’bout Jack and Annie …

(two American kids, living outside D.C.)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

weekend update, potty edition

yes, dear readers ... that's right ... weekend update is back. and to celebrate it's return, we have an exciting "potty" edition for you.

daddy's dictum has always been no posts about poop. let us assure you here and now ... the fiat remains intact. not to mention that we're also nowhere near a place where "poop" and "the potty" are in the same sentence.

but ... we are making a little bit of progress on the toilet training front.

on friday night, while daddy was at an exercise in futility a nats game, mommy was getting jack ready for bed. he was complaining that his buddies gabriel and brayden had "macks" and would not share them. he really, really wanted a mack of his own ... please, please!!!

inspiration struck.

mommy said, "well, you could earn a mack by going in the potty." in fact, the deal is: every time jack sits on the potty he gets one sticker. and two stickers for "producing." the idea being that when his chart is full he'll earn a mack and be potty trained.

jack liked the idea. capture the imagination and lose the diapers. this might just work.

so on saturday, we headed out to cvs to get supplies for our potty chart. we also enjoyed a lovely mother/son breakfast at a favorite local restaurant (our other favorite, besides "hot donalds").

and then we began in earnest. jack sat on the potty every 1/2 hour but nothing happened. part way through saturday we decided to ditch the pull-ups for real underwear. we cleaned up accidents on the floor. still no progress into the potty.

the next day was a similar drill. it was beginning to feel hopeless. all the optimism of friday night had quickly given way to dire pessimism in the harsh light of sunday morning ...

but we persevered. and monday that perseverence was rewarded.

twice.

right in the potty.



we again have seen "results" today. we're also still seeing accidents. but we seem to be on the right track. mommy and daddy are very proud of jack. a fact that he wanted to hear over and over again last night, like a bedtime story. and jack was so proud of himself that he made phone calls to his grandparents this morning to share his big news.

as for annie ... she doesn't much figure into this edition of the weekend update. she's not yet potty trained at 6 months ... but she will be starting solids soon, so stay tuned for "weekend update, rice cereal edition" ... coming soon to a computer near you.

Monday, July 20, 2009

s.o.c., x

the new new romantic

Thursday, July 16, 2009

the kids are alright

despite yesterday's craziness, the kids did great at daycare ...





and roxana's back at work, so mommy and daddy's sanity factor is alright too!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

it's your lucky day ...

that's probably not what jack was thinking when we informed him he would be going to the dentist for the first time this morning ...

and that's *definitely* not what mommy was thinking when roxana called in sick and we had to scramble to get spaces in the back-up day care.

but ... lucky or not ... the day turned out okay.

daddy took annie straight to day care while an intrepid jack and a prayerful mommy set out for the office of dr. kuwabara, dds.

it was actually fortuitous that jack's first-ever dental appointment was scheduled for today -- after the age of 3, a dentist must provide a certificate of oral health before a kid is allowed into a licensed child care facility in dc. but we *did* have to make it through the appointment.

we needn't have worried. jack was calm and happy through the entire thing. he watched a video screen with ocean fish swimming lazily by while the dentist counted his teeth, examined his tongue and finally cleaned his pearly whites even whiter and pearlier.



jack enjoyed strawberry toothpaste and banana split foam flouride treatment -- sure beats the nasty stuff we had as kids. and he was enthralled by the water pik and "mr. thirsty" -- a.k.a. the spit sucker.

after our successful visit, we beat feet to day care where jack was reunited with annie. although he was reluctant to stay ... and is now in a different room than he's previously used because he's three years old ... he found annie and decided to be the brave older sibling for her.

of course she would be happy in a russian gulag, as her father points out, but i'm sure she didn't mind some sweet attention from her big brother.



lucky indeed. maybe we'll buy some lotto tickets while we're at it ...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

s.o.c. ix


crabby cramming college coed cute

Saturday, July 4, 2009

s.o.c., viii

stars and stripes forever



happy 4th of july!

Friday, July 3, 2009

s.o.c., vii

it's *so* easy being green

Thursday, July 2, 2009

pediatric update

5 months already?

annie's stats:

weight = 15 lbs. 0.5 oz (+17.5 oz)
length = 25.5" (+1/2")
head = 43.5 cm (+1/2 cm)

she's now 75th percentile for height and still 50th for weight. she was only 25th for height at birth -- she's growing like a weed!

pretty cute weed!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009