I think he’s potty trained.

 (Warning:  Potty Talk.  Reader discretion advised.)

This morning, we had a showing of our house, so I was baking cookies to make our house smell good and then bribe the potential buyers with the cookies.  Christopher saw what I was doing and announced his desire to eat a cookie.  Since it was about 9:00 a.m., I told him that he could have one later if he put poop in the potty.  (We’re still using bribes for going #2.  Please no one tell Christopher that cookies are supposed to be circles and not semi-circles, because he only gets 1/2 a cookie and thinks it’s great!)  Christopher thought a minute and said, “Mommy, say, ‘Do you need to go potty?’” (because he’s bossy like that).  So I asked him, and he said that yes, he needed to go poop.  Surely enough, I put him on the potty, and several minutes later he was happily enjoying his half-cookie.  This actually is not the first time he’s produced a bowel movement on demand to get sweets.  I’m not sure I could do that!

Imagination running wild

My apologies to my faithful readers for neglecting you . . . our house went on the market on February 26, about the same time that our first cousin was entering the world! Daddy’s sister and her husband welcomed Caroline Grace King just after midnight on Feb 27, weighing in at 9 pounds, 8 ounces. So now I know to blame Daddy’s side of the family for our 9-pound babies! Caroline is a healthy baby, eating well (but not yet sleeping well), and we are so excited she is here. A few days after her birth, the boys and I made the trip to Arkansas to see our niece/cousin. Will came down with an ear infection, Christopher had a runny nose, and it isn’t nice to give germs to newborns, so we’ll have to wait until our next trip in May for the adorable cousin photos. But one of Christopher’s stuffed animals has permanently been named “Caroline Grace” (first and middle name, every time, for some reason), and the stuffed animal gets fed, put down for naps and oohed and ahhed over on a regular basis (Christopher: “Look at that sweet little baby. She is so cute.”)

Now that Christopher is 3, his imagination seems to be in overdrive. He is always pretending to be something–usually “Baby Five” (a crawling, babbling, arm-flapping baby), a letter (saying nothing but the sound that letter makes), a Thomas the Train character, or a member of the worship team at our church (playing the appropriate instrument, of course). He is also becoming quite bossy and likes to assign everyone in the room a role in his pretend play and tell you exactly what to say and how to say it.

He also has his first imaginary friend (unless you count the time he was pretending to play with Daddy, but I try to forget that one). Mavis (a Thomas character) often joins us on car rides and other outings. I’ve been required to read Mavis a story (with Mavis sitting in my lap and Christopher standing next to us) and serve Mavis cereal for breakfast. I think maybe Mavis has even used the potty.

We’ve also entered the Loud, Embarrassing Toddler phase, the one where the child speaks clearly enough that everyone around you can understand exactly what he’s saying. The best example of this is a few weeks ago, when we were really struggling with going #2 in the potty. So anytime Christopher passed gas, his diligent parents would ask if he needed to poop in the potty. It got to the point that anytime Christopher would pass gas, he would YELL, “I don’t need to go poop!” One morning, we were in Target, and he must have been really gassy, because every few minutes he would yell, out of the blue, “I don’t have to go poop!” Ah, what a great feeling to have everyone within earshot turn and stare! And I won’t even mention the trips to public restrooms, where Christopher likes to loudly discuss aspects of human anatomy that he has and Mommy doesn’t.

Will has been so much fun lately–he has started actually playing with toys rather than just sticking them in his mouth. His favorite toys are balls he can throw and chase, trucks or cars to push around the floor, and drums. I’m pretty sure he’s even said “ball” a few times. He’s pulling up very well now and even doing a little bit of cruising since we’ve been home from Arkansas. And he still flashes that great smile (complete with one dimple) anytime you glance in his direction.