A conversation

Me: "Jack, it's rest time."
Jack: "Don't want to nap."
Me: "What does robot say about that? Remember? Your body needs lots of rest so you can run fast and play."
Jack: "I don't care."

About 1/2 hour later he fell asleep on the floor.

Train rides

Today Jack wanted a smoke stack on his little potty (like the one in "The Potty Train" book). I cut one out of cardboard and taped it to the back of the potty. No, he wanted it on the front -- duh mommy, it's a smokestack! So I carefully centered it on the front and he managed to get on the potty. Immediately he revised his demands. Now he also wanted a bell and a whistle. Could I put them on the back? No no mommy, on the front, next to the smokestack. I reduced the smokestack, then made a whistle and bell and taped them on either side. He could still get on the potty, carefully, but then he didn't want to poop there. Instead he asked to sit on the big potty, which he did very successfully, all the while admiring the small potty. We sat there so long we had time to make up names for the potties. Small potty is "Little Puffer." Big potty is "Big Boy."

Napping update: he fell asleep sitting on the floor, leaning against his bed, during his "rest time." He's still there!

Preschool bound

We found out yesterday that we have been accepted into preschool. Lucky for us -- we only applied to one, so if hadn't got in, we would have had to wait another year. Jack will be in an afternoon program 3 days a week, starting in September. So we have 4 months and change to drop his nap and potty train.

Turns out the nap thing is mostly over anyway, if this week is typical. Jack gets up for the day between 6-7, same as always. Monday he wouldn't nap, and went to sleep at 8:30. Yesterday he was insanely tired and eventually had a nap from 3-5:15, and was asleep around 10 (I think I may have beat him to slumberland, but I actually can't remember; Hans was monitoring the situation closely while I passed out). Today he didn't nap but we did ok -- he stayed in his room for an hour and ransacked the place, but not as completely as Monday. He will not stay in bed and try to nap. He will shred his books into strips, dump legos out of their bin, open and shut the shutters, and pull diapers out of their drawer. Today I got to him just before he pillaged the wipes box.

My coping with this new arrangement is improving. Monday felt like a disastrous battle and yesterday was really hard, but I think I can help him better next time he gets that tired, by reading to him in our chair instead of insisting he get into bed. When I did that yesterday he then willingly got into bed and I sang to him until he fell asleep. Today he was way more cheerful and not tired at all, so I just let him run around in his room while I read in another room for an hour. I will admit that it's much harder to get stuff done, so I let him watch a couple of Yo Gabba Gabbas (like right now) so I can make dinner and do the other million things I do every day. Blogging turns out to be essential because it helps me relax and reconnect with myself. It's a trade-off I'm ok with.

Groundhog days

Jack loves repetition. We read the same Winnie the Pooh stories, play the same games, and listen to the same cds, over and over and over. For months, we constantly listened to a Beatles compilation Hans made, and Jack begged to hear his "moon song" whenever we were in the car. Lately, Jack's favorite cd is They Might Be Giants "Here Come the ABC's." It's very listenable for parents, but we hear it so much that neither Hans nor I can get the songs out of our heads.

On Friday I couldn't face another morning of listening to "Who Put the Alphabet in Alphabetical Order" and "Go Go Go for G," so I whisked Jack off to the Zoo. He climbed up the tall tower then slid down the tube slide for awhile, then we rode the train 2 times, had lunch at the Leaping Lemur Cafe, and strolled through the monkey area. We got to see a zebra and giraffe, which he enjoyed. Hours of zoo fun, with no musical accompaniment! Then back home for a nap. I was exhausted, but my mind enjoyed the break!

Sick and tired

What a challenging week. I've been struggling with another cold and premenstrual fatigue, and Jack, well, he's just been nuts.

We've been battling all week at nap time -- yesterday Jack wouldn't stay in bed and I was in and out of his room many many times, but he did finally go to sleep. Today, I figured that after a morning at the Discovery Museum he'd be tired out and ready for a nap. I put him in bed and flopped down to rest a bit. He was quiet for awhile, but then I heard him out of bed. I went in to find a mangled diaper and pee all over the bed, the carpet, and his clothes (he was "looking for my penis"). I put him in clean clothes and changed the sheets, but he was very wound up and it was pretty obvious he wasn't going to nap. I was so tired and emotionally worn down that I called Hans and he kindly came home from work early. The two of them went off to buy a new tire for Hans's Norton, and Jack fell asleep in the car on the way home. He woke up at 5:15, so we have no idea what will happen this evening. This is one of those days when I wished I had a job so I could have an 8 hour break from toddertown.

In other news, potty training is chugging along. He's been really good about pooping in the potty, and is willing to wear underpants sometimes, but most of the time he won't. I think we've drifted into the forbidden zone that parents of potty trained kids warn against -- going back and forth from diapers to underpants when you're supposed to discard the diapers and never look back. Oh well.

I've been giving him small gifts as potty bribes, and they have included little plastic animals. Black bear is now named "bear bear" as well as "teeth bear" (Jack brushed the bear's teeth with one of those small magnetic letters so popular with toddlers). Bobcat is just bobcat and beaver just beaver. These animals converse with Jack at bedtime and according to Jack, last night he told them how to be careful around scissors and knifes (sic) and cars and parking lots.