The Hazard Chronicles

This blog is about Evelyn, but before we get to that I'll say just a little bit about the rest of us.

Rachel and I had a good week- except for Monday. Monday was a terrible, horrible, no good,very bad day. Everything else was fun. On Monday I was supposed to have a half-day at school and then we were all going to go to the big beginning-of-the-year dental school social. Well, that didn't happen because I had the location wrong and by the time we figured it out it was too late because Jack and Addy had to have naps. And then on the way home Rachel got a ticket for speeding and for driving without a license (She is in the middle of renewing hers and has a temporary license for now.) Apparantly this is a criminal offense- she has a court arraignment she has to go to next week.

Just as an aside- I have come to despise cops. OK- I'm glad we have them, but really, do they go home at night thinking that they made the world a better place or are they aware of the fact that they just made a bunch of honest, well-meaning citizens angry and frusterated.

Whew- OK. On to the next subject.

On Saturday we went to North Chagrin Reservation and took a nice long walk with the kids. We love this place and the fact that it is pretty close. We even saw a little pond there with hundreds of frogs in it. When we approached it the water litterally looked like it was boiling because of all the frogs moving around inside of it. Pretty cool!

Later that night we had a nice BBQ picnic dinner at the park and played until bedtime.

So that is pretty much what happened this week. Here is an update on the kids.

Jackson, in a word, is inquisitive. I can see him as an engineer or a detective one day. He is into everything, but in an analytical sort of way. He just wants to figure things out. He will stare at a new toy or something and just sort of poke at it and try it out until he has a thourough understanding how it works. He is very smart and very cute.

On the other hand we have our dear Addy. Adalie, in a word, is destructive. I can see her in charge of a demolition crew one day. She loves nothing more that to pound things, be it a table, a ball, or a person. She usually sings a little song as she is pummeling whatever is closest to her, and it is actually sort of cute. She is also very adept at sticking things in her mouth.

And then there is Evelyn. Like I said earlier, this post is really about her. Evelyn, in a word, is independant. "I Gok it" (I got it) has become her catch phrase- For example the other day when I put her in the car. I was about to help her into her carseat when suddenly she turned around, pointed her little finger right into my face, and sternly told me "No help, Daddy. I got it." And then I watched her for the next 7 minutes as she figured out how to buckle herself in.

So what is her latest endevour? Potty training! She has suddenly decided that she is potty trained and has kept her diaper dry for THREE DAYS now. This is without any help from us (she won't let us help). We will be eating dinner or something and she will casually announce that she has to go potty. And then she will get up, go to the bathroom, strip down, and go. At the end she will proudly show us "the prize" and then flush it down the toilet, wash her hands, and then bring us her diaper to put back on (most of the time).

Earlier today we were at a friend's house for a birthday party. Suddenly someone asked us- "Did you know that Evelyn was in the bathroom all alone?" We didn't know, but we weren't suprised to open the door and see her on the toilet doing her thing. She is so good.

But sometimes her independance has gotten her into trouble. A good example of this is when she decided she wanted to try the big potty (the toilet). Rachel went to help stabalize her, but then decided to leave her alone after repeated crys of "No help Mommy. I GOT IT!" So...A little while later Rachel hears a little splash. When she goes to investigate she sees Evelyn folded in half inside the toilet with a very surprised look in her eyes. And then she very matter-of-factly states "I fall in." Yes, she fell in.

Actually, Evelyn got to use that phrase again this week. It was just after we had put everyone to bed. Rachel and I were relishing in the silence of sleeping children when we suddenly hear Evelyn start to scream. Now, Evelyn doesn't usually do that, so Rachel went in to see what was going on. What had happened is she was leaning over to see Addy in the Pack-and-Play and apparantly leaned too far, flipping over the edge and into the crib. Adalie (remember, the destructive one?) immediately capitalizes on her good fortune and throws her full body weight, which is substantial, on Evelyn's head and starts pounding away. And what did Evelyn say when Rachel went in to help? "I fall in."

Anyway, we are very proud of our independant little girl for potty-training herself. We know we are not out of the woods yet, but having a child who wants this for herself makes the whole ordeal a lot easier, and even a little bit fun. It is so cute to watch Evelyn's pride swell whenever she pees and she throws her hands in the air and exclaims "I did it, I did it!" What a cutie.