Milestones...

So this week, two very big things happened.

Thing 1: Connor's chair arrived. It was supremely unexpected, and the best surprise I've ever had. It's smooth and he is so comfortable in it - it's the BEST!!! I've already rhapsodized about it but it deserves daily adoration. I looooooooooooooooooooooove Connor's new chair!!

Thing 2: You know how you spend months trying to build up your young child's confidence in toilet training? You know how one of your prouder moments as a parent is when your child finally toilets properly, and you can see the end of diapers as you know it? I hear it's a beautiful thing. Drew has been making real progress lately, and I'm super proud of him. However, tonight we reached a pinnacle I had just not ever imagined. We had friends over for pizza tonight, and after dinner we were sitting on the deck while Drew and his friends ran around playing in the yard. It was lovely and peaceful, and then. Then...then Drew came up to me on the deck and said, "Mommy, I pooped behind the tree." We all laughed, and I said I think he meant peed. He walked me over to the tree on the other side of the yard. No. He had, in fact, pooped on the yard. We got him cleaned up (it didn't take much - he was very proud) and got a plastic bag to put it in the garbage.

Really. Really? Drew goes from diapers to dog-toileting?

I led him back inside and we talked about the fact that he did a great job not going in his pants, but that next time, he should come inside quickly and use the toilet. Because then he gets his Thomas bribe-toys.

Words

Sometimes, I forget about words. I forget about how they are a building block for everything. You would think this would not be a problem for me, 'cause I like words. I've been overusing them since a very young age.

Tucker has started using some words. His current favorites are "uh-oh!" and "Dad-deeeeeeee" which applies to most of us. We're all Daddy, apparently, to him.

This morning, though, a really interesting and exciting thing happened. Lee and I got Connor and Drew downstairs, and while I was getting the coffee made (and the milks warmed up) Connor was sitting in his chair ya-ya-ing in his usual way. I couldn't really hear him over the whirr and chunk of the coffee grinder. Drew, however, was right by him, and he jumped up and exclaimed (really - that's the perfect word for this!) "He said words, Mommy! He said, `Oh, yeah!' He said it!"

Drew was delighted that Connor has said words. We have spoken with Drew a few times about how Connor communicates without using regular words, and in his own way he seems to understand. But his unbridled excitement that his big brother had learned something was a great way to start a week. Of course, logically I know that Connor wasn't deliberately using language, and that's all right because it's what I know I can expect. If I could bottle the best of Drew, this would be in there. He loves Connor so much that he tells us at least two times a week now that he wishes he still shared a room with him. He never asks to share a room with Tucker. Well, not yet.

These little boys. They just fill up my heart.