Who are you and what have you done with my son?

Nick had a really good day yesterday. He hasn't had too many well-behaved days of late, so I was absolutely thrilled. Frankly, it seemed like I had borrowed a different two-year-old for the day. Weird.

I packed up the boys and picked a random park. It was one we'd never been to before, and we thought it was pretty cool.

Nick loved playing at this park. It was designed for kids his age, and I hope I can remember how to find it again. Is it weird that I drive through random Chicago-area subdivisions looking for new parks? Hey, it's cheap entertainment, anyway.

Henry napped in the carseat the whole time we were at the park, and I kept the cover pulled up so he was shaded. It's kind of nice that newborns sleep so much--this will be harder once Henry starts crawling around.

You want to know what the best part was? I gave Nick a five-minute warning before we left, and he actually heeded it. "One more time on the slide! On the slide!" he said. And then, indeed. . . he went down the slide one more time, took my hand, and walked to the car with no screaming, dragging, or threatening.

Then, we went to Target and, miraculously, had no screaming, even though I had to pile groceries up on top of Nick, and an avalanche of Greek yogurt and toilet paper came crashing down on him. All he said was, "Mommy, I stuck! Ouchie!" So how do people with two children go shopping? Do they drag a second cart behind them? I can't figure it out. Henry (in his carseat) fits in the front of the cart, and Nick sits in the back part. But where do I put the groceries? This is a serious dilemma. Any suggestions?

So I decided to push my luck and take the boys to lunch after our Target trip. I was an incredibly daring woman. Also a hungry one. Plus, Henry had this funky looking rash across his nose and cheeks. He got it while we were at the park, even though he was in the shade every second and it was only in the lower 80s. I think it must be heat rash, because it happened to him again today. Anyway, I figured I'd go to a restaurant and chill in the air conditioning for awhile, and if the rash didn't go away, I'd head to the doctor's office before going home.

I decided on Houlihan's in Naperville at Route 59 and 95th Street, mostly because I love their small plate menu. It's perfect for Nick and I to share. Check out his perfect lime-squeezing technique. He knows just how to put a little citrus on his calamari.

He doesn't just eat the rings, either. Nick loves squid.  :)

Nick was remarkably well-behaved, once again because of the promise of a sweet reward at the end of our meal. He (generally) stayed in his seat and used an indoor voice. Nick shared my lunch, and ate everything I gave him, even my tuscan bean salad (which was delicious!). They let me substitute spinach, and I think this is my new favorite summer salad. Nick loved it, too.

I've been told it's crazy to take kids to a sit-down restaurant alone, but I prefer it, honestly. Let's say I had chosen my only fast food favorite, Panera, instead. I would've had to juggle Henry, Nick, two drinks, plus our food tray simultaneously. Not a relaxing lunch. At Houlihan's, on a random Wednesday after the lunch rush but before the dinner rush, there were maybe three other tables filled in the whole restaurant, so we weren't annoying anyone. Plus, the waitress brought us everything, so I didn't have to juggle food.

It was a yummy lunch, and Nick earned his white chocolate banana cream pie. (I got to eat some, too, because I was also well-behaved in the restaurant.)

I forgot to mention Henry's behavior. I don't want to neglect my second-born.  ; )  He slept peacefully in his carseat the entire meal, then woke up while we were having our dessert and had a bottle. His rash was gone by the time we left. I'm figuring it must've been heat related, because we were in and out of my car all day.

Nick behaved himself all the way home, too. He asked me nicely to turn on some music. "No talking! Pweese! Want to listen to songs!" Lately, Nick has been doing this to me whenever I turn on the radio. Sigh. This means no more NPR for me, I suppose. I used to listen to NPR almost exclusively in the car, but Nick is not a fan. I miss it. Oh well, at least he doesn't criticize my choice of music. . . yet.

After such a wonderful day, I wanted to ask Nick, "Who are you and what have you done with my son?" I'm hoping this is a trend. Or, at least, a flash of what he'll be like once the terrible twos start to subside. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more days like this one.

You Say You Want a Potty Training Update?

Or maybe you don't. No problem. No one says you have to read this. . . but I've been asked by several people to let them know how Nick has been doing with The Great Potty Challenge of 2011. After two weeks, I guess I would call him partly trained, or well on his way.

The picture below is of Nick showing off his latest potty prize--a foam sword from the $1 bin at Target. (Incidentally, he's also holding a cake pop from Starbucks. Yummy!)

First of all, Greg did not potty train him in a weekend, not that any of us actually thought that would happen. But he got a good head start. There were a lot of incidents of backsliding and arguing, along with too many accidents to count. We never gave in, though, and Nick has been completely out of diapers for more than two weeks. (The only exception is overnight--we do still use a diaper then. We'll work on that another time.)

I do think we're making very significant progress, though. That first week or so, Nick averaged one successful potty trip per day. On Friday, he earned three prizes, on Saturday, he earned four, and today he earned three prizes. His accidents have gone from 5+ per day to only one or two. He's started "going" immediately when he sits on the potty. Even more impressive was last Tuesday, when Grandma Toni was trying to get him dressed, he started to go on the couch. She told him to hold it and he did! He stopped, ran to the bathroom, and made it to the potty.

I've spent more money on prizes, man panties, and plastic cover up pants than I ever thought possible. My home is filled with very cheap, annoying toys that Nick has won for going on the potty instead of in his man panties. We've also learned some lessons:

1. Double or triple bag the boy when you leave the house. Today, for example, when we went out, Nick wore cheap Elmo underwear with thick Potty Scotty waterproof pants over them, and plastic pants over that. The cheap underwear is in case of a #2 accident--it's extremely hard to clean up, so we usually just throw out the underwear. Potty Scotty man panties cost nearly $9 a pair, so the extra layer is worth it.

2. Have plenty to do while in the potty. Some of Nick's prizes have been things to do in the potty, like a portable dry erase board, coloring books, books to read, and markers.

3. Have a comfortable place for an adult to sit. I feel like I've spent most of the last week sitting either on the bathroom floor or precariously on a stepstool, waiting for the magic moment.

4. Do laundry every day. Trust me, you do not want to run out of training pants! The good news is, I've never in my life been more caught up on laundry.

5. Let the kid pick his own prizes. This method seemed to work best for Nick after I took him to Target on Friday and let him fill the cart with prizes. He knew what he had to do to get those toys, and man, is he excited! My stepsister in law was telling me M and Ms worked for her kids. Not Nick. He wants the good stuff. I wish I could get him excited about an M and M. (My wallet would be grateful.)

Here he is in Target, helping pick his own prizes.

I'm nervous to see how potty training will go this week when Nick returns to daycare. He hasn't had as much success at the babysitter's house, and he's still afraid of public bathrooms (aren't we all), even though I bought him a portable seat to use while we're out.

Today, though, we left the house at 11 a.m. to run errands and didn't return until 2:30. Nick stayed dry the entire time, and went immediately as soon as we got home and put him on the potty. I find that amazing since I had to use the bathroom twice during that time period, and Greg went four times while we were out. After he went, he took a two hour nap, woke up DRY, and then immediately went on the potty successfully again. I would call that a very good day.  :)

My Cookie Monster Loves Target

Earlier this week, Nick and I went on a little excursion to the Target. Check out his cookie monster sweatshirt. Nicholas is my cookie monster indeed, and he especially loves the vanilla scones at Starbucks. Note the crumbs all over his clothes.

Every time I go to Target, I treat myself to a caffeinated beverage, usually a nice skim latte.  Actually, I think I may have the most complicated Starbucks drink ever. I've made baristas jaws drop as I tell my order. I order this way: "It's going to be in a grande cup, but it's a tall. I would like a tall, skinny caramel latte with an extra pump of the sugar free syrup (five pumps total), five splendas, extra hot, whipped cream up to the top of the cup, with a little bit of that caramel stuff on top."  Then I always remind them that it's an extra pump, not an extra shot. Someone like me will never sleep if I have a double shot of espresso after 4 p.m.

Lately I've been getting a cup of water for Nick, or else he tries to steal my latte. Yes, my boy likes coffee, and tries to sneak some whenever he can. He snatched a sip one time, and I told him, "No, yucky!" He replied, "Want that! Drink Mommy's coffee!" The last thing this boy needs is anything with caffeine in it, so distraction is the name of the game. Thus the cup of water and the vanilla scones.

I find myself having to run into the store for random things that I forgot more often now. Should I blame it on pregnancy brain? I suppose I can use that excuse for the next few months, anyway. At least I'm lucky that Nick loves shopping. He always asks, "I go shopping?" and then grins widely when I tell him that, yes, we have to go to the store. Something about the colors and the people watching makes him happy. Often there are other little kids he can wave at and say hi to, so he's a happy camper. Plus, in Target, I usually let Nick pick out something from the $1 bins. This time he got a Snoopy coloring book.

Is it weird that I actually like going to the store with Nick? At least on days when I'm not exhausted. We talk the entire time, about what we see, usually. He also helps me look for things. Like, if I'm looking for milk, I tell him, "Let's look for the milk." (Of course, I know right where it is, but I let him point it out.) Then, I thank him for helping me. When he's older, maybe I'll let him use a calculator to track the totals. For now, he's just my cookie monster, hanging out in the cart and letting me know where to find the cheese.