Potty Training 101

I had been planning since Brynn's 2nd birthday to start the potty training process this summer.
My plan of attack was to just stay home as much as possible
and let her run around naked, moving the potty from room to room with us.
Her prize would be a sticker to decorate the potty and a few chocolate covered raisins.
I figured that summer would be the best time since we didn't have any vacation plans
and I wouldn't have to worry about running Logan back and forth to school.
Well, our washer broke, as you might remember.
At the beginning of summer.
Plans were thwarted.
BUT
Floors are now dunzo!
And potty training has begun!

Notice her strategically placed sticker for one success.

Things went very slow.
She'd have 3 accidents to every success.
I was feeling discouraged.
"Did I start this too early? Is she really ready? How will I know for sure?"
So many questions.

A week and a half later.
We are getting there.
Today was a major milestone!
She pooped AND peed without me even having to ask!
To make the day even better,
Logan ran upstairs to me this afternoon and said she'd pooped again!
She had even taken it to the big potty, dumped it out and flushed!!
All By Herself!!
Today has given me renewed confidence that she IS ready.
She CAN do this.
Who knows, maybe she'll be fully trained by the time school starts back in a week.
Plus, it's pretty darn cute seeing this bare butt running around the house all day.
*although dads not too thrilled with it*

And not one accident has happened on our
glorious new floors that I'll post about soon.
Promise.

My Daily Monlogue

Having Brynn toddle along behind me all day

makes for some very interesting conversation.

Really!

It's riveting!

I'll give you an example:

Me: Brynn are you hungry?

Her: A ewe hungy?

Me: Brynn, where's your cup?

Her: Wheres cup?

Me: MAN! It's so hot outside!

Her: Soo Hot Mom!

Me: You're hot too?

Her: Hot too?

Me: Brynn! Why are you soaking wet?

Her: soakin wet.

Me: Did you play in the potty?

Her: Play potty?

Me: BRYNN! Why is there poop all over your bed!!??

Her: POOP BED!!

Me: Did you poop in your bed?

Her: Poop bed?

Me: Yep, I think so.

Her: Yep, tink so.

These are just snipets of stimulating conversations that happen 24/7 around here.

Like a conversation with yourself all day long.

Maybe one day she'll actually start answering questions but,

for right now, it's pretty darn funny and I'm ok with that.

Her: Ok wit dat.

This Is The

Heaven Help Me

Now That You're 2...What Can You Do?

Talk like nobody's business. You repeat the last word or two of everything I say!

"Brynn, you're supposed to poop on the potty!"

"Poooop on Potttty"

Recognize letters and either start saying, "A, B, C..." or "wettters"

Same with numbers. You count to 5 if I say it along with you but at 6 you always say 7!

Recognize and can name animals, as well as, the sounds they make.

LOVE being outside. If the door is left ajar you are out in a flash!

Running at lightning speed saying FAST as you go.

Greet everyone you meet with a HI and a grin.

Love storytime and talk about it every morning.

Sing:

I Wub Ewe

Happy Burday toooo CAKE

Itsy Spiiiiiider

Remember places we pass when we're driving in the car.

Ex: Everytime we pass the bank with the water fountain that turns to ice in the winter you say

ICE! MOMMY ICE!!

Fun Facts:

We say, "Be Sweet!"

You...tilt head to rest on your shoulder and give sheepish grin.

You have a super awesome fake laugh!

The Mema Walk. Nuff said.

Milk is a necessity in the morning. You chug it like you're an old sailor at the end of a hard day.

You & Logan are oh so fond of each other and play well together (for the most part). To send him off to school in the morning you wave, say baaayyaaa & blow kisses. Then you yell BOBO!

And tear up.

Oh, you've got the *sad face* down pat. I've never seen a lip so far out and eyes so pitiful before in my life! Me & your dad try to avert your attention and then secretly laugh to ourselves. It's so darn cute and I'm pretty sure you know it.

You love to wear

Our shoes. Your puuuse. Necklaces.

Anything girly.

Barney, Kai-Lan, Yo Gabba Gabba & The Wiggles are your faves.

I ask how old you are and you say

I 2! And hold up your 2 pointer fingers.

Your the Best Baby Girl I could ever ask for!

Being 2 suits you.

Brynn's 2 Sweet Candy Shop

I wanted to take a minute to discuss what kind of party planning actually

went on behind the scenes of this 2nd birthday party.

The theme was pretty easy.

One of my favorite sites for party ideas is Design Dazzle.

I was stuck between the Milk & Cookies party and the Candy Bar.

Once I googled the candy bar party and saw all the magnificient things that

could be done my theme was decided.

Her Mema got her an adorable outfit to wear that had a 2 on the shirt and a cupcake skirt.

I took photos of her and the lollipop and preceded to design her invites in photoshop.

I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out!

On to the Candy Bar!!

Most of the glass jars were flower vases I had or were borrowed. All except for the round ones with the lids. They were half off at Hobby Lobby! Love that store.

These little treasures below are called Cake Pops

& were inspired by the oh so talented Bakerella.
Nana is the baker in the family and created these as well as the Birthday Cake below.

My Giant Lollipops!
These were soooo easy and so stinkin cute! I got 2 big dowel rods, cellaphane and ribbon.

The pool noodles were donated by Mimi & Poppy. See, no one thinks to sell pool noodles in the middle of February! Boggles my mind. Hot glue pool noodles into a circle. This is no easy task and must be done with 2 people. One to glue and one to hold noodle in place. Let it dry for a few minutes and ram the rod through the middle. Wrap with cellaphane.

Tie with a ribbon and voila! Giant Lollipops!

My next project was the Lollipop Topiary. Now for some reason I have a lot of different size styrofoam balls, ribbon and a lot of small/medium wood dowels laying around. So I used 2 of the balls, 2 of the dowels, got 2 silver buckets from the dollar store and some lollipops.

Put square styrofoam in the bottom of the bucket and fill with marbles or rocks. Whatever you have to weight it down. Stick the lollipops in the styrofoam balls. Insert the dowel into the foam in bucket and hot glue it together. For extra support. Insert ball into other end of dowel and hot glue it at the base of the ball. Put tulle in base to hide rocks and tie with ribbon.

Lollipop Topiary

Candy Shop Labels

Now these jars would been cute just plain with the candy showing but, let's go one step further. I made up some labels. Printed them out and cut with scrapbook scissors. Used some of my extra ribbon from the topiary's to put around the jars. They looked OK but, something was missing. I had some old scrapbook stickers (you see, at one time I intended to scrapbook...then I found BLOGGING!) I think these were Martha Stewart. I added them to the sides of the labels. NOW it looks finished! It's all about the details people.

The Banner
Scrapbook paper cut into triangles. Unfinished wood letters from Hobby Lobby. Half-Off! Seriously people, Hobby Lobby has phenomenal sales! Paint letters and glue onto paper. Let dry and hot glue ribbon.

TWO SWEET BANNER. Easy-peasy

Chalkboards

AGAIN, Half-off unfinished wood chalk boards from HL. Hot glued excess ribbon I had from Giant Lollipops and add a few pieces of candy from crafts I already had. I used these for a HAPPY BIRTHDAY sign & for The Candy Store menu.

Last but not least...PARTY FAVORS & GUEST BOOK!!

I kinda felt a little bad about all the sweets. Just a little. So I got the 3 pack of toothbrushes from the Dollar Tree and the swirl lollipops from my work (I get 40% off!) Tie with a ribbon and add a little tag. DONE
Logan didn't know what to get Brynn so I suggested the Dr. Seuss Happy Birthday To You book. We sat it by the favors and had everyone sign it. I made a little picture to go with it so people would know to sign it. Can you see the shout out to my favorite musician in the writing;)?

All in all I think the party was a success! Lots of people commented on the decor. Yes, it was time consuming but, the crafts were not hard! Honestly, I think the more stuff you can do yourself, the more meaningful & in-expensive it will be! I had a blast doing it and I think she had a blast being the star of the show.

I Should Have Known

I Should Have Known

When you were playing quietly for 5 minutes.

I Should Have Known

When you came to me saying "hurt" and pointing to your diaper.

And after further inspection finding a rice krispie in there!

I Should Have Known

When you then immediately wanted down

And continued playing quietly for 5 to 10 minutes!

I Should Have Known

You were up to no good!

But I was so relieved to have those few quiet moments to check my emails.

And how could I stay mad at this face anyway!?

My Darling Daughter...

CAN FINALLY WEAR PIGTAILS!!!!

And immediately take them out!

Ohhh boy, we're gonna have some battles over this.

What can I say!? I was the same way.

Here are the kids.

In their Spook-Tacular costumes.

With side-by-side comparisons.

mine are totally cuter

Better late than never right!?

A Hidden Treasure

Lately, after Big Brother is dropped off at school, B and I have been venturing around town. You know, finding the beauty around us and all. Well I'd passed this far off fountain thing that looked to be in the middle of a pond, from what I could tell, a few times now. There was also a newly constructed building nearby. I could never figure out how to get to it and what it actually was.

Well yesterday on our way home I found what could be the entrance. We made our way there this morn and as I got closer to the area I could feel the excitement creeping in. Like a hidden little treasure in the middle of town. My own Secret Garden per se. There was bustle all around the area, but the walkway itself was completely isolated. I wasn't sure if it was actually open or not yet but I saw no Do Not Enter signs sooo fair game right!?

I got B out and loaded the stroller. Rounded the first corner and saw The Beauty All Around Us! Beautiful walkways, lined with lamp posts, a huge pond with a sprinkling fountain, bridges and trees and hills galore!! It was a photographers dream and I forgot my stinkin memory card. We walk the length of it and back. Saw a crane in the middle of a huge field. I wanted to startle him with our presence so he'd spread his massive wings and B could ohhhh and ahhhh at his grace. He wasn't budging no matter how much I rustled the grass. However, on our walk back, the pond was FULL of ducks...mallards, solid white ones and ugle chicken/turkey looking ducks. Twenty or so beautiful ducks for B's viewing pleasure.

The path is on a hill and is a little far from the actual pond. I knew B would be thrilled to see the ducks just a little closer. I take her out and walk about 5 steps towards the pond. We silently watch the 20 ducks float towards the other side with the ugly chicken/turkey ducks smack in the middle of the line. They spot me. They emerge from the water and are coming straight towards us. "Ohhh look at the pretty ducks B," I say. Ohhh they're coming faster. I stumble backwards. This doesn't look good. Either they're gonna Wing Attack us or they want food, which I don't have.

By this time, all the other 17 ducks have noticed they're (apparent) leaders have retreated from the pond and are quickly following suit. Twenty ducks. Coming towards us. Eithere hungry or lookin for a fight. No one is around. No one will hear me scream! I manage to scramble to the top of the hill. Don't bother putting B back in her seat and scurry away as fast (but calmly as not to startle them) as I can! As I'm scurring I turn back to see if any are hot on our tail. They have slowed and a few are furiously flapping as if to say, "GetOwwnOuttaHeea!"

Ohhh I will! For now. But we'll be back ducks.

You can BetYerBottomDolla on that! This is My Secret Garden!

We'll Be Back.

An Incident with the Pavement

Today B's nose met the pavement. She climbed up the back steps and as I go over to help her down I see her bouncing (as if counting 1...2...3!) and she attempts to JUMP down. There was only minor crying but man did those little scrapes bleed! She's a pretty tough cookie. Welcome to toddlerhood Miss Brynn.

Updated to show scabbing effects

Style

Leggings: Check
Tunics: Check
Shirt Dress: Check
Jeans: Check
Uggs: Check
Pink Converse:Check

Lil Sista is well on her way to being winter ready.

Now we gotta work on Big Brutha!

Thank You Mema for getting her started!

Brynn, you are NOW a toddler!

So Whatcha up to these days??

You will dance to almost any & every song you hear! And girl you've got some rhythm! None of this white-man shuffle thing. You've got full on shoulder, hip, twist and SHOUT action.

You love airplanes! Anytime one flies overhead you yell and point, say HI and then BYE and blow them kisses. It really is fascinating to watch you.
You are FAST!! Why just the other day in Barnes & Noble you almost had a fit over an Elmo doll. When I finally snuck it away from you (the thing was $15 for a small plush toy for pete's sake) and walked to the front of the store you did the arms up back arch move to slide out of my arms and took off full speed to the back of the store to retrieve your Elmo.
I had to SPRINT to catch you!
Elmo & Eebee are your favorite charcters although you're not really into tv.

You have many serious-face moments.

You can almost see the wheels turning trying to figure out this crazy world we live in.
Me Too Girl!

Your hair has gotten much lighter over the summer and I see some ringlets forming back there. All I really wanted (aside from health & happiness of course) was for you to have good hair and I think it's beautiful! Your eyes are a warm caramel color that reminds me of a favorite cappacuino and your skin is olive.

A perfect combination.

There is nothing you won't try. Especially if you see Big Brutha doing it first. Jumping on beds, couches & cushions is a big hit with you. Speaking of Logan, he adores you and you him. Watching the 2 of you interact is usually the best part of my day. People at the parks are amazed at how well you can do and go and climb for yourself.

I think the elder sibling has helped with this sense of adventure.

You can find your

Eyes, hair, ears & nose

Belly, hands, fingers & toes

You have mastered climbing UP the steps and are well on your way to sliding yourself

(on your belly) back DOWN the steps.

Your vacbulary is expanding daily.

Family:

Mama, Dada & Bobo (logan)

Mimi & Poppy

Nana, Pop, HayHay,Cway & Minny (Clay & Vinny respectably)

Kiki, ZaK, TayTay, Addy

Animals:

Cat, Dawg hose, frog, duck, coooow, efant

Manners:

Peez (please)

DaDu (thank you)

Random: Hungy, by-by, HI, hewoow (hello), hug, A Dun (all done), Dumpy (jumpy) & baby

Just to name a few.

You make animal noises too.

You have a mouth full of teeth. The last 2 sets you needed were your upper and lower incisors. Welp, I noticed the top ones breaking through just today.
Finicky, Toddler-like eating is creeping in and

I'm battling with all my might to keep you a Good, I'll try whatever, kind of eater.

Your Hugs & Kisses are plentiful! All day, every day.

And let's not forget the Hi-Fa's (high fives) & the blowing of kisses...even to strangers.

Well, I don't actually think you've EVER met a stranger.
You love to slide and...

Love to swing but...

The thing you love most right now is ME!

Keep on Growing baby

And never stop Experiencing

Cause I'll always be one step behind
Learning right along with you.

A Day in Your Life

There are some days that, after talking with Logan about his day, he turns to me and says, "So what'd you do?" Hmmmmm, I often ask MYSELF that at the end of the day. So since what I do pretty much revolves around what SHE does...Here's a few things WE do:

Dishes.

Get Dressed.

Eat.

Take on new challenges.

Love on Babies.

Snack.

Learn something new.

Rest.

Mix in some laundry doing, floor cleaning,

food making, homework helping, counter cleaning, studying,

organizing plus any extra activities that Big Brutha participates in and there you have it.