It's Fall...Autumn...Hockey Season!

I think that in Rob's world, Hockey Season is more wonderful than Christmas to a five-year-old. And it's not just the beginning of the NHL season (GO Canucks!!), it's that he gets to play in a league of his own with other little boys, er, I mean men who like hockey. Here you can see how his last season culminated. For most of the summer we had The Cup at our house, somewhat displayed, in our livingroom. Before he needed to give it back so they could engrave his teams names on it, we took some time to take pictures of our kids with it. Perhaps by having Jayden slobber all over it, the chances of it coming back to us are increased? I don't know, maybe Rob thought this might be the last time he has a chance to revel in the glory of a win like that. Either way, those of us in this house will be rooting for Rob and his team again this year. Each game is on Saturday nights, and they're usually very late on Saturday nights, which makes it really hard for me to get to see any of them, what with our children going to bed, and we have yet to find a local babysitter.

So for what it's worth.... GO ROB GO!! May all your hockey dreams come true.

A First!!

On Monday Ian went pee-pee on the potty for the very first time EVER!! As I was putting him down for his nap he announced that he had to go poo. I didn't really believe him, he had filled his diaper that morning already, but I asked if he wanted to go sit on the potty. He said yes and then asked me to get him a "wheel car". We bought a big pack of Hot Wheels for him as rewards for going potty. They sit on top of the cupboards in the kitchen and he gets very upset that we don't give them to him unless he's willing to go potty. So I brought down the wheel cars and placed them on the counter in the bathroom but told him no car unless there was actual pee in the toilet. I assumed that this was just a standard nap delay tactic. It took 20 minutes, and every once in a while he would say "Get down, wheel car Mommy?" Then I'd ask if he had gone pee, he'd say no, so I'd offer the clean diaper and naptime. Then he'd say no, go pee-pee. Then we'd wait some more. Eventually there was peeing. I could hardly believe it! There was much celebrating, clapping and cheering. He announced "I di' it Mommy!" I was so happy. I think he was too. He picked out a really cool red truck and still carries it everywhere, even to bed.

There was a lot of gymnastics happening on the seat while we waited.
So far, when asked if he wants to go pee-pee on the potty and get another wheel car, he says "no", as usual. But I'm happy that we've made a start, and that someday soon I may only have one child in diapers.

((sigh)) Another sign that he's growing up so fast.

August In Review.

Did you notice that it's been over a month since I last posted? We've been busy. Surprise! What else is new? Here's some pictures from this past month.

Jayden really enjoys playing with Daddy and Ian. And even though we usually barricade the brick hearth with a lot of toys, it's amazing how quickly he gets through them, as if he knows that's the one place in the whole upstairs we don't want him playing.

We have really enjoyed our new deck this summer. It's so spacious, and Ian can run around and around and around and around the table.


Here we are at another wedding.

Baby Jay-jay's first haircut from Grammi. ((sob sob))



And Ian who is just too cute, stuffing his face with chips, and the Penny dog waiting eagerly for some droppings.


Updates on the kids:

It's still hit and miss with Jayden's sleeping schedule. I have completely cut out the middle of the night feed, from the breast. He still gets a 4oz bottle though. We were hoping that he would be turned off of eating in the night if it was from a bottle, my thinking that it was mostly the comfort of mommy that he needed. But no, he refuses to stop crying and go back to sleep unless he's eaten something, even when Rob gives the bottle, so maybe he just is really that hungry. On a bright note though he's totally fine with a bottle and does a whole one during the day too, which means I only need to nurse him three times a day now.
We still are having a tough time getting solids into this baby. He got bored of bananas every day but still refuses to eat anything resembling baby food. So I've pretty much thrown all the rules about feeding solids out the window and he eats whatever we eat, usually right off our plates. He really enjoys noodles, KD, salmon, and potatoes. Seems to have an issue with fruits and veggies though.

So we feel pretty stupid about the baby gate thing. We had purchased one from walmart that we really liked before we discovered that our stairs are really wide. Our stairs are 4 inches wider than the widest setting of the gate. I am embarrased to admit how long it took us to figure out what to do about it. Eventually Rob bought a 2x4, put one piece on each side of the stairs, and what do you know, now the gate fits.

Ian still really likes to hit his little brother, and kick him, and push him over, and sit on him, and on occassion give him a bite for good measure. We are becoming increasingly frustrated about how to fix this. Time-outs don't seem to work, neither does spanking (he just turns around and smacks me back, how do I tell him not to hit after I just hit him?). The only thing working right now is to run interference. As long as we are right there watching the entire time we can prevent the acts of aggression. Too bad it's hard to supervise ALL the time, especially with Rob back at work now. Sometimes I need to go pee, or make meals, and answer the phone. It seems like as soon as I'm out of sight Ian attacks. Right now I've resorted to just praying that he grows out of it soon.

I know I had more I wanted to say but I've forgotten, and I really want to go to bed. Despite what the time says at the bottom of the post, it is now 8:15pm, that's how long it's taken me to do all this. Hmm, wonder how long it'll take me to post again?