V week

Monday:
No library today, it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I think the library was closed. Plus, one of my Young Women needed some help getting an outfit ready for a job interview, they grow up so fast. So, we made it a family outing, we all (Jaron, Javin, YW and I) went to DI and had a blast!

We did talk about the letter V and put a Violet V on a Vertical Violet piece of paper.

Tuesday:
We went to the library and then mostly hung out at home. We ate some Veggies and Javin argued with me about how lettuce isn't a Vegetable. This kid! He argues with me about EVERYTHING. Most days I have the patience to set him straight nicely, but sometimes I just want him to accept what I say as truth. I can't help but think this shouldn't be happening until he's at least a teenager.

We were going to do some Veggie painting, but I couldn't in good conscience buy Vegetables just to paint with them. I guess, we could of just used potatoes, they're cheap.

We read: Night of the Veggie Monster by George McClements
The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin
June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner
When Vegetables Go Bad! by Don Gillmor

Wednesday:
We took advantage of the Winter Wednesdays at the Tracy Aviary. What is that? You ask. Well, each Wednesday until March-ish the admission fee is $1 per person. Hooray! Also, at 11:00 they do a reading time and the book was The Sulky Vulture by Sally Grindley, it was pretty good and the reader did a surprisingly good job. After he was done they brought out Chewy, the Vulture, for an up close encounter. He was REALLY excited for something (either the food, being out of his cage or the captive audience), but he kept squawking and running, which mostly scared the little kids.

Later that night my mom came over (on her birthday) to watch Javin so that Jaron and I could go out. Its a very long story, but she really wanted to and to make up for it being her birthday I made her birthday dinner and lemon bars. They watched Jungle Book and sang the Vulture song, "...we're your friends to the bitter end...".

We read: Zagazoo by Quentin Blake
Veronica by Roger Duvoisin

Thursday:
The inversion was so bad that we just stayed inside and talked about Violins.

We read: Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin by Lloyd Moss
When Uncle Took the Fiddle by Libba Gray
Valentine and His Violin by Philip Hopman (OMG, Hilarious)

Friday:
We were going to make a Volcano, but that didn't happen on the account that my house was a mess from being inside the day before. Since we didn't do the Volcano I was going to get Javin to make a Valentine for Mr. Robbins, but I couldn't find my heart punch or my contact paper to do this (that's the whole project). I really need a craft room.

We read: Uncle Blubbafink's Seriously Ridiculous Stories by Keith Graves
An Island Grows by Lola Schaefer
Dear Katie, The Volcano Is a Girl by Jean George

U Week

Monday:

Library day AND free quarterly Utah Museum of Natural History day! We took full advantage of both. We grabbed our U books and then some food and hit Up the "Nuseum".

Apparently my superstar can't be seen in public :)

"Mom, don't take picture of me - I'm just relaxing."

We saw the Utahceratops :)

Mom:"If you don't smile we'll go home right now." and this is the cheeser I got.

We had a great time, as usual. The museum never disappoints. When we got home 'we' (he) put on some Undies and took a nap (hardly ever happens)! When he woke Up he was still dry and went pee pee on the potty the rest of the night!

We read: Let's Have Fun With Alphabet Riddles by Caolan Madden
Bear in Pink Underwear by Todd H. Doodler
Charlie's Superhero Underpants by Lee Wildish

Tuesday:
We went to the store and cleaned a bit, but mostly I tried to keep my foot Up - I was being not so smart the other day and fell off my rocking ottoman, legs flew Up in the air and back fell down on the floor. I'm not sure what gouged the soft, tender Underbelly of my foot, but it HURTS (especially after a full day of walking the day before).

Javin was in Undies all day and watched Up.

We read: The Midnight Unicorn by Neil Reed
An Undone Fairy Tale by Ian Lendler (good)
The Fish Who Cried Wolf  by Julia Donaldson

Wednesday:
We talked about Umbrellas and that they can be used for rain and sun. He wasn't really interested so we just hung out, U week is difficult.

While getting ready for Relief Society Javin told me he wanted to wear his Undies, so we went for it. First time out of the house in Undies and no accident! Thanks mostly to the wonderful gentlemen that were in the nursery watching the "kids" (just Javin).

We read: The Umbrella by Ingrid & Dieter Schubert (cute)
Rain Song by Lezlie Evans
Never Give a Fish an Umbrella by Mike Thaler (LOVED)
Yellow Umbrella by Jae Soo Liu

Thursday:
We stopped by Jump Around Utah so Javin could 'jump Up, jump Up and get down' (or Under).

We read: Up! Tall! and High! by Ethan Long (LOVED because he read all the "up"'s)
Great Day for UP by Dr. Seuss (great)
Up Above & Down Below by Sue Redding

Friday:
We talked about the only other U word I could think of Uncle. I told him that he has two Uncles; Briggy (brought Javin the Horseshoe for H week) and Scotty.

Then Uncle Scotty came over with his girlie friend, Amanda, right before bed time. YAY! It was a perfect surprise on the last day of U week!
Then we read: Willie and Uncle Bill by Amy Schwartz
Uncle Wally's Old Brown Shoe by Wallace Edwards (LOVED).

T week

I get SO frustrated when I've saved my blog work daily on the same tab, then I close it and (of course) it didn't save. RRRrrr! Anyway...

Monday:
We made it to the library, YAY! Since work starts at 4:30 now it makes Mondays a little more relaxed - I'm not in such a rush to get everything done. Being a mom is stressful.

Because I'm cheap and don't want to pay to park, we park on the South-East corner of the library, so each trip we get a little bit of a walk. On the way to the library we decided that Tree starts with T. On the way back to the car we looked at what was around and I suggested Toes and Teeth start with T and Javin shouted "Tongue!".

On the way home from the library we made our first trip to the new Trader Joe's, we got Grape Tomatoes, Blue Tortilla Chips and a Turkey Wrap (unfortunately it was unappetizing).

Mr. Robbins and Javin read: Dear Tyrannosaurus Rex by Lisa McClatchy
The Tortoise and the Hare by Janet Stevens
DC Super Friends: T. Rex Trouble! by Dennis Shealy

Tuesday:
We made and ate Dino Muffins for breakfast, they were delicious and way too many calories. Javin ate the Triceratops. We went to the gym next and both LOVED it. He gets to play in the kids club while I sweat it up - its a win for both of us! We we got home he ate the T-Rex muffin. Javin watched Land Before Time and drew a couple pictures of dinosaurs while I did laundry and then we got ready for Young Womens (it feels still pluralizing 'women', oh well).

We read: It's T! by Kelly Doudna
Ten Apples Up On Top! by Dr. Seuss
I'm a T. Rex! by Dennis Shealy
The Voyage of Turtle Rex by Kurt Cyrus
Tadpole Rex by Kurt Cyrus
No T. Rex in the Library by Toni Buzzeo

Wednesday:
We went to the gym again (the Sugarhouse 24 hour Fitness), and I did my first Spinning class. It mostly feels like my inner butt cheeks are on fire and there is NO way that I can go again on Friday. The leg workout was great though, I just need a squishier seat :)  then we had lunch at Chick-fil-A. And I ate all the calories I had just burned. Hooray! On our way home Javin was complaining that his Tummy hurt (for my son that means he has to poop) so we went home and I stripped him down and sat him on his potty. Six hours and two pees later we had a POOP in the POTTY! I'm pretty sure I heard the angels singing 'Hallelujah' with me. For more on the Potty Training experience go here (yes, there are details).

We read: I Love Tools! by Philemon Sturges
Tired Trucks by Melinda Crow
Freight Train by Donald Crews (LOVED)
Prairie Train by Marsha Chall
Whoo! Whoo! Goes the Train by Anne Rockwell
Busy Busy Train by Melinda Crow
Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton
Thomas the Tank Engine: Stop, Train, Stop! by Rev. W. Awdry

Thursday:
It was such a lovely warm-er morning, so we went to the zoo. It was so nice. We walked the whole zoo and talked about the difference between Tortoises and Turtles. And we stopped by the Tigers too.

We read: Riding The Tiger by Eve Bunting (weird)
The Dancing Tiger by Malachy Doyle
Tiger and Turtle by James Rumford
Read to Tiger by SJ Fore
Tiger Can't Sleep by SJ Fore
Raj the Bookstore Tiger by Kathleen Pelley

Friday:
Javin is in LOVE with his 'shooters' (I don't like calling them guns), you know, those Nerf guns that shoot suction cup darts. So I  thought we'd make him a Target. I put tape on some paper I had and poured some red pant on it and told him to go to town. He liked his 'hexagon Target' - the darts wouldn't stick to it though :(  I was hoping they would so I could stop having to pull darts off my ceiling for him to reload.

Potty Training Part I (the #1)

There have been several phases to 'our' potty training experience and I'm sure there will be a couple more before we're 100% undies. Here is where we started:

Mr. Robbins and I have talked to Javin about all the w's of going to the toilet. We have been for about a year (starting at age 2 1/2, just in case he was an overachiever).
     *who goes pee pee on the potty (all his girlfriends, mommy, daddy & 'big boys')
     *what to do and what goes where
     *when your body tells you that you have to go...GO
     *where pee pee comes from and where poop come from
     *why we have to go

We got special potty books, that we only read while sitting on the potty.

He wasn't impressed by the," 'Big Boys' go pee pee on the potty", so we tried Stickers (healthy version of pee pee treat)...to no avail. So I broke down and tried real pee pee treats. Still zilch. Nothing. Nada.

So in July we tried some cool new undies! We went to Walmart and got the totally awesome Disney and Superhero undies. He was super excited to wear them, so we tried Undie Afternoons.

Undie Afternoons: Where 'we' just wear underwear for a few hours in the afternoon while we watch a movie and drink a lot. The potty is close and very accessible.
   The first day he peed through the first pair of undies in a matter of minutes. He cried and cried when he couldn't wear them anymore. The second pair, were a little less painful, but still almost inconsolable.  By the third pair, I was done for the day and so was he (he requested the diaper). I was also worried that I had single-handedly given my son an aversion to undies and ruined any chance of future potty training.

After that I just took the 'easy' road and didn't pushed. I only complained each time we were out somewhere and had to use one of those ultra mini-sized diaper changing station.  I'd try to make it as uncomfortable as possible for him, it wasn't difficult, his legs already hung off the edge. Those things weren't made for tall 3 year-olds. I've been done with changing poopy diapers for a long time now. Doing nothing for months had brought about...nothing. I was also sick of hearing, "He'll let you know when he's ready" or "He won't graduated high school in diapers". I know the nice ladies in the JoAnn's restroom meant well, but I mostly wanted to choke them (I know, a little morbid).

So...a month after Javin's third birthday (October) I became motivated again. Under Afternoons on steroids and sans undies! I think, for my son, the tighty-whities felt too much like a diaper...so I'm putting them on hold until we get the peeing down pat.

On October 23rd I gave Javin his usual diluted apple juice and we sat down for the long haul. He was going to go pee on the potty. I told him once he goes potty we could go to DI and get a new race car, that might not sound like much to you, but it worked!! He peed and it was great (see below).

More peeing and #2 to come...

S Week

Monday:
Library! We made it! As we got our coats and boots on to go outside I told Javin that it was S week. He said, "S?! Skunk starts with S!" - yes, yes it does.


Javin has been Sick since Sunday when he threw-up on the livingroom carpet at Grandpa's. He keeps having the 'Hershey Squirts', poor kid, has the reddest butt cheeks I've ever seen. So I drugged him and put him to bed early. I snuck over to Tara's and rung in the New Year playing Scrabble - good times!

We read: "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth by Eric Carle
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Diary of A Spider by Doreen Cronin
Spartacus The Spider by Etienne Delessert
Skunkdog by Emily Jenkins
Sleepy ABC by Margaret Brown

Tuesday:
Javin and I drove down to Herriman to drop off his cousin gift from Christmas, Nate got a flying Millenium Falcon. Then we stopped off at Ikea (in the neighborhood) and had lunch, kids eat free Tuesday. YAY!

We read: Stanley at Sea by Linda Bailey
Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea by Jan Peck (LOVED)
Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman

Wednesday:
Snow day! Which normally means that we stay inside and watch movies while I clean; however, today it meant Snow talk and errands. You know, gotta get things done when there is motivation, because it'll fizzle in about 2 weeks, so I must get everything done now :)

We ate Salad, one of Javin's favorite, and Soup at Zupa's. Mmmm...Soup.

We read: The Snow Show by Carolyn Fisher (very informational)
This Place in the Snow by Rebecca Bond
Snowmen at Work by Caralyn Buehner (great)
Snow! Snow! Snow! by Lee Harper
Super Snow Day by Michael Garland (LOVED)
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs (I forgot it has no words and that it has a sad, yet predictable ending)

Thursday:
Zoo day! Oh my goodness, it was FREEZING!

The first S we saw was an ice Swan making an S.

We had to go see the Snakes - his favorite place. 

We ate some Sandwiches. When they are cut into 4 triangles like that we call them Sailboats (thanks mom). 

Lazy Sealion :)

The next animal after the Sealions are the bears. The Polar wasn't out, but the Grizzlies were just waking up and it was hilarious. You could tell they weren't 'all there'. They were stumbling over their own feet and their fur was so disheveled. It just makes me happy that the post-wake-up grogginess crosses species.

Successful zoo trip - Smiles all around!

We read: King Snake by Wendy Slotboom
Diamond Jim Dandy and the Sheriff by Sarah Burell (great)
Hank Finds Inspiration by Craig Frazier
How Snake Got His Hiss by Marguerite Davol
Splendid Spotted Snake by Betty Ann Schwartz (LOVED)
Opposnakes by Salina Yoon
The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood
The Sandwich Swap by Kelly DiPucchio

Friday:
We opened a Cyprus Credit Union Savings Account for Javin. Its a great little program called a Dollar Dog Savings Account, they give you a little Dollar Dog Stuffed animal (he has a cape=Super hero), a Sticker, a Bouncy ball and a Stamp for every $10 deposit you make and when you get 10 Stamps they give you a gift card for somewhere. They even have online games for kids.

We read: Light Up the Night by Jean Reidy
On The Launch Pad by Michael Dahl
Super Duck by Jez Alborough
Eliot Jones Midnight Superhero by Anne Cottringer (LOVED)
Super Hero Squad: Things That Go Bump In The Night by Marvel
The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers