Day Two: More Pee Pee

Day Two of active potty training brought more pee in the potty, on the potty and on the couch.

Really, can you expect more from a toddler than from a college student?

What is this strange being?

Henry and I had some visitors last week - Susan and Baby Maya!

Unfortunately any child younger than Henry will always be "Baby [insert name here]". This will work out fine if Maya turns out to be a child actress, hooker or someone who wears tinfoil hats and talks to god in the airwaves. Not so good to have "Judge Baby Maya" (although she could have her own midday show with that title) or "President Baby Maya".

Clare, we have the same problems with you, so start considering your career moves carefully.

Henry was very excited for our visitors. Especially when he realized that there would be no competition over toys. His hopeful prediction of the pre-visit morning, "Maya NO play with Henry trains" became a reality and all was peaceful in the land.

Maya wasn't quite so sure about Henry for the first bit. Here is a photo essay on "Baby Meets Toddler".

What is THAT and why is he in my personal space?

I'm not so sure about this guy. But I do like the airplane he gave me.

What is he saying? Something about cars...or trains...or giraffes? I'll just pretend like I'm into it.

OK, working a little harder to entertain me. I'm starting to like this kid.

Yeah I know you want a cute picture of the two of us, but I'm not sure you've earned it yet.

Where did he go? That kid's OK.

I just realized that those same captions may come into play in Maya's teenage years. (sorry Susan :)

We had a great time and thank you again to Susan and Maya for trekking it all the way down here from Bham.

Henry goes pee-pee in the potty!

Henry has been sitting on the potty (a duck shaped ring that fits on our toilet) for a couple days now. We've been trying to get him interested for awhile but he's always resisted. Until I introduced the concept of looking at a book while on the potty. Now you can't get him off it until he's read the book at least twice.

But until this morning, here is how things have usually worked.

Mommy "Henry you're dry - how about we go try and pee on the potty".
Henry "Read book, Henry read book on potty!"
Henry sits on potty. Henry reads book. Henry does not pee.

Henry "Henry all done. Henry pee-peed in potty!"
Mommy "Well, you SAT on the potty Henry. You didn't pee-pee."
Henry (very definately) "Henry PEE PEE in potty"
Impasse.

But this morning, he was dry when he woke up and we ran for the potty. Got the book, sat down and actually started peeing.

Mommy "Henry, look! You're going pee-pee in the potty!"
Henry (looking down) "Henry penis pee-pee?!" (looks a little shocked at this turn of events)
Mommy "Yes Henry penis goes pee-pee in the potty. Good job buddy!"

Naked child running through the house shouting "Henry penis pee-pee in potty!!!"

Henry also told me this morning that in Mexico he will go pee pee on the potty but NOT on the beach. I'm sure all the other vacationers will appreciate this resolution.

Henry's New Video Obsession

I'm not sure if youtube is a blessing or a curse when it comes to Henry's love for videos. On the plus side, you have lots of options and it's free. On the downside, i can't even check my email now without relentless badgering for "Kitty one, Kitty one". Though I have to say that i love this animation from Italy almost as much as he does.

Mio Mao is an Italian cartoon about the adventures of two cats in their garden. The set up is almost always the same so after seeing one you know what to expect from other episodes.

Here's a link to one episode, though there seem to be kagillions of them available on youtube. Haven't found any place to buy them - seem to be only available in Italy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeQtqcvY4Yc

If that doesn't work, go to youtube.com and search "mio mao squirrel".
-

So much for creativity.

Mommy learns that toddlers are very literal.

Duets.

More singing. This time with Mommy. Henry says "this goes out to all the ladies in my life...granny, grandma and aunt margaret. oh and mommy and mama too."

Itsy-Bitsy Spider: Toddler Remix. With pacifier.

Henry had lots of fun singing with Uncle Tim and Grandma in California.

My Favorite Picture from the California Trip

This is Kate's family on the steps of her childhood home. Ann has just realized she has curlers in her hair. Henry has just seen Grandma's reaction.
I think this is the cutest picture in the world. And in case anyone is upset that i posted it, I asked Kate if it was OK and she said yes. So blame her :)

Henry's Hollow Leg

My blogging about our trip to California to see Kate's family has run into some difficulty in formatting. So these posts aren't in the intended order but, whatever, maybe i'm just trying to be postmodern (or maybe i'm just technically challenged). Regardless, when last we looked in upon young Henry, he was with his Mama and Mommy visiting Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Tim in southern California.
If you know me or any of the Young kin, then you know we like to eat. And when we travel we like to eat every meal like it is our last.
Obviously, Henry is a Young.
Here is a snapshot of Henry's cullinary journey in Southern California.

We begin in the San Gabriel Valley at a dim sum place called 888 Seafood. Henry loves dim sum but his favorite item is humbao which are baked buns filled with bbq pork. He ate three in one sitting.

Then he named himself "Henry HumBao Face". And did humbao cheers with Uncle Tim.

And Mama.

When your belly is filled with salty, savory foods like dim sum, you must follow up with something sweet. Luckily, Alhambra is home to a handmade ice cream place named Fosselman's. They have been supplying restaurants, and hungry kids, with ice cream since the 1930s.

Henry is all about supporting local businesses. Especially when they serve mango ice cream.

This is your toddler. This is your toddler on pork buns and an adult sized scoop of ice cream. Be very afraid.

Claremont is a very cute college town (home to the Claremont Colleges). We always stop at Some Crust Bakery during our visit. This was the first time Henry picked his own treat.
Of course it was the largest, most frosting-est cookie in the joint.
Happy Valentine's Day Henry!

But he let Mommy have a bite. Just a tiny bite mind you.

A little known fact about the area known as the San Gabriel Valley (which stretches from east of LA to west of Claremont): There are more Chinese people per capita in the SGV than anywhere outside of China. Thus this is one of the best places for Chinese food in the US.
This makes Jessica very excited but also a little stressed. If you only get one or two meals out in the SGV during a visit, you need to make them count. So I spend hours interacting with other foodies on chowhound.com in prep for a visit. My goal is to find one new place to try that will blow me away.
This trips visit was to the "something, something, something (in Chinese) Noodle House." They have a very small menu but are known for two things: their dumplings and steamed buns (bao) that are made entirely to order. You place your order and the folks behind the counter press the dough, fill them, steam them and bring them to your table. So i dragged the Kinney family along on my quest for the perfect dumpling.

We were the only white folks in the place which was a good sign. And the place (by the time we left) was PACKED. Another good sign.

Of course, I ordered WAAAYYY too much food for four adults and one toddler. But at $4 a plate, i think i could splurge.

Here are the noodle soups and scallion pancakes.

And here are the buns and dumplings.

Henry LOVED the noodles and our new game "noodle race". It's kind of a Chinese noodle adaptation of the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp. But instead of kissing, you try to slurp more of the noodle, thus besting your contender. Henry is the King of the Noodle Race.

He beat Mama.

And he beat Mommy (but mainly because i couldn't stop laughing). Seriously, I schooled that boy on slurping. Ain't no toddler gonna slurp faster than the Mommy.

Henry loved the noodles so much that he was still trying to shove them in his mouth as we left. Much to the amusement of the other patrons.

We don't have pictures of all the raspberry sorbet Henry ate at Grandma and Grandpa's or the mexican feast we had at Uncle Tim's. Needless to say the diet began the minute we returned to Seattle.

Huntington Gardens Survives Toddler Visit

One of our favorite outings when we visit Kate's family is to go to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. The grounds are immense and include a Chinese and a Japanese Garden. Some of you will recognize the gardens (especially the koi ponds) in pictures from the past two years' family calenders. We are all about tradition and will be dragging him to Huntington for years to come (bribing him as the teen years arrive I am sure).

Henry loves nature of course and calmly sits back admiring the beauty surrounding him.
Right.
Henry loves to fully interact with nature - climbing it, trying to jump in it, pulling it off stems and branches.... Mommy spent a lot of her time yelling "Look with your EYES" and "THIS way, THIS way".
Sorry plants. Sorry flowers. Sorry birds and fish. Hope you've recovered.

Although thwarted from jumping in ponds and waterfalls, Henry did enjoy splashing in puddles.

Uncle Tim was able to join us at the Gardens!

Mommy and Henry took their yearly picture in the Chinese Garden at the arch. Yes people, this is as good as it gets with a toddler. It's our "rocker" look.

Henry and Mama hid in a large grove of bamboo but Mommy found them. Mommy ALWAYS finds you.

Henry is still fascinated with the koi. We had to pick out our favorite ones. Henry's favorite was the biggest one of course. We had to explain that we couldn't take them home. This was the first of many conversations about why we will never have certain animals as pets.

Here are "the boys" at the garden taking a little break. Look who's ready to go!

Queen of the Flannel Board

For those of you who don't know, Kate's mom Ann is an ex-elementary school teacher (actually pretty much everyone in her family has been, or is currently, involved in the teaching business).
She still has many preschool tricks up her sleeve!

Grandma introduced Henry to his new love, the flannel board, during our trip.

And better yet, she packed up all the flannel stories and sent them to us here in Seattle. Henry showed off his new aquisition to his friends this morning. He was very directive in how to do the stories the "right" way.

Thanks Grandma!!

California Dreaming

We went to California in February to visit Grandma and Grandpa (Kate's parents) in Claremont. The weather was good for the most part (better than Seattle anyway) and we were able to spend a lot of time outdoors.

Here is Henry and Grandpa looking at horses at a local park.

Henry loved all the outdoor climbing and scrambling.

Of course you need some time to relax on the patio as well.

Henry was pretty pleased to learn "thumbs up" from Mama. And to "climb" a tree.

Every morning Grandpa feeds the squirrels in the back yard. Henry wanted to get in on the action. I think the squirrels had to go on a diet after we left.

Yes, Henry picked his own orange off a tree in the backyard. We ate it and Henry declared it "delicious".

More to come...