Dolphins
Greetings to everyone.
We took Xavier to the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (IMMS). The website boasted of dolphins up close. We thought Xavier might like to get splashed.
We entered in through the gift shop, paid for the shows and tour, then entered into the auditorium. We watched a cockatoo do tricks. We learned about alligators, which Xavier got to pet. We learned about lizards. Xavier got to pet the star of that show also.
We got ushered into the back exhibit, where we washed our hands so we could pet starfish, sea urchins and horseshoe crabs. We were there nearly two hours and still had not seen a single mammal, much less a marine mammal.
Finally, we were led to the very back, to the outdoor pools where the dolphins were. At last, actual marine mammals! We watched the show, and Xavier watched it intently.
After the dolphins, we were led to the sea lion show. Xavier sat still through this show also, even giggling at some of the show's one-star antics.
The tour ended in the gift shop, where we bought a kitschy toy Xavier liked. We finished the morning with lunch and a nap.
Pool Vest
Hello to everyone.
Xavier has taken an interest with the apartment pool more than the beach across the street. Last week, Rebecca hosted a pool party for her class. Xavier and I played on the steps in the pool. As Xavier grew more comfortable with the waters surrounding him, one of the other tenants offered to let him use one of their floatation vests.
We accepted the offer. Even cinched up as tight as it would go, still it was a little too big for Xavier. He did not at all like the sensation of free-floating with the vest. Even so, Rebecca and I decided to get Xavier his own vest. We found one suitable for supervised pool use.
Mom suited up and introduced Xavier to his new pool accessory. We also bought a water cannon for Xavier to play with; it took his mind off the vest, which he was not sure about when we suited him up.
The water cannon, which he knows well how to use after last summer (he had two with which he hunted both Dad and dog), held his attention as Mom helped introduce him to assisted floating.
Splash, Splash
Greetings.
We intended on going to a museum this morning, but ran into the end of a foot race. Instead, we found a small splash park, which was turned on early because of the race.
Xavier quickly grew board with the play equipment when he saw the water spraying. We did not have swim wear for him (we did not expect to find need of any). We did have sunscreen, however, and a change of clothes in the car.
Introduction to Potty Training
Hello to everyone from Biloxi, Mississippi.
Xavier has integrated well after a week with the CDC (Child Development Center) on Keesler AFB. The center turned out to be much better than we thought. We expected a big, monitored room where children were kept until parents came to pick them up.
We did not think it would be that bare-bones, but certainly we did not expect the level of care provided by the CDC. As it turned out, the CDC is a well-structured school (or preschool in Xavier's case). They do everything for us, including providing food and snacks. All we do is keep Xavier's diaper supply well stocked. It is amazing how much time is consumed on a daily basis it takes prepping breakfast and lunch for Xavier!
On the matter of diaper supplies, Rebecca picked Xavier up yesterday and had a chance to speak with Miss Gloria, the head teacher in Xavier's class (the ratio of teachers to children in the CDC is 1 to 7; Xavier's class averages 14 children—it was a great blessing there was an opening in the class to accept Xavier!) Miss Gloria and Rebecca discussed Xavier, his development level, whether or not it would be good for him to move to the 3 year old class, and a number of other Xavier-related topics.
One of the topics was potty training. The CDC assists in this effort. Rebecca and I hoped to take advantage of this to help Xavier get moving on this skill. It was disappointing to hear that Xavier showed no interest in potty training.
Of course, true to form, Monday night, Xavier asked to sit on the toilet. So, off to Walmart we went to buy a Xavier-sized toilet seat insert. We got the insert home, took it out of the package and placed it on the toilet seat. Xavier was excited, even more so when we sat his naked backside down onto the cushioned Mickey Mouse themed insert.
The problem was, Xavier had nothing to do; he did not need to go. He understood what needed to happen. He understood he needed to either pee or poop, so he strained. His face scrunched up, he closed his eyes and pushed hard. He may even have grunted. Nothing.
After some time not producing a "number two," Xavier turned to the business of "number one." Again, he stained and pushed. It was amazing how much he understood about his own body. He knew peeing used a different muscle group.
After about ten minutes, I offered to take Xavier off the potty. He strongly denied my offer and concentrated all the harder. I left and returned with a chair. Together, we sat. I waited. Xavier poked his penis trying to make it do something.
Then, the moment of glory! It took about twenty minutes, but Xavier got several drops out. There was excited praise. There was high-fiving. There was toilet flushing and hand washing. There was the celebrating with two M&M's®.
Today, Xavier came running up and asked for M&Ms. After a couple of seconds considering his request, we decided what he meant was he needed to use the potty. We rushed him to the potty. Sure enough, Xavier unloaded a full bladder into the toilet. After more excited praise, flushing, hand-washing, there was two celebratory M&Ms.
Now, we'll see if Xavier keeps his interest in the potty or if it's just the newness of the activity which has his attention.
The Trip to Biloxi Mississippi
Greetings to everyone.
We set off for Biloxi, Mississippi on Tuesday, March 29th. Our plan was to put several hours of the trip to bed before it really started. The picture above shows a sample of the weather before we left. The picture at the bottom shows what we arrived to.
Rebecca scheduled our first stop of our 22 hour trip in Trinidad, Colorado the first night. It was just north of Pueblo that we finally got ahead of (or behind) the storm that hit the Front Range about an hour before we departed Denver. Xavier was fresh from his nap and had a little exercise before we loaded him into the car. Rebecca did a brilliant job of packing the 90 while Xavier slept; she got everything in the back in a single layer; our rear-view mirror could still be used!
It's amazing what constitutes importance when packing for limited space. Rebecca had two suitcases, one for her military garb and one for her civvies. I had a small suitcase packed with all the clothes I expected to need for the next three months. Xavier shared Rebecca's civvies suitcase with his clothing needs. We also had laptops and several of Xavier's toys. We even broke down and bought a DVD player for the car to keep Xavier from melting down (Aunt Chelle was not here this time to sit with him and keep him company—no room for her anyway; we were tight on space).
Xavier did well for the three and a half hours to Trinidad. He played in the hotel lobby and restaurant before going to bed. All the hotel staff fell in love with him.
Rebecca planned a nine hour drive, a six hour drive and a three hour drive over the next three days. Her thoughts were that Xavier would put up with a longer drive up front, but not in the end, nor would he put up with three six hour days. She was right on the money with her foresight.
The DVD player definitely paid for itself. We now have the dialog to the movie "Planes" memorized, though we saw very little of the movie ourselves. To keep the adults sane, we stopped at a Mardel's and bought a CD series: Living Beyond Ourselves; a series on the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We listened to it while Xaiver watched "Planes" and "Cars".
Near the middle of day 2 (the six hour leg), Xavier began mournfully asking to go home. He was sick of riding in the car. On the final day, he must have realized home was not an option, so he just wanted to go to "the room," which meant the hotel.
Our final hotel did have a pool in it and a hot tub. Xavier, remembering the hot tub in Florida, after seeing the pool and tub wanted his swim diaper. He became relentless about getting the swim diaper. When we got into Biloxi and moved the luggage into the apartment, he wanted to know where his swim diaper was. When we visited the commissary to provision the apartment, he reminded us several times to get swim diapers. His insistence that we get him a swim diaper and to show him we had it grew especially intense after he saw the beach across the street! From that point on, all we heard was "swim diaper" and "beach" out of his mouth.
We did spend some time on the beach. It is a beach along the Gulf of Mexico. Xavier chased gulls, waded into the water, which is shallow and small waves, dug in the sand and fully made use of his swim diaper.
