Harry Potter Theme Park!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter:

Opening late 2009 at Universal Studios Orlando. "A theme park within a theme park" they say. Can't wait. The boys will be old enough for me to leave them behind then, won't they?

Kyla, didn't you say you sometimes wished you could vacation at Hogwarts? And now Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest. Awesome.

Boring Day

Not much going on around here today. Still trying to get back to normal. Easton still doesn't like milk and we don't let him have juice other than his 6 ounces in the morning (mixed with 2 oz. water). If he was in underpants still then they'd be dry almost all the time. He's dry pretty much every morning. On the plus side, it does seem like he's eating more...at least today (and he had those sunglasses on all morning, definitely the whole time he was eating and watching Sesame Street):

Eating on the couch is normally not allowed but I made an exception this morning to get him to eat. And it worked. He ate a lot of oatmeal and I even had to make him more. That never happens.

He's being a bit of a bad sharer right now. He doesn't want to share Mommy with Dalton. We knew that had to come eventually, right? He did so well at first. But right now with Easton not feeling quite right if I have both boys on my lap he'll sometimes say, "No Dalton" or he'll yell in Dalton's face or squeeze Dalton's arm if Dalton touches him. I make Easton get down when he acts like this. He really doesn't like that. Did I mention he's clingy lately?


This is what Dalton thinks of it:



That boy and his tongue. He's really started doing it a lot more once we took away the pacifier. Now that he has the paci back he still does that with his tongue all the time.

He's such a sweetie:


His eyes are already a TON better:


Mine are not. In the early morning hours I had to go into Dalton's room. But, I literally couldn't open my eyes. So I felt my way down the hall (I know the path quite well by now) but I smacked loudly into Dalton's crib. Ouch. The resulting noise made him cry harder and woke Easton up. Oops. Darn pink eye.

We're not doing anything but sticking around the house today. Easton told me, "Want to color with markers, Mommy" so I got them out and told him to come sit on the tile by me. I hear him scribbling away on the paper. I kept hearing the scribbles but when I looked down he was no longer on the paper, the stinker!!! He had to help clean up:

Then the markers got taken away. He knows better. I know he was wanting some attention but, dude, I'm sick too. It's hard to be the mom sometimes.

I must do okay, though...Easton was very sweet to his Tato Head this morning:

He was walking it around, nuzzling it with his Cuddles and telling Tato, "I got ya" and put on the safari hat and asked sweetly, "That better? You okay?" I hope he's imitating me there? I'm sure he was imitiating me the other day when he told a large truck next to us, "Stop. Listen to me." in a calm but very firm tone. Hee hee! Sometimes I hate to hear what I sound like. But that wasn't so bad.

Well, Dalton's up. Of course they're on opposite schedules today. Oh well. I like some one-on-one time too! Just not as much since I feel like poo... Anyway, toodles!

The Eyes Have It

Pink eye, that is. 2 people. 4 eyes. All conjunctified (yes, my other eye has rapidly developed the infection as well). But we each got our own bottle of drops so that's good. Except I think I might have touched my dropper to my icky eyelid which is a definite no-no. Oops.

I bet Easton is next. He's being so very clingy and cranky. And still not drinking much. *sigh*

My throat...when I reminded her to look at it...is red. That's all I got.

According to the doctor: Good news! It sounds viral. Which means in "up to 2 weeks" we should be feeling as good as new. I was like, "That is good news?" and she said, "Yes, because you don't have to take antibiotics." Whatev. I would've been fine with some bacteria and antibiotics if it meant feeling better in 24 hours. It's not like I wanted antibiotics for this if it doesn't need antibiotics, I just would strongly diagree that it is "good news". She is whack. I really hope I have an excuse to change doctors soon. And if I don't have a real excuse I will make one.

She made me kinda mad today. First, Easton--who was behaving better than most 2.5 year olds I know...especially considering he was woken from his nap and dragged to the doctor for other people's appointments...anyway...he was standing next to his chair in the exam room. He was bored so I asked him if he wanted to draw and he said no. Then the doctor butted in and told him (not in a snooty way but still...) "this isn't a playground. This is my office so I need you to be quiet." Huh!?!? He wasn't playing, he was standing there bored. Shut your pie-hole, doc. I'll deal with him if he's being loud. BUT HE'S NOT! Then, a little later I asked him to stop playing with the stirrup for the GYN exams. He did. But then he stomped one foot one time. No sound came out of his mouth for this. Just the one little "it-sucks-that-Mom-won't-let-me-do-anything-here-but-I'll-listen-to-her-cause-I'm-a-mostly-good-boy" stomp. And the doodie doctor said, "Wow. That is a really great tantrum. I bet you practice those tantrums." WTH?!?!? And if she thinks a teeny-weenie foot stomp is a tantrum then I bet her "family practice" experience has been quite limited.

You see why I want a new doctor?

I feel like mega-crap tonight. Both eyes itching and blurring and my throat is worse than it's been. Jason made me a cup of tea. I want another one.

Moms shouldn't be able to get sick. It's not like I can take any time off.

But there's your update. Thanks for checking in.

Where Should I Begin?

Oh my there is SO much to catch up on but I don't even know where to start. So let's just find some pictures from way back when and we'll go from there. How 'bout that?

These are from Tuesday, the calm before the storm:




And Dalton who was almost all better:


You've already heard more details than you wanted about Wednesday (the worse birthday EVER) but here is the best picture we could manage of that day:


So, I've also told you how Dalton woke up with a red and puffy eye (his non-clogged tear duct eye) on Thursday. But, he was still happy enough so after applying a warm compress I used the wet washcloth to give him a mohawk:


Future rockstar indeed:


Easton also got a new shirt. When I showed it to him he said, "It's cute." Goober:


That afternoon we met up with Jason at Red Robin to get my free birthday burger. Easton wanted to bring his cowboy hat which was fine with me so I don't remember why he got so sad here:

I still like the picture of the crying cowboy for some reason. Poor kid still isn't 100%. No one around here is yet.

Saturday we went out to Atlanta Bread Company for some breakfast. Then Jason had some "me time" here at home in the basement. I can't imagine wanting to stick around the house during "me time" but that's probably because he spends way less time here than I do. Anyhoo...

Sunday the boys played pirates:




This one cracks me up because of the look on Easton's face towards Dalton as he's about to brandish the Tato Head sword:


After naps and all my mom and Lauren came up (as previously mentioned) so Jason and I could go to my favorite restaurant, The Melting Pot, for my belated birthday dinner. The bonus about going on a day other than my birthday was that we got to use a coupon. They sent a coupon where you get a percentage equal to your age off the meal. But it's only valid Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday...not Wednesday like my birthday was on. And I'm a stickler for wanting to celebrate holidays on their actual day...my birthday included. Don't know why. But that's how I prefer it.

Anyway, here we are before we left:


Easton kind of had a hard time when we first left. Still not feeling his best and still somewhat traumatized from the daycare experience, I'm sure. He finally came around a little when they went out to do sidewalk chalk and my mom drew a picture of J and I at our restaurant. Then E stopped crying. He even rode (got pushed on) his tricycle to Sonic for ice cream. Dalton just slept a bunch. He prefers to do his sleeping during the day, it seems. Not really. He doesn't like to sleep much period. Not long, quality, restorative sleeps, anyway. But I already said all that in the last post.

So, as we were driving to dinner I said, "Man, my contact is bugging me. It's all cloudy." And my eye was minorly goopy. Minorly. When we got home I took out my contacts and things were still cloudy. Before I went to bed I decided "Oh crap! I have pinkeye!" because it progressed very rapidly. I woke up somewhat like this:

Once I could get it open, that is.

Dalton and I have appointments this afternoon. I'm gonna have to have her look at my throat. And of course, D's eyes seem better right now. I haven't cleaned them at all today, poor kid. But, I wanted her to have undeniable proof that things are amiss. His eye was better on Friday too but was icky over the weekend so he can't be trusted. His eye can't, anyway. Here's D man doing his best Dr. Evil, "One million dollars":


And sticking out his tongue like he likes to do:


You don't have to look too hard to see his crusty eyes in those. I feel bad for not cleaning them today. He hates it anyway so he's probably happy.

Now they're napping and we'll leave pretty soon for the doctor. Can't wait.

I'm Not Even Gonna Try

I finished Harry Potter and have finally moved onto the "Sleep Lady's" book. Well, understandably you should pick a time when you don't forsee any disruptions: travel, birth of a new sibling, etc. before you start to sleep coach. Well, wouldn't you know it. Right after D turns 6 months old we'll be expecting visitors. And D will need to be sleeping with us for that time. Plus, the recommendations change once they turn 6 months old. So I'm waiting to "fix" him till then! Ack! Okay, so I'm reading the book and most likely I won't be able to help myself but to make a few adjustments...but we're not jumping in completely just yet. Darn library waiting list. He could've been fixed by now.

Oh well...he's still kinda sick. Certainly not 100%. He kept having a lingering low-grade fever even after his tummy bug was gone. On Thursday he woke up with a very red and swollen eye (his left, our right):

That, combined with the fever, made the doctor want to see him. So we had an appointment and on our way out the door we discovered the cat had peed in the carseat again!!! Aaarrrrggghhh! So I had to cancel. The sad thing is, once I discovered it (by placing Dalton in the seat) I actually left him there for a sec and contemplated just going anyway. But the seat was dripping...and reeking. So I thought better of it. Poor Dizzle. Just smiling away from the comfort of Blitz's new litterbox. On Friday his eye was seeming somewhat better.

But, it's clear that he's got some sort of eye infection. Day care to thank again? And it looks like I'm getting an eye infection now too. And Easton has what appears to be a stye on his eye. This is super. Plus (yes, there's more) I've got a horrid sore throat. And Easton's eating even less than normal and now doesn't like milk anymore either. That used to be his main source of calories and "nutrition". What are we gonna do now? He is super cranky from not getting enough calories, I think. I don't know that it's still the lingering after-effects from the bug, but I'm hoping so. When Lauren and Gramoo arrived tonight (to babysit for my belated birthday dinner out) Easton said, "I don't like food, Lauren" completely out of the blue. We laughed. But it's true.

So, yeah, it sucks that we all got so sick from that drop-in daycare and we're still having "issues" but they could've happened anywhere. Kids get sick. Kids get their parents sick. And even though the boys didn't have the time of their lives there we're still planning to take them back. Are we crazy? Perhaps. Plus we paid a $25 membership fee. Gotta try at least once more, right? :)

Anyway, I know I still owe y'all pictures and recaps from, like, Tuesday or Wednesday till now but you'll have to keep waiting. My stupid blurry, itchy eye and sore throat is making me want to stop this blog for tonight. Sorry!

"Family Portraits" This Time Last Year...

So really it was on the 27th, but who's counting? I just felt like sharing it again. And, AJ...you wanted to see the shirt:


Can you believe that turned into this?:

(That's my very last "belly picture" by the way, we took it just before leaving for the hospital the morning he was born.)

And then this?:


And 1 year later, this:

Short Post (for me!)

So things were like this:


Now there more like this again:


And D is back to sleeping like crap again:

Even if he does look super cute on his side like that, looks can be deceiving.

All is well. More later. The boys are waking from their naps.

The Worst Birthday EVER

So, 29 has started out very blah.

Literally.

Dalton passed on his tummy bug--to everyone! Just before midnight on my birthday eve I woke up to play everyone's favorite party game: Puke or Dook. Ick. I was sick much of the night not getting much sleep.

In the morning Jason was feeling a little icky but, at that time, his was only "downstairs" ;) Then Easton woke up. And after his O.J. and iron he puked. So I got woken up. And now Jason staying home from work wasn't going to help me to recover much since he was sick now too. So....

My mom came to my aid once again, God bless her. Since Dalton was now the only healthy one she came up and looked after him, helped with some laundry, and went out and bought us some replacement pillows (thanks to Easton) and some Gatorades. I don't know that we could've made it through yesterday without her. Even though I was done being physcially ill I was still exhausted and spent. I don't know how I could've taken care of Dalton in addition to tending to sick Easton who really only wanted Mommy. I kept wanting (and trying) to nap yesterday but poor E would keep calling for me just before he'd yak. Then he'd say, "Take a nap". Then the kid just about broke my heart: he was wanting to get out of bed but he was looking a little iffy so I asked him, "Are you going to throw up again?" and he said, "No. I be good boy." Awwwwwwwww. I felt so bad that he thought his being sick made him think I thought he was "bad". Poor kid. He's never had a tummy bug before (even though he's a frequent yakker) so it was hard to watch. He was miserable and in the middle of heaving he'd cry, "All done! All done!" because he'd want it to be over but his body just wouldn't give him a break.

Before the end of the day he was feeling much better and even ate a little bit. I opened some cards and birthday presents, finshed Harry Potter, and we went to bed.

Easton told Jason this morning, "I not sick. I happy." I'm glad. Jason went into work today but D seemed to be up a lot last night so I'm still tired and nap-less. That's why I'm posting now. Maybe, just maybe, I'll try to get in a nap if it works out with both kids later. We'll see.

I still have pictures from Sunday that I never shared yet. But those are gonna have to wait a little longer still. Sorry.

No Wonder

So, it has become clear why Dalton was sleeping so great...sleeping through the night Sunday to Monday and then I let him take a 4 hour nap yesterday: he's sick. Thank you, Daycare!

He's icky sick...tummy bug. It is so sad. He's still got his cough and sniffles from their last illness and now this.

All day yesterday he was looking 'puffy' to me. Then there was that 4 hour nap. Now, normally I would never let him sleep this long mostly because I don't like him to go that long between eating. But, something told me it was okay and since Easton was napping too I selfishly enjoyed my Harry Potter and woke D up once E woke.

At his pre-bath nursing last night he drank lots and lots of milk. Then he had a huge puking session all over me and him and his rocking chair. Yum. I waited for Jason to come help me and then both D and I got in the shower to clean up. I felt so bad for him. He's still so sweet, even though he's not feeling his best.

Needless to say, last night was rough. Good thing he'd slept through the night before. He yakked again during the night and then this morning too. His armpit temp when he woke up was 100.0 without adding the degree some say you should add. I'm watching him closely for dehydration but he is managing to keep some milk down. Poor guy. I really really hope he doesn't pass this one to his big brother. Ick.

This is why my scrawny sickly kid avoided daycare (and church, etc.) for 2.5 years. His body couldn't have handled things as well. Colds could've quickly turned life threatening for E and his lungs. Having a baby that's been sick as much as Dalton is a switch. I sure hope he's getting all these things out of the way early. Probably not.

The other kid? Well, Easton is doing well with his Pull Ups, actually. I haven't asked him about pottying at all today but he has initiated 5 trips himself. And it's not even 10:00. I'm happy. With that, anyway.

But my sweet, sweet Dizzle. I hope this ends soon.

Ch-Ch-Changes

Wow. I really hate when I don't post over the weekend. There's always SOOOO much to catch up on. We had a very full weekend. Some of it (pictures and such) will have to wait till tomorrow even. But first things first:

Dalton has been sleeping better--tummy sleeping!
He slept through the night last night!! The previous 3 nights he'd been up just once or twice. But last night, I put him in bed at 8:30, he was probably out by 8:35. I didn't hear a single peep from him till 6:45!!! I nursed him then (thank goodness! I was hurting!) and then he went back to sleep till 9:10. I'm happy. I woke up twice wondering about him but didn't check on him till 6:30. His naps go SO much better on his tummy. No, I'm not kicking myself for not trying it sooner. Tummy sleeping is kinda scary and not recommended by the experts. But I feel okay with the choice now. Especially with all that sleep behind me!

We put the boys in daycare!
Just weekend drop-in care, though. My mommy friend Ember (Ellis's mom) told me about a place that does drop-in care on evenings and weekends. Her son goes there regularly. So, we toured it a few weeks ago with the boys and made plans to take them. Ember, bless her heart, knew this would be hard for me and Easton so she offered to schedule Ellis to be there at the same time. That was so awesome. After touring we were able to talk to Easton about it, "Soon you'll go to the place with the bee and the squares (things he liked there and kept talking about) and you'll get to play with Ellis while Mommy and Daddy go bye-bye. Then we'll come back and get you." He totally understood. In fact, Saturday was the big day and we dropped them off around 3:00 and Easton was like, "See ya!" and went to play with a 5 year old name Ben. Ellis wasn't even there yet but since he was doing so well we just left then. Apparently he did fine until about 5:30 when Ben left. Then he "got sad" and stayed sad pretty much until we went to get him. They served spaghetti for dinner. Easton didn't touch his. Apparently Ellis told his parents later, "Easton didn't eat. I like eating." and "Easton was sad". When they saw Easton he was happy so Ember wasn't sure what to believe till she heard the scoop from me. Easton did tell us, "I drank milk". Must have been dairy and non-chocolate but he said he drank some. I'll never know if he did or not.

Anyway, we peeked in the classroom before walking in to get E and he was on a new teacher's lap (they switched shifts or something which might have thrown E off, too) but he was holding it together while they read a book. As soon as he saw us though he was able to show how he really felt and he totally fell apart. He could hardly walk to us. It was sad. But he got over it quickly.

I'm not all that sure how Dalton did either. When we walked in the infant "teacher" was pushing two kids in a stroller. I just thought, "Oh, that's cute!" and then I realized, "Hey! That one's MINE!" I didn't even recognize Dalton at first. I had to look at his clothes. He looked sad but was holding it together too. Then once he realized we'd come back for him (okay, he's probably not that smart yet, but still...) he burst into tears too. I asked the teacher how he did and her answer was, "Well...it was his first time, right?" Uh. Yeah. Is that your final answer? Anyway..."he took a short nap" and drank his milks and she changed 2 diapers. That's all I know about his time there.

As a control freak like me who rarely leaves her kids it is strange to have so much of their time unaccounted for. When my mom babysits she knows how I am and gives me full reports on how it all went and writes down times of naps and all that for me. I'm spoiled by her. She'll recall how the conversations with Easton went around meal times or funny things he said or did. I got none of that from the daycare, not sure what I was expecting.

It sounds like a poor review, perhaps, but we were okay with it and we'll be going again. Ember offered to have Ellis there at the same time again. I just love her for that.

While the boys were there Jason and I went to see "Knocked Up" finally. We LOVED it. Right up our alley, humor-wise. Then we went to dinner and grabbed dessert from a bakery. Jason saved some of his cookie for Easton which was good as E didn't eat anything that whole time. We had a great date. I only called the center once and it was right after we'd left to tell them that I warm Dalton's milk. Otherwise I didn't even check in. That was probably a good thing because I was thinking Easton was still doing fine based on how he was when we'd left. I don't even know if he used their potties. I do know she "changed one B.M." She did a sorry job wiping him, though. I don't know if that was due to Easton resisting (a stranger has never changed him before) or if she just did a bad job. Oh well. It'll take some getting used to, I guess. For all of us.

We decided to put Easton in Pull-Ups instead of underpants
So, I may not have been all that forth-coming with some of the recent pottying details here in the official blog. Between this blog, emails, comments on other people's blogs, I.M.s, my mommy message boards and such I forget where I've shared what. So, I don't know if everyone realizes the whole scoop. After Easton's illness and beginning of his regressing last Friday things haven't been great. It's not just that he'd get distracted by playing and forget to go. Sometimes my "reminders" to try to potty (especially first thing upon waking in the mornings) would be met with "No! No! No!" or when he'd be sitting on the potty and I'd know he'd need to go he'd shout "All done! All done!" and then when I'd let him get up he'd go in his pants a few minutes later. That's the whole scoop. There are differing opinions on whether this kind of thing counts as "forcing" him or not which Jason and I talked a lot about this weekend. While we never physcially held him to the toilet or anything we also read "don't take no for an answer" and would tell him, "Yes, we're going to sit on the potty now" as just a part of the daily routine. Just like we eat every day or we put on shoes before we leave the house, we were trying to make some pottying part of his regular routine.

A big part of our job as parents (we feel) is sometimes having him do things he doesn't want to do. Whether it's for his safety: holding hands in the street, getting shots at the doctor, or not letting him play with knives...or whether its wanting him to be a respecting/respectable person: making him say "please", making him keep his clothes on in public, not letting him hit other people... or just general expectations to sit at the table during our family dinner time, stay in the corner during time outs for unacceptable behaviors, or go to bed (not necessarily sleep) when we decide it's time. He knows what to expect. Pottying too...

But we've decided to take a step back. He wasn't taking much potty initiative anymore and after talking with some other mommies and amongst ourselves we've decided on Pull Ups for now. We'll continue to ask if he wants to/needs to potty but I won't be bringing him to the potty or insisting he try before such and such. We'll see how it goes. So far today he's initiated 3 trips himself. Once (and the first time today) was when we got home from our doughnut run and I asked, "Do you want to take off your shoes?" and he said, "I wanna go pee pee!" and went. Then there was a big celebration, he got to eat a Skittles (new treat), and we called Daddy. He also wanted to go before his nap...twice...but that's nothing new. He always wants to potty when its time to sleep. We'll see how this goes with less pressure to "keep your pants dry".

He still tried to take the Pull Ups off after his 2 bowel movements today. That part is hard. I want him to be able to take them up and down himself...but not if they're dirty. That just makes things hard still. And messier.

I think I'm happy with this decision. I didn't know what else to try so this is what we came up with. At this point diapers are kind of out of the question. But with him in Pull Ups it's not quite as stressful for me to worry what he's doing out of my sight (like when I'm in the shower or putting Dalton down or something).

I hope I don't regret this one day. I'm really hoping he decides to come back around very soon. I guess how quickly he took to it was too good to be true.

I packed up his underwear and the visible reward/"prizes". He noticed the prizes were gone and said, "Oh no!" so I told him when he was ready for underwear again we'd get the prizes back out.

I decided to read the new Harry Potter without re-reading 5 & 6
There is just too much of a risk of people spoiling things for me so I decided to start reading. I'm excited. I'd rather be reading right now, actually...but...

Dalton is 5 months old today!

This seems way too fast and really snuck up on me. When Jason mentioned it last night I was so surprised that he was right. I've still been thinking and telling people that he was "4 and a half months". Wow. His childhood is nearly over. Okay, I'm being dramatic. But he's just getting so big so fast. *sniff*

And Easton's already shaving, for crying out loud:


Well, now that I've covered all those big things going on we can get to some pictures. Yesterday (Sunday) we celebrated my birthday with my mom by continuing our annual tradition of brunch at a fancy golf resort:

Look at the boys' matching outfits! There was a recent huge Children's Place sale and a mom I know online ordered those for her kids (with a dress for her daughter) so I had to copy her. I love when they coordinate.

So anyway, this brunch is awesome and I did my best to get my mom's money's worth! Jason did pretty good too. Easton enjoyed some chocolate covered strawberries:




And Dalton enjoyed Gramoo's lap:


Then we headed out to their grounds for some family photos...
Me and my matchers...I like Easton's choice of hand placement:


Just E:


Mom and Lauren:


Lauren and Easton:

Both boys have always LOVED Auntie Lauren. She can get such good smiles from D.

Daddy and Dizzle under a shady tree:


Mommy and Dizzle:




Mommy and Eastie:


Easton and Gramoo:

We think Easton looks like he's giving some sort of political speech.

Kisses for Gramoo:


Chasing Lah-nin:


We've taken many photos at that hotel over the years. Never in the same place, twice though I've realized. I love pictures. Could you tell?

Okay, well, I'm really itching to crack open a Vanilla Coke and go read me some Harry. This Muggle is O.U.T.!!!

Nice Mommy

I'm not talking about me...I'm talking about my mom. Realizing I was nearing insanity she offered to come watch the boys for me for a few hours this morning so I could get a break. Yes, I just had "me time" last Sunday but still...

It was awesome. The boys did very well for her and I was able to go do some shopping by myself and actually try things on. I probably shouldn't be shopping for myself this close to my birthday but whatever... I shopped for my boys too, of course. I just can't pass up a good deal. Or Buzz Lightyear underpants.

So, a huge thank you to my mom!!! I needed that.

Dalton seemed like he had a better night last night. (Doesn't it seem like Easton just grew out of these p.j.'s? He did. They're 12 month sized and finally got too short in the legs for Mr. E. J thought D looked like Santa in the pants so he took a pic):

It's weird that I'm saying that he had a better night because I was still up with him 3 times... But once he went to bed I didn't hear from him till after 1. Which is a change. And then I just gave him his pacifier (yes we give it back sometimes now since it made no difference in anything other than me losing my mind). So, gave the paci the one time. And again around 4:30. Then he nursed sometime around 5:30 and went back to sleep till 9:00. I'm not too hopeful, of course. I've been fooled before.

I was up with Easton twice...once he started calling out for milk and O.J. like it was time to wake up, the weirdo. And he wet the bed again which was no big whoop. I went in and he told me, "Uh oh!" and patted himself down and took off his pants. Then he went to his drawer for some new underpants. Cutie. I think I need some books or some advice from been-there-done-that parents on how to fix/address his regressing. I don't want to create huge issues over pottying but I don't know that putting him back in diapers is the answer either. This all sucks. I wish he had potty trained friends to hang around or something. Something to motivate him...*sigh*

E is such a sweet, sweet kid but he's in a weird place right now. I hate feeling like I might have broken him. I miss the mostly-compliant, eager to please boy he usually is. Look how sweet he is...while I was checking the weather online yesterday morning, he brought us some breakfast:


I hate how sad he looks here:

I only want him to be happy. I only want both of them to be happy. Play-Doh makes him happy:


Silly story...when Jason came home yesterday Easton had just finished up a bath after about 5 separate poops in his pants. So we were back downstairs and he was playing and we had some Laurie Berkner music on. Jason said, "What are you listening to?" and not realizing Jason meant "music" Easton said he was listening to "Mommy, say, 'Go poo poo! Go poo poo!' " Ha ha ha! That's what he was listening to. I was trying to encourage him to try to do more in the potty rather than putting on new underpants to have him do (doo?) it again (I knew he had to go more). Oh well.

Since E had been bathed and all I left him with J to put to bed and Dalton and I went to Wal-Mart. It was nice. Even if it was Wal-Mart. This potty training regressing is stressing me out big time, mostly because I feel like it's my fault, of course. But, even if I'm stressed, I'm not willing to hurt him further by putting him back in diapers...unless I should. And that's what I need to find the answers to.

Anyone? Anyone?? Bueller???