Blabbermouth

Now that Dexter is talking, he wants to share his experiences with us. This is wonderful - it's always exciting to hear Dexter recount activities of the day for me. But this Saturday, Dexter and I made a surprise birthday cake for Daddy while he was at work. I was careful to wash all the dishes and hide the cake to surprise him on his actual birthday on Sunday. Dexter, however, had no intention of not telling Daddy about the cake-making. At dinner, out of the blue, he said, "make cake with Mama." Ben, of course, was on it immediately and started with the probing questions. It didn't take much for Dexter to go on and on about using the mixer and putting in eggs. So much for the birthday cake surprise :)

Breath of Fresh Air

It's been a rough time at work for me lately but I had a wonderful experience these last two days when I went to a methods workshop and got to see my undergraduate advisor (always a treat) and meet some interesting French folks who taught me about multiple correspondence analysis. It's been a breath of much needed fresh air.

Jamming

I heard some crazy music coming from the basement and when I went down there to see what Ben had playing on the stereo, I saw that the music was coming from Dexter and Daddy jamming together on organ and guitar!

Preparing the Soil

Planting Seeds

Making Sense

Yesterday, Dexter got his school bus out and was playing with it on the coffee table when I asked him if he could tell Mommy a story about the school bus. He looked at me quizzically then went and got a book and read a story TO the school bus. "Here is a dump truck, School Bus." He looked up at me for approval and I had to give it to him. Not exactly what I requested but I was delighted!

Potty Training

Shortly after we got back from Mississippi, Ben and I decided to start the potty training with Dexter. We had bought him a bunch of adorable "big boy" underwear and let him look through them and get excited about wearing them. First thing the next morning, we asked Dexter if he wanted to wear big boy underwear and he enthusiastically replied, "yes!" So we let him pick out a pair and we helped him get them on. Then came the periodic asking if he needed to do a pee pee or poo poo and if he wanted to sit on the potty. We asked every ten minutes or so and each time, Dexter replied, "yes!" So we'd get him on the potty and read a book and wait. And wait. And nothing would happen so we'd ask if he wanted to get off the potty and he was just as enthusiastic about that as he was about getting on. About an hour went by (with potty visits every ten minutes or so) and nothing had happened. Ben headed off to work and a few minutes later, I asked Dexter if he had to go potty and he said, "yes!" As he was sitting on the potty, I smelled poop and got so excited.

I said, "Dexter, Mommy smells poo poo - are you pooping in the potty?"

Dexter replied, "no."

"Dexter, are you sure? I think you're pooping in the potty!" In my mind, I was getting more and more excited that he was going in the potty.

"No."

"Dexter, Mommy smells poop. You're going poop in the potty!" I was convinced that Ben and I were genius parents of a genius child and that potty training had taken us less than 2 hours.

"No."

As I looked down, I saw that the poop that I had been smelling was the poop that was all over his legs. He had pooped in this underwear and I had not noticed when I pulled his pants down to try to go on the potty. OK, Ben and I are not genius parents and Dexter knew what he was talking about when he denied that he was pooping on the potty. I guess this means there are many more potty adventures in store for us in the future.