Home of Douglas Loots

For close to six months now, Colette and I have been trying diligently to get Brayton potty trained. We started on Christmas day, 2007. He has been doing pretty well, but some days he definitely does better than others. At times, he purposely pees his pants just to prove that he still has control. You can ask him, “Brayton, do you need to go potty.” He’ll reply “no” and stand there and pee his pants just a second later.

Well, Brayton and Lauren both went to Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Gordons this weekend. Colette and I were actually quite worried he’d not do very well going to the potty. Grandma Cindy said that they had a few accidents but that he’d actually done quite well.

Last night, as the story goes, while I was in class Colette gave B and Lauren a bath. She was trying to get Lauren’s pajamas on and simeltaneously asking B if he had to go potty before bed. While she was doing so, B climbed up on his step grabbed the toilet seat and proceed to pee in the toilet without any coersion or help from mommy. Colette mentioned that she really didn’t know how to respond because it was such a surprise since it’s usually a struggle to get him to go.

Since that moment, B has been going pee on his own without much help from us. Colette still reminds him that he needs to keep his undies dry and that he needs to go potty. But for the past two days, he’s been doing this on his own.

The question in our mind is – did the light recently just go on in Brayton’s mind or did Grandma Cindy teach him to do this?

It is a mystery.

Yesterday, Colette took the kids to the West Des Moines Library. Since it was a nice day out, she took the kids to see the resident geese that swim around the pond there. Evidently, these are the tamest geese on the planet. Colette and the kids sat down in the grass and the geese came up to them and walked around the kids. Needless to say, the kids loved it and we decided to take some bread tonight to see if we could feed them.

We took some slices of bread and unused hamburger buns to the park. As soon as the geese saw what we had, they rushed over from about 25 yards away. We fed them all the bread (at least what Brayton didn’t eat himself) and they would literally eat right out of your hand. Brayton as time went on got more brave and instead of throwing the food would do what Daddy did and feed them right out of his hand. That is until one of the geese bit B’s hand. It didn’t hurt him at all, but it did scare him a bit. They both had a great time feeding the geese and I’m sure it’s an activity we’ll pursue again soon.

A synopsis of the conversation I had with Brayton tonight, sitting on the couch just prior to bedtime.

Dad: Brayton, did you have a good time at Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Gordons?
Brayton: Zes, go to Grandma Coke’s tomorrow.
Dad: Did you have fun riding in Grandpa’s big red boat?
Brayton: Zes
Dad: What did you do on the big red boat?
Brayton: Drive
Dad: Did you see Grandpa’s puppies?
Brayton: Zes
Dad: How many legs do the puppies have?
Brayton: (Using his fingers to count) One, Two, Three, Four, FOUR!
Dad: How many tails do the puppies have:
Brayton: (Using his fingers again) One, Two, ONE!
Dad: How are the owies on your fingers, do you need any band aids? (He has been scratching and sucking on his fingers causing abraisons that got infected recently)
Brayton: My fingers are pretty good, I don’t need any band aids.
Dad: Brayton, I am really proud at how your using your words. You are speaking very eloquently. Can you say eloquent?
Brayton: No
Colette: Brayton, you can say “hippopotamus” you surely can say “eloquent.”
Brayton: Hippopotamus
Colette: Brayton, can you say “elephant”.
Brayton: Elephant
Colette: Now say eloquent…
Brayton: Eloquent
Dad: Brayton, now say “I speak eloquently”
Brayton: I speak eloquent. (missing the “ly”)
Brayton: Want to go to Grandma Cindy’s tommorrow. Go to Grandma Bernadine’s house too.
Dad: I think it’s time for bed now son.
Brayton: My blankent isn’t stinky anymore (His blanket was getting stinky and we told him so while we washed it quick).
Dad: No son, your blanket isn’t stinky anymore.
Brayton: My blanket smells GOOD! Is it HOT! (Colette had just pulled it out of the dryer, and instead of making at statement “It is” Brayton always says it as a question)
Dad: Time to go to bed and read books…Goodnight

Brayton and Lauren are leaving.

They are going to Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Gordon’s house for the weekend.

I probably wont see them when I get up and go to work in the morning.

They will be gone when I get home from work tomorrow.

I miss them already.

I came to this realization while wrestling around with both of them tonight on the living room floor. I was between tickling Lauren and showing Brayton how to lay on his back and toss the ball in the air and catch it on the way down (the stuff Fathers are supposed to teach their sons). I won’t see them again until Sunday.

That is a long time.

It will be nice to get after some long overdue projects. It will be nice to go out to dinner with Colette. It will be nice to sleep in until 7am with out any disruptions. It will be nice to go to Mass and actually listen to the Homily. It will be nice to take a nap on Sunday afternoon without being woke up.

But they won’t be here and it won’t be the same.

I miss them already.

Today when I got home from work, I found out Colette and I were going to be able to go out on a date. That was great news, Dairy Queen is a welcome date anyday.

Kathy Meyer had called and offered to come over and play with Lauren and Brayton. Brayton had already been told the news. It’s the first thing he mentioned when I walked into the door tonight.

He said, “Hi Daddy, Kathy Meyer is coming over to play.” Needless to say, he was excited.

Kathy arrived shortly before 7pm. We played a bit and watched some movies on the computer (the movies that are in this blog). Shortly thereafter Colette and I snuck out to go have our Dairy Queen treat. I got a Strawberry Cheescake Blizzare and Colette had a Pecan Mudlslide. They were very yummy. After about an hour, we decided to head home.

When we got home, it was apparent the kids were having a ball with Kathy. Kathy taught Brayton a new play dance for “Ring around the Rosie” which he has been singing quite a bit lately. Enjoy…

Lauren on the train at the Blank Park Zoo and Brayton imitating a camel:

Today is fathers day. I do have to say, it was a great weekend. I was blessed to get two days of nothing but family fun. On Saturday, Colette and I took the kids to the zoo. We got to see all the animals. B and I rode a camel, we all fed the fish, goats, and llamas. Everyone rode the train, had a picnic together, and then we all took naps. A few weeks ago this kids magazine we subscribe to came with pictures of a camel in it. The magazine said that camels say “Maoof” “Maoof”. So, when I told B we were going to ride the camel all he could say was “Maoof”.

Lauren loves to ride the train at the zoo. She doesn’t want to sit on anyones lap though, she is now a big girl and wants to sit on the bench on her own. I got to sit next to her with a handful of her collar on the train ride while Colette and B shared a bench. She just sits and bounces to the music they play on the train.

On Sunday, we did the normal bit. We ate breakfast and played. Then we went to Mass and on to Hy Vee for brunch. Since it was fathers day, I did get to pick whatever I wanted to eat which was nice. After Lauren woke up from her nap, she and I went to Wal Mart. I bought an air rifle to do battle with the local rabbits. I didn’t shoot any when we got home though because Brayton was now up from his nap and it was time to go on a bike ride.

Colette and I loaded up the kids in the bike trailer and away we went. We rode about four miles east to Jordan Creek School. They have a playground there and the kids had a ball playing on the equiptment. After about a half hour of playing, we loaded up again and rode down to 35th street. There they have a snow cone vendor. We ordered a blue raspberryand a watermellon snow cones. The kids loved them and we all shared the delicious treats.

Once we got home and had a late supper, we put the kids to bed. Bringing a wonderful fathers day weekend to an end. Almost.

I went to the back yard and low and behold, there was two bunnies with a death wish. The first one took four shots (the site was off in the air gun, no really). The second bunny took only one shot, I got better the second time around.

Here’s a video of Brayton and I on the camel:

A couple years ago, our neighbors the Roemans got a water table. We watched their children have tons of fun playing on it, so we decided to get one too. For $20 at Kmart, I think there are few better deals around.

Whenever it gets hot outside, we fill the water table with water and toys. Brayton pours the water all over and has a great time. Lauren wasn’t old enough to play with it last summer, but this summer she loves it. It’s the only thing that we can interest her in standing up for.

Last Saturday, June 7, it was about 90 degrees outside and very humid. What did we do? Well, we went to the pool in the morning. But in the afternoon we filled up the water table and the kids had a ball.

About nine months ago we bought a membership at Costco. The membership cost $50, which at the time I didn’t want to pay. However, we knew we could get gas there for about a dime less than at any other retail store and we knew we could get a gallon of milk for about a dollar less. My logic at the time of buying the membership was that if we didn’t ever buy anything other than gasoline and milk we’d at least recoup the cost of the membership and then some.

Over the past few months though, we’ve really began to love that retail store. It takes a great deal for a business or organization to impress me, but Costco has done it. One of the ways they’ve done it is the produce they sell. Yes, it’s all in bulk, but it is the freshest and best tasting produce I’ve had in my entire life. We buy canteloupe, strawberries, peppers, cranberries, blueberries, & on and on.

There is one fruit though, that the kids love more than anything else. Costco has the sweetest freshest blackberries. They are so good, we can eat an entire pound of them at one meal.

We have to keep them in the fridge until the end of the meal because if the kids see them they won’t eat anything else. They are messy messy messy. And they stain stain stain. But their wholesome goodness is worth it. Lauren ate probably 15 blackberries at dinner tonight before finally stopping and here is the result…

Oh, and one other comment here… Brayton has now figured out that we are posting these videos on the computer for Grandma to see. That is some of the reason he’s started to become quite the little actor whenever we turn on the camera (remember the ABCs video). At the very end of the clip you can hear him saying “Good Night Grandma”…