movie theatre.

Nate is no stranger to watching movies and is amassing quite a collection! We've held off on taking him to an actual theatre for a movie because, let's face it -- he's not quite three years old. Finally a movie came out that he was psyched about, translation: I had to rewind every commercial that I saw for it, and we went to see Monster's University over the weekend.

I'm so proud of my little guy. He posed for pictures (because what photo-obsessed momma isn't going to bring a camera or two to her little man's first movie?), sat in his seat, and chowed down on popcorn. The one time that Nate did try to get up I asked him what he was doing, to which he replied "I have go home". Umm, what? "I need to go potty". OHH!! Win for movie going and potty training all at once!

I love our family adventures. Movie, lunch, and then Nate came home and promptly took a nap!

potty training.

Disclaimer: This post is not for the faint of heart. If you're easily disgusted, don't care to know the ins-and-outs of potty training, or just want to skip, then do it. You've been warned!

Nathan will be turning three this August and in order for him to move up to the three year old room, he has to be completely potty trained. At face value, that is a daunting task -- especially given that we have less than 2 months to get this finished.  We've made several halfhearted attempts to introduce the potty and the idea of potty training to Nate (i.e. buying his own potty, a potty adapter for the real toilet, stepping stools, potty books, potty DVDs, stickers and candy for bribery, etc.).  We've tried encouraging him to go, letting him observe (overshare?), and peer pressure ("Your friend ___ uses the potty. Don't you want to, too?"). Nada. No dice.

Last week, the teachers at daycare asked if we wanted to try moving directly from diapers to underwear, effectively bypassing the pull-up phase. Considering how many kids they potty train on a rotating basis, they are the experts so I absolutely agreed! Not to say that I didn't do a little research of my own! There are a ton of blogs out there about potty training, but I've gotten so that I reference Babycenter pretty often because there are so many articles and with lots of opinions on how to approach new challenges.

Day 1: 

We started this great experiment on Monday. I went overboard with supplies, as per usual, taking in 10 pairs of underwear, 8 pairs of shorts, extra socks, and 2 extra shirts, as well as some pull-ups in case they decided to throw in the towel. As much as I wanted to call and check in on Nate throughout the day, I wasn't going to be that parent, so I resisted temptation. At pick-up, I was ecstatic to find out that Nate had only two accidents all day! His teacher was so proud of him that she gave him a cupcake before he went home: 

Fast forward to that evening, Nate came home, took off his underwear, and promptly pooped in our linen closet. UGH!! #lifesbleachablemoments 

Day 2: 

An even better day! Only one accident at school and Nate used the potty for me at home until it it was time to go to bed. No poop in random closets or accidents of any kind! The trade-off is that Nate expects candy and/or cake for his good behavior. I'm apt to give into what motivates him at this point.

Day 3:

This brings us to today and to the point where I need to learn a good lesson in patience. Another great day at school with only one accident! However, once we got home, I feel like there was a bit of regression. From not wanting to sit on the potty, to puddles on the floor, to a pair of soiled underwear soaking in my bathroom sink, it's been quite an evening. It's at this part of the night where I step back and think about all of the amazing progress that he's made in three days....and that his stubbornness is an inherited trait from his momma. :)

Hopefully tomorrow will be another great day of learning for Nate on this new adventure. I am so looking forward to not having to buy diapers!! To all the parents out there who are getting ready to take on this challenge, just remember that it takes time, patience, consistency, and some bleach!

father's day.

Chris celebrated his third Father's Day this past weekend! Nate and I went to some good lengths to make sure to pack the weekend with a few surprises. First of all, we started off the celebration on Friday afternoon. After I picked Nate up from school, we surprised Chris with a few awesome gifts.  Nate made an adorable Father's Day project at school that was by far the best gift that Chris got because it had photos, a footprint, and a hand drawn picture. We also got Chris a personalized travel mug from Shutterfly and a bar cabinet for Chris's man room.

We played in the backyard for a long time this weekend and Nate spent a lot of time cooling down in his little pool and the sprinkler. Nate and Chris spent lots of time running back and forth through the sprinkler and I got a lot of awesome photos!

Fun Fact about Nate: he has a strong aversion to getting his clothes wet. If he gets one drop of water on him, normally he wants to change clothes. That being said, trying to convince Nate to stay in a wet swimsuit was pretty tough. Finally, he decided that he didn't need to wear anything, so he ran around in the backyard buck naked and (much to to my chagrin) discovered the joys of peeing outdoors.

Fun Fact about Chris: the man loves costumes! You may remember that Nate loves superheroes right now, so Chris dressed up like Batman out of the blue and made Nate's day.  Little smarty pants knew that it was Chris and almost immediately asked to put on the costume himself.

We spent Father's Day evening out to dinner with my parents, brothers, and grandparents and had some yummy food at Outback. All in all, a great weekend! Finally, a little tribute to my dad who is probably the most patient person that I've ever met  (unless it involves technology, HA!) and is always there for me :)

picky eater.

I've had the hardest time lately to not only get Nathan to eat balanced meals, but to eat a meal at all. I won't lie, I can't remember the last time that he ate a vegetable. Nate used to love broccoli. I had him take a bite of it a few weeks ago, which prompted gagging and vomiting. We've tried giving him foods in certain orders so that he gets his favorite things last: fail. We've tried bribing him: fail. We've tried hiding vegetables in his food: fail. We've tried sending him to bed hungry: super fail, because he was more than happy to do so.

Things Nathan will currently eat:

• Cheerios with milk
• Raisin Bran with milk
• Apple sauce
• Mandarin oranges
• Yogurt
• Kimbap (Korean for rice with seaweed)
• Cereal bars 
• Goldfish
• Animal cookies
• Raisins
• McDonald's chicken nuggets (I currently can't drive down the main street in town because he knows where the nuggets come from, even though he only gets them every once in a while as a treat)

I'm hoping that he outgrows this stage soon! I worry that he's not growing, though I definitely can see that he is. We also tried gummy vitamins to help supplement what he may be missing, but he tells me that "dey 'isgusting" (Nate's pronunciation of 'disgusting'). I tried those gummy vitamins and they're quite tasty.  Maybe it's time to start him on PediaSure.

In any case, I worked a miracle tonight and got him to eat spaghetti! Carb central, I know -- but at least he's branching out from the breakfast food and snack diet...for today anyway. Tomorrow will be a whole new story :)

i am spiderman.

Nathan is currently obsessed with superheroes and Chris is loving every minute of it! My little guy is turning into all boy and it's hard to keep up! Right now, the most favorite superheroes are Spiderman and Batman. Nate has been watching some old school cartoons and then I got suckered into buying him some action figures...because he needs more toys, right?!

I felt like the best mom ever over the weekend when I went to Target and came home with both a Spiderman shirt and a Batman shirt. Nate has worn both to school this week and gets very excited about getting dressed in the morning. It's so much easier than the "I-don't-want-to-get-dressed-or-wear-a-diaper-so-you-can-try-to-catch-me-at-7am".

Yesterday was a rainy Monday and when Nate got to school, he ripped off his raincoat and screamed "I AM SPIDERMAN!" (of course, wearing his new Spiderman shirt). Those poor teachers. I can't keep up with that level of energy in the morning!

Today Nate wore his Batman shirt and was very excited to show it off to his friends. When I picked him up this afternoon, I mistakenly asked how his friends liked his Spiderman shirt. Nate promptly gave me 'the look' and indignantly said "Mommy, I wearing Batman. This is not Spiderman. Not. Spiderman." Like I said, I need to be more on my game as he learns about superheroes.

In the meantime, this is the only little superhero for me :)

train festival.

We took Nate to the annual railway festival again this year and like last year, we had a lot of fun.  I'll be the first to admit that we cut the day short because I couldn't take the heat, but we did pack a lot of fun into the couple of hours that we were there.

First of all, we decided to take the plunge and buy tickets for the VRE excursion this year. Nate (still) loves trains and understands that people, like Pop Pop, ride on them regularly. The train ride was about 45 minutes long from Manassas to Clifton and back. Nate's initial reaction was priceless, screaming "this is amazing!" (probably to our fellow passengers' chagrin).  My grandfather and his father before him both worked on the railroad, so it's sweet for me to see Nate take such an interest. This is my little guy while we were on the train:

We also walked around to see some of the model train displays. Nate was particularly fond of the Lego trains and the kid table that had an interactive Thomas the Tank Engine.

I'm always hesitant to bother a stranger to take a family photo of the three of us (and then walk them through how to use my camera), so we have some mommy-Nate and daddy-Nate photos.

I also took an adorable photo of Nate on the caboose today and then remembered that I have a similar one from two years ago. I can't believe how much he has grown!

ride 'em cowboy.

We've watched a lot of Toy Story lately...a lot. Nate is obsessed with Woody and the idea of being a cowboy. This afternoon he jumped onto one of the dogs and started screaming "yee haw! ride 'em cowboy!".  We have the most patient dog, ever....and a very spunky little kid :)

mother's day.

This has been a bittersweet Mother's Day for me. We lost my Nana last November and it's just so strange going through holidays without her. I'm sure that it's been even harder on my mom to go through her first Mother's Day since Nana passed away.  I found myself going through some of my old photos and I found two that really hit me - one from when I was a baby and one from my wedding. Both are three-generation photos, but taken twenty-something years apart. Kind of neat in a nostalgic and sad way.

In the happier thoughts for Mother's Day, I can still echo on last year's sentiments as I love this little boy more and more with each passing day. It's a lot of responsibility forming a life, a temperament, and literally the future but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've seen Nate grow from a baby to a little boy so quickly. His kindness and empathy is supplemented by his stubborn resolve and insistence on independence, and his ever-present energy and his sense of humor is both refreshing and exhausting.

We took a family photo today and one with just Nate and Mommy. Tripods and timers are a blessing :)

teacher appreciation.

It's Teacher Appreciation Day today, which daycare has aptly turned into Teacher Appreciation Week.  Each day has had a theme of way that you show your gratitude for all that the teachers do for our kids. When you think about it, teachers have such a huge responsibility and help to shape your child. They certainly don't get paid enough, so I think it's awesome that they have their own day/week.

Tomorrow is gift card day and I found an adorable little crafting project to make gift card holders for the teachers at Skip to My Lou (take a look!) and this is what I made. Granted, not quite as fancy as the original but I am not so crafty.

Make sure to tell your teachers how much you appreciate them this week (and every week)!

catching up.

It has been busy lately....a too-busy-to-blog-or-check-my-personal-email kind of busy.  The good news: it's nearly the end of the semester and Chris and I will get a much needed break from school soon. The bad news: final projects and papers. It's always a cruel joke that the end of the semester is either Christmas or beautiful weather. Talk about a demotivator!

Nate and I have spent a lot of time playing outside with some of the neighborhood kids. My rule is that I don't post pictures of other people's kids on here unless they ask me to -- so sorting through my virtual mound of photos has not been number one on my to-do list. Usually we're outside late, eat a later dinner, and take an even later bath. By that time it's a horribly late bedtime and we're too tired to do anything else. But tonight, we're a bit earlier than normal and Nate is happily dunking his chicken nuggets into apple sauce, mandarin oranges and milk (eww!), so I have a moment to spare.

So what have we been up to?

First of all, we've been making lots of use out of our deck that we put on last summer.  Nate likes to take all of his tiny toys (the ones that hide in the grass and take forever to find) and line them up on the railing. I asked him what he was doing, as he grouped them together one afternoon, to which he responded "I'm making them friends".  Such a sweet boy!

Next, we celebrated Easter this year in a nice low-key way. It was raining outside, so no Easter egg hunts like we did last year. Instead, Nate got to blow bubbles on our sunporch, play with his toys, and devour his (now) traditional Easter Goldfish crackers. Two years in a row can count as a tradition, right?

My friends and I also took Nate to play mini-golf. Words of wisdom to all of the parents out there: if you have a two-and-a-half year old and aren't positively sure that they'll be interested in mini-golf, don't take them. I am astounded to report that Nathan made it to the seventh hole before he decided that mini-golf was boring and he would rather try to play inside all of the landscaping instead (read: tried to climb on the rocks, decorations, and into the fountains). My pictures are deceiving, though -- makes it look like he had the time of his life. I think these were all taken on the first and second holes. A fast lens and a big memory card, I'm tellin' ya! It's the only way to do it :)

And what else? Hmm...just more playing outside after school and work every day. We've expanded on our outside toys, adding pinwheels, a toolbox, a butterfly net, you name it. Somehow, even with running up and down the hill on our driveway, he still lasts longer than I do and I'm the one begging to go to sleep at the end of the night. The child has an amazing amount of energy!