Yesterday there was a car show outside Kinnick Stadium with proceeds benefiting the UI Children's Hospital. I had read about it earlier in the week and noted the promise of "Herky"--the University of Iowa mascot. Ed learned the words to the Iowa Fight Song at school and in a book we have and is a big Herky fan so we thought he'd enjoy it. But first, we had to wait two and a half hours for him to pee. The event started at 8 a.m. and since it was supposed to be a hot day I thought we could go early. We were not forcing the pee issue, just waiting for it to happen so we'd know we had an empty tank before leaving the house--no need to set him up for failure by taking him out away from the opportunity to use the potty. We kept reminding and checking all morning, offering incentives and sitting with him for several attempts. Finally at about 10:45 the offer of an m&m did the trick. I had been trying to avoid food rewards/incentives/bribes (whatever you want to call them) but since he's satisfied with a single piece, it seems rather harmless.

We basically ignored all the cars in search of Herky. At first we worried that we might not be able to deliver on the promise. There was a guy making balloon animals and Ed got a monkey which seemed to distract him. He also "won" the beanbag toss (merely tossing was enough, regardless of whether it hit the target) and got to choose some Hot Wheels cars as a prize. So he was quite content. And then we saw Herky--very exciting, but a bit terrifying also. In the background of the photo you can see "Perky" Herky's more child-friendly younger sibling who is the mascot of the Children's Hospital.

The event was in the plaza and parkign lot outside the stadium, but part of it was open so you could go in and see the field. This is as close as Ed will get anytime soon--can't imagine taking him into the insanity that is a football Saturday, especially given that he'd have to have his own $50 ticket and has about a five minute attention span. Not compatible with a 3+ hour sporting event!

Apparently my last post was perceived as a bit harsh in my observations of my younger son's nocturnal habits. There is no need to call in the DCFS. I am resigning myself to the fact that he simply is not as good a sleeper as Edward was. However, last night he actually found his own pacifier and plugged himself just before I reached the crib at about 2 a.m. That kept him happy until almost 4 when he demanded more food. It's hard to believe he actually needs it (he's now wearing mostly 12-month size clothes!) but it's the quickest path back to bed--nurse him and put him down and we're all sleeping again in about 10 minutes. My other thought this week was that perhaps the green beans, which were introduced on Monday, were making him gassy. He didn't have any sort of allergic reaction, but perhaps gastro-intestinally things were not right in his world. Tonight we move on to sweet potatoes. Perhaps we'll all sleep soundly.