Eric's Growth

Since Easter, Eric has made huge strides in so many areas.  First and foremost, he's fully potty trained!!!  YAY!!  He has been since Easter weekend, but I was waiting to get that winning shot of him in his cute little underroos.  Unfortunately, things stay so busy around here that I never got it.  I did get some fantastic shots of him proudly sitting on the potty, however!  You know..the pictures that are stuck on my camera?  Never fear!  I will leave space right HERE for those pictures!------------------------------------------------



Although initially frustrating, (I really didn't think I would survive the first 2 days), I am pleased with how we went about potty training.  Thank you all for your advice and comfort!  In the end, the best plan for Eric was simply to let him take his time with it.  Yes, he was potty trained a bit later than most kids, but that's okay.  Taking it one step at a time and being patient as opposed to pushing our own agenda, prevented everyone all around from a world of stress.  We have had very few accidents and he has amazing control!  One child out of diapers!  Hooray!

On the educational  front, Eric has begun reading.  Once again, I have video to prove this and once again it's on my camera.  But I will post it when I get it back.  Mom got Dick and Jane books for him to teach him to read.  I must be honest and say, I really didn't see the point.  How were Dick and Jane books going to be any different than what was already available?  He was already picking out some some words here and there.  He would surprise me in the grocery store by pointing out "Thank You" or "Time".  Random words.  But mom didn't have to read to Eric long from the Dick and Jane books before we turned it over to him to allow him to read to us.  Now understand, he is not reciting the lines from memory.  The books were only read a couple of times and we jumped around the book and read from various places (It was a collection of the series).  One night I climbed into bed with him and opened the book somewhere in the middle and said, "What does that say?  Can you read that to me?"  And in fact he could.  He would get caught up on a word here or there, but overall he amazed me.  I know I shouldn't be too surprised as all children are capable of this, but it still makes me proud!

He also learned another skill - not quite as useful as reading, but highly amusing for the time being:  tattling.  I don't know how it ever occurred to him that he should tell on his brother if Matthew was being "naughty", but we all got a good laugh while we were in North Carolina one Sunday.  Eric had asked to go see Nana but  I had assumed she was using the bathroom and told him no and explained why and continued to get ready.  Matthew was crawling all over the place, happy for some freedom.  Suddenly we hear Eric running through the house, "PAPA!  PAPA! PAPA!  Mattmoo crawling into Nana!"  Seriously?  Did he just go to tell on Matthew?  We all got a good laugh out of it and allowed Eric back to see Nana who was simply putting her make-up on.  It happened once again during our stay there and he came quickly running to me to inform me of Matthew's misdeeds.  I can see John and I are going to get quite an earful as the boys continue to grow!