Sisterly LOVE

Maddy is now much more comfortable being on her tummy (and I can't keep her on her back for even a second....she immediately flips over to her belly). And of course Abby loves to be close to her. So here are some shots of them hanging out together.

Messy Maddy

Maddy still loves to eat (can't you tell!!! I should get a good shot of her chunky thighs....I love them)

Daddy and the little one

Chilling with my dad. I fit right next to him on the couch.

Ferry Ride

For our playgroup this week, we took the kids on a ferry ride from Portsmouth to Norfolk (where we let the kids run around and have lunch) and back. The kids enjoyed the ride, and it was fun to do something different.

Here is Maddy with my friend Jen's son PJ. He is 11 months old.

Maddy loves to play

Maddy finally has figured out how much fun her bouncer is. Here she is spinning the toy all by herself!

Th Girls Playing

Watching the two of them interact these days just makes me light up. Abby loves her so much and Maddy will soon start to show her love too.....in the form of stealing toys and pulling hair of course!

Maddy & Her Bottle

Maddy LOVES her bottle more than anything now, and is learning to feed herself....even if it is a little messy at times!

Abby being silly in the shower

She was pretending to be a frog, and wanted me to find her. Her imagination soars these days!

Fish Watcher

We went to the aquarium last weekend, and Abby's favorite part is going through the walk-thru aquarium, picking up a fish identification card, and pointing them out.

Maddy was an angel and stayed in her stroller to enjoy the ride.

Mike and Abby poking their heads in the "Bearded Dragon Bubble Exhibit".

Maddy & The Doll

Abby picked out her doll reward today and it was a blue baby that crawls and has a motion sensor in the face that starts the crawling/giggling. Maddy was a little surprised at first but soon caught on and wanted to play with it.

Then Abby walked in and saw Maddy licking her doll and ran to take it away from her......typical Big Sister!

SUCCESS!!!! = Potty Training WEEK 1 Complete!!

Well, I won't scare you off with the photo (no...I did not take one, I swear!!) but we had a major breakthrough today, day 7, as she pooped in the potty!!!! FINALLY!!!

Aside from the fact that she hasn't wet a single diaper since Sunday, she hasn't had a wet accident in 3 days, slept in regular underwear for her nap today completely dry, and finally managed up the courage to produce a #2 today! She was super proud of herself, and won the Disney Princess Coloring Pad I had mounted in the bathroom. Plus I promised we would go buy her a new baby at the store tomorrow. I've never been more proud to buy a stinkin' baby doll!! She deserves it.....and more, but I won't tell her that!

Now I am actually looking forward to what the coming weeks will bring. Finally we are only changing diapers for 1 kid now. That is a hug accomplishment in one week to save on the bending over and our pocketbook!

So this is officially the final potty posting. I promise! But thank you for following the journey with us. Our once little girl is growing up. I think a little, very small part of me wanted this process to be a bit more of a challenge just to show me how young and innocent she really is. Proudly though, she is our little shining star and I love all of the changes that seem to come faster and faster with this age.

Day 5 & 6: Potty Training

DAY 5: As the days go by, she seems to be getting better and better. Today we went out to Target, and as we were leaving the store she had to "go" so we used the car potty. Then as we pulled in the driveway she had to "go" again, and DID!! She stayed dry all of nap time, and then for bedtime, she did it again, where she woke up an hour after going to bed saying she had to "go"..and she went. But even worse, then she woke up at 2am last night saying she had to go.....so Mike go up with her and she went! I guess her brain is sensitive to that feeling now, or something. So I think tonight I am going to limit her liquids after a certain hour and see if that helps.

DAY 6: Today was my 2nd biggest fear aside from public accidents......Going to school!! I dropped her off, explained to the teacher that we started training (which they are very positive about and help you once you tell them you have started), and I left thinking for sure she would have an accident, preparing myself for the inevitable. Now I did have to keep her in a pull-up or diaper while she is at school until she is 100% trained, just so they don't have to deal with multiple accidents and changing clothes. But I went to pick her up and was shocked that she had not used any of her backup pull-ups, and the teacher said she went potty 4 times and her current pull-up is still dry!!! WOW!!! Really!!! My kid??!!?? We got home and I gave her a chocolate pudding cup as a reward! I thought for sure she was going to have trouble remembering to go amidst all the playing and 14 other kids running around. Ahhhh.....sooo proud!

.......Tomorrow completes week 1 of potty training and I can't believe it has gone by already. Oh, and her favorite part of the whole process so far........flushing the toilet!!!! Guess its a thrill since she's never done it before. She flushes the handle and says "bye bye pee pee". I can't help but giggle since she does it EVERY time!!!! Seriously though, I think I have to attribute most of her positive progress to "The Potty Training Book" that Aunt Angela gave us. We read it diligently twice a day for about a month prior to starting, and I think it stuck!

Day 4: Potty Training

DAY 4

So the 4th day was amazing. We went to the zoo (which I thought would be my biggest "wet" problem), and right away Abby asked to go potty. So we went! And then we went 3 more times! Yep, we visited every single potty at the zoo and she "went" each time!! She hasn't quite learned to go all the way yet. But we didn't have a single accident, so that was a MIRACLE since we were there for 2.5 hrs!!!!

We came home and she continued going on her own. She only had one accident in the afternoon while she was playing, so that wasn't too bad. I'll take an accident at home anyday versus being out and about. Oh, and did I mention she "went" on the potty in the car when we ran errands yesterday afternoon?? YEP! I bought a little potty that fits perfectly on the floor of the van next to Maddy's seat, so while we were out dropping of dry cleaning, she said she had to go so I plopped her on it and she did it. Much less stressful then having to find a place to stop at and go into with 2 kids!

The biggest and funniest moment was that night. We put her to bed as usual, in a diaper around 8pm, then at 9pm she pounded on her door "I have to go potty". At first Mike and I looked at each other and thought it was just a ploy to get out of bed. BUT we let her go and she did it. And back to bed she went. Then this morning when she got up I found her diaper was 100% dry.......and she went to the potty right away and it all came out. I was SUPER pleased to see she managed a dry night. Maybe she's catching on faster than we thought. We shall see!!

But after 4 days of this, I'm pretty impressed, and a lot less stressed than I thought I'd be.

Sleepyhead

I left her on her playmat actually playing this morning, and after getting Abby dressed and ready to go, this is what I came back to! A sleeping baby. Soooo tired and full after a yummy bottle. She just turned on her side (as is her favorite way to sleep) and took a snooze.

Learning to ride

After Maddy went to bed the other night, we took Abby out on the driveway to play with her tricycle for a little bit. She loved it, just has to figure out how to steer and pedal at the same time.

Another child....another accomplishment

And for child #2........Maddy is FINALLY now taking a bottle, and formula. No more stressing about those factors. My supply decreased last week (which isn't much of a surprise since I was only able to nurse Abby until she was 5 months old), but I am still trying to nurse her 3 times a day, and then she gets about 3 bottles of formula the rest of the day so far. She LOVES the bottle. She has already learned that she gets much more from the bottle, and she gets it faster, and I LOVE it because Mike can help to feed her!

Its so cute, her eyes light up and she grabs the bottle fiercely when it comes into her view.

Day 2 & 3: Potty Training

Well, we were pleasantly surprised by Abby's track record these past 2 days. Luckily it worked out that we were home most of this weekend so we had the time to spend near a bathroom with her.

Day 2: She only had one accident.....but it wasn't the wet kind; I don't expect her to figure out #2 right away. And she kept her diaper bone dry after naptime, and right when I took it off she ran to the potty to pee!

Day 3: She did great! We went to the aquarium today and right when we got there she said she had to "go", so luckily I had brought along the toilet seat topper and sure enough......SHE WENT!!! Her first public bathroom experience. No hesitation whatsoever. Needless to say I was shocked. I really don't cry ever at her accomplishments, usually just amazed, but this potty training thing makes me tear up. Seeing her accomplish it with such ease makes me happy. She does have her accidents as is expected. Today she had a couple while she was busy playing at home. But afterwards she came in at least 4 times telling me she had to "go". Now she "goes" all by herself, and comes to tell us afterwards to "come see". She is very proud each time. I hope that wears off soon......

Off to the zoo tomorrow....hoping it goes well too! We shall see........

DAY 1:This potty thing......The journey

So......we started potty training today!!!!

I decided it might be fun to track the journey, so I figured I'd post this first week's triumphs and tragedys to see how she does. I didn't have that much faith in the potty process, but Abby surprised me today and did GREAT! Of course I know the tragedys will happen, but it didn't happen today, so I am counting my blessings/success one day at a time. Not to worry, I spared you the photo of the pee in the potty....but I had to take it as evidence!!

DAY 1: Triumphs x3, Tragedys x1......and barely that since the only accident she had was outside, so it didn't create any cleanup for me, and she came running in as soon as it happened, so I know she understood her error!! So she had 3 pees in the potty today and only wore a diaper at nap time!

The reward I've been holding over her head (almost literally, I've had it pinned to the wall in the bathroom for the last 3 weeks to serve as a visual reward), was a new pink cinderella dress! So she was SUPER excited this morning after her first potty success and stood up screaming Cinderella Dress! She earned it for sure!!

And hey, who doesn't want to eat their sandwich on the potty!
The PRIZE!!!

Maddy learns to talk!

Okay, so really she is just babbling, but it is still adorable! She learned to suck in her lower lip and blow out last week while we were gone, so she says "ba ba ba" over and over, sometimes with fingers in her mouth. So now she "talks" all the time, it keeps her entertained too, so thats a plus! I just love to see her figure out new things.

Maddy and a cracker

I was at the store yesterday and saw the "MAM" rice crackers and remembered giving them to Abby when she was just starting out with solids. Sure enough, the box says they can have them a soon as they can eat solids. So they were a fun treat! An edible toy for Maddy....she did great with them and never gagged! They are simple rice crackers, but when I gave Abby a bite, she quickly spit it out and said "yuck"! Too plain for her refined 2 year old palette!!

And her new "trick" since we returned home from our trip is rolling both ways! YEP! She figured out how to roll from her back to her tummy. It makes her pretty upset right now though because she just doesn't know what to do on her tummy, but she sure tortures herself a lot!

FAMILY......

Luckily on Sunday I was feeling much better, but still not perfect

But after a long day out with the girls, we were able to get together for a few photos.

We also had a surprise (belated) 80th birthday party for my Grandpa Bob!! It was nice for everyone to be together.

Sunday Brunch

Abby being a goofball with Auntie Amy
Great Grandma Paulette and Madelyn

And then with Abigail (pretending to take a nap)

Playing around with Auntie Sarah

Rehearsal Dinner

The rehearsal dinner was the first chance Abby got to see her Aunt Sarah & Aunt Amy....her FAVORITE people!! And everyone else!! She was thrilled beyond words to get to run around with them all night.

Arlene, Aunt Sarah, Abby, Aunt Amy
Aunt Amy & Maddy
Mark, Abby and Amy

Grandpa Bob, Sarah and Abby

Grandpa Bob and I

Grandpa and his girls

Justin (GROOM), Amy, Chuck & Jim

Family Trip to Arizona

Well, we survived our trip to Arizona for my cousin's wedding....but just barely!! We arrived Thursday afternoon, and Friday night Mike came down with food poisoning the night of the rehearsal dinner, forcing him to miss the nights activities sleeping off the illness in the car. Then Saturday morning I came down with the same thing (we think we got sick off of the airport sandwiches we grabbed on the go as we went to our connecting flight). By the end of the day Saturday I could barely get myself together enough, but we managed to drag ourselves and the kids to the ceremony (because we didn't fly all this way not to at least see them get married)! But we left right afterwards and had to miss the entire reception party, so it just wasn't in the cards!

The time we spent away from the bathroom was great, just not long enough!

The airline flight with 2 kids. Not so bad, Abby loved counting the airplanes on the runway as we taxied away from the gate....needless to say, lots of counting!!

We stayed the long weekend at my cousin Erin's house with her husband Jim and son Andrew (16 months old). Abby loved playing with him and all of his fun "boy" toys! Hmmm.....do we have a Packer's fan?? We just HAD to stop for In-N-Out while we were out West because I've been craving it for a year, so Abby got to enjoy her FIRST true burger (it was really a grilled cheese...close enough)! The hat was the cutest!! Andrew, chomping on a fry!After lunch we took the kids to run in the fountains. Andrew wasn't too sure, but Abby ran in/out a few times! The weather was beautiful and in the mid 80's the whole time we were there.