I'm swingin' with my Dad; what are you doing?

What a nice way to spend quality time with your Pops. And a good series of vantage points for watching Tristan do yard work with Mom.

Potty Time

When I was potty-training Tristan I read a fabulous book called "Diaper Free Before Three". I didn't read it until I was so frustrated with the methods I'd read in the two other books I had that I was about ready to give up. Tristan was trained completely within a month of my reading that book, however, I followed the instructions for late starters since he was almost 3. So, now that I have a "do-over" so to speak. I decided to go for it much earlier this time. Not because I think Dorian will be potty-trained in a month, but hopefully with less trouble this time. One of the things the author said that made so much sense to me was something like this: We don't give a baby a bottle or breast for the first 2 years of his or her life and then one day sit him or her at the big table with an adult's meal and expect the child to figure out how to eat like we do. No, we gradually introduce solids a little at a time, increasing amount and consistency until they are finally able to eat like we do. It's a learning process and so is everything else in a child's life. So why do we diaper our babies and then suddenly when they're 2 and just learning that they have control, try to make them use the toilet or potty chair. It ends up in huge battles of will.

And so, with that in mind and a lot of other great points in the book, I decided that before Dorian learns to crawl, I'm going to put him on the potty so that he gets used to the idea of sitting there before he's too distracted by his ability to move around. So, for a couple weeks now, I've been putting him on the potty seat first thing in the morning when he wakes up. It's our little routine or ritual. He pee-pees in the potty every day now, and twice he's pooped in there too. And I don't make a big deal out of it. He sees that Tristan goes in the big potty, and hopefully, gradually, he'll just see that it's a normal part of life and he won't throw fits about it at age 2 1/2. But, you never know, 2 1/2 year old children are pretty good at throwing fits about just about anything. ;)



He has that just-woke-up look on his face, doesn't he?

Trying to Crawl and Walk

Dorian is determined to get moving! He used to be satisfied sitting within reach of toys, but now he wants some one to hold his hands so he can take you on a trip about the house. His face is sooo happy looking when he feels like he's really doing it on his own. Here are some pictures of his attempts at crawling and standing around.

Teacher Tristan

Sunny summer days are so pleasant for lessons out of doors. Tristan was teaching me and Dorian all about tornadoes, afterward, there was a short recess which we all enjoyed.

No Kiss for You!

Dorian has moved on from Peek-a-Boo. He learned how to shake his head "No", which is incredibly cute when your head is so big in proportion to your body. For 2 or 3 days, he decided that you should shake your head "No" anytime some one asked you for a kiss. Fortunately, we did catch this on video since he has stopped doing it now. Tristan and I were asking for kisses and getting head shakes for about 10 or 15 minutes before I realized that I should try to get it on video. He was pretty worn out with it by then, so all we got was one instance, but here it is for your viewing pleasure:

"Hey Pat Fox, How are you doing? I love you."

Tristan told me after I took this picture, "You know why I hugged Pat Fox? Because I love him." Tristan also titled this blog post.

Peek-a-Boo

Dorian has been playing Peek-a-Boo with us for about 4 weeks now, but we recently caught it on video. It is so cute. He does it a lot when he wants attention. :) I actually have 4 videos and am having a hard time deciding between them.Well, here's the shortest one: