Told you he was growing up

So today Lincoln pee pee'd in the potty three times.

No, you haven't missed anything. This is kind of out of the blue. He's been very interested in the toilet paper for a while, and likes to check out what the potty is all about, but nothing more really.

But recently, he's started complaining about his diaper, wanting it taken off quickly after he's used it. And he's been coming to tell Mom and Dad when he's doing something and wants it off.

So today Dad brought Lev's old training potty up from the basement and we set it up in the bathroom. Lincoln was very excited and immediately pulled at his pants and said, "pee pee!"

He plopped right down on it and almost immediately used that potty as intended. Then two more times this evening and before bedtime, he went and used it again. Amazing.

Well, actually, Levynn kind of surprised us when she did it for the first time, too. She was about this age (it was also in February) and she used it for about a week before deciding to wait until she turned 2 to start using it again.

This may be an anomaly, but who knows. He's interested and he thinks it's great. So do we!

(It does make for a very crowded bathroom now though!)

Kids grow fast!

Just in case we needed to be reminded...

Our warm spell continued (and ended) Tuesday with a high of 61 degrees, which finally freed the sidewalks and streets of snow and ice. So it was a perfect winter day for Levynn to hop on her bicycle again.

We quickly realized, however, that the bike needed its seat and handlebars adjusted to make her comfortable on it. She was too big! So she rode it to the bike shop and got that done.

We also need to mention that Levynn is trying to sound out more and more words and literally can read some simple ones. It's very exciting!

Lincoln is bigger, too. Several long-sleeve shirts we bought for winter now cover only three quarters of his arms. He also outgrew his hard-sole Robeez shoes, which is a problem when there's no snow on the ground and thus no reason for boots.

So we used Abraham Lincoln's birthday (an off day for Chicago Public Schools) to visit our favorite suburban oasis, Woodfield Mall, and buy our Lincoln his first pair of big-boy shoes.

We also spent time at the mall's neat Looney Tunes-themed play area, which was mobbed with little kids. Lincoln seemed to be the only one having more fun identifying all the animals and colors than running and climbing and sliding.

For instance, there was a large Bugs Bunny figure that was crouched on the floor with oversized marbles scattered around it. Lincoln pointed to Bugs and said "rabbit," pointed to Bugs' white hand and said "white hand" and "big hand," pointed to the blue marble and said "blue," pointed to the green floor and said "green," etc. And he did that with several characters, like Pepe Le Pew (who is a skunk, if you didn't know already).

But he can say more than two words at a time. He strings together as many as four, and he has started to add an "s" to plural and possessive words. That's exciting, too!

God bless the weather

After the coldest January in 25 years and a frigid first week of February, we would have been crazy not to take advantage of the sudden respite today. So when we realized the temperature was approaching 60 degrees, we hopped in the car and drove downtown for an afternoon stroll in the sun.

Ironically, the Frozen Fun Fest had just started at Millenium Park, and that's where we headed.

First we stopped for lunch.


The fest actually wasn't much fun. The big attraction - an ice maze for kids - wasn't open because the warm air had made the blocks too brittle. But, in honor of Abraham Lincoln's upcoming birthday, there was a contest: How many pennies are in this ice sculpture? Mom guessed 2,000. Dad guessed 4,754. The winner will be notified on Monday.


The best sights were the river...


... and the new sculpture outside Tribune Tower, this 25-foot ode to Grant Wood's "American Gothic" titled "God Bless America" by J. Seward Johnson. It replaced the King Lear sculpture. That's Levynn, stepping on the farmer's foot.


The kids liked the moose, too.

We're expecting more mild weather early in the week. Maybe we'll find more to do out in it.