back!

excuse the silence over here. i got back from my trip back east wednesday night and i've been going ever since.

the excitement in our house today? ollie started using the toilet. yep, the big boy potty. out of the blue i asked him if he wanted to try it. and then i bribed him -- and i'm not ashamed to admit it. i offered a trip to the store to buy one "cars" toy. and he got up and walked into the bathroom, took off every stitch of clothing but his socks, and sat down and did it. then he did it again tonight.

lots of celebrating and high fiving around our house today. we made a BIG DEAL over his accomplishment.

tomorrow we plan on tackling reading or making the perfect margarita, not sure which yet.

totally unrelated, here's a picture from a walk two weekends ago.

Yesterday I told Ollie that if he went potty like a big boy, I’d buy him a Lightning McQueen car. Gabe and I had talked about a bribe, briefly, but this came out of nowhere. I'd been thinking about M&Ms and out of my mouth comes McQueen. A year ago, I never thought I’d even let him see Cars, let alone offer to buy it for him if he'd pee in his froggy toilet.

We’d been planning on heading out to run errands and pick up dinner w/ G. First stop was Amoeba. Gabe jumped out while we circled the block.

Mama, can we just go get my McQueen now?

No Ollie, sweetie. I’m sorry you misunderstood. Mama said we could buy a McQueen if you go potty in the big boy potty.

No, I don’t want to.

Later we go to the grocery store.

Can I go find McQueen?

No sweetie. They don’t have any McQueen here.

So now I feel bad, like I’ve confused him, or that he's not going to believe me anymore. He’s not three yet and they say boys are slower to potty train than girls. And I know that every kid is different. A couple of his teachers have told me they think he’s ready and I do think he gets it. I’m not in any particular hurry at this point.

I did ask him if he wanted to wear his Thomas underwear tomorrow and he said, no his Percy underwear.

we spent easter with my family in the south bay. first stop was my folk's house for a little egg hunt and then dinner at my aunt's.

ollie was ready to go before i even showered.

fireman hat? check

new shoes*? check

purse** slung over his shoulder? check

black pants? check

pacifier***? check

shirt of his choice? check

sweatshirt? check

* even though he had other shoes, he insisted on wearing the same blue vans into the ground (twice). for the past year and a a half, it's been blue vans, all the time. we decided that this weekend it was time for new shoes, with the thought that if he picked them he might agree to them. it worked. after requesting first purple shoes, then red shoes, he ended up picking grey new balance sneakers. then we ran around a (very, very) long block because they made him run really fast. success!

**the purse is an old camera bag of mine. he insists on wearing it over his shoulder like i wear my purse. he sat around the house for an hour and a half waiting for me to get ready with his purse on as pictured above. its contents: a yellow rubber duck and a purple (his favorite color) slinky.

*** the pacifier. he no longer naps with it at school. recently we made a rule in our house--he can only have it in his crib. problem is, he takes pacifier breaks with it constantly. he's like a smoker. bad idea on our part.

i love this age.

a few weeks ago we left ollie with my folks. we flew to new york to attend all tomorrows parties and see our dear friends. we'd both left ollie before, but never together.

we left on a wednesday night, on a red-eye so we were able to put ollie to bed and, as far as he knew, we'd only be gone for 4 nights.

before we put him to bed, the three of us read books on our bed, like we do every night. i cried. i told gabe, if we didn't have plane tickets i probably wouldn't be going. after we put him to bed, i was a blubbering mess.

on the way to the airport, i called my mother, who would be picking up ollie the next day (a babysitter was spending the night at our house that first night).

through tears, i gave her instructions, such as:

don't leave him in the car in hot weather. don't leave him in the car, period.

if you bring him swimming, you aren't to leave him alone for one second. she asked if my aunt could watch him in the pool, in case, say, she had to pee. i told her to pee in the pool. no one, NO ONE, was to be with him by the pool but her.

if you feed him grapes, they must be cut into 4 pieces. but he doesn't like grapes, i lied, so i wouldn't give him ANY grapes if i were her. or raisins. they're a choking hazard until the age of three i cautioned her. and he really doesn't like them, i lied.

and so on. it's a good thing that my mom has an excellent sense of humor. she thought my paranoia was quite a hoot.

by the time we got on the plane i was doing much better. of course, the beer i pounded at the airport (gabe made me!) probably helped me calm down.

we were gone a touch too long, but i was able to enjoy the trip. yay for overnights with the grandparents!