Mr. Independent

We are trying to work on Mercer's potty-training again. He did it last fall for awhile, then decided he was done with it. It's been more of a struggle this time around, but he hit a pretty good mark this week & "earned" a new toy because of it. We've been rewarding Mercer with raisins for going #1 in the potty for weeks & weeks now... seems like he's mastered that, but would not go #2 in the potty. We had to step up our game & make the stakes a little higher - for each #2, he would get a little box of raisins PLUS a sticker on his potty chart. After a certain number of stickers, he earned a toy. (We pasted a picture of this toy on the back of his potty chart for motivation.) It worked! He's been pooping in the potty every now & then the past couple of weeks. He brought a note home from his teacher at daycare yesterday saying that he was in he same diaper we put him in earlier in the morning. He pooped in the potty at school, then asked to do it again last night. That was the last #2 he needed to earn his toy & he was THRILLED!

The past couple of days, while trying to go potty, he wants us to leave the bathroom. He's starting to want his privacy already! He wants to pull his diaper & pants down by himself to go to the bathroom. He wants to take off his shirt at night & put on his own pajamas... and he's getting better and better at it. He doesn't want us to help brush his teeth anymore. He's been saying - for a long time "I do it first." Usually, we have to let him take a crack at something before we offer to help - otherwise - he gets mad.

One more potty story:

Last weekend, we went hiking in the woods. We were about a mile away from the car - and he tells us that he has to go. So.... Todd takes him off of the path into the woods a little bit... and he pees on the tree! Later, as we were making our way back to the entrance of the park, we passed a field where we had seen some horses earlier. "Where did they go?" "I don't know - they went into the woods," I replied. "They went to the potty?"

Also last weekend, we went back to an event we attended last year: Touch-A-Truck. Mercer loves utility vehicles - has for quite some time. Last year, however, he didn't seem that interested in climbing on them, rather watching them from afar. This year, he enjoyed climbing on the vehicles more - but standing in the long lines was pretty tough for the little guy. When he did, he was rewarded with sitting in the driver's seat of a fire truck and a huge bulldozer.

Todd & Mercer came down to my office yesterday afternoon. My company was throwing a little going away party for me up on our green roof. 6 years at the non-profit is a pretty long run! Most people that come through are only at Southface for 2 - 3 years. I still have 4 more days to work, technically, but it was a nice little event. I will miss that job, but am looking forward to a little time off, a change in my work-life, but am especially looking forward to being much closer to home each day!

a couple of medical visits as of late, but it's all good

Last week, Mercer had his first dentist's appointment. The appointment was excruciatingly long, but he did really well. I kept popping in & checking on him w/out him seeing me... he was glued to the cartoons on the t.v. playing above his head. And, he got a coin at the end of his visit in which to put into a big gumball machine which released a cheap plastic toy. Amazing... he has played with this toy for a week now. He also got plus half-a-dozen stickers to wear and to stick on a goody bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a few other dental-hygiene related accouterments.

Great smile, huh?

A couple days later, he went in for his 3 year old appointment. He said "I not go to the doctor. I not sick." But, we went anyways for his check-up. He got a clean bill of health, more stickers, and a "made-the-grade report card." His report card said that he was in the 97th percentile for height... 40.5" (3'-6 1/2") and he's in the 90th percentile for weight (36 lbs). He's going to be a tall one, but we already knew that!

Developmentally, everything else is also going well:

- Can he count to 3? (yes, he can count to 11).
- Is he climbing and active? (yes, as he was climbing up on the exam stool - moving to the exam table - down to the chair in the room, back up on the stool so he could reach the sink)
- Does he know his colors? (yes)
- Does he talk in sentences? (yes, as described above)
- Is he trying to potty train (yes... grumble... um yes)

It was interesting. They had a questionnaire they had me fill out on his diet (fruit / veggies / milk consumption per day). They asked a question about # of fast-food meals in a week. (happy to report zero - yay!). There were questions about frequency of candy and treats. They asked questions about video games & tv in the kids room. How much video games & t.v. is there each day? Questions about second hand smoke and exposure to t.b. Questions about social interaction / sports / daycare.

I thought that was kind of cool that they're asking about things other than his health -- things that would have an indirect affect on his health. We're happy to say that we're doing everything that we can to keep little guy healthy.

Don't have to go back 'til next year (well, at least for a "well" visit / annual check-up).

Have a great weekend. It is supposed to be beautiful here.

Spring has sprung as seen in these pics in the back yard... Mercer has been interested in the fish for more than a year, but he's starting to notice other things in the back yard and out in nature. This past weekend, he been asking me to help him jump across rocks in the stream... he likes me to pick up slimy algae and squish it around. He's playing with some cool red moss growing on a rock in the water. And - he's figuring out how to navigate the hammock. (Also, these 4 robins bathing in our stream are enjoying the season as well.)

Enjoy~

what a week it has been!

Last week we went through sooooooo much~

The weekend started with us watching over Mercer to see if we needed to take him to the emergency Children's Healthcare center for some breathing issues. After talking to the nurse hot-line and doing some breathing treatments here, he improved overnight, however, we noticed he had thrush in his mouth & needed to take him in to get something to take care of that. (We learned that the breathing treatment medicine made thrush more common.) When the doctor was looking in his mouth, he noticed that his tonsils were swollen and his throat was red... he did a strep throat test... and it was positive! While there, we asked the doctor about a couple of skin infections which he said was a couple of different kinds of fungus! He had 5 different things going on -- his immunity system was completely knocked down. He had a fever off and on for days. He only wanted to lay around. He wouldn't eat or drink because his mouth and throat hurt too much. It was a rough few days until the medicine he got kicked in.

Thankfully, the medicine took effect on Tuesday afternoon. Mercer's 3rd birthday was on Wednesday!! He was able to go back to daycare on Wednesday, so I took up some muffins and snacks. When I arrived, Mercer and his classmates were all wearing plastic fireman hats and stickers on their shirts that looked like gold badges. The daycare had a fire truck there earlier in the day and all of the kids got to climb on the truck! Between the truck and my visit with snacks, he was definitely having a great day at school!

Later in the week, Todd's mom and my mom both came into town for Mercer's birthday party. We had kids from the neighborhood come over for a big play-doh throw-down. Colors, cutters, extractors, shapes, and presses everywhere... it was a lot of fun for them all. But they may have actually had more fun decorating their own cupcakes and eating them or playing outside (thank good for the nice weather). Mercer definitely enjoyed having friends and "grandma" and "other grandma" over to the house. ("grandma" and "other grandma" changed depending on who was closest to him at the time!)

After all of the festivities, it would seem that things would get back to normal, however, when I got back to work after the weekend, I quit my job of the past 6 years! I have found another that also works with building owners to make them more sustainable... but job is much closer to home. I'll be working through the end of the month before making the change.

I think - now - things are finally going to get back to normal. I don't know that we could have another week like this past one?!