Poo for Pie + Preschool

Hi All- So, I know that everyone thinks that their child is the most amazing, smart, and adorable kid in the world and it should definitely be that way. But I think we truly hit the jackpot with our little guy. We started potty training last Friday (yup, the day of his preschool interview) and today he was totally and completely accident free (yesterday there was only 1 slipup and it was right before he hit the bath so does it really count?). I mean, really, does it usually happen this quickly? What was I so worried about? To celebrate his first poo in the potty, we baked an apple pie. And I told him that he got his new big boy toothbrushes (Pooh) because he was wearing big boy undies and telling me that he needs to go peepee without me having to ask. It’s so cute because he’ll stop what he’s doing and freeze for a second, and then say “Potty Mama!” and start running towards the bathroom while yelling “Run! Run! Potty, Mama! Run Potty!” and looking behind him to make sure I’m following. I think he’s pretty excited to be a big boy now although it makes me sad. I actually teared up the first time he went all on his own. But back to the brilliance that is our little man. We also got a call from the preschool today and they offered Rinat a place in next year’s class. And, without prompting from me (I swear!), the director went on to explain that he was ‘an extraordinary child’ and went into detail about some of the things that he had done when he was there for his visit that showed his amazing intelligence. I, of course, agreed but allowed that I was just a little biased but he said “You’re not biased, he’s actually very smart. You better watch out because you have a little scholar on your hands.” So now the pressure is on to make sure we can keep him challenged. And now that he is into a good preschool, I can start obsessing about elementary school. Argh. Will it ever stop? My guess is no. But really, he is the most amazing, smart, and adorable kid in the world. Now I can say it for sure since it has been corroborated by an unbiased source :-) Love to all -m

Lucky in Love

Happy Valentines Day everyone! A few months ago, I gave Rin his first fortune cookie and it foretold “You will be lucky in love.” Gosh, I hope that’s true. I know that it is trial and error when we try and find the person who is right for us and I hope that Peter and I can help him through those times when he gets his sweet little heart crushed by someone he loves. I am definitely not looking forward to his teenage years but I guess a few heartbreaks along the way are par for the course. Since I last wrote, we have been pretty busy. But then again, when aren’t we? First was his 2nd Birthday party. We had it at Gymboree with all of his little friends and I let Rinat pick out his cake which was Thomas the Train. The kids were so cute and they all ran around like little maniacs and then went home exhausted and ready for a big long nap. The following day, we hopped on our first plane flight with Rinat since we brought him home from Kaz and we spent almost two weeks on the West Coast visiting family. He really was a pretty good traveler despite the fact that it took 15 hours door to door to get to Ted and Liz’s place in San Francisco. Rin really loved the fact that there was water everywhere there and he kept drawing sea lions over and over on his Magnadoodle- a huge blob with an eye. And, of course, he loved that Ted was game to get tackled repeatedly by him. Then we headed to Salt Lake to visit my mom and he was enchanted by the mountains and snow. But he didn’t want to walk in it or sled on it. No, no- he only wanted to eat it. Seriously, all he wanted was to sit there and eat handful after handful of it for an hour straight. To each his own I guess. Since we have been home, we have just been kind of getting back into the swing of things. And, can you believe it, potty training! I got him some itty bitty undies (size 18 months) and we just started on Friday. But listen to what our brilliant son decided to do. We had a ‘playdate’ (aka interview) on Friday at the preschool that I am hoping he gets into. We waited downstairs in the lounge while the directors worked with him upstairs and when they brought him back when they were done, they informed us that he had gone pee in the potty. They asked if he needed to go, he said yes, he went, he sat, he peed. He’s a genius. And I’m guessing that he’s totally in. Of all of the times to suddenly potty train himself, that was the perfect one. Oh, but even more amazing is this. When we were checking him in, we said his name and the director said “Oh really? I have a nephew named Rinat.” Well, I was sort of blown away because of course I don’t know anyone else with his name so I wanted to know more. The man said “Well, my wife’s family is from Russia and they are Tatar.” I was practically jumping up and down since our little guy is too and I have yet to meet a single Tatar aside from him. After the interview, the director’s wife actually came to the school and we got to meet her and talk a little bit about it. Amazing, right? I am really happy that we have someone to ask about it since I know that at some point Rinat will want to know more about his heritage. It’s kind of hard because he is from Kazakhstan but not Kazakh so the cultural stuff doesn’t apply as much. And I have found it really hard to find out about the Tatars and anything specific to that culture. But now I have someone to ask! I am going to have to try really hard not to drive her crazy with questions if I can help it. In any case, we find out this week if he got in so I will know if I can start stalking her  And the other big new of the week is that we finally got all of our paperwork done and have a very general ETA for baby #2. But I don’t want to put it on the internet so you have to email if you want to know. It will be a long long wait, but in the end we will have another little bumpkin to chase after so I know it will all be worth it. -m