served on the back of a magical unicorn. It could be worse is what I'm saying.

The thing I'm finding most perplexing is that he eats things at daycare that I can't get him to eat at home. He is also more than willing to drink at least two "big boy" cups of water at lunch at daycare while I must resort to using bendy straws to get him to sip even a little bit at home.

I've been trying to find toddler-friendly recipes but I'm not having much luck. I've found a few over at Martha Stewart's site (of course) but I'm still seriously lacking in ideas for kid cuisine. I am particularly interested in getting him to eat veggies.

I should have known that he could very well turn out to be a picky eater. Just look at his father. He only eats about five different things and has been known to declare that he "does not like" foods that he has never tasted.

Hmmm. Maybe Martha has some husband-friendly recipes I can try as well.

And On And On And On And On......

There is that wonderful moment of realization when a skateboarder finally figures out how to ollie. The feeling of accomplishment after hours or days or weeks of trying to figure it out and then having it all of a sudden line up.

I popped my first ollie over a garden hose and will never forget that day. It was a summer evening around 8pm. We were in front of Lance's house. There were a few clouds with a splatter of contrails in the darkening eastern sky. There was also a slight breeze. The sunset about a half hour later, but I still ollied that garden hose well into the night.

It was cool seeing the sparkle in Dax's eye as he realized he can "ollie" over his caterpillar pull toy.

Numerous times.

Conversations with Dax

Over the past several weeks I've noticed Dax carrying on more conversations rather than just parroting back things we say to him. Sometimes they are quite logical like when he explained to me that both trees and grass are green. Other times? Not so much.

And so I present "Conversations with Dax" or "Stories I Will Tell His Prom Date":

Story #1:
A couple of weeks ago Dax and I were in the back yard blowing bubbles. We blew a lot of bubbles. Lots and lots and lots of bubbles. Believe it or not, I got tired of blowing bubbles but Dax did not. So after I had refilled his soap tray for the 80 billionth time and he was still asking for more I said that we had run out of soap and then asked him what we should do.

I was thinking he might suggest another activity. Something like playing in the sand table or with the hose or maybe, God willing, going inside where it was not nearly so sunny.

He gave my question careful consideration. I could see the gears turning as he pondered, "We are out of soap so what shall we do?" Then he shouted out "Walgreens" and made a beeline for the door, presumably to drive there and buy more soap.

Story #2:
We've been sort of, kind of, but not really potty training. This means that Dax loves to sit on the potty and to throw toilet paper in and then hop off the potty and flush it while yelling bye-bye to the invisible potty and the paper. He has only actually pottied in the potty a few times.

I always put him on the potty before bath time hoping he will pee in the toilet and not, as he always does, in the bathtub. I've learned to stand him in the far end of the tub while I run the water to the proper temperature because he will pee and I would rather he do it up front and let me rinse it away than have him sitting in it.

It was on one of these peeing in the tub occasions when Dax decided we should discuss pottying. First he pointed at himself and said, "Water!" and I said, "Yes, you went pee-pee." He nodded while watching himself go and then pointed again and said, "Water! In there!" We went back and forth a bit on the fact that there was, in fact, water in him and that it had to come out in this way and that it was really something he might want to consider doing on the potty rather than in the tub. By the time I thought we had exhausted the conversation the tub had been rinsed and filled and he was sitting happily in the tub. But we weren't finished discussing his bodily functions. Not just yet.

"Crackers," he said. "You want crackers?" "Crackers. In here." He was pointing into the tub. "You want to eat crackers in the tub?" "Crackers," he repeated and pointed much, much lower. "Crackers in here." That's when I realized that we had moved on from the water/pee association and had moved on to the cracker/poo association.

You try not to laugh when your son tells you that he has crackers in his bum.

Story #3:
A couple nights ago Dax and I were waiting patiently in the car while Cat went into Home Depot to buy light bulbs. While we waited we talked about how it was dark but that if you turned on the light then the dark went bye-bye. We talked about where daddy had gone and what he was doing and when he would be back. Then Dax began one of his favorite activities which is to list everything that he can see. It goes something like this: "Mommy! Hair! Tree! Car! Red car! Big truck! Shirt! Light! Tree! Trees! More trees!" And I add to this riveting conversation by asking questions about what he sees.

One of the things he saw was the gate that closes off the gardening section of Home Depot. We had already talked about the fact that daddy was in the store so when I asked him what was behind the gate I sort of thought "daddy" would be his answer. Nope. Bears. Bears were behind the gate. And that made him scared so it was a good thing that daddy showed up right then so Dax could be sure his father had not been eaten by bears.

Stranded Boats and Palm Trees

Here's Dax enjoying the palm trees over at Janice's place.