asteroid B612

Yesterday Ellis went to the dentist for the first time. Can I tell you how much I have been dreading this? Putting it off until the very last minute? It takes two of us to pin him down for a haircut; I could only imagine the horror of the first dentist visit. But, to my utter surprise, Ellis was PERFECT!!! No fussing, no big weepy eyes, no squirming. He just hopped right up there and did exactly what he was supposed to do!

Today marks his First Day of Preschool. He is an official preschooler. There's more to write on that. He's in a new classroom with new teachers, though many of the same students. He hopped on the bus (really, a van) with no problem this morning. I wasn't sure what to expect. And off he goes!

Ellis is basically potty trained IF both of the following conditions are met:

1) His bum is naked.
2) He is using a home toilet, either the potty chair or the seat on the big potty.

He takes himself no problem, number 1 AND 2, if those conditions are the case.

Not even cotton undies can sway him. Must be free to the air. The voluntary taking himself is way more than I ever expected at this point. I just have no idea how to communicate the need to clothe himself AND voluntarily take himself. But you know, minor details.

Has led to some humorous moments such as the prancing down the hallway wearing my black high heels wearing NOTHING but a Tshirt. Or stark naked climbing into a shelf in our wardrobe (he was sure to empty the shelf of all its clothes first). So thoughtful.

Marlowe!!
This child!!!

When he was just shy of 11 weeks he rolled from front to back. A week later, from back to front.

Now every time I put him down back or front, he rolls right on over. It's like his new obsession. roll, roll, roll.

Did I mention that he will be three months on Monday?

(I'll post video proof soon. All pics/movies are on hold until I clear some disk space)

Marlowe rolled over from front to back today. He's been going mostly over for a few weeks now, but was still "side-y" instead of all the way over onto his back. Today he made it, all the way. Just shy of 10 weeks.

This morning while E was watching a little George, I changed his diaper and took off his pajamas. I had his clothes for the days with me, but he snuggled up in the blanket, so I let him be snuggly for a little bit, while I took a shower and told him that when I was done it would be time to get dressed.

As I finished my shower, he came bursting into the bathroom whining. He had put his shirt on!! (And was having trouble with the overalls, hence the frustrated whining. Turns out one of the legs was inside-out. Frustrating indeed.)

My little boy dressed himself!!!!! And I never taught him how. He just did.

When I started teaching my son ASL, learning it as fast as I could teach him, I knew that someday, he would go off to deaf school and come home and teach me signs. I always wondered what that would be like. I'm sure every parent goes through this with their kid starts learning things that the someone else other than the parent teaches them.

Well, today I lived that experience for the first time. Ellis came home with a sign I didn't know (I had seen it, but couldn't remember it): Chocolate. He pointed to the big box of hot chocolate mix that I got at Costco today and asked to partake in its delights. I blame school. They did a unit on the book _The Snowy Day_, which included sampling hot chocolate. We don't normally have chocolate around here, so I just haven't really had occasion to use the sign. But my boy taught me the sign for "chocolate" today. Why couldn't it have been "broccoli"?