"its like a fish, mommy"

The lovely Anna Grace is officially potty trained these days. Our biggest problem is getting her to understand that it is inappropriate for her to walk around with nothing but her shirt on after going to the potty. And I can empathize with her - it is much less of a hassle to just sit down on the potty and go without having to take the time to stop and pull down pants and big girl panties. None the less, we are working on this life lesson.

And poor little Dean, he has no idea what is about to hit him. You see, I have no intentions of him reaching 35 months without being potty trained; ideally he will be trained just before the new baby arrives in May - but that is really just IDEALLY. However, I do have a partner in crime planning his training events. Anna Grace asks him all the time if he needs to go to the big girl potty. Such a concerned big sister! I have also tried to explain to her that when it is Dean's turn to start using the big potty it will be called the big boy potty and he will wear big boy underwear, not big girl panties. (She thinks these days that even Neal wears big girl panties!)

Lots of interesting comments and conversations stem from the time spent on the potty or discussing potty things. The other night, poop was on her mind as she talked on the phone with Ottie and Juju. She told them exactly how many times she had pooped on the potty that day and asked about their potties. This morning, she went to the bathroom by herself and once she was done called for me..."Mommy, I'm done!" I walked in, handed her toilet paper to wipe with, but she said, "No, Mommy, I pooped too; see." So I wiped her off and told her to flush the toilet (flushing...yet another important practical life lesson in my opinion). She looked down in the bowl and said, "Its like a fish, Mommy," as the floating poop swirled around in the flushing process. A little stunned by her imaginative thought, I roboticly said, "Why yes it is; now lets go back downstairs and put your panties back on."

Get Ready

Number 3 is in the pipe.

Big Girl Panties!

Last night Anna Grace decided that her baby was ready for big girl panties. After seeing how good she looked in her pink Barbie panties she decided that she might like to wear her blue star big girl panties too. So this morning - I had to hold her off through the night; no need to start potty training at bedtime - after breakfast we put on her big girl panties. So far no accidents; but so far no tee-teeing in the potty either. Something is going to have to give sooner or later. I will update this post throughout the day to keep you posted on our first day of potty training.

12:02 pm
She ate a big lunch and drank LOTS of milk. She currently has a fresh class of ice water. She has sat on the potty at least 5 times since we began at 9. So far she has not gone tee-tee in her big girl panties OR in the potty. She must have a bladder of steel. I have also learned that she is very demanding while on the potty. "I need my ice water; I need books; I need my shakers - even on the potty she is cheering in advance for tonight's game - I need some candy - the AFTER potty treat - I need the flashlight," and the list goes on.

12:31 pm
Well it happened. The last time we went to the potty, Anna Grace told me that she was not going to tee-tee in the potty and she was not going to tee-tee in her star panties either. She was going to tee-tee on the floor. I knew she had to go because she was dancing all over the place trying not to go. She could not take it any longer; she finally had an accident in her panties. Her main concern was that the next pair of panties we had to wear did not have stars on them.
The current score 1 for the panties 0 for the potty.

12:48 pm
Before we could get to the toilet, poop! I think we need to take our potty prizes up a notch if we are going to have any sort of success today. We only have one more clean pair - besides the current pair on her - so she needs to get a little better or I need to go buy some new panties really fast!
Current score Panties 2, Potty 0

3:32 pm
Even with all of the drinks and candy still no real potty accents - and no more accidents since the last update. Apparently Anna Grace's resolve to keep her panties clean and not use the potty is great. Needless to say, she was put in a diaper for her nap time. I have no doubt that it will be saturated when she wakes up, but i sure was not going to let her sleep in her panties with a full bladder.

4:59 pm
I got Anna Grace up from her nap at 4:30. When I asked if she wanted to take her diaper off to put her big girl panties back on she started crying and said, "No, Mommy, I just want my diaper." I guess this is the end of potty training for one day. Maybe tomorrow I will be a little stronger. Today it was a shutout.
Final Score Panties 2 - Potty 0

We're Stepping into Fall!

Thanks to the slightly cooler temperatures today we got out our tennis shoes and socks before going outside to play. Dean, having never worn a closed shoe, felt the need to stomp around a little to test his out before moving forward to play. Then after I took them back off, he stomped around in his bare feet to make sure things were back to normal.

Anna Grace a.k.a. Mischievous Mary Strikes Again...

Feeling sorry for Anna Grace and her busted lip ended promptly at 7:07 this morning. As I headed down the stairs, she came up and said, “Don't worry, Mommy, I cleaned my hands. I cleaned my hands.”

As with any mother, that strikes a cord of concern when the 2 year old has taken it upon herself to clean her hands – How did she clean her hands? What water supply did she use? Why did she need to clean her hands?

I asked her to show me – there would have been no need for her to show me though; it was obvious. She had gone in the laundry room (1^st no no); gotten into the laundry detergent (2^nd no no) and proceeded to spread it all over the floor both in the laundry room and the carpet downstairs as well as the on the stool and toilet. Then to clean things up she poured laundry detergent into the toilet and played in the toilet water (3^rd no no). To top it all off about half of the bathroom floor was wet and the detergent was globbed up and stuck to the floor.

This picture just does not do justice to the real scene.

I took a deep breath, sat her down in my lap and went over the 3 things she did that she knew not to do. Then as I was getting ready to gladly (a rare occasion) discipline her I heard Bruce Stallings in my head. He was teaching our Sunday School class all over again - the parenting quarter - saying, “Don't spank/discipline in anger. I am sure no one in this room can raise their hand and say they have ever done this but I remind you so you can tell your friends – it is a sin; one you would have to confess to God and your child.” At that moment I am not sure if I was thankful or mad at Bruce for his friendly reminder.

So when she said, “Mommy, don't spank me,” as I was picking her up to wash her hands in the sink; I said, “Well, Anna Grace, I am not going to spank you this time because Mommy is so mad it would be wrong for me to spank you right now. You need to go in the other room though and play to make sure I don't change my mind.”

As I vacuumed the carpet, swept and mopped the laundry room and cleaned the toilet every once in a while she would walk in and say, “Don't spank me, Mommy.”

The positive news is that she has learned how to make the
number 2 or the letter N, depending on the way you
look at it.

And just for the record, I just swept the floor AGAIN because the detergent seems to be multiplying in there. Looks like I am going to have to do some serious scrubbing to get the residue off the floor.

Adult Supervision Required

They were having so much fun and then it happened.


Because of the thud at the end I (Neal) thought Dean was the main one hurt. Even though he cried a lot he was fine. Anna Grace was really the hurt one. Of course Courtney knew that from the beginning. We gave her some ice, at her request, and let her watch an episode of The Backyardigans even though it was already past her bed time. By the time she went to bed she felt fine. She said her and Dean were "falling down and it was fun".

Here's the busted lip:

Pink Doggie will make it all better:

Right of Passage

Dean busted his lip today while playing outside. He also scratched his upper lip in the process. It all just makes him more manly.

Our 1st Day of "School"

Today was Anna Grace's first day of Mother's Day Out. She thinks she has officially started school...we have not told her otherwise. This morning we got a quick picture before loading up the car. As you can see she is really proud of her lunch bag that she takes with her. She also wants to ride the bus - I had to tell her yet again that the bus does not go to her school so I will take her every time in our car. Anna Grace was instantly ready to go in her room and play; then when she saw that I had come back to get her, she ran the other way hoping for a few extra minutes of playtime. She did not eat very much of her lunch; however as soon as she got strapped into her seat in the car she said (in a VERY dramatic tone), "Mommy, I NEED food." Needless to say, she ate her lunch on the way home when she was not distracted. She told Neal and me over dinner all about the big slide she went down and climbing up the ladder to get to it; the Wheels on the Bus movie they watched and sang along with; and practiced her Bible verse for this month - Love bares all things. To sum it up, Anna Grace is a huge fan of MDO.

Dean on the other hand started crying as soon as he thought he MIGHT be getting dropped off and did not stop crying until I got him strapped back in the car after dropping Anna Grace off. He did enjoy his special time with me while she was away.

Until next time...

Caught in the act

Today Dean figured out how to crawl up onto the cart - his favorite toy lately - and sit down so he can throw all of the blocks out of the top.

How could anyone not love these two?

Homemade Popsicles

Yesterday I made my first batch of homemade popsicles for Anna Grace and Dean. After lunch they each had one and thankfully, I was ready with the camera.

Dean had a love/hate relationship with his.
I guess it was too cold for him but he couldn't make himself stop.

Anna Grace did not have the same troubles.

Our Family Olympic Games

Anna Grace and I decided to get ready for the women's all-around gymnastics; we went all out in our preparations and surprised Neal with our own meet when he got home from work. Dean was not really into the meet himself. Lots of silver medals (I could only make silver using the aluminum foil) were given out.

Watching the games.

My medal ceremony after a brilliant somersault.

Neal's clap-worthy head stand performance.

As you can see Dean had other on things on his mind.

Anna Grace's post medal celebration.

Off goes the medal and on to the next event.

Handsome Dean

One day he may get me for this but I just could not miss this photo opportunity. Dean LOVES wearing Anna Grace's necklaces but today he managed to get a hold of one of her dress up hats. He was having way too much fun playing chase with me in his costume.

Vacation

We had a wonderful vacation last week at the lake. We shared part of the time with some friends and family. Neal and I both agree that we did not do a good job taking pictures; we are committed to doing a better job next year. We had lots of fun though.