Painful!

That is the only word that describes Monday night's experience. It's taken me this many days to be able to relive it without wincing in pain.
Dex has been doing a great job with going pee-pee in the potty, but pooping has eluded us (until Wednesday night, but that's another post). Because he has such anxiety about pooping in the potty, he's been holding it and going every other day, so far in his pants. I was expecting him to need to go Monday night, so I was delighted when he suddenly yelled "Dexter have ta' go poop!" from the bleachers at Abi's ball game. So, away we ran to the bathroom. No poop. Only tears. We return to the stands. A few minutes later, "Dexter have ta' go poop!" So, away we ran to the bathroom. Again. No poop. Only more tears. We return to the stands. A few minutes later, "Dexter have ta' go poop!" So, away we ran to the bathroom. Again. (No, my computer is not stuck on copy/paste). The only poop is the streak in his underwear. More tears ... and underwear wrapped up in cheap, paper-thin toilet paper. We return to the stands. Again. A few minutes later, "Dexter poop!" (I should have noticed the change in tense here.) So, as we are headed toward the bathroom, I smell it. Ahh! At the bottom of the bleachers, DEXTER FANS HIS SHORTS LEG AND HIS TERD FALLS OUT ON THE GROUND!
Mortified. Speechless. Disgusted. Potty-training for the last time.

Underwears!

Today was day 8! I have hesitated to get my hopes up, jinx myself, whatever one might call it. It has been 8 days since Dex left the diaper-booty behind. He has had only one pee-pee accident in that time. He threw an all-out fit last Saturday morning when Nick tried to put a diaper on him, yelling "Underwears!" We had been practicing wearing underwear on Saturdays, having lots of accidents like the one at the Easter bunny's feet. We were going to run several errands last Saturday, so I was a little remiss about venturing out for the morning in "underwears." However, the fit was so intolerable I resigned myself to putting him in a diaper somewhere down the road and tossing some pee-soaked "underwears" in a parking lot trashbin. Since then, we've been to church, pre-school, the ball field, Wal-Mart, and restaurants sporting "underwears." Now, once a day he still has to deposit a terd in his "underwears!" But it will come. And then, after 8 long years of changing diapers all day, we will be diaper-free. Just like that.

Back to 100

For a while now, I've only been responsible for trimming 90 nails ... my 10 fingernails and 10 toenails and 20 each on Brandon, Cami, and Dex. I haven't trimmed Abi's fingernails in over 3 years, since she became a nail biter. However, Abi decided to let them grow out a few weeks ago, and tonight I got to trim her fingernails! Awesome, Abi!

April Fools

The first every April Fools joke in the Coston house .... and I never saw it coming. I had a good friend in graduate school who played the same joke on her husband every year for nearly two decades, and we used to laugh that he fell for it year after year, as he was the spacey type who rarely knew what day of the week it was. Every year, Peggy would put a rubber band around the sprayer nozzle on the kitchen sink, and when her husband turned on the water to make coffee in the morning, it would spray right in his face. I now regret telling Nick the story of Peggy's joke. Funny, honey! :o)

A.MAZ.ING Love

Tonight, the most amazing thing happened! Excuse the weaving around on the highway through town, as I had my arm wrapped around the seat, firmly holding Dex's hand, tears streaming down my face so hard I could barely see the lines on the road.
Two weeks ago, Dex initiated a hug with me for the first time. For several months, he has been okay with me hugging or kissing him if I approach him, but he had never been the one to ask for a hug. Before that, he would pull away or become rigid when I was affectionate with him.
Tonight, driving down the road, his sweet little voice said, "Hold hand, Momma?" I could hardly believe it ... he had asked to connect with me, when we weren't face-to-face or having a transition of any kind ... just because he wanted to. After fifteen months, he wants to hold his Momma's hand.
Amazing. Love. Joy.