Heat rant

Sorry to be negative, but if we have one more stinking day of 90+ degree heat, I think I am going to go certifiably inSANE. It's forecast through Saturday. Boo hoo.

I want to ride my tricycle, I want to ride my trike...

H got a tricycle over the weekend and is very pleased with this new development. We're just generally pushing her around for now, but she's enjoys it tremendously. Here are some pics of her riding around and some from the past week or so.





Dad pretends to be asleep, which makes Helen want to jump all over him. Wake up daddy! Wake up!!

We took her to stone mountain this morning, which was almost a deal breaker. The long, 25-minute ride there was almost too much for H to bear to be parted from her beloved tricycle. She enjoyed saying "HI!" to lots of walkers, joggers and bikers passing by.

Too big for diapers - warning, possible UMI (don't read if squeamish about bodily functions)

I bought 2 new books for Helen at amazon a couple weeks ago. I was mainly looking for a book on how to transition from the crib to a big girl bed and I found one I liked called "big enough for a bed", so I bought it's companion "too big for diapers" since it also got great reviews. Both books feature sesame street characters making it through these big milestones with minimal blah blah blah.

The "too big for diapers" book was an instant hit (although my intention was to hit her over the head with the bed transitioning book - want that crib GONE so we can move in her mounds of stuffed animals, legos, push toys and more out of our living room). Never before has H let me read a book through, cover to cover, pausing on each page to digest the info, over and over and over. Clearly, baby Ernie's transition from diapers to potty hit a big chord.

Fast forward one week later. We're transitioning H to her "2's" classroom from the "Todds" classroom, and she gets to routinely sit on the potty while she spends time there. On Friday - she went pee twice!

So today (Saturday), we went to the super target near us to do our grocery shopping and included a new potty on the list. We thought it might be a good idea to let her pick which potty she wanted, so presented her with a really cute, green potty shaped like frog and a boring bright red potty by Baby Bjorn that cost twice as much. Of course, she picked the bright red one (I double checked with her) and I went home wondering if this thing was a waste of money since it will be probably months before we ever use it. Plus, what kind of kid wouldn't want a potty shaped like a frog? Seriously. Who IS this kid?

Fast forward 15 minutes after we get home. H has went #1 on the potty. Fast forward 2 hours later and H has went #1 (again) AND #2 on the potty and is positively giddy with her accomplishments. Several rounds of high 5s from dad and mom ensued.

I just have to say, that I think this would have never transpired in such a way had it not been for the vast Vast VAST quantities of diapers I bought at costco a week ago and the thousands of diapers I have left to use in her room. Not that she's going to be potty-trained in a week by any means (I'm in no rush, mainly due to thoughts of navigating gas station or park restrooms at 15 minute intervals anytime we leave the nest), but pull ups, as I've learned in the past 8 hours, are really seriously REALLY the way to go during potty training (if she goes potty, you just pull them right back up over her butt - brilliant!).

Ok, so, sorry, for those who are squemish about bodily functions and UMIs (unnecessary mental images). I just think rearing a kid is so funny and unpredictable sometimes, especially those times that make you so proud! ;-)

(I figured a picture of H and her new potty might be a bit over the limit here, although believe me, I was tempted!)

Junk Food Junkie

We stopped at a gas station mini-mart over the long weekend to fuel up the car and ourselves a bit, and Helen very much got into the spirit (I think here, she's saying "gum-mi's" as the camera clicks- she loves gummy bears, unfortunately...)
Junk food re-group. We only ended up purchasing a snack mix that left her face and fingers bright orange (no pics, sorry).
Can you hear the music in the background? ("...but at night I'm a junk food junkie, good lord have pity on me..." [Larry Groce])? :-) Very apropos given the youtube link I just sent dad and Cath not too long ago! ;-)