Potty Training

This week, I decided that it's time to potty train Graeme. He's past 2 & 1/2 and he's a smart little cookie, so I figured he could handle it...and I'm right. Now, he has yet to do a poo in the potty, but since he finally let go in the potty the other day, he's been accident free and he's loving going in the potty like mommy and daddy and Brian and Parker and Davis and Gramma and Poppa and everybody else he can think of! It's cute to hear him rhyme them off while he goes pee. And he's now discovered that he gets a chocolate for every pee in the potty....which is kind of working against us, since now whenever he decides he wants chocolate, magically, he has to pee. Now I have to be the pee pee monitor, to make sure that actual pee has hit the potty, and he's not just faking me out for chocolate. So I told him no more chocolate for pees. Now the chocolate is for a poo. Hope the poo part goes as smoothly as the pee part did. So to speak. Yuck.

Anyway...I'm really proud of my little man. Both my guys potty trained really fast! I totally think it's because I waited until they were past 2 & 1/2 and by this age, they really get it. Any sooner, seems like it's just aggravation, which is no fun for anybody!

Oh...Happy Canada Day!

My Piano Man

Yesterday was the Laurier Idol show at Bri's school. Lots of little girls getting up on stage and dancing. And my brave little kid, who didn't do a piano recital this year, got up in front of the whole school, and played Sonatina on the piano. I was so nervous for him, but he seemed cool as a cucumber! Played the whole thing perfectly! And even Poppa showed up and sat in the sweltering gym to see him play! I have to say...I don't think I could have done that at his age. I was in the school plays and in choir and stuff, but getting up, all by myself like that...I was pretty insanely proud of him!

Fun Land!!!

That's what Graeme was calling Wonderland today. Clearly he is adorable and hilarious like his darling mother. Today was the third annual "take the kids out of school and go to Wonderland before school is out and the crowds hit" trip. This year, it wasn't as hot as previous years, but it was totally packed. And being as I have the bum knee and all, I am delighted to report that I decided against the wheelchair (horror!) and walked the park! Now, there was lots of sitting and resting, and I am sore now, but I did manage it, and I am pretty pleased with myself.

Brian was a little sad to still be purple. And unless he has some HUGE growth spurt before next summer, he's going to be purple next year too...which sucks because he really wants to ride the scary rides. Ah well...you can't do anything about that stuff, and since I don't do the rides, i'm sure Michael will be just as glad to wait another summer.

Something fun...ran into Nikki at the park! I love when I'm out and about and I run into someone beloved! She was with Amy and Sanja...both Facebook friends, and all the kids. It was pretty cool!

What amazed me today was the amount of scantily-clad-yet-extremely-chubby-and-bouncy young girls! When I was in high school, I was one of very few fat girls. Now, it seems like fat is WAY the norm, and man, these fatties are out there showing off the goods! They care not for support garments or gunts...they are OUT THERE! And frankly...I don't think I care for it. I mean, I am ALL for fat acceptance, but you know...just because you CAN cram your ass into it, doesn't mean you SHOULD. I mean, it's more that i'm thinking of others...i would rather leave a little something to the imagination...wrap the gift, ladies.

All in all, a very busy but very fun day!

All Uncovered

Last night was the Watchmen show in Burlington. We arrived WAYYYYYY too early! Like hilariously early, it turns out. There were 3 opening acts, all of them were good, but still, the Watchmen didn't take the stage until after midnight and only played an hour and a half. The sound was a little crappy. But it was great to see them, and they played a new song: "Trampoline" which was pretty good...had a little country feel to it, but still rock-y and good. They opened with "I'm Blind" which is always awesome live, and they played "Middle East" which might be my favourite song of theirs.

As always, it was good to spend time with Steve. He and I are always so in synch when it comes to what the idiots around us are doing. And I know that at any point in the show, I can look at him, and he and I are thinking pretty much the same thing. It's nice to have an in synch fellow conert goer. Michael went off by himself right in the front to see the band better...didn't see him until it was all over. What I'd like to know is, why is everybody so freaking tall?? And why does nobody take pity on the short girl?? The super tall freaky and incredibly ugly chick standing in front of me had her camera out...she probably took 20 pictures of each song, PLUS video. It was irritating the hell out of me! I felt like slapping her in the back of the head and telling her "I think you've fucking CAPTURED the moment!"

Anyway...nice to see that the boys still have it. I am grateful for every chance I get to see them live.

well THAT didn't last long!

How do the South Beach people DO it?? Not eating carbs is horrible! Carbs are so awesome! I mean I could really write volumes about the delights of the carbohydrate! You know what occurred to me in the throes of the high protein diet? A lot of protein comes from dead animals. And after eating more than usual of the dead animal fare, I started feeling kinda bad about it. And also, a little gross. A nice stick of crusty french bread never hurt anybody, you know?

On another note, my Brian was student of the month for May! Who would have ever thought that something like that would mean so much to me? Not me, that's for sure! I hope I'm not becoming one of those super-competitive parents! They suck! But it's so clearly awesome when your kid is awesome! Good lord...someone lock me up!

my brian

I went tonight with Brian to his piano lesson. Usually daddy does the piano lessons, and I do swimming lessons, but I haven't seen him play in a long time, so I went. I was so impressed! I had no idea how good he's getting! He was so focused, and knew exactly what he was supposed to be doing, and he reads music really well! When I found his piano teacher when he was 4, this was exactly what I was hoping for...and watching him tonight made me so proud of him! My kid rocks!

Eating Low Carb

So...while I have the cholesterol of a 12 year old, my sugar is slightly elevated...not unusual for someone who is fat, because fat is insulin resistant...however, it worries me a bit, because I would really hate for "slightly elevated" in my 30's to become type 2 diabetes in my 40's or 50's. So...I'm looking at the whole low carb craze.

Just looking at my diet, i'm obviously not all that careful about my sugar intake. And of course, i'm a HUGE fan of bread in all its forms...aren't we all? So now, I'm going to have to really think about it. Like one of my favourite things to drink is Nestea iced tea...guess that's out. Today, it is replaced by Perrier with a hint of lime. But as for the eating...well that scares the crap out of me. Since the visit to the Dr. yesterday, I really haven't eaten a whole lot. I'm thinking about it so much that i'm almost afraid to put anything in my mouth. Now, my Dr., he said that because my cholesterol is so good, just eat meat. Um...barf! I just sent Michael to the grocery store with a long list of veggies to get, you know...to throw in there with the meat. I mean, I loves me some bacon, but I'm going to get pretty sick of it if my diet is heavy on the protien. On the plus side, i'm looking at sugars in all their formations like they are poison to my body now. How long that will last, i really don't know. I will say this though...the other day I ate a piece of cake at a birthday party, and it made me feel all weird, and i know it's because i was over sugared. You aren't supposed to feel like that, I'm pretty sure.

All in all, it's one more thing to give me stress. Right now, seriously, something has GOT to give. Because I'm a little afraid of the meltdown that's coming. I'm looking for diversions, but they are hard to find, and occasionally, stressful in and of themselves. Sometimes, being a grown up just SUCKS!