Potty time

Bohdin was using the bathroom at Paul's house back in August without help. I loved not having to dump out a potty and wanted to retire them when we came back. Buddy said we should keep them out so Nyla would learn to sit on the potty. I said Nyla would be the last person on earth to potty train. We left the little potties out which Bohdin continued to use since he prefers it. Buddy was right. Nyla has started sitting on the potty. When she's not wearing a diaper we can get her on the potty in time to poop. She comes running either to me or to the potty. We have to be alert but it's nice to have it there instead of in a diaper. Nyla doesn't like getting wiped so this is less wiping. She's still working on the pee. I think she has a long way to go but Buddy thinks she is showing promise. We'll see if he is right again.

Bohdin was gently crushing Nyla against the wall the other day. Nyla would peek out from behind when I said "where is Nyla?". I'm glad the camera was so close.
 

Bohdin loves popcorn especially the brewer's yeast. He covers his hand in it then licks it off. Nyla is a little monkey and copies Bohdin. She stuffs that popcorn in. Bohdin takes the rough part off for her. We used to but I've given up. She seems to be a careful eater. Accidents can happen so I hover.
 

Isnt' that nice?

Bohdin for several weeks has been asking me this question after doing something nice. "I gave Nyla my green towel that I wasn't using. Isn't that nice?" He has been doing a lot of nice things lately. He'll get out a spoon for himself and me. I'm drawing a blank here but there are many many examples. Nyla took a long nap on Saturday and it was later in the day than usual. Bohdin normally watches tv when she's sleeping and I stay with Nyla. She usually wakes up if I leave her. It was past 5 and I was getting really hungry. Bohdin was watching a video and Buddy was playing on the computer. Bohdin comes into the bedroom quietly and brings me some nuts just in case I was hungry. It was incredibly sweet. I hope he doesn't lose this quality as he gets older.

The video that Bohdin checked out by himself from the library was a Bob the Builder but was a live thing that talked about road building and bridges. He couldn't be more fascinated. He now knows the 3 types of bridges and how to build a road. They have another one about building a house and playground that I'm going to check out after our traveling is complete. Buddy leaves for Gettysburg tomorrow. We'll probably drive up there tomorrow as well.

All by himself

Nyla fell asleep in the car while we were running errands yesterday. The last thing I had to do was return a video to the library. Bodhin usually likes to get a new video when I return an old one but I couldn't go in the library because Nyla was sleeping. Bohdin has been with me to the library at least 50 times. He knows where the videos are located and he knows how to check out and return material. I asked him if he wanted to go inside the library by himself and get a new video. He was a little bit apprehensive but he agreed.

I parked right outside the library. There are glass doors so I could sort of see inside when they were closed and I could see in very well to the checkout desk when they were open. Bohdin went in, put his old video in the appropriate place and then went around the corner to the children's section. I had told him to pick quickly. He usually likes to linger but this time he didn't. He waited in line for his turn. I waved to him but he didn't wave back. When it was his turn he handed over my library card and his video. He pointed outside but I can only guess what that was about. He said the librarian didn't ask where I was.

He looked so little in the library. It was funny to see someone so small waiting patiently in line. They were nice enough to take him at the short desk. I'm proud of him. Sometimes he doesn't think he can do things he actually can. He'll give up before even trying. It's so neat to see him becoming more independent and grown up.

Life at the speed of a 3 year old

Yesterday was a pretty idyllic day with Bohdin. I had plenty of time to run the two errands so we were able to take things slowly. On the way out to the car we stopped and looked at leaves. When we pulled into the parking lot we looked at the differences between concrete and asphalt. We looked for things made of wood or lumber I should say. Bohdin was still on his lumber kick yesterday. In the afternoon we met N- at the playground. We came home and made dinner and a cake together. I really liked that I didn't have to rush around to be anywhere. We're really lucky that we have this opportunity to take life slowly for a little while.

 
 
 
 

Nyla is growing so fast and there is no denying that she is a toddler now. She can understand some of the things we say. She actually gave Bohdin his cup back in the car a few days ago. He's been asking her forever. I was holding Nyla while making some eggs the other day. I had a bag of shredded cheese in my hand and threw some in the pan. Nyla reached in and grabbed some cheese also and threw it in the pan. She can get her own diaper now. She loves going down the big slides at the playground. The other day she found an unopened bottle of bubbles. She took the cap off and was playing with it but it had a silver foil thing so nothing was coming out. She found a pen and poked a hole in the top to get the solution out. I saw her trying to poke it with the pen but didn't think she could do it. She likes to put books and videos in the library bag at the library. She likes to eat with forks and spoons instead of her hands. I don't know how she grew up so fast. It's remarkable how much is learned from a sibling.

Teacher or Know-it-all?

The Bohdin that wouldn't talk to anybody a few months ago has turned into the Bohdin that doesn't stop telling people things. Yesterday a little boy walked by with his mom as we were going outside to play across the parking lot with construction toys. I asked if he wanted to come. This 4 year old an 7 year old boy join us. Bohdin starts talking about lumber(we had just read a book that used the word) and all of things nearby that were made out of lumber. The little boy just wanted to collect rocks instead of listening to the wonders of wood. I was able to redirect Bohdin and end his lecture. When we were at the museum the other day he was telling a boy about the dinosaurs when they were at the same exhibit. Not one child so far has been interested in the things he says. Perhaps it's the age. We were at the playground the other day and a little girl almost Bohdin's age was talking my ear off about an upcoming trip and the fact that she woke up with a cold and "an up and down fever". Hopefully we can teach him eventually to see that the other person is not interested in what he's saying. The art of small talk can be taught. Not yet though. For now he'll remain a chatty little boy.

Getting out

On my deleted post the other day I mentioned that we had went to the library on Thursday for the story time. N- was there also. Both the kids had a good time although they enjoyed different parts. Nyla danced to the music. Bohdin liked the stories. We met N- at the playground the next day and the two boys had never had so much fun together.

Nyla slept really poorly Friday night and all of us woke up late on Saturday. It was nearly 9am. We didn't do much on Saturday. Buddy's parents finally had their power restored that day.

Nyla eating chocolate yogurt. She's not supposed to have chocolate until 2 I think but she's a rule breaker. She had already had it once before when she took my empty carton from the trash and licked it.
 

Bohdin making a scary face
 

On Sunday we went to DC. We didn't really have a definite plan. Parking is so so awful down there. We ended up finding a parking spot near the Capitol building. We meandered around, stopping in one of the wings of art museum and then the Natural History Museum. The Natural History Museum was packed. I took Bohdin so Buddy could explore in peace. Bohdin and I saw the soil exhibit, the dinosaurs and the nature pictures. His favorite part of the day was seeing the elevator.It was a glass elevator with exposed cables. Bohdin thought the moving cables was pretty cool. He also liked the "twisty wisty stairs" nearby. Actually he said his favorite part was the big machines but that was a different day. Buddy liked the meteorites. I was just tired because Nyla had slept poorly the night before again. My favorite part was going into the art museum to use the bathroom without the kids and then taking a few minutes to look around by myself.

Buddy checking the football scores on the way back to the car. We were all hungry. Bohdin was carrying a bag of popcorn and could not have walked slower. A very elderly couple passed us without effort.
 

Bohdin and I were both dragging on the hill up to the car. Buddy ended up carrying both kids for a while.
 

Last night Bohdin and I were playing a game called Mystery Garden. It is sort of 20 questions but you draw a tile that corresponds to the picture on the game board. Bohdin decided he liked it better if he just gave a description and then have me guess. Here are some of his descriptions:
"It swims in water and is swimming this way" (points)
"It's something you play with"
"It's something you wear on your head"
Then there was this one: "It's something that you kill, then you take off the fur, then start a fire and then cook it and then you eat it." The answer is a rabbit. Bohdin still asks for stories a lot so the other day I told him a story of a little boy in the woods who had to catch his dinner. I guess the story made an impression.

Making sushi

My post disappered and I don't want to retype it. I'll let the pictures do the talking.