Potty and Papa

A couple of weeks ago I got freaked out because I heard that if you're baby is showing interest in using the potty, and you don't channel that interest into hardcore potty training, you've lost your "window of opportunity" until they're like twelve years old (or something like that). So, since Rory's been using her potty (all on her own terms) for the last few months, I determined that we'd better take it from a novel play experience to a nonnegotiable fact of life right away.

After a tiny bit of research, I decided to try a three day potty crash course, which we approached with a healthy dose of skepticism. It basically entailed staying home for basically three full days, with Rory running around nudi-buns. I'd offer her the potty every fifteen minutes or so, and if she went, she got a joyous potty song and dance and some cereal-piece "incentives." If she pee-peed on the floor, we were supposed to act morose and express sadly, "Pee pee goes in the potty, not on the floor."

We were cautiously optimistic after day one, when she maybe had 7-8 accidents and lots of success. But day two was a nightmare (she had to poop that day, which always results in drama of some sort). I thought maybe we would give up, but we persevered through day three, when she surprised us by only having one accident all day! We celebrated by going undies shopping (we played up how exciting undies were), and she didn't have any potty "issues" on her first diaper-free outing! Ever since then, she's been great! We have the occasional slip up, usually when she's engrossed in some other activity and doesn't want to leave it. We still remind her to go, but she can handle her undies on her own. We're not even close, however, to being nighttime potty trained; that girl sleeps so soundly that I don't think she even has a clue that she needs to pee. We'll get there one day; we're happy with diaper-free days for now!

We celebrated Flag Day with a red, white, and blue finger foods picnic! We ate air pop popcorn, blue corn chips and salsa, hard boiled eggs, berries, and little peperoni-jack cheese skewers. And strawberry slushies to drink! And cherry-vanilla ice cream

Blake tried to convince Bash to eat a raspberry, but he was much more intrigued by the chips.

Fake smile

This boy LOVES to bounce!

So much so that he's been known to fall asleep in his bouncer :)

We made a fort and all slept in it Saturday night when Blake ended up not having to work. We also watched a crazy Thai martial arts movie that was surprisingly entertaining. And had big bowls of leftover patriotic ice cream.

Rory loves playing with Kale'a! And I just love Rory's stripey birthday dress (thanks Danijela)!

Bash looked like a little blond German baby on Father's Day.

Maybe we should call him "Spike" instead of "Bash."

Cooling off with pool time.

Bash LOVES the water!

Sweetie boy

Aurora, the diaper-free cutie!

Nana and Baba decided she should experience the ice cream truck. I commented that she was wearing a white shirt, and was ignored.

Birthday Festivities and a Wedding too!

I just love birthdays. And I've found that celebrating my kids' day is even more fun than my own! We stayed pretty low key with Rory's b-day this year: we had her little baby friends over for a (loosely) themed kitty cat party, which was really just a glorified play date/excuse for the mamas to hang out, and a family and close friend Mexican dinner that night.

It seemed silly to put a lot of effort into a party for a bunch of two-ish babies, but I made kitty cat rice krispie treats (less messy than cupcakes, I figured, and gluten free), and played some videos on youtube of cats doing silly things. That was the extent of the structured activity, except for the book exchange we did instead of presents for Rory. The videos were quite the hit, and the kids all played really well the rest of the time.

My baby girl looks so pretty in navy! We were at a friend's wedding in this picture.

Blake got a new hammock, and the kids love to lay in it with him.

We decorated Rory's door while she slept the night before her b-day. When she woke up, she did a huge double take. She kept making grand gestures and going, "Oh! Oh! Happy buhday!" It was a huge hit, and it took her five minutes until she's leave her room.

We got her a little tent so she'd have her own special space. She always wants Bash in it with her anyway.

Eating her special birthday breakfast.

Bash just goes along with things.

Our party favors were kitty plates from Michael's (a dollar each) and a bag of "kitty chow", cereal and craisins.

Aurora finds balloons very impressive.

Well, they did the trick.

I was concerned that the decor was too kitty-lite, so Blake helped me whip out some cats from paper plates. They're kind of creepy.

Little amiable boy had fun celebrating his sister

Rory and her friend Kale'a shared the piano very well.

 

Sweet Hannah was committed to entertaining/stepping on Bash

Sam and her beautiful girls!

Making noise...and why not? No toy went untouched that morning...

I'd be concerned if someone brought me a flaming rice krispie treat too.

Watching the kitty videos.

Classic: Audrey generously sharing Trinity's puffs while poor T. hunts desperately for her snack container on the ground.

I love this one of Rory and Kale'a- shake it, babies!

The mamas helped their babies with the book exchange.

Bubbles were a huge hit too.

Oh, those pigtails!

Surprisingly, there were very few tears!

Bash discovered balloons.

Hannah was understandably concerned by a kitty cat plate.

Ready for the next adventure of the day!

Blowing kisses with her cute birdie bow

A surprise visit to Grandpa at work!

"Starting up" her new car!

I made an amazing fried ice cream cake to go along with the enchilada dinner. Despite the picture, she really did love it.

Rory and her poor little sidekick

He's such a good sport

Rory was sooo grumpy the day of Blake's cousin's wedding, but Blake got her to smile a little.

Slashing at her salad with a knife

My darling!

Silly little two year old!

And Just Like That, Rory's Turning Two

The days are long but the years are short. How true that is! Tomorrow our little Ninja (remember her?) is turning two! Nothing could have prepared us for the epic adventure called parenthood; it's been unbelievably rewarding, frustrating, exhilarating, and refining. Both Blake and I firmly believe that God is using our roles as Papa and Mama to painstakingly break us down and build us up again to be more like Him. This is all the more obvious as our oldest continues to grow; babies are hard, two year olds are harder. Yes, when you're two, your world is full of extremes. One moment you're skipping through a field of rainbows and kitty cats (when mom acquiesces to your plea for a snack), and the next you're throwing yourself into the abyss of doom and despair (when Papa won't give you a bite of his quesadilla). How is a parent to handle the unsteady emotions and complete lack of self control of a toddler? Shake it off. Toughen up. Pray to God. Give lots of hugs. And spankings when needed. Expect the toy you spent hours making her to underwhelm. And the shoebox it was wrapped in to captivate. Appreciate that for all the work you're putting into raising up this child, God is doing more to raise up you. So happy birthday, my darling girl. And thank you for all you do for us.