Autumn Miscellany

My thoughts on recent developments in the Ross house…

Potty training Edwin has been equal parts frustration and inspiration.

Frustrating because starting an hour after Edwin finishes a meal—when it’s obvious he needs to go—you can ask him every 2 minutes if he’s ready for the potty and get no response but “not yet” after “not yet”. Then of course as soon as you’re about 3 and a half into what will inevitably be a double-digit wipe-requiring diaper change for Lyla, he has his epiphany, then it’s a mad dash to the bathroom. Also, since he knows telling us he has to go potty guarantees we’ll drop whatever we’re currently trying to accomplish to trigger the emergency potty plan, asking to go on the potty has become his go-to stall tactic at nap and bed time.

But these things will pass (I assume).

Inspiring because I can see how hard Edwin is trying to master this new and interesting concept, plus you can tell he genuinely wants to make Mindy and me happy. I’m really amazed how quickly he’s figuring this out. I remember back in May when we transitioned him from a crib to his “big boy” bed, we had all these elaborate plans but worried it was not going to go smoothly at all. Well, that transition took him all of one night to figure out, then he was fine. Don’t want to jinx it, he’s had the expected accident or three, but at a week in, he’s pretty much got it down.

That said Mindy did an amazing job this week, patiently working with the little man. I wouldn’t have changed places with her this week for anything.

Surprisingly enough, disgusting is a word I thought I would have used to describe the process before we started, yet it’s been anything but. That’s probably mostly a factor of sitting in the bathroom while a 2.5-year-old does his business into a toilet is considerably more pleasant than laying said 2.5-year-old on the living room floor and getting all up in all that’s involved in a toddler’s diaper change.

Best part of the process is having Edwin wait for me outside the bathroom (when it’s my turn to do my business) to give me a high five and says “nice job, Daddy, you were a good boy”.

Edwin’s developed the habit of letting Mindy and me know when we’ve been a good girl or boy. Even preemptively instructing us to do so. Just yesterday when Mindy left for the grocery, Edwin’s goodbye consisted of “love you, Momma”, then while pointing his index finger in her direction added “make sure you’re a good girl out there”.

Meanwhile, Lyla’s growing like a weed something pleasant sounding that grows rapidly. When I’m home along with the kids, I have a hard enough time tracking down the proper location of the particular outfit to replace the one she rendered unwearable by crossing the Dad’s Baby-Clothes-Wearability-Threshold (when 50.1% of the outfit’s surface area has been spit-up upon). But nowadays, when I eventually do find some replacement clothes, they’re usually too small.

She had cereal for the first time yesterday (I’m sure Mindy will post pics), so it’ll be only a matter of time before she’s eating (read: begging to go play while blankly staring at) grown-up food just like her big brother. And, man, I cannot wait for bottles to be over. I already have plans for 7-months from now when I can replace the obligatory 15-20 minutes daily bottle washing. It involves sitting quietly, doing nothing.

And the most important development of all, Edwin and Lyla are becoming better and better friends everyday. Here’s one of the increasingly frequent moments when Edwin asks to hold his baby sister: