Bragging on my Kids

I'm allowed to do that every now and then right? :)

We went to Target today. We're having a get-together Sunday night with the team. It will be our first store-wide party since moving to this new store. I'm really looking forward to getting to know them outside of Chick-fil-A's walls! We're doing a game night - Wii Dance Party will make an appearance, Bop It, and whatever else people bring. I can only imagine how much fun Cayman is going to have watching everyone! He is such a people person. That was quite evident at Target this morning.

He wanted to walk today - I have been letting him walk instead of riding in the cart to encourage his listening skills when we're out in public but also give him a bit more independence. He did it the other day at the grocery store and last night in Best Buy as well. He is doing excellent at it. He absolutely loves to talk to strangers - a little scary at times, but he never goes up to them, which is good. But he says "Hello!" to almost every single person that comes within a 3 foot radius of us. I love that he does that because each time he brings a smile to that person's face as they reply with their own greeting. I am so blessed to have such a sweet, pleasant little guy (can you tell we've had a good day today?!) Cayman seems to love having independence. Since we weren't on a tight schedule, I gave him chances to stop and explore different items (Valentine's Day gifts - he recognized a heart and told me so; he learned that shape thanks to the Bounty napkins we've just finished using...they had hearts on them!) And of course we had to go down the toy aisles where he found all kinds of neat buttons to press. But he didn't pitch one single fit when we left the toys empty-handed. Maybe it was because he knew we were on our way to get him something very special! But before we made it to get Cayman's special item, we had to get Charis something new. Something I probably should have bought her LONG, LONG ago. Thanks to my sister-in-law, I purchased Charis a bottle with a rapid flow nipple. I have been at a loss when it's come to her and formula. She has been leaving milk in her bottles since the beginning. She very rarely finishes her bottles, and they have only been 4-6 ounces at a time! Since Cayman never did bottles, I didn't know how often she was supposed to be getting a bottle, how many ounces those bottles should be, etc; the only thing the doctor told me was that she was supposed to be getting 24 ounces a day. Allison told me this morning that Charis should be getting 3 8oz bottles - basically breakfast, lunch and dinner. (Laugh all you want...call me dumb, I swear I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing!) And that she was probably not finishing her bottles because it was taking too long to suck it all out. And she was waking up in the middle of the night for a feeding because she wasn't getting all her formula in during the day. So. Today I purchased a bottle with a rapid flow nipple. Once we got home, I filled it up with 8oz of formula...it was gone in NO TIME! (Well, she left a tiny bit...but still, you get my drift.) Maybe, just maybe, this will cure my over night blues, and she will once again start sleeping through the night....and so will I! (Charis did excellent at the store too, by the way. In the checkout line, the lady behind us asked me how old Charis was, and when I told her, she said, "Wow! She's a good baby. Most babies her age would be really fussy by now!" I agreed, because she is a really good baby.)

Now, back to Cayman at Target... Once the bottle was carefully chosen, we made our way to the BIG BOY UNDIES aisle! I showed Cayman all of his choices. The first pack he chose was from "Yo Gabba Gabba" which I have no idea what that is - we've never seen it before. I just knew he was going to immediately pick Mickey Mouse Clubhouse since he watches that show almost daily and loves it. 15 minutes later, we were still standing there as Cayman looked at every package, trying to choose the best one. I even tried to guide him to a pack so he could wear some and be just like Daddy. (I won't tell you what kind so that you won't be sitting here reading this, picturing my husband in his undies...:)) Finally, he picked out a Disney multipack, mainly because it has Nemo right at the top! And just now, as I got the package out of the Target bag to see what other characters are on it, I notice that they're stinkin' 4T! In my excitement of him finally making a decision, I let him throw them in the buggy without checking the size first. Great. Back to Target we go after nap time! Because he is wearing these things TOMORROW. I have a plan, and I hope it works...

[caption id="attachment_1403" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Showing me "Nemo""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1402" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Examining the package"][/caption]

Tonight after the kids go to bed, Ian and I will cover one of the couches in sheets and towels - that will be Cayman's couch. I've already created a potty chart and taped it up in the bathroom so when he goes he can put his stickers on the potty chart. (When it's full, he'll get a special treat of some kind...) Tomorrow morning when he wakes up, we'll go straight to the potty, and we'll change from a diaper to the underwear of his choice. In my dream land, Cayman will tell me he has to go to the potty like he does some nights when he's running around as "Naked Man" after bath time. He'll feel the urge, and scream, "I gotta go poopy!" (poopy=pee pee in Caymanese right now) and then he'll run to the frog, sit down, and start peeing a minute or two later. We'll see how it goes... I'm sure my blog tomorrow night will be quite interesting.

[caption id="attachment_1404" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Potty Chart...he was THRILLED to use it this afternoon when he woke up from his nap. He even sat an extra 15 minutes to try to poopy so he could put TWO stickers on the chart...obviously he never pooped. :)"][/caption]