And other updates

Aside from finishing the triathlon, here's what else has been happening:

Colin's in a big potty training regression phase. {insert sarcasm font} It's pretty awesome {end sarcasm font}. He has more wet pants than dry pants these days. He gets so busy he forgets to tell one of us. Or I ask him and he says no, and then 5 minutes later he pees his pants. It's so frustrating I want to scream and cry. But I don't. I just have to have scheduled potty breaks built in the day I guess.

We took one side of Colin's crib off. We did this for a few reasons.
1) I heard a story about a 2 year old who climbed out of his crib and started having seizures. He was admitted to the hospital and died a few days later.
2) I thought it would be easier for him to use the bathroom at night if one side was off, so he didn't feel like he was trapped and his only option was to wet the bed.
3) He wasn't sleeping well. I've learned that when he's being a stinker, it sometimes helps if you challenge him. Then the problem goes away.

Well, a week later after completely unsuccessful weekend naps, the side is back on. We did this for a few reasons.
1) He fell out of his bed at least once a night, which didn't seem like a big deal to him, but we'd have to go and put him back in bed.
2) He still had the same amount of accidents, if not more.
3) He's sleeping better now with the side on.
Thus, the experiment was a dud. Try again later.

One of my best high school guy friends, Troy, who lives 20 minutes away from us, had a baby on Saturday. Well, technically he didn't have a baby, his wife did. I got to see sweet little Lauren and I look forward to hopefully spending some time with them this summer. Troy is a teacher too so it shouldn't be too hard to find a time to meet up.

7 more student days until summer starts! On Thursday we're going to Como Zoo so it's not even a real school day!

(Kinda) Wordless Wednesday

Or maybe I should call it picture-heavy.
On our way down to Roch this past weekend, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw that Colin put his puppy on his head. By the time I had gotten the camera and carefully pointed it in the back seat while looking in the rear view mirror at the picture screen to make sure I was actually taking a picture of Colin, he had put his hands up and started saying, "Cheese!"
Our TV went on the fritz last night, so we pulled a college gem out of the basement. We'll probably deal with the small screen through December, when hopefully we can investigate how much it will cost to repair the old TV.
I bought a size 2T London Fog complete coat/snowpant set from Herbergers last spring. The original price was $80 and I got it for $12! Here is Colin modeling it. It's the perfect size--a tad big, but will definitely still fit him through March. He's ready for snow!
And you bet your booty I'm going to Herbergers next spring to snag a deal on the 3T outerwear!

Pacifier weaning (Update pt. 4)

While my mom was here, I mentioned that I wanted to try to get Colin to not be as reliant on his pacifier anymore. 14 months isn't by any standard TOO OLD to be using a pacifier. But...it's one less thing to remember, one less thing to keep clean, one less thing to take away when he's older. It's not that he uses it constantly. He uses it when he sleeps and naps, and about 1/3 of the time he's awake (if he's in a good mood).

Day 1 was horrible. We went grocery shopping, which he usually does just fine with because he loves to ride in the cart. And we rarely bring his pacifier in the store with us anyway. But, since he hadn't had his pacifier all day as it was, he threw an absolute fit almost the entire time we were there.

Day 2 was less horrible.

Day 3 was just as horrible as Day 2, but you could tell he was so distraught over the trauma.

Day 4 in the morning, I was talking to some co-workers who, when I mentioned I had decided to take the nukie away, immediately looked at me with horror-stricken faces and said "WHY!??!" I didn't really have an answer for them. One mother of 3 told me that when her kids were done with them, they were done. One threw the pacifier across the room and never looked back. The youngest opened the trash, spit his pacifier into it, shut it, and went about his merry way. Then I got to thinking...Colin doesn't have a blanket or a stuffed animal or any other sort of "luvey" that he's attached to. His pacifier is what he's attached to. And if that means we have to take it with us (almost) everywhere we go, then so be it. It's a lot better than dragging around something 100x its size.

So...it's his. Until some professional tells me he's developing an overbite. Or until he decides he's ready to give it up. Or until he goes to kindergarten.