Do Toddlers Get PMS?

I know there are women who read this blog, some even give comments that make me feel all funny and tingly. So, for those of the fairer gender who are reading this, I must pose a question: How does a 2 year old get PMS?
Lest you think I'm a bit over the top (and what could possibly make you think that?), let me explain what brought this conundrum about. Yesterday, I made the horrible mistake of not letting Lauren put the keys in the car before we headed to day care. This gaffe was so egregious as to cause immense pain and suffering for the entire drive to day care. All 10 minutes of it. Tears, yells, kicks, etc where in plentiful supply. The drama continued up to and past drop off. It was so bad, a drop-and-run technique was employed to break free from the vise like grip she used around my neck.
Let's cut to this morning where I had the foresight to let Lauren place the keys in the car. Yesterday's screaming, crying hellion transformed into a peaceful, quiet, even pleasant little angel. She took off her shoes, gave me a kiss, and went to see her friends. As I left, she yelled "Goodbye Daddy! I wuv you!!!".
I don't know if I will be able to survive the teenage years if this is what the toddler years are like. I'm just envisioning a similar mood swing, but completed in a compact 15 minute timespan. Oh, and several of those a day. If I don't lose my hair by then, I'm going to rip it out.

How Would You Respond?

One thing I miss about not having kids is the ability to go to the bathroom by myself. Now that Lauren is potty training, when she spies me heading to the facilities, she will rush to my side and demand to go with me. I have learned to live with this, but a few days ago Lauren did something that completely caught me off guard. She noticed I was going poo poo. When the "Plop" came, she gave me a big hug and said "Good job daddy! I'm so proud of you!!!!"

"Um .... thanks?"

Operation Tinkle Tinkle Plop Plop

Wow!! That's all I have to say right now. We are smack dab in the middle of Operation Tinkle Tinkle Plop Plop here at the Brown Household. Since returning from vacation, Lauren has used the potty THREE times to go pee pee!!!!!! She's earned 3 of the 10 stars she needs to get the giant Minnie Mouse!! We're just on cloud nine. We've had her sit on the potty for close to 3 months now with nothing. Then BLAM!!! 3 times in 2 days! Woot! Up next is getting the Plop Plop phase of the operation going. She's a little hesitant about that, but hopefully, she'll figure out it's much better than using a diaper.
It's funny ... when Lauren was born I was a little disappointed she would have to wait until she was almost 5 before going to preschool. Now, I'm ecstatic. If we had to have her potty trained before September of this year, I'm not sure we could have done it. With the cut off date though, she'll have a whole year of potty use under her belt before going to school. I think she'll be just fine.

I'm counting the paychecks now

Eric just had his four month check up and boy, are his stats an eye opener.

Weight: 17 lbs 14 oz
Height: 27 in
Head: 42 cm

That puts him in the 95th, 96th, and 50th percentiles respectively. So, my dreams of having a NFL linebacker for a son seem to be coming to fruition. Fortunately, his head is normal sized so he'll look good and can get the endorsements too :)

End of the Journey Approaches

We are quickly approaching the end of our journey and I think the word that best describes our travels is: Survived. Actually, the past 2 weeks have gone surprisingly well, even with a few hiccups along the way. Lauren just loves the ocean and has gone in every day this week. Eric even managed to make a few trips to Camp Potter-Brown-McGuire on the beach. You laugh, but I think camp may be a bit of an understatement. There was the tent, 4 umbrellas, and 6 beach chairs. I've seen entire offices move with less crap than we carried to the beach each day. But, my folks need the shade less they be mistaken for lobsters. We've even decided to add a new item to our beach arsenal: a Sherpa. I think I can find one, but if not, a cart will do just as well. That's right, we carried all that stuff plus towels, snacks, and Lauren's sand toys (soon to be Lauren and Eric's sand toys). My favorite part was when we would just reach the beach, I carrying 30 pounds of equipment, and Lauren would plead with me to carry her because the sand was too hot. Yup ... always loved that part. Of course I carried her because I'm a sucker, but still.
As always, you can expect a lot of pictures to be forthcoming. Our 1 gig card is starting to buckle under the strain, so it may be good that we're leaving tomorrow. Then, it's back to our regular schedule come Monday. I don't know if Lauren is ready for that yet, but we'll see. I think her friends are going to be a little shocked at how tan she is. Great ... my daughter is blond haired, blue eyed, and tans well. Eric better be linebacker sized to keep all the would-be suiters at bay. Even with Lauren wearing the 1930s swimsuit that covers the ankles and wrists.

Roll Over Beethoven

We knew it was coming. All the signs pointed to this week being the week it happened. Yesterday, for the first time ever, Eric rolled over!!!!! All last week, he had been stuck at his side, not really sure what his arm was supposed to do. Then, last night at around 2045 EDT, he did it. He got to his stomach, lifted his head, and exclaimed: "Ah crap! Is it tummy time already?"
As we all know, once you figure something out, it's much easier to do it again. So, whenever he gets placed on his back, he immediately rolls to his stomach. The one scary part now is he's moving his arms and legs like he wants to crawl. Just think ... a little while longer and I will be the father of 2 mobile children. I think I should renew my Valium prescription.

One Week Down, One to Go

We are now 1 week into our 2 week long vacation. I could also have put that as 4 cities into our 4 city tour of the east coast. There were 3 days in Greenville, SC; then 3 days in Sherrill's Ford, NC; 2 days in Baltimore; then today we drove to Ocean City. Fortunately, we'll be here for a week before heading back to Chicago. It's nice to finally be in a place where we can unpack. Living out of a suit case can be quite frustrating. There are have been some developments and almost developments in this time though. First, at the ripe old age of 4 months, Eric went to his first bar last night. Man, if I ever need to get a date, this guy is a gold mine. The women would stop dead in their tracks to ooh and ahh at his gummy smile. The almost development is he is this -><- close to rolling over. He can get almost his entire body from his back to his stomach. All that's left is that pesky arm. Once he figures that out, we've got a rolling roly poly of a boy. Oh ... yeah ... he's topped 18 pounds too. Not exactly a dainty thing like his sister, but I guess that's a good thing.

A Major Lifestyle Change

Today is an odd day. I'm trying out some new socks and, while interesting, it does make for an odd feeling. For the first 31 years of my life, I used the regular crew socks. Recently though, I've decided those type of socks are a bit annoying when I wear shorts. So, I had Debbie pick up some low cut socks. They're cut just above the ankle, so they're low enough to not be annoying, but not so low as to change my sexual orientation. My initial verdict is I like them. They make me look taller, which is something I am not to dismiss :)
As with any lifestyle change as enormous as modifying sock styles, certainly careful experimentation is required. Unfortunately, to try these out before our big trip, I had to break one of my rules for wearing them. While these socks work with shorts, they seem kind of odd to wear with long pants. But, I had to try them out and I don't wear shorts to work, so I had to wear them with long pants (jeans to be precise). So, acknowledging that the experiment isn't a 100% accurate representation of their future use, it is serving as a good dry run.