Easter

Since I failed to take very many pictures between our Hawaii trip and now, the blog is up to date. After we returned, Sally stayed with us for a week. She felt that Vermont's cold and snowy winters may be preferable to Oregon's rainy and gray ones- it doesn't really rain all winter here (but don't ask my parents that- they saw a full month of it).

February and March have been uneventful. We had a quiet Valentine's day. We tried potty training over President's day weekend, and gave up a few weeks later (as you have already learned). I made my monthly trip to San Diego. Owen and Richard made a trip to the coast to visit Jimmy the octopus while I attempted to do our taxes. One weekend we took a day trip to the science center in Eugene- it happened to be a day when they had a special exhibit with lots of snakes and turtles. Owen and Richard were pleased.

It was clear here the night of the lunar eclipse, and we watched it from the porch. It made a big impact on Owen- he was pretty nervous about it. Richard has taught him the phases of the moon, and Owen wondered what phase was happening. Owen still talks about it, asking if there will be an eclipse at night. Not till 2010, so no reason to be scared.

It's been a little less rainy, so we've been able to go to the parks again. The bulbs and some trees are now blooming. The expanded deer family is active on our street, keeping Zoie alert.

We had a quiet Easter day. We went to the wrong Mass, so there were not the Easter Eggs on the lawn that I promised Owen afterward. We quickly hid some around the house, and that seemed fine with him. He was pleased that the Easter Bunny brought some toys and goldfish, though he is wondering where his candy is. Owen helped Richard make omelets for lunch. He likes to crack eggs and eat shredded cheese.

I'll share one more thing for now. Owen likes to write songs, and here are the words to the song he wrote for Richard:

Daddy has legs

Daddy has legs

Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy

Daddy has soap

I asked if he had a song for me, and it wasn't so nice. It went

Mommy has poo

Mommy has poo

Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy

Mommy has poop

He found this very very funny. He seems to have forgotten about my version now, and I have not asked for another song. I know better.

Hawaii, Part 2: Owen likes little dolphins

As I mentioned, we went to Maui at the perfect time of year to see whales. We could see them from the balcony of our condo, while driving, from the beach, and especially on our whale watching boat trip. We took a 2 hour trip from Lahaina and saw more than 10 breeches, and several dozen whales- moms, babies, and dads (or so said our guide). I took about 500 pictures, and came away with 2 breech pictures that I'm very happy with.

Owen was excited about going on a boat ride, but got nervous when we talked about big whales. He came on the trip with us only if we'd see "little dolphins." He ended up having a great time.

We all had a great trip. One day, a week later, Laurel put on her shoes and coat, got Susie's car keys, and asked for Susie to drive her back to Maui.

Hawaii, part 1

We went to Maui at the end of January with a big group- the three of us, Richard's mother, my parents, Susie's family, and her in-laws. We stayed at condos north of Lahaina in Napili. Richard, Owen, Sally and I had a condo on the beach, with a beautiful view of a little cove, rainbows, and sunsets. We had a nice beach and a heated pool for swimming. The ocean was rough at the beginning of the week, but by the end was calmer. At the north end of our cove was a reef where we did some snorkeling. Unfortunately we had more than our share of rain, but we were able to drive south to see more sunshine.

Richard, Owen, Sally and I took a trip to the Maui Ocean Center and saw beautiful fish tanks. Owen liked it since he didn't see scuba divers (we diverted his attention from the ones that were in the tanks). For some reason, Owen is very scared of scuba divers right now.

Richard got to be a scuba diver for a day with Todd. Susie and I got to be surfer babes for a day, taking a surfing class out of Lahaina. We both caught waves, and then had aches in muscles we didn't know existed. Everyone did some snorkeling, lots of swimming, and played in the sand. We had nightly Scrabble tournaments in our condo (Sally's habit which now has Richard and I addicted). Richard, Sally and I also went to a Luau one night.

It was the wrong time of the year to be in Western Maui for sunshine, but it was the best time for whales. The one picture here is from the beach. A whale was pounding the water with his (her?) tail over and over again, making a loud noise and a huge splash. Whale watching pictures in the next post!

Potty Training, 3 weeks later

I know- I still owe the blog Hawaii pictures. The IRS took priority this weekend. I will get to it, though!

Thought I should leave a quick update on the status of potty training.

When we left off, our little hero ended the long weekend with a winning record. He seemed pretty comfortable on the potty. Tuesday and Wednesday at school that week were rough- not a single success. Thursday he was perfect, though, and came close to perfect on Friday. That weekend he did great at home. I was having visions of giving away the remainder of our diapers and gloating about how EASY potty training is.

Then the next week, 0 success at school. A complete disaster. Only moderate success last weekend. By Tuesday of this week, Owen was back in diapers. We were defeated by his reluctance for change and by (we think) getting too much attention at school. He really hates attention. There is some room for hope- Thursday he used the potty once at school, and Friday he used it 2 times and came home in underwear. Yesterday I bought some new bribes, and maybe we will get the training back on track.

We are on the list for a pre-school next year that does not require the children to be "toilet independent" so the pressure is off. We will be patient.