playschool wannabe

Elliot saw Leah and matt on playschool a few weeks ago Lay down on a piece of paper and trace around their bodies to make a map of themselves - he was quite taken by it and now most times that he gets a piece of paper he will lay down on it and motion for me to draw around him - no matter how small the paper.
note here he is in his wiggly pjs - he is so excited about them!

A milestone ( around my neck!)

Elliot has taken it upon himself to become toilet trained. we started off using the turtle potty and it was the hot seat in the house... until he realised that big boys used the real toilet and he will not have any part of the potty anymore. This insistence is the bain of my existence, turning a quick wee into a 15 minute procedure ( keep in mind this may happen 2-3 times an hour - so we are spending a lot of time in the smallest room in the house). If Elliot were writing the procedural manual for toiletting it would go like this.

1. Elliot must climb onto the toilet by himself - regardless of how disgusting it is since his older brother also uses it. He will not receive any help in his ascent whatsoever.
2. Elliot must look between his legs to see the fruits of his labours. Even if this means getting wee all over the shop and sticking his hand in it.
3. Elliot must descend the thrown independently, this means do not pick me off and remove me at your own wish
4. Elliot must then pick off a scrap of toilet paper on his own - ripping into many layers of the roll if he so chooses and then deposit said items into the toilet.
5. Elliot must then reclaim the toilet and scale its heights to push both buttons on the top for as long as he likes, even if this means the buttons jamming and making water run into the toilet for a long time
6. Elliot then climbs off the toilet to wash his hands at the sink on his own standing on the green step stool. He must use soap to make bubbles and would like the water to run as long as he desires. He must not be forced into leaving or turning off the taps
7. Elliot will pull the towel down off the towel rail and dry his hands, casting the towel onto the floor.
8. Elliot will leave the premises in an orderly fashion at a moment of his choosing

Note: failure to comply with any of these standards will result in a complete,partial or mega meltdown depending on many variables. Do not try to cut any corners and do not take him into a toilet with an automatic handdryer.

Chores

Sebastian has taken a keen interest in Vacuuming of late. Twice now he has offered to vacuum the rug in the loungeroom for me and not done a bad job - even emptying the turbodust interceptor for me. However it comes at a small cost - note the pained expression on Elliots face. He sits on the couch crying the whole time the Vacuum is on. or burying his face into my neck "noise mummy noise" holding his hands to his ears - even the mere mention of doing the vacuuming provokes this response. It has joined the irrational fear of public toilet hand dryers that he has developed over the last 2 weeks - which I can pinpoint a moment that lead to at least.
Last saturday we went to Koorong who boasted an adventure playground on their website. This was no to be found but a measly caged area with a few toys from Ikea thrown into the pit. Elliot promptly wee'd on the floor causing us to hurry our purchases along before they knew it was him (bear in mind I was carrying appropriate cleaning tools for such an occasion as one does when travelling with a toilet training 20 month old) so with the disappointment of Koorong I promised Mcdonalds adventure playground on the way home. So as not to have a repeat performance at Mcdonalds we all went to the toilet before the playground. I snuck into the large disabled toilet so we could all fit. Sebastian went first as is the want of the oldest child and was busily washing his hands at the sink when Elliot came close and stood underneath the automatic hand dryer. It went off Blasting the top of his head at close range with hot and forceful air. That child can move! in a flash he was across the room clambering up onto my lap ( I was of course having my turn at the facilities) all the while crying and choking and not being able to catch his breath. Poor little guy was terrified, it must have seemed like standing infront of a leer jet engine to him. So for the 2 weeks following first thing he does when we enter any toilet it check for the beast. He sizes it up on the wall and starts crying. we had a close call after me promising to him that they wont make any noise. At Brookside we were in the public toilets ( we are frequent visitors these days) and we were alone in the Ladies however someone entered after us and was moments away from using the handdryer before I stopped her and asked if she could just wait til we had left - she was much obliging and even waited for the door to flick closed before cranking that baby up. How kind to take an irrational fear of a 20 month old to heart! I am hoping that lots of exposure will help lessen the pain - as you can see its working wonders with the vacuumming!