Spelling Bee

Lately, Finn has started spelling words. Signs, books, labels, etc. he likes to call out the letters he recognizes. Which is great, until this happened . . .

We have a "FARTS" book which is a book about just that very thing. It has sound effects and descriptions of all of the different ways one can pass gas. It's gross/bathroom humor (don't judge, you know you either have one or have read one) and yes, it should be put up. We don't actually refer to it as FARTS, but as toots, which I think makes it sound a little more acceptable. But, it makes funny sounds, which Finn loves. One night he had dumped all of his books on the floor and was sifting through them when he came to this book. Out of the blue, he picked it up and proceeded to spell "F-A-R-T-S" I waited with baited breath . . . again, "F-A-R-T-S spell toots."

King of the Wild Frontier

Mark spent most of last week in San Antonio, TX (remember the Alamo!) on a business trip. He brought back an authentic coon skin cap, which at first, Lily thought was for her. Finn soon snatched it away from her and decided it looked best on him. Although, he insisted on wearing it sideways, which made him look a little like Billy Ray Cyrus on a bad day. Saturday seemed like a nice day so we decided to walk down to the mall area to get some fresh air and exercise. Only then did we realize that the wind was insane . . . whipping around at 40-50 mph. Needless to say, it was a short walk. We made it to the Lincoln Memorial, where Finn wanted to climb the steps and see Mr. Lincoln. Of course, the coon skin cap was firmly placed on his head. On the return trip down and big gust of wind sent the coon skin flying . . . between the legs of an unsuspecting tourist, who squealed because I'm sure she thought it was a live animal. Finn (and Lily) went crazy and finally, a man stomped on the tail of the hat to catch it and everyone had a good laugh. Except Finn, who was mad at the wind for taking his hat and refused to wear it for the rest of the day. Lesson learned. Mark snapped this picture at the top of the steps and I can't even come up with a caption for it . . . it just speaks for itself.

A Balentine's Weekend in 'Weeziana

Translation . . . We spent Valentine's Day weekend in Louisiana, but that's a mouthful, even for Finn. For Christmas, my mom and dad gifted us with a trip to New Orleans, complete with free babysitting. Valentine's weekend turned out to be the perfect weekend to visit. So, we loaded up and flew to the bayou, where my parents met us in New Orleans and then took Finn back with them to Baton Rouge for the weekend. While Mark and I busied ourselves with sightseeing, stuffing our faces with delicious food, shopping and sleeping in (the best part!), Finn kept Big and Ba on their toes in Baton Rouge.

The weather was warm and beautiful, so they spent most of their time outside, playing in the fountains, watching construction, walking along the river and visiting Mike the Tiger (LSU's mascot). Finn had a blast with Big and Ba and Mark and I loved our weekend in the Cresent City. Merry Christmas to us! Thanks mom and dad.

Finn and his Ba

Exploring the fountains . . . guess how this ends up

Why are you surprised?

Exploring the capitol grounds

Walking along the river

Finn was so proud of himself for getting the boat behind them to blow his horn

Posing in front of the "pirate ship"

Taking a much needed break to watch the construction vehicles

Outside!

You know it's been a cold winter when 45 degrees feels balmy! We had one nice day (above freezing) and everyone comes out of the woodwork to play outside. It was still chilly, but you would never know by watching these boys. They were so happy to be outside playing without freezing. Pure joy. We can't wait for spring.

Darren, Derek and Finn

A favorite game: Crash

Where one person slides down and crashes into

the one at the bottom of the slide. They actually fight over who gets to sit at the bottom.

Who cares if there are two playgrounds here:

DIRT and STICKS win every time

Jake, Evan and Finn get down and dirty

Washington Auto Show

Question: What to do on a cold and rainy Saturday with a little boy who has LOTS of energy?

Answer: Take him to the auto show

If you've never been to the auto show, it's just what you imagine it to be . . . lots of cars, trucks, SUV's in a nice, warm, BIG convention center. In other words, pure heaven for a little boy. Even better, most of the vehicles are unlocked which means any old 3 year old can climb in and take it for a "spin." Finn was in hog heaven to say the least.

Finn tried out everything from a yellow mustang convertible, to a Mercedes G-Wagon to a Ford F-150 and everything in between. He even liked the minivan. I told him not to get too comfortable in it. They had lots of demonstrations and fun things for kids to see and do, but nothing held a candle to him being able to "drive" all of the cars and trucks he wanted. At the end of the day, we had one exhausted little boy on our hands. Mission accomplished.

Here he is testing out the new jeep. He was mad because

someone else beat him to the driver's seat

He liked the minivan too. He was playing hide and go seek inside.

At one point, he gets in the seat and tells me to "take him for a drive."

Getting ready for the tow challenge

Adventures in Potty Training

It's been about 3 weeks since we began potty-training. And, shockingly enough, it's going quite well. Just know, that I am knocking on every piece of wood I can find as I type this because I don't want to jinx anything. It probably helps that I was prepared for and expecting the absolute worst, so I guess anything above that means it's going well in my book. I have to give Finn lots of credit--he has adapted pretty well to these major changes (for the most part). Diapers are history (even the night time diapers). We donated our leftover ones to the church. He wears underwear mostly, except to school and at night.

The first two weeks, it was all up to me. I probably asked him one million times a day (not an exaggeration) if he had to go to the potty. He always said no. Big shocker there. Around the 45 minute mark, I put him on the potty regardless. He always got a "potty treat" immediately after, even if he only tried. And let me say this, different strokes for different folks. Finn is a candy feign, through and through, so that is his major motivation. He just laughed at me when I offered him a sticker at first. I just have to keep changing it up with new, improved candy offerings. Although, by the time we are done, he will be one gigantic skittle. This past week, he has gotten pretty good at telling me when he has to go. A welcome change from the broken record I had become. We've had a couple of accidents here and there but no major ones (if you catch my drift). Then again, we only take short car rides and go places where there are a plethora of facilities, but hey, a win is a win!

Three weeks does not make me an expert, but I have noticed a few things about potty training that I will share with you now, mainly so that you can have a good laugh at our expense.

Lesson #1: Potty training is not for the faint of heart, mind (sight or smell)

I don't know why but for some reason, anything in a diaper is more manageable than anything outside of a diaper. I have literally been sick while cleaning out the potty bowl. Maybe because you have to be prepared at any given moment to make a run for it . . . and usually that moment comes when I have just sat down to eat something.

Lesson #2: There's no shame in his game

I will apologize in advance if you or anyone you know happen to unsuspectingly choose the bathroom stall next to us, especially when Finn has to poop(which was the case at the Air & Space museum). Some things you may or may not have heard include the following: "it's a hard poop mommy," "can you go outside mommy, this one stinks," "i need the water on to help me," "tell me a story," "mommy, do girl's pee out of their penis?" "it's stuck" and much, much more. Usually there is snickering next to us. Also, when he has to go, he has to go, so abandoning a cart of groceries or peeing outside at the playground is also a possibility.

Lesson #3: It's a team sport

In the beginning, we were spending a good amount of time just sitting on the potty, maybe something would happen and maybe not. But while he was sitting, he wanted entertainment. Sometimes I would read to him or tell him a story or bring toys to him, but mainly he wanted company. Which means anytime I went to the bathroom, he knew he had a captive audience and would drag his potty and books into the bathroom with me for a potty pow-wow.

I'm sure there are many more, but that's all that comes to mind right now. We still have a ways to go, but progress is progress. Our first big test will come in a few weeks when we travel to New Orleans to visit my parents. This may be TMI for you, dear readers, but since this blog basically serves as my baby book, I need something to look back on to help me remember. And no, I don't have pictures of him sitting on the potty (actually, I do, but I won't post them).

One of our potty stations, complete with entertainment