Friday, December 28, 2007

12/28/07 Katrina's mess -- and not

A cold, rainy, windy, decidedly indoor day. I took The Three to the Y, then to Whole Foods, then home for good.

The boys were surprisingly good and calm today, given how they were stuck inside most of the day. They both love Julian's new piano, and have been figuring out how to "read" the music book that comes with it, which has color-coded letters for notes to play simple songs. Gabriel's worked half his way through Old MacDonald, and was very pleased that he didn't even need the music book anymore for that song, so he said. It was fascinating seeing his moment of discovery that music can be memorized.

I expected Julian to be interested in the piano, and he is, but am really surprised by how Gabriel's taken to it. I guess I shouldn't be, since as Betsy wisely observed, "reading" music appeals to his sense of order. So I asked Gabriel about piano lessons , and he said, "you mean like on a Bonne Maman piano?" "Yup," I told him. "Oh!" he said with excitement, "that kind has eighty-eight letters!"

Katrina had only about an hour of inexplicable grouchiness today, a big improvement. I've really been enjoying playing with her on and off today, though of course on her terms. Sometimes she just wants to bop around pushing her little wagon, other times she insists on attention. It's so funny reading her a book -- it's not good enough to sit her on the floor right in front of me, she has to climb up and sit on on my leg, and absolutely cannot be dissauded from that pose. I've liked going in and out of her world numerous times today.

I thought I'd try giving her a bowl and spoon with a highly desirable food in it today (applesauce), with the hopes she'd be more motivated to spoon it herself and not throw the bowl. I called it right on the throwing (for once, she didn't), but the spoon quickly gave way to sucking handfuls of applesauce off her little paws. It was very cute, and I didn't mind the cleanup job at all.

Sometimes if it's close to, but not quite, bathtime and Katrina needs a new diaper, I'll let her go "al fresco" during the in-between time. Dave's gotten her used to sitting on a potty upstairs, so I thought I'd try it downstairs too. She was so funny smiling sitting there that I had to take some pictures.

But she kept putting her hands into the potty, foiling my photo-op, and then I realized why: she went! This is the second time this week. A complete random accident, but that's how it starts. I made a big deal of it, and I don't think she knew why, but she's learning that something about sitting on the potty can be a big deal.

(She really wanted to splash her hands in it, and I did let her touch it once, just so she made the connection, though she protested fiercely when I whisked her to the sink!)

I really, really, really look forward to her walking for a new small reason: then we can lose the snap-at-the-crotch onesies which hang down and get in the way when a baby's bottom is exposed, complicating potty-training.

Walking, potty-ing...I can see these major milestones in the distance, marking our steady march out of babyhood. I feel like I should be sad about that, but I'm not at all. Indeed, it almost frees me to see other babies and be genuinely swept away by how adorable they are and feel no angst whatsoever. It almost gives me a twinge of looking forward to being a grandmother!

12/28/07

1 comment:

they call me mama said...

That's 2 more times than K or A have used the potty. Don't get me started!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!