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| Family picnic at ASPIRE park - too bad it was COLD AND WINDY! (A & dad) |
2012 started with a bang. Or more like a thud. After Brady and Aidan had been pretty successful with the potty for 2 months (already in undies for naps and nighttime by the end of December -WOOHOO!) we thought it might be time for Gavin to take the plunge, as it were. As of the winter break, he was the only kid in his class not potty trained. We had been asking him if he was ready to pee in the potty (hadn't done it since Halloween), wanted to wear big kid underwear, have a potty party, etc. and he was saying he was by this time. We knew it might be a long shot because he still wasn't telling us when he had dirty diaper, but he seemed so positive about wanting to wear underwear and pee in the potty, we thought he might be ready. His brothers were pretty supportive about him having his own potty party, which was pretty cute. So dad took Aidan and Brady the Saturday after New Year's so that Gavin and I could have his party. Let's just say, it had no legs.
While he was the most into teaching the doll to pee and poop and reading to it and watching videos and singing with it (compared with A&B), it doesn't seem he was ready to make the jump for himself. He started wearing big kid underwear around 1030 AM and by 130PM had peed 3 times in the toilet, had 7 accidents (i.e. had gone through ALL of the underwear!) and had sat on the toilet for at least 45 minutes of those 3 hours. After his nap and having a couple of accidents after that, we decided to go back to diapers before we scarred the kid. Since then, he has said he does NOT intend to wear underwear or pee in the potty. So back to square one. Curt and I aren't concerned (though his teacher seems to be) - we know when he is ready, he is ready and there is nothing we can do to force the issue. Until then, we just ask him if he wants to use it and encourage him like we always have. Luckily, A&B don't seem to think much of it and aren't giving him a hard time about it.
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| Gavin's "clinically dislocated elbow" |
Sadly, our attempt at a family picnic ended in a trip to ER for dislocated elbow - OUCH! We had picked up some shistawouk (yummy grilled chicken wraps) from a local place and drove to ASPIRE park for a little change up to our routine one weekend. We got out of the car to a ridiculous wind storm, that Curt and I were determined to beat. The boys were pretty darn cold (see Aidan top pic) but were game to at least try it. After we ate, we tried to warm them up by running around and chasing them and just getting some energy out. At one point I see Curt is swinging Aidan around. I decide to do that with Gavin and grab ahold of his hands. The first two times around we are both laughing and having a blast, but on the third swing (as he got to going faster and his weight became that much greater of force) I hear a POP from his left arm. His eyes bug out at the sound/feeling and he then begins to cry. I immediately shut it down and lay him on the ground. Seeing as how he is usually pretty indestructible, I know his crying means something pretty bad has happened. So we load everyone up in the car and drive to the ER. The ER doc tries to put it back twice, but to no avail. Poor Gavin will NOT lift his arm at all and whimpers at the slightest movement of his arm. We end up getting an orthopedist appt for the next day (though in retrospect, we wish we had just tried to barge in for a walk in that night) and he gets a sling, some pain meds and lots of attention. When I take him in the next day and explain what I did to him (oh my i still feel TERRIBLE!) the dr. has me put him on the table and within about 3 seconds says "there it goes". Gavin cried at the initial movement of his arm, and then sort of at the memory of it. The dr. has us wait a few minutes and then asks him to move his arm. Gavin uses his good arm first (still afraid of what his other arm felt like I'm sure) and then waves at the dr. with his left arm. It was so cute to hear him say "my arm works!". With some words of advice ("uh, don't swing them by their arms") we were out of there and back in time for nap time with his brothers!
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| ABG after a haircut from mom - Gavin looks like SUCH a big kid! |
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| After a fun day at the park (BAG) - I loved how G's arm was around A |
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| GBA - we love our new helmets from Aunt Erica and Uncle Chad! |
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| Aidan says "Safety First! You can NEVER be too careful!" |
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| Brady got into the stickers |
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| A&G wanted to see what they looked like |
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| Mom and Gavin goofing around at Johanna's b-day party - he's a little sweaty . . . |
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| . . .From the BOUNCE HOUSE! |
Some friends of ours have 2 girls and one is in the same class as the boys at Creative Child. Johanna just turned 3 in early January so they had us over for a kids party in the morning and a smaller family BBQ in the afternoon. In case you ever have a chance to rent a bounce house for ANYTHING, and they ask you if you want the one with the slide or without the slide, ALWAYS go with the slide. Always. Gavin would wait a tth etop for the other kids to get out of the way, then take a step, a hop and then JUMP off the top of the slide. . .
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| Gavin catches some MONSTER AIR! |
So after a total of about 5 hours of bounce housing, our boys were BEAT. When we got them home after dinner that night, I was getting toothbrushes and Curt was changing Gavin. Suddenly I hear him laugh out loud and he says "Belle! Get the camera!" I run downstairs and back up and find this:
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| Gavin shows what happens when you are wicked awesome on the bounce house slide. |
From all of that catching air on the bounce house slide, Gavin had TORN HIS DIAPER down the butt. It took me a couple of times to take the picture because I was shaking from laughing so hard. Awesome.
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| The boys asked to sleep together the night after the bounce house - Curt got this pic after they had conked. (ABG) |
A few funny things that come together in a delightful way. Ever since Gavin was young, he has LOVED to have his tummy lightly tickled. It has progressed so that sometimes when he is in bed, we will come in and he has pulled his shirt up and is gently tickling his tummy and chest. Or he will ask us to while we are watching a video - "Both Hands!". :) Anyway, Aidan has developed a habit of taking his shirt off at the table so that it hangs around his neck under his bib (yes, they still willingly wear bibs - we aren't going to tell them otherwise). Brady of course always seems to be the one to verbalize how he is putting the pieces together. One day during lunch Aidan has taken his shirt off under his bib. Gavin sees this and immediately pulls his shirt up and begins gently tickling his own tummy and chest (and nipples). Brady see THIS and begins to do what Gavin is doing, stopping on his nipple and says "What's this?" I say "That's your nipple". He finds his other one and says "What's this?" I say "That's your other nipple". Then Brady says (and I could see it coming but was NOT prepared) "What's it for?" All is quiet for a minute as I try to think how I might explain it to him Curt says "It's decoration." Curt and I then begin laughing hysterically, as do the boys, but they seem happy with the explanation. It was awesome . . .
