Potty Training Successes

Some of the most beautiful words to a mother of a toddler's ears are:

• I love you
• Night-night (means we're going to bed without a fight!)
• Please & Thank you
• Help you Mama?!
• Need go potty Mama! <-- the most recent addition!

We have been using pull ups and a potty seat for quite some time now, however Aylin's interest in using the potty at home has been very minimal. I tried not to push it, because I felt like it needed to be something she came to me with, or if she was asked if she needed to go and replied NO! I didn't want to force it. I didn't want it to become a frusting thing for her. Aparently that was a good plan! Off and on she has been trying during the day at school, but still didn't want to go at home. I would ask, and her immediate reaction was NO! The past week or so (I just noticed this yesterday from a potty chart at the school) she has been going more regularly on the potty at school. When I went to pick her up the teacher mentioned that she had done really well all day and that her pull ups had been dry all day. So after nap time they decided to try her in a pair of real panties and see how she did. She stayed dry ALL afternoon! So she came home in panties, and 4 more times at home she used the potty!!! I was so excited! She would quite randomly just start pulling on her skirt and then say "Need go potty Mama!" So we'd rush to the bathroom and she'd sit and go! She was so proud of herself. It was truly awesome. I couldn't be happier for my little bug who'se growing up!

Daddy's big boots

She loves 'em.

Cutest. Kid. Evar.

Srsly.

A couple of recent videos of the kiddo…

Just a-swingin'!

I hung a swing in the old oak tree in the front yard this afternoon. The weather was perfect when the girls got home, so Aylin got to swing for quite some time while her mom cooked dinner. Looks like a winner to me.

Paci Free Day #1

Today we went without a pacifier all day excluding naps and bedtime. Thankfully, with only relatively minor meltdowns it was a success. The most difficult times were in the car, since our drive is around 50 minutes. She gets bored, so she'd ask for her paci. I would tell her it was at home in her bed. She'd cry, maybe throw a bit of a fit. But was easily distracted by books. Let's hope the rest of the week goes as smoothly, and by the weekend we won't be so dependant. *fingers crossed*

Language is exploding at our house!

The good kind, that is. The other kind… well, I'm working on it. :)

Aylin has crossed some kind of threshold in the last day or two, and wants to be talking all the time. She's kind of like a broken record, but we tend to learn by repetition, so that's not really a big deal. She'll latch onto a phrase for a little bit — "I don't need it [shakes head]," for instance — and repeat it over and over again, looking for confirmation that she does not, indeed, need whatever it is.

She's mostly internalized the please-and-thank-you routine. The other night we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. We were walking through the parking lot, Aylin holding my hand on the way to the door, when one of her Crocs came off her heel a little bit. Kristina said, "Aylin, your shoe's coming off; let me help you." Aylin stopped; Teena fixed her shoe, and Aylin immediately said, "Thank you, Mommy!" And off we go again.

It's fascinating, humbling, fun and inspiring, all at once. These are some of the best things about being a parent: Watching your child grow and learn, becoming a little person.