Hey.  Remember this?

Hard to believe that same little baby burrito is now this:

What Porter is Wearing:

• Finally growing out of those size 24 months pants.  I think he is outgrowing a pair a day!
• Still in size 6 diapers…
• Size 2T and 3T shirts
• Still size 8 shoes
• Still in 2T pajamas

What Porter is Eating:

• Strawberries, apples, grapes, oranges
• Raw veggies only: cucumber, celery, carrots, lettuce
• Has given up on chicken of all kinds.
• Meatballs are still okay.
• So are tacos.
• Salami and bacon are still favored as well.
• Would eat cheese and pickles for every meal if I let him.
• Bread, biscuits and buns of any kind are accepted.
• Tried his first jelly beans on Easter weekend!
• We try to get him to try foods he hasn’t tried before.  His response?  ”I can’t.”  Or “I don’t like those.”

What Porter is Saying:

• It seems as though Porter is connecting with his Tallahassee roots since he seems to have developed  Southern accent.  Only certain words though.  It is like he adds in a syllable.  Can’t is now cay-int.  Down is now day-own.   Aaron thinks Porter is slowing sounding like Paula Deen.
• Porter says all sorts of funny things nowadays; it’s hard to keep track of it all.  Tonight at bathtime he was calling me Computer.
• “I can’t” is an often heard phrase in our house these days.  ”I can’t pick up my toys.”  ”I can’t wear underwear.”  ’I can’t eat this.”
•  Porter can, however, tell us how much he loves us.  ”I love you very much, Mom.”  And “I love YOU!  And you love ME?”  It’s adorable.

What Porter Likes These Days:

• The train that Aaron brought him back from Chattanooga.
• Going to see Mommy or Daddy at the theatre.
• Having one of his trains “listen” to stories as we read before bed.
• Cuddling on the before I get ready for work.

What Porter Doesn’t Like These Days:

• Using the potty at home other than bathtime.
• The mere mention of Pull-ups or underwear.
• Eating anything we order him when we go out to eat with the chips and salsa, celery, french fries, lettuce or cheese being the exceptions.
• Getting read for daycare.

What Porter is Doing:

• We’ve reached this really awkward phase with Porter and my boobs.  In the last week he has started fluffing them like pillows, saying “Ooh, cozy” and then burying his head in my chest.  We’ve talked about how cuddling with mommy is okay, but touching me–or anyone– like that is not okay.  I’ve talked to him and Aaron and has talked to him, but he did it again tonight.  I think we may have to start putting him in Time Out for it…
• Singing a call-and-respond version of Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song (Day-O)”
• Doing a great job using the potty at daycare one to three times a day.
• Consistently uses the potty every night at bathtime.  He actually gets excited to use the potty at that time.
• Singing songs from The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That.
• Cleaning up pretend messes.
• Doing a really well consistently using forks and spoons!

See this?

That’s Porter.  We find him like this all of the time.  In this instance, I walked into the living room this morning and found him just sitting there.  ”IIIII’m hiding!” he said.  It is particular creepy when we open his bedroom door in the morning and he is awake, sitting bolt upright with a blanket over his head.  ”I’m a ghost!” he giggles out from under the covers.  Sometimes when we find him like that in the morning we walk out of his room saying, “Oh.  He’s gone.  Oh well…”

Porter finds this hilarious.

You know what I don’t find hilarious?  When he falls asleep with the covers over his head.  He has been covering himself up head to toe pretty much since we first started letting him sleep with a blanket.  Since we have a video monitor, we can see if he is completely covered and then creep into his room and gently pull the blanket back so he can breathe (and that is always an adventure because Porter is probably one of the lightest sleepers in the world.)

So if you ever come over and find a blanket in the shape of a little boy.  Don’t be alarmed.  It is just our friendly household giggling ghost.

Porter is going to be three years old in only one month’s time.  Let’s start the monthly update before I start crying wondering where my baby went…

 What Porter Is Wearing:

• Size 6 diapers…I got him to wear a pull-up once last weekend (size 2T-3T) which was a major accomplishment!
• Size 2T and 3T in shirts but some brands of 3T are still WAY too big.
• With the exception of one pair or 2T pants, all pants are still 24 month size.  This is strictly due to length.  Most 2T pants are too long on him.
• 2T pajamas still fit him perfectly.
• Now in size 8 shoes.

• Fruit
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Cheese
• Pickles
• Crackers
• Hot dogs
• Salami
• Tacos
• Peanuts
• Sunflower seeds
• He now requests “crunchy chicken”–he no longer will eat chicken without a coating on it.  In fact recently he is barely eating chicken at all.
• Cereal in a bowl with milk and a spoon (this is major!)
• Still won’t touch pizza, macaroni and cheese or grilled cheese
• He pretty much won’t touch anything else.  When do kids outgrow the picky eating phase again…?

What Porter Is Saying:

• Porter is talking non-stop these days and he is saying some incredibly funny things…here is an example:

Me: (after getting Porter out of the bath tub) Look, your fingers are all pruny.

Porter:  My fingers are all wrinkly–just like Daddy!

• He has started adding in “t” sounds to words.  Didn’t is now Didtint.
• Overall he is becoming more expressive and conversational.  Tonight I asked him to pick a book for me to read at bedtime and he walked over to the bookshelf and said, “Oh The Cat in the Hat!  This is perfect!”

What Porter Likes These Days:

• Being outside!
• Thomas and Friends “Rescue on the Rails.”
• Trains, trains, trains.
• Did I mention trains?
• Giving hugs and kisses.
• Going to the car wash.
• Bubbles.
• Talking.  A lot.
• Pretending.

What Porter Doesn’t Like These Days:

• Using the potty at home at any other time besides bath time.
• Pull-ups.
• Underwear.
• Most food we want him to eat.

What Porter Is Doing:

• Being sneaky.  While I was sick last week I caught him using his Elmo step stool to try to reach cookies on the counter, he managed to steal my flash drive from my computer and my notebook for work (both were in his room.)  This was all in that matter of an hour’s time.  Last weekend, I was in the shower for all of seven minutes and I came out to discover him upstairs (totally off-limits without me or Aaron to supervise) rummaging around in my bedroom.
• He is doing really well on the potty at daycare.  There have even been some days during which he stays dry all day and uses the potty successfully each time!  But he had an off week this week and we still aren’t progressing at home (other than the bathtime potty try.)
• He has moments during which he is obstinate and demanding.  I’m seeing glimpses of the “Terrible Threes” I keep hearing so much about…
• Porter likes to help me feed the cats.

What We Are Working On:

• As always, potty potty potty.
• Picking up his own toys/mess.
• I want him to be more involved with dressing himself , but he has no interest.

Since Aaron and I are working almost every weekend in April, we are only going to have a small, small get-together for Porter’s birthday.  A few family friends, snacks and cake.  Then at the end of April we are taking a trip up to NY to see my parents.  Unfortunately with work and the rising gas prices, we really can’t afford to give Porter the big shin-dig he deserves.  But I do think he will definitely have a Thomas the Tank Engine cake!

It was a typical Saturday.  We enjoyed a Dr. Seuss birthday party at a local toy store, a lunch out and a bit of work related shopping.  We came home, had dinner and started getting Porter ready for bed.  Once our boy was freshly bathed, he settled into bed with his daddy for a bedtime story.  That’s when it happened.

From the living room I heard Aaron call out–it wasn’t really a sentence because it was lacking verbs and nouns, but I could tell he was panicked and something was wrong.

Porter was throwing up in his bed.

The poor guy was freaking out.  He had only been sick like this one time before–the night before we left Tallahassee–so he didn’t have any idea what was happening to his body.  We calmed him down, cleaned him up, stripped and remade his bed and tried bedtime Part Two.  He was sick again within minutes of lights out.  We calmed him down, cleaned him up, stripped his bed and now had one load of laundry going and one on deck.   We brought Porter, who was now completely pale, out to the living room and put him on the couch which we lined with towels.  He continued getting sick for about an hour or so.  I made a quick run to the store for Pedialyte, ginger snaps and a new thermometer (ours was dead and it was cheaper to just buy a new one.)

By the time I got back, Porter was asleep in bed–which was lined with only a vinyl mattress cover and towels.  He slept for a few hours but was sick again at 11pm.  Luckily he went right back to sleep and only woke up for a drink at 3am.  I was up until 1am finishing laundry and to be honest I wouldn’t have slept much anyway because I was worried.

Sunday Porter woke up chipper.  He gobbled down his breakfast and shortly after Aaron went to work, the poor kid was sick again.  And again.  I cleared the middle of the living room.  I rolled up the carpet and using some blankets and a vinyl mattress cover, I made a little cushy bed for him on the floor.  (In hindsight, I could have just pulled his waterproof crib mattress up from the basement–but that didn’t occur to me until hours later.)  I covered the bed and pillow with towels.  Porter loved his little bed.  He laid on it for a while, but soon left and went to his bedroom.  He spent some time just standing and staring at his train table.  It was like he just couldn’t even bring himself to play because he was feeling so crummy.  Shortly after that, Porter laid down on the cold, hardwood floor of his room between the train table and the wall. He laid there for about an hour, occasionally whimpering.

It broke my heart.

He came out eventually–after the diarrhea started.  He couldn’t keep anything down so he was getting dehydrated.  He eventually felt well enough for some lunch, but that reappeared shortly after–right after Aaron returned home.  Then Porter slept on his little bed in the living room for about three hours, while Aaron and I sat there watching over him and worrying.

After he woke up, the diarrhea continued.  He refused to eat or drink anything.  Porter was saying things like, “I don’t like being sick.  This is not fun at all.”  So sad.  In a last-ditch effort to get him to eat and drink something–anything–I wandered into the kitchen and decided to improvise.

I pulled out a mini muffin tin from the cupboard.  I started filling it with bits of food: raisins, peanuts, grapes, hulled sunflower seeds, dried apricots, crackers, a ginger snap and chocolate chips (just a few, those were the bribe to get him interested.)  I excitedly presented this to Porter while he was on his little bed in the living room.  I called it a “Tiny Foods Picnic” and he was THRILLED!

He started eating right away.  As you can tell from the photo, the grapes were the first things to go.  He then made the special request of water with ice in a sippy cup and I happy obliged.  Soon he was eating and drinking (and it wall was staying put!)  He was much better the next day and he requested a “Tiny Picnic” for breakfast and dinner.

On Tuesday Porter was well enough for daycare, but unfortunately I was not well enough for work.  Tuesday was ROUGH and I now completely understand why that poor kid was on the floor of his room whimpering under his train table.  I spent most of yesterday in the fetal position.  I couldn’t even watch television because the mere sight of a commercial for food made me queasy.  I couldn’t watch movies or even look at my computer–I couldn’t handle the sensory overload.  I just wanted to lay down on my side and just be.  It felt like my stomach lining and esophagus were burning.  I ached from my shoulders to my knees.  I had the chills and was wrapped in several blankets.

I’m feeling better today, but still not 100%.  I can sit upright without much trouble so that’s a plus!  I still have no desire to eat.  Aaron left for a conference in Chattanooga today and he won’t be back until Sunday.  I am praying that he doesn’t get sick on his trip!  He swears to me that he won’t since he is taking the Ron Swanson approach to illness–which means he absolutely refuses to get sick.  God, I hope that works!

Porter has been consistently using the potty at daycare once or twice a day, but not so much at home.  About a week and a half ago we decided to take a more structured approach.  This was quite different from our former approach which was ask P if he would like to try sitting on the potty, he would protest and then we would give up.  Obviously, this was a terrible system.

One weekend we decided to take him to the bathroom and encourage him to use the potty at 9am, noon, 3pm (all the times he goes at daycare) and before bathtime.  Porter was not pleased about any of this–especially the daytime visits.  He was rather uncooperative that first weekend.  But we did have some success at the evening try before bath.  All last week he used the potty most nights of the week!

Here is how the evening potty visit goes:

1.) He strips down for bath.  He has no desire to only partially disrobe for potty.  Apparently it is all or nothing.

2.)  He gets a small treat for just sitting on the potty.  So far we have used M&Ms or chocolate chips (these things just happened to be what we had in the house.)  He gets a single M&M/chip just for sitting on the potty without his diaper.

3.)  We use to read Porter a book about the potty while he was trying to go, but recently he requests “privacy” so we leave the bathroom and wait in his room (two steps from the bathroom.)

4.)  He does his business–hooray!

5.)  Then it is appropriate clean up, flushing, hand washing, etc. all while we celebrate his accomplishment.

6.)  He gets a “big treat” for his efforts which is one single Hershey kiss (again, ’cause it is what he have in the house.)

And finally, step 7.) he gets a sticker on his potty chart–which frankly he couldn’t care less about.

But again this weekend, no luck trying the potty during the day while at home.  I thought we were on the right track when Saturday morning he tried to teach one of his stuffed animals to use the potty–even “reading” a potty how-to book to his stuffed doggie in the bathroom.  Sadly, things went down hill from there.  By the afternoon Porter was telling me he was “scared” to use the potty.  I asked him why and he said, “Monsters.”  I asked him where he thought the monsters were and he pointed to the wall.  That only happened once.  The rest of the time it was “I don’t want to sit on the potty!” with a lot of whimpering, whining and fake crying.

Despite those experiences, we are still trying to patiently stick with the routine and rewards and I am very happy with the progress we have made so far.  I am hoping that the success in the evenings will eventually make him more cooperative during the daytime bathroom visits at home.  Mornings have been rough here (Porter doesn’t want to get ready for daycare) so we have yet to incorporate a potty visit after he wakes up.  I’m hoping that in a few weeks time he will actually want to put on a pull-up or big boy underwear, but we’ll see.

I was sneaky and recorded Porter reading  “My Big Boy Potty” to his Magenta doll (from Blue’s Clues) on the potty:

You know, there was a time in my life when Friday night was a big deal.  It meant anxiously counting down the hours, then minutes until class got out or work was over.  Then it was a night full of hanging out with friends, having some beers, maybe seeing a movie or going out to dinner.

Now things are different.  I have bills to pay and mouths to feed so no money to spend all willy-nilly on cocktails and nights on the town.  I’m tired.  And besides I can’t drink like I use to and I’m in bed by 10:30, so even if I could go out I would have one drink and fall asleep in a booth somewhere…did I mention the part about being tired?  And of course the biggest difference: I’m a mother.

So now Friday nights are exciting in a different way.

Last Friday night there was squealing, clapping, dancing, and laughing in our house.  Was it because we were blowing off steam from a long week of work?

No.

It was because Porter pooped in the potty.

Yes for the first time ever, Porter pooped in the potty!  Not only that but at our pre-bathtime potty time he said, “I’m going to poop in the potty.”  And he DID.

DOUBLE.  AWESOME.

There was so much whooping, hollering and clapping that if you were walking past our house you would have probably thought someone inside hit the lottery.  But no, it was just two overly excited parents wildly and loudly praising their son and his momentous achievement.  And though Aaron and I did celebrate our own fantastic parenting skills over a beer after Porter went to bed, Friday nights are quite different now.

And I am very much okay with that!

Truth be told, Porter doesn’t spend a whole lot of time in Time Out.  Don’t get me wrong–he has his moments.  But really, at this stage of the game, he is in Time Out about twice a month.  And I have always wondered if Porter is listening to what we say to him when he is in the process of a Time Out.  He’s upset and sometimes crying–is he listening to me or just nodding in agreement so this whole thing will be over?

Time Out at our house usually works like this:

1.) I catch Porter doing something he isn’t supposed to be doing.

2.) I ask him to stop doing the offending action.  He doesn’t.

3.) I tell him one more time to stop or he is going to Time Out.  He continues with the naughtiness.

4.) I bring him to his Time Out place–which is the corner of our dining room.  He stands in the corner facing me while I explain to him what he did wrong.

5.) Then I explain to him why I don’t want him to do what he did.  For example, “Porter I don’t want you climbing on the stairs by yourself.  Those stairs are very steep and dangerous.  I don’t want you to fall and get hurt.  So if you want to go upstairs you have to ask me or Daddy to help you.  Do you understand?”

6.) Then, if appropriate, I ask him to say he is sorry.

7.) Finally, I give him a big hug and kiss and tell him that I love him.

*Please note that if the offence is severe enough he will go straight to Time Out without being asked to stop the offending action.  Do not pass GO.  Do not collect $200.

The whole thing lasts only a few minutes depending on how worked up P is.  I don’t really know if it is effective but that’s how I do it.  I never really know if he really understands what’s going on.

After dinner last night, Porter was playing with some toys  on the couch.  He had a Mater tow truck from Cars and some other little penguin toy from a movie no one in our house has seen.  Porter was making the toys “fight”–something I had never seen him do before.  I turned and said to him, “Mater, Penguin: no fighting.”  At which point, Porter told his toys, “No fighting, ” and put his toys in Time Out in the corner of the couch!  He then proceeded to tell these pieces of plastic, “Fighting is not nice.  Do you understand?”

I’m not sure if Mater and unidentified penguin guy understood, but I guess maybe Porter understand a little more than I thought!

One of the best things about Porter at this age is his ultra-active imagination.  It is incredible to hear him come up with story lines, characters, voices – all weaving together this very real scenario in his head.  This happens everyday, several times a day.  It is just him entertaining himself.

One of my favorite so far happened as I was making dinner the other night.  Aaron and Porter just came home and I was already in the kitchen cooking.  Porter went to his room and closed the door.  Aaron was reading mail at the dining room table.  The following scene took place:

Porter: (making a noise like a European police siren) weee-ooo, weee-ooo, wee-ooo  Oh no!  Dat’s the phone in the kitchen Santa brought for me!

(The sound of running footsteps.  Porter flings open his bedroom door.)

Porter:  Phone is ringing!  I get it!

(Porter runs from his bedroom, down the hall, passed the kitchen and to his play kitchen in the corner of the dining room.  He has one shoe and sock on and one foot is totally bare.)

Porter (answering his fake phone):  Helwo?  Hi Papa.  I can’t talk now.  I taking off my shoes.  Okay.  Bye!  (hangs up phone.)

(Porter runs back into his bedroom.  He closes the door.)

And scene.

And stuff like this happens All. Day. Long.

It is amazing.  I love being a parent.

Just a note: The blog was hacked this week.  Not cool.  My husband and our hosting service have got most things back to normal, but there are still a few kinks to work out.  Please be patient during this process and if you notice anything weird (other than that title in the wrong place in the header above) please let us know.  Thank you and down with internet scum!!!

Now where was I?

Oh yeah, Porter turned 34 months old on Wednesday which means we are just a mere two months away from his third birthday!

What Porter is Wearing:

• Slowly growing out of his 2T shirts.  He needs more 3T shirts STAT.
• Even though he is 34 months, his 24 month pants still fit well.  He wears one pair of pants that are 2T.
• He wears 2T pajamas right now, but he’ll be out of those in about two months.
• Still in size 5 diapers (more on our potty progress later.)
• Just about to bust out of his size 7 shoes.

What Porter is Eating:

• We have entered the “This is your dinner: take it or leave it” phase of parenthood.  We use to give him dinner and then if he refused it we may give him something else later.  I use to worry that he wasn’t eating enough or thought that he would wake up hungry.  I’m passed that now.  He needs to be eating what we are eating.  His pickiness is getting ridiculous.
• He is now refusing to eat chicken and beef.  He pretty much won’t eat any meat that isn’t deli meat, hot dogs or bacon–all of which is loaded with junk.
• Still refuses to eat pizza or macaroni and cheese.  When he was offered a piece of pepperoni pizza recently he said, “Pizza is yucky to me.”
• However, he will gladly eat lettuce of all kinds, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, celery and lots and lots of fruit…
• …except blueberries.  He ate them when he thought they were grapes, but we let it slip that they were something different and now he removes them from his plate.
• He will only eat potatoes in fry or tot form.  This has always been the case.
• Porter now enjoys sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
• He and I both loveChobani Greek yogurt.  
• We also have been sharing bowls of popcorn lately.  Porter finds the popped kernels really fun to look at (and then eat.)

What Porter is Saying:

• Porter seems to have reached the non-stop-talking part of toddlerhood.  This is fascinating to me since I am a fairly quiet person.  He is saying all sorts of funny stuff these days–mostly because his imagination is going full-tilt.
• Porter has started referring to me and Aaron as “you guys.”  Pittsburgh hasn’t taken a hold of him yet since he isn’t calling us “yinz.”
• He likes to call things “cute” or “pretty.”
• He asks us for privacy during diaper changes if both parents are present.  All thanks to this book.
• After he has gone to bed, but has yet to fall asleep he likes to open his bedroom door to tell us things, such as “Mommy, kangaroo is sleeping.”
• Sometimes he will come to the bathroom door while I am in there.  He’ll knock and say, “Mommy, you in there?”  I will respond with yes. “Can I come in?”  I will ask him if he needs to or wants to try to use the potty.  He replies, “No, I just want to watch you.”  Great…
• Everyone is his “best friend” lately.  Even his toys.  ”This is my best friend Toby, the steam tram.”
• Restaurants are now referred to specifically as “food restaurants.”  Not sure why the change…

What Porter Likes These Days:

• “Cooking” in his kitchen
• Books
• Puzzles
• Pretending
• Dancing
• Singing
• Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood

What Porter Doesn’t Like These Days:

• Using the potty at home.

What Porter is Doing:

• Porter is creating long and involved imagined scenarios.  It is fascinating to witness–both by eyes and by ears!  I think I am going to write a post just about his imaginings.
• He is “reading” (and by reading I mean reciting word for word) books to us and to his stuffed animals.
• There has been lots of spontaneous dancing lately.
• Singing the theme song toMister Roger’s Neighborhood.

This weekend:

- I got a bad haircut.  This is my second bad haircut in a row–from a completely different stylist at a completely different salon.  So bad that I actually had Aaron fix it with scissors in our kitchen last night.  My husband cutting my hair?  A definite first for us.

- We took Porter to a birthday party for one of his daycare classmates.  It was a bowling party.  Porter did a “victory dance” after every turn.  His victory dance included rolling on the floor, jumping up and down and saying “I DID IT!  I DID IT!”

- At aforementioned birthday party, Porter tried soda for the first time (no other beverages offered.)  He hated it.

- I made slow cooker oatmeal for the second weekend in a row.  One batch provides me with a week’s worth of breakfast making my mornings much easier.  Do you have a slow cooker steel cut oatmeal recipe that you like?  I’d love to try it!

- Aaron did all of the laundry this weekend.  He’s my hero.

- I found the new Chobani flavors at our closest grocery store.  I am abnormally excited about this.  Chobani greek yogurt is my new favorite thing.

- Winter decided to show up and stay awhile.

- I filled out valentines for Porter’s class.

- I bought the supplies to make tiny cupcakes for Porter’s daycare Valentine’s Day party and regular sized cupcakes for my current coworkers and Aaron’s students.  I will be baking SO MANY cupcakes tomorrow night!

- I enjoyed laughs with my husband.

- I received kisses from my son.

- I felt cozy and content.

Not a bad weekend.