Potty training...

Over the end of our Christmas break, we decided to potty train Hayden. Of course, we are not ones to go into things slowly (clearly) so naturally, we opted for Potty Training Boot Camp! Diapers to big girl underwear instantly. No weaning, no warning.

I had no idea a child could pee so much. Thank God for hardwood floors because we spent the better part of two days cleaning up Flathead Lake-sized puddles from the house. The challenge was intensified by the fact that Lucy wanted to play in the new puddles. Weeeeeee..... the race was on to clean it up before she got to it.

By the third day, she was doing very well at going pee on the potty and we would make a huge deal about it "Oh Hayden!! Good job!! We are SO proud of you!! You are SO smart!!" I have also discovered that I am not above bribing my children to do things I want them to do. "If you go on the potty, I will give you M&M's/stickers/chocolate milk/ice cream/a Porsche when you turn 16." *sigh* The problem with this was that as soon as the bribe du jour left my mouth she'd say "Momma, I done."

But really...it was about two weeks total until she was going through every day without an accident at all. We really were VERY proud of her, though we still use a Pull-Up at night until she wakes up dry on a more consistent basis.

The praising did backfire a bit. She thought it was fun for both of us to go potty together. She'd use her little potty and I'd use the big one. She learned to praise me as well. Fine and dandy until we were in a public restroom and this little person is next to me in a loud and enthusiastic voice saying "Oh Momma! You go pee in the potty! GOOD JOB, Momma. You so smart...."

I tried to ignore the giggles.

Even more catching up to do: Lucy

This little girl has changed SO much in the last several months. She went from crawling to walking and now runs at warp-baby speed all over the place. She is talking and talking and talking and has quite the sense of humor.

Vocabulary to date:

Momma
Dada
Juice! ("ghoosh")
Cheese ("ghoosh")
Milk ("ghoosh" - but to be fair, I think all drinks are "ghoosh")
'tside  (outside)
Down
Puppah (puppy...though everything with 4 legs is a puppah right now)
BITE!
MINE!
Jmp (jump)
'ssat? (what's that?)
Cack-AH (cracker)
No
Hi!
Bye-bye!
Eh-mo (Elmo...and she almost sings it when she says it Ehhh-moo)
Shoes (which also sounds a bit like "ghoosh")

Lucy has a personality that shines like no other. She is happy and spirited and full of life, even at such a young age. She screams and screeches like a little banshee at all times when chasing or being chased by Hayden or anyone else. She stomps her little feet like mad when she is excited about something or someone. She does NOT like it when you remove a source of happiness from her - do not take her ice cream cup away or her toy.

She tries to put her shoes on and clips in her hair - she knows where they go but the motor skills aren't quite there yet. I think she's a brilliant child. There are so many differences between her & Hayden at the same ages - Lucy surprises me with how vocal she is because Hayden didn't want to say a word until she was about 18-19 months.

A little catching up to do: Hayden

She's truly a character. A quick run down of the latest and greatest since I have been incredibly TERRIBLE about keeping up on this blog and I know that I will kick myself sometime down the road:

"CHOOdooooIN'? " is Hayden-speak for "What are you doing?" and is said about 15 times a day. When I'm cooking, cleaning, on the computer, changing Lucy, or doing virtually anything, I can count on Miss Hayden to show up and ask me "CHOOdoooooIN'?"

She has become quite the fan of Dora the Explorer and has also become bilingual in the process. While attempting to move Olive (our friend's black lab) the other day, she exclaimed "Help me! AYUDAME!" Say whut? Go girl. Next stop...Miami!

ABC's are done quite well now and she knows most of her letters by sight. Counting is coming along although she seems to prefer odd numbers? 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, "leben", 12...

Favorite songs are: Elmo, Dora, Row Row, Spider (as in Itsy Bitsy), Sunshine (You Are My), "AB" (Alphabet Song), Twinkle, and of course, Jingle Bells?! We sing all of them every single night before bed. She must choose the order though because if you sing it wrong, she won't like it. 

Running through the house and in circles is a favorite past-time of this toddler. "MOMMA! Let's run! Come on!" Down the hall, through the bedrooms, around the kitchen, around the kitchen again, one more time for good measure, through the living room annnnddddd....repeat! It's a great workout. Lucy follows as fast as she can behind.

Hayden LOVES her little sister - they play and run and scream and hit. ♥ What more could I ask for? Hayden will give Lucy big sister hugs and say "I yuv you, Nu-nu". ♥

Hey baby, wake up....

Hayden is a bear in the morning but I have made the most wonderful discovery. I let Lucy wake her up. For some reason, Lucy will crawl her squealing self into Hayden's room, pull up on the bed and start whacking Hayden in the back and pulling her hair. For reasons I can't begin to fathom, Hayden doesn't mind this. I could wake her with chocolate and kisses and she'd be a banshee! But Lucy beats her senseless and she wakes up giggling and saying "Awwww, hi Nu-Nu!!!!" and smiling.

*sigh*

Lu thinks it's the greatest thing ever.

Snow...

We awoke this morning to a fresh dusting of snow on the ground. I noticed this when I made Lu her bottle at 6:00am. Fast forward as we leave for daycare...Miss Hayden is caring an armload of stuffed animals that she simply cannot leave the house without. I open the door to the deck and she carefully steps over the threshold and stops dead in her tracks. The animals fall to the ground as her little eyes scan the yard. She says, rather loudly and emphatically, "WHAT?! HAPPENED?!" Each word was slow and deliberate. I told her "It snowed". She looked around and said "Eet's snow. Eet's chilly. Eet's dirties." She picked up one of her stuffed animals and tentatively crunched across the deck mumbling about the snow.

"You are my sunshine...."

"my only sunshine,
you make me happeeeeeeee,
when skies are great...."

~Hayden (yet again) 

Hayden is my fair-weathered daughter. I only make her happy when skies are "great" and Daddy is home. It's going to make for a sad winter here in Northwest Montana where skies are gray for a long, long, long time. I am hopeful that Lucy will keep me company since Hayden will have other plans. Unless, as she sings, the skies are great.

The ABC's according to Hayden.

To the tune of the Alphabet song, of course!

"A
B
C
D
E
F
Geeeeee
H
I
K
K
Elmo
Peeeeeee
Teee
Veeee
Ick
Y
Zeeee
Now I know my A,B,C's, H, I, K, K sing with meeeeeeeeeee" 

Lucy doesn't sing along but she sure does smile a lot when her sister serenades her!