Poopalooza

Day 4 of potty training...it's going well, with the usual blips. Of poop. On my carpet. The way I see it, I should give Jack all that is required of a new puppy: I should put down newspaper. Luckily, he is a pretty smart little bugger. He understands what he has to do, he just has to get in touch with his pea pod body. According to Jack's teacher, most of the girls in his class are already potty trained, and she said that that is usually the case--girls are just faster, no one knows why.

I wanted to tell her, "I know why!" From the beginning, girls are in touch with their bodies. It's a fact of nature. Our bodies actually DO things, as opposed to our hunky men with their muscles and armpit hair. Sure they can lift heavy things and scare away predators, but can they house life? Can they produce food for their family? Nope. We have got the game when it comes to life, and it's been a factor of survival and perpetuating the human race since the beginning of time. Females have to stay one step ahead in life in order to survive, and I guess that first step leads into the bathroom!!!

P is for Potty

Potty training has officially started. Over the past few months I have bought several varieties of teeny weeny undies, and I try to keep them out as objects of interest to catch Jack's eye. Until now he has given me the, "EH..." when it comes to undies, but finally today he asked to wear them. I practically swallowed my tongue in my excitement as I explained about not peeing or pooping in them. He nodded along, eager to get his bootie into some Megatron briefs. Two hours later and we're on the third pair, but with unflagging enthusiasm and 5 trips to the toilet. The kid drinks like a fish so he has an endless supply of urine.

Segue: In the bathtub, Jack has these colored foam letters that stick to the tile wall when wet. He loves to arrange them and throw them around. Today I was plucking them out of the water and trying to teach him what they each were. I found a "P" floating by and held it up for Jack and said, "'P' is for Pop-Pop!"

He looked at me and frowned and told me, "Noooo, pee is for the potty!"

Halloween

Jack is very excited for Halloween: he is going to be a robot. He picked out his costume on his own. (I wanted him to be a box of french fries, but that got veto-ed in favor of working electronics.) I am very excited for this year's Halloween because Jack loooooves chocolate, and actually understands what is happening---a huge milestone for any parent. When your child can actually participate in a holiday, as opposed to being cute accessories to dress up but that prevent you from doing any celebrating yourself, the world is just about perfect. We even decorated the house with various crafts and lights, although Dan balked at actually attaching lights TO the house; instead we wove them around the wrought-iron banisters of the front porch. And we have actual, bona fide spiderwebs on our front door, complete with tiny bug carcasses, yep. My laziness is paying off in a scary way!

My Life Goes On, In Endless Song...

Several people have inquired about the name of my blog, which is from an Eva Cassidy song. For those of you who don't know who Eva Cassidy is, I am truly, very sorry. She is the most amazing singer I have ever heard. That's an entirely different story. But back to the subject... (what was it again!?)

The song that I referenced is one of my very favorites, and it is especially poignant today. I thought that I would post the lyrics for you guys. Please don't imagine me singing it---download it for yourself, it's gorgeous.

My life goes on in endless song
above earth's lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.

Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear it's music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?

While though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
And though the darkness 'round me close,
songs in the night it giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm,
while to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
how can I keep from singing?

When tyrants tremble sick with fear
and hear their death knell ringing,
when friends rejoice both far and near
how can I keep from singing?

No storm can shake my inmost calm,
while to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
how can I keep from singing?

My life goes on in endless song
above earth's lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
How can I keep from singing?

Astronaut Crap

Jack stayed home from school today because we both slept in. By the time we were up and dressed it was 10am and I figured that we were having such a nice morning, why not have a day off together? I had been working like crazy lately and had some comp-time to burn, and Jack, well, he is just rad to spend time with.

This morning Jack and I are watching tv and eating waffles. The program was about Apollo 11 and the first world-wide television broadcast--of the lunar landing--which was sent out with the world's largest radio telescope in Australia. (I know, we are nerds.) Jack loooooves anything to do with rockets, spaceships, etc., so he was just as enthralled as I was. As they showed the launch, the pieces that kind of fall off as it leaves the atmosphere completely fascinated Jack. "What happens? Where do they go?" he asked. "Uh...they fall into the water," I told him, lamely.

Fast-forward 2 hours and we are in Target, walking around and looking at the "scary" Halloween stuff. Jack loves the skulls and witches, so we hung out in that department for a good 20 minutes. Meanwhile, he kept talking about the astronauts we had seen that morning, and their "spaceshit." He is unfortunately in a super-loud phase and asks a million questions a minute, so we're walking through the store and he's demanding: "Mommy! Where are the pieces? The spaceshit? The pieces of spaceshit fell down! Where did they go?" He was getting progressively louder as my (apparently insufficient) answers did not satisfy him. I finally got him off of the subject by racing to the outdoor section so he could peruse the "bikecicles." But definitely not before MANY people (I would estimate in the 100s) heard all about Jack's spaceshit.

Toddler Etiquette

Jack has been getting the hiccups a lot lately, which he (and I) find to be utterly hilarious. But we all know that hiccups are usually accompanied by burps, especially when you're laughing a lot. So Jack was hiccuping and then burping, and since we've been trying to use really good manners, I asked him, after a particularly large belch, "What do we say after we burp?" He replied, "PLEASE! I burped!" So I laughed and said, "No, not 'please'. What do we say after we burp?" and he yelled, "THANK YOU! I burped!"