Daddy & His Girls

Trip to the Richmond Childrens Museum

We made a daytrip up to Richmond to check out their Childrens Museum today (2 hrs away).

First we stopped for lunch at a cute diner, then headed to the museum.

This was the cutest exhibit! It was an apple tree, and you had to grab the apples from the tree (they were delivered via pipes to the holes) and then dump your apples in the main bin inside the tree and the machine would suck them up and disperse them to the many apple holes on the tree over and over! Constant entertainment.

Abby with her Apples!

Mommy & Maddy.....I told her to put her hands down but she didn't listen!

The Dinosaur.....Daddy had to make sure it was safe first!

Sisters for sure!

Here is a cute comparison of the girls!

At 6 months, Abby's stats were:

WEIGHT: 16.4lbs, HEIGHT 27"

So Maddy is a pound heavier and 1/2 an inch shorter! Its amazing their statistics are so similar yet she is so much chunkier! Funny how they turn out so similar yet so different.

Abby was sitting up at the end of 6 months...so Maddy will be there soon I'm sure!

Here is a cute photo of Abby at 6 months.....they are definitely sisters.

Maddy is 6 Months Old!! Half a year already????

Well, our little (BIG) girl is 6 months old already. I truly think time has flown by faster the 2nd time around. I hardly sit down anymore. The two of them keep me going....which is great!

Maddy's 6 month stats:

WEIGHT:17lbs 6 oz (2+ gain from 4 months old) *75th Percentile

HEIGHT: 26.5 inches *75th Percentile

HEAD CIRCUM: 43CM

(Here she is laying on the exam table before her shots....poor baby)

Oh the giggles

Abby LOVES making Maddy laugh! I swear some days it is her ultimate goal. She is very persistent and pulls out all the stops. At least my newspaper was recycled for a good purpose!!

Being Silly

Maddy had just finished her morning bottle and Abby finished her cereal, and pushed her chair over and got up so she could touch her feet to Maddy's. TOO CUTE!

Maddy playing in the toy room sucking on a play-kitchen spoon. Oh yes, the anything goes in the mouth phase!

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.