Month: June 2015

Today we celebrated Enzo turning 5 months old by going to our first baseball game as a family. Rather than fight the crowds in Seattle, we decided to attend an Everett Aquasox game, which is the Single A short-season minor league franchise of the Seattle Mariners. I’ve never been to a minor league baseball game before, but honestly it was a lot of fun. The atmosphere is very family friendly, the people working at the ballpark are also very friendly, and the crowds are very small. There was a friendly police officer who kept coming over to play with the kids, and Ava thought it was hilarious to keep taking his hat. He was a good sport about it though.

We sat in the General Admission section, which was perfect because it allowed the girls to run around rather than be stuck in a seat the whole time. Today’s game was the ‘Mascot game’, meaning there were at least a dozen mascots running around the ballpark taking pictures and doing fun stuff between innings. At one point Ava was saying ‘hi’ from a distance to the mascots in the next section over. She says “Hi frog, hi hotdog, hi clam, hi Santa.” I’m like, Santa? Then I realize she’s talking to the old guy with the long white beard who works at the ballpark. Of course he heard her, but luckily he got a big kick out of it. Only Ava…

Our friends Jamie and Melissa, along with their 2 year old daughter Ellie, joined us for the game, which made it even more fun. The capstone to the game was letting all the kids go out on the field and run around the bases. Ava got around remarkably fast, while Elise decided to sit and rest a couple times between bases. It was a funny way to end a nice afternoon.

Last week was pretty crazy for me, both at work and at home, but this week marks the start of back-to-back 4 day work weeks, separated by a 4 day weekend. Not only was last week extremely busy for me at work, but Jessica also worked two nights, meaning I was back on full-time dad duty for both of those nights. Luckily I don’t have any crazy stories about either of my nights, and I can say with confidence that each night we spend together without Mom gets a little easier. Friday night I was even able to give Enzo 3.5 ounces of milk from a bottle, as well as a good amount of solid baby food. This was by far the most success I’ve had feeding him, so that was encouraging.

Tomorrow is Ava’s last day in day care. She’s going to take the summer off, then start attending preschool in September. At this point she’s basically on a normal school schedule that any kid would have, but she’ll go to preschool for two years before entering kindergarten. I’m not sure what the plan is for Elise regarding day care and preschool, but it will be at least another year before she starts anything like that. We’ve been talking about getting them into some type of activity together, maybe a dance class or something similar, so we’ll see how that turns out.

Tuesday is the last day of the month, meaning we will have made it through our health month successfully. I must admit that I cheated a bit today by eating some popcorn at the baseball game, but I’m not too worried about it. Considering that’s the worst thing I’ve had all month I think it’s okay. There’s no question that it’s working, and we’re continuing to see results; I weighed myself yesterday and at this point I’m down 12 pounds from when we started. It’s certainly not all about weight loss, but that can be a nice way of quantifying your success. Ultimately it’s about making long-term changes to improve our health, and not surprisingly it’s starting to rub off on the girls. Suddenly they’re more open to eating raw veggies because they constantly see us eating them. The other thing we’re noticing is that our appetites have shrunk significantly; it simply doesn’t take nearly as much food to fill us up. All that being said, I can’t wait to go out for Mexican food and frozen yogurt on Wednesday night. I think we’ve earned it.

Wednesday night will be fun not only because of the delicious meal we’ll be having, but we will also be attending a free concert at the Mill Creek Town Center. It’s part of a series of concerts going on every Wednesday night, each one with a different theme. The theme for this week is British Invasion Rock ‘n Roll, so we can expect to hear lots of tunes by the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Some of the other nights we hope to attend this summer include Classic Rock, Blues & Soul night, and Rock from the 70’s & 80’s night.

With June coming to an end, that means we can expect things to start getting very busy for us. Rick and Chris will be visiting for the holiday weekend, and I’ll be going to the Van Halen concert down at the White River amphitheater on Sunday night with Rico. We’re going to have Madi over for another sleepover the following week, then do an early birthday party for Elise with Kristy, Madi, Jim and Brenda that Saturday. There is a chance that my Mom will be coming up for that as well, so hopefully that works out. The weekend after that we’ll be doing another party for Elise with Amy, Tom, Dana (and family) plus a few friends.

Amy hasn’t been out since Enzo was born so she’s going to stick around for a while on this visit. Having her here will be a big help for Jessica, whom I know is ready for a break. We’re going to take advantage by going to a Mariners game the day before my birthday, then dinner that evening. I’ve got plenty of personal days to use at work, so I’m taking Wednesday the 29th off so we can go to the game and dinner, then Thursday the 30th (my birthday) off as well. Should be a lot of fun.

There isn’t too much else to update on. Enzo is growing fast and rolling over regularly; he seems noticeably stronger and heavier. We’re still working on potty training with Ava and only having moderate success. Some days she does great, while other days are a hair-pulling catastrophe. I know we’ll get there soon enough but I honestly never thought it would be this challenging. Guess that’s about it for now; there will definitely be a lot more to write about in July. Here’s a few photos from the past few days.

Ava looking patriotic

Elise feeding Pippo a bottle

Enzo hanging out in the backyard

Hanging out in the bleachers

Ava wearing the police officer’s hat

Family photo on our way out of the ballpark

Mom and her little ball player

5 months old

I think it’s probably safe to say that today was the best Father’s Day I’ve had yet. In addition to keeping busy all day with lots of fun activities, it was my first Father’s Day with all three of my kids, so that made it extra special. However before I get into the fun day that we had today, I first need to share the misery that I experienced earlier this week.

Thursday night Jessica had to work at El Gaucho, so that means I was home alone with the kids. As you may know from reading these posts, this was only the second time I’ve been home alone for an entire evening with the kids. The first time didn’t go very well, specifically because Enzo refuses to eat when I try to feed him, but I was confident (more like hopeful) that this time would be different.

Jessica and the kids met me at work on Thursday afternoon, we exchanged cars, and the kids and I headed home in the van. We got home at about 5:00pm and the first hour went great. No problems with the girls, and Enzo didn’t make a peep. For a second I remember thinking we were home free and in for an easy night. Then the crying began. Enzo started crying at 6:00 and I kid you not when I say that he did not stop until 9:30. No exaggeration. For 3.5 hours I tried everything I could possibly think of: bottles of milk, solid foods, walking around in the house, walking around outside, bouncing on my knee, changing his diaper, sitting in his bouncy chair, giving him a toy to hold onto, laying in his crib, etc. I did everything I could think of several times over, but nothing worked. He just kept crying, and I fell into a downward spiral of hopelessness.

Eventually I ended up laying him down in his pack ‘n play, which is in our living room, and pulled up a chair to sit with him. No matter what the crying continued and there was nothing I could do. Seeing those big alligator tears streaming down his face made me feel horrible, and I knew he was hungry, but he simply refused to eat. All he wanted to do was cry, and I just had to sit there and take it.

At a certain point, around 8:30, Elise was sitting in my lap next to Enzo’s pack ‘n play, and she fell asleep in my arms. I don’t know how she could sleep through all that commotion, but she passed out regardless. I moved her over to the couch and resumed my post sitting next to Enzo. Finally at 9:30 he fell asleep and I felt rejoiced. I couldn’t believe it was finally over, so after a minute or two I headed over to my office to relax. If it wasn’t for the diet we’re on this month I definitely would have poured myself a drink, but no, I was more than happy enough to sit in my office and just enjoy the silence.

A little earlier in the evening I had gone upstairs to check on Ava and she was doing fine. I got her into pajamas and set her up with something to watch on TV. I hadn’t been in my office for more than 10 minutes when I see Ava coming up to me with no pants or diaper on. As you may know, we’ve been working on potty training with her, but honestly it’s not going very well. She is the epitome of a strong-willed child, so getting her potty trained has been more difficult than we ever could have expected. She has recently developed the bad habit of taking her diaper off, particularly when she has to poop. I get the logic; she doesn’t want to walk around in a poopy diaper, but the problem is that she will take her diaper off and literally poop anywhere. We keep explaining to her that the potty is the only place she is allowed to poop, but she just doesn’t get it (or refuses to get it, which is probably more likely). Not too long ago she pooped in our cul-de-sac right in front of the neighbors. I was at work when it happened but of course Jessica was mortified.

When I saw Ava approaching me with no diaper on I knew there was a problem, but I had no idea how bad it really was. I jumped out of my chair to see what was going on and as I approached her I instantly saw that her hands, feet, and legs were all covered in poop. She had obviously removed her diaper, pooped somewhere in the house, then smeared it all over herself. I couldn’t believe it. After the night I had already had with Enzo this just didn’t seem possible. Remember, I was only 10 minutes relieved from the nightmare I’d endured with him, so her timing was impeccable.

I immediately brought her to the bathroom and started scrubbing her down. While getting her clean I repeatedly asked her (rather harshly) why she had done this. I kept telling her that this is not okay and that Mommy would be very upset about this. It probably took 10 minutes to get her clean, but it wasn’t over yet; I still needed to clean the area where she pooped. I asked her to take me to the spot of the crime, so she took my hand and lead me to her bedroom. Once we arrived there she pointed to a spot on her pink shag carpet, but at first glance there was nothing there. I got down on my knees to look a little closer and only found the tiniest little poop pellet. This didn’t make sense. I knew there had to be more than this, so I looked even closer and what I found was a little tuft of Bella’s hair. Remember that Bella isn’t allowed in the girl’s bedroom, so finding her hair in there could only mean one thing – Bella ate the poop.

At this point I was equal parts angry and disgusted, but in the back of my mind I could see the humor. I knew there was humor in all of this, but I was incapable of consciously acknowledging it. I was too heated by the culmination of the night’s events. The good news is that there was no mess to clean up, so I headed downstairs to sulk on the couch. Not a minute later Bella came down and proceeded to pant her nasty hot breath right in my face. Needless to say, it smelled like shit.

By the time Jessica got home after midnight she found Elise and I asleep on the couch, Ava passed out on the living room floor, and Enzo wide awake in his pack ‘n play, not making a sound, but looking at her as if to say “Finally!” I wish I could say that I wouldn’t have to worry about this again anytime soon but the unfortunate reality is that Jessica will be working two more shifts next week. Stay tuned for the next adventurous tale of yours truly, the dopey dad, and the three niños running the show. I can’t wait.

Before I get to the great day we today I’ll quickly say that our ‘Health Month’ is continuing to go really well and we’re consistently seeing results. At this point we’ve both lost nearly 10 pounds, and more importantly, we’re feeling great. Earlier this week I used part of my fitness allowance at Microsoft to purchase a Fitbit, and I can’t believe how much I’m enjoying it. I wear it all day and night, and it tracks everything I do. At any point in the day I can see how many steps I’ve taken, why my pulse is, how far I’ve walked, how many flights of stairs I’ve climbed, and how many calories I’ve burned. Everything gets logged to a website that I can check from the computer, or with the Fitbit mobile app on my phone. In an effort to increase my stats, I’m finding myself running up two flights of stairs at work every time I need to use the restroom or fill my water bottle. It’s gamification at it’s finest.

The other cool thing is that I’m logging everything I eat on the Fitbit website, which means I can see how many calories, carbs, grams of protein, fiber, etc are in each of my meals. I’ve never watched what I eat so closely before but I’m finding it very interesting. You can’t help but feel good about yourself when you see that you’ve burned 2,500 calories in a day and only consumed 1,500. The other cool thing is that it tracks my sleep patterns and graphs it all out on the website. On any given day I can look and see exactly how long I slept, when I was awoken throughout the night, and what my ‘sleep efficiency rating’ is. For someone like me who likes to nerd out on data, this is awesome. I don’t even have to set an alarm on my phone anymore because my Fitbit has a built-in silent alarm. If you’re considering getting one (or something similar) I would definitely recommend it.

Okay, finally onto today, which is Father’s Day. We started off the day meeting up with Uncle Jim, Aunt Brenda, Kristy, and her friend Edgar at a car show in Burien. When I was in high school Jim and Brenda used to take me to tons of car shows, so the idea of going to a show with them made perfect sense. We walked around and checked out all the beautiful rides. Jessica and I have been somewhat interested in the idea of a classic truck lately, so we paid particular attention to those, plus I fell in love with a beautiful convertible GTO Judge. Strangely enough there was a stuffed tiger sitting on the back of the car, and since Elise loves tigers so much, she was instantly attracted to it. We were both in love with that particular car, but for wildly (get it? – wildly) different reasons.

After walking around for a while we settled in near the stage to watch a variety of performers. The girls love live music and once again they practically stole the show dancing in front of the stage. I think Ava even took a bow at one point. To say that Ava likes the spotlight would be
a total understatement.

We left the car show at 1:30 and headed to Lincoln Park in West Seattle to attend the 2nd birthday for our friends Jodi and Leon’s son Miles. There was a great turnout and we got a chance to catch up with lots of our old friends from the restaurant business. There was a ton of delicious food available, but Jessica and I held strong. The unhealthiest thing we had all day was a bit of pulled pork, but we never delved into the sweets. I know it was tough for Jessica so I was proud of her. We ended up hanging out there for about three hours and had an absolute blast. The weather was perfect, there were tons of great people to talk to, and there was a big playground for the kids to enjoy. All in all it was a great way to spend a Sunday.

As expected the kids slept all the way home, which gave us time to have a nice long talk with Rick about his day, and their upcoming trip for the 4th of July. We gave the kids a bath once we got home and at this point they’re all exhausted and temperamental. I’m hoping we can get the girls to settle down and watch a movie. I recorded the final round of the US Open (which is being played down in Tacoma at Chambers Bay golf course) and will be watching that for the rest of the evening. To all the Dads in our lives, Happy Father’s Day; we hope each of you had a great day. Time to go make a nice salmon dinner and enjoy the remained of this awesome day with my babes. If every Father’s Day is as good as this one I think I’ll be doing all right.

Kristy and Edgar hanging with Enzo

Aunt Brenda and Baby Enzo

Uncle Jim and Enzo having fun

Enzo sees his first Ferrari

Elise and I with the GTO Judge (and the tiger)

Hanging out with my little guy

An instant classic. I love this picture so much.

Ava and Leon playing with the bubble rope

Daddy and his big girl

Our second week of ‘Health Month’ is drawing to a close and things are continuing to go well. For the second straight week we have stared temptation in the eye and slayed it with a barrage of carrot sticks, unsalted almonds, and fish filets. The plan, as it stands, is to continue doing what we’re doing for the month of June, then slowly start to allow fringe foods like cheese, beans, and brown rice back into our diet. As of July we’re also going to be allowing ourselves one ‘cheat day’ per week. This way we’ve always got something very nearby to look forward to when it comes to food. For now we already have plans to have dinner on Wednesday July 1 at our favorite Mexican restaurant, then after enjoying a local blues rock outdoor concert, take the kids (and ourselves) out for frozen yogurt. Should be a good night.

There have been plenty of temptations throughout the week for both of us, but together we stand strong. For Jessica, it usually comes when feeding the girls breakfast each morning, or when rewarding them with a piece of candy after using the toilet. For me it’s usually at work; earlier this week we had a breakfast potluck in my office, meaning I was surrounded all day with doughnuts, chocolate croissants, muffins, etc. Plus it’s not uncommon for our manager to buy us pizza for lunch if one of us does a lunchtime presentation about a particular technology. I’ve found at this point that I don’t care in the least about junk foods like doughnuts, nor do I miss sugary drinks or alcohol. I feel like I could go on easily without any of that stuff, but what I do miss is bread, pizza, and pasta. It’s all good though, this is why we’re soon going to have cheat days. The point of doing all this is so that we start paying attention to what we eat and therefore don’t eat all the wrong foods on a daily basis.

Results are starting to appear, albeit a bit slowly. We each weighed ourselves for the first time this morning and have each lost five pounds. The results were about what we expected; a bit underwhelming but better than nothing. After doing an image search of five pounds of fat I felt considerably better when I saw how much it was. The other thing for us to consider is that we’re both exercising on a regular basis, meaning we’re building muscle while we lose fat. I’m sure a more extreme change in diet would yield faster results, but something like that would also be harder to maintain for the long-term, and that’s exactly what this is about.

There hasn’t been a whole lot going on with us besides that. Ava is continuing to make progress with using the toilet. We’ve certainly still had our share of accidents, but they seem to be getting fewer and further between. The difficult part is when you feel that she does it on purpose as a way of testing you. Keeping calm is an important virtue that Jessica is definitely a step (or two) ahead of me on, but the way I see it, Ava is always going to be the guinea pig on these types of things because she’s the oldest. Most likely we will have an easier time with Elise and Enzo because we’ve already been through it, whatever ‘it’ may be.

This weekend has been a pretty nice mix of getting stuff done and relaxing around the house. Yesterday Elise and I took Ava to soccer, then went home to pick up Mommy and Enzo for a trip to Costco. We spent some time that afternoon watching the Women’s Soccer World Cup (Ava really enjoys watching the ‘Big Girls’ play soccer), then went to a ‘Draft Party’ at our next door neighbor’s house. Their son Alec was drafted this week as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers farm system and will be heading out to Florida next week. Generally our neighborhood is willing to throw a party for just about anything, so this occasion was more than special enough for everyone to get together.

Today we all slept in (a rare treat) then got to work on reorganizing the garage. I’ve decided that reorganizing the garage is a thankless task because every three months it always feels like a disaster badly in need of some serious reorganization. Regardless, we got a ton of work done and are happy with the results. The rest of the evening will be spent preparing meals for this week (we got some beautiful fresh Alaskan King Salmon at Costco yesterday), and watching the NBA Finals.

Next Sunday, which is Father’s Day, should be fun because we will be attending a birthday party for Miles, the son of our friends Jodi and Leon. Other than that June looks like it should be pretty non-eventful, but that’s totally fine with me because July is going to be a whirlwind. We’ve got Rick and Chris coming out for a visit on 4th of July weekend, then I’ll be going to the Van Halen concert with Rico on Sunday July 5th. After Rick and Chris leave we’ll be having Madi over for another overnight visit, and there’s a chance that my Mom will be coming out for a quick visit. The following week we will have Amy and Tom in town for Elise’s second birthday, then at the end of the month I’m going to take a day off work so Jessica and I can fulfill our summer tradition of going to a weekday afternoon baseball game. Definitely a lot to look forward to, so for now we’ll enjoy the figurative (not literal) peace and quiet.

Future makeup artist

Ava doing her finest table pose

The many faces of Elise

Thumb sucker

Yesterday we drove down to Des Moines, picked up Madi, and brought her up to our neck of the woods for a fun sleepover with us and the kids. With the beautiful weather on our side, we piled into the minivan and promptly got stuck in typical Seattle traffic as we passed by the city. Our destination was the beach at Silver Lake, which is a small lake very close to our house, but it seemed like everything was working against us in getting there. Enzo was quite unhappy about all the stop and go traffic, and therefore proceeded to cry for what seemed like forever. He has this uncanny ability to know exactly when my right foot moves from the gas pedal to the brake pedal, and instantly lets out a strident shrill whenever he senses it.

Eventually we made our way through all the traffic, got off at our normal exit, and headed to the lake. As we approached from the other side of the lake I could see that it was much busier than normal. This wasn’t totally unexpected considering how nice the weather was, but I also noticed something else that seemed pretty unusual; there appeared to be some type of boat races going on. We made our way over to the entrance and could immediately see that something was going on. There were a few derelict teenagers posing as parking officials near the entrance, one of whom mentioned in passing that the lot was full. Undeterred, we took our chances and promptly found one of the few remaining parking spots.

As we unloaded the van I felt like we were more prepared for a week in the Alaskan wilderness than a day at the Silver Lake beach, but we eventually got everything in order and made our way down towards the water. As we approached the entrance I read the sign saying that there was a special event going on today, and that although admission was free, there would be no water or dock access, and limited access to the remaining facilities. Unbelievable. Of all the places we could have gone to we specifically chose Silver Lake because we’ve had fun there multiple times in the past and knew that it had everything we would need, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

We had come too far to turn around at this point, especially since everyone was exhausted from carrying everything down from the van to the lake, so we setup our beach umbrella, rolled out some blankets, propped up a chair, and proceeded to watch all the boats zoom their way around this relatively tiny lake. Jessica and I joked that had we stumbled upon this with a nine year old boy as our guest, he probably would have been thrilled, but it’s not exactly what we had planned for our afternoon with Madi.

We made the most of our situation, but it was difficult considering that it’s the hottest day of the year and we can’t get in the water. After about 45 minutes I called an audible and suggested we pack up, head home, and play in the sprinkler and kiddie pools in our backyard. Everyone seemed to agree, however we didn’t leave without casualties; our trusted set of sandbox toys was forgotten on the beach. Hopefully some kid found them and made use of them.

We got home and I quickly mowed the lawn so it would be ideal for running around on. We got the kiddie pools filled and the sprinkler turned on, then spent the next hour splashing and running around. Everyone but Elise seemed to have fun, but Weese just wasn’t into it. I remember Ava being the same way last summer, so I suppose it’s just her age. Either way, Ava, Madi and I had a blast playing in the water.

It didn’t take long to work up an appetite, so we eventually all sat down on the back patio for a snack in the sun. After that everyone was pooped, so we came inside to relax for a bit. Pretty soon Madi thought it would be fun to go to a park, so we all packed up in the van and headed to a brand new park near our house. We had fun playing there for a while, then stopped by a frozen yogurt place on the way home to get treats for the kids. Jessica and I have been eating super healthy since Monday (more on that in a bit) so watching them enjoy their treats was a bit difficult, but we didn’t cave.

After our early dessert we came inside to watch ‘Planes’, which is one of Madi’s favorite movies; this gave everyone a chance to relax for a bit. After the movie we had a late dinner, then settled back down to watch one more movie before bed. I’m sure Madi was up later than her normal bedtime, but it was a special occasion so hopefully Mom won’t mind. This morning we all had a nice breakfast together, then headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather some more. After coloring pretty pictures with sidewalk chalk on our back patio, we shifted our attention to playing in the front yard and driveway, then took a walk around the neighborhood to search for ducks and bullfrogs. By the time we got back from our walk it was time to come in, relax, have a snack and watch ‘Despicable Me 2’. Kristy should be here to pick Madi up soon, so thank you for letting us spend this time with her. Hopefully we can do it again very soon!

In addition to the fun we’ve had this weekend, we have also had a very interesting (and somewhat challenging) week for ourselves. As mentioned briefly above, this past Monday signified the start of a health movement for Jessica and I (and ultimately for the kids as well). Although I referred to it in my last post as a diet, I’m hesitating to use the ‘D’ word going forward for two main reasons: I think it has somewhat of a negative connotation, and I think it infers more of a short-term mindframe, while our plans are for making long-term changes.

To recap our goals from last week, we’re cutting out junk food, starch, and liquid calories. Our meals are focused on lean proteins, veggies, fruits, and nuts. We’re drinking a gallon of water a day, plus coffee and/or tea. Today is day 7 and, not surprisingly, we’re already noticing a difference. We’re feeling better with a noticeable increase in energy, and we’re even starting to notice some changes in the way some of our clothes are fitting. In addition to these changes in our meals, I’ve been doing yoga everyday, which I’m also starting to notice some changes from. I’m getting up earlier on weekdays (around 5:45) and doing 20-30 minutes of yoga to start my day.

We’re certainly not living under any false pretenses that we’re never going to eat another cookie or go a day without exercise in our lives. That’s obviously not the case, nor is it our intention, but it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have months like this every so often to cleanse out your system. I think it’s equally important for us to get into a habit of modifying our meals going forward. We now know that we can eat super healthy and still have meals that we love. I’m not expecting myself to give up pasta and bread, or Jessica to give up brownies, but stuff like that needs to be a rare treat rather than the norm. All that being said, I can’t wait for our first ‘cheat day’, which will probably be on July 1.

The biggest adjustment so far has been meal preparation. It’s important for us to have the right things available to eat at all times, otherwise it’s too easy to cheat. I’m finding myself making two meals at night rather than one; one is for us to have for dinner that evening, and the other is for our lunches the following day. Obviously this is more time consuming than normal, but it’s good to know that we both have something hearty and nutritious to have for lunch, especially when I’m gone at work. Even if Jessica wanted to, there is no way she has time to prepare a good lunch for herself while watching the kids, so I’m glad she doesn’t have to worry about it.

Another adjustment for me is that I like to have a drink while I’m cooking. It’s usually only one or two, but I like to sip on a beer or a whiskey while in the kitchen. It’s just become something I associate with cooking, but now I’m replacing that with sparkling water and lemon. Again, it’s not like I’m never going to have another drink while making dinner, but breaking that habit is a good thing. It needs to be the exception, rather than the rule. Whenever I think about stuff like this I always come back to my Dad’s golden rule: “Moderation is the key to life. Too much of anything is no good, but a little bit of poison won’t kill you.”

As if all this isn’t enough to deal with (particularly in the first week) we’ve decided to complicate our lives even more by going full steam ahead on Ava’s potty training. As of Tuesday, Ava doesn’t wear a diaper during the daytime anymore. We still put one on her at bedtime, but that’s it. As expected, we were both a bit grumpy this week (for obvious reasons), so adding in the necessary patience required for this type of endeavor was challenging, to say the least. Overall Ava is doing well, but there are still daily accidents. Our general attitude is this: if she truly has an accident, you can’t get upset with her, but when she does something on purpose, she gets reprimanded.

An example of doing something on purpose would be walking up to you, pulling down your pants, and peeing on the carpet, or even worse, pooping in her room and smearing it everywhere. I wish these were fictitious examples, but of course they are not. In those cases Ava gets to learn about the word ‘consequences.’ I’ve been explaining to her that there are consequences in life, meaning when you do something wrong, you will have to suffer the consequence of it. She may not completely understand it yet, but she will soon enough. For now we’re just trying to keep our cool and rely on each other rather than some artificial crutch to get through the troubling times of raising a ‘threenager.’

As we have said many times before, someday we will look back to these types of issues that we’re currently dealing with and laugh about how good we used to have it. I can only imagine that dealing with a teenager is going to be much more challenging than dealing with a ‘threenager’, but at the same time it’s probably all relative. There’s always going to be a ‘phase’ that we’re currently in, and a subsequent light at the end of their proverbial tunnel for us to strive for. The important thing is that we get through it together.

Before I go I’ll also mention that Enzo had another checkup with the doctor this week and he’s doing great. He has grown so much lately that he’s suddenly in the 90th percentile for height, which is exactly where his sisters are as well. He got a few more vaccinations, which he obviously didn’t love, but pulled through like the little champ that he is. He is already outgrowing some clothes and getting ready to expand his diet to include rice cereal. Hopefully this will make it easier for someone other than Mom to feed him.

I also just realized that it was a year ago today that we signed the papers on our house. I remember last June as being such an important time for us; we purchased our first house and I graduated from college. It’s crazy that it has already been a year, but of course we’re already onto exciting new challenges. Once again, thank you to Madi and Kristy for making this such a special weekend. Here’s a couple photos of the girls during her stay, plus one of Kallan and I jamming during his visit last weekend.

I think it’s fair to say that the girls enjoyed their frozen yogurt