Suddenly

You turn around and your little toddler is becoming a little big boy. I know it's not really all of a sudden, but IT'S ALL OF A SUDDEN! He pees in the potty (we'll discuss the public restrooms grossness later), he runs around the house being a dinosaur, a robot, or a flesh eating alien. He says things like "you and me, we going to hang out", "MOMMY, You know what?", "I love you MORE", "umm.. sure", and "MY BIRTHDAY IS AT THE BEACH!" (he says that last one once a day... in case Pol and I might have forgotten).

Overall, he just has this new attitude and strut, and it might be the cutest thing in the whole wide world, except when it isn't cute because he has a new attitude which then leads to a crying fit which involves him laying face down on his bedroom floor sobbing because of whatever terrible wrong doing his parents have invoked upon his young life.

He's a big little boy. He knows it. Big boy underwear has given him a new lease on life. Guess I better get on board.

He also got a haircut this weekend which really put the nail in the coffin.

L-I-am - Dear Jesus

L's prayer tonight:

DEAR JEEEESSSSSSUUUUSSSSS,
Thank you for mommy and daddy and me.
Thank you for my toys
Thank you for the POTTY
Thank you for BUILDING monster truck
Thank you for bathtime
Thank you for SCCOUTTTYYY
Thank you for tushy and pee-pee
Thank you for Rob
Thank you for waffles and MILLLKKKY
Thank you for Dobby
Thank you for JOOSHHHYYYY
Thank you for tattoos
Thank you for my BIRTTTTHHHHDDDDAAAAYYY
Thank you for Target
A MEN.

Generations

I think the proof is in the picture, the Buckingham men are identical.
Looks and mannerisms.

This might be one of my favorite pictures. Ever.

L-I-amThe Good, The Bad, and The Tired

The Good:
L: MOMMY! MOMMY! I HAVE TO PEE!

The Bad:
It's 4am

The Tired:
L fell right back to sleep after his 4am pee time. I did not.

L-I-am - peeing success!

I know we still have a long way to go, but last night around 9:15, L had been playing in his bed for about an hour I hear this:

L: Mommy. MOMMY. I NEED TO PEE.
Me (running to his room in excitement): Buds, you need to pee?
L: Yeah, I need to go to the potty.
Me: LET'S GO!
L: ok.
hops out and goes pee on the potty! HE KNEW HE HAD TO PEE!

success.

A present

In case you want to get me something for L's bday.. I ask you to consider this:

It's a can grip.. it instantly turns your can into a mug. Wow. More appropriately, WHY? WHY would you need this? Seriously. WHY? It's $10.99. Pretty sure you can get a frosty mug for cheaper, and one with your favorite baseball team logo on the side.

I have no idea why I put this on the blog, I just saw it and it made me laugh.

A can grip.

Coupons!

Big score at Publix!
Spent: .62cents
Saved: $9.47

What I bought: 2 containers of blueberries and 1 Seventh Generation dish soap.

I often have friends who ask where I go to for coupon deals. My favorite sites are listed below:
Overall fav. site: Southern Savers
Local fav: Faithful Provisions
Organic Fav: Food Nutrition

L-I-am - on potty time

"It's coming! It's coming! Almost here! HERE IT IS!
LOOK MOMMY! LOOK! I PEED!
M&M please."

Why I Started Drinking

Okay, so the post isn't really about why I started drinking.. alcohol that is. If you want to know that story you really have to go back to the source, who happens to be Pol's sister, Leslie. But that's another story for another time.. let's just say it began with "Pol, meet Woodchuck." "Woodchuck, meet Michelle."

THIS story is about potty training.. and what does drinking have to do with it? I sent my sister and brother-in-law an email on Friday saying we were doing the pottython weekend, did they have any advice? The email back from Anthony said "Lots of beer." He wasn't lying folks. Potty training is not for the weak. And I am weak.

When we got home on Friday we talked and talked about how we were going to start using the potty, and L was excited! We watched Elmo's Potty World dvd 2x. He loved the potty song! YAY! So far so good. This was going to be a breeze! Then it came time to sit on the potty before bathtime. No go. WHAT? come on.. remember the potty song.. remember how Elmo uses the potty? It's fun! nope. no thanks. Okay.. we'll get this tomorrow for sure.

First thing Saturday I asked him to sit on the potty... wailing and gnashing of teeth occurred. It's really hard to make the potty an enjoyable experience when you are body slamming your child so he can't run away. Okay, I didn't really do that. maybe. FINALLY he got on the potty. And sat there. To quote Once Upon A Potty:
and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat. and sat.

Then he got off the potty and put on his big boy pants. Then he peed. And blamed Scout for getting him wet. No really, he blamed the dog. The sweet, never pees, only throws up precious pooch, Scout. Thus begins the changing of the big boy pants. Good thing I was doing laundry all weekend anyway.

About 9:30am some friends of ours called and invited us to the pool. I said, I don't think we can, we are potty training and you aren't supposed to leave the house. By this time, and mind you we have only been up for 3 hours, Pol and I are about to turn on each other. We aren't even sure how L was conquering and dividing us, but we knew he was. We could feel it.

We wisely decided rather than turning on each other, let's turn to what life is really about.. fun in the sun at a pool with friends. So we decided even if it killed our potty training weekend, this might be the only chance we have to go to a pool before the beach trip. We knew we had to get L in water before the beach. In the past water has been a smoke monster that means to kill and destroy. We, okay, I desperately want L to be okay with the water, so on went the swimmers and bathing suits and off we went. I will say before we made the choice to go, Pol and I were discussing the pool. L piped up and said "I want to go to the pool." He wanted out of the potty training as badly as we did. I said "Do you even know what a pool is?" L says "We go swimming in the pool. It's water." duh. That settled it. L WANTED to go swimming, I couldn't deny him.

We got to the pool, met up with our friends, and L RAN to the pool. RAN. TO. WATER. Miracles do happen.

He then proceeded to spend the next 2 hours in the pool only getting out for adult swim. He did not like adult swim! He was daring, he went under water (oops), he swam, he splashed, he wanted to go down the big water slide, but poo poo daddy said it was too dangerous. I said it would help him learn to swim real quick. No slide.

It was amazing. It was glorious. He might still be scared of the ocean, but at least he will get in the pool. I will not press my luck.

SO.. back home we go. Down for nap with training pants. Then the saga starts all over. Lots of time on the potty. Lots of peeing in the big boy pants right after sitting on the toilet for 20mins.

Sunday rolls around. We start all over. BUT THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT! THIS TIME HE PEES IN THE POTTY!! YAY!! SUCCESS IS OURS!

For Father's Day we planned on L taking Pol to the coffee shop. No potty training was going to stand in our way. Plus we'd only be gone less than hour. We go the coffee shop.. which is RIGHT after L peed on the potty. We chance it with big boy pants and I take an extra pair, just in case.

We arrive at said coffee shop. L and I go sit down. L pees all over himself. RIGHT after I had just asked him if he wanted to go use the potty. Note to self.. don't ever ask, just take. OH, and remember to take an extra pair of shorts, not just extra underwear. I didn't remember myself. So L ran around the coffee shop in just his undies, he was okay with it. THEN after about 30 mins there Pol took L to the potty with him, and guess what! L PEED on the potty at the coffee shop! YAY! score number 2! Pretty much the rest of the day L used the potty to pee, no more accidents!

But then the dreaded poo needed to come out. L is still not completely over the hemorrhoids issue. He still fears the poo. It hurts his tushy. It's just sad to watch him run around saying he doesn't want to poo with this look of panic on his face. Finally he sits on the potty to poo. nothing. I was sure he was going to go in his big boy pants. but he never did. FINALLY after a long evening of having to "not poos" L went on poo on the toilet! Then he went poo on the toilet again before bedtime (and once in his pull up, but I don't blame him, his poos are really runny, he can't really hold them in, plus we don't want him to).

Sidenote: He even made it through church without peeing or pooing on himself!

SO.. by no means is he potty trained, but he's on his way there. Small steps. Ps.. he did keep wanting to be a baby last night.. I think because he knows a baby gets to wear diapers, but oh well, not going to happen. You are officially a little man now.

For real... so glad we went to the pool.. look at my happy boys.

Pottyathon

Please join with me this weekend as we attempt the pottyathon. You will hear this song ringing from our house:

My tushy feels better when I POO! My tushy feels better when I POO!
My pee pee likes to wee wee! My pee pee likes to wee wee!

It's really more of a rap.

Me, Dolly and the door that separated us

Here is the text conversation between JoAnna and I this morning:
Jo: Holy BEEEEEEP. DOLLY PARTON JUST SAID HELLO TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: No way. NO WAY! Is she at PLG??!?!?!
Jo: I'm at Sound Kitchen waiting on Third Day and she JUST WALKED IN and I looked up and saw her (and died) and she said HI!!! Then I died again.
Me: NO WAY! I am headed straight there. Find her and become her best friend RIGHT NOW.

Then I went to the Sound Kitchen (please remember I was late because of a certain milk man). By the time I got there Dolly was tucked away in a studio. I might have stood outside the door for a long, long, long time. She never came out. But I knew she was in there. And she didn't know I was on the other side of the door... or maybe she did and that is why she never came out? nah.. of course she would have wanted to say hi to me! Brian (guy I work with) and I seriously sat outside the door in 95 degree heat until our event began and we were forced to go inside. Y'all we were willing to be arrested just for a chance to see Dolly. No really, we were plotting ways to get through the steel door that kept us separated. Alas, Dolly never came out (that we saw. There was an older blonde lady that came out, but she was no Dolly, unless Dolly really does look different when she isn't being DOLLY). In retrospect I really should have started singing 9 to 5 or Coat of Many Colors, OR, even better, I will Always Love You.. THAT would have gotten her to come out and meet me!

I guess I will have to wait to meet her in the grocery store, it just wasn't meant to be today. Honestly, it's for the best, I was too busy to really have the in depth conversation I know she will want to have with me.

L-I-am - The Milk.

When arriving at school today the milk truck was there delivering the milk.. in case you didn't know what a milk truck does, I thought I should throw it out there that the milk truck delivers milk. It does.

Liam wanted to touch the milk truck. Don't ask me why, but Liam has a thing about wanting to touch cars, as if he can feel the spirit of the car calling out to him and he must touch it to be one with it. The milk man was no where in sight, so we touched the milk truck. Then the almighty milk man came out of the kitchen. Liam was in awe. He asked to wait and watch the milk man. I said, "sure... what's being late one more day to work." So we watched the exciting life of a milk man. He unloaded the crates of milk.

Then the milk man did something that made my son squeal with delight on the inside. He handed Liam his very own chocolate milk jug. One of those half sized milks so it fit in Liam's tiny little grip. He said to Liam, "here you go little guy, don't tell anyone but this one is for you." Liam mumbled a thank you and then his face glowed with pure awe. I think I should stop at this moment and tell you Liam has never allowed chocolate milk to cross his lips... but this milk. THIS milk was from the milk man. THE MILK MAN. THIS chocolate milk was a treasure beyond all the riches in the world.

He cradled the milk in his arms as we went into his classroom. Where he ran to Ms. Maggie and exclaimed how the milk man had given him the chocolate milk bottle. Then he ran to Mr. Jesse where he announced his arrival with the milk. And how he watched the milk man. And how the milk man was a god among men.

I didn't even try to pry the milk out of his hands, I figured the teachers could have that enjoyment. I decided to leave while Liam was on cloud nine.

One Hot Weekend

This past weekend was full of Life is Good moments for our little one. He started out the weekend in a toy shop. Let's be honest... he has found his happy place. This toy shop is not like all the other toy shops in the world. This toy shop has a bazillion cars for him to open and shut the doors on. A bazillion. For real. BAZILLION.

Plus... get ready for this... a train. A TRAIN PEOPLE! You would have thought this train was carrying the Holy Grail.
Liam stared.
Mouth open.
At the train.
That went round and round.
and round.
FOR AN HOUR.


Later in the day we headed to Brendan's birthday party. You remember Brendan.. the boy that kisses Liam. Brendan is a super cute little guy and the best part is that when he says L's name he says his whole name. He runs around saying "LIAM BUCKINGHAM! LIAM BUCKINGHAM!" Below is a picture of L making sure he is as close to the cupcakes as possible. Brendan is the little boy next to L. My favorite part of this picture... the line up of drinks -water, sippy cup, and Mike's hard lemonade. The lemonade was L's. Duh.

Also, I might have let my son eat two cupcakes, but that's ok because he doesn't eat the icing and we all know that's really the worse part of the cupcake. So two is good.. right? I mean the other mothers might have given me a look of really? Really! You are going to let your child eat TWO cupcakes! Why Yes. Yes, I am going to let my kid eat TWO cupcakes. And you know what, he'll be okay. After the sugar high, he will be just fine. thankyouverymuch.

In the biggest news yet... let's discuss how far L has come with eating. First it was a piece of squash.. this happened the other night. Of course, as a reward for eating one little piece of squash he got a brownie. Yup, that evens out. If you haven't noticed, we might have a problem with a sugar tooth child. Oh well, guess he is human after all... whew, that takes a lot of pressure off me!

And now... L has decided he can eat grapes again! Sure, he contorts his face as though we have given him a sour patch kid rather than a yummy, juicy grape... but at least that darn little grape goes in his mouth. I call that a win folks.

ps.. this pic was taken while L and I were enjoying a little mother and son time at the zoo this past weekend. It took all my restraint to not jump the elephant fence and take a quick dip in their watering pool.

L-I-am

Yesterday Liam let me know he wanted to have his birthday party at his house with his friends. I tried to explain that we were having a party at the beach with family instead of having one here in Nashville. He didn't like that. He said he should have two parties. So finally I asked, "Okay, what kind of party do you want?"
Liam, "A dance party." (he was very matter-of-fact when he told me)
ME, "hahahahaha. A dance party? and what do you do at a dance party?"
Liam, "DANCE!" then he shook his cute little butt.

L-I-am

Tonight Pol and I were discussing whether or not daycare tells parents when their kids act up. We figure kids push each other all the time, so they probably don't tell parents unless the child does it a lot or something. Then suddenly from the backseat (we were in the car) Liam pipes up and says "I broke a book." Pol and I look at each other and ask him to repeat what he said since we didn't quite understand him. He said "I broke a book." I said, "When did you break a book?" He said, "At school. Then I go to timeout. I went to timeout for breaking a book." Well okay. Thank you honest Abe. I wonder if he was listening to our conversation and thought, "Oh, no. I better 'fess up before my teachers tell them I was in timeout!" Or if he thought, "Oh yeah! I am cool because I was sent to time out. I am going to impress mom and dad and let them know." From the tone of his voice, he sounded sort of proud of breaking the book, but not so proud of timeout.

School Days

We had a little hump with school, there was a period where going wasn't his favorite thing to do. I blame it on the pressure of the poo. It appears we have moved beyond this season and he is once again happy to go play with his friends. It is really not hard for me to drop him off there, I know he's going to have a whole day of playing with his friends, and 99% of the time he's excited to go.

Here's the kicker. Every morning after we are in the building and he washes his hands and I sign him in. He gives me a big ole hug and goes "I love you, and I watch you leave!"

And then I see this little face wave goodbye and blow me kisses from the window. And I KNOW he is about to turn around and go play trains or trucks or be a dinosaur, but it still breaks my heart to leave that little guy when he is so dang adorable.

click on the picture to make it bigger and you can see his sweet little face.

L-I-Am

Liam: mommy, you... you... you.... I... I... I... not going to use the toilet today.
Me: buds, you can sit on the toilet this morning.
Liam: NO! I don't wannnttt to use mmmmyyyy toilet.
Me: No really, you can sit there for an hour. I got up early for the occassion.
Liam: Mommy, I don't WANT to use the toilet today. (stomping feet for emphasize)
Me: Thanks... can you let me know the plan tomorrow before I get up uber early for no reason.
Liam: Mommy... you use the toilet for an hour?
Me: Thanks buds... I just might do that, I have some time to kill.

For no real reason I took a picture of Liam before we left for school, perhaps it was because I wasn't rushing out the door, but here he is looking like he is going to woo the ladies, or maybe get another kiss from Brendan. haha.


ps. I was still late to work! How in the world?!?

Beat up

This is what Liam's legs look like:

We do not push him down. We pinky swear!

L-I-Am.

A new addition to the blog.. the L-I-Am. (like Sam-I-am, only L (for Liam)-I-am). I know.. clever... don't worry if you don't get it, took Pol awhile too, my cleverness is on a different level than most folks. :-) Everyday Liam does something that I think to myself... I need to write that down, but I don't. Then I forget. And I am sad I forgot, even though I don't know what I forgot, but I know it was something I didn't want to forget. SO tonight I was telling Pol that I wanted to write down the funny things Liam does or says each day. He said.. isn't that why you have a blog? Why yes it is! L-I-am is born.

Today's L-I-am.
I drop him off at school and his little friend, Brendan, runs up to him and yells LIAM! Then he takes Liam by the shoulders and he bends down (Brendan is oddly tall for their age) and he plants a kiss on Liam's cheek. It was so cute.

Choices

Liam is learning to use the potty (YAY!) as a reward, he gets to pick out a car from the magical bucket o' cars that appeared one evening (thanks to Target for having Hot Wheels on sale) to his extreme delight. He only gets a car if he poos or pees in the potty. I am well aware this is an expensive reward. Yes, M&Ms would have been much cheaper, but my son knows how to hold out for the good stuff, the old candy trick was not enticing to him. The first time we mentioned he could get a vehicle out of said bucket o' cars he ran to that toilet like his little butt was on fire. For a boy with hemorrhoids, wanting to go near the toilet is a big deal!

OH, have I not told you? My precious baby has hemorrhoids! Yup. And in 15 yrs when he reads this blog he will think.. REALLY MOM? REALLY? You just had to tell the world I had poo issues, didn't you? Son, I already told the facebook world you prayed to Jesus to help your poo, the next logical step is the blog. We are all family and friends here in cyberworld. We need to share each others burdens. Let us all bow our heads to pray for the pain in Liam's tushy.

SO.. back to the lesson at hand. Peeing on the potty. Liam will now sit on the potty and if he goes, he gets a car. It's not as expensive as you might think. He has only gotten two cars in two weeks. At least he is trying to go, and that is what matters.

Here is my advice to all mothers who work outside of the home (to be PC): You should get ready for work an hour earlier during potty training time. Why, you ask? Because your child will want to sit on the potty for an hour. And he won't remember he wants to sit on the potty until it's time to get dressed, which is usually 10mins before you need to walk out the door. When I tell Liam we can sit on the potty at school he will wail, NOOOOO. I NEEEED to sit on MYYY potty at HOOOMMMEEE!!! To not traumatize him from the potty, I agree and we go the toilet.

Just to sit.
And read.

He is his father.

Here he is carefully choosing his prize. Tough decisions. I think he changed his mind 10 thousands times. Finally settled on a white truck.


ps.. yesterday he did poo on the potty at school! Much excitement and rejoicing was heard throughout the land of East Nashville! One of these days we will do the pottython weekend, as everyone recommends. But for now we are just building up the acceptance of the big boy potty.

Birthdays, Guns, and WHERE IS THE TIME GOING?

I feel insanely behind in everything these days! WHERE did May go?!? Guess it does not matter, it is gone. And June is marching on through. Pretty soon I will have a 3 yr old! A THREE YEAR OLD! Wow. Just so you know... he knows it's his birthday in a month. So if I were you, I would start toy shopping right now for him. He is going to expect a present, or two, or everything his little heart desires. I know this for a fact, as he has so much as told me so. Guess I better start finding a real plane to buy him, because that is what he wants. NOT a toy plane. A real one. Pol and I are working on that.

In other news.. he went to the birthday party for this little guy. And that little guy's mother gave my son a gun. We called it a squirter, but we all know.. it's a gun. JoAnna knows that Liam is going to need to know how to use this by the time he hits elementary school, so she is just helping him out. hahaha.

Liam loved the water gun. LOVED it. He did learn to shoot responsibly, so no one worry!


Here he is telling Ms. Evalia about his new gun. The cute kid on the table is Harry. Ms Evalia watched Liam when he was a wee baby and she also has watched Harry for the first year of his life.


PS. That night when Liam was in bed I suddenly hear him singing Happy Birthday. I think, oh sweet boy, singing Happy Birthday to Harry. Nope, he was singing Happy Birthday to himself. Seriously. He sang, "Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear Liam, Happy Birthday to me." He's ready for it to be his turn.

Appgirls

I spent my weekend with these girls:

and I could not have had more fun! I love these girls and I cannot wait to meet the newest member of the commune when Heather has her little guy in August!