Clay observations

There is no school for the kids on Mondays so today we were homebound. With Ronin's potty training in progress I don't really want to leave the house for an extended period of time, without a travel potty seat (I just ordered one, will get here by Thursday). The kids were getting used to the living room with no floor mats. I'm always so fearful that someone will fall backwards and hit their heads on the floor. There was definitely some roughhousing, but nothing that drew blood. At one point after lunch, the kids were sitting at the kid table playing with clay. I took out the camera and filmed a few minutes of their interaction because Nikko was babbling to himself. In a small, twisted way I wanted to capture some of Nikko's current mannerisms against the backdrop of Ronin and Audrey's NT behavior, with the hopes that in the [near] future Nikko will NOT be exhibiting these mannerisms. Nikko was hunched over his mound of clay, sticking little clay toys into it, but also babbling to himself, looking up at the ceiling, shaking his head slightly, and twisting his body for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, Ronin was proclaiming that the green clay he pushed into a blue car mold was "dirty." Audrey was the parrot that mirrored his proclamations. A cute scene, but skewed because Nikko was there - - but not. Throughout the day Nikko would request "Tickle" from me, whether or not I was in the mood. He was also about 30 minutes early for each meal, asking for a cheese sandwich. Finally, during snack time he glanced past me in the fridge and saw some peaches in plastic cups, the kind he got during summer school. He wanted some, then his siblings wanted some, so everyone was enjoying a sticky mess for snack. Nikko wanted more than his siblings, however, and even though I announced that snack was finished and there would be ABSOLUTELY NO MORE, Nikko was able to ask me verbally and using sign language, "I. Want. Peaches. Please?" OK, he had four, maybe five cups. At least it was fruit. Right?

Ronin had one accident today, after breakfast. He announced, "Mommy, I have a poo-poo." I groaned and quickly ran to the living room to scoop up Ronin and bring him to the bathroom. Luckily, there was no puddle or anything leaking from his shorts. But he did have a solid poop in his underwear that I dumped into the toilet. I told him he shouldn't get his underwear dirty and to tell us before he actually poops (or pees, for that matter) so we can help him go to the potty. That's what I'll be repeating again and again for a long time, I'm sure. Ronin had no accidents the rest of the day. I would tell him at hour-ish intervals that it's time to go to the potty. Let's hurry up, it will only take two minutes, then he can go back and play! My debate now is whether or not to put him in underwear for school. He will be gone for 3.25 hours. They will take him to the potty once. I'll make him go right before school. Will it be enough? Should I send him in a pull up instead?