Who Needs Toys? (Revisited)

Grass Trained?... or... Boys Will Be Boys

The potty training success has continued, thankfully, although I have held off on offering the Thomas underwear only because I know that once I do, I can never take it back.

After we got home this evening, and while Trey was quietly playing with his toys, I asked him if he needed to go potty. "No!" he quickly said. But then Daddy asked him whether he needed to go outside in the grass (ha ha). After realizing several seconds later that I hadn't heard a response, I went into the playroom to find Trey, and I saw the door to the back yard open. When I walked outside, this is what I saw:

Wrestle Mania!

On most Thursdays, we head to Chick-fil-A with a group of Trey's friends for dinner and play fun. Trey really looks forward to these outings, and he talks about it all the time. His love of Chick-fil-A is another subject -- but let's just say it's rare that we drive past one of these restaurants without Trey yelling out "Chick-fil-A!" And anytime we ask him what he wants to eat for lunch or dinner, the answer is always the same -- you guessed it, "Chick-fil-A!" (Believe it or not, the kid has had no more than one Happy Meal in his entire life, and that was when we were at the airport with no other reasonable options. But somehow Chick-fil-A seems to us like a healthier version of fast food.)

This lovely restaurant chain has even made its way into Trey's pretend play. Often he will pick up a bag or hop on a riding toy and announce that he is going bye-bye. When we ask him where he is going, he says "to lunch," specifically, at "Chick-fil-A."

In any event, there is no doubt Trey has positive associations with this restaurant and, in particular, with his play dates there. Our group changes from time to time and is by no means exclusive, but it usually consists of a core group of about 5 or 6 kids, plus baby siblings. Matthew R. is one such kid, and he happens to be one of Trey's best buds of late. Trey is always talking about Matthew, perhaps only second to his GF/BFF Anna. For some reason, on the evenings we gather to play at Chick-fil-A, Trey simply loves to wrestle with Matthew. Trey is really not an aggressive child, although he is tough, but he thinks beating up on Matthew is just so much fun. Matthew, likewise, is definitely not aggressive; in fact, some would call him quiet, and he's not usually one for rough-housing. But, as you can almost hear his mother say in the video, for some reason, Matthew thinks it's hilarious when Trey beats up on him. He gladly takes it and rarely dishes it out, which may seem a little unfair, but we figure as long as the kids are happy it's all in the name of good, clean fun.

Here is a short glimpse into the wrestling we tend to see on Thursday evenings.

Potty Training Update

We've been "officially" potty training for about 2 months now. It really hasn't been as slow a process as that suggests, but perhaps slower than it might have been because our busy routine isn't all that conducive to a "cold turkey" approach. For the past 2 months, Trey has been wearing only underwear at school, but he wears a pull up in the car going to and from school, and even though we're supposed to keep him only in underwear at home, he also wears a pull up when we're out in public, or at a friend's house, or even sometimes at home when we simply don't have the energy to worry about accidents. And, despite the marketing ploy that is pull ups and the fact that they are somewhat more conducive to potty training than traditional diapers, the reality is that pull ups really are another form of diapers. So they don't help the training process too much while they're being worn.

But despite our somewhat lazy efforts at home, Trey has been doing great. He will occasionally have one accident during the day at school, but lots of times it's during nap time (we give him a "pass" for those), and other times it's when he's having so much fun outside that he simply doesn't stop to think about needing to go. He's not quite as good at home, where he often forgets the need to go #1, but from the very beginning he's been great about #2, almost always telling us when he needs to go. I can really only think of 2 times that he's forgotten to tell us about #2, and both times that come to mind were when we were out and about, and Trey was distracted, and he was (conveniently) wearing a pull up.

For the first several weeks, we used the "take him to the potty every hour" method, which worked fairly well. But Trey has really started telling us when he needs to go the past couple of weeks, which has been great. In fact, this long weekend, I don't think we had a single accident (if you exclude the several hours on Sunday when Trey was wearing a swim diaper in the lake and surely relieved himself at some point, though we would never know). Even his pull ups stayed dry when he was wearing them.

So, the short and long of this is to share that Trey is doing great, and I really think we are very close to being officially potty trained. I have told him that if he can go an entire week without an accident he'll get to wear Thomas the Train underwear. And boy does he love Thomas the Train (not that the Thomas toothpaste makes him any more excited to brush his teeth, but that's another issue). Hopefully I'm not jinxing him by writing this and we won't be faced with several accidents tomorrow...

The Next American Idol?

Trey sings all the time these days. Often we overhear him singing in his crib in the mornings or before he goes to sleep at night, and other times he sings in the car. It's such a sweet sound, and we love it.

His favorite tunes are "Old MacDonald," "Happy Birthday, "Twinkle Twinkle," "ABCs," and "Baa Baa Black Sheep." But yesterday, after returning from a quick late afternoon outing to the park (and while still quite sweaty, I might add), and while playing with his choo choos, his song of choice was "Down By the Station." We happened to catch this one on video.

(Keen observers may notice that Trey starts off on the key Mommy was whistling, but then switches to a key that is a little more comfortable for his range.)

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July! After a typical Saturday of swim lessons, errands, and play, we spent the 4th up at Lake Livingston with our friends, the Folsoms, who have a 2 year old boy in Trey's class and an 8 month old little girl. Trey had a great time and really enjoyed swimming in the lake, going on the boat (which he has been talking about ever since the last time he rode on the boat over Memorial Day weekend), playing in the sand at a little man-made island in the middle of the lake, and playing with Conner's toys. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather.

Our favorite part about Lake Livingston on the 4th is all the fireworks the residents shoot off their docks at night. We were able to enjoy a full fireworks display while enjoying a peaceful evening on the dock. Trey was a little scared because our neighbors were shooting off really loud (and obnoxious) rockets, but overall he enjoyed all the colors in the sky. He was just too pooped, though, to make it through the entire thing, and he fell asleep on my shoulder. It reminded me of when he was a little baby, which I loved.

Speaking of babies, Baby Sister enjoyed her 4th, too! In honor of the holiday, I'm posting my first official belly shot (at 25 weeks or so).

For comparison, here's a picture of me in the same dress around the same time while pregnant with Trey. Actually I'm a couple weeks more pregnant (and much more rested and tan) in this shot.

And while on the subject of other members of the Edwards family, I've decided to start a family blog to write about all of our adventures rather than just Trey's. The thought is to merge this blog with that one sometime around Trey's 2 1/2 year mark (which is pretty soon!). But I need help coming up with a name for the blog. If you have any suggestions, send me a message!

Edward Markerhands

Trey has reached an age that allows us to leave him unsupervised for a few minutes at a time. Earlier today, while Daddy was outside grilling, Mommy left Trey to color with his (washable) markers and Thomas coloring book while she did a little work on the computer (a.k.a. Internet shopping for Baby Sister). When we returned, this is what we found:

Trey continued his coloring, though not on paper...

...and then decided it would be fun to put the marker caps on his fingers.

Finally, he broke out into song.

Having a 2-year-old is definitely nonstop entertainment!