Dribbling...in more ways than one!

Nicholas has absolutely amazed us lately. In the last two months, he has gone from a grumpy toddler to an absolute joyous, verbose little boy. He still loves his sports and he has been potty training this week! It has been so easy! He is really interested in shapes so I started last weekend with having him try and go potty on a square before his bath (lately, every night we would try and he would say he couldn't but then go in his bath). Finally, I grabbed him out of the bath and put him in front of the potty in time and he went last Sat. night. Well, since then, as long as we had cut out shapes in the toilet (circles, squares, triangles and hearts), he is excited to go! We have had to color some of them with markers (if anyone decides to try this I would recommend colored tissue paper as markers on toilet paper squares don't work so well). Today, he took off his shorts and started to pull off his diaper and said "Da Da, help!" and my dad said "Oh, let me help me put your diaper back on" and he said "No, Da Da, tee tee in the potty" and he went even without his shapes. Later today, he decided he had to go and I left him in the bathroom next to the potty and left for a moment to hear him go "Oh no! Mommy, shoo wee!". He had pooped on the floor next to the potty. Yes, gross, but hey, he gets it! In less than a week! Patrick took over a year to potty train. Nicholas just amazes us with his vocabulary and how much he seems to know. I don't doubt that Patrick knew as much, but he just took longer to put it into words. My parents have been here since last Sunday night because on Monday, I had a nerve burning procedure in my neck in between 4 vertebrae. I am not supposed to lift for a week, so it has been great having them here to play with the boys and help out. It has really made me realize how much we miss them in our day to day lives. The boys are so close to both sets of grandparents and we feel so blessed to have them in our lives, regardless of how far away. Nicholas has also learned to ride his tricycle in the last couple of weeks and I included a picture below of Patrick whizzing by on his heelies. He is always busy with his friends. We had a close game of monopoly together today as everyone in the neighborhood was out, but it ended quickly when the doorbell rang and he was swept away again. I am enjoying my boys and their accomplishments so much!