Acceptance Day at West Point

Today was A-Day...or Acceptance Day...for the Class of 2012 at West Point. Jennifer's cousin Mike is now officially a member of the core of cadets at our nation's prestigous military academy.





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The symbolic ceremony starts with the Point's upperclassmen lined up on the parade grounds. Then the fouth class cadets march into the ranks of the their fellow cadets. Much pomp and circumstance follows. Bands play. Anthems are sung. Flags are presented.



Tristan and William had a grand time exploring the grounds of West Point. They particularly liked the cannons, mules and...




...water fountains.



After the parade, we were able to meet up with Mike. We ran into his mother and grandmother along the way.



Since his family is in California, we expect to be seeing a lot of Cadet Mike over the next four years. He is a welcome addition to Paynecentral. Everyone is very proud of Mike.

There's poopy in my potty!

Ok, this may not be the most appropriate topic for a public website, but it is a major subject lately here at Paynecentral.

Several months ago, Tristan show significant interest in his new potty. This interest faded quickly and it has been a struggle to get the whole potty training thing underway. Lately, the prospect of being able to wear "Lightning McQueen" pullups seems to has spured some renewed interest in the potty. But despite a lot of potty-sitting, there has been no action.

But that changed today. Tristan announced he needed to go potty...and off he went. William had some issues of his own, so Jennifer had to go upstairs to care for him, leaving Tristan on the first floor to do his business.

"Mommy! There's poopy in my potty!" was the announcement that greated Jennifer upon her return. Tristan was standing by his potty, glowing with pride, pointing... "and there is wee, too!"

So far, this has been an isolated incident, but our dreams of becoming a one-diaper family are (hopefully) on their way to realization.

Role Reversal

This afternoon, Tristan was taking his nap a bit too seriously, so we had to wake him up. To this end, Tom litterally pounced on the poor unsuspecting boy, bouncing the bed around him repeatedly. Once Tristan started to come to consciousness, Tom pronnounced "I'm up! I'm up!", mimicing T's typical morning decree. Almost immediately following, Jennifer (with William in tow) joined in the fun, repeating a stream of Tristan-isms:

- "Lemonade, lemonade, I want lemonade"
- "I'm up! I'm up!"
- "Want bolonga...in my hand"
- "Car movie, car movie!"
- "Ka-chow!"
- "No way, mom"
- "I want to watch froggies on your 'puter"
- "Too cold. Very windy, daddy!"
- "Puffs!"
- "Is this a buzy road?"
- "Pollywog in a Bog song"
- "Pretzels!"

Needless to say, Tristan was still in a daze...and exceedingly confused. This actually lasted for the rest of the afternoon. So our little trick backfired. Note to self: the wrong side of the bed includes bouncing above it!