I'm a Big Kid Now

Although we've had a very tough month with potty training, I have managed to catch some cute moments on camera. This picture is of the three of them enjoying Fla-Vor-Ice one evening back in the diaper days before I had to cut off liquids two hours before bedtime. I went inside to grab something and came back out to find that they had all lined up their chairs and were sitting shoulder to shoulder as they talked and giggled.

The kids' pretend play and imagination has been taken to the next level this summer. Every once in a while the kids get into a groove where they are super focused as they play house together. They are very active as they run around the house collecting specific toys or food items that they think of at the moment (i.e. phone, keys, cupcake, baby doll bottle, etc.) and they are (gasp!) very sweet to one another. They share and trade their toys and use their sweet voices as they play. They fight constantly so it is such a joy to see them get along so well. And Payson would literally bring over every toy in the house if I didn't stop him!

The girls are obsessed with their baby dolls who are always "sleeping," "eating" or "in timeout" as I am told, or they are being pushed around in their baby doll strollers.

Madison has a grand imagination and she often goes off to the playroom by herself where she gets deep into her own play story and can get very upset if you tell her that it's time to eat, leave, etc. She needs lots of advance warning. I often find her feeding her baby, singing her to sleep or talking on the phone.

Hayden continues to pave her own way through life. She is energetic, intense and very confident in herself and her desires. While sometimes we go head-to-head on important matters, there are many times that she gets to rule her world, at least for a moment. Here she is wearing not one, not two, but three tutus just because she can.

Hayden thinks outside the box so I was surprised when I saw that she wanted to wear a basic fairy princess costume one day. She was twirling around until she got dizzy, and she just knew that she was as beautiful as she and I thought she was.

Payson is my big helper ("May I help you with something, Mommy?") but the girls get fulfillment out of helping as well. Here is a picture of Hayden loading the washing machine. Her own spin? She's wearing a pair of vinyl gloves. I have a box of them for cleaning up messy situations and she has to try out everything she sees grown-ups do or use.

The kids are now unloading all of the flatware from the dishwasher by themselves and putting them in their appropriate places. They love doing it, and I love when they do it too!

Had to get a close-up shot of Hayden on her tippy toes as she works hard to reach in the back.

Keith was working on the dishwasher while the kids were eating lunch. Payson watched for a moment and then quickly said he was "all done" as he pushed his plate away. He was so eager to get down and help Daddy.

We went to a barbecue over Labor Day weekend to see some friends that were in town. The kids had a great time and warmed up to the new faces quickly. It's so nice to be around a group of new people and not have them clinging to our legs the entire time. On our way home Hayden was whining, "I want to go back to Barbecue's house!"

We didn't have our swim gear so Payson sported his Grover undies and the girls borrowed swimsuits. They were quite social and got in the water with Lane and Hud as Keith and I watched on.

Hud is playful like Keith, which Madison loves, so he and Madison bonded right away.

While taking a family potty break we noticed that Madison was no longer in the bathroom with us. I called out, "Mad-i-son?" And right then she popped out of the built-in hamper smiling and giggling her head off. That little sneaky girl had found herself a hiding place!

Potty Training update:

So, the title of this post has double meaning. Anyone remember the song, "I'm a big kid look what I can do. I can wear big kid pants too. And I can pull them off and on. Mommy, Wow! I'm a big kid now!"

Are you singing it in your head right now? Well, unfortunately the girls have yet to master pooping in the potty so their teachers have asked that they wear Pull-Ups at school. Now that Hayden knows that they exist in her world, we can't exactly keep them from her the other days of the week. Nor do I really want to as I am so tired of cleaning out panties! So, the girls are now wearing panties or Pull-Ups during the day depending on what they want and what time of the day it is (i.e., if it's poop time!). They always sleep in panties since they stay dry all night. Bazaar, I know. Pull-Ups and panties by day, panties by night. Has anyone ever heard of a child potty trained at night but not during the day? Probably not many.

It's been a while since I've posted my DMN blog posts, so here's what I got:

Dishing out daily deals

Making the shot count: how to capture great photos of your children

A Mom's identity