Potty Humor

First, I just realized that I haven't officially announced here that I'm pregnant! It's still a bit early - I'm not due until roughly March 28. But I had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago and everything looks good. We've told Ronan a couple times that there's a baby in mommy's belly, but he doesn't seem to care too much. Although occasionally he'll try to shove a goldfish cracker in my belly button if he thinks the baby is hungry, so who knows what's going on in that little head of his. I know I shouldn't care if it's a boy or girl, but I'm hoping for a girl if for no other reason than the fact that I don't think Tom and I can agree on another boy's name. It took forever to pick Ronan. Girl names seem easier. Even still, I want to be surprised about the sex of the baby, but Tom wants to find out. We haven't figured out how to handle that yet.

But onto the potty stuff. We spend a lot of time working on this still, so it's pretty much my only source of stories. Ronan has developed this tendency to bring a toy into the bathroom with him when he needs to go. He likes to sit on the toilet and then put his toy on the seat and say, "Watch [insert toy name]!" and then proceeds to pee. I think this started when I was desperate to get him to go potty and I suggested that he show his tiger how he goes potty. Now he seems to think that all his toys need to be instructed. I'm happy with whatever works.

And speaking of whatever works, I also recently discovered another trick to get him in the bathroom. We've been having a bit of a slide in his desire/ability to go to the bathroom on his own, and if I suggest that he go potty, he gets mad and refuses, usually resulting in an accident. However, if I announce that I'm going to go potty and that I'll get there first, that seems to instantly spark a competitive drive and he'll stop whatever he's doing and run for the bathroom, yelling "No I go first!" He always wins - go figure!

Finally, Ronan also seems to be developing some sense of privacy. Usually he doesn't mind if I'm in there with him, but sometimes he'll suddenly yell "Go away Mommy! Close the door!" He doesn't seem to recognize that other people might want privacy too, but baby steps, right?

Other than that, things are going along. I had my first day of class as a teacher in my own right yesterday. It seems like I have a good group. The first day is always a light one - just going over the syllabus and general expectations. But I had some friendly students who were happy to talk and a number of students who asked questions, which is always encouraging. Tomorrow is the first "real" class - an actual lecture. I hope it goes well, but I have a good feeling about it. I still have a lot more lectures to write, which is probably as good a place as any to sign off for now.