Ollie Update

Urine, urine, everywhere…

/ Shane / 2 Comments

…and not a drop to…wait a minute.

Ollie has been potty trained for so long, that we often don’t even think to bring extra clothes with us. Therefore, it was a little disconcerting when Oliver started having accidents several times a day for a few days. I don’t think it is unusual to have the occasional minor set-back, but it just kept catching us off guard. We kept thinking, “Well, of course we don’t have to worry about him having another accident, he just had one.”

This is why, after he had a “small” accident, we decided to go to the mall anyway. However, we at least had the common sense to take him directly to the potty.

Sara went in with him and got him situated, sitting on the potty. You know how public toilets have that U-shaped toilet seat on them? Well, you see, Ollie’s not real good at aiming, and with him sitting on the potty facing forward, that missing section of toilet seat was *just enough* of a gap, that when he let fly, it came shooting right out of the toilet and onto the floor.

English: photo of toilet seat

(Not the actual scene of the crime)

“Stop, Ollie, stop!” Sara cried, immediately doing the splits to avoid the growing pool on the floor. But stop he did not, and maybe couldn’t, because he obviously had a full bladder.

“What? What Mama? What is going on??” shouted Evie from where she was standing outside of the stall, unable to see what all the shouting was about. Slowly the urine pool turned into a urine lake. Once he was finally on empty, Sara had to deal with a freaked out Evie, mop up the mess on the floor, and then discover that Oliver had also gone all over the back of his pants. She was not having what you would call a good day.

Meanwhile, I had returned some clothes and was waiting obliviously out in the hallway, wondering what was taking them so long.

It was time to beat a hasty retreat from the mall. We had promised the kids that they could play in the little play area after they went to the potty, but we had to back out on that promise as I tried to hold a pee-soaked Oliver out away from my body and retreated in a half-walk, half-run to the car. Evie was not very appreciative of our dilemma, and was demanding to play (after all, *her* pants weren’t soaked in urine).

Afterwards, Oliver sheepishly confided in Sara, “You said stop, but I didn’t stop.”

Monkey See, Monkey Do

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Lately, Oliver has been picking up some bad habits from his sister.

Just in general, Ollie is always echoing what Evie says. I don’t think that is specific to him, but more just what two year olds do in general. Usually this is a good thing, because he’s learning about language and socialization. But going through the terrible twos is a lot different when you have an older sister to teach you everything, including how to misbehave.

Evie has a certain way of dealing with situations where she doesn’t get what she wants, where she sort of raises her eyebrows and gets this nonchalant tone of voice, agrees with what you’re saying, but exaggerates it to some ridiculous conclusion as if to say, “Okay, we’ll do it your way, do you see what’s going to happen?”. Something like, “Fine. Fine. I guess I’m just never going to wear clothes ever again.” It’s actually pretty hilarious; it’s petulant, but it seems like grown up petulant, not 5 year old petulant.

And now Oliver is doing it too. He doesn’t get extra rice like he wants? “Then I’m not going to eat it then.” He just absolutely matches the tone and posture and facial expression *perfectly*, that there’s no doubt where he got it from (and, unfortunately, I think they both ultimately get it more from me than Sara, which is sort of an uncomfortable realization).

There’s a couple of other bad habits he’s picked up from her, mostly about being afraid of things. He won’t go into the basement anymore, or even the living room if we’re at the other end of the house. Sometimes if you leave him alone (and he thinks of it), he’ll come running out screaming, “I’m scared, I’m scared!” I’ve asked him some questions, and I don’t even think he knows what he’s scared of, or even what “being scared” means. He just knows that’s what Evie would do, so he does it too.

Oh well, at least this way we know what to expect…

Anyway, it’s not all bad. It does my heart good to see him gaze at her with adoring eyes and just try to do everything he can to be like his big sis. He copies her because he thinks she’s the most amazing person in the whole wide world. For now, she doesn’t mind too much. It will be sad when she gets old enough to not want her little brother copying her all the time, or when he gets old enough to do it out of a desire to annoy rather than love.

For now, though, it’s actually pretty sweet.

This is why you never, ever give your kids the keys

/ Shane / 1 Comment

Sara has been letting Evie use the keys to unlock the door. It seemed like a good idea (Evie likes to do it, and it’s one more skill to learn) until the other day.

Quickly, before Sara could react, Evie and Ollie slipped inside and locked the door behind them. Sara was stuck pounding on the door while the kids danced and yelled, “Kids party!!” for a full three minutes. Her threats and bribes were no use, until she finally came up with, “If you don’t open this door right now, I’m not going to share my birthday cake with you!” Suddenly, the door was opened.

Moral of the story, never give your 5 year old and 2 year old the run of the house, but if they manage it anyway, birthday cake is your nuclear option.

That’s called being the second kid

/ Shane / Leave a comment

If your child falls and hits his head hard enough to pass out and lose control of his bladder, once he’s recovered and the mess is cleaned up, it’s okay to go to another store, right?

Boys Only!

/ Shane / 1 Comment

Sara and Evie are off camping tonight, so Ollie and I are having a “no girls allowed” night. So far that includes steaks, soccer, and dressing up like fairies.

You know, all the things you can do when women aren’t around to judge you.