iPhone Randoms

As much as I love the camera on my iPhone, this may become a regular post!

We celebrated my birthday on Tuesday afternoon with our friends Natalie, little Michael and sweet baby Caroline at Gigi's cupcakes. It was yummy- I tried Pistachio this time.

Abby is obsessed with Caroline and sang to her when she started fussing. Sweet girls!

This morning we went to the park to play. We ran to Starbuck's for tea, packed our breakfast and were o n the swings before 8:30. I wanted to do it early before it got warm, but then I freaked myself out that someone could steal us easily, so we left by 9. I like a busy park over a dead one.

Girlfriend looks awful here- post bath and orange popsicle. The point is that she can curl her tongue just like her Daddy. That is genetics which makes IVF parents happily reassured!

Monday we got a haircut and had lunch at Chick-fil-A. After we ate, Abby got to play for a few minutes and she did the big girl slide for the first time with me. Apparently she has done it for months for Marcus. I don't have a clue what that is about!

Summer has begun- we had BBQ chicken and grilled corn on the cob for dinner this week. That is my favorite summer meal. Watermelon would have made it perfection!

 She might kill me for this- Abby took a magazine from the guest bedroom to the potty one day during nap time. She told me, "I like to read when I poop". Oh boy!

Sunday after church we treated ourselves to a nice lunch- Cheesecake Factory. We shared appetizers and then all shared Strawberry Shortcake, my favorite dessert there. Abby discovered the whipped cream before I had my fingers on my spoon!

Finally, Sunday Marcus and I served in the 2 year old room at church. We found the gymboree bubbles and the bubble wand. Life changing! So great. We bought one an hour later!

Hope you are having a good week too!

Meet Dorothy

For many months we've been talking about getting Abby a fish for her room. The deal was that she could have a fish in her room when her dresser didn't need a changing pad, which meant she was fully potty trained. After sleeping without a diaper for the past 2 weeks and not having more than a handful of accidents, Saturday was the big day!

We even had a special shirt for the special day! The pet store employee was perfect for us and knew what a big deal it was. He asked us a few basic questions and then let Abby really make the decisions. She picked purple gravel for the base, a coral display for the bowl, and selected a round bowl instead of the bowl that is flat on two sides.

We named our fish Dorothy after the goldfish in Elmo's World. She likes to check on her by sitting on the dresser. I had to verify first thing this morning that Dorothy was sleeping. She wasn't moving.... but I now have been told what a dead fish will look like :)

I'm so proud of Abby tackling potty training without much trouble at all! I am amazed this stage of our life has passed. Go Abby!

... And We're Back!

Saturday night after the aquarium and swimming we went to a local restaurant in CC called Brewster Street. It was recommended by our friend Cliff and Diane. It had a variety of food, a big playground in the back, and was near our hotel. Abby was tired after another day without a nap, so we hid the playground from her! She didn't eat much and we let her watch Mickey Mouse videos on the phone while we ate.

This wasn't exactly a low carb weekend :)

We were back at the hotel by 8 PM and put Abby to bed early! We rose Sunday morning about 7:00 and were done in the restaurant for breakfast before 8. Abby was so excited to have Fruit Loops that she had discovered the previous day. She ate fruit, cereal and milk for breakfast.

We left the hotel before 9 and started home! We ended up stopping in San Marcos for lunch at Centerpoint Station- yummy! Their grilled cheese sandwiches are huge and on sweet homemade bread. Divine! While waiting on our food, I did a little shopping. I didn't end up buying this sign, but I do love it! I want to use that phrase in some other way- it is just beautiful!

After lunch we had a bad parenting moment...

Abby hasn't had an accident in weeks, but we put her in pull ups for the car ride. We still stopped and had her potty, but I didn't want a wet car seat or stinky car for the trip if she were to have an accident. When we got to lunch she went potty, but we didn't think about having her go after lunch before we left. We had been on the food for 5 minutes when she said she had to potty. Marcus and I were tired and ready to be home. We questioned her certain she didn't need to go already and just wanted out of the car. She insisted so we told her to just go in her pull up- it was okay. She kept saying no, telling us she had to go and started crying. We felt awful so we pulled into the next gas station and she went!

Because of that incident I felt pretty sure she is set that we don't pee pee unless we are on a potty. So, on Wednesday night, we slept without a diaper for the first time. She had a small accident early Thursday morning and didn't even wake us up! Last night, she slept without a diaper again and this morning she woke up dry! I think someone is about to get her fish for her room! Exciting!

Sno Cones!

Thursday night we ate dinner a little early so we could drive over to the best sno cone place in our area- Kawaii in Round Rock. Abby had never had a sno cone, but we convinced her they are better that popsicles! I let her pick her color- she wanted blue. So, we ordered her blue bubble gum. I had Tiger's Blood (which was not like it normally tastes) and Marcus had margarita.

When we were almost there we realized we had jumped up and left the house without even thinking about a diaper bag! Yea for a potty trained girl! She hasn't had an accident in weeks and goes on her own without prompting most of the time. We were a little scared since they don't have a restroom at Kawaii :)

We had so much fun- I look forward to more sno cones this summer!

Camp Nana

I don't think Abby Lu has missed us at all this week and we are so grateful for that! My Mom has spent the week with her and they've done fun things, but also kept Abby on her schedule! Our friends emailed us this picture from storytime Saturday morning. Little did they know it was Abby's first time outside of the house in p*nties!

We've talked to her 2-3 times per day and gotten daily reports! She has been a rock star on the potty, slept like she should, and had a few extra days out of school to play and shop with Nana. She tells us "have fun" and "see you Sunday" and has not once cried or complained about us being gone!

A huge thank you to Nana for taking such great care of Abby so that we could have a relaxing and wonderful vacation without worrying about her.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

This one is going on her wedding slideshow! ha!

We went #1 and #2 on the potty the other night, so we got to wear our Foofa pants until bedtime. Abby was so excited and wanted to look at her pants the whole time. She kept repeating for me- "no pee pee on Foofa". Love it!

Big Steps in Potty Training

Consider yourself warned....

Multiple times last week Abby had success on the potty at school. So, on Friday morning while at Target I went looking for her diaper replacement (I don't want to say the "p-word" and end up with weirdos Googling me) and found these. They make them in 2T for Foofa fans! So cute! We bought our first sets- Foofa and Hello Kitty.

My timing could not have been better since Abby kept her diaper dry all day at school on Friday (22.5 months old). She went on the potty 4 times. I am just amazed that she is learning all of this so early and so easily with little prompting from us.

We bought pull ups and are using them some during the day to help her learn the concept and will likely do a potty training boot camp and stay home without diapers one weekend soon. Diapers really are convenient so I move into this next phase with some selfish hesitation, but I am also so excited and proud of Abby's maturity.

Warning: Post about Poo :)

Do you see the proud look on this girl's face? It is because she used the potty 3 times this weekend! I know, at 19.5 months!

We have had the Boon Potty Training bench since before Abby was born. With the lid shut, it makes a seat for an adult during bath time. Lately, Abby has shown interest in the potty. She signs it for us, correctly answers when we ask if she went potty, and signs potty when we are changing her diaper. So, the past week after bath time, we've had her sit on her potty and read her favorite books. We gave her a piece of TP to "pat pat" afterward and made no big deal about it.

Friday night, she went pee. We were so excited- gave her hugs, high fives and lots of verbal affirmation. The kid loves to get a YEA out of us! Saturday morning, we had her sit on the potty and read books for about 10 minutes. I sat in there with her and listened to her babble. I asked her if she went potty and she said yes. So, we stood up to look at it and she had gone poo. I can't accurately describe the look on her face, but she was mortified and confused by the poo in the potty. It was hilarious! She sat back down and didn't want me to see it. I kept affirming her and went to have Marcus do the same, but she was either grossed out or thought she had done something wrong. It was really funny!

Marcus took her to story time at Barnes and Noble this weekend and we bought her a potty related book so we can start discussing it more. Her school said they will be ready when we are and thinks she will do it early. I never imagined it would all happen so quickly- she was just a newborn!

18 Month Well Check

Abby had her 18 month well check this morning and she is still a healthy little girl. I don't take a single healthy doctor's appointment for granted. I know what an easily missed blessing that can be. Our last well check was 3 months ago and we have really grown a lot since then!

At 15 months:

Weight- 24.5 pounds (70%)
Height- 31 cm (60%)
Head- 95%

At 18 months:
Weight- 27.4 pounds (80%)

Height- 32.5 cm (75%)

Head- 49.75 cm (off the chart)

She grew proportionally which is great. They don't become concerned about weight until age 2, but we discussed lowering her milk each day from 24 to 18 ounces. She eats so well with food that her large quantity of milk would be the only fat she is getting.

(Stop now if you don't like potty talk!)

We also started the potty training discussion.I don't want to push her. I personally think diapers are very convenient and not nearly as expensive as I had imagined (Target generic are our favorite!). But, Abby signs potty, says "poo poo" and "pee pee", pulls at her diaper when it is dirty, squats when she goes, and has no qualms about sitting on her potty which has been in her bathroom for months. Those are all signs of readiness. I think she'll potty train in the next 6 months and we'll just slowly introduce elements of the potty to her. I'll keep you posted!