Well hello there Mr. President

We have been teaching Paul to recite his address when asked. He is doing a great job, proudly announcing, "123 My Street" (Obviously I am not going to write our real address on the blog... this is the internet after all.) In the meantime, CJ has been asking him who the president is, mostly because he enjoys hearing Paul say, "OOOOOObama!" Well, I think we may have confused him by teaching the two things too close together. The other day we were driving home and I asked Paul, "Who lives at 123 My Street?"
"Paul!"
"Who else lives there?"
"OOOOObama!"
Huh. Guess that's who has been eating all the ice cream.

A swift kick

Right before Spring Break CJ said to me, "So are you planning on making a to-do list for break? Things like 'send in passport applications' and 'potty train Paul'? And then you can not get them done until, oh this summer?" HA HA HA HA. Yes, my husband is mean. But truly I needed his nasty sarcasm to kick me in the rear and stop my ridiculous procrastinating. Honestly, I've been talking about potty training since the boy turned two. And I picked up the passport applications last summer. Oops. Low and behold - it worked! After being shot-down at the regular post office (we arrived ten minutes after they stop processing passport applications), we took a trip out to the airport post office early Saturday morning and FINALLY TURNED THEM IN!! (I just needed to renew mine, Paul needed a new one). While waiting in line we met a couple with two teenagers who were adopted from Korea. They had used the same agency as we are currently using for #2. Very cool.
As for the potty training, well, we continue to work on it. Paul is wearing underwear and trying to exert his control at every turn. Ugh. I am trying not to get too anxious (a trait I find annoying and utterly unavoidable). I am just happy that I was able to prove my hubby wrong. Oh sure, he probably knew all along that his remark would motivate me and that was his strategy all along, blah blah blah. Sigh.

I hope you weren't planning to eat those

I am happy to report that we are finally enjoying some potty related success. Apparently Paul simply needed a mission. Potty training has been a bit of a bumpy road. He didn't like sitting in his musical potty chair (and I didn't like the fact that it mysteriously serenaded the ghost pee-er in the middle of the night). We tried sitting him on the big toilet, but I worried constantly that his high level of distractibility would land him butt first into the water and create PTTD (post-traumatic toilet disorder). I bought a potty attachment, but he didn't seem too crazy about that either. Then he tried standing, and that resulted in a whole lotta pee in places other than the toilet. Enter the mission. Toss a few Cheerios into the water and voila! Instant challenge. And the boy does enjoy a challenge. Now it isn't, "Do you need to go potty?" followed by a loud chorus of "NOOOOO!!!" It is, "I bet you can't hit the Cheerios!" Works every time.
Now, if anyone has a strategy for the other half of the potty equation, please pass it on. I am resisting the urge to send him into the bathroom with a jar full of raisins, a torture inflicted upon me by my mother.

A week of birthdays

Paul is three. His birthday week began with a celebration at daycare on Tuesday. We made cupcakes the night before, and when Paul woke up Tuesday morning he proudly announced, "Today is my birthday!" The following morning, when it was actually his birthday, he had to be reminded. But he was very excited at the prospect of "two cranes" which is the gift he has been asking for since January. Grandma takes care of Paul on Wednesdays, so I left work at lunchtime and met them at Friendly's. Paul was very excited when the waitresses all came to the table to sing. That night everyone met at Grandma's house for dinner and ice cream cake. The "two cranes" (a Lego construction set) was presented along with a new bike and some other cool gifts. (Pics of Paul on the bike coming soon... my camera was dead on the one nice day we've had so far since!) My favorite part of the day was on our drive home when he said, "Mommy, what a nice day. Grandma turned the lights off and sang happy birthday to me." Seriously, could he be any sweeter? Friday night we began preparing for the big party. Paul enjoyed another opportunity to lick a beater full of cake batter (the boy has a stomach of steel so I am not too worried about salmonella) and proudly displayed his chocolate face for the camera. I am happy to report that my bulldozer cake was a success - despite some icing setbacks.

Saturday... Paul had a great time at his party - he loved having everyone over and being the center of attention. The kids enjoyed themselves and we only had one injury (a bloody lip). They had some trouble busting into my homemade pinata, but luckily Mitch was there to beat it with a 2x4. Seriously. And no, I did not capture that on film - I was trying to make sure no small people got in the way. Once I get all of the pictures organized and labeled, I'll send out a snapfish album.

"That's me with no pants on"

Paul went outside this afternoon to help daddy clean up some sticks. I was upstairs sorting through my winter clothes when I heard, "Mommy? Mommmmy??!?!" I went to the top of the stairs and saw this: Apparently he had gotten into some mud outside, and CJ had stripped him of his boots and pants before sending him inside for new pants. I just had to snap a picture; he looked too darn funny. While showing Paul the pics I took this past week he proudly announced, "That's me with no pants on!" Indeed.

One more step

My handy-dandy husband has completed another home improvement project!! Once again I neglected to take any "before" pictures, so for those readers who haven't been to the house, let's just say that our stairs were UG-A-LY. The spit-up colored carpet was totally worn out, stained and fraying. CJ ripped out the carpet, tore out the stairs and replaced them with oak. He did it all this past week and was able to get the stain on over the weekend. We stayed with my folks while everything dried and are now happily back home enjoying the beautiful new stairs.

What's happenin'??

A quick update on our lives:

• CJ has completed his Master's program and now has his MBA. Woo-hoo!! He has one final class to go to earn his Project Management Certification & then we plan to celebrate with a night of unlimited sushi. (For him anyway, Paul & I will eat unlimited noodles!)


• P is almost three. Yikes! He is progressing at an incredible rate in all areas but one... potty-training. We continue to work on it, but I have come to accept that it will be on his terms, not mine.


• I will be starting my next long-term substitute assignment on Monday. I wasn't supposed to start until after spring break, but the teacher had to begin her leave early in order to rest before the baby arrives. I will be teaching 10th & 11th grade Global and US History.


• The latest adoption timeline suggests that our referral will arrive sometime in the late summer/early fall. We are hoping that things remain steady in Korea and the wait time does not get extended.


• Last night we celebrated with Kim & Josh after a ceremony joining their two families. We had a lot of fun eating and dancing. Here's a pic of P appearing to have stylin' breakdancing moves, when in reality he just wiped out.