Explore! Rescue! Protect!

OCTONAUTS!!!!

Who or what is/are the Octonauts, you may ask? It's a cartoon on Disney Junior that my 3.5 year old son absolutely adores. Actually *I* absolutely adore it. Per Wikipedia, the show is:

The Octonauts is a British children's television series, produced by Silvergate Media for Cbeebies and animated by Brown Bag Films. The TV series is based on American children's books written by Vicki Wong and Michael C. Murphy of Meomi Design Inc. 

The Octonauts follows an underwater exploring crew made up of stylized anthropomorphic animals, a team of eight adventurers who live in an undersea base, the Octopod, from where they go on undersea adventures with the help of a fleet of aquatic vehicles. 

The subject matter is reminiscent of Star Trek and Thunderbirds^[1] blended with Jacques Cousteau. Although it is science fiction as regards its technology, the exotic creatures and locations that the crew encounter are real marine animals in their natural habitats.

Well, the show has been on Disney Junior for a while now, but there were no toys available in the United States. On Amazon you could find them, from Great Britain, at jacked up prices. So when Fisher-Price announced they'd be selling the toys at Toys R Us, I was very excited.

Then I went to their website and the toys were SOLD OUT online. The Octopod playset wasn't even shown on their site anymore--after being on there for a week or so. And the toys were back on Amazon, selling for at least 25% more--sometimes even twice their original retail price.

So I called my local store and, thankfully, they had all the toys. I stocked up.  Why?  Because I've instituted a sticker reward chart for Little Man for trying/eating new foods. He has been eating terribly. The same few meals. Lots of junk. And I need to change that.  Sadly, he needs incentive. The chart has 25 stars. If he fills in 10, he gets a small toy from a dollar store (or maybe a small Octonaut toy... we shall see). And when he hits 25, he gets a big one (he is unaware that it will be the Octopod playset).

These are all the toys I have waiting for Little Man. And I have a few pics of the other toys that I didn't get--and probably never will, if they are no longer available. I sure as hell am not paying twice the MSRP.

Octopod Playset

I am pretty sure this comes with Captain Barnacles (Polar Bear) and Kwazii (the Pirate Cat), but wasn't 100% sure, so I got backup figures that I probably will return. Little Man doesn't need two of those figurines. I also bought him the rest of the crew (along with creature) because he'll look at the box and say he "needs" them.

Peso (the Penguin) and the Comb Jelly -- Shellington (the Sea Otter) and the Sea Urchin

Tweak (the Rabbit) and the Squid -- Dashi (the Dog) and the Electric Torpedo Ray

Professor Inkling (the Octopus) and the Sea Horse-- Turnip (the Vegimal) and the Cuttlefish

I don't know how to explain about Turnip and the Vegimals (there are more). They are part vegetable, part animal. They seem to cook and clean the Octopod. It's somewhat disturbing.

Lastly, I did get ONE Gup vehicle (they have the Gup A, Gup B, Gup C and Gup D). This is a pic of all 4 that are sold. I purchased Kwazii's favorite Gup--the Gup B, which is designed to look like a shark.

I know I am completely overindulging my only child. It's terrible. But I am. And he has more toys than he knows to do with! So perhaps I've made the wrong choice to do so. But at least he plays well, and imaginatively with them. Little Man is very creative (see my Wordless Wednesday post where he put Rex in his Frog Wellies). I often hear him make his cars talk to each other (in Mater and Lightning McQueen type voices). So if I am going to overindulge him, at least he isn't spoiled by the toys. He PLAYS with them all.

Wordless Wednesday

Farewell February

The shortest month was a busy one, overall. Snowstorms. Potty training. Ice Cream Parties. It went so fast, yet it seems like it was forever. Last month at this time, we were preparing to pack away the pull-ups and now I have a fully potty-trained (and night trained!) little boy.  Farewell to my toddler, he is fully a PRESCHOOLER now. Little Man is three and a HALF now.

Though as much as he's a big boy, I am grateful that he still wants to snuggle with Mommy and sit on my lap. He is going through so many changes that I think he's occasionally struggling to adjust. He still needs work with sharing and taking turns. He has been more independent and will goof off at daycare (ie. make noise during nap/quiet time). He also has taken to hitting and shoving, which I'm not too pleased with. Thankfully his daycare teachers seem to understand that it's partially the age. And I feel better knowing that other children in his Chipmunk Class are doing this too.

Here is my silly boy waving around a slide whistle the other day.

Our other news is that we're planning a Fall vacation to Disney World! I won't say what dates exactly, but we're very excited for our first true family vacation and Little Man's first plane ride. I hope it goes well and I have many months to prepare for this. My son absolutely adores everything Disney. From Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to Little Einsteins to Jake and the Neverland Pirates to Doc McStuffins and the new show, Sofia the First. He loves Winnie the Pooh and, of course, TOY STORY. I think his head will explode when he sees Cinderella's Castle for the first time.

Over the coming months, I'm sure I'll be sharing plans on my blog. If anyone has advice or tips about traveling with a preschooler, please share. We know it's a big trip and that there is a lot involved. We're thrilled that we will be staying at a Disney resort (Port Orleans Riverside) and hope the trip will be as magical as we think. 

Next week, we go for follow-ups at the pediatric ENT and for our (his) first dental visit. The first was postponed due to the blizzard. I'm actually quite concerned that Little Man has a cavity. I'll find out for sure next week and will update with a post first dentist visit blog post--assuming it doesn't snow next week, which is a possibility.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy HALF Birthday!

Little Man is 3-1/2!

And he was potty trained BEFORE he turned 3-1/2!

Amazing!

He's done really well the last two weeks. He hasn't had any daytime accidents beyond peeing on his leg/pants when he was sitting on the little toilet in daycare. At night, he's had two pee accidents where I think he wakes himself before he floods the bed. But he is very upset when it's happened and he's called out very sadly "Mama, I'm wet. Help."

My poor kiddo doesn't like being wet.  Who does?

So we (and by we, I mean my husband) have been rousing Little Man around 10:30 PM for a "dream pee" per my sister-in-law's experience with my nephews. It works 90% of the time. One night he had his accident, he had actually peed at 10:30 but I guess he had more. But most times it holds him until he wakes.  Though there are nights, like last night, when he doesn't have to pee and gets all cranky that we've pulled him out of a sound sleep and into the bathroom to pee on command. It doesn't happen that way for most people, so why would it for a newly potty trained three-and-a-half year old?

Being newly potty trained also means wanting to call his grandparents whenever he makes a big poop in the toilet. Or announcing that he's done whatever when we are out at a restaurant. Fun times indeed. But he's proud of his accomplishment. Heck, so am I.

We have an "Ice Cream Party" planned for this weekend. Postponed from the prior, when we got a fair amount of snow. We didn't get the blizzard that New England and Long Island, NY did. But ten inches of snow isn't too shabby. So no sundaes with the cousins and extended family last week. But soon... we hope!

Today was Valentine's Day (and Little Man's half birthday, as February 14th is 6 months from August 14th). He had a party at daycare and gorged himself on Munckins and other sweets. Apparently all the kiddos in his class were in a sugar high for much of the day. Therefore I am not giving him his little Valentine from me (actually I forgot) until tomorrow.

I can hardly believe that 4 years ago this month, I still hadn't felt him move and didn't know for certain that I was having a boy (though I had a feeling) and now my Little Man is a BOY. He's not a toddler any longer. He's my little boy. Though, thankfully, he still is little and loves snuggles and kisses and hugs. My sweet little one... Happy Half Birthday and Valentine's Day.

Finally!

Little Man is potty trained. It's official. We're in UNDERPANTS!

I am amazed that he basically potty trained himself. It just clicked for him. I never thought it would, even though I know there are children who are older than him and not potty trained. But at 3 years and 5.5 months, Little Man is done with diapers and pull-ups!

We promised him an "ice cream party" to celebrate. Of course snow is predicted for this weekend, so perhaps it will be postponed. But the party is forthcoming.

Unless he doesn't stop hitting and pushing his friends and learns to take turns. We're still having issues. I'm not happy with how that's going and am not sure what to do.

Short post tonight as I'm slightly under the weather.

BAD with a Capital B!

The things you learn about your only child from his daycare teacher. At home, with no competition, he is typically well-behaved, with some moments of defiance and meltdowns. The meltdowns that, a year ago were intense, are even generally short-lived. Then he has to peacefully coexist (and play) with a dozen other 3-year-olds and that's when the problems begin.

SHARING

First off, Little Man has been having major issues with this. At home, he is the KING. Nobody to share with. Nobody to take his stuff—unless you count the dog, who often tries to steal his snacks. He can put a toy down and go back to it later and nobody else has taken it. That's a big part of the problem. Little Man is used to things being HIS and now he has to "take turns" and "share" and when he doesn't, he has a major meltdown.

Generally he isn't mad, he is heartbroken.

"I NEED the toy!"  "It's mine!"  

Or he takes what he wants and doesn't realize the consequences.

We are working on rewarding him for good behavior rather than reprimand him for bad. If he does share, he gets praise and a sticker or something small. I am trying not to punish him for what he does at school, but ...

Then we had absolute REFUSAL to do ANYTHING his teacher asked him to do.

No coloring.

No sitting for story time.

NO I DON'T WANT TO!

Oy.

Thankfully this isn't happening every day. And a lot of it is because... HE'S THREE!

Apparently three is a rough year. Pro-blogger "Scary Mommy" shared a funny blog post entitled: 10 REASONS AGE THREE IS MORE TERRIBLE THAN TWO and it's mostly true.

I just want the good days to greatly outnumber the BAD ones.  Is that wrong?

Oh, in other news... Little Man will be in big boy underwear starting on Saturday. Wish us luck. He's done really well in pull-ups this week. Barely any accidents and he's even waking up dry. It just "clicked" for him, like many said it would. I'll let you know how it goes in the next day or so.