to are or not to are, that is the question

i want to record some pace-isms before he grows out of them and starts using proper grammar.  the verb he constantly uses, regardless of number of people/things involved, past or present tense, or gerund...or any other english grammatical nuances, is "are".  i'm pretty sure he's using the "are" verb form, vs. the plural possessive "our".  a few examples (translations following):

• are watch something, are eat lunch on red tray?  (can we watch something while we are eating lunch on the red tray?)
• are all done bath are get binkies and blanket and read scriptures.  (when we are done with our bath we are going to get our binkies and blanket and read scriptures)
• that road are go running!  (that's the road we go running on!)
• are all done now! (we're all done now!)
• are get treats are go scooping store?  (can we please go to the scooping store (winco bulk section) to get treats?)
• are fight more bad guys are save good guys (while watching chinook helicopters taking off and landing on you tube:  the helicopters are taking off to fight bad guys and save good guys...how else would you describe what an army is to a 3 year old?...)
• are all done breakfast, are go see dr. mark (when we are all done with breakfast, we are going to go see dr. mark--our dentist--pace had a scuffle with the baby bouncer chair and the chair won.  pace pushed the chair down, held it, and then let go, while right over top of it--all that force came right back up into his teeth.  ouch!  wiggly tooth the first day, lots of blood, very tender to bite down on things.  day 3--visit to the dentist with x-rays, everything looks ok, just badly bruised)

11 miles, in the snow, uphill, both ways

this was my route from my run on saturday--my last long run before the half on thanksgiving.  i was supposed to run 12 miles, and had planned on doing an 8 mile loop, and then a 4 mile loop.  the weather forecast was intimidating, calling for low to mid-30s and a 90% chance of snow/rain all day.  there was an hour in the morning that i probably should have left--although overcast it wasn't precipitating.  i was keeping busy with house chores, however, and so i committed to go in the afternoon during nap time.  

when i left it was snowing pretty heavily, and then it just got heavier.  and wetter.  i don't think there was much traffic out, but i couldn't tell because my glasses kept fogging up.  i sure heard a lot of honking every time i ran across an intersection, though.  right after windshield-wiping my glasses for the 20th time, i noticed the byu stadium lights were on.  oh good, i thought to myself, there are some other crazies out here!  i thought it was maybe a practice until i got down to provo and saw cars lined up along university ave--then i knew for sure there were other crazies out there!  there was a byu game going on, and all those poor crazy byu fans had to sit through the ENTIRE game, pretending they were enjoying themselves while it snowed down on them!  at least i--and the 2 other runners and 1 other biker i passed--were creating our own body heat while running.  i was wet, but warm enough.  i think.  i couldn't feel my legs or nether regions, and i couldn't decide if that was because i was cold and numb, or just excited to be out there running hardcore in the snow.

anyway, i felt totally great running the 8 mile loop, running up the center street hill felt great, and i even sprinted across the intersection at center and state to make the 10-second countdown the light gave me.  i got a smile from a driver out of that one.  i could see that smile because the snow had stopped at this point, and i had taken my glasses off.  

i even felt great when i passed our house to start the 4 mile loop.  and then, a mile and a half in, i knew i wouldn't be able to do it, and i'd have to cut it short.  the snow had slowed me down a bit, and i was 15 minutes shy of being out there for 2 hours.   the half i did at the end of august took me 2 hour 15-ish minutes, and i didn't want to be out there running longer than the half would take me to run.  i could feel a blister starting (this was the first time running in my winter shoes, and they are quite a bit heavier than my normal running shoes), i could tell my muscles were fatiguing, no matter how many peanuts and fruit snacks i was popping, and i was wet, wet, wet.  i've got to say, though, it feels great needing to stop running due to fatigue, instead of pain.  so i only ran 11 miles, but david always says the purpose of a long run is to push your aerobic limits, which this run did.  here i am, in all my wet 11 mile glory (too bad it looks like i need to (in the words of my big brother) take a dump):  

i know i probably could have simply said i went on a run in the snow on saturday, but i just can't help myself when it comes to adding extra details.  telling a story with details is apparently a new cultural phenomenon connected to blogging.  seriously.  isn't anyone doing their dissertation on this subject?  in general, the "blog voice" takes a long time to tell a story that could be simply told, makes very public a matter or experience that is better kept private, injects drama unnecessarily, and tends towards negativity (perhaps this negativity makes the story more amusing or interesting?).  i thought all that stuff was just part of telling a good story (see diagrams below)...  

ok, so i'll fess up the unnecessary drama i injected: 

• the title.  it was uphill only one way.
• yes, my glasses fogged up, a lot, but no one honked at me.  i thought it would entertain the unseen/unknown audience of my private, invitation-only blog.  in actuality, i was really careful at intersections and waited for all the lights before crossing (which, i admit, i don't always do).
• my nether regions weren't numb, just sort of chilly.  i could feel my legs just fine.  i was wet, but warm enough.
• "take a dump" isn't really in my vernacular, but i thought my brother would get a laugh out of it.

re-reading my tale, i really think that's it for drama i have to retract!  everything else was 100% accurate.  yay michal!  

a couple dr. visits

pace had his 3 year old check up last week and did great!  weight:  27 lbs, height 36 3/4", and they also start measuring bmi, and pace rang in at a whopping 14.3.  long and lean, this boy.  both he and max got their flu shots, and they both cried, but max was up and at 'em within a few minutes.  pace decided he needed to prolong his pain and walked around, slow motion, with a peg leg for the rest of the morning.  at first i thought he had an accident, but when i asked him he said, "i'm walking slow, make my shot feel better."  he also was very careful and sat gingerly while playing with his trucks, insisted i not touch his leg, prop it up on his teddy bear for his nap, and not let his blanket lay on top of his leg.  sweet boy.  

while we were busy at the dr.'s, david finally caught the flu that we'd passed around and got sick while working.  even though his managers wouldn't let him go home, they sent two other drivers out to finish delivering the mall for him.  so he'd throw up, then point at which boxes to deliver next, and tell them know where to go in the mall, then lay down on the cold metal truck waiting for the next round.  makes sense, right?  yeah, i didn't think so, either.  needless to say, david called in sick the next day.

so david got to do tooth day with us!  we did some tooth activities, looked at the anatomy book, and then visited the dentist!  our dentist office does a "play appointment" for kids to help lessen the anxiety.  this was perfect for pace!  we waited in the waiting room,

eyed the candy (?!),

the best hygienist in the world, loreen, showed us all the dentist tools and let pace and max ride in the "elevator chair",

take turns brushing the dragon's teeth (loreen instructed pace to brush in circles, and now every night pace says we need to do circles while brushing his teeth), met the dentist, who counted all 20 of pace's teeth,

and we got a balloon at the end!  pace told the office workers he was "three, like this", when they asked how old he was.

(one of our tooth activities at home--we glued fuzzies onto a paper mouth and used a pipe cleaner to practice flossing.)

telos triathlon

david did a sprint triathlon on saturday--5k run, 10 mile bike, 350 meter swim.  he finished in 58.something (just under an hour!), placed 1st in his age group, and 10th overall!

what to do while waiting for daddy...planting "seeds"

here he comes--in from the run and out for the bike.

in from the bike and out to the swim.  traditionally, a tri starts with the swim, but it'd be too cold this time of year, so they ended with the swim.  not being a very strong swimmer, david swam in the deep end and "ran" in the shallow end...and still placed...can you believe that?!

congratulations, daddy!  we saw you in the pool!

we confiscated the chalk from the triathlon folks to keep the boys occupied while waiting for the placing.

sing mary songbook waiting my pee, muh?

pace does not like new things--we have to introduce changes slowly with this little guy.  we have had a little potty chair in the bathroom for over a year, just looking at it and sitting on it once or twice.  i started gearing pace up for underwear a few weeks before his third birthday, saying when he was three he would be a big boy, and big boy three year-olds wear underwear and use the potty chair.  i quizzed him every day, "pace, where does pee go?"  and he would dutifully respond, "in potty chair, muh."  putting it there was another matter...

i decided to take the die-hard route and simply put him in underwear and cross our fingers.  i was armed with potty charts and stickers and treats and three extra pairs of underwear and pants.  we stayed locked up inside the house for two days with the egg timer going off every 30 minutes, and making him drink water in between so his bladder would eventually have to use the potty chair.  every time that darn timer went off, pace would whip his head around with a look of terror and start crying. despite the tears, screams, and "no potty chair, pee is off!" demands, i made him sit down and try to push out his pee.  we sang songs, blew bubbles, read stories, etc. etc.  i can't count how many times pace insisted his pee was off, and then 10 minutes later he'd wet himself clear down to his socks.  

after three days and loads of laundry, i decided there was no point staying inside the house if he was going to have accidents--he could have accidents anywhere, and i had errands to run!  i was just going to make the bathroom in any store we went into the first stop before shopping.  i also decided i wasn't going to change him into dry clothes anymore.  he would have to stay wet until the next time he went potty in the potty chair, and then he could get dry clothes on.  i think the two stickers we put on his chart during week one were happenstance.  one time we happened to catch his pee at home, and another one came from actually going at a store!  pace peed his pants after we left costco, and i figured since we were already out, may as well keep going.  we were leaving the other store when pace told me he was pushing out a stinky.  so i said we were going to visit the potty chair right then and there, and he was going to have to do his business in the store.  he was not happy to hear that at all!  i sat him down on the toilet and told him to have at it--that i was not going to clean up an accident in the car.  after lots of tears, telling me his stinky was off now, begging me to let him go on his "pace-size potty chair at home" instead of the big one at the store, he finally did it!  we did a happy potty dance right there in the stall--i was so proud of him, and he was excited, too!  

so it was very frustrating that after eight days (and a couple times sitting on the potty chair), pace was still having all accidents--more x's on his potty chart than stickers.  turns out i just had to find the right punishment incentive.  after day eight or nine, i was so frustrated i took all of pace's binkies away.  i told him i was tired of accidents and he would have no more binkies as long as there were accidents.  he woke up the next day a little teary-eyed, "i slept no binkies, muh?"  i told him for every sticker he got on his potty chart, that would get him one binky back for sleeping.  so we'd count the number of stickers on the chart for nap time, and then the total at the end of the day.  to make sure he got it, i asked, "pace, if you go pee in the potty chair lots and lots, how many binkies can you have?"  he grinned a huge grin and spread out both hands wide and said, "lots and lots binkies!"  i then asked, "if you only have one sticker, how many binkies do you get?"  "uhhh, just one."  the results were almost instantaneous.  i don't know if you can tell in the picture, but once we started winning back binkies, pace went from x's to stickers like a pro!--and we were both ecstatic!  

so, today, four weeks after starting, i no longer set a timer, but i do consistently ask pace throughout the day if he has to go potty, as he doesn't initiate telling me he has to go.  he still wears diapers for nap and bed time, although all last week i told him, "let's see if you can stay dry during your nap [or all night]", and he has!...so maybe i'll be brave enough to try underwear in the next week or so.  he wears underwear to church!  a few highlights from potty training:

• "sing two songs waiting my pee come out, get up?"  pace is turning into a bargainer.  his songs of choice are twinkle twinkle little star, mary had a little lamb, and "baby in tree ton" (rockabye baby).  it is especially adorable to watch pace sing so earnestly all the verses of mary had a little lamb while we are in a store bathroom.
• i got out my little golden songbook i loved looking at when i was a kid.  i think we sang every song in that book one day, waiting for pace to pee.  every time we are upstairs now, we have to open that songbook to mary had a little lamb and start singing before he'll pee.  i think it's kind of funny that mary had a little lamb has become pace's pavlov's bell...  
• sometimes pace doesn't have to go pee, but tells me he has to just "push out quiet gas."
• we pray at night to help pace be a brave boy and use the potty chair. 
• the day we instituted the binky buy back, i think he only went to the bathroom twice that whole day.  he waited until i put a diaper on him for nap time, asked to make sure he was wearing a diaper, and then told me it was time for me to go (so he could pee in his diaper in private, i guess). 
• max is always around, so if we are in the bathroom and pace is working on pushing out a stinky, max is curious and watches what is happening in the toilet.  he is terrified of bowel movements.  he runs away crying when pace is finished with his business.  hopefully max isn't traumatized for his own potty training...
• pace gets to put one sticker for pee on the chart, and two stickers for stinky.  he also gets a "stinky treat".  i figure there's no use to giving a treat for pee, as he pees a lot during the day.  but going stinky in the right place--that warrants a treat in my book.  i found chocolate dipped oreos, individually wrapped in colorful aluminum foil so he could have fun picking a color and unwrapping it.  he loves getting a "stinky treat".
• pace is a very good helper.  last sunday david said, "pace, i have to go use the potty chair!"  pace's face lit up and said, "daddy, i help you?"  he followed david to the bathroom and started singing mary had a little lamb to help david.
• on a day of great frustration and lots and lots of wet underwear and pants and socks, i yelled, "pace, does pee go in your underwear?"  he looked up at me and said, "shhh, muh, don't be trunchbull."  trunchbull is the evil headmistress from roald dahl's matilda.

all in all, we are very proud of pace being a brave boy and we are so excited to see him grow up into a big boy!  good job pace!

**update, 11/18: if i suggest sitting on the potty chair and pace actually has to go, he recognizes the feeling and is very excited to tell me, "muh, potty chair!"  with a huge grin.  he'll even make us go back to the activity we were doing in another room, so that he can be the one say he needs to go, rather than me being the one making the suggestion.  fun fun!

other happenings and halloween

we had a stake talent show, and our ward put together more of a road show performance--broadway-themed.  each auxiliary performed a song (lyrics changed to fit), and the sister missionaries read a script tying it all together.  it was definitely a lot of effort...the relief society sang super trooper gals from abba.  we decided to tie-dye some shirts and get some feathers for our hair.  

david and the boys came for the first little bit, but then after the act with a belly dancer to loud drum music, pace said, "mama, pace don't like show--show scary!"  and it was getting later and later, and we were one of the last acts, and max started crying...so david took off running with the boys.  

and then when i thought we were in the clear from anyone else catching the bug, max came down with the bug.  it actually went pretty well--he sat on my lap and made it into the bowl every time.  one interesting thing after the boys being sick--pace's appetite has taken off.  he can't ever get enough to eat.  he is up late saying he is hungry and up early pulling on the covers saying he needs "bess-giss".  max's appetite, however has totally disappeared.  he'll have a bite of dinner.  seriously--a bite.  (although the other night we had spinach feta cakes with vegetable hash on top, and max gobbled up 1 1/2 cakes like they were chocolate-dipped.  no hash, just the cake).  if we try to feed him more than that, he carries it around in his mouth for hours on end until he is drooling his dinner out his mouth.  he got scared once, thinking he was throwing up again.  good thing we pack our smoothies full of fruits, veggies, oatmeal, wheat germ, etc., because max downs smoothies like there is no tomorrow.  

and then, when we thought we were over it, i came down with the bug.  yuck and yuck.  thankfully david called in a sick day so he was with the boys while i was laying in bed all day.  good thing it was only a 24 hour bug, because the next day, saturday, was super busy!  we had the ward trunk-or-treat with a soup/dessert dinner contest.  david and i both signed up to bring soup and dessert, so the coombs contest was on.  i make green chicken chili with homemade tomatillo sauce and dark chocolate dipped pecan bars.  david made creamy tomato soup and orange chocolate truffle cookies.  would you believe neither of us won first place for either dish?!  

there was one trunk there that was the coolest ever--a smoke-breathing dragon!  the boys each got a costume from costco--prices were better than what i could have made a costume!  on actual halloween day we just ran over to the mall to walk around the stores giving out candy, get our photo taken at the photo booth, and then we went to terra mia for some great pizza.  i couldn't figure out why max was so upset until after the pictures were done and he started reaching for the go button.  i guess he was upset pace had pushed the button, and he wanted a turn, too.   

a few more trucks...

so pace got sick on his birthday, and then spent the next 4 days laying around the house in pj's.  he'd sit up and play for a few minutes, and then go and lay down with his blanket.  we got a truck one of the sick days and that was a bright light and pace perked up for a good 10 minutes.  it was an awesome truck from papa and ninny!--a transporter truck with a backhoe!  pace was so excited!  and i thought it was pretty cool that this truck was the same size as him.  

it wasn't until thursday or friday that pace said, "muh, it's a nice day.  get dressed now?  go outside?"  and then we got another truck from papa jay!  pace has been dying to have a combine harvester.  whenever we scoop wheat germ into our morning smoothies, pace says, "combine harvester harvest this wheat, muh!"  we have had many carpet-harvesting days since!