The case of the cursed jammies

Since Kaitlyn was born 2 years and 10 months ago, and since Brianna was born 1 year and 3 months ago, we have only had one stomach flu incident. It was Kaitlyn, before Brianna had arrived. It happened in the middle of the night, and it was quite messy. She was wearing yellow jammies with an elephant on them. Out of all the bazillion pairs of jammies Kaitlyn has been through, those are the ones she was wearing. The very same ones Brianna was wearing last night. And officially made it 2 for 2 as far as the stomach flu/yellow jammies correlation. Are they cursed?

Speaking of puke (yah this blog is all about gross bodily functions...sorry, that's your reality when you have a 1 year old and a 2 year old)...Kaitlyn informed us yesterday that her puker (AKA Computer) is "dangerous". Don't ask me why.

And finally, it's Christmas Eve Day! (I just wrapped the presents last night BTW). I am quite excited to see the girls faces in the morning. Our plans have been messed with this year due to a blizzard as well as my mom being sick and now Brianna having the stomach flu. But we will make the best out of our little family Christmas spent holed up in our warm comfy house. Merry Christmas all!!!

The continuing poop saga

Kaitlyn has been doing a great job - at daycare. But not so much at home. Until last night!

It was a busy night, because we had the day care Christmas party. Santa comes to visit with all the kids, presents are handed out, dinner is eaten. Finally we headed home (as both girls were quickly becoming cranky) and started bath time right away. After her bath before we even got out of the bathroom, Kaitlyn said "I gotta go poooooty". I thought "sure you do" but of course put her on the toilet anyhow. Before I knew it, she was going #2. BE STILL MY HEART!!! I was so dang excited that my eyes started watering and Kaitlyn said "mommy are you crying?" I was like "No honey I'm SO HAPPY!!!". And she gave me her big proud Kaitlyn smile.

Three cheers for poop!

Enlightening conversaton with a 2 (almost 3) year old

Kaitlyn: Mommy I gotta poooop
Mommy: Ok, then go
Kaitlyn: Not like daycare I pooped in my diaper
Mommy: No, we don't wanna poop in our pants, only on the toilet like a big girl
Kaitlyn: At day care I went in my paaaants. It was on my shirt, it was icky.
Mommy: I remember that, it was a couple of months ago. You had a big mess didn't you?
Kaitlyn: Yeaaa....it was on my pants. It was on my tummy, it was on my elbows....
Mommy: *Rubs eyes because they are watering trying so hard not to laugh*
Kaitlyn: Mommy are your eyes scratchy?!
Mommy: Yes they are itchy.
Kaitlyn: *Reaching to her behind* My butt is scratchy. We're scratchy together!
Mommy: You're itchy, too?
Kaitlyn: Yah, I need a doctow (doctor) because my butt is scratchy.
Mommy: I dont think the doctor can do anything about your itching honey.
Kaitlyn: Awwww why not?
Mommy: Honey it really is time to go to bed...

and on for a couple more minutes.

This was a very intense, serious conversation that took place while Kaitlyn was, of course, sitting on the toilet.

Flattering mommy & couch monster

Last night, I was in the bathroom with Kaitlyn (trying to get her to go #2 on the potty, which is something we spend a lot of time on these days). All of a sudden, completely out of nowhere, she says to me "mom, I love your teeth". Awww, my girl sure does know how to make a mom feel special.

Brianna isn't complimenting my teeth quite yet. Instead, her newest thing is getting up on the couch by herself. I think that it gives her a feeling of accomplishment to finally be making it up on her own. Once she makes it, she smiles big and laughs at us from her new, higher viewpoint of the world. And surprisingly, she gets down all by herself really well.

Speaking of Brianna, she just got up from her nap. Later!

Does anybody know what time it is?

It's POTTY TIME!

Lately it is almost like my whole life revolves around that contraption we call a toilet. We are trying everything in us, being as encouraging as we can possibly be, to get Kaitlyn potty trained. The biggest obstacle is of course, #2. However I am proud to report that in the last 7 days, Kaitlyn has successfully went #2 on the toilet 3 times. It may not seem like a lot, but it is a record for her. I am feeling confident that we are finally on the final path to diaper freedom. (Well, diaper freedom with Kaitlyn anyways. Unfortunately I don't think it would work for Brianna quite yet! )

So keep your fingers, toes, hair, arms, legs, and anything else you can, crossed that this will finally be it!!!

Waiting for the alligator

Brianna had her 15 month check up last night, and it went good, other than the fit she threw so that Andy couldn't hear half of what the doctor said, and the fact that more and more, it looks like she *might* end up having asthma. (Still no way to know for sure until she is a bit older). Ok so maybe it wasn't the best appointment. But she is great developmentally, height and weight, etc. I am very happy for that!

When we were there, at one point waiting for the elevator, Kaitlyn's said something to the effect of "We're going on the alligator!". Eh...alligator, elevator. Same thing.

Bentleyville: We got to you! We got to you!

I had a couple hours of PTO at the end of the day today, so I had to live up to a promise I made. I told Kaitlyn if she went #2 on the potty, we could have a date night with mom or dad and go to Bentleyville and see Santa. Well, she did her number 2 yesterday at daycare, and well I had to go. But did it have to be so cold and windy! Enjoy this video. A few pics are below, click to view larger. A must do if you live in or visit the Duluth area.




Bentleyville Tour of Lights Duluth, MN

Looking to give away: Laugh and Learn Kitchen

Word around the street is that Santa just might be bringing our girls a big, very nice, big girl play kitchen for Christmas, as long as they can stay on the nice list from now until Christmas Eve. We have a perfect place to put the kitchen, but we will no longer have space or use for our Fisher Price Laugh and Learn 2-in-1 Learning Kitchen.

So comes a special offer! We're looking for somebody who wants it, needs it, who's child will put it to good use. No price, we just want it off of our hands. If nobody we know "IRL" wants it, we will probably put it up on Freecycle.

If you want to give our Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Kitchen a new home, let us know.

A potty post

So the "Potty Training" chapter of Kaitlyn's life has been a long one. It has been a roller coaster, with several peaks and several valleys. All of last week was another peak, as she kept dry pretty much the whole time. Even through the weekend she did a great job. However we have been trying to get her to go poop on the potty for a long time. She has done it, a handful of times, but nothing consistent. We have tried everything! We talk about how exciting it is. We talk about, show her and let her try her big girl underwear. We tell her she can go pick out even more brand new big girl underwear, whatever kind she likes. We bribe with things like candy, stickers, popsicles, special trips (for example, a "date" to Bentleyville with the parent of her choice). One day she pooped in her big girl underwear right after having been on the toilet and saying she didn't need to poop, so daddy put a few choice toys away and we told her she would get them back when she pooped on the potty. NONE of this worked for a long time. She is just a stubborn little girl. She knows, and she knows we know she knows, what it feels like to "have to go".

So today when I walked in to daycare just a minute after she FINALLY pooped in the toilet for the first time in a long time, I made a huge deal of it. I was like proud mommy + 10 cups of coffee and a few Red Bulls. I exclaimed over and over how proud I was and what a great job she did, etc. She seemed very happy and made sure to tell everyone who would listen "I went poop on the potty!!! HEY EVERYONE, I went poopie on the potty!!" We arrived home and the first thing she told dad was "I went poop on the potty!". We walked into the house and the first thing she had to do was get her toys back (the ones we had put away earlier). The second thing she did was ask for a popsicle. Then we put in one of her favorite DVD's, which is "Curious George goes to the Zoo and other adventures" (which was one of the things that had been put away). We had a good supper, and then the lucky girl even got a bubble bath all to herself without sister. If all of that isn't positive reinforcement enough for her to continue on a path to diaper freedom, I don't know what is?!?

Anyhow, I hope Kaitlyn starts doing this consistently now. I would be so proud, and save money on diapers too. Maybe I could finally afford to visit the Melon House with that extra money.

Anybody want a melon for Christmas?

The plan was to go shopping today (though it never ended up happening. But that's okay, we went shopping yesterday and got everything we *needed*. Today would have been kind of extra. So while we were eating lunch, I explained to Kaitlyn that she needed to take a good nap so we could go shopping after. I asked her what store would she like to go shopping at? First, she said "I dont know" (a favorite answer for everything lately). I asked again, and she said "The Melon House!" I thought I must have misunderstood, so I asked her to say it again. She clearly said "Melon House".

"Melon House?!" I asked, trying not to laugh too hard. "Yeeeaah" she said with a silly smile.

Unfortunately we never did make it out shopping, let alone to the Melon House. Whatever that is. But if I ever find out, and if anybody needs a Melon, let me know.

An exciting lunch

Today, I made the girls turkey sandwiches and chicken noodle soup for lunch. Both of them ate really good. Even Kaitlyn (who normally gets the plate with less food on it, and Brianna gets the plate with more).

When they were finished, I gave them a graham cracker. Brianna was munching away on hers. Andy and I were talking. Suddenly, during a pause in our conversation, we hear a light snore. Look at Brianna, and she is totally passed out in her high chair. Just a minute before she had been gnawing on her cracker. Andy tried to get a pic but she woke up when he moved to get the camera. So he then took her upstairs for a nap. Somewhere a little more comfortable than a high chair! Kaitlyn did that once before too, only she was much younger. Young enough that she was eating baby food from a jar and not "real" food.

So yah, anyways, that was our mega-exciting lunchtime. So exciting, that Brianna obviously couldn't contain herself!

Santa Claus is comin to town

A beautiful moment between Kaitlyn and Santa...



And now the REAL scene. Note Brianna's face...


Kudos to Bentleyville's Santa though. He is one great jolly ol' fellow.