Three Thought Thursday: Episode 35

1. Since I wrote about poo last week, I'll write about it again this week. But in a good way! An oh-so-hard-to-believe-could-it-be-true kind of way. Rudy, my little eighteen month old dumpling, Rudy, went poops on the potty! Seriously!!! For a long time he has been curious about the toilet since he sees his big brother go in there all the time and watches me follow behind to either wipe or make sure no peepee got all over the floor or toilet. Every now and then he'll gesture that he wants to sit on the seat and so I'll put him up there for as long as he likes. Usually it's about 10 seconds. But in the past month or so, the kid as done his duty in the tub about three times. Sick, I know. And totally un-cool for me to have to clean up. But it got me thinking that maybe, just maybe, he had finally figured out his control of the matter. Literally...the matter. Why was he waiting till his diaper was off and he was in the bathroom to go? So a few days ago he came running up to me while I was in the laundry room switching a load over. He grabbed on to my leg and started making his little baby sounds. Brushing it off as just an attempt to get attention, I continued on with my task, until I saw him go grab the door frame, squat down, and start to do his business. I quickly rushed him to the bathroom, pulled off his diaper, and got him situated. A few minutes later, we had success! Kolbe and I cheered and clapped for him, though he acted as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Don't get me wrong; in no way do I think this event means that he's ready to potty train. I think we still have a little ways to go for that. But at least he's got the idea and knows that he can go potty on the toilet instead of in his diaper. I have a feeling he'll potty train much sooner than Kolbe which I'm certainly not complaining about!

2. Nothing quite says "I'm out of shape" like party hardying at a wedding and waking up the next morning feeling like I got hit by a bus. And no, I didn't have too much to drink. Saturday evening, the boys and I attended my cousin, Tim's wedding (to one of my former students, nonetheless) and had a blast dancing the night away at the reception. Mark was in Chicago and couldn't attend, so my dance partners for the evening were limited to Kolbe on one hip and Rudy on the other. They had so much fun! And it really was a fantastic reception. Sunday morning, though, I woke up and debated whether or not I should make a mad dash for the Motrin or attempt to find the nearest hot tub. This ol' bag of bones isn't quite used to so much aerobic activity in one day! Primarily it was my hips that were killing me...probably from toting the boys and dancing while wearing heals. Regardless, I took it as a sign that I need to start making at least some effort to keep my joints and muscles mobile. Who wants to have the mom that's crumpled up and looking like she's eighty-five when she's only forty-five!?! Right now, that's where I'm headed.

3. Today, right now today, right this very moment today, Mark is taking is board exam. Eek!!! I'm nervous and I'm not even the one taking the test! It's that last hurdle...that very last one that he has to jump over to make it to the finish line. Once this is over, he's done. For good! Like for.ev.er!!! No more school! No more stressing over exams! No more panicking over whether he'll make it or not! (Of course, I always knew he would...) He...I guess I should say "we"...cheerleaders get to be included, right???....finally did it! It reminds me a lot of when I was a cross country runner back in high school. There was this one course that we had to run every year in Aberdeen, MS. The very last fifty or so yards were straight up hill. As if we weren't tired and beat down enough, in order to prove that we could hang, we had to complete our sprint up a forty-five degree angle. Ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. But after two miles of trucking it, it sure felt pretty ridiculously steep! I imagine that's what Mark is feeling like right now. But he'll make it up the hill. Even if he has to crawl. At this point, who cares as long as he makes it to the finish line. He'll definitely be the first place finisher in my books.