Beginning of the End
Ah, the last vestiges of babyhood are fading fast.Merrily, Lux skips to school five days a week without looking back. Nick enjoys his two days as well, and wishes they were more. We are filled with anxiety over sending Lux to the big bad public Kindergarten next fall, but she seems fine with the notion.
They sleep well, in their own beds, much more often than not. They are well behaved, as much as preschoolers ever are. They are experienced travelers who don't blink at having to remove their shoes and open their toy laptops at security checkpoints. They can be taken to most restaurants with ease, something they have had the opportunity to improve upon since our renovation began six months ago and we lost our kitchen.
And now Nick is learning to use the potty, with an ease and nonchalance which has us shaking our heads. He is nearly three now. Certainly in some parts of the country, and in some points in time, he is past due to learn. But Lux learned shortly after her own third birthday, and was quite average in that regard, so we haven't pushed things.
It seems as if there are two schools of thought about the potty training - start them early and keep on working at it, or wait until they are ready and get it done quickly. Six or more months of accidents and running to the potty or few days of focusing on the issue and then it is done. Call us lazy, but the latter was preferrable.
So, we awaited some sign from Nick that he was ready. He has shown no interest. And given the chaos that is our under construction home, we weren't about to push matters. Last weekend we visited our friends the Blacks, whose son Leo is working on his own training and has mastered the pee portion of it all. Nick was blase about that, at best.
But at Target yesterday there was noticeable slowing as we walked down the potty aisle. What is this one? And this one? Hey, look, a Cars potty seat!
Sure we already have something similar, but what is 10 bucks compared with diapers which sell for 25 bucks a pack? We buy the seat, which Nick happily carries through the store. At home he hops on for a minute, claims success and hops off. Of course, there was no success, but it was a nice start, especially given how willingly he sat on the seat. Lux had needed a bit more coercing.
Daddy comes home! Let's show him our new seat! Nick hops on and asks, sweetly, for privacy please. We respect his request, checking in on him from time to time and reminding him to let us know when he is done. A few minute later, he announces he is done and to our great surprise he is. After a happy dance, Nick gets his first lesson on flushing poo down the potty.
And this morning, he awoke with a dry diaper, sat on the potty, made his request for privacy and did his business yet again - pee this time. Surely it cannot be this easy. We are keeping our fingers crossed.
These days, when not focused on bathroom issues, the children are consumed by Star Wars, Princesses, Cars and Power Rangers. A few weeks back we made our historic First Trip To Disneyland, which went very well. Nick was probably a bit young, but enjoyed himself, and Lux warmed up to the characters quite well. She is not so naturally outgoing that she would run up and talk to them, but after meeting and speaking at length with the kindest Ariel in the world, she insisted on posing for photos with every character we came across.
February was an amazing time to go to Disneyland. No crowds or heatwaves, just a nice visit. We went midweek, with Nana Jane, and booked a suite at the Disneyland Hotel. While checking in the morning of our first day, one of the front desk workers started chatting with us. She gave Lux and Nick little bags of goodies and then, when she found out it was their first visit, said she had some extra magic for them.
The woman pulled out special buttons that proclaimed "My First Visit" and told the children to wear them for extra magic. She also asked them about their favorite characters. All throughout the park, workers saw the buttons and spoke kindly to the children about their first visit. At one point one worker gifted Lux with a Tinkerbell pin she pulled from her pocket.
Then, back at the hotel room, there were special deliveries for the children - hand decorated envelopes containing autographed photos. Mickey and his pals for Nick and the princesses for Lux. I think they are real Disneyphiles now.
We rode the monorail into the park that first morning and exited just in time to see Darth Vader and his stormtroopers doing battle with tiny children who had been outfitted with Jedi robes and light sabers. Lux jumped with pleasure and Nick was stunned and excited to the point of total silence and stillness. We watched this show each day of our visit. Perhaps next time Lux will be bold enough and Nick old enough to participate.
All in all a wonderful experience, and the trip to California was a nice break from the renovation which is moving at a glacial pace. We found ourselves scrambling to make birthday plans for Nick when it became evident that our home would not be ready. Winter birthday parties, it seems, book far in advance.
Still, we have managed to find something, and though it won't be the grand party we would have liked to throw him, he will enjoy himself. And he has asked for a Darth Vader cake which we can, without guilt, order from bakery, as we have no oven and our creative juices are down to a trickle after so many months of living out of boxes and eating out of the microwave.
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