Princely Tales from the Road

So we're at the airport feeling the TSA's love for 45 minutes, and Prince is not the only one distraught. He is, however, distraught for a different reason: "I want to go to Nigeria! I want to go to Nigeria!" he shouts every four seconds. Somehow, I doubt this helped us any.

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It's not always possible to put the Prince in an effective timeout, particularly when we're all sleeping in the same room. I tried two methods Friday night, both highly effective but for different reasons.

I started taking away his stuff. First his Woody hat or Tyrone plush, then the other, then his socks. By the time I have both of his socks, he is pretty worried and willing to be good to start earning his socks back. Since then, however, anytime he is separated from the hat or the plush, he asks us what he has to do to "get my stuff back," and informing us that he "wants to bring Buzz as my stuff instead of Tyrone. No no, I want to bring Buzz and Tyrone, so I'll have two stuff."

Once his socks were gone and we still needed to do more, I had him sit in the (dry) bathtub. When I went in to check on him, he pointed out the shower handle to me, and read off to me that the handle said Off, Cold, and "ot... Hot." He then explained how the shower handle worked -- without having turned it on, mind, because the tub is still dry. Smart boy.

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I have been trying very hard to convince him that we are visiting family before going to Nigeria. I drew him maps of where we're going, told him the names of people we'll see, count down the number of days until we go, and quizzing him occasionally quizzing him on where we are. He still doesn't quite have it down that we are in Utah, but he is getting the idea: "So, Dad, if we go see a lot of people, can we go to Nigeria after that? Is that okay?" Yes, that's okay.

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He has really enjoyed playing with the other kids. Not that he remembers any of their names, but he loved playing with them. Uncle Doug has been a big hit. Videos and pictures to come ... as soon as I can find the cord connecting the camera to the computer.

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He got to watch no fewer than three Pixar movies in one day. He announced that his "favorite part" was "Spanish Buzz" from Toy Story 3. For his potty prize, he wanted to see his favorite part. I promised I would find it for him. When I did, he didn't actually want to see Spanish Buzz. In fact, when Spanish Buzz started dancing around Jesse, he complained that he really didn't like this. Turns out what he really liked was watching Buzz fight with and hog tie all his friends. My my. (pity. I really like the second Spanish Buzz dance.)

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Games the Prince has invented:

• Using a tennis racket as a camera and taking our pictures
• Using a tennis racket as a rocketship blasting off outside
• Filling a dog's water dish, then splashing the water out into the bushes.
• After being driven around in a toy car for a while, with Uncle Doug pretending they were touring Africa, he announced that he was home and is was time to get out. This was mostly so he could climb a ladder by the fence.

And of course any toy he finds anywhere is now his. He has discovered Property Law for Three Year-Olds. 

"The Barbie Computer? That's mine. Dora the Explorer? Mine. The pretty pink castle? Mine. The kitty I'm calling "doggy" is my dog. My aunt's house where I'm sleeping is my house. Oh, and there's no such thing as joint ownership. She is my sister, not your daughter, Dad. Mine."
 -- Derrill