Time with the boys

I've had a lot more time to spend with the boys lately - despite my attempts to hang on to some sort of routine involving going to campus for a large part of each day. I'm very much a person of routine. I feel a bit lost without one.

We're headed into the winter break, but since the MBAs are on a trimester system, that just means we have mid-terms and come back in a month for the last five weeks of classes and then have finals. 11 weeks after that we have our third set of finals for the year and we're done for the summer.

I've been working on cover letters and resumés (so copying in the "e" with the accent from word doesn't work very well size-wise) for internships next summer. This takes a lot of time when you're not too sure about what to do.

Cole is now moving toward being potty-trained. He is obsessed with adults using the bathroom and frequently runs through a list of people to confirm their bathroom-using status. He recognizes the requirements for him to get a "big boy bike" because he talks about them constantly. Then he takes off everything but his diaper and gets to work. That big-boy bike ($30 at wally world) now sits in its box in the garage and we go out and look at the box often and discuss the agreement. He's not bothered by it remaining in the box for now.

He means well and he tries. I've started having conversations with him. Tonight I asked him what scares him. He said that the dark scares him. I'm not sure about this because he seems quite comfortable in the dark, but it was interesting.

I'm losing my train of thought, but there is much to write about Parker. I really need to find my old voice recorder and just carry it with me recording my thoughts and commentary on the funny things they do and say each day.

Today I built Cole a dirtbox. This is like a sandbox, but free and without the sand. I simply got out the rake and cleared the gravel from a 4x4 area in the backyard. Cole thinks it is great and it will get him away from the plants.