Potty like Travis

At the exact moment I was taking this picture, Ian was peeing on the floor next to his train table. I thought he looked awfully intent on the trains.

At first we were hanging out in the garage with Daddy and Travis. Travis and Ian were throwing the ball around but Travis said he needed to go use the restroom. When Ian asked where Travis went, I told him he had to go potty so he went inside since he's a big boy.

About 15 minutes later after Travis had returned and we had all moved on to other things, Ian declared he needed to go inside to go potty. But Mommy didn't need to go, he would be right back. He was just going to go inside to potty like Travis had.

I watched him run to the back door, let himself in, successfully close the storm door (which is no small feat) and remind me "I be right back!" as he turned around. I slowly followed behind and peeked inside to hear him in the choo choo room talking to his trains. But as I came around the corner, he burst through the door and said, "Mommy! I need to potty!"

He pulled his pants down on his own, asked for help with his diaper and sat on his Lightning McQueen potty. I went to put his diaper away and heard the bathroom door shut since apparently Ian needed some privacy.

A minute later he yelled out, "Mommy! I all done! My pants are wet!"

I walked in and he had peed in the potty ... and the floor and all over his pants. Apparently in mid-pee was when he decided he needed privacy. He walked around for a bit with no pants on and said he was going to poop. I was dubious but when I was distracted taking photos of him concentrating on trains, he stood up and said, "Mommy! There's pee everywhere over here!"

And there was! So apparently all our son needed to be inspired to potty like a big kid was Travis. Now to get him to understand how to stay on the potty until he's really done peeing.

But we're getting there. Travis now needs to come over every evening to continue potty training our child.

In your eyes

I used to be self-conscious about my squinty-eyed smile. Have you ever tried to keep your eyes open while smiling if you're a squinty-eyed smiler? You look like you were in mid-smile and someone grabbed your ass. So over the years, I've learned to embrace the fact that my eyes disappear when I smile. I'm all >_< in Japanese emoticons.

But now I've noticed Ian smiling that way too, and it brings me great joy.

Just a nice reminder of him being my kid.

Mamaw's tree

I keep calling her Grandma, but Ian calls my mother Mamaw. And while I call my father Granddaddy in written form, Ian has decided that his name is Pop. So on Sunday we were at Home Depot and they had a ton of Christmas trees all lit up for sale. When I saw one that said specifically it was a "porch tree" I said it would be nice for Mamaw to have and Ian immediately started calling it Mamaw's tree. At 20% off, we of course had to get it.

So this evening we delivered Mamaw's tree to her and it's now on her porch. I worried that Pop would think of it as just more clutter but he quickly found an extension cord so we could light it up. Ian declared it PRETTY!

We look forward to visiting Mamaw's tree over the next few weeks (and possibly into the spring) and maybe Ian can help her decorate it.