More Potty Talk

Since my last update we haven't had any more incidents.  She has successfully used the potty several times.  And just as often she has sat there for awhile and given up, only to fill her diaper moments later.  She usually tells us when she wants to sit on the potty, sometimes it is our idea.  It's a long wait before anything happens, but it happens.

We are still just trying to introduce her to the idea, so I would call this a success.


Only 2 more days to vote for my picture!

The Potty

Lina has been talking about going potty a lot lately. Mostly it’s just a fun new word to say, but we figured we might as well start practicing. Tuesday after work Lina and I went to the store and picked out her very own princess potty. We made sure to pick a multi-functioning potty so that it would grow with her. Right now, it’s just a little potty with a lid that makes music when she goes. After dinner she said that she wanted to try out the potty. She sat there for awhile reading a couple books. Then she started playing with the lid, open, close, open, close, sit down, stand up, sit down… you get the idea. And then she went potty, right on top of the lid. Into the bath she went while Mason cleaned up the chair.


Take two. Last night she tried again, this time I wouldn’t let her off the seat except to grab a new stuffed animal. Eventually, she went. Apparently she wasn’t sure what was going on because she stuck her hand in before I even knew she was going. Into the bath she and her little wet hands went.

Cross your fingers for Day 3.


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Photo Contest

I recently entered a photo contest and I'm actually doing well in the contest.  Especially considering I was a late entry.  Since you can vote everyday, I have some catching up to do.

 Please follow this LINK and vote for my picture every day.  I only have until the 29th to get into the top 25.

Thanks!

Shopping With Lina

I went shopping at Kohls the last week during my lunch break for a shirt or two. In my rush to get in and out quickly I may have purchased a shirt because it was such a good deal and not so much that it was a great top. After work Lina and I went to return the $6 top and when they gave me cash back I told her she could pick out a $6 toy or book. We debated a Barbie, a small stuffed animal and Mr. Potato Head. In the end, the Mr. Potato Head box was the most fun to carry.


As we headed to checkout I remembered that she had $30 from her birthday in my purse. So we headed back to the toy department to look at some of the bigger toys she had been admiring. She went straight to the Little People Fairy Tree House and handed Mr. Potato Head to me so that she could play with the Tree House. Since it was priced at $44, we headed to the scanner to see what the sale price would be. It ended up being $31. I had already offered to pay the tax, so I agreed to spot her the extra dollar as well.

She was so excited about it and ready to play with it that she insisted on carrying it. The only problem was that the box was about the same size as Lina. She finally let me carry it as long as the opening faced her and she could play with it while we walked, very slowly, to the registers. The poor girl had to wait until we got home and had dinner before she could actually play with it. And that is exactly what she did the rest of the evening.

Take 2,465

Hello again. I know it’s been a long time since I have stopped by. Things have been a bit busy around here lately. We all managed to be sick for every single holiday, first with the never ending cold and then with a nice round of bronchitis. I tried to blog everything that was going on, but nothing I wrote went anywhere. There was a beginning and a middle, but no end in sight. The highlight of these last few months has been watching Lina’s talents multiply.


She has never had a shortage of words, but she has refused to use them to communicate. One day I can ask her if she wants chicken or apple for her next bite, and she will respond “chikn” or “appa.” The very next day she will refuse to use those same words and instead point and whine until I figure out what she wants. “No” and “thank you” were the only words she used consistently and in context. In the last couple of days she has really amped up her communication. “More” while holding her cup or standing at the fridge has replaced throwing herself at the fridge in the middle of a temper tantrum. Holding her plate and saying “All done?” has replaced picking up her food and dropping it on the floor. The puppies are sad about this one. She even has a 3 word sentence that she uses when she talks to her new cousin, “Hi sweet baby.” It sounds more like “Hi swee bebe” but it totally counts.

I think it helps that she spends so much time with Miss O, who is now 3. She has learned so much from her. Miss O always says “Hi sweet baby” to her little sister and Lina did not hesitate to repeat her. Miss O has also taught her about the great world of gymnastics. Most of the time gymnastics consists of jumping on the tiny trampoline, climbing over the arm rest of the chair, and landing face first into the chair cushions. Sometimes they walk along the balance beam (which is really a strip of masking tape on the floor), do handstands and forward rolls. Lina’s handstands tend to look more like the downward dog yoga position. Recently she has started putting her head on the floor as well. Two weekends ago she lifted her hands off the floor, so only her head and feet were touching. After I cheered for her efforts she decided that while her hands were lifted from the floor, she would go ahead and clap for herself.

This handstand quickly evolved into an attempted forward roll after watching Miss O. Her first couple attempts went towards the side and became diagonal rolls. After just a few diagonal rolls she rolled forward. She actually did a real forward roll without anyone coaching her. Needless to say I was quite impressed and couldn’t wait to get home to tell her Daddy.

Lina’s jumps on the trampoline have gotten higher and more like a jump instead of a gallop. But her newest trick, she is quite proud of. She places her arms over the safety bar and lifts up her feet straight out in front of her so she is dangling by her arm pits. Sometimes she swings, sometimes she just hangs there. When she gets tired or when she feels like it, she allows herself to fall and plop down on the trampoline. Then she’ll hop up and do it all over again.

She is definitely ready for Gymnastics class.

Best Friends

Lina loves Miss O so much that she will drop everything when Miss O arrives. Since my sister is still on her maternity leave, Miss O wasn’t at Mimi’s house Monday morning. Lina still had fun trying to steal my work computer if I got up and playing with whatever toy she wanted. But in the afternoon during a impromptu wrestling match, one which I was losing, Miss O walked in the front door. Lina climbed off of me as quick as she possibly could and ran towards Miss O. Miss O ran in as well with her arms open wide and they both stopped just short of giving each other giant hugs.


It was clear that she missed spending the day with Miss O. It was clear that no matter how much fun she was having with me, nothing can compare to playing with her best friend.

Halloween

While this is technically Lina’s second Halloween, it feels like her first in many ways. This year I got to see how much she enjoyed wearing her costume when she asked to put it on and then danced away once she was wearing it.



Thanks to my sister for this cute picture.



She also had enough hair this year for me to make a fun head piece to go with her costume.

Please ignore the flash glare, it was dark when I took this shot.

I made it from three zippers and some peacock feathers. I didn’t take any step by step pictures, but I got the idea from here.  I would also recommend being armed with some fray check once you cut the zippers.



This is also the first year she got to go trick or treating. She was very good about carrying her bag around and putting the treats inside. She thought running from house to house was so fun that she would erupt into giggles. And when she got tired, she was having too much fun to whine about it. She simply asked to be held, climbed in the stroller with her new cousin or went to the Monster Wagon. Lina and Miss O would giggle and squeal as Mason pulled them and the wagon along. At least until we got to the next house when they would climb down and run to the door.





Miss O was so good about waiting to ring the door bell until Lina caught up with her. She was also very clever when someone asked her for a trick. She simply replied “The trick is, you give me a piece of candy.”

Happy Halloween!