Icon

The other day RR said to me "Mom, I figured out a new way to save my Word files. You don't need to do a file-save-as.  You can just click on this little square box."

So I replied "Yeah, the floppy disk icon."

RR, then asks "What's a floppy disk?"

Now I know people have written about obsolete items "captured in time" as icons for years now, so this phenomena is not new.

What's new is how old he made me feel.  Kids have a way of doing this, without even trying.

Not Created Equal

This blog post is a service announcement to anyone who has children of toiler training age, younger children, babies or those thinking about having children - Not All Potty Chairs Are Created Equal.

Potty chairs come in two varieties - fun and fancy or plain and boring.

You do not want the fun and fancy variety.  Have no fear your little angel will not fall asleep from boredom while on the plain potty chair - stick her in the front of the TV or leave a basket of toys next to the potty chair.  No need for the potty chair to be entertaining.

They make potty chairs shaped like cars, complete with wheels.  Do you have any idea what TT would have done with this?  You don't want to know.

They make standing urinal potty chairs for little boys.  I can barely get the older one to get it in the toilet, do I really need this problem times two?

They make potty chairs that claim to be everything in one.  A potty chair, a step stool, a seat for the toilet.  Some have holders for wipes or toilet paper.  Some have handles to hold on to while you go (??), some have handles to flush with, others have holders for your iPad (????) This sounds great, right?

I swear our lid never actually sparkled, even new out of the box.

Not so much.  Let me put it to you this way; the more cracks and cervices the potty chair has, the more places for urine and feces to hide.  Because no matter how hard they try getting it all into the potty the first time or the second or the third doesn't always happen.

When shopping for a potty chair, look for slim lines.  No cracks, no hidden floor spaces.  Just a seat and a removable cup.  That's all you need.  You can go and spend $25-$30 on it and get the fancy-brand or spend a little less than $10 and get the same thing without the name brand.

Consider yourself warned... and you can thank me later.

4 Months

My little name ERP turned 4 months old yesterday.  This has certainly been a month of milestones for him.  I don't know if it's because I am with him more than I was his brothers at this age or what; but I swear I am noticing every little thing that he does.  I can tell from one day to the next that he is starting to use his hands together versus independently, I notice when he's going through developmental leaps without looking at the calendar or an app on my phone.  When I look in his eyes, I sometimes feel like I can see him thinking and wondering.  Those big big eyes.  Those eyes that look more and more light blue with every passing day.  I so hop your eyes stay blue baby.  Mama would love a blue eyed boy.

Over this month his fair has also gotten increasingly lighter; although it is still very much chameleon hair - some days it looks dark brown, others a dirty blond and still others a touch of red.

This month ERP started rolling over, from back to front.  He does it fairly regularly these days.  I've tried to get it on video a number of times, but he doesn't like to perform.  ERP has also developed a whole new host of sounds, including a screech.  That too I have tried to get on video, and he clams up the minute he sees the light on my phone.  He is a wiggle worm when on the floor, he rolls here and there, scooches and manages to get himself wedged under chairs and couches.  As I write this, he has rolled from front to back and is trying to get his knees under him.  He was such a mover and shaker in utero, I guess nothing has changed.

ERP is just now getting into his size 3 months clothes.  The fancy European sized clothing that we have some of is a size 2-4 months.  He is my pocket baby still.

He had a terrible ear infection this past month and had snot coming out of his ear - otherwise he was totally his normal happy self.  At that appointment he was 12 lbs. 4 ounces.  I am guessing when he finally has his 4 month well visit (on the 14th) he'll be 13 lbs.

This month has also seen ERP starting to fall into a more predictable pattern.  He is up most days around 6:30am and is ready for his first nap at 8am.  He is typically up from that nap around 10:30 ish and is ready to go back down again around noon.  He'll wake from his second nap around 3or so and will look for another nap around 5pm.  If we hold off on that last nap, he thinks it's a good idea to go to bed at 6pm.  Otherwise ,I tuck him in around 8:30pm.  We started reading books before bed and he LOVES them.

Things from this month I don't want to forget:
~ Watching him learn how to take his pacifier out of his mouth and put it back in
~ How easily he smiles at everyone
~ The first time he rolled over
~ The smell of his hair
~ The way he gets so excited right before we nurse
~ How much he misses me when I go into the office and how happy he is to see me when I come home
~ The funny noises he's making
~ Watching him play with his musical giraffe
~ The fact that his stuffed cow is his favorite toy
~ Him giving hugs to his brothers
~ The way he yells at the TV when Baby Mozart comes on
~ Him sitting in his bumbo for the first time
~ Him sitting in his high chair for the first time
~ How much he disliked his first breastmilk popsicle - too cold

Here's a video of ERP playing with his toys - I was trying to get him rolling over.  He stopped rolling once the camera came out and then finished once I got out of his face.