Growing up

Ryan hit that all-important milestone a week or so ago of being able to pull himself up to standing. He is so proud of himself, but gets so frustrated when he can only get half-way to standing. His favorite place in the whole house is still the bathroom, so any chance he gets he'll crawl to the bathroom, and if he's quick enough before I notice he's in there he'll try pulling himself up on Annie's potty. Gross. If the potty is hidden he goes for the next best thing: the stool the girls use to wash their hands. This is an acceptable alternative, but apparently he's not satisfied with just standing holding on to it because every time he's up on the stool he gets so frustrated that he can't climb all the way up on top of the stool. I'm guessing we will soon have a climber on our hands to rival Annie's death-defying lack of caution. 

 

Rachel decided to start decorating for Christmas with her mega blocks. Then made the other shelves into bunk beds. One of their favorite activities. 

Probably the most impressive/exciting development lately is Annie's sudden potty training. Back in August or September she had a whole week where I didn't change a poopy diaper because she would tell me every time before she went, so she could use her potty. Then again in October the same thing happened, only it lasted two weeks that time. Of course that made me think she might actually be ready for potty training, but I wasn't ready. I think I started a little early with Rachel, which dragged out the process longer than I think it would have lasted if I had waited. I think she was potty trained by about 22 months. So I planned on waiting with Annie a while longer. But I kept thinking maybe this is the window where it would be really easy since she's interested, so on a whim last Sunday night I decided I'd do a potty training trial for one day, then when it didn't work out I would feel justified in waiting until after Christmas to try again. 

So we had a potty party Monday morning, even inviting over the cousins to join in the fun. Annie had a couple of accidents (both while wearing underwear) and a success or two that morning. Then after nap time she went bottom-less for the rest of the day and had no accidents the rest of the day. I didn't even have to remind her to try. She would just come find me and yell, "Yay! I did it! Get a tweat!" She loves her potty treats. :) The rest of the week she had maybe 2 accidents a day, mostly only if she was wearing shorts or panties. If she was commando she was almost 100% accident-free. This week she's even been able to wear loose pants and remember to go with a minimum of accidents. I think yesterday was completely accident-free for her and she was fully clothed the whole day. So much for waiting until after Christmas. I'm sure Annie's love of all things Rachel helped make this easier. Now she gets to be a big girl just like Rachel. 

Next step, throwing away the binky. I am not looking forward to that one. But maybe it'll be a pleasant surprise, like potty training was.