Tossed the Towel in with the Pull Ups

Potty training SUCKS. The only reason I'm doing it this early is daycare. They won't move Little Man up to then Threes until he can at a minimum verbalize that he needs to use the potty. He's bored to tears in the Twos. He outgrew that room a month or so ago but he is not ready for potty training.

He does not recognize the need to go. He's been in underwear for 4 days now and he still can't recognize the need to go. I am really questioning my decision to move forward with potty training right now but there is no turning back. He loves his underwear. Putting him back in pull ups would devastate the kid.

So now it is about to become daycare's problem. I've packed up 5 pairs of underwear and 5 pairs of pants. I'm not sure that is enough. We've had him in underwear only the last 4 days so the laundry has been minimal. It's about to get worse.

Of course, with my luck, it will finally click at daycare. At least I'm praying it will. I'm hoping they will put him with several kids who've already figured it out - maybe it will rub off on him. Most kids don't potty train until sometime in the 3rd year so why the hell do they make potty training a stipulation for moving into the Threes? It should be a stipulation for the Fours.

But there are worse things to worry about so I will step off my soap box. Besides, it isn't the only reason I'm grumpy. I've got a stye the size of Texas on my upper eye lid. It takes a good 1-2 hours for the majority of the swelling to go down each morning and each morning the swelling is worse. My eye lid had 3 rolls this morning. I didn't think it was possible. Should be fun in the office tomorrow.

I also chose today to quit smoking. Talk about running head first into an abyss. Need a stock tip? Dentyne. I am going to single handedly triple the production levels of their Arctic Ice gum. At least on that count I can claim so far so good. It isn't easy but I have a laundry list of reasons why I need to keep this up. Yoga isn't hurting the situation either. I finally took the plunge and love it. For now, I'm doing it in the comfort of my own home but down the road, the money I used to dump into cigarettes may pay for a class or two instead.

The main reason is, of course, my son. I want to be a part of his life for as long as possible and the one thing I would never wish on him is to watch one of his parents die from something horrible like Cancer or Emphysema.

And speaking of my son, today is his 3rd Birthday. My little imp wouldn't open all his presents on Christmas day but he sure as hell opened all his birthday presents this morning and then had the audacity to ask for more. He also demanded his "happy birthday" (meaning cake) and was OK with the fact that he had to wait until his party next week.

Potty training may be stressful for all involved but he is still an incredibly loving and intelligent little boy. His imagination and problem solving skills are really taking off. He's terrified of dogs. The neighbors have a new puppy, Murphy. He loves the puppy. From a distance. He sees how much fun his friend is having with his puppy but he can't get over his fear. His solution? He now has an imaginary dog name... Murphy. Every action the real Murphy does that causes a panic attack in Little Man is conducted by the imaginary Murphy. It's perfect - it's a controlled environment and I'm able to explain all the actions to him. He (finally) understands that if a dog tries to lick you, it doesn't mean he's trying to eat you.

So my Little Man. Today you made me laugh. You made me bang my head against a wall a few times. You made me feel 100 times better when you offered to kiss my boo boo. You ran up to me many times to give me a random hug. You yelled at me for yelling at your father (He'll say it was undeserved and the result of a nicotine withdrawal. I say I was right and it had nothing to do with the nicotine. Can I stick my tongue out now?). A normal day in the Brown household except we wish you a very happy Birthday.