This next piece of news I am so excited about I can hardly stand it! TAJ IS POTTY TRAINED!!!!! Mr. Taj decided almost two weeks ago that he'd trade in the pull-ups for a set of undies with Lightning McQueen on the back. We ran out of pull-ups about two weeks ago and Taj came out of his room wearing a pair of underwear, on backwards, and beaming ear to ear. He has had only ONE accident thus far. He wears underwear to school and to daycare and he is doing great! We are still working on the concept of wiping our bums after we poop. I have found more than a few skid marks in his undies! We were at Target the other day looking at clothes for Haivi and Taj suddenly announced, "Mama, I go poop!" So we rushed across the store and into the restroom to let him do his business. When we got in there, the bathroom was empty, which was good. He went into a stall and locked it and told me, "Stay wight dere mama! Don't move!" I assured him I would not move. Then the bathroom door opens and a girl comes in and pulls out her make-up and straightener and starts getting ready in the mirror. Then another lady comes in and goes into the stall right next to Taj at which time he begins grunting profusely and breathing loudly and repeatedly asking, "Mama, you need go poopoo?" All the while there is a little plink plink noise coming from his stall. Awesome. I really don't know how everyone kept a straight face. Perhaps they were just really polite people. I ask him how it's going and he tells me he's done and I see 5 yards of toilet paper being unraveled underneath the stall door. The toilet flushes, the stall door flies open to reveal Taj standing there with his drawers around his ankles, grinning, and a tampon box stuffed full of toilet paper with who knows what on it--that all depended on how well he wiped his bum. I had to explain that typically we pull our pants up BEFORE we open the door and come back out. Keep in mind those women are STILL in the bathroom. I really wasn't THAT embarrassed though--I think I was more proud of him. I am just so relieved that he has decided that it is WAY cooler to pee and poo in the toilet than in his pants.
The biggest news for Haivi is that she has learned to crawl up on the table and up the backs of the table chairs, which scares the crap out of me! I don't get that little woman--she can climb like Tarzan, but she is too scared to walk! My almost one-and-a-half-year-old still refuses to walk. I know she can do it because she walks around holding onto things and pushing that mangy kitty of hers around in her stroller. She is still as fiery as ever, maybe even more than she's ever been. She has started shrieking whenever she doesn't get her way or whenever someone encroaches on her space, toy, or person that happens to be holding her. She gives the best hugs and kisses and she has started imitating nearly everything we say. She is well on her way to talking and that has me super excited and super relieved. After having gone through what we have with Taj, it is such a relief that Haiven is hitting all the milestones that she should be. We absolutely love our Taj just way he is and we are SO proud of the progress he has made with his speech, numbers, colors, shapes, and he is even writing his name now. We are very confident that with another year of preschool that Taj will do well in Kindergarten. His social skills are coming along too and I think daycare has been such a good thing for him to learn how to socialize with his peers. There are just so many good things that are happening with Taj this year, that it's given us hope that he will be able to carry on a "normal" life (whatever normal is right?) when he grows up: going to college, going on a mission, getting married, having a job, etc. We are very hopeful and optimistic and will continue working with him to help him become all that he can.
