Potty Training!

Last Sunday, I realized that if I continued to follow the "let the child decide when they're ready to potty train" method Aaron would be in diapers forever. Well, maybe not forever, but a very long time. This is not an idea that I am fond of, so I decided to do something about it.

I  talked about potty training methods with my older sister and decided to just go for it. So, the next morning, I informed Aaron that he would no longer be wearing diaper. We put him in his big boy underwear...that we bought when he was about 20 months old and first starting showing interest in the potty thing.

The first day at daycare was super messy and difficult for all involved. Day 4 at daycare was nearly accident free...only one poopy mess. That night, Aaron went into the bathroomm all by himself. When he was done, he came into the living room (underwear still down around his ankles) and informed me proudly that he had peed. When I went into the bathroom I was very pleasantly surprised to find it was quite a bit more than that.

I was thrilled!

So far today, he is accident free!!! I am so incredibly proud of my boy!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

And it was for Aaron and me. We had the best day!

It started early with a drive up to Sandy (about ½ an hour away) to the nearest Trax station (the closest local train transportation system).

Have I mentioned before that Aaron is in LOVE with trains? We live near some rather busy tracks that also happen to go directly in front of his daycare, so he gets to hear and see them several times a day. This was his first time riding one and, oh my heavenly days, can you say “excited”?!

It was about another ½ hour train ride to The Gateway in downtown Salt Lake City where they were having a St. Patrick’s Day parade followed by several performances with dancers and musicians. The parade was actually more fun than I thought it would be. About halfway through, we ended up with Aaron in the stroller just walking up and down part of the parade route.

Then we ran into one of the groups of pipers. Aaron wanted to follow them and there was no way I was going to object. Have I mentioned before that I am in LOVE with bagpipes?

We walked with them for most of the route with Aaron bouncing his head and tapping his feet to the music. Cutest thing ever! I got a little bit on camera, but not much because they started to move again. (In case you didn’t know, it’s really quite difficult to steer a stroller through a very crowded and narrow sidewalk while videotaping from behind the subject. Picture one arm outstretched in front, camera turned around, lots of zigzagging…not pretty.) I’ll see if I can figure out how to post what I was able to get.

We stayed to watch some of the performances, most of which Aaron slept through. I am extremely grateful that he took a nap so we could stay and enjoy more of the fun. I got to see a couple of dance groups perform, which totally reminded me of and made me miss my sister Jeni. (She is an incredible Irish and Scottish dancer.)

Shortly after Aaron woke up, he was looking around and noticed some musicians outside, so we went out to hear them play. They were really good! I sort of danced along while I held Aaron. There were a few other kids there dancing out in front of the crowd and Aaron almost danced with them. He got shy about it when I put him down, which is not typical of him. Maybe he just wasn’t fully awake yet.

We took another train ride back to our car, had a quick dinner at the Olive Garden and came home where we spent the next hour playing hide and seek “Aaron style”. I’ll write about that in another post, but I’ll just leave with this…it’s about the most fun I’ve had playing hide-and-seek.

All in all, this has been the best St. Patrick’s Day that I can remember.

And now I’m exhausted, so off to bed. ‘Night!

Cutest Sleeper Ever!

I don't think I've met a parent alive who doesn't think their child(ren) are just too darn cute when they are sleeping, and I am no exception. In the 2-1/2 years of Aaron's life, I have managed to capture on film some adorable sleep positions.


There are, of course, the early months of his life....when EVERYTHING he did was just beyond cute!




Then there are the odd and sometimes uncomfortable looking positions as he starts to get a little older. (I swear I don't know how he sleeps that way!)



































But, my favorite so far has to be his latest position. I have found him laying like this on 3 separate occasions in the last couple of weeks.





Too darn cute, I tell you!!!

Bald Eagles!!!

On our way to the store this morning, Aaron wanted to take a little detour to follow a train. I am SO glad I did what he wanted because we got to see TWO real, wild bald eagles!!!

Both eagles in the tree.

I've only seen wild eagles one other time almost 2 years ago, but this time was even more exciting because 1) they were sitting still in a tree not too far from the road, and 2) I had my camera with me! I got several pictures, including some of each of them flying away. We must have watched them for at least 45 minutes before they left.

The first eagle flying away.

Lone eagle

The second eagle leaving

Now that I know we have bald eagles that visit so close to where I live I will be watching for them more regularly...and keeping my camera with me just in case.

Aaron's First Snowman!

Earlier this month, we finally got our first real snow of the season. I was so happy that it happened on a weekend because I got to take Aaron outside and build his first snowman with him! He wasn't really interested in rolling the big balls of snow, but he did watch me do it with fascination. He put them on top of each other with me and he did such a great job of getting little handfuls of snow to fill in the spaces.He had a lot of fun eating the "snowman", which is what he calls all snow now. I also found out that he is very good at snowball fights. While I was taking his picture next to the finished snowman, he took a handful of snow and threw it at me...with no prompting from me at all. (Maybe this is one of those inborn traits in boys.)We stayed outside until his teeth started chattering. Once we were back inside and cuddled up on the couch under warm blankets and drinking hot chocolate, we were excited to look out the window at our snowman standing in the front yard.

New Stages

Aaron has come into some new stages the last couple of months. His vocabulary and diction are improving so much it catches me by surprise sometimes. He sounds so grown up and then I turn around and see this little boy standing there. He's also picking up on a LOT of expressions I didn't even realize I was using.

One of his favorites lately is to look at me with a bit of a scowl, head tilted down ever so slightly so he can look up at me through the top of his eyes and say, "Gosh, Mom!". He says it with the most disgusted tone in his voice, too. Sometimes it grates on me a bit, especially when I have no idea why he's frustrated with me. Most of the time I can laugh it off.

He's also gotten quite good at throwing fits; although, he doesn't typically get loud when he does it -- at least not in public. His primary method is to roll his eyes into the back of his head, turn into a flopping rag doll and just kind of fall down in the most dramatic way.

Ah, my boy. So stinkin' cute and so stinkin' frustrating at the same time. I don't know how God was able to roll so many opposing characteristics into one tiny little being, but I'm sure glad he did.