Pesach roundup

Late, and incomplete, but it's been sitting here as a draft so days so here you go.

1. My CSIL commented to me last week that she loves the stage that both Avtalyon and his youngest cousin are in, where all they want to do is walk around and pick things up and put them down. Add to Avtalyon's list, though, going up and down stairs. We live in an apartment, and ergo have no stairs; my CSIL lives in a three-level house with an extra set of stairs to the basement. That means no fewer than three flights of stairs, conveniently carpeted for your stair-climbing pleasure. Avtalyon got quite good at going up. Going down, however, was more of a problem, because he was convinced--in the absence of any evidence whatsoever--that he could go down like an adult, as in, standing up, one foot at a time. I caught him most of the time; he does have a couple of pretty shtark bruises, too.

2. The city that my CSIL lives in has a very large indoor mall complete with a rather impressive amusement park. As in, with a rollercoaster and everything. None of us were about to get on that, but both Barak and Iyyar had a blast on the kiddie rides--especially the one where you could get into various vehicles (firetruck, tractor, forklift, helicopter) and go around and around. The helicopter even went up and down. As soon as the ride stopped, instead of getting off, they'd just run to the next appealing-looking vehicle and get on (the operator was very nice about it, since there wasn't a line). Next to that was a similar ride with motorcycles. You can just imagine Iyyar on that one. He came off it looking dazed. "Go onna motorcycle. Go vroom vroom. I like it!"

3. The house that my CSIL lives in is equipped with not only stairs, but two couches with paranormal properties. When you sit in them you can't... get... up.

4. Today (This is where I am starting to finish off this days-old draft) I decided to try to start in earnest with the toilet-training business. I have enlisted Barak's help in this by promising him equal share in any available potty treats, thereby acquiring for myself a more than willing assistant. He has, a few times, demonstrated the Art of Pishing in the Potty without Getting Your Pants Wet to Iyyar. Iyyar has been impressed, but uninclined to follow suit. Today, I saw Iyyar look like he was about to poop, and whisked him off to the toilet--only to have nothing happen.

Barak turned up helpfully with a box of trucks, and sat there entertaining Iyyar for a while, periodically exhorting him to poopage. No dice. I was in the kids' room with Avtalyon, listening in, feeling it better not to interfere. After a while, Barak popped his head in the door.

"Imma, I needa poop potty right now."

"Okay, go in the other bathroom."

"No, I think I'm going to show Iyyar how to do it. Then he'll know how."

"Um, okay. That's a great idea." Right?

You'll have to forgive the graphic nature of the following, but it was so hilarious I can't resist. This is the conversation (one-sided) as I overheard it from the next room:

"Iyyar! I'm going to poop potty now, Iyyar. This is how you do it, okay? First you take your pants off. Not all the way, just like this. Then you sit on the potty. [Sound of Barak ascending.] Then you put your penis here, so that you don't pish on the floor. Then you let all the pish come out. [Sound effects left to imagination.] Then you need to poop. You have to wait for the poop to come out. When you hear [I swear I am not making this up] a squishy sound, that means the poop came out. Okay? [More sound effects here.] That's the poop coming out. Do you hear it? I have to let it all come out. [More sound effects.] There! Now I pooped. Now I have to wipe my tush. [Pause.] Imma! Where are the wipes? There aren't any wipes in here, Imma!"

I attempted to deliver the desired item with a straight face. I think I failed.

For the record, Iyyar spent most of the afternoon naked from the waist down and did manage to pish, but not poop, in the potty. He kept asking for a diaper, and I kept returning him to the bathroom; eventually Abba got home and clearly was going to have a nervous breakdown when he saw the diaper-free child on Shabbos afternoon, so I gave Iyyar a diaper, into which he promptly pooped. And Abba got to change it.

5. Avtalyon, for the first time, showed me his nose today! I've been trying to get him to do this for a few days. "Iyyar, where's your nose? Barak, where's your nose? Abba, where's your nose?" Everyone dutifully puts index finger on nose. "Avtalyon, where's your nose?" And Avtalyon puts his finger in his... mouth. But today--nose!

Avtalyon is being particularly hilarious lately. Today he figured out how to get on and off the blue living room couch, a situation which requires close monitoring because once he's up there he's so excited he jumps. He's also very, very into books lately. He'll bring me books to read, and sit on the floor looking at books, pointing at things, explaining them to me in great detail, and--funniest of all--laughing, a lot, at whatever it is he finds so funny.

6. One more Avtalyon thing. While we were away for Pesach, I was sure he was close to stopping nursing. He never nursed for more than a few seconds during the day, a few minutes at night. He was just too busy, too distracted--more than once he'd slide off my lap after an abortive nursing session and go straight for a sippy cup of water. Well, fine! But the day after we got home, that was all over--he's back to a nice luxurious nurse first thing in the morning, after naps, and at least once at night, not to mention a snack or two in the afternoon. He's only just fifteen months, so I'm glad--I wasn't ready to stop yet.

7. I'm going to post this now, but remind me to tell you about Avtalyon and the grape ices. I want to do that one justice, but it's time for me to go to bed!