Monday, April 21, 2008

Hand-Hand and Alex

A couple months ago, I was getting ready to put Reed in the tub when he asked for some bubbles. I poured some of the J&J lavendar baby bath in the tub, and he had a ball playing with the bubbles. After a few minutes, he started doing a Pac-Man motion with his hand, "eating" the bubbles. I asked him what he was doing, and he held his hand up and made it talk, saying "hi Mommy, my name is Hand-Hand." I said hello to HH and went about my business.

Over the next couple days, HH made various appearances. HH never appears as the same hand - Reed alternates between right and left hands. We generally just acknowledge HH's presence and then Reed will go back to whatever he had been doing before. A few weeks ago, I was tucking Reed in bed (in the tent that is set up in his room) when he told me to tell HH goodnight. I did, and magically, his other hand started talking to me. His other hand is Alex. Nevermind that Daddy's Other Name is also Alex. HH's best friend's name is also Alex. Alex (not Daddy) has a really gruff voice, where HH's voice sounds just like Reed's voice.

So Friday, we all took the day off and went to Mpls to run some errands. Before we headed back to Hutch, we stopped at a liquor store that was having a sale. Because Reed had been a terror (short nap, anyone?), I offered to stay in the car with him and save the store from further chaos. We sat and talked, and all of a sudden Reed started grunting. (Important backstory - we have been trying to get Reed to use the potty for a good eight months and he's just not interested, but when he is trying to poop I always offer the potty.) I asked him if he needed to potty, and he said "no, Hand-Hand is pooping."

Me: "does HH want to use the potty or his diaper?"
Reed: "HH uses the potty."
Me: "What about Alex? Does he need to potty?"
Reed: "Yes, Alex needs to poop too."
Me: "Does Alex use the potty or his diaper?"
Reed: "Alex uses the potty."
Me: "If both of them use the potty, can they tell me why Reed won't use the potty?"
Reed: "I need a snack. Cookies. I need five cookies. One, two, three, four, five. Five cookies."

And so goes a typical potty-related conversation at our house. New to this one - Alex and Hand-Hand.



Below: Reed, Hand-Hand, and Alex (we haven't quite mastered showing HH and Alex without blocking our face).




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About Me

Lexington, Kentucky
Grant is in kindergarten. If you've ever met him, you know he's got a big personality. I started this blog to track his kindergarten antics.