November 21, 2007

Ok ‐ so a little insight on the routine of my mornings. My alarm goes off at 5:30 AM. I get out of bed, stumble across the room, blindly smack at the alarm clock hoping to hit the snooze button (which can sometimes take two or three tries), stumble back to bed, carefully climb back under the still‐warm covers and say a silent prayer of hope that I can have a few more minutes of desperately needed sleep. After hitting the snooze bar for as long as I feel I can get away with it, I drag myself out of bed again, reluctant to abandon the cozy sleepiness I've been enjoying, hook a finger under the collar of my fuzzy pink bathrobe, and head for the bathroom. As I turn the light on in the bathroom, I am momentarily blinded by the intense brightness and make a quick motion to cover my eyes with both hands and squeeze my eyes shut to wait until the sharp stabbing feeling leaves my skull. I then immediately start the shower, adjusting the temperature so it's not quite scalding (but almost) and I step neatly behind the curtain into the streaming water while flicking on the exhaust fan ‐ all in the same motion. Almost every morning, about half‐way through my shower, and somewhere around 6:00 AM, Charlie opens the sliding door to the bathroom and creeps inside with his little fingers over his eyes protecting them from the same intense brightness that so startles me each morning. He enters silently, goes potty, and leaves as silently as he came in, being careful to remember to close the lid on the toilet. When I finish my shower, I reluctantly turn off the revitalizing water and finish my routine of hair, clothes, food, and travel to work. I know that this story isn't really all that interesting, so I've tried to make it as colorful as I could, to make you fully aware of how I feel each morning. But the point I am trying to make here has not anything to do with me...I has to do with Charlie. He has gotten so good at the whole potty thing that he does it unconsciously now; we don't even have to remind him. It's hard to believe that we've gone from wanting to nearly strangle him out of frustration at his reluctance or inability to "get the hang of it" to praising him every morning for doing the entire thing all by himself. He's such a good boy and we're so proud of him! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! TTFN JMS