First Cubs Game

Tuckered at the Table

Wednesday's are "Grandma Day," when Grandma comes over to hang out with Finn for the day.  They go to the park, or zoo or gym - any number of activities to entertain a two-year-old.  Today, they must have had a particularly intense outing, enough to make Finn fall asleep at the dinner table.

--JAC

Momentous Mother's Day

You'd think the genuine joy of Mother's Day would surround a lovely brunch, or a stroll around the block in the city, or gardening in the sunshine, or dinner and conversation with the family.  And indeed all of those things were marvelous.  But what drew the three of us - mother, father and boy- to a fit of uncontrollable laughter and, dare I say, jubilation, was coming home from dinner at his grandparents', tired and wired, way past his bedtime, sitting on a training potty, smiling and giggling with pride while he peed.  It was the first-time "pee potty," and it brought down the house.  The first time logged in at about 8:20 p.m.  The tenth time came around 8:28 p.m.  The kid couldn't get enough of it.  And neither could we.  

--JAC

Preschool Acceptance

An envelope arrived in the mail today and Jason and I felt a bit like seniors in high school, awaiting college acceptance letters.  Jason commented that it wasn't very thick, but was it thick enough?

"I am looking forward to welcoming your son, Finley..."  We had secured a spot for Finley in the preschool of our choice.  Really, a preschool acceptance letter?!  Really?  And this was preceded by a parent interview and an assessment of Finley's readiness for preschool. 

When Jason droned on in his cerebral way about research showing American's computer use has negatively impacted...well, I wasn't so sure about the impression we were making.  And when Finn showed no interest in learning how to hang up his coat outside of the classroom, I was worried.  Then, I interrupted Finn's "work" to wipe his nose, yikes, or should I have let him wipe his own nose, or should I have waited until he himself determined he needed to wipe his nose?  Yet somehow we all passed. 

--JAK

Sitting on the Potty: A Milestone

I am truly not at all interested in potty training, taking a cue from my little boy who seems more than happy to wear his diapers until he goes to high school.  Yet for some reason as we were leaving his potential future preschool last week, I mentioned to Finn that in order to go to school there in the fall, he would have to stop wearing diapers and instead use the potty.  As with many things that I tell Finn, he didn't really respond, so it was hard to tell if he processed this information or was thinking about trains.

As we walked in the house, I told Finn I had to go to the bathroom and asked him to come upstairs with me.  He said he wanted to go potty, too.  First I was impressed to learn that he was listening to me.  Then I was happy to plop him on the toilet for a milestone moment.  Don't get overexcited, there was no peeing on the potty, but he sat on the potty.  A step toward preschool.


--JAK

Go Cubs Go!

Up to our knees in mulch and dirt at 10:00 am, Jason and I managed to make it to Wrigley by noon for a great game against the Diamondbacks.  Cubs win!

--JAK

Yard Work

Since spring break, Jason has had us on a strict schedule of weekend yard work.  We have been slowly making progress at improving our yard--adding a sandbox, tearing out unruly flowerbeds, adding more sod, and putting in a vegetable garden.  For some of these tasks it is not fair to say we, but rather Jason has been doing the work with a bit of help from Finn and me.  Yet, the miraculous thing about this work, in my mind, is that for much of it, Finn played on his own or with Zachy and Alex from next door or even joined in and helped, and I was able to work!

For so much of Finn's two and a half years I have felt like he needed my absolute attention.  So that he didn't get hurt or into trouble or disappear, I held a constant vigil over my precious little boy.  Recently, though, he has begun to entertain himself more often, playing happily by himself, focusing on his own little projects for extended periods of time, allowing me to also focus on a task.  That he stayed nearby in the front yard today--didn't run towards the street, didn't run up the sidewalk, didn't run into the house, just played nearby--while I raked mulch felt like a huge success. A miracle!

Of course there are lots of moments where Finn demands attention and puts himself in the middle of our oh-so-ridiculously-important yard work, reminding us to play!  Take a look at the video to see one of these moments.

Video link

--JAK