A.B. Kagledom

It's been a busy weekend in Kagledom. Friday afternoon Adlai decided to crawl on all fours - at least four or five small knees forward - before he decided that that wasn't an efficient enough mode of transportation. He now crawls one or two knees forward and then pushes himself up on to his toes and holds himself there and tries to move forward before lowering himself down and army crawling across the room. He also has started sitting for a minute or so - until he turns and loses his balance. He even ate a few Cheerios this weekend after getting them into his mouth. Another small event was the move up to size 3 diapers - not because his bum has grown (it hasn't) but because, at any given time, he contains an unexpectedly large quantity of urine. I had to change his diaper, his outfit, and his bedding three times in the middle of a single night, which made it clear to us that more diaper is necessary even if he is swimming in the things because he is so thin.

This was also a big weekend for Simon. Saturday, he impressed his swim teacher with his willingness to emerge his face in the water while blowing bubbles after a jump into the pool. And today was "Potty Scotty Day" the long awaited "toilet training in one day" approach that I had read about. Since we waited for the doll, Scotty, to arrive for two weeks, Simon had plenty of time to be excited about the big event and, by the weekend, was wearing underwear and holding his urine for hours at a time. By this morning it was clear that all I was going to be able to use out of the book was the idea that he should practice running to the toilet to simulate what to do in the event of an emergency. I also learned a couple of things about his reluctance: 1. he hates the loud flush of toilets, and 2. he is really pleased with his new soft underwear and does not like the "character" underwear we had been purchasing (it itches).

When I told Simon he was toilet trained this evening he was very pleased. Tomorrow Matthew will take him to Ikea to play in the big kids area. We expect that there will be a number of frustrating accidents in the coming weeks/months but at least an end is in sight. He is looking forward to visiting Lego Land as soon as the accidents subside.

Late this afternoon Simon and I listened to "Ye Olde Time Band" play old tunes in the park. Simon has been wanting to play the trombone for a while now so he was very pleased to see the instruments. This band is apparently a big draw for the local seniors who came out in large numbers. One very fit ninety-plus year old man was dancing solo to the music using dance moves from before my time. Simon wanted to dance so I suggested lightheartedly that he dance with the man and (this is how I know that Simon is the greatest kid ever) he got up and walked over and danced with the man for thirty minutes - in front of all of the seniors and the band. The man taught Simon some moves and, when he wasn't moving enough, Simon danced in a circle around him. And while a lot of kids might have thought the man looked a little frail and scary, after we left Simon asked if we could invite the man over to play and to dance and maybe he'd like "to marry that man" for being so nice.