Friday, July 6, 2012: Missing June

I know that since it's been a month since I've posted anything you're probably expecting some kind of big tah-da! announcement where I shout from the rooftops that my son is finally potty trained and/or has graduated from college. Alas, this is not to be, though it should be said that Gavin is totally within the bounds of normal when it comes to potty training, even if he still does prefer to poop his pants. This is such an anathema to me that it is difficult to wrap my brain around. The idea of shitting my pants makes me want to kill myself, but I guess that's what 34 years of life experience gets you.

We've set the bar higher for #2. Now not only does he get a jelly bean, but we've got a Thomas the Train toy up above the toilet that he can have when he does the deed. He's getting a train set for his birthday so it's more appropriate than he realizes. He wore big boy underpants for a stretch today with only minor incident. He started to pee, but was able to stop and come get me ("I'm peeing in my underpants," he said looking alarmed) and do the rest in the toilet. The goal is that he'll wear underpants all the time in the house and PullUps to bed or on long excursions.

June was a crazy month, especially for Gavin. He went to California with me and then turned right around and went to Florida with Stacy. I swear that Gavin is probably the best behaved child on an airplane ever. He was a dream to fly with. I couldn't have asked for anything better. I think he might have annoyed the guy next to us with his repeated questions of: "Are we going super fast yet? Now are we going super fast?" the entire time the plane taxied down the runway. But the kid is a flying champ. Quite the jet setter, he is. He even peed on the potty on the airplane. A highlight for both of us, I think.

Gavin and I went to visit Lisa and Brenden as well as Aunt Christine and her boyfriend Dan in Los Angeles. We came in on a late flight and he slept probably the last hour. Still, the first morning there I woke up at 5:30 a.m. California time to Gavin, his face right next to mine, saying, "I have to go pee pee, Mama D." He had a long stretch of not peeing in his diaper for the first day or so, but then he went back to it peeing only off and on in the toilet. Still, I think hanging out with completely potty-trained Brenden was a good influence. I loved seeing Gavin and Brenden interact. They're only 6 weeks apart in age (Brenden is older) and while there were some squabbles over toys, there was plenty of friendly chilling out, too.

The boys also took a bath together, which prompted a circumcised Brenden to ask why Gavin, who is uncircumcised, had a "weird penis." Gavin was completely not phased by Brenden's penis and I think the whole thing flew over his head a little bit. I explained to Brenden why his penis and Gavin's penis were different, not weird, and that seemed to do the trick and put the issue to rest.

Speaking of rest, Gavin and I slept in the same bed in California and it was really quite sweet. Gavin is a cuddly guy.

A highlight of our trip was going to Radiator Springs, or Cars Land at California Adventure Land. It was opening weekend for Cars Land so that part of the park was insanely crowded. We only got to go on one ride there. We waited in line for two others but we did not make it. The line for the Radiator Springs Racers was too long and Gavin lost interest. Though it was through waiting in this line that I learned that Gavin is now 40 inches tall. The bare minimum to ride. Then Gavin pooped his pants after we'd been waiting for a very long time in the line for Luigi's Flying Tires and we had to bail. We did get to ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, though. We waited forever and the ride was over in less than 5 minutes. But I think Gavin dug it. Though Cars Land was our main reason for going, we spent most of our time in the rest of the park which was virtually empty since everyone was in Cars Land. A Bug's Land was a big hit with the boys. We didn't even have to wait in line for most of the rides and if we did it was for less than 10 minutes. Mickey's Fun Wheel, a giant Ferris wheel, was a favorite. Gavin loved it. He loved being so high up. Brenden was a little nervous about it, but he still wanted to ride it a second time.

By far the boys' favorite ride was Ariel's Undersea Adventure. We went on that one three times (and, incidentally, while we were exiting the ride for the third time I am fairly certain that I saw Adam Levine heading in the opposite direction toward the ride's entrance). They wanted to go on it again, but by the third go of it we'd already been at the park for nearly 12 hours and it was time to head home.


Another highlight of our trip to Los Angeles was going to Homegirl Cafe with Christine and Dan. Gavin got to have green mac and cheese, his favorite (there's a pine nut-free pesto pasta meal from Trader Joe's that Gavin loves and I don't think "love" is too strong a word here. Last time we were there he was jumping up and down in the aisle with a crazed smile on his face chanting, "Green mac and cheese! Green mac and cheese!" I am sure the Homegirl's offering is much healthier (according to their website it's made with "fresh spinach, cilantro, serrano peppers, and a blend of Mexican cheeses").

We also go to go to Aunt Christine's work, YOLA at HOLA. That's Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles at the Heart of Los Angeles. Gavin got to play drums with one of the wind ensembles and it was really awesome. I can't even express how amazing YOLA is. My sister is doing amazingly important work that actually makes a positive difference in kids' lives and I am super proud of her. If you've got a couple of bucks to spare, throw it YOLA's way.