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!"

The Tortoise and the Whippet

Today I let the dogs frolic out in the back yard for a good hour--the weather is amazing and they can always use a good romp. It is very fun to watch especially as Stanley has begun his own campaign of terror---a far cry from the past where he would resolutely stand on the deck despite all of Dinah's egging and urging to play. I guess he's gotten off his high horse (finally), and now he loves to chase her around the yard in big circles until he manages to tackle her.

Well, after I got out of the shower, I could hear Dinah outside, barking like an idiot. The noise continued throughout my getting dressed, so I finally shouted out the window at her to cut it out. She did...for about 5 seconds. So out I went to investigate.

I walked across the yard to find Dinah in her butt-up-in-the-air play stance, barking and barking, and doing little dances. Finally I got down to the woods only to see that the subject of her attention was a medium-sized turtle. I actually identified it as a male Terrapene Carolina (Carolina Box Turtle) only because we had encountered some this weekend at BugFest. Well, this turtle was resolutely ignoring Dinah and trying in his best turtle-y way to tiptoe the heck out of there. There was a smorgasbord of mushrooms that he had been feasting on and I guess Dinah had ruined his lunch and was apparently trying to bark him to death.

I finally shooed her away and let him get on with his business of ridding my yard of mushrooms (sweet!) and went back inside. Later I was out there again and looked around for him, but there was no sign other than partially nibbled mushrooms everywhere. The cool thing is that he is trapped in our yard--there aren't any gaps under the fence, and it made me wonder how long he's been living in here? It's obviously like white-collar-prison between the woods and the compost heap that I augment daily with Jack's unwanted veggies. A little piece of turtle heaven I think!

Things Get Hairy...ish.

Even though he is from pasty, Scottish-Irish-English stock, Jack is very...fuzzy. OK, he is alarmingly fuzzy. Now if we were Italian or Persian, it wouldn't be such a shock. But the kid is HAIRY! Even his shoulders! I am already (self?) pitying the woman who has to look at that pale, hairy back in bed each night...but I'm 25 years ahead of myself.

Anyway, his head-hair grows super-fast. And I love it, it's gorgeous, but he could (conservatively) get his hair cut every 4 weeks. Needless to say, with all that's been going on, we haven't been to the barber's since July and his hair is really shaggy. Sooo I decided to just give him a little trim b/c the shaggy look is quite cute on him (unlike Dan). Armed with the kitchen scissors, I snipped some sideburnage and mullet off and things looked much better. But, as you know, it is hard to STOP once you've started cutting someone's hair. It's a bit like just having a "taste" of cake frosting.

I managed to contain myself, but did give one questionable shear in the back that looks a little wonky. So I told Jack, "Don't ever let me do this to you again." He looked at me with somber eyes and nodded (his new thing).

Well, this morning I noticed that I had missed about 9 hairs over his left ear and they looked ridiculous. I got out the scissors and approached him..."MOMMY NOOoooo!!!" he screamed with glee, so eager to chastise me with my own permission!! I literally dropped the scissors. I didn't think that he'd remember--I had forgotten! This was alternately great and horrible news...I was in awe: he'd followed instructions in the future. I guess I have to stop muttering, "Kill me already," under my breath when I'm changing a doozie of a diaper. Maybe this is the long-awaited last mental step to potty training?!?!?