Weekend Recap

Friday was Dave's last Oakland day. He only had to work a half day to pack up his office. Since he was getting off work at noon the girls and I went to Fairyland. We picked Dave up on the way and once there we had a picnic lunch. The girls had a fabulous time riding the rides, using their storybook key, seeing the critters and other animals, and of course soaking in their daddy-time. I think I could have went home and they could have cared less but hey they see me everyday all day so it's fine I'm not sad at all... ok maybe slightly.

The girls watching puppet theater

Saturday morning Dave went to get the new battery for the car but it died at the gas station before he could get it replaced. Since he didn't bring his cellphone he had to walk a few blocks home. It was already 90 degrees at 10AM. He was so sweaty. But on his way home he had found a diamond tennis bracelet on the ground. Yea me!!! It was really fancy and nice. Sucks to be the one that lost it.

Saturday evening Grammie and Papa came to bring the hot tub and the new clothes for Olivia. It was a scorcher of a day but we set up the tub anyway and ordered a pizza and drank some beer. Since my parents arrived late in the day the girls were in bed before we knew it and we had a quiet house to ourselves. It's nice to be able to have a grown-up conversation with my mom occasionally without Olivia jumping right next to us. My dad went to sleep on the floor like usual and Dave did some work for the home business to get it finished without kid distraction.

Sunday my parents took Olivia to church and then we all went out to lunch. The girls were both very good while eating with a fork and sitting like ladies in their chairs. Both of them ate the fried calamari which was a little surprising. I thought Ava would spit it out. Liv loves lemons so she squeezed lemon on her bread, calamari, and mac-n-cheese. She even ordered lemonade which was also weird since we always order them milk and no one told her it was on the menu... Maybe she can read and we are too slow to figure it out. Who knows.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Grammie and Papa and Livy just broke down and sobbed. She didn't want Grammie to go. She wanted to go to her house. It was sad. Just plain sad. We needed to exchange a shirt Dave had bought on Saturday so went we to the store and what do you know... a few bracelets later Olivia was all smiles again. She picked out a necklace for her and Ava and a few bracelets. Both of the girls were giggly as is any girl with jewels.

Beyond that things were pretty routine as usual. I've been keeping Ava's food journal everyday for her nutritionist and she woke up both Saturday and Sunday mornings in dry pull-ups. I think next week we will start her in the night time panties. This week Dave started teaching again, moved to the SF office, his mom and sister are coming, then my parents are coming back for their flight to Maui. I think I have enough to deal with without adding possible peepee sheets to the list.

Dogs, Art, And The Other Stuff

While Olivia was away at preschool Ava was an excellent doggie mommy.

As you can see she loves her puppy very much.

Once home, Livy displayed her art creations. This is the big yellow sun.

This is "B" the letter for the week.

Here's Olivia's name written by yours truly.
And the 2 most important things that Livy said happened at preschool today were 1) when Gracie, her best friend, gave her a kiss on her back. They hugged and Livy hugged some other kids too who according to Olivia are all her best friends and 2) she saw a boy go potty and demonstrated it for me both in the car and in front of the toilet. She pushed her pants down and said, "he holds his crotch like this and then squirt..squirt!!!" Isn't preschool lovey...

And in our own pottyland, Olivia hasn't had any potty accidents at all since the first two days she started sleeping in her panties. She just knows to hold it now I guess. I thought this would have been a longer process but thank heavens it wasn't. She is completely and fully potty trained. WooHoo Livynut!!!

Ava started today wearing her panties during nap. I have a feeling things will work out just fine. She never wets her pull ups at nap anyway. After a week or two I'll start with her sleeping at night. My little girls are growing up- literally. Ava grew another half inch in a month. She is now 38 1/2 inches tall and maintaining her 37 pounds, and Olivia is 42 inches tall and 37 pounds. Both of them are wearing size 5-6 clothing from the girls (not toddler) department. At this rate next week they'll be shopping in the juniors department. We better find a money tree soon:)

**Update:
Ava made it through her first nap in panties and came out of her room dry...cranky, but dry. Good job Avacakes!!!

Panty Training Overnights...

Hooray Olivia!!!

She has had 5 naps and nights of total and complete dryness. I am amazed at how motivated Liv is to stay dry and be a BIG girl. Honestly, I was expecting a lot of accidents this past week and had prepared for the worst but how cool is it that that Olivia succeeded. Hopefully this dry streak will last forever if not a very long while to keep Olivia's confidence level rising. I think every time she wakes it up it encourages her to keep dry the next time. Congrats Livy to a great week!!

The Ickies & The Panties

The ickies have now been passed all around the house and Ava's nose is draining and sneezing, Dave has a sore throat, and Livy is still as slobbery and sniffley as she was on Friday. Sucks too because she will most likely have to stay home from school tomorrow and she is really looking forward to attending. I guess it comes with the territory... I haven't gotten the sickness yet but I'm sure it will hit me as soon as the girls both feel better and begin to be energetic again and run crazy. Sounds about right.

In other news, Livynut only had one accident since she began wearing her panties to bed. She's been really stoked about waking up in her panties and not having to take off her pull up in the morning. It's funny how simple things like this please kids. She is so proud of herself and we are very proud of her. If all goes well over the next month and the accidents are slim to none I guess I'll start having Ava sleep in her panties too. She already makes it through every nap with a dry pull-up so I might as well get her out of nighttime pull ups as well. I just don't want to start her now in case Olivia has frequent accidents and then I become overwhelmed with laundry. Plus if I wait too long it will be closer to winter and with more blankets and stuff on her bed I won't want to wash all of that bedding every time. So we will play it by ear and see where we end up later. If we have to wait for Ava until after her 3rd birthday and more towards next spring then that's just how things will have to be. One thing at a time. Day by day. We're makin' it.

Looking Good...

All is good so far with Olivia wearing her panties to bed. She happily ran down the hallway and into our room this morning shouting, "Look Mommy, I'm dry!!!" Way Cool. She was so proud of herself and we were too. Sadly, she still felt like crap from her 'ickies' she acquired yesterday so today after lunch I offered to her to wear the pull-ups so she could sleep soundly and not worry about urinating in her bed since she felt so miserable. "No Mommy, I a big girl and I want to wear my panties!" She proclaimed.

Ok then. That's what she wants, that's what she gets. And to our surprise she woke up dry after nap. It's been since Thursday afternoon and so far so good. I assumed stupid me that Livy wouldn't want to deal with this new arrangement today since she isn't feeling good but I was way wrong. She wants to be a big girl and that's that. Hopefully the accidents hardly if ever happen since I don't enjoy doing any more laundry than I have to do and the sheets and the quilt take up a whole friggin' load. I could go on and on about how we can' afford it either but that's for a different day.

I have given up coffee for a month or longer since Liv gave up the pull-ups. It's a team effort and we are getting over the hump together. It's been all right for me. I haven't drank any coffee since Wednesday. Why I chose to do this during my PMS storm is besides me but I guess no time would have been a good one. I felt kinda tired today during my jog but I managed to squeak out 2 miles nonetheless. We are going to make it... I know we will.

Taking The Next Step...

For a few weeks we have been charting the girls' wet/dry pull-ups when they wake from naps and in the morning. Both of them typically wake up dry at naps but Ava wakes up every other morning wet. Olivia has been waking up most mornings dry, not each and every day, but most. We've been talking a lot about Liv wearing her panties to bed now that she's a 'big girl' or better yet a 'schoolgirl'. She has said she wants to too so yesterday at nap and at night we gave it a try and both times she woke up dry.

So today I went and bought a few cheapo sheet sets and an extra quilt so if Liv has an accident in the middle of night we can strip the bed and remake it without actually having to go downstairs and begin the laundry. I'm hoping for the best and prepared for the worst. Liv is totally excited and growing up way too fast. I can't believe my little Livynut is a schoolgirl. I never realized how short of a time period you actually get as a parent to be home with your kids before they have to enter the world by themselves. Now I'm going to have to suck in as much as possible of Ava's essence before her year is up and she leaves for school too.

Man, time is ticking. Where did it all go? I'm thankful to be a stay at home mom and enjoy these few short years. I know it will be over before I know it so I will make the most of it and take the girls to all the museums, movie theaters, water parks, zoos, distant relatives houses, and exploring places as possible. It's been great that Dave gets to take days off here and there and go too. I like that he is hands on and sees for himself what the girls are up to and interested in. Lately they are into jogging so we have been going every night. It's too hot for me but they love it.

Well it is time to wake up Olivia. She has been napping since 1Pm and it is almost 4:30PM. I'm hoping she's dry and feeling better. She's got the ickies.

Why God? Why?

After going to preschool and coming home a punk for an hour Olivia finally returned to her normal self and joyfully told me all about her first day. We were happy and looking forward to daddy coming home to tell him all about it. She was excited to wear her new jammies to bed and things really looked like they had made a turn for the better until Olivia ate her last bite of food at dinner, drank a bunch of water, gagged herself and puked down the front of herself. Oh the roller coaster continues all the while I am trying desperately to maintain my PMS.

I cleaned the puke off of Olivia and put her clothes in the washing machine. Now she's naked of course so I told her to go to her room and wait for me and I'd be upstairs after I cleaned up the rest of the puke off of the chair. Minutes later I walk into her room to get her fresh clothes and she says, "here mommy it's pee pee." I'm like- Whaaat??? as I took the cup almost throwing it aside thinking it was empty and I was trying to get her dressed. Then I noticed it WAS full of pee. AND she spilled it all over the sheets, bedspread, and floor. Keep in mind I washed her entire bed set yesterday. I felt fire rise up inside of me. I dropped her clothes on the floor and told her I was leaving her room, she was staying in there, and in a few minutes her father would be home to talk to her.

I so wanted this to be a good day. Liv's first day of school should (I thought) be wonderful. But instead it was a disaster to the end. After Dave discussed not urinating in her toys or anywhere other than the potty she said she did it because she wanted to pee in the ice cream cone (another toy). She wasn't angry that she was sent to room. She didn't do it maliciously. Just curious... Oh that just makes it all ok then. It was a science experiment. Add sarcasm anytime.

To make matters worse she didn't nap either. The rule has been she has to go to bed at 7:30PM on no nap days and 8PM on days she naps. On her way to bed she overheard Dave saying to Ava that they were going to play the board game. Liv flipped out and sobbed for what seemed like ever... maybe 30 minutes. I went in and explained that's the rule on no nap days and Ava had slept. I also reminded her she doesn't get rewards for peeing in her room. She sobbed even more. I felt like a schmuck. Maybe we are punishing her too much. My mind went to the extremes but in reality it was her bed time above all else. She was just jealous of Ava.

After awhile Liv calmed down and told me that, "mommy, we don't pee in our room. Only in the potty mommy." So she was listening between all those bouts of protest. Thank God for small miracles.

Today has been a better day. I am still suffering from the cruel world of PMS but the girls have had a good day playing together without arguing and they ate their breakfast without any incidents. We've colored, read books, ate a snack, and now are enjoying the Tinkerbell movie. Ava has requested 'susgetti' for lunch and Liv wanted meatballs so I need to start preparing lunch.

Hopefully when we take Liv to school tomorrow Ava doesn't freak out when we have to leave and when we pick Liv up she doesn't come home with a split personality. I don't think I'm asking for much, other than I'd like to win the lotto too...

Yes, I am very proud

If everyone could have my good fortune the world would be a better place...literally- there would be less diapers in the landfills, happier parents without smelly kids, fatter wallets in parents' pockets from their savings, and the candy factories would be making even more of a killing.

Here's why: For the last 6 months Ava has been using the potty for all of her bodily functions. This is an exceptionally great thing. I hated changing diapers, especially pooped filled ones. Honestly, the smell of someone else's poop makes me want to vomit. When the girls use the potty I flush it as soon as the poop hits the water then I wipe their bums and leave the paper floating in the bowl until the next time someone uses the potty so I don't waste any unnecessary water. (Ironically in the middle of creating this post Ava had to poop.) Afterwards we all get to indulge in a small sucker for a reward.

This process has been so easy with Ava. It wasn't exceptionally hard with Olivia but Ava just doesn't like the feel of anything in her panties which has helped tremendously. I think she's been wearing her panties now for 3 months. The first month she wore them in the house only and whenever we left I put on a pull-up and then took her to the potty at every store or place we went. She had an accident every couple of days at home but did really well overall. The second month I took her to the park and for quick trips to places like the post office in her panties. Ava never had an accident. Then I just started forgetting to change her out of panties before we left the house because she stopped having accidents and we'd be eating in a restaurant and Ava would say she had to pee and woops there were the panties. So now she wears her pull-up for sleeping only and not for outings too.

This is the best part: Ava's been waking up from her nap 6 out 7 days completely dry. She's been waking up in the morning dry probably 3 days a week. She wears the same pull-up everyday for nap until she pees in it so we end up using maybe 3 or 4 pull-ups a week. Awesome. Simply freakin' awesome.

Olivia has been dry during naps for a while now too. She re-wears her pull-ups until she pees. She probably uses 1 pull-up a week for naps and she's wakes up dry on most mornings too. Livy also gets out of bed at night and uses the potty when she needs to. What has happened??? Did the potty fairy come and sprinkle magic dust over our house and create good fortune? It definitely feels like it. And I am SOOOOO thankful. I didn't mind so much changing pee filled diapers but if I don't have to, why should I? I put an extra change of clothes in the truck for Ava and can now ditch the diaper bag for good. Traveling has become a grand opportunity again. I needed that. It's hard enough taking two small kids to any place by yourself but then when you have to pack a lot of extras...well let's just say that I am not a pack mule.

I wish everyone could have a potty trained 2 year old. I have been fortunate enough to have two of them and it has saved us a bundle of time and money. It also has shown me that kids are much cleverer than parents give them credit for and when given the opportunity to achieve a goal they will. Ava tells me she does not want to wear diapers. She loves her panties and can't wait to put them on. For this I am thankful. Now if only they could learn to share as easily as this process has happened I'd really be stoked. Patience and age. I'm sure it has something to do with that.

I have Pee Pee Daddy...

Gotta love the sounds of those words. Our little Ava "candy addict" has come to love her 'big girl' panties. She definitely recognizes the difference between them and her pull-ups and favors the panties. Along with them comes a pretty big responsibility of keeping them dry and clean so as an incentive I've offered the ultimate... candy. She chews a few Smartees after she pees and gets to have a sucker when she poops. Several times in the past few days I have been walking through the house and have come upon her standing by the toilet trying to get her pants down. It is so cute to watch her struggling and wiggling around. I offer her my assistance and then I am quickly and sharply told, "no help mommy, I do it...I pee pee." Every day isn't perfection but she is making tremendous strides and a huge effort to be clean and initiate her own potty time.

Olivia has been a big help too staying out of Ava's way while she attempts to get on the toilet, she cheers and claps at every occurrence only reinforcing to Ava that using the potty is the way to go, and she gladly accepts a candy after Ava earns hers for being a big helper and great big sister.

I Know You Are Enjoying This...

Ava stink-fingered me. Typically this happens to Dave and I laugh but she got me today.

Ava stuck her finger down her poop filled diaper and brought back out a finger covered in what I only could have wished was chocolate. Maybe in a dream world, but in reality it was a poop covered finger shoved right into my face followed by an, "EWWWW." Uh ya, ewww and thanks for sticking it right in my face.

It is funny when this happens to my husband. Why I don't know, maybe because most of the potty stuff happens on my watch so any opportunity for something crappy to happen on his watch is relieving (no pun intended) to me that I get to be the one to hear about it instead of the one dealing with it. OR maybe it just is funny. Who knows.

Enjoy it Dave. I'm sure yours is coming.

The Last Diapie

Today Ava wore her last diaper. It's a big day, an end of an era, a breakthrough to toddlerhood, my little baby is growing up. Anyway way you cut it, we are free, free, free of diapers.

Ava's been wearing panties for a while now. She's been wearing diapers to bed and for nap time since we had a whole box leftover when we started potty training. It took a few weeks to burn through that box since she only wore 1 or 2 a day. But today we had one final sad little diaper left. I put it on her right before her nap and after she used the potty. A few hours later Ava woke up completely dry so she will be wearing that diaper again tonight. Nothing like stretching out the last one for an all day experience.

Potty Talk

Last night we went to the park after dinner. This was our first experiment to see if Ava could keep her panties dry. We were out for about an hour and when we returned she was dry. Yea Ava! Today I took the girls shopping for experiment number 2. Ava had peed before we left the house. We went to two stores and came home with dry panties. Again Yea Ava!!

Now the poop thing is a whole different story. She has pooped in the potty before but seems to like going in the panties better. I have a feeling she poops standing up and that's why I keep missing when she's going. I am not overly worried about this though. It did take Livy a while before she mastered it.

On a side note: we are all still sick. I feel much better today and my throat doesn't hurt as much. Olivia is still snotty but better. Ava seems to have gotten worse and now has the yucky yellow snot. I really don't know how Dave is doing. He has a whole bunch of other issues to worry about...

This weekend we go to Grammie's house to go swimming. This will be the last time we go back until Christmas. I have to pack a few things but mostly I have left toys and clothes there so I don't have to bring too much. This should be a fun weekend. It is supposed to be hot and Grampie wants to BBQ. They are also giving Olivia her big girl day bed for us to bring home. It should be an interesting next week.

The Weekend of Sickdom

Is there such a thing? Sickdom? Our contaminated house would say yes. Ava started us off with this round of illnesses. She woke up Friday with a fever, a lot of sneezing (mostly in my face), and then the massive snots brigade. I washed both our hands after every sneeze and sanitized practically every thing that I could but sure enough the sickness spread to Olivia by Saturday night. It really sucked too because Ava was much better by Saturday night and we thought we had escaped any big drama.

Saturday night the neighbors kept letting off fireworks which in combination with Olivia's inability to breath clearly it kept her awake. After repeatedly going into her room we decided to let her sleep with us. By morning it was obvious that that wasn't the best decision as we woke up to a puddle of urine in the bed. I am guessing that her diaper shifted since she usually doesn't pee in the bed. Does it really matter? No. We still woke up today in a puddle of pee.

So Olivia is feeling miserable. Snot has engulfed her face and hands. She has a fever and has been somewhat crabby. Ava is better with little or no snot so I'm hoping by tomorrow Liv is feeling better.

On the Ava front: She made a poop in the potty. This is our first one in recorded history. Some did make it into her panties but hey we can't expect miracles and I certainly wasn't expecting this so soon. Dave found her pushing and rushed her to the potty. Way to go Daddy Dave and Avacakes!!!

Potty talk & the museum

I realize I may not need to jot down every little thing about Ava' s potty training but it helps me remember what worked and what didn't from day to day and to track her progress so far. Today she woke up with a wet diaper but it was far less filled than usual. Maybe it was due to her cold but yesterday after her nap she woke up with a completely dry diaper so I'm thinking that she may have made a connection with liking the feeling of dryness and of panties. I hope so. I really really really hate the hot smell of pee in the morning accompanied or unaccompanied by the waft of crap she usually has. Somehow I don't see my life working out that easily since it hasn't yet but we shall see.

Today Dave went to the doctor to get his x-ray. Yes this month 3 of the 4 of us have been x-rayed! Yeah we filled the quota!!! For those of you who don't know me that was total and complete sarcasm. How many other freakin' families have to be x-rayed, on weekends of course when the hospital is half staffed and at their VERY slowest? Apparently just us. Because we are that cool. Ugg. No more visits to the ER, the x-ray room, the pharmacy, or the doctor. We are taking September off...a vacation let's say. Ok I'm done. I'll stop.

While Dave was off doing his thing, Ava made her first potty, then ate breakfast, made a few more potties, and then Dave was back and ready to go on our outing. Ava had been completely dry all morning, minus the monster dump she took in the panties (sucks big time to clean). Dave sat her on the potty one last time before we left for the wildlife museum. She peed, we clapped, and away we went. We were gone for about two hours and when we returned her diaper was completely dry. We sat her on the potty and she made a huge pee and off to lunch she went. What a great first half of the day Ava had potty training! Yeaa Ava!!!

On a side note: The wildlife museum we went to was very interesting. It serves as a rehabilitation place for wildlife as well as an educational facility. Olivia loved the hawks, owls, and falcons. She and Dave are always bird hunting so that was wonderful that they got to see them together and up close. Ava enjoyed the bunny, the opossum, and the fox. We happened to be there during a feeding time for the coyote so we watched it devour a small rodent and a few vegetables.

The place wasn't very big so Olivia was able to run around without holding my hand and I think she felt like a big girl. Ava wanted to be free too so most of her time was spent struggling to free herself from her father. After we looked at all the animals and played in the exploration room we went outside and found a huge playground filled with kids. Liv took off running for the slide and Ava played on the train tunnel. Usually at our park there are very few kids if any when we go so it was nice to let the girls mingle with other kids their own age that they don't know. Livy really soaks up what she learns from other kids quickly.

Now we are back home and the girls are napping. Dave's cleaning the turtle tank, and I'm paying the bills...yeah that's it- paying the bills online.

The Superstar

Ava, the superstar, has done so well today in her big girl panties. I has been 2 hours since we all got out of bed and she has not wet her panties yet. Today we started by removing her diaper and putting her directly on the potty. Within seconds she had finished so on went the panties. I have to admit that while she ate breakfast in her high chair I was holding my breath that she didn't pee all over the place. Once she was done eating she went right back to the potty. Again she used it within a few seconds and back on went her panties.

So the best part: Awhile later, Ava said pee pee and took off her panties. I directed her to sit on the potty and she went willingly and made a pee. So cool. She did this a few more times and each time took off her panties for herself and made a pee. Now she doesn't so much want to put the panties back on but that's ok. I make a game out of it and eventually her feet end up in the panties. If we can continue like this for awhile I think Ava may eventually be out of diapers by Thanksgiving and that's something to give thanks for...

Update: Ava made it the entire morning without having an accident and using the potty all by herself. I'm totally shocked that she has taken the initiative to sit on the potty and recognize when she has to go. I thought that that would be down the road somewhere but maybe putting the panties on has made the whole difference. Either way Ava you rock!!!

Training Pants

Ava's started wearing big girl panties today. She loves them and is so proud of herself. She has been telling Livy, "look...panties...look." We will have to see how it goes today. So far she has peed in 3 pairs. I never actually used training pants with Olivia. She used disposable diapers and regular panties but I think Ava needs to feel wet to get the idea. Pull-ups seem to just act too much like a diaper for her.

Well here's to hope and prayers that I don't end up with trails of urine and lumps of poop all over the house.

Here's a little synopsis of the rest of the morning: Ava pointed down and said, "poo" so I asked her if she had to go. She walked towards the potty so I helped her take her panties down. Ava sat on the potty and made a pee pee all by herself. I didn't have to do anything. This is the first time she has initiated using the potty and actually going. Yeaaa Ava!

The rest of the morning she stayed dry and I put a diaper on her just for nap time. I hope the rest of the day goes as good as the morning. She has not pooped so that might be an issue of poopy hands when she wakes up from her nap, but we will just have to wait and see.

Recap: Ava stayed dry the rest of the day with only one accident. This was a great start to training pants.

Hummm. She's holding out on me...

Today's potty training has been unsuccessful to say the least. I think Ava has caught on to what is happening and is holding out for something better than the treats she is currently being provided. That little sneaky baby. Well has she got something coming to her...

This morning when I opened her door to see if she was awake I found her sitting in the corner of her crib chatting it up to her fellow com padres tiny dolly and little white rabbit. Of course her lovey was in hand too soaking up all the gossip. So as I opened the door I was greeted with my usual, "hello mommy" and waved arms ready to escape the crib. And there it was- the faint smell of poop. What a wonderful morning.

We walked down stairs and I asked Ava to lay down so that I could change the poop which of course she didn't. I began to unzip her anyway. Oh Yeaaa! She had poop up to her boobs. Back up the stairs we went to get rid of the mess in the tub. Even Ava was disgusted by the sight and smell of it. As the zipper was nearing her belly button and she saw the smear across her chest she said, "EWWWW". Yeah, your darn right ewwwwww.

After the 10 minute shower Ava sat on the potty. Nothing happened in the bowl. We waited a little longer and still nothing and to top it off she kept messing with the potty lid and trying to sit on top of it. This has become the norm the last few days where she can't keep her hands off the lid so she got off the potty and I put the diaper back on. Small victory for her.

An hour later Ava was back on the potty. Since I removed a dry diaper I thought she'd peed. Wrong. Nothing in the bowl again and a huge argument ensued over that stupid lid.

Lunch came and went and Ava had one more chance to sit on the potty. She had not peed all day so I would assume she would have to go at some point. After a good 10 or 15 minutes the smallest pee ever trickled into the bowl. She clapped and pointed and I accepted that that was as good as it was going to get. Ava went to bed and I got out the screwdriver and removed that stupid lid. HA.

I'm sure she will find something just as annoying to do again but at least now the bowl is open and I don't have to deal with the lid.

The Weekend

The weekend is almost over and we crammed so much into it. Yesterday we went clothes shopping, grocery shopping, and pet store browsing. Then we found this really cool lake/pond/pool place to swim. Apparently at one time this was part of a lake that was closed off to make a swimming pool, complete with chlorine, and sand. It was really a strange phenomena to see but it starts out about 6 inches deep with a sand bar that goes out about 30 feet. Then the sand just stops and it becomes a swimming pool bottom that gradually becomes 5 ft. Weird I know but soo much fun. The girls had a blast playing and building sand castles. We took them to the deep part and let them jump into the water which is both girls' favorite thing to do at the pool. We bought some BBQ for dinner on the way home. Ava was so tired she crashed for an hour during dinner. When we woke her up her little eyes were red and puffy but like a trooper she sat on the potty and went right away. I think she smelled dinner and wanted to eat but hey- who can blame her when there's BBQ waiting in the kitchen for her.

This morning Daddy Dave made everyone blueberry muffins and cream of wheat. Yes, he cooked it all and it was fantastic. After breakfast Avacakes, who is cutting another tooth, made her potty, Livy made her potty, and Dave cleaned the kitchen up. I paid the bills, cleaned the bathrooms, dyed my hair, and took care of our godawful litter box. Ewww did it stink. I swear that cat can annihilated a small village with what she leaves in there. Anyway, Dave and his little women went to buy a new vacuum since ours bit the dust during the cleaning and after they get back and eat lunch Dave and I will begin repairing the pool that the cat popped when she thought she could stand on it. Hopefully the water will be warm enough for the girls to swim in today after their nap. It's only about 74 degrees out right now so the odds are slim but here's to hoping.

Potty Talk

Today's potty experience went amazingly. This was the first morning Ava woke up and went straight to the potty. She sat for about a minute and exclaimed, "pee pee, pee pee" and pointed into the bowl. Sure enough there was urine in the bowl.

We all waved goodbye to the potty and Ava ate breakfast. Immediately after she finished and was cleaned up she sat on the potty again. When I removed her diaper there was a small wet spot so I wasn't expecting any miracles so if something happened in the next five minutes great. If not we were going shopping. Wow! One minute later Ava was eating her candy and I was washing out the bowl. She is getting really good at this. Dave and I are so proud of her.

On a side note...Livy is teaching Ava how to poop right now. Ava is clapping, "yeah Livy" and trying to look into the bowl from behind. Livy is saying, "listen to the poop." These two crack me up!


Quick update to this post:

We went shopping, came back, ate lunch, and put Ava on the potty in one last attempt before nap time. That little rascal knows exactly what she is doing. She sat for maybe a minute and pointed to the bowl of urine and then up towards her bag of candy. Congratulations Ava...I think you are becoming a big girl.... :) I love these two little cuties to pieces.

Potty Talk

I love coffee. If it weren't for coffee I don't think I would have the patience for this potty training thing. It has been going fine, but it is getting kind of boring. I enjoy getting a half hour to play with Ava, but our options are limited with what entertains her. Puzzles and books are her favorites but after reading and re-reading them my brain begins to turn to mush.

Ava sat on the potty and made her pee pee today. This time her diaper was dry when I took it off so it was a good indication she was going to be successful. Once she went she pointed and clapped like usual. Olivia came over to check it out too and we waved goodbye to the potty.