Big Girl

She's so funny and chatty these days.

Norway

Norway, you're in our hearts. We are so horrified by the news. After watching BBC, NRK and Twitter all day at my desk yesterday and hearing more this morning and Pete and I talking about it all day, I think I am at capacity. We struggled to brush Lucia's teeth tonight and I thought, the parents of those teenagers and young adults did this too. They did it all and now their kids are gone. So senseless. It makes my heart hurt. 

Happy Birthday Pete AKA Daddy AKA Pappa

We celebrated Pete's birthday with dinner at Adesso last night. So tasty. Lucia is enjoying speck here, but also really liked pork belly. 

Happy Birthday Pete! We couldn't love you more.

Wheres my seat?

Lucia shows with obvious disapproval that her seat is missing from what is otherwise an accurate representation of mom's car.

Heather's version of the story: We bought this car as a potty training reward in a multi pack; because she's been sick and stir crazy and wanting to watch TV all the livelong day (GAH), we broke out the package in desperation. We showed it to her and said, look it's Cia's bil! (Lucia's car). She carefully inspected it through the miniature windows and asked: "Where's my car seat?" So clever of her. She didn't notice that the steering wheel is on the wrong side, but I did. Guess it's from the UK.

Another haircut

After Lucia was sick this week, her hair devolved into huge dreadlocks. After a long soak with ridiculously overpriced conditioner, she still bawled when I tried to comb it through. That's it, I decided. I took off less than an inch, and her hair sprang right back up and is less tangly. Hopefully it'll make bathtime = fun time again.

Not Sure How He Does It

Sleeping in Lucia's room to keep an eye on her

You may not know this, but Pete has been freelancing for a start up company since February. The project has grown increasingly busy and currently I'd say he's working about 40 hours a week. But here's the kicker: our daycare was closed this week and with you-know-who being so sick, he's had to confine his work hours to when she's sleeping and wait for it -- after dinner until 1 a.m. We are hopeful the light is at the end of the tunnel; the products are hopefully moving into production phase sooner than later. But after staying home with super clingy/whiny Lucia all day yesterday and trying to work from home, I can tell you with certainty that it's exhausting and crazy-making. And he does it pretty much everyday, and then works another 4-5 hours solid every night. Insane. I really don't know how he does it. He's part robot. His endurance he surely gets from his mom, who, as you know is a power-house when it comes to pushing through. Remember when she was helping us unpack? She just kept going, running only on chocolate and coffee. It was astonishing.

Saturdays and Sundays we alternate who gets to sleep in. Today was my morning to sleep, and I was surprised to see him crashed out when I got up (Lucia was entertained by Barney on TV). Poor guy. :(

Croup

No offense Lucia, but I've never seen you look worse. Croup is not nice.

Big Pappa

Big Pappa had an eventful week that has resulted in two shiny new stents in his arteries, and likely a new perspective on life. We are so thankful he's OK and hope the next few weeks of recovery and readjustment go swimmingly. We love you so much Big Pappa!! 

Ready for daycare!

Looking dapper in her dress from Ninny and Farfar.

Potty Training --3 day recap

I'm not sure I've ever been more excited to go back to work. Potty training, and specifically staying indoors all the livelong day all three days (which had gorgeous weather) was tough, y'all. Tedious and I'm a person who likes to jam-pack the weekend with activities, so staying home and literally watching movies and having tea parties and watching more movies and more Barney and more Yo Gabba Gabba just got so repetitive. Gah. 

For the actual training, day 1 of course, was the toughest. She peed her pants a few times and hilariously/strangely held her bladder for 3+ hours, then finally announced at 9:15 p.m. that she had to go potty. Hooray! She peed, and we cheered and cheered as if she had won a gold medal. She beamed with pride. It was a pretty adorable moment. She was extra helpful and moved her pee into the big potty, then washed her hands and was so happy to pick out her two stickers for the chart. Prior to that, I was super discouraged thinking she'd never get the hang of this. 

Sunday was better; as you see in the picture above, she peed three times but pooped her pants twice. Each time I was fortunate (ha) to be on duty, so I had her put it in the potty to show her that's where it goes. I reminded her that pooping in her pants is yucky. Pete had a different strategy: he told her that if she does that it makes us sad. I stuck with the yucky argument. 

She stayed dry two of the three nights; and dry for today's nap only. After pooping her pants earlier this morning and me explaining again that poop goes in the potty, a few hours later, she announced she had to go to the potty, and whaddya know, there was poop. We again really amped up the cheering and told her how proud of her we were, and how she was such a big girl because she put her poop in the potty just like Mommy and Daddy. You know the drill. She was ELATED. 

We think she might have the hang of this. We're not expecting a flawless week, but man, we're so thrilled with how far we've come in less than 72 hours. We used the 3 day potty training method, in case I haven't mentioned it. It focuses on being extremely positive and letting the child decide when it's time to go. Good stuff. Thumbs up. 

Potty Training Progress

We've had four pees in the potty and zero poops. We've been watching a lot of movies and TV this weekend. I'm completely going stir crazy, but am so proud of my girl for making progress. She's beamed every time she's peed in the potty. So exciting! 

Last Night in Diapers

Tonight I whispered to Lucia that tomorrow was a big day -- she'd not be wearing diapers after tomorrow. She's a big girl now. She nodded in agreement. I'd be lying if I said these milestones didn't feel a teeny bit bittersweet. She's growing up. Sigh.

Test driving