Nikko Solo Mio in the snow

We decided to go ahead with toilet training Ronin consistently, but to ease up on demanding performance from Nikko. We'll still take him to the toilet, however, and give him the opportunity to sit, but I put him back in diapers. The pressure definitely felt less today, but I was still keeping an eye on Ronin and watching him. He didn't pee this morning when I first put him on the toilet, but then went immediately after breakfast. He avoided the rest of the morning, then "missed" the toilet and got the seat after lunch. Later in the day he literally walked up to me and I saw he was pooing, but it was too late, he went in his diaper. Finally, right before bath time, we sat him down and he started peeing in the toilet. Success! The only problem here is that Ronin is fixated on a DVD song he got from Regina for Christmas (it's really Nikko's DVD but Ronin lay claim to it) that is called "Freedom Train." He sings it often and wants to watch it all the time, but we have regulated it for only the times when he goes pee. So he was really pissed off when we cut him off after he was done.

Nikko didn't seem to mind hanging on the outskirts of the doorway while Ronin sat on the toilet. Since two days ago Nikko's stimming behaviors have increased and he not just spinning around but shaking his head back and forth looking at the ceiling, the Christmas lights, the counter top edge. To counter this, Denis took Nikko with him outside this morning, to "help" Denis shovel the snow. It was not really an hour. Nikko totally did NOT object to having snow pants pulled on, then his hat, coat and boots. And he had a great time outside, exploring and climbing next to his dad. I took a minute to look out the back door when they were both standing in the driveway. Nikko had a kid-sized green shovel and was busy scooping snow from one pile to another. When he heard me open the door he turned around and smiled, and just looked at me as if he couldn't believe he was having so much fun. Then he turned around and resumed his shoveling activity. When he came inside later on, his hands were incredibly warm despite his mittens falling off at some point. I'm glad he got to go outside, but it didn't buy him a nap. No new words today, just noticed that he has agreed not to say Pizza the right way. He'll often use a default noise like "Kwah."