Potty Progress

Potty training has begun, and though we were easing into it over the weekend, today is our first day of all out effort. We had a little success over the weekend though which is very encouraging. On Saturday we got started, and we had accidents all day--although he can hold it for 4 to 5 hours so not too many accidents. That evening Chris and I went out on a date and left the boys home with Gpa Charlie and Gma Sally. After a couple of attempts Dallon finally went in the potty for Gma before bed. He had never gone in a toilet at home before. He had gone a few times at school, because he was watching the other kids go. Sunday we took most of the day off because of church. Then yesterday we went for it again--accidents all day and Dallon was not happy about going to the bathroom. Then last night I took him in knowing he had been holding it for a long time, and sat him down. Then I gave him my computerized Yahtzee game to play with. He was fascinated by the sounds, and within a couple of minutes he went! I was absolutely extatic! That's the first time I have ever witnessed him going in the toilet! I went out and bought a few $1 games that he can play on the potty to help him relax and pass the time. Hopefully that will help us reach our goal.

This morning Dallon had been holding it. We tried a couple of times with no success. Then I heard him going in the other room. Before I could do anything he ran to get a towel, tracking his wet mess all along the way. I think he is starting to get the idea a little bit. And he wants to wear underwear instead of a diaper or pull-up. We'll keep you posted, and hopefully we'll survive the next few messy weeks!

Last day of school

Today was Dallon's last day of school. We made a gift for his teachers, and used this image for a thank you card. He wouldn't show me his face behind the sign, so I had to add a picture of him from another day :)

He really seemed to enjoy school this year more than last year. I think it was because he had a lot more time to get use to the routine of it. The last couple of days were pretty rough, I think he was a little burned out. He hasn't had a break from his regular classroom days since March. Yesterday when I picked him up, he REALLY wanted to ride the bus with his friends. When the bus door closed he fell to his knees and said,"Oh no! Bus!" He was soooo disappointed, it was heart breaking to watch him be so sad about riding the bus. I guess next year we'll have to consider letting him ride the bus to school. His teacher will be moving to Astoria for next school year, and I am sad. She has been a great teacher for him. He had her last year also, so that makes it even harder to think of taking him to school with a new teacher. We will really miss Teacher Myrah. He really likes one of the aids in his class also, Teacher Edie. He likes to say her name, "teechee edie." They have all done a fabulous job with Dallon this year, and I am so grateful for that.

Lost boys at the Airport

The airport had an open house this weekend. So despite the fact that it was already 90 degrees out at just 10am, we decided to head up to see the planes. Jace got really into it. They had lots of cool planes with very cool paint jobs. This picture was cool because Jace's arm follows the tiger image almost exactly underneath. He walked around and pointed at every plane, Dallon on the otherhand wouldn't get out of the stroller and was mad that we didn't head straight for the bounce house they had set up...so no pictures of Dallon with the planes, sorry.

The man who owned this plane offered to put Jace in the cockpit. Jace liked it until he brushed against a hot seatbelt--it wasn't too hot, it just startled him and he wanted right out. But before that, he went straight for the joystick and seemed to know just what to do with it.

This was a funky little plane, I wouldn't feel safe flying in it!

We finally made it to the bounce house, and man was Dallon happy about it!!! Right as we got there, Chris' friend Lee showed up with his fiancee's 4 y/o twins (they're in the background of the picture below). I was kinda worried about Dallon in the bounce house because there were bigger kids, and he was REALLY excited to be in there. So when Lee asked me to watch the twins for a few minutes, I said, sure and didn't think much about anything else for a few minutes.
I turned away from the kids in the bounce house to see where Chris and Jace were, and found Chris with Lee looking at the planes parked across the fence from us...and Jace? Well Jace wasn't with Chris, and apparently Chris thought that I knew that he was walking off with Lee because Lee had asked me to keep an eye on the twins. So Jace was lost outside, tons of people, and planes taking off nearby!!!! We frantically started looking for him, and a man who had been looking at the planes along side us earlier saw me and pointed me in the direction he had just seen Jace. So I found him in an older lady's arms crying. He had wandered out onto the tarmack where the planes were preparing to take off and she had just picked him up. It was horrible. I'm always so worried about Dallon taking off, and Jace has never been a problem before. I'm sure he just tried to follow Chris and lost him in the crowd. But he was safe, and the rest of the day he spent in the stroller strapped in!!

This is a National Guard chinook helicopter. Jace thought it was the coolest, and it was actually the first thing we went to check out.


There was also a firetruck, and police car. They had stickers and hats to give out to the kids.

The weekend was hot, but we did get some sod put into the backyard where all of the rocks were (you can look at the cowboy pictures from a couple of months ago and see all of the ugly rock!). I'm so stoked that we have more grass, and no more ugly rock--although we still have to figure out what to do with the enormous pile of rocks left over!!

Chris is in Arizona for work until tomorrow, so we are missing him...and our AC isn't working yet. I'll post some picts of the backyard when I get a chance!

Summer is coming a little sooner than expected

Dallon's teacher informed me today that they will be ending class a week earlier than originally planned. I guess the decision came from her boss, and it sounds like the teachers are not impressed with the decision. We should be receiving a letter explaining why they are ending early, but it sounded like the explanation will be pretty weak. Its only 3 more days of class, why end early? I don't understand a LOT of things that go on here.

So I guess its somewhat good news, since I'll be able to get started with potty training a little earlier. I've got all the supplies I think I'll need, I just need some time to implement the plan.

Chris' schedule for the summer is kind of up in the air right now. Originally he was supposed to change to 7 days on 7 days off (alternating night and day shifts). Then they were talking about doing 4 days on 4 days off alternating day and night. Then they decided they liked a 4 on 4 off shift where the first 2 days were day shifts, and the next 2 days were nights followed by 4 days off. The problem is that they may not have enough people to fill all of the shifts that way. They need at least 4 people on shift work at all times this way, before they only needed 2. So we'll see how it plays out. They're suppose to start the new schedule the 2nd week of June.

Jace is starting to talk with a lot more clarity. I knew he was saying a lot of words, I just couldn't figure most of them out. Now that he's starting to enunciate, I am catching on. He says "thank you" all day long, for everything--hope those manners continue through these next couple of years! He says Dallon, but it sounded like Daddy for a long time. He's also copying a lot of phrases. Like on our way out of the elevator to go to speech therapy I said,"Let's go this way" and Jace chimed right in saying it in his sing-song little way.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Have fun this Memorial Day if you can!

I can do it!

This is one of Dallon's favorite books. Its "From Head to Toe" by Eric Carle. We didn't get the whole thing because it took a while for Dallon to forget the camera was there. He interacts really well with this book, a lot because he knows it from school.