Telling the Wedding Story at the Signature Room

Just like last year, Dexter got to hear Mommy and Daddy tell the story of their wedding day. He seemed more interested in the food and the view than the story but he didn't interrupt our telling of it.

Dexter recognized Navy Pier (and the Ferris Wheel) and Lake Shore Drive from the 95th floor. He got very excited to see swimming pools on top of buildings below us. Still, I think his favorite part was really the parking garage - we had to go round and round and up and up in tight circles.

Dexter got soup, yogurt, and rolls to start.  He ate some lemon blueberry pancakes and sausage. Dexy finished off his meal with a bowl of ice cream with sprinkles ("more sprinkles, please") and whipped cream. Thanks Grandma and Gunker for the anniversary gift - it financed the creation of these special memories.

Six Years and Counting

On our sixth wedding anniversary, we decided to splurge on brunch at the John Hancock building - the same place where we held our post-wedding meal all those years ago.  The weather was exactly the same as it was on our wedding day - warm with a gentle, cool breeze, bright blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. This time, Dexter was around to enjoy the view.

Front End Loaded

 

So nice that they are still happy to hold hands!

Little Starsky & Hutch?

That's what Ben said when he saw this photo of Dexter and Ian.

Attempted Rescue

 Dexter struggled to get positioned in the fire truck. He refused to acknowledge the offer of assistance from a firefighter who was just trying to keep the line of kids moving.  Eventually he got himself up there.

Touching Trucks

An hour after Dexter and Daddy attended the car show, Dexter and I were headed to a northern suburb to attend a "touch a truck" event with our friends Elissa and Ian. Dexter got to sit in six trucks:
Ambulance (sooooo many switches!)

Garbage Truck (the operator showed him how to push the pedals but he freaked out when she showed him the air brake and jumped right out!)

Police Car ("driving" a bunch of toddler criminals in the back)

Street Sweeper (anyone who has followed the blog knows that this was the highlight for Dexy!)

School bus (he went straight to the last seat, just like the time we went on a school field trip and we all sat together in the last seat)

Backhoe (when he said he wanted to ride the backhoe, I stood in line at a vehicle for 5 minutes only to be corrected by Dexy - when it was his turn to get in - that it was a frontloader, not a backhoe, and he refused to get in - he then showed me where the backhoe was and waited in line for that!)

Fire Truck (it was quite a production getting in but he was a natural once he was up there)

City Pick Up Truck (I'm still not sure why he was so gung-ho about this one but he loved it)

Getting Their Kicks on Route 66

Yesterday morning, before Ben went to work, he took Dexter to the Route 66 Car Show. They had a blast.  Dexter saw a three wheeled car ("the three wheeled car has a small engine.") and got to sit in a hot rod ("the hot rod has a really big engine that sticks out!").

Potty Progress

Ever since Dexy and I got back from Maine and I knew we'd have a period of relative stability before school started for the both of us, Ben and I decided the time was right for Dexter to make the switch from diapers to big boy underpants at night.  While Dexy had been great with pee pee during the days, we noticed that he was waiting until his bedtime diaper to do his poops. So, we embarked on the messy and sleep-disturbing endeavor of transitioning to full time big boy underpants.  In some ways, it felt similar to the early months when we didn't get much sleep but this time, instead of being woken by him, we were setting the alarm for all hours of the night to get up and check to see if he needed to go potty (one night, Dexter slept through going pee on the potty while Daddy and Mommy did all the lifting and manoeuvring but mostly he resisted).  Every night we would talk with him about getting Mommy or Daddy if he needs to go potty in the middle of the night and every morning we would wake up to Dexter announcing, "I'm a little bit wet."

During this period, Dexter suddenly announced that he wanted to pee "standing up like a big man".  I suspect he did this in order to avoid going poop on the potty by accident when he went peeps but it's a real blessing - it is so easy for him to go pee pee in public restrooms now!

Thursday morning I was up before 5am getting dressed in our front room and was startled by Dexter when I came back into the living room.  He was standing in pitch dark and said, "I have to go pee pee standing up."  Not wanting to get my hopes up, I ran to him to feel if he was wet and he was completely dry! As he stood peeing into the potty, he was pretty proud of himself (I was beaming).  Almost the same thing happened the next day (dry for 2 nights in a row!) and then, that evening, he pooped on the potty!! Alas, the dry streak ended this morning when he woke up a "little bit wet".  Still, progress shows we're moving in the right direction.  I'm just looking forward to sleeping through the night again one of these days.

Accumulating Cultural Capital

I had a noontime meeting downtown last Wednesday.  As luck would have it, Wednesdays are "free days" at the Art Institute so Ben and I decided to spend some time before my meeting exploring the museum with Dexter.  He did NOT want his picture taken in front of the building.

Dexy blew through most of the exhibits, barely noticing the art (except one installation - a big pile of wrapped candies on the floor in the corner of the modern wing). However, when he heard the beautiful sounds of a harp wafting down a long corridor, he  practically fell into a trance.

Dexter didn't want to get a picture with the lion (I had mentioned that they were rigged to roar when people got too close).







That evening, when we asked Dexter what he liked best about the museum, he said the miniatures (the exhibit of mostly American and European period miniature rooms) and the harp. He still talks about wanting to play the harp (we'll need a bigger house!).