The window to the world for our little Jones...welcome friends.
This is a chronological blog-style site, so be sure to click around and read older posts from the archive and also by labels!
We celebrated Shepard's third birthday on Saturday with a few (ok, 40 or so) of our friends and family. It was also a bit of a housewarming, as we've not really done that yet either. It was great fun. And a lovely, breezy June day (how often does THAT happen?).
(remember to click on the pictures to see them all larger)
Thank you to everyone who came, for all the gifts (which we'll have to dole out a few at a time!) and for being our friends.
Daddy shows Shepard how to make the hammock work. (pre-party set-up pajamas)
Lest you think life with our dear little fellow is all bliss
and frolicking through fields of wildflowers...we had the oddest thing
happen. Up 'til now, little man did not that the music truck that went
by also doled out delightful ice creams. In our new neighborhood, we don't
have a regular ride-by, as we have probably pulled the average age of
the neighbors down to a sprightly 58 with our presence. We would hear
one on the main road outside the neighborhood a lot, but I thought it
would be cruel to tell him it was a truck full of treats that was not
going to come to our house. So I just called it the music truck.
On Father's Day, we decided to take a trip over to Shepard's favorite local park, the "waterfall park." It's Glencairn Gardens about two miles away.
This kid really loves him some fountains.
It was a nice evening, and we had been strolling around the park for the better part of an hour when we heard the "music truck." Shepard was intrigued and trying to see where it was coming from. We made it up to the top deck of the balcony area and there it was!
We decided to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, and spring for an ice cream for him. Thus, he'd know the secret of the music truck. It doles out magical, sugary goodness.
We asked him several times what kind of ice cream he'd like. Fruity, chocolate, popsicle? He wouldn't answer...a common occurrence, frankly. He often pretends to ignore our questions as a means of control. Given his usual preferences, I opted for a chocolate-coated ice cream bar for him after explaining that Mommy was going to choose if he didn't. He still didn't.
We unwrapped it and gave it to him. He nearly knocked it out of my hands. "NO! YUCKY! NO CHOCOLATE!"
What? When have you ever turned down chocolate? "I DON'T WANT ANY!"
Really? I explained that it would start to melt in the heat if he didn't eat it or at least try it. Then Daddy and I took a turn each at taking a bite and telling him how yummy it was. The thing was melting, y'all! We spent several minutes trying to convince our child TO EAT ICE CREAM.
He proceeded to melt too. Loudly. For a long time. Turns out he wanted fruity. When I threw the melty messy rest of it away, he really put on a show for the mosquitoes and park patrons.
Well, I don't read minds. I'm not sure how long it's going to take him to figure that out. His attempts at control and forced mind-reading are not going to end well. And I'm really thinking he's not getting any more ice cream truck surprises anytime soon either.
Just one of those nights, I guess. I didn't get pictures of the meltdown because my camera battery died (darn it!). But after all this fun and a delightful evening...yep. Meltdown. Ah, life with a preschooler. The mood changes on a dime. Or in this case, on a $2 ice cream. God love him.
We've pulled out the sprinklers, crashed our friends' and families' pools and are well on our way to having a summer of fun. Popsicles on the front porch are a near-nightly staple. And Shepard discovered fire flies this week.
We hit a milestone a few weeks ago. My little man stayed overnight with
someone OTHER than a parent. He went to "Camp Giles" for a few days in
Georgia. I thought if I started talking to him about it on Monday
of that week that he would be prepared to be temporarily separated from
the two human beings who love him most and have not stopped thinking of
him since the moment they knew of his existence. I told him he was going
to stay with Gigi and Pops for a few days in Georgia. What did he think
of that?
"YES!" he said, excitedly.
When I picked him up from school later that day, he said, "Where my Gigi?"
Then, he talked about it the rest of the week. I guess he was ready.
Mommy nearly didn't let him get down the driveway, but he was so excited waving "bye, Mommy!" that I had to let him go. I'm sure it's the first of many mini-goodbyes that will evoke tears. I'm so happy that he enjoys adventures and spending time with family. Here are a few pics of his trip to Georgia.
Pops and Shepard enjoy a crazy-ocean-horse.
Pay no attention to the finger in the upper left corner.
What's summer without a good picnic?
SLIDE!
We stay outside doing something most evenings. Sidewalk art is always fun.
Daddy is taking a porch-moment. I gotta say, the new porch is AWESOME.
Happy Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now if we could just work on this whole humidity issue...
We took a spin down to Greenville for the long weekend to visit Grandma and family from Illinois that was visiting. I'm a ninny and didn't pull out my camera for group pictures, but we had fun hanging out with Uncle Carly, Aunt Debbie, Cousin Jonathan and Courtney.
One of Shepard's favorite activities in season at Grandma's house is the little rec department train that runs in the park about a block from the house. We can walk there (or ride bikes!), and it also has two playgrounds. Pretty neat stuff.
We rode the train three times in two days. He LOVED it.
I don't scrapbook. Who has time for that these days? I'd rather jump down on the floor and play blocks or chase Shepard down the street on his bike. I do my scrapbooks online these days...I just completed our 2-year-old book:
We are about 80% potty-trained. Well, I should say Daddy and Mommy are 100% trained, and Shepard is 80% trained. He does almost all of his #1s and a fair amount of his #2s in the correct place at the correct time.
He was his usual strong-willed self throughout the process, and I'm sooo thankful for his preschool teachers who had lots of patience and helped us immensely with tips and tricks...and changed a LOT of wet/poopy underwear. There has been a ton of laundry at our house as well. But, it seems that the message has gotten through. Mostly through. There has been lots of candy and some big prizes and an entire weekend of watching Elmo's potty video over and and over and over and over...
Especially this little rap about the toilet paper factory. I might be able to do this from memory now:
Catchy, huh?
Here are a few tips that I should share, since they were no where in any book, online article or Elmo video.
1. Y'all. CROCS. Or any variation thereof. Sooo handy to clean and dry when accidents happen. Plus, he can take them off and put them on by himself. Just rinse those things off or even run them through the washer...but they made the accident-zone a much better place.
2. Move an entire clean-up and supply system to the bathroom. This might be a no-brainer for some of you, but I was unprepared for messy clean-up the first few times. In the drawer right next to the potty, we have: gloves, wipes, pull-ups, clean underwear, arm & hammer odor-shield bags and disinfecting/cleaning wipes and some potty-time books to read. Stock it daily. There is a reason I didn't do cloth diapers. But, I can say that my poop-tolerance is fairly high now. No gagging or screaming or crying.
3. Make toilet paper a line-item on your budget. Bless him. He just can't pull off two squares. He has to pull 11 and then swirl them around in the water. We're working on it. Until then, cha-ching! Compounded more when your puppy finds the long, dangling end of the paper on the ground and completely unwinds the roll before you find him. Yes, puppy. I need to post about that, don't I? We just believe in potty training and manner-training lots of creatures at once.
4. Some basics that we did that you can find in other resources: start talking about it early. We got several fun books (this and this) at the 2-year-old mark. Boys apparently take longer and start later. His school encouraged us to use ONLY underwear (no pull-ups) during waking hours so he could get used to the feeling of wet. Make it fun, and don't dwell on accidents. We used stickers and candy as rewards and he got to go pick out a "poopy prize" after he pooped in the potty the first time. Let them watch you, particularly see the same-sex parent (if possible) go to the bathroom to allay any fears and to help them see everything in action. We had to wait on him a little to actually let me put ON the underwear, but it was helpful that we had been talking about it and practicing a little for about 8 months.
I'm still cute when I covered in poop.
5. Elmo video and book are great. Be sure to look through the book and practice the songs before you bust it out with your kid, though. YOU are the singer...it's basically a back-up track with words printed. Be ready to sing the songs A LOT while he/she sits on the potty.
5. One thing I read AFTER we had transitioned to underwear (so too late for me) was to place the child on the potty while they were making a poop, even if they were wearing a diaper. It just made the association of sitting up there while doing that. Of course, I'm pretty sure Shepard would have balked at that and jumped down...but it's worth trying.
6. There is hope. As with every stage of development that seems to take FOREVER, I just tell myself, "well, I can assume he won't still be wearing a diaper or (insert baby behavior here) when he goes to college..." Now, instead of sending home three or four sets of wet/yucky clothes at the end of the day, I'm usually getting NONE or one. And I'm getting a raise to the tune of $30/month that we spent on diapers. #Winning.
Next up: nighttime training. He woke up dry this morning and tinkled first thing. So, who knows? Also, I have put a little portable potty in his room so he doesn't have to go wandering down the hall in the middle of the night. Anybody have some pull-ups coupons? Or good ideas?
The sun finally came out for five minutes in March, so we made sure to GO OUTSIDE. We found the cutest place in Charlotte called Darby Acres farm. I thought Shepard would be fascinated by all the animals...he wasn't.
What he loved more than anything were ALL THE TRACTORS that he could climb on, plus a little stash of tricycles, big wheels, etc. I mean, there were BABY GOATS, y'all, and I couldn't tear him away from the plastic big wheel. He had fun anyway. There are lots more animals, but I was sticking with him...so didn't capture all of them on video.
This is an insanely long video, but it's fine. One day I'll be cherishing every second of video I took to remember the glimmer in his eyes, his voice and expressions.
