The baby got back

For nearly two years, we've been telling Will to be gentle with Charlie, to back away from Charlie, stop smothering Charlie, don't wake up Charlie.

Tired of our ineffective parenting skills, Charlie has taken matters into his own hands.


Will was bouncing on an exercise ball one morning and Charlie sent him sailing with a well placed shove. If Will gets anywhere near the vicinity of the TV while Barney is on, trust me, there's going to be some noise.

And so, we now find ourselves telling Charlie to be nice to Will, not to push Will, stop yelling at Will, and repeatedly informing him that it's OK for Will to be within two feet of him.

Last night as I was putting Charlie to bed, Will came in three times. After each time, I asked Will to please stay out of Charlie's room.

The fourth time he peeked his head in, Charlie very clearly stated, "Stay OUT!"

At least he's using his words.

Total recall

Scott's had to travel a lot recently for work so we've fallen into a sort of "fly by the seat of our pants" policy when it comes to meals.

Today, tired and not in the mood for cooking, shopping or going out to eat, I asked Will to pick our dinner.

"What are the options?"

Well, to be honest, not much.

I deflected the question and asked what he'd had for lunch. I'm sure at some point in this period of single parenthood, it's really just a matter of time before I fall back on hot dogs.

I'd feel a little better about it if he didn't have them for lunch and dinner though.

"Let me think. Oh, I know! We had a choice of either Gogurt or sausage."

What? That doesn't sound right. "Did you have anything else?"

"Nope, I chose sausage. It seemed like more of a meal, you know."

I checked the school lunch menu and they had Brunch for Lunch today: Brunch for Lunch

French Toast
Sausage or Yogurt
Hash Browns
Juice Cup
Muffin

How do we get our hanes on him?

First off, I just have to say that I'm well aware of the dangers of comparing children. Secondly, I can't help it.

Will used the potty way before this point and Charlie remains adamant that he wants nothing to do with it.

With Will, I put out the potty chair and he sat on it and went potty. Charlie nearly did the same thing a few months ago but instead peed on the floor mere inches from the potty.

Progress, but progress in the wrong direction. Since then, he's peed on the floor, in the tub, everywhere EXCEPT in that potty chair.

I've tried to be coy, I've tried bribing. Scott and Will were both forced to sit down and pee "like a big boy" as an example to Charlie.

"Do you want to try now?" I asked after their demonstration.

"NO!"

"Maybe later?"

"NO!"

He almost seems to think it's a joke he's playing on Mommy. He'll make eye contact with me before a bath, sit on the potty for about two seconds, stand up and cheer "YAY!" and then pee all around the potty's perimeter. Perhaps his potty chair has an invisible force field?

Anyway, my new tactic is to have him wear big boy underwear. Having him go with no diaper just seemed to inspire him to "mark his territory", and this seems a reasonable next stage.

As you can see from the photo, he looks adorable. Love those thighs!

Recently seen on Facebook -- Scott edition

March 5
Will, tonight at Dunham's: "It's a good thing I like sports so much. It's either because I play them so much, or because Daddy likes them so much." Made up for Charlie destroying the shoe department.

March 4
Will: "Daddy, you know that Miller Lite commercial? ..." I was concerned -- what he ended up describing was that Buffalo Wild Wings commercial with the basketball game that goes into overtime. Keep your brands straight, son.

March 3
It's already been a good day: Charlie said "Touchdown!" for the first time this morning.

February 27
Today Will kicked my ass in checkers -- legitimately -- then ate more pizza than me for dinner. It's all downhill from here.

February 21
Tried to teach the boys "U-S-A! U-S-A!" this weekend. Will's version: "Amer-i-ca! Amer-i-ca!" Charlie's: "E-E-A! E-E-A!"

February 17
Someone forgot to tell Charlie that Ash Wednesday mass is a solemn affair, darn kid was smiling and giggling most of the time.

February 14
Great moments in road tripping: Will just suggested we have a quiet contest. Seriously.

February 12
Will, this morning; "Daddy, tell me just before we're going to go so I can get ready to party." Sure thing, dude!

Recent utterings from Charlie

"uhh-owwww!" -- touchdown!

"uhh-iiiii!" -- tough guy!

"aassshhh!" -- splash!

"din! din!" -- again! again!

"E-E-A! E-E-A!" -- U-S-A! U-S-A!

"deee! dee!" -- drink! drink!

And, the old reliable:

"Bo!" -- Will!

Fort-ified

The boys and I have been spending a lot of time at the Iola fitness center lately, fighting cabin fever. Sunday we had the whole gym to ourselves, and Will suggested we make a maze out of wrestling mats. Pretty fun!

Read Across America

In honor of Dr. Suess's birthday this week and Read Across American, Will's teacher asked parents if they'd like to come in read. And we both got to read to Will's class. Very fun.

A couple of highlights:

- Will completely ignored the fact that we were there. I thought it was a good sign that he was prepared for us to be there. Scott was a little hurt.

- A few of the kids recognized Scott as their coach from t-ball, flag football or soccer. One didn't even seem to remember playing flag football, let alone Coach Scott.

- The kids came in after outside recess, took their boots off in the hallway and walked into the classroom to put their shoes on. One girl told me, "Isn't it perfectly silly that we walk into the classroom every day in just our socks?" Perfectly silly. I've been trying to find a way to use that in a sentence ever since.

Here's a couple of pictures. Scott took a couple of me so Will's teacher told me I'd better take some of him.

Bowl-R-Hat

Couple of shots of our big ham. One is for "hat day" at school. He put on the hat he got with his cowboy outfit from our friend Beth. He didn't feel like the outfit was quite complete, thus the toothpick in his mouth.

Second, I asked him to put his dishes by the sink when he was done eating. Too boring to simply carry them, of course, so the bowl became a hat, the spoon became a gun and voila, G.I. Will.