Long time no talk

There have obviously been lots of changes in the last month. I was very sad to have to turn in my NASA badge. My last day at work was October 2nd. I've been job-hunting and networking. So far, I've had two phone interviews from HR folks. The one job wasn't a good fit, but the other could be. Hopefully, I'll hear back from the hiring manager. Through my contacts I know I'm still in the running for another job that's an awesome fit, however, there is talk they may go with someone they were already considering before I applied. At the end of last week another job posting came up which would be a good fit. I applied. (fingers crossed)

The biggest thing with Little Bit lately is trying to get potty training. He just resists peeing on the potty at home. He won't tell us if he's pooped in his pull-ups either, even if we ask him directly. Last week we bought 10 pairs of cheap sweat pants and "big boy" underwear and put him in them except for nap or bedtime. He just held his pee as long as he could at daycare. By the end of the week, he was peeing in the potty all day, but had a poop accident in the afternoon. Still at home, he would just stand there looking at us and pee in his pants, so we had pee puddles on the floor and our rug. On Friday night and Saturday, he pooped in his pants another 3 times!!@ With the 4th pair of poopy underwear, DH and I were done. I put him in a pull-up at the end of the yesterday.

It seems he's just not ready to do this (at least at home) for whatever reason. We'll keep trying to send him to school in underwear, and talk up being a big boy and being able to move up to the 4-year old classroom once he's completely out of pull-ups. (Not having to buy pull-ups would certainly help our budget!)

On the lighter side of things, Little Bit dressed as Superman for Halloween. Too cute! He loved being a superhero! I bought butterfly wings to wear around while we took him trick-or-treating. DH bought some awesome real feather angel wings. Little Bit proudly told everyone that I was a butterfly and his dad was "an eagle".

Fabulous Friday

In honor of the premiere of "Project Runway" last night...

Wordless Wednesday: Is it ironic to buy 3 (used) books about clutter clearing?

"Hello, Kitty!"

(what Little Bit said to our cat as he looked at it upside down)

He's already trying to negotiate out of bedtime

Yesterday evening was so nice outside that we sat on the back patio for awhile after eating. Little Bit was sitting on the ground playing with his cars, while DH and I sat on the outdoor loveseat. When it was time to think about going inside, DH said to Little Bit, "It's time to go inside, and you can watch some tv, have some nah-nah, and then go to bed." (Nah-nah is nursing.)

Little Bit said, "No! TV...nah-nah...play!"

DH explained again, emphasizing each word by touching a different spot on his leg. "Play. TV. Nah-nah. Bed." Then I joined in, smiling as we copied the whole Dora-the-Explorer-repeat-three-times-thing.

Little Bit smiled and repeated with us, except for the bed part. "No bed!" Then he wanted to say it all by himself. He copied his dad by touching a different spot on his leg with each word. "Play....What next? (TV) TV....What next? (Nah-nah) Nah-nah...What next? (Bed) No! No bed!"

Then, he switched legs to see if he could get a different answer from us by pointing at his other leg!

(Oh, yeah, you see that band-aid on his forehead above? He hit his head again at daycare, in the same spot on his forehead. This time he hit it while on the slide outside, instead of on a bookcase inside. *sigh* It's been about six weeks since the original wound happened, but you could still see a pink scar there, even before he cut it enough to bleed again the other day.)
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Later, as we sat on the couch together inside, Little Bit made some observation. I don't remember what it was, but I commented proudly to DH, "He's so smart!"

Little Bit said, "I smart!" I nodded. Then, shaking his head, Little Bit said sadly, "Maryann not smart." D'oh! I laughed at the unexpected observation, even though I knew I shouldn't laugh. (Maryann is a made-up name for the real name of a girl in his daycare class.) We'll have to make sure to teach him to keep such observations to himself when he's not at home, or he could hurt somebody's feelings or get in a fight!

I know I've said it before (and I am his mom, so it may seem like bias), but he is *so* smart. He has a very big vocabulary for his age and picks up on words and concepts quickly. As it is, the daycare teachers have told us that he gets bored in the 2-year old class where he is, so he'll start hitting the other kids or throwing toys, etc. He has much more fun in the 3-year old class. They let him stay with the 3's part of the day, but they won't let him transfer over until he's completely potty trained. I guess our laid-back attitude to potty training needs to change so he can move up.

We went to the ER today; how was your Monday?

I had dropped Little Bit off at daycare this morning, then came home to crawl back into bed. DH and I have the flu/bug that Little Bit had last week, and we feel awful. Not even half an hour had passed when daycare called. Little Bit had had an accident. He was running across the room and fell into the edge of a low bookcase cabinet. The daycare director said she thought he might need stitches. Eeeep!

Our brave little guy was subdued when we got there to pick him up. He had only cried briefly when the center director called me (probably because he knew she was talking to me). The gash on his forehead was quite deep.

We drove him to the ER. I sat in the backseat next to him for comfort. On the way there, he threw up all over himself. Note to self - next time bring both a clean shirt and clean pants in case of emergency.

No stitches this time. The doc cleaned the gash (traumatic for both Little Bit and me because he cried during it), then used dermabond to seal the edges. They did a CAT scan to double check there wasn't anything else to be concerned about.

Little Bit and I had a nap together this afternoon. He's now running up and down the hallway, giving me gray hairs as I worry about him falling and opening up the wound again. How do you get an active toddler to stop running without duct taping him to a chair?

He may have a future in stand-up

For today's story, first a little background -- We had pizza last night; it's one of Little Bit's favorites. DH cut Little Bit's pizza into bites for him after he asked DH to do it. As Little Bit was trying to stuff a large piece into his mouth, DH said, "That's a big bite. Here, let me cut that smaller for you." As he ate, Little Bit commented on the size of the bites, "Little bite!" or "Big Bite!"

Now, on to the story -- This morning, Little Bit asked for "nah-nah". He said, "A little nah-nah, please." I got situated with him on my lap. Then, with a big smile, he said, "Big bite!" and opened his mouth wide and lunged in like a dinosaur to latch on.

Thankfully, he was only playing and no nah-nahs were hurt in the making of this story. He knows that any biting for real is right out.

He's got a funny sense of humor though. A few times, when we are situated for nah-nah, he will raise his arms, ask, "Ready?" like he's about to throw a ball, then go garumph in to latch on. I made the mistake of laughing the first time he tried it.

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DH and I got Little Bit's playroom (which also doubles as the music room) cleaned up and organized. I took pictures because who knows when it will look this way again.


Because I also finally downloaded the pics on my phone, here's some more pictures. I was trying to take a pic of the pack n play to put up on ebay. Our little hambone saw that I was taking pics, so he raced over and asked, "Pictures me? pictures me? Cheeeeeeeeeese!"

OK, It Was Closer to 2 feet

Look at those munchable cheeks!

Halloween 2006 - 5 months old





Halloween 2008 - 29 months old

Wordless Wednesday

At the launch pad.

Wordless Wedesday

(Now if I could just figure out how to rotate the video on my phone or the computer...)

Wordless Wednesday

Pictures of the aftermath

As we drove home from daycare yesterday, Little Bit began his sad, yet funny litany noting all the trees felled by Hurricane Ike.

"Nuder wun fah down...nuder wun fah down...nuder wun fah down..."
Another one fall down.

Memories of Hawaii