Potty Training!

It has been an amazing week! To say that Paul and I are proud of Emily would be an incredible understatement....she has truly outdone herself (again!)

It all started last weekend. I had heard about a specific potty training technique and was eager to try it. I studied the approach and how to implement it and was eager to put it into place this weekend. I started laying the groundwork on Monday and Tuesday-- reading Emily’s favorite pottying book (The Potty Book for Girls) and discussing with her about how this weekend we would throw away ALL of her diapers and she would be a Big Girl who uses the potty. She didn’t have much to say about any of this- just kind of heard me and went on her way. Or so I thought!

Wednesday morning she woke up and informed me that “Emmy’s bottom is NO MORE DIAPERS!” I begged her to let me put one on-- we had to get to Jamey’s house, she was going to make me late for work, etc.-- but she wasn’t having it. She ended up dressing herself and OH BOY did she ever dress herself: pink shirt, pink pants (different pinks, of course!), pink-on-pink polka-dot sock (both pinks were different than her shirt or pants....so 4 different pinks so far), last year’s pink sandals which were so small that her toes hung over the front edge, one pair of big girl panties on under the pants....and one more pair of big girl panties on OVER the pants. (She also had me “help” her with her jacket, which she insisted on wearing backwards, with the zipper up the back). She was quite a sight! She made it all the way to Jamey’s house with dry panties. I explained to Jamey what Emily had told me, crossed my fingers for them, and went to work.

Jamey called me a little while later to tell me that Emmy had peed in the potty!! Over the course of the day she had 4-5 little accidents (I think she was starting to pee before she realized that was happening, and THEN trying to get to the potty) but peed on the potty many times as well. She was having a problem letting all the pee come out though- she would pee a tablespoon, then run around and cheer for herself....pee another tablespoon, run around, etc. I was WORN OUT that evening and she was only with me for a few hours!

Wednesday night I asked Emily if she wanted to wear a diaper or BGP (big girl panties). She said she wanted panties, so against my better judgment, I put panties on her. She woke up twice in the midnight hour having peed all over her jammies, blankets, etc. What a mess! We changed her bedding and clothes and Paul was able to convince her that it’s OK to wear a diaper only at night...thank goodness!

Thursday things went a little more smoothly. She peed more frequently on the potty, had fewer little pre-pees before she remembered to go to the potty, and was letting all the pee out instead of going a little at a time. We were so proud! Paul had to pick her up from Jamey’s since I had an activity after school and she peed on the potty at home for him several times. The best part was that she stopped asking for Skittles (which are actually M&Ms but she calls them Skittles) or any kind of reward-- she just wanted a hug and a cheer and to go back to playing. Incredible!

But perhaps today has been the biggest surprise of all. I mean, we are FLOORED here. This morning at 6:15 she woke up and was yelling, loudly, very soon after waking up (she doesn’t normally seem so panicked to get out of her bed). I ran down the hall and she said, “Mommy- I NEED TO POTTY!” I quickly grabbed her out of her bed and put her on the floor next to her potty seat, which I brought upstairs last night. She said, “No potty chair- I use big potty!” and ran to the bathroom. I ran behind her, helped her strip out of her jammies, and put her on the potty.... at the same time that I realized her diaper was DRY after sleeping 7pm-6:15am, she unleashed the longest pee ever into the toilet! She was SO proud of herself and I just sat there staring at her, stunned. Paul brought up her milk cup and I handed him the diaper and said, “You’re never going to believe this!” He felt the dry diaper, heard her (still) peeing, and was just as stunned as me!

She climbed down off the potty and proceeded to go to our room and climb in our bed (even though it is super high off the ground, she has somehow learned this week to get on top of our bed). She asked for her milk cup and a Barney show and acted like nothing was unusual at all about her activities. No cheering, no rewards, nothing-- just acted like everything was business as usual!

So far today she has peed full pees into the potty and had ZERO accidents. I am so glad it is the weekend so we can help her get super good at this...not that she needs much help! I am just so stunned at how easy she has made it. I guess the old saying, “They’ll do it when they’re ready” really has value!

2 Years and 4 Months Old!

(The picture above is for Emily’s “Not My Birthday” party...we made a red-velvet cake which she then proclaimed belonged to Sawyer....but he was not at our house so she had to blow out the candles for him!)

It’s time for the monthly update, even though I swear I just wrote the last one! The last month has gone by so quickly, and even if I say that every month, but I feel it’s especially true this month.

Emily continues to grow and amaze us every day. She has figured out new words and phrases and is becoming quite the girly girl. She is calling herself, “Big Sister”. It melts my heart! I have struggled a bit with this pregnancy and feeling like this is something I am doing “to” her....making her share our love and attention and it has been hard. I am slowly coming around and feeling lucky for the fact that we have another healthy pregnancy and trying to enjoy these days. Even if most of them are a blur of playing with her and trying not to drop dead from exhaustion! :)

In other news, she is hilarious. I mean seriously hilarious. She told Jamey the other day “Be PATIENT, Miss Jamey!” when Jamey wanted to know why she wasn’t napping. She wants to bake cookies with me every weekend. She loves to use my makeup brushes and put on makeup and look “boo-a-full, like Aunt Mary” (Paul’s aunt. She is eating this up!) She also loves dress up clothes A LOT. Like piling on every single item in the tub loves them. I have to get her some more- it is so precious to see her try on the items and then say, “OOOOOh how pretty!” Modesty is not her thing. :)

She is becoming more and more enthusiastic about the potty but still asks for diapers. She was so bent on wearing Big Girl Panties the other morning that she wore them OVER her pants to Miss Jamey’s house. It’s funny- we hardly batted an eye...that is definitely within her character.

She asks about the “Good Girl Bed” about once a week now. It looks like she will maybe get the GGB the last week of March? My students are on Spring Break and I just have Teacher Workdays so I can be a little tired on those days. I am praying, PRAYING for an easy transition but who knows. We’ve gotta do it sometime, I guess!

I’ll update more soon....super tired tonight! Thanks for checking in on our sweet girl.

Big News!

Emily, Paul, and Allison are excited to let you know that Emily is going to be a big sister! :) Expect BabyFerg to arrive sometime around the end of September.

Good things happen when you least expect it!!

Funny Girl!

Emily has gotten to be so funny lately- she says and does the funniest things! Here are some amusing comments/ actions from our sweet girl:

-The other day she wanted me to do bubbles with her. I kept saying no (I wanted her to eat her breakfast) and she said, “Mommy, see that door? Go to door. Open door. Get out bubbles. Come on Mommy, hold my hand..... get bubbles!” She was cracking me up!

-She has begun putting her toys in Time Out. The other day Barney had to go in TO for hitting her. Yesterday Baby Bop had to go in TO because she knocked over Emmy’s milk cup. She moved Baby Bop and said, “NO MA’AM, Baby Bop, we don’t knocky down milk. That is NOT SAFE. You sit down, don’t get up. You are in TIME OUT!!!” I have no idea where she picks up these phrases... :)

-She makes us coffee all the time with her tea pot, but here lately she does not want to share it with us....she tells us, “No no- it’s EMMY’S coffee- not for Mommy/ Daddy. It’s HOT- only for Emmy!”

-She takes photos of people we know and turns them around and says, “Where did ____ go? Oh no!” and will keep saying this until you repeat it. Then she will turn the picture back around, show it to you, and say, “Oh there’s _____”.

There are plenty more funny things- I will have to keep brainstorming. She has been hilarious lately!

2 Years and 3 Months Old!

It’s time for the monthly update again! Emily continues to grow and change and amaze us every day. She is incredibly smart....I know I am biased because I am her mom but I have also worked with a lot of kids her age and older and believe you me....our girl is s-m-a-r-t!! :)

Here are some fun things happening with her right now:

-She is coming up with lots of new things to say. She tells us about her day and playing with DD (Miss Jamey’s son). She talks about gymnastics class (“at anastics, wait your turn!”). She tells us about rules when we break them (“We don’t throw!”) She is also continuing to be a major repeater...her newest expression is “Be right back”. It is so cute to hear what she thinks up!

-She seems to have some number conservation but only to 1 or 2, 3 at the most. What this means is she is starting to understand that 1 apple means 1 single apple....2 apples means there are 2, etc. It seems so basic but it is really an advanced, difficult concept. In fact, my first graders have trouble with conservation of number, although we are working on 1-99 instead of just beginning to look at the idea. Emmy is able to count items correctly to 2 or 3 and usually it gets jumbled sometime after that. :)

-On a not so pleasant note, she is hitting and being sassy A LOT right now. It is driving us crazy!! Where did our sweet girl go? She goes from loving and kind to clawing your face and yelling, “NO MA’AM....I DON’T WANT IT!” in the blink of an eye. It’s really a wonderful time, haha! I am trying to steer clear of the “Terrible Twos” label because I HATE labeling kids and phases....but maybe we should call this the “Trying Toddler” stage!

-She is very, very active and very, very brave. This is not a terrific combination! She is all too happy to open outside doors for herself (and walk outside!!) or to run in the street the first chance she gets. Luckily, our doors have deadbolts that are a little out of her grasp, and our street is a cul-de-sac so there’s no traffic. When we’re out in public I carry her everywhere until we get to a cart or the stroller so there’s no risk there. It is wild the things she can do and she always looks at me like I’M the crazy one when I am trying to stop her!

-She is doing a lot of pretend play now. I think this might be my new favorite activity! She loooooves dress up and tea parties and makes us all kinds of foods and drinks in her kitchen. She absolutely adores the tea pot that our friend Audra sent her for Christmas and makes us “Emmy’s coffee” all the time now. What is even cuter is that she will put on dress up clothes now and say, “Ooooh look at me....I soooo pretty!” She is so modest.

-She may, MAY have recognized a word tonight at Walmart- she looked over the deli area to where they cook the rotisserie chickens and there was a huge sign that read, “HOT CHICKEN”. She stared at the sign forever and then looked at me and said, “It’s HOT, Mommy! HOT!” I almost dropped dead on the spot. Who knows if she really connected what she saw but how else could she have known it was hot over there?

-She is a singing machine. Seriously! She loves to sing every song but her two new favorite are from Barbara Milne (look her up on Youtube). She loves, “Do You Know These Letter Sounds?” and “I Love You So Much”. It is adorable to hear her sweet voice singing so nicely. She has also expanded on the first song a little bit and will sing, “Barney Barney, B, B, B” and “Emmy, Emmy, Eh, Eh, Eh”. I am amazed at what she knows!


That’s all the news on our little lady this month. Thanks for checking on her and be sure to look at all the new pictures!

Visit with the M Family!

Today my friend Laurie, her husband Matthew, and their little boy Nicholas came to visit us. Laurie and I “met” over 2 years ago (really, almost 3 years ago) on an Internet chat site for people who were trying to conceive a pregnancy. She and I and 8 other ladies branched off from that group and made a private Yahoo group....now, 88,000 emails later (that is the true number!!) we are still chatting every day. All of us have at least one 2 year old (Jess has 2 year old twins) and some of us have gone on to add Baby Number 2 to the mix. We are closer, even though some of us have not met, than I am to a lot of my friends whom I see every day.

Anyway, Laurie, Matthew and Nicholas came to spend some time with us and we had a great time! The kids played so well together and were so funny! We enjoyed hanging out and watching them interact. Then we packed it up and headed to get some yummy pizza for lunch. After lunch we were infringing on naptime so they headed back home and so did we. We are hoping in the spring to meet up at the Zoo and hang out again!

Thanks a ton to Matthew for driving your precious family up to see us. I’m glad we got to spend some time together, friends!

2 Years and 2 Months Old/ Christmas 2009

The time has snuck up on me AGAIN and it is time for the monthly update. We have been so busy with the holiday season and there is much to tell.

- First, Emily continues to become smarter, funnier, sillier, and more imaginative with each passing day. She is venturing into the world of Pretend Play now, and will host tea parties for her toys and wear dress-up clothes. It is adorable! When we ask her what she is doing she’ll say, “Minnie is hungry” or something like that. It’s so cute to watch her feed her toys and tell them things like “take bites!” (which is what I tell her all the time so she won’t stuff food in her mouth), “time to wash hands”, “is it good?”, etc. This is bound to get only more fun as time passes.

-Emily climbed out of her crib on the Sunday before Christmas. I was downstairs and heard a big thud from upstairs and immediately knew (mother’s instinct?) what had happened. I went upstairs and started to open her door, only to have Emily open it from the other side. She was shaken up but not hurt. HOWEVER, she felt very guilty about it and told me over and over, “I jump outta bed....that’s not safe!” It was scary and funny all at the same time. She has not even attempted to climb out again so hopefully that was the last of it. I don’t think she is ready for a big girl bed quite yet.

-She mimics everything we say. Everything! She told Paul the other night to “go get milk- be right back!”. She told Barney to “sit right there- don’t move”. She is also trying her hand at personal pronouns right now and THAT is truly entertaining. She will ask us to “popcorn me”, “drink me”, “chicken nuggets me”, “sit up here me”, etc. etc. Sometimes she will even add a “you” to the end of the command, like this morning when she said, “Mommy, cereals me you!” It is so funny!

-She has begun to understand a bribe- hallelujah!!! We can get her to take additional bites of dinner, drink medicine, etc. with the promise of something else afterward. It is so handy! We aren’t going to over-do it but it is nice to know that we can get her to eat more and things like that. It has taken forever to get her to understand If...Then statements (like, “If you eat another bite of peas, Then you may have one sweet tart.”)

-We experienced a scary afternoon on Monday before Christmas. I had packed the car for our trip to WV and was ready to go as soon as Emily woke from nap and Paul made it home. Well, when she woke up from nap Emily had a fever of 103.3! I rushed her to the pediatrician where she was diagnosed with an ear infection. I felt so guilty before she had told me earlier, “Mommy, ear is hurting!” but I kind of shrugged it off. She loves the antibiotics they prescribed (they are bubblegum flavored) so it has not been any trouble to treat it. Poor girl!

-Because of the ear infection we had to change our plans for Christmas. Instead of driving to Parkersburg before Christmas to spend time with my family, we stayed in NC until Christmas Eve, when we drove to Princeton. We celebrated Emily’s third Christmas there and then my family drove down to Princeton on Saturday to celebrate with us. Thank YOU! to Paul’s Grandma Frances for letting us use your house all day- we really appreciated having the space. My family had a wonderful time with Emily and she enjoyed their company. They bought her a dress-up old pageant dress and she simply loved it! She kept twirling around saying, “I so pretty!” It was hilarious!

-Emily’s favorite Christmas gift was probably the 5 foot tall Mickey mouse that we got from Sam’s club. He is huge, obviously, but she can’t get enough of him. She looooooves Big Mickey, as he is called in our house! He is so big she can’t move him herself so she needs all kinds help to move him from room to room.

That’s our update for this month. I will TRY to update more often but it is hard to find the time. When I go back to school next week it is 2 weeks of testing and then the end of the quarter, which is always a crazy busy time. I will surely enjoy spending time with my sweet girl though! Hope you had a Merry Christmas and you will have a happy, healthy 2010.