There He Goes!

It happened -- Peter rolled over for the first time yesterday while I was working on lesson plans. Yes, I missed it. One minute I'm on I-cal, and the next Peter is on his tummy with his bald spot the size of Brazil shining in the recess lighting of our basement. At first, I thought it was just gravity, but when my little Weeble wobbled and rolled over again and again, I knew it was the real deal. The day after I said it would never happen on my watch, it did.

Today I took all three children out to Babies R Us to get Owen a new toilet seat insert. Potty chairs are cute for little toddlers, but Owen's knees are in his mouth at this point when he sits on his little Diego potty, and while he has no interest in pooping on the potty, he does have an interest in emptying the pee from his potty chair receptacle into the big boy potty. Yeah, not so much. I'm trying not to be a control freak here, but enough is enough.

This was the first time I ventured out of my minivan with all three of my children. Nicholas and Peter went into the double stroller, and Owen wore his little monkey backpack with the tail that I can hold onto. Okay, I had Owen on a leash. It would be the very thing that I myself would want to make fun of if I saw it. On our list: toilet seat insert, step stool, formula and baby food. I'm slow to begin with, but throw in a cumbersome double stroller with Nicholas at the helm (Did I mention he figured out how to disable the kitchen gate and open it this morning? If he can do that, he'll be out of the stroller in no time) and Owen tugging at his leash with the force of a 200 pound bull mastiff, and we're finished before we've even started.

Owen left his inhibitions in the car with Donkey and just decided to tell every passerby in the Babies R Us that he was getting a new potty, a "Pooh" potty. Several nice lady customers indulged him. Most Babies R Us employees ignored him. Here's what I've never understood about the Babies R Us people: Why so cold? I mean, you're dealing with pregnant ladies who are keeping you in business. Be nice to them and their kids -- maybe they'll have even more kids and give you even more business! They don't act like that at Buy Buy Baby, but they also don't have reserved parking at Buy Buy Baby. Okay, they have it for expectant moms at Babies R Us, there were about 5 open spots, they're the ones closest to the store, and I was wearing an old maternity shirt because my summer style for the past four years has pretty much been "pregnant" or "fat." I think there should be "parking for outnumbered parents."

We left BRU with everything on our list, and we all made it home for dinner. I discovered that I could, indeed, enter a public place with all three of my children. That doesn't mean I'll be hitting the mall anytime soon, but it's good to know that the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru isn't our only option anymore.