Dinner

Tonight's conversation at dinner:

Dad: Gerrit, would you like more ham?

Gerrit: Pam? Dave?

This is Pam and Dave! We couldn't help but laugh, no matter how much we emphasized the 'h', he didn't get it!

The Farm

I posted pictures of the farm visit from today in the post below this one but I'll tell about the trip here...

Deb from the bike shop has a farm not far from Z-town and has a lot of veggies that need harvesting...so I thought I'd take the boys out to the farm and help her out. Well, Paul didn't feel well so he stayed home so it was Luker, Gerrit and I. Gerrit was excited about the farm all day. I told him that after nap time we were going to the farm to see the horses...that made nap time come a bit quicker than usual! :) Anyways, we saw 4 of the 5 horses (one was on the other side of the stream) and Gerrit did not want to get too close to them but liked seeing them. Then we got to work - we helped with beans and I learned how to pick potatoes. Gerrit helped bring the weeds to the brush pile with Luke in the wagon and then they rode bikes. It was great, they could ride all over the place and not get into trouble! Amber, the dog loved chasing them too. We stayed longer than I thought and had a blast. It came time to wash the veggies and Luke was in charge of the hose...lets just say Gerrit got a 'little' wet. He liked putting his hand in the stream and watching the splash it would make. Soon he was running right thru the stream and was soaked! We tried to wash the potatoes between Gerrit running in our way and managed to get most of the dirt off the potatoes and other veggies. Gerrit would laugh and lose his footing and fall over - onto the freshly mowed (long) grass! So not only was he wet, he was full of grass by the time we were done. I let him have his fun and when it was time to leave, stripped him naked, tried to hose him off again (for some reason he didn't want to be sprayed by the cold hose water any more!), and put him in the car in just a diaper. This was beneficial because he ate crackers and finished off my 7-up which was spilled down the front of him! Anyways, before we left, we took one more trip out to see the horses. By now, only 2 were left on this side of the stream but that was just fine. Gerrit actually touched one of them and was starting to warm up to them. Luke was kind enough to pick him up, sopping wet, to get close to the horses. I was fine, taking pictures from a distance! We hope to head back to the farm and help out some more before the harvest season is over. I truely enjoyed myself and felt so relaxed! I love that Deb did the planting and the tough part and I could help reap the benefits of a long summer of gardening for her.

This and That

I have written a bit these last few days but havn't posted pictures so here goes:



Top left (and moving clockwise):

• my great Sunday afternoon idea - Adam ride to Red Wing and meet us at a cool park with a great play gound...only Gerrit didn't want to play on the play ground!
• 'washing' off the potatoes at the farm
• reading the phone book is a new past time
  
• Gerrit had a bit too much fun with the hose washing the veggies. He went home in just a diaper after getting soaked and rolling around on the fresh mowed grass!
• riding bikes with the neighbor's granddaughters
• spending a lot of time lining up the cars on the window sill
• visiting the horses and actually petting one of them after not wanting to get too close!
• biking around the farm
• the fruits of my labor: beets (for Adam), carrots, onions, unique tomatoes, 4 kinds of potatoes - even purple ones!
• potty training getting goofy!
• riding bikes to see the horses
  

On Hold

So I decided today that the potty training is going to be put on hold (I think Adam is relieved). We are more trained to when Gerrit has to go than he is, so its not worth forcing. Plus the thought of dealing with diapers during Adam's race schedule this fall is more appealing to me than finding a bathroom! (Sometimes they are hard to find at parks etc where they have the bike races.) I think next time will be easier as he has the idea of what to do just needs to know how to listen to his body more. I said I'd give it a try before school starts and we did, so now we can go places and not worry about the time or if there will be an accident!

We are off to celebrate our anniversary and Adam's birthday tonight at Axel's (in Lilydale) - a fav. of ours. Gerrit will be in heaven playing at Dahlen's and won't miss us. Tomorrow on Adam's birthday, we had to Dahlen's for dinner with our cycling friends - the friends from France are in town for a bit.

Cool temps and rain makes me think falls on its way...I am not quite sick of the pool yet, summer needs to stick around a little longer - I know Gerrit would like that too, the little fish that he is in the water!

Day 3

We are still working on the potty training and havn't given up. He did fairly well at daycare, more in the potty than out! Now that we know his 'clock' we can plan to sit on the potty accordingly. Thanks to great books by Richard Scary, Gerrit enjoys looking for Goldbug and Lowly Work and doesn't realize how long he'll be sitting on the potty (thanks Aunt Cara for the books!). He still isn't telling us when he has to go, but seeing we are moving in the right direction, I'm hoping we can turn that corner in the near future. He will tell us when and where he just went potty which is thoughtful.

He's become a big fan of getting out of bed lately. Monday he decided to take his nap on the landing instead of his bed. I would think a soft bed and pillow would trump the carpet on the stairs, but I guess not. Tonight he has gotten up a few too many time for our liking that Adam put the baby gate up and gated him in his room. Before the gate was up he would make it to the landing and sit, when Adam would notice him, he'd close his eyes! Too funny. We shall see if he now prefers the hardwood floor of his room to his comfy bed! It's always something and never a dull moment around here.

Update

I think there was as much pee in the potty today as there was on the floor...in case you were wondering. It is a step in the right direction (I'm trying to stay positive, work with me here).

Tomorrow is daycare day, it will be the test if we continue or throw the towel in for a bit and try again later...until then.

"It's Like Training a puppy"

The title quote was spoken out of the mouth of Adam Birr today in regards to potty training Gerrit. I thought about training Gerrit this weekend but didn't want to be confined to the house by myself all weekend without Adam...but seeing today was suppose to be rainy, I thought we'd give it a go, and seeing Gerrit doesn't go back to daycare till Tues., we can give it a whirl for 2 days and then decide if its working...as of today, it's NOT working! 4 pairs of underwear, 2 pull ups, a lot of paper towel and I don't know if he is getting the idea. Adam wanted to go for a walk this afternoon and I said I didn't want to be too far from home with the potty training. At first Adam thought I was weird but by dinner and who knows how many accidents, he was totally on board with me!

I would like a few months of no diapers and even a few weeks of no extra bags with kid stuff in it...we shall see.

I had to laugh at Adam and his comment on the puppy. I have never had to train a puppy and can only imagine the similarities. I havn't given up as Gerrit has shown signs he is ready (so I think) but will throw in the towel if necessary. Stay tuned...