Toilet training and a little trip on the Ecstasy

Trent's potty training is going very well. He actually used the toilet for its intended purpose twice this week at school. We still haven't seen him actually go at home, but he does like to sit on the toilet and grunt. It's very cute.
Today I woke up under a thundercloud it seems. I have very low patience and Trent knows all the right buttons to push. It didn't help that Brian chose this very day to finish the front door re-staining project, which means while he's working on that I'm dealing with the little button pusher on my own. Not a good combo. The door looks nice, though. We added one more coat of stain which is now drying and tomorrow we have the final step of the urethane top coat to seal the deal.
Can't wait for our cruise! We're going on a 4 day cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy. I'm especially excited about this because the Ecstasy has a lot of sentimental meaning for me. It was the first ship I ever set foot on in my short but fun career as a Casino Dealer for Carnival. I met the Ecstasy at the boat yard in Finland where it was built, and was one of a very lucky group of crew members who got to take its inaugural voyage from Finland to it's final home in Miami, stopping at Boston, NY, and Philadelphia along the way. What a fun trip that was. It was on this ship that I met one of my best friends ever, Marie (from Sweden *ya!). It's also the opening chapter of my life in America. So many great memories on that ship. My memory of the ships layout and details is fading, but I imagine it will all come flooding back. I just can't wait

Some cool things about Trent lately

Trent's been cracking me up lately. His grasp of the English language is amazing and he's busting out words I'd never expect to hear from him. On Saturday when we were coming down the stairs he noticed that Onyx had thrown up a little bit on the stairs and he said "Oh Oh! Onyx! Puke!" Then he said "clean it! Towel! Get towel. Clean Onyx puke". Which was funny in and of itself, but then the icing on the cake was when he got a towel, went back up the stairs, and started rubbing the carpet!

Yesterday he made me and Brian so very proud. He actually asked to sit on the toilet. When I confirmed what he had asked me he said "Yes!" and then pulled his shorts down and said "Diaper off!". He didn't actually use the toilet, but this is a sure sign that we're ready for potty training. Later on he did it again. This time I showed him how to tuck his stuff down so that he didn't pee in mummy's face :-)

He's still very fond of giving me bogeys. Brian encourages it, of course, because he thinks it's hilarious when I gross out. Nothing says love like accepting a bogey from someone while holding back spew.

attitude adjustment

In light of my recent holiday cancellation and consequent bummed out feeling, I needed a distraction. Yesterday I spent the day at Hippie Hollow with Barbie, Michelle, & Andi. We all giggled when the lady at the booth at the park entrance said "y'all know it's clothing optional, right?" Of course we know!
We made our way down the rocks to a perfect spot and made ourselves comfortable. We figured since it's a week day that there wouldn't be too many people out. We were wrong. By noon the place was buzzing with nekked people and very entertaining for us. Many times we laughed so hard we rendered ourselves inaudible. You know, the kind of laughing that looks like someone pressed the mute button. At one point we were happily floating around in the lake when a MASSIVE critter launched an attack on our picnic area. We identified the offender as a squirrel the size of a raccoon. The thing was humungous! The reaction of our group and the surrounding people was hilarious and we spent a good 20 minutes trying to control ourselves and causing a major scene. Barbie rescued our food from the critter while the rest of us watched helplessly from the water and heckled her.
A group of guys showed up about the time we were ready to leave and started throwing beer bottles into the lake. As the rest of the people sat there and politely ignored it, Andi asked them to stop it and pick it up. Go Andi! When we left we ratted them out to the park ranger. Bastards need to learn some respect.
What a fun day we had. We all left with a major attitude adjustment, and the promise to do this more often.
I still want my cruise, though, Brian. Don't think you're off the hook ;-)

Is there brightness on the horizon?

I spent some time with mum & dad on Sunday, via web cam. They enjoyed watching Trent trash the patio with a bucket of water and some sidewalk chalk. We also talked about their upcoming holiday to Rhodes (Greece). I'm very happy that they were able to find an alternate destination for their holiday for the same dates and everything. I had briefly entertained the idea of us joining them, but after a bit of research online it turned out to be a bit unfeasible due to the number of connecting flights needed to get there.
Then we got to talking about next year's plans and a great idea was born! We could go to England for a week, then leave Trent with mum & dad, and just Brian and I could go to Italy for a week! how much fun would that be??? then, since I was in the holiday mood, I thought it might be a good idea if Brian and I could take a 4 day cruise out of Galveston this year after the pig flu problem is resolved and travel to Mexico resumes. Wouldn't that be nice! 4 days with just my husband.