So I'm tired of diapers. I really would like to potty train Liam. So Zachary and I set out to get it done this weekend. We've got a few days of Zachary being off so we are just going to put Liam in underwear and try to get him to sit on the potty every 20 minutes until he goes and then 40 minutes after that and then every 20 minutes again. Spoiler alert- it's not going to work. Here he is sitting on a towel and cradling a guitar.
So we started out well- he used the potty! And then I took Malia to the gym and while I was gone, he refused to sit on, totally messing up our plan. He wet his underwear but didn't care. So the purpose of putting them in underwear is when it's wet they're supposed to not like it. When your kid couldn't care less, the strategy doesn't work very well. So we gave up. We decided he's not ready and since all his scores say he's at the age equivalent of under 3, we're not going to put so much pressure on ourselves.
Also, this evening, Zachary picked up a couch he found on Craig's List. We are going to rearrange the house a bit so that now the downstairs room has a couch and a bed and the living room has two couches- and now we're going to "retire downstairs" after the kids go to bed- our latest attempt to get Liam to go to sleep- we're thinking if he can't hear the tv on the middle floor, maybe he'll think we're asleep and he'll give up and go to sleep himself. Here's a video of the kids acquainting themselves with the new couch:
And Zachary set them up for lunch today- we've been super strict about making sure they eat all their meals at the table- we want to eventually get our carpets cleaned but there's no point if they are just going to keep spilling stuff all over the floor so we're trying to make it to where we don't have a lot of trouble getting them to eat at the table. But today- Zachary treated them to this set up: eating lunch and watching Bubble Guppies!
So I have no pictures from today- only a video. This had been going on a while before I thought to take a video- they're such good sharers... sometimes.
Also, I wrote the other day about Liam's scores but if the specialists had been with him today, their scores would have been a lot higher. We were watching Bubble Guppies and I was asking him what color hair each one of them had- he got them all right even if they weren't on the screen when I asked about them. Then I asked about what color each of the Sesame Street characters and he got all of them right even though we weren't watching it and there were no pictures of them or anything anywhere around! Every time he got one right he would give me a kiss- it was so sweet. I spent some extra time with him getting ready for bed- I was rubbing his hair and then pretended to be asleep so that he would go to sleep and he started rubbing my back. Such a sweet boy! Also! I found out today that Irma, Liam's favorite, has been teaching him how to say "here." He says something that sound like "Hurr," but now he is saying "he-err." I noticed it was getting better but today when I picked him up from the gym one of the other girls commented that Irma's been doing a good job with him!
I only have one picture from today- Malia fell asleep in the car for about 20 minutes. But thankfully, there was very little traffic so it wasn't too bad of a ride!
We went to church this morning- the kids love playing in the nursery at Daps' church! Grandma made a delicious lunch that the kids loved!
They slept well last night but not the nights before and it's definitely catching up with them.
Liam continued his need for walking multiple times a day- he's got a new habit of walking and then asking to get on Daddy's shoulders.
Malia grew very attached to an Elmo doll at the church and when we were leaving, I asked if Daps could return it instead of me having to pry it from her hands, they said she could keep it! I'm still going to try to leave it tomorrow so it can be returned but we shall see.
We had so much fun last night and today we are going to drive over to see Daps and Grandma in Smithfield!
Malia got the Leap Pad because this is what Liam was doing:
Malia got her nap in later- I thought I heard her so I went in to get her and found this instead and thought it was too precious to not get a picture- I love her little opened mouth and her little hands together- and the fact that she uses a blanket- Liam never uses a blanket.
Also, I saw this and while it didn't apply to anything today, it has in the past and will in the future for sure.
Well today was one of my favorite days ever. I'm going to start at the beginning. This was the first time the kids and Zachary had been to my parents new house- here it is! How cute!
Liam was loving going for walks with Dad- here are some pictures Zachary got.
Zachary went to the gym and my friend Alexandra came to visit us. We took the kids to a nearby park:
And later, my mom had gotten the kids a sprinkler toy so we brought that out and got them in their bathing suits- Malia had a blast... Liam wasn't so sure.
Also here's a video- it's kind of long- of Malia talking to a garden gnome. I wish I knew what she was saying!
Then later it was time for the whole reason we came down to NC... the Joshua Radin concert. Joshua Radin is my favorite singer. Ever. My friend, Jaimie, introduced me to his music in college and I loved his voice- I loved the acoustic guitar- I loved all of it. I would get on the elliptical at the Student Rec center for an hour and read James Patterson books- all of the Alex Cross series- and at the time he only had one album out so any time I hear one of the songs from his first album, I immediately picture the characters from this series of books in my head- it's so crazy. Anyway. Back in 2011 when Zachary went on deployment, he bought me tickets to see Joshua Radin in Raleigh- he bought two so I could take a friend with me- I chose Jaimie because she introduced me to him in the first place. We got to meet him after the show and I got him to sign my navy blue chucks that I was wearing- I assured him they were brand new. So anyways- I was super excited to go and even more excited that Zachary was going with me and my brother and Grace were going to! We ate at McAlisters before the show- yummmm.
I left my ID in the car so I was branded as underage.
The show was amazing. We were in the front row... I got to sit in the seat closest to him- I was so so excited.
Here's Matt and Grace in the nice blue lights:
During the show, Zachary was trying to get a picture of me with Joshua Radin in the background and a girl behind us asked if he wanted her to get a picture of the two of us- I love it!
Zachary had a bit to drink but nothing compared to the people sitting across the aisle from us. I had to get a picture of them to remember. Since Zachary was intoxicated he struck up a conversation with them which presented the perfect opportunity for me to snap a picture!
Before the concert started, I bought two t-shirts. I couldn't pick between the two so I just got both. I still wear the one I bought from his 2011 concert all the time so... it's fine. Also, I was kind of hoping they'd give me a wristband like they did in 2011 when I bought two shirts (that time one for me and one for Jaimie) but they didn't. Sad. But in the middle of the show, Zachary bought me this awesome lyric book and when he bought that, they gave him a wristband! He came back with the book and the wristband and I about started crying. It was such a great experience. He got to hear these songs that he's heard before as background music but really listened to the words this time. And when he heard this one song, Belong, he got emotional thinking of Liam and his struggles. So I decided when I got to meet him, I'd ask him to write out part of the song for Liam. So when I got up to him, I told him a little about Liam and said that he loves his music so much- when he comes on, Liam says "It's Josh! It's Josh!" He seemed so touched and wrote out "You hear it say 'Be Strong.'" It was such a great night- one I'll never forget!
We are heading to North Carolina today! I got Zachary this calendar with leadership quotes on it for Christmas because as a company officer at the Naval Academy- he's a leader and he's leading future leaders! This was today's quote- it's not looking good for our ride.
Here's Liam licking out the cheese from a pretzel/cheese snack...
I just loved how Malia had her little feet crossed- such a little lady!
Zachary hasn't been working a ton since the mids have left the Naval Academy- we've loved having him home more! In this picture, we were not moving- promise.
We had a meeting with Liam's Child Find specialists today. We got a report on his "performance age level/age range" for a variety of areas. While the numbers were kind of scary, the specialists reassured us that he knows a lot more than he shows us so the numbers aren't really accurate. So for instance, his cognitive age equivalent is 2.7 even though he's 3 years and 8 months old. His communication age equivalent is 2.1, his social/emotional is 1.8, his adaptive (having to do with self-help like dressing, eating, etc.) is 2.5, his fine motor is 2.2 and his gross motor is 2.2. So this explains a lot! It explains why he gets so frustrated because he is super smart but isn't able to express everything he knows. It also means that since he is more than 25% behind, he gets to continue services. He will have different specialists during the summer and depending on how he's doing at the beginning of the school year, they may place him in a preschool environment with other kids for 2-5 days a week to improve these scores- we'll see! This is what Malia was doing while we were going through all the information:
When we got home, we took naps and then Malia and I headed out to meet Amy, Evie, Annie and Ashley for a playdate at Kinder Farm Park. Zachary sent me this picture of Liam- this is closest we're going to get to him using the potty for a while I'm afraid.
I had so much fun getting to spend one-on-one time with Miss Malia. She loved the animals- she talked to this chicken:
She actually put her hand through the fence and touched these pigs:
Saw this on facebook and loved it:
So we took Liam's door knob off and put it back on with the lock on the outside because nothing else is working. I forgot to lock it after bringing him a snack so this is what we found when we came upstairs to go to bed:
I follow this MOPS Swap Page and one day, a lady was getting rid of 18 month girl clothes so I quickly claimed them. One article in my goody bag was this little bath robe. Malia is a fan. Also, she has many faces.
First here's a picture of Malia copying her momma. I've been using this roller on my quads because they have been so sore. I did it a few hours before this picture was taken- she's got a good memory!
Also, I saw this today and laughed out loud because Zachary was sitting right next to me.
Anyway- now onto to the fun part of today! Zachary runs. A lot. So he was running the other day and found this tiny little playground in a neighborhood that he has never seen kids on so we drove there to check it out.
After they were tired of the new playground equipment, we went on a walk. We found honeysuckle and pointed out some butterflies and birds- it was fun! Until Liam tripped and busted his knee open- that ended our excursion real quick! Have to share another Facebook picture I saw:
And a picture of our cats- Joey had been grooming Marley for a solid five minutes before I finally got a picture of them. They love each other.
