Progress :) & Other Things

We have been making progress here in the Hodge home. I am feeling good about my life lately :)
Firstly, I have been on Weight Watchers for all of a week and a half lol. I hope to keep up with that and post progress on my fitness blog. My weight was slowly going down last year and I was proud. Through all these changes and moves, I have only been putting the lbs back on, so I am glad to have new inspiration and structure to focus on being healthier, active and fitting in clothes better.

   I have been doing these workout DVDs I check out from the library, and apparently Lucas likes them too! He woke up grumpy from a nap and I asked him, "You wanna dance?" And surprisingly he said "uh huh." So he gyrated next to me through a dance routine and got MAD when it ended...had to start it over lol. Here he is trying to do the easier "country" routine:



   He is maturing very quickly lately. So I am finally expecting more of him. We already saw how emotionally involved he became with "Spirited Away", which shows me that he is comprehending more than we thought. He loves when I read books to him. I was just commenting to John the other night that I am happy Olivia + Lucas are at a good age for me to read to them again. We used to read to Lucas every night, but once 'fat chance' lol came along she didn't like it. She is now becoming interested in stories and participates. She can even say "library!" ("ah ba ee")

   Then, the other day after a nap I asked Lucas if he was a big boy...I told him pacifiers are for babies and he's a big boy. I told him I will throw it away since he's a big boy...Now, I know at 2 1/2 yrs old, it's pretty late for him to even have one. He and Olivia both only have it at night, and Olivia sometimes if she's teething real bad. I admit it was just easier to let them have a pacifier to help them sleep so I could get a break. It made things easier in the car on all the cross country driving we did. But I don't want it affecting Lucas' teeth, and he doesn't need it. It's been hard the past few nights/naps...he screams and throws toys at the door. I am trying to be persistent and resist giving it back to him. I instead gave him a little flashlight which I call "the big boy flashlight" to sleep with. It works sometimes. But it was so cute last night he was asking us to lay down with him...then I said "no baby you're a big boy I'll see you in the morning."..he held my hand tight and said, "hand hand! " while crying..I wanted to stay but then I remembered all the Supernanny episodes we've seen with the parents laying on the floor by their 8 yr olds beds to get them to sleep and I don't want to start a new pattern..lol. He eventually went to sleep--hope it gets significantly easier soon.

   In bigger news, Lucas took his first poop in the potty today! I was so surprised. He has been peeing in the potty most every time, but I think he needed privacy to do #2. He was doing my dance workout with me and I smelled something...I said "who's poopy?" and he said "poopy" and he just farted. So I asked him "Do you have to go poopoo on the potty?" He says "uh huh!" so he went and sat by himself and a minute later came over to proudly tell me he did it! (Only the really special people got a beautiful text message pic of it lol )

  Although he has been a little behind verbally, he is catching up. His comprehension is there, and he is learning to better communicate and putting together small sentences. John and I are going to try to get more one on one time with each of them to help each of them feel special, and to also allow them to focus better on whatever we want to teach them. That's all the updates for now :)

Oh also, this isn't progress but its kinda interesting. John saw what he thought was a leaf blow in when he opened the door...Tyrone ran after it and tried to eat it...John looked down and saw a pile of something he couldn't recognize...thought it was a dead bug that Tyrone bit the head off...but we turned it over and saw it was a baby lizard :( lol:

UPDATE: Of course all my optimism needed to be kept in check; I just dealt with THEE most disgusting horrific poop mess ever...I think that turd earlier opened the floodgates...Lucas had a mess in his underwear and shorts...then of course both babies had to step in it and smear in the carpet (trying to run away from me) and kitchen floors...then Olivia was messy poopy in her diaper too...i threw the babies in a bubble bath and threw all the dirty wipes, my socks and all the babies clothes in a trashbag...i couldn't bear to bother washing it. I am cleaning the floors with pinesol and scrubbing the carpet with resolve while the babies are crying in the bath, and I find an unnoticed dried up puddle of dog pee on our carpet. I am so tired of cleaning to no end, only to have it undone. I am going crazy...and now Lucas won't take his nap without his paci...I m not giving it to him, but someone's going to call the cops--Lucas is banging all his stuff against the door. I have read every book to him..he wants me to lay down with him...ugh..he quieted down with the door open so hopefully he will sleep..I need to rest...

btw, if anyone has a good method of getting set in stains out of carpet, tell me...I'm scrubbing with resolve, then putting a dog mess carpet powder with baking soda and vaccuuming but you can still see it...We won't be getting any of our deposit back on this apartment...