"Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby!"

The potty training is going well. For all of that whining, it was really quite easy. I think Buck was ready. I'm sure that he'll have some accidents & that I'll forget to remind him once in a while, but overall, he's been using the potty consistently for a full week. This week, we'll be entering into our old regular routine...so we'll see.

Aside from the potty training, this last week (and today) is really special in my family. June 28th was my Dad's birthday & today (June 30th) is my mom's birthday. They are both the same age - I'll let them add the actual age in the comments :) Also, the 25th is their anniversary and the 29th is my older brother & his wife's anniversary. Quite a "break the bank" week if I wasn't so slow in getting out cards and presents (sorry Mom and Dad. I'm sure Marianne got a card to you right on time!:)

But, to honor my parents and their big days, I have posted some old pictures of all of us. My parents are incredible, and I love them both amazingly much. I will be writing a list of captions below. The numbers are starting at the top left then top right and so on (I hope it's not all confusing once it's posted.) I LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD & WE'LL SEE YOU SOON!

1. Grandma Jody, I think James and My mom (with what looks like my current haircut, ironically)
2. James & I upside down (I can't believe I could ever do that) with Sean on the side of the monkey bars
3. James or possibly Mike.
4. Mom with the killer of all do's, James, Me & my dad (nice chops, dad!)
5. The "big white house" in Vegas.
6. Mom and (I'm assuming by the age) James
7. repeat of #4 but farther away
8. Me & James defending us with his gun ;)
9. I think James and myself and a dog (?)
10. James and myself and our AWESOME station wagon (you are all so jealous)
11. RKZ and I spent all day yesterday playing in a little pool with Buck. I imagine James and I had that much fun in this plastic pool
12. Mom at someone's baptism. Probably James, but might be me...Mom, you were REALLY ROCKIN' the hair and hats back in the day. I LOVE IT!

You two are so important and special to us. Can't wait to call and sing Happy Birthday. Kisses.

"We all scream for ice cream (sort of)"

I just wanted to write that Buck is out in his sandbox pretending that a little pail is an ice cream cone and he is licking the sand off of the pail. Yuck.

"guess I really wasn't that crazy"

Maximillian Thanksamillion.
Click on chart to see Buck's progress after 3 days.


Day 5...right? It's starting to blend into one long day, of course.

Yesterday was just about as close to a 10/10 day that I could ask for (NEASWAP). Consistently asking to go pee & poop. No accidents. I decided to venture out into the "real world" and use THE CAR. I was quite a sight running all over the house trying to find extra underwear and clothes and a large towel in case Buck had an accident on the car seat. I was pushing him to go before we left - no interest. He tried a few times, but the stuff just wasn't there. I think I am rubbing Buck's nerves raw with the asking. I can feel him thinking, "Just let it go already, Mom! I'll tell you when I have to go!"

We finally made it into the car and I kept looking back at him for signs that he had to go. I even called RKZ at work so that he could tell me to chill out (He did). Our first stop? Toys-R-Us. They have these great padded toilet seat covers with LARGE pee guards. Turns out our child-sized potty is just a little too small to keep Buck's pee contained. We need a "man's potty, baby!" So, we made it T-R-Us and found the seat selection - Buck chose the Cars-themed seat with roads all over it and two nice little handles. I instantly decided we needed to break in the seat and rushed Buck to the nearest potty.

He refused to go.

I told him that he could get a toy if he would try. I am the world's worst "bribery oriented" mom. In 30 years, my son will be asking his wife for a kiss for each time he pees. I apologize Buck's future wife. I take full responsibility and if you have future kids, you'll totally understand.

After the bribe, Buck tried. No pee, but he did get a nice Diego helicopter. Everybody wins. We also bought about $100 worth of potty training accessories. Note to self: stop shopping for soap at Toys-R-Us (never will again, I promise! I just could go to Wal-Mart with my barely trained boy!)

Our second stop of the day was the grocery store to buy a loaf of bread for our lunch date. Made Buck use the potty there as well - still no pee (and no bribe this time).

Third stop was Charlie's house where Keaton and a new friend, Olivia, were also playing. Thankfully, everyone there uses the potty and Buck FINALLY went on Charlie's "throne" potty. YEAH! This last pee earned Buck his coveted remote control car (more bribes, I see the pattern). He was very excited, but more excited to be with people his own age. I was excited to be at someone else's house and to have someone else make lunch. Less stress for me but probably more for Rachel. The kids had a great time and Buck didn't get hit this trip although I can't say that for everyone. Buck did try to wake up all of the young babies by banging a drum for about 10 minutes before we could stop him (Time Outs - R - Us).

This play date ended with my putting a pull-up on Buck so that he could fall asleep on the way home. Pull-up = WAY LESS STRESS for Mommy. Buck did fall asleep and we were able to rest for about 3 hours. I love that Buck still naps. Was able to call some old friends and put batteries in everything. RKZ actually came home before Buck woke up (good times, Fridays).

And last night was DATE NIGHT! The only person I felt truly sorry for was Amber, our babysitter. We love Amber. She actually has a full-time job but still sits for us because she loves Buck and he is in love with her. But, as I walked this 21 (22?) year old around the house and explained that she'd have to take the potty on a walk to the playground, I thought she was going to quit right there. Nothing like explaining that a grown person must wipe someone's rear. She had a great attitude, though. And I guess she did take a walk with Buck AND Max. She painted a pretty great picture of Max running all over the place and wrapping up Buck and the potty in his leash. (She took Buck and the potty in the wagon). Very funny image to me.

This morning is all housework and spring cleaning in the 70 degree weather. Yum!

"I'm Dorothy the Dinosaur"

Jackson, Buck, Charlie & Ben

"The boys are back in town"

I included this picture because you can see the mommies to the left. Carrie & Rachel. Rachel is holding Ben.

The boys were originally in the chair to fight over a toy :(

Day 4 - I promise to stop counting the potty training days once Buck is firmly established (or I stop noticing).

Yesterday, in reaction to the play date disasters, Buck & I stayed home alone all day. Well, with Max, of course. And a puppy throws a bit of craziness into every thing (ie: Max is constantly sticking his face into the potty after Buck has filled it. I'm afraid Max will try to chomp down some of the poop or slurp up the pee - yuck!) It was a much better day - training wise. As I prepare to write how Buck did with yesterday's training, it occurs to me that he will HATE that his potty habits will be forever immortalized (well - if I ever get around to printing out this blog). Someday, he will be very embarrassed with this log, I'm sure. Won't stop me from doing it, though.

The pooping/constipation issue was taken care of as Buck realized that he gets a handful of M&M's for each poop. This is actually the one thing that Buck has consistently been able to tell us: "I have to go!" He always means poop.

He actually had about 4 accidents where Buck didn't tell me he had to pee. One of the "accidents" he had was actually on the potty, but Buck thought it'd be fun to shoot the pee over the pee guard onto the floor in front of him ("Like Daddy pees"). RKZ does not aim for the floor, by the way. I think it's more the shooting like a hose kind of thing.

I was able to escape to a book club in the evening, which was nice. It also allowed RKZ to have a great moment where Buck told him he had to go and Buck pooped in the potty. It makes it mostly worth it when that happens.

The most interesting (to me) observation is that Buck (and his potty training pals) all seem to be a bit more stressed out these days. Buck has been waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares & whining a bit while 1/2 awake. It's got to be really stressful for these kids to make this transition. A bit like graduating, really.

Buck just told me FOR THE FIRST TIME that he needed to pee! HALLELUJAH! It's a banner day at the Grady household!

"Just the way you look tonight"

Day three of potty training was eventful and poorly executed on my part.

RKZ had to return to work to make the money we need to allow me to stay home and work significantly in poop. I instantly missed him in the pee process.

7am - wake up to Max running up the stairs to say hello. Buck and I wake up and take to the potty. I have read that children pee the most right when they awaken (not usually at night). I think Buck must have woken up a bit earlier than I did (diaper was wet, bummer).

Breakfast of potty champions? Oatmeal with raisins and a big glass of water. Diuretically masterful. The morning actually went well. Buck and I played outside in the sandbox as it was in the high 70's (22C). Buck was able to use the potty a number of times and accumulate a lot of stickers as he inches ever closer to the remote control car & big airplane. Sadly, no morning poop which I have come to expect while Buck wore diapers. Concerning.

After naps, Charlie, Jackson and their mommies came over. Also, Charlie's 6 month old brother, Ben (who still barely counts as he makes no noise, doesn't move on his own and is generally very smiley). This visit began the madness. I thought Buck would do better with a few friends over. Instead, the social aspect made Buck tend to ignore what his body was saying even more. He had a BIG accident outside (thankfully, they've almost all been outside so far). A good sign (I think ) is that Buck was very sad about being all wet and instantly wanted to be changed. This is a huge improvement over earlier efforts where Buck seemed to rejoice in his dirty wetness (yuck). The other mommies seemed genuinely pleased to see his accident and were very nice about it. Didn't even encourage their kids to avoid Buck's pee (I would have done that). They just ignored it.

The craziness was actually more about having 3 nearly 3 year olds playing together. A lot of yelling (happy yelling), pushing (happy and angry pushing) and verbal sparring (mostly angry). A lot of baby testosterone. Plus, one of the boys was TERRIFIED of Max and we had to put the dog in his crate while we played outside, which didn't seem fair to me. I'm hoping that particular friend gets over it, as I won't be caging my dog every visit while he could be enjoying our limited great weather. Besides, Max is like a foot tall - nothing to send fear into a toddler. Probably could sense the rival alpha dog vibe (the toddler, not Max).

It was good to talk to some other Moms, but I was over the crowd by 5pm when everyone went home. Buck settled down a bit too and was able to make it to the potty a few more times before Dad came home bearing Japanese food (you are what you "Edo"). Buck had hamburger and fruit. Anything to get those intestines moving (I think this blog will definitely win some type of award now). Still - no poop, not all day, which is a VERY bad sign from my normally regular boy. Looks like Fiber plus is on the menu today!

"My spurs go jingle jangle jingle"

The boys trying to install the new toilet seat (turns out it's too big and we must return it)

Farmer Brown had mysteriously lost his pants.

"Howdy, Mommy!"

Day 2 of potty training - move on to Buck.

RKZ stayed home for me so that we could help with the constant attention Buck might require for his big pee plans. It was so nice to have RK home for the day - even if we were up to our elbows in urination.

Pee 1: 7:45 am - (note to self: remind Buck to aim peeper INTO the potty). Daddy cleans up what did not make it into the bowl.

Pee 2: 9:35 am - yes, TWO HOURS later. I was expecting a "pee-for-all" where I literally had to follow buck around with a small plastic potty catching pee. The reality is that I was asking him every 30 minutes to sit on the potty. Do you sit on the potty every thirty minutes? Brother was BUGGED.

Pee 3: 1ish pre-lunch pee. It was around this time that I first stared wondering (to RKZ) if our son is dehydrated. He wouldn't finish the juice that I shoved at him & resisted all raisins. I'm a freak about this, I'll admit it.

Nap after lunch. Nominal mommy lets son sleep until 5 pm. How's that for a bit of masterful potty training? He wears diapers while he sleeps (a normal practice, I'm assured). I've been a bit homesick for California and decided to take a bit of a nap while Buck slept. RKZ was out doing some work in the yard. Turns out, Buck peed a bit during his FOUR HOUR nap. Well, duh.

Wardrobe choice 1: Buck insists on wearing last year's Stampede cowboy hat with VERY LOUD whistle. Also insists on mommy wearing hers.

Wardrobe choice 2: Buck wears only underpants all day (no shorts). 4 year old next door neighbor proceeds to tease Buck when we go outside ("get away from me with your underwear!") Mom proceeds to now hate that boy. Buck now tells Max to "get away from me, dog!" - ah, the power of mocking. Did make a psychological breakthrough that boys seem to love teasing. Doesn't that the traumatic negative effect that it would have on a girl. Buck thinks it's funny.

Mistake 1: Mommy invites people over for dinner (2 college aged girls) and gets to talking instead of watching the clock. Buck pees on the deck while playing with his sandbox. A lot of pee comes out (just an observation). Buck seems to enjoy putting his underwear into the bucket of soapy water more than anything else from the day.

Poop 1: 7pm. Buck normally poops twice (information you could have NEVER lived without, I'm sure). The fact that he hadn't pooped all day filled mom with fear that he would now be constipated and REFUSE to poop into the potty (mommy has a very active worry-life). So, mommy brought out the big guns and laid all of the remote control "bribe" toys in front of son. Buck sees the RC Car, plane and mini plane and wants only to play with them. Mommy says, "If you poop tonight, you can have the smallest one to play with." Buck poops. Obviously goal driven.

1st day of Rite of Passage over. Buck is bathed (removing pee from leg), diapered and read to. Peace descends upon the house and mommy drinks a load of Corona Lights in the backyard - leading to more pee.

"I think it'll rain down - down on me"

Elmo has been trained - Hurray!

Buck Loves LA and I love this shirt (from K & G)


This is the week that I potty train Buck.

He's 2.something years old. Birthday in August, so it is a fine time to get him started. You wouldn't BELIEVE (maybe you would) the amount of advice I receive on this one parenting event: Wait till he's 3, no boys want to train before 3; Let him run wild with no underware on so that he can pee freely outside; give him prunes and juice only so that he is like a constant stream of refuse;don't take him anywhere for the first week; don't have people over for the first week; don't watch tv while trying to get his concentration up; watch tv all day so that he's not bored; be careful not to let him get constipated because he'll never want to poop in a potty; watch "Elmo goes potty" 100 times; watch "Once Upon a Potty 200 times - but only the correct version (they are gender specific)"...there is A LOT of advice.

But, like all of the advice I've received about raising Buck, I'm taking it with a grain of salt.

Turns out I wasn't ready for him to be trained before now. I am lazy. I did not (still don't) relish the idea of running to the nearest potty whenever we are out somewhere - scoping the place out for a washroom/bathroom like a urination spy. Grocery stores, malls, gas stations, intensely difficult boutiquy stores where intentionally childless women glare at me for my ability to produce young pee-ers who will need to wipe their hands on Egyptian cotton hand towels (I should probably avoid those stores anyway).

But my least exciting future pee prospects are the airplane as we are ascending and the car ride to Montana where I have my bi-monthly Target fix. At least we have a boy, but we haven't even BEGUN to navigate the "pee & stand" posture.

It is a mommy rite of passage to get this little dictator-tot to urinate and defecate into a porcelain bowl - and I have recently decided that I am up to the challenge. I decided this weekend, actually, and we began our odyssey on Monday.

I read a "How to train your child in 3 days" digital book (purchased for $20 is more like it) and they recommended "training" a favorite doll first. We chose Elmo, because he was the most likely to fit into Buck's training pants. Buck and I spent Monday (after dropping off K & G at the airport) teaching Elmo to use Buck's potty: Listen for when Elmo needed to go, RUN to the potty, pull down our underpants, wait to pee or poop (this is where I used a dropper to simulate pee), celebrate when Elmo "went", pull up underpants, wash hands, get M & M and sticker for the chart. Yes, Elmo has his own chart. It was a semi-complicated process which many of my mommy friends laughed at me for using. Thing is, we've been "sorta" training Buck for a few months and I needed him to see that this week would be different - organized - no going back. I needed Buck to see that we were serious with Elmo.

You'll be happy to hear that Elmo has not had an accident in days. I think that stuffed animal has really made a breakthrough.

We moved on to Buck's actual training on Tuesday (yesterday). Stay tuned for later today when I will document that lovely day.

My favorite part so far is the phone call from a friend who is simultaneously training her son. Her advice? "Don't give up. Don't yell and know that he'll get it. I was terrible frightened and it turned out ok." Sigh.

"Shower the people you love with love"

skipping rocks and springin stones.
Climbing up the rocks from the lake. Daddy gets a workout.
Mountain goats. We were actually this close!


A family shot.

K & G trying the perfect "Christmas card" pose.

Buck dancing with Daddy. Three year olds love to ruin great pictures. It's the truth!

Buck & me. He's looking a little irritated with all of the pictures.

K & G again. Isn't the scenery just beautiful?

Like I mentioned a few posts back, my aunt K and Uncle G just left after a very short little vacation with us from Saturday to Monday. We had such a wonderful time. The four of us (RKZ & I & my aunt and uncle) really enjoy the same things...so it was fun to tour around the area together.

I wanted to get these pics up quickly so that my cousin, the Queen, knows that they are doing alright :) They are pretty sure that you'll miss them a lot, Rey.

These were shots on the second day of K & G's visit. We were up in Banff. Amazing. We saw quite a bit of wildlife and not as much humanity - this made it a really peaceful day. Quite strange for Sunday and we decided that this is the perfect time to go. The kids are still in school here, so this is a busy time for school-aged kid families. While we toured camp sites to make summer plans, we decided that we should have probably used the weekend to stay the night! Next time, I guess.

Still can't wait to blog about Potty training Buck. It's been A DAY.

"I would walk 500 more"

This is a giant mish-mash of our last day on Victoria (Vancouver Island, BC). There are some pictures of the house we stayed in (the M residence) It was a poshy house & we had a fun time there, but we stayed the one night with some of the guys RKZ works with, so it was a bit more of a visit than a vacation. Still, the rest of the trip was amazing and so fun and restful. We love Victoria and would love to come back for a bit more of a romantic time.
















Mommy and Buck on the land outside the boat dock.

Ta-Da!

Buck in an old convent school in Victoria.

This is St. Anne's in Victoria. It used to be an old convent school. Now it is Gov't buildings & they preserved the chapel (as a community place to have events). I was a bit sad.

It was fun to tour the grounds, though. Can you imagine going to school here?

"And I would walk 500 miles..."

On the third day of our trip, we helped Gregorio but his boat in the water off of his lake side vacation property. Gregorio wasn't sure how to get it all together.

Sailor Buck - aka John Lennon in a life jacket.

RKZ & Gregorio sail away. What about us?

Back on the dock with Dad.

Actually launching the boat

there are a few more pictures - "What? There are MORE?" It's like a slide show of our vacation to make you crazy :) But we're having some issues for some reason. I should go run anyway. More later. late.

"sailin' takes me away to where I'm goin"

The web "traffic" opened up a bit and I was able to load these shots. Check back in a second because I'm going to upload our day 3 shots into another post (just to keep them separate). It's 'posts galore' today!

We saw A LOT of whales on our whale watching adventure!

Buck & Mommy in the front of the Whale ship. At first, we were disappointed to be "stuck" in the front, but we were REALLY warm the entire 3 hour trip (everyone can't say that). It was perfect for a 3 year old future marine biologist.

the Empress Hotel again in the day. I guess I should call it the "Impress" (I'm sure I'm the only one to ever think of that - ha. )

The capital building from our dock.

Buck & the mosaic dolphin

Fan Tan Alley - it really was a tiny alley filled with shops!

The "Fan Tan alley" sign. It was just like a scene from Harry Potter.

The Prince of Whales - our whaling vessel (for sight-seeing of course).

Whales (I think) I can't see the pictures