"Give Me a Cookie"

Lately we've been listening to CD's from the "Bounce" Collection (Spectrum Connections). The songs invariably get stuck in my head, which I guess is the point, because yesterday G. looked at me and said, "Give me a cookie". That's a direct quote from a Bounce song, and he said it just after I had said, "No more cookies. You just brushed your teeth." I almost fainted when he said a sentence, and you better believe he got a cookie!

Adoption Celebration

For whatever reason, increased focus on the potty has meant decreased blog-reading and blogging for me. B. continues to surprise me with his toileting successes, although I still have to be happy with peeing/pooping in the general potty vicinity. In the morning when he's still dazed, things go where they're supposed to, but once he's awake, it's literally hit-or-miss.

Yesterday was the four-year anniversary of J. joining our family! We took him out to one of those hibachi-table Japanese restaurants. We'd been there with friends, and thought J. would enjoy the silly patter and the showmanship of the chef. Unfortunately, we ended up with the first scary/cranky/clumsy hibachi chef we've ever met. I think he was trying hard, but he kept addressing J. in a gruff voice as "Boy", and J. looked a little nervous most of the time. He still enjoyed it, probably because he rarely gets to go out with just the two of us. He kept saying "Let's talk about Barack Obama and John McCain!" and "Let's talk about the debate!" I think it was part of the fun of being out with the grown-ups. It was hard to keep a conversation about the debate going for long, but he tried.
The first picture we ever saw of J. (at three months old)

J. last month in Austin (we are so lucky to have this sweetie in our lives!):

Potty Training

I don't want to jinx this, but I'm getting more serious about potty training, starting with B.
I put a portable DVD player on the edge of the bathtub, and let B. sit on the potty watching it. Yesterday he peed twice, and today even had a poop! I have to admit, only one of these events actually ended up going into the potty. But it was all very, very close to the toilet, and I'm seeing that as a big step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of life at our house, I end up leaving him alone sometimes, and when I return, things are not always good. I'll spare you the details, but I will say that the DVD player may not smell as nice as it once did.

I'm trying to tell myself that even if this is one of those blips of progress that disappears again for months, it means that someday this really will happen.