I interjected that he needed a bath, after which we hit up the mall for lunch on the way to the Zoo. We ended up going to Ruby's for mac/cheese and a burger for me.

We haven't been to the zoo for quite awhile, in which a new pengiun exhibit was built. We ended up checking that out on the way in and the way out. The route was mostly his choice, only modified by me for route optimization. We saw pengiuns, snakes, spiders, bear, lion, tiger, raptor show, snow owl, bird atrium, wallabys, emus and pengiuns. We had scoped out the pengiun stuffed friend shop so I agreed to get him one since he was doing such a fine job the whole week. In all, we spent about two and a half hours there.

We took a leisurely drive back up North to St. Edwards for another walk and a play area session. We walked down to the water again and took a right instead of a left. Turns out there's a "difficult" .58 mile trail back up. It actually was pretty steep, but he did pretty well on it. We even heard a barn owl similar to what we had saw at the Zoo.

After the play area he wanted to do McDonalds for dinner, so we both got chicken bits there and came home to watch "Snow Buddies" on our second slumber party. About 1am we elected to change the rules of Slumber party, which means we can hang out in mom/dads room watching movies , having gummy treats and playing legos, but then when it's time for bed, he goes back to his bed. -- cjm

The plan was to soccer around a bit, and then check out the other side of the Tolt pipeline trail to see what it was all about. On the way down we grabbed some trail goodies to make a "coconut tree" at home. We then practiced letters using words from things that we had seen the past couple of days. After lunch he headed to school and I grabbed a quick run and helped Uncle Mark move a little bit.

After dinner we watched Aladdin and did some roughhouse -- cjm

I got side tracked by cleaning up the garage a bit, so Hayden busied himself with measuring stuff inside the car with the tape measure. I tossed in a pen and pad of paper and suggested he write down his measurements, to which he thought was a fine idea, Twenty minutes later he was done with a full page of numbers.

We then went to the grocery store and REI to load up on food, water, maps, and a glow-stick. I was also trying to find foam padding or something that'd work for the back of the car. No such luck after going to a fabric store and seeing foam padding for a small fortune. ($67/yrd for 5" sheet). The plan was to leave Tuesday after Hayden's dentist appointment so we were all fairly set to go

Today we also set aside twenty minutes for study time. Today was numbers and addition/subtraction. I figured we'd use the matchbox cars and it seemed to go fairly well. Using the cars to add two numbers or taking a group of cars and subtracting them, and then writing it all down on the sheet [ [video here]

Afterwards we hit up Cedar Grove park for some frisbee and playground fun. After an hour there we came home for the day and had dinner. I checked the weather report for Wenatchee and saw that it was going to be 20mph winds and in the 50's so I canned the idea in the end. -- cjm

The dentist trip was great, no cavities and none of the purple stuff stuck to his teeth at all. All present were very impressed. We celebrated by going out to lunch and ice cream of course afterwords and then went to check out Bridle Trails. Bridle Trails is a 500 acre wooded equestrian/running area in Kirkland. I've never been there so we printed out the directions and trail maps and scoped it out. We ended up doing the "hawk" trail which is a mile.

After that we went to the downtown Kirkland park to play frisbee a bit and another playground. We finished up the day with dinner and a movie at home. -- cjm

Today we figured we'd head down to the Seattle Center and maybe go up the Space Needle if the weather permitted. I wanted to get a little walk in so we hit up St. Edwards park for a trail walk on the way down. We took about an hour to walk down to the water, then a couple trails on the way back up. Our original plan was to do some caterpillar-hunting, but instead it became a slug counting festival. 58 in all were counted (we did find one caterpillar). Somewhat surprisingly enough, once up on top, Hayden decided it was time for an impromptu run

"Hey, you wanna run?" , "Sure"... "Ok, let's go" [video here].

High clouds were coming in all morning, so a Space Needle visit was out (mainly it's a cost thing, so the skies need to be perfect to make it worthwhile ). We went downtown anyway, parking at the Seattle Center and taking a monorail ride to Westlake Center to have some lunch.

On the way to WLC Hayden asked if he could ride the jeep ride that he likes, so I said that sounded like a good idea. This is probably the fourth time in two years that he's been on this thing. "Snow Convoy" is a crowd favorite for sure. Afterwards, we caught a performance by a hulahoop guy. Hayden thought it was pretty cool, and the show ended with the guy hulahooping a 75lb tractor tire. -- cjm

After dropping Mom off at the airport we headed over to Wenatchee to check out the . I'm not sure how I missed these growing up, but they're fantastic. We hooked up the trail-a-bike, checked our camelbacks, loaded up with snacks, and headed out for about an hour on the trails.

As we were pulling away from the car, a local came by so we chatted with him for a bit to the trailhead. He stopped to mount his helmet cam and wanted to get some footage of us since he thought it was a pretty cool. It was quite the climb going up, and I'm still getting used to the feel of having an extra 60lb on the back, so we ended up pushing the bike up the initial climb. Once that was finished we got into a groove and continued up for another 30 minutes before finishing a small loop trail up in the hills.

After a snack break and hanging out a bit we took the ride down which was really fun. I got scolded a bit and it went something like this "Dad, take it easy. You can go as fast as you want when you're by yourself, but remember you're not alone now" I complied and said that he was very correct and that I'd watch myself. Thankfully the rest of the trip went well.

The whole ride took a little over an hour and about 5 miles. A great intro to the trail, and he had a great time. We cruised down to the park by the river and did frisbee and the playground for a bit before heading back home via Steven's Pass ( for the single day tri-pass challenge ).

Today was also our first of two scheduled slumber-parties. Slumber party means we get to pick a movie, get some treats (H: gummy things Dad: chocolate covered things), grab some legos and head up to Mom/Dads room to watch, play and sleep. Beverley Hills Chihuahua was what he picked, and we built a small ferry boat to hold 4 matchbox cars. About 9pm we decided to hit the sack, and about 9:20 we decided he should just go sleep in his bed since he was being super fidgety. -- cjm

-- mam

Since I last visited here, we've done Holidays (Christmas was the most fun this year since he really got into the Santa thing and of course the present opening). He made it until 10pm on New Years and he was sure proud of himself! Hayden's been doing great in preschool and loves his Teacher Correne. She is amazing and has really helped him come out of his shell this year. She told me that she is really impressed with his advancements in socialization and how he interacts with his classmates. So, he is making strides!

We had a snowy winter, so we also played in the white stuff and Hayden made his first snow angel. Right now we are welcoming the warmer weather and trying to get outside. Today we headed down to Edmonds to enjoy the sun on the beach. Hayden rode his bike in front of the marina and it made me yearn for more sunny days. We have a whole summer head of us to look forward to. We aren't planning any trips right now, although we have a few weekend excursions (bike races that Cameron is participating in and we are his cheering squad!) and hopefully we will get to San Diego in August for Hayden's birthday if I have anything to say about it! I'd love to take him to Disney for his 5th birthday! Cameron has never been and it would be so much fun at this age! We'll see what happens. For now, we are just enjoying one day at a time and having fun together!

-- mam

Play with the push car and the motorcycle. Eat Sweettarts before breakfast Eat Breakfast (english muffin w/ PB, yogurt, applesauce, milk) Make homemade Playdo (picked yellow as the color) and create Santa and his Eight Reindeer Take his freedom too far and land in time out to think about how not to abuse his decision making power and how to have a good attitude while doing it (this was mom's idea) Play car race and motorcycle race Play bouncy ball on the deck (even though it didn't last long since even though it was sunny out, it was still freezing) Play "ghost blanket" Take photos on the digital camera (laughed when he took one of Mom's bootie (his favorite new word)). UFO Race Drink Chocolate milk Watch 2 Backyardigans episodes while mom showers Eat a jolly rancher lollipop from his Vday party at school (from Ian) - I see a sugar theme to the day Eat lunch at home (hummus, pita, noodles w/parm and butter, peas and milk) Is ecstatic that he can "read" "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do you See?" Go to Cedar Grove to play tag and play on the equipment Come home and grab the basketball and walk to Stipek park to play soccer with a basketball and play on the playground. come home and take the dino dome out of the box have hot cocoa, Chef boyardee Kung Fu Panda beefaroni, and oyster crackers with milk for dinner (at 4pm) poured the remainder of his oyster cracker milk into his cup of water, stirred it up, and drank it. play computer games with no pants on Eat dinner #2 = Pita with balsamic glaze, scrambled eggs with ketchup, and 4 chocolate chips Played "Tumble" and "Frog Hopper" games ate cornbread w/ honey Roughhouse w/ dad play video games when dad gets home read Brown Bear book to dad Had both mom and dad put him to bed

Some of the stuff was pretty surprising, but it was so much fun to see what he chose and just go with it- no complaining or "editing" from Mom. We had a great day together! -- mam

As I sit here, downstairs, while you are safe and sound and asleep in your bed upstairs, I can't believe how much you've grown. You will be 4 years old in a couple minutes (technically at around 7am tomorrow morning) and I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how very proud Dad and I are of you. How much we love hearing you laugh and how amazing it is that you have turned out to be such a smart and funny boy. We look forward to the coming year to see how much you'll grow and learn while you are 4. We love you dearly (taller than the tallest building) and we are so proud of everything you do. We love you....no matter what. Happy Birthday Bubba. -- mam

He will be 4 in three days....time flies. -- mam

H: How long does she have to wear the cast on her leg?

Me: I think for about 6 weeks.

H: WOW, that's a long time.

Me: Yes, it's almost 2 months, it takes the body a while to heal.

H: Why does she have to wear the cast to heal?

Me: The cast holds her leg still and keeps the bone in the right place and then new bone grows and fixes the broken bone.

H: How does new bone grow?

Me: Your body uses the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients inside of it to create new bone. Isn't your body incredible?! And your brain helps tell your body where to make the new bone! Our bodies are amazing aren't they?!?!

H: And also...(slight pause for thinking)...my penis is amazing.

What can I say, he's a mini-man.

The End. -- mam

So, 10 minutes later, a chart was made and the plan was put into effect. That was 56 days ago. ;-) There are 4 days left on the chart and Monday is a big day for the Mallory family! NO MORE DIAPERS! NO GOING BACK. Period. Because he has such anxiety about his poop, he is very scheduled. He ONLY goes at home and he almost ALWAYS goes right at bedtime. So, going on the potty shouldn't be an issue at all. If he can hold it for 9 days, he can surely make it to the toilet without an accident. God help me if he poops his underwear. I just might lose it if I have to deal with another issues surrounding his crap. I want to move onto bigger and better things and stop worrying about his bowel movements.

So wish us luck...Monday is it and I will report back to let you know how it goes. This is perfect timing as we leave for South Carolina on the 22nd and it will be SO nice to not deal with diapers while traveling. My fear is that he will revert back to holding it again and going a week or more without going because he wants to avoid the potty. I really hope this doesn't happen as when he does that it is complete torture for everyone in the family anytime beyond Day 2. He is in so much pain and discomfort in his tummy that it makes life miserable in every way.

So, here goes nothing....and it's about damn time. -- mam

I walk into the living room and he sticks his chin out to me, "SEE? Feel it, it's scruffy!" I look and see that his chin has this morning's breakfast yogurt dried on it and sure enough it does feel scruffy. I say, "OH, honey that's just dried yogurt". "Oh", he says, "maybe tomorrow I will need to shave- oh no, actually, I won't get to shave until I am taller than dad....ORRRRR when I turn four".

Hopefully, the former. -- mam

thing to do: "Go swimming"

thing to eat: "Cinnamon Life" cereal

thing to wear: "Fire truck PJ's"

place to go: " Super Why's House..oh no sorry, Jaggar's House" (weird answer from my perspective- Jaggar is a kid in his class that we never hang out with outside of school)

color: "Red"

toy: "my Puppy"

day of the week: "Sunday- because it is the end of the week"

animal: "a cow is my favoritest animal in the world"

restaurant: "The train restaurant" - a.k.a. Ruby's.

place to be in time out: "Nowhere"

book to read: "Big train book"

flower: "Dandelion" He's easy to please

smell: "a Dandelion or, no wait, your arm"

place to be tickled: "on the couch"...I was going more for part of the body, "oh, ok, my bellybutton"

word: "fray" Why do you like that word? "Oh wait, I like the word 'prove it'" Not sure what to say about that one.

snack: "fruit snacks"

type of vehicle: "the Vibe"

friend: "Puppy or Trev- because he looks like he is in my family"

drink: "banana juice"

tv show: "Super Why"

thing to say: "ALVIIIIIIIIINNNNN" He just loves the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie right now.

favorite movie: "Dragon Land- HEY we can watch it, it's ON DEMAND!"

After being drilled with my "what is your favorite....." questions. He has one for me. "What is your favorite door?" I reply, "Umm...wow, that's a stumper...I choose the sliding glass door to the deck because it reminds me that summer is coming and we get to hang out outside on the deck and have BBQ's and play with friends in the sunshine". I like to expand on MY answers. ;-) His reply..."But, I REALLY want to go to swimming lessons!" Uh ok, moving on....gotta love the attention span of a three year old. -- mam