Dash hasn’t always been known to have good potty management!
Basically, he does the potty dance, and then we have a three second window before everything goes downhill.
Today was no different.
Correction….today was very different, because we weren’t in the comfort of our own home, where there are 6 potties conveniently located.
Dash and I were checking out the waves crashing over the jetty at the harbor.
He looked at me with those big eyes, and started in on the potty dance.
Knowing there were no bathrooms around, and being a huge fan of “solve your own problem”, I told him to open the door and to go potty in the gutter.
The door was opened.
His pants were almost down.
His potty management was tested…..and he failed.
Check out that puddle on the ground.
Not bad.
But then check out that door and window….that were completely sprayed down with urine, and created a different puddle in the side door.
A closer look, to reiterate those potty management skills that really need some work.
And by the way — how much liquid can one boy hold?!
I guess if you wait until the last microsecond, it is quite a lot!
I have a truth.
Suckers and Popsicles are way less annoying to a parent, if the child is in the pool.
Or in this early-morning case…the tub.
How is it possible that this boy is getting so big! Every once in a while, he stops me in my tracks, when I notice how grown up he is becoming. It is so fun in some ways — I love his personality, and spending time with him. He is getting so funny, and witty. He is getting more responsible, and slick. Even though I try to stay ahead of him, I still have three other kids, and he gets me sometimes — but not usually. He is my total buddy, and my favorite times with him are late at night, or early in the morning…when it is just the two of us in his bed.
On the other hand…where is my baby?!? Where is the always-smell-good boy I birthed? Why does he need to challenge so many things I say? And why does school take him away so much of the day, when I want to be with you?
Scout,
You are rad. I love being your mom most days. Those other days…I remember the good days! Always adore your siblings. Always be kind to others. And mostly, always stay a hero in your mom’s eyes. I love all 8.75 years of you!
Love, Your Mama
Don’t be surprised if you ever come to our house, and Navy has set up gifts with notes and goodies in each.
And to boot, she has decorated them festively — with a different colored balloon for each child to enjoy!
How awesome is Navy.
Dash ran in to me to see if I’d peel a few oranges off of our tree for him.
Next thing I saw was Dash and Pippi in their unders, eating peeled oranges on our front porch.
I also spied his bike out front…which leads me to believe that he was riding in his unders before picking the partially under-ripe oranges.
But don’t let me put any sort of a damper on this moment…because I will take siblings being nice to one another over anything!
I have taken a whole lot of road trips in my day. I have only had two that I thought were as bad as it gets. One from Reno to Utah was torture. And the other is the one we endured on the way home from “Jayna’s” wedding. I think the lack of scenery changes, the one day turn around, and the fact that I felt awful (pregnancy awful), all contributed to my hatred of that drive!
At least there were a few things that broke up our trip.
Our best stop was when we went hunted for Limonite cubes. We conned Trilby and Ka into stopping with us, and they loved the treasure hunt. And unfortunately for us…Trilby picked up the two best jackpots we have ever seen! She literally has a pair of desert dice in her home on display right now!
Cha-Ching!!!
And then there was the before-shopping while light, and after-shopping while dark retaining-wall climb our kids did.
—
Thank goodness for the distractions, but nothing was great enough to ever make me drive that heinous highway ever again!
Just a couple cute things I witnessed, while we are in tight quarters….
Pippi is almost as steady-handed as Navy was at that age when it comes to putting on makeup.
Notice I said, “almost”, because I am pretty sure Navy holds the world record.
And a Navy Note.
This is just a breakdown of everyone, and the room they are in.
For example, on the second row you see:
N.S.P.M.D’s Room 316
That stands for:
Navy. Scout. Pippi. Mom. Dad’s Room 316.
(I think we need to work on her periods, and her commas!)
FaceTime just didn’t do Blush justice.
So after a long drive to Arizona for Jake and Dayna’s wedding, my kids were racing to meet their new cousin!
Scout was smitten.
Navy was a natural.
Dash loves his “Ducky”.
And Pippi…well, she just needed to be monitored every second, because she literally thinks that Blush is her very own property. Oh yeah, and that 2-week-old Blush is not delicate at all.
Even though we all want to stare at our cutest new cousin….all eyes are on Pippi, for the sheer safety of that cousin!
Needless to say, Navy had the raddest Valentine box this year. She was really excited about it, and she said everyone was freaking out when she took it into school. And when I went into throw her Valentine party, they were voting on the best mailbox. I am happy to report that she won by a landslide! I think she took every vote in the room!
You also got my vote Navy!
I find it really interesting that the boys in my family like to stay clean, and the girls are filthy animals. At the park today, Pippi was doing sand angels, and then I stopped her from completely filling up her pockets with the sand. Navy was exactly the same. But Scout — that kid was and is always spotless. And Dash, who always has a dirty face, almost always has a pretty clean body.
Micah may think that this is trickling down from the parents.
And it may be, with one exception….
I am lucky to have a proper bath/shower each morning (or at least by 2:00 pm) without kids interfering — about once a week. The other days, it is an in-and-out 3-5 minute deal.
Micah, on the other hand, spends some of his most quality time (20 minutes at MINIMUM) in the shower each morning, some afternoons, and most evenings.
So yes…Micah may be cleaner most of the time.
But I am not only saving California from our drought crisis, but I am also the mom. And apparently, I have four kids who need me at least every 3-5 minutes!
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