Potty on the brain

Warning. A lot of potty talk ahead. No fun pictures, but lots of detail and humor.

I feel like I'm up to my ears in potty talk and diapers these days. I had it in my head for a while that once I was done giving piano lessons for the summer, I would start potty training Josie. Before this time, I had been having her sit on her potty off and on and she was genuinely interested in it. Of course, I have been looking for signs that she was ready since she was around 14 months old and she was showing every single sign that I have heard of.

So the time comes to throw down (the diaper so to speak). I sent Audrey to Grandma's so that we could hang out all day having fun and figuring it out. She had an okay day going both potty and poop before nap and bedtime, but the rest of the day was filled with misses. She woke up dry after her nap and really rocked at the idea of pooping, but honestly, I could tell that the entire concept had not yet clicked.

The next day, we carried on with one addition - Audrey did not go to Grandma's. My attention was no longer focused solely on her, but she didn't seem to be discouraged by this. Because Josie seemed to be okay for 2-3 hour stretches, we ventured out right away in the morning to do a few errands. We made it, but she still had numerous accidents later in the day. Surprisingly, she continued to wake up dry for naps and night time and had no problem pooping. That night, we went to the lake. She didn't make it there without having an accident. I expected it, so we just washed the car seat cover and got her ready for bed.

Saturday morning, she woke up dry and managed to get to her little toilet in time. The rest of the morning seemed to be spent trying to get her to go before we left for town for a couple of hours. She didn't go, and she screamed in my face for over half of it. I did what I could to keep her distracted but if anything, my attempts only made it worse. We ended up just leaving with the plan of changing her clothes at some point when she had an accident. Imagine our surprise when she managed to go from when she first woke up to after we got back (over four hours) without having an accident. Again, she did great for naps and bed time, but just had trouble throughout the day after we returned.

Sunday was when things took a turn for the worst. It was day 4 and she seemed to just give up. She was having accidents every 30 minutes to an hour and I was ready to pull my hair out. Every time I asked her if she wanted to go potty, she would scream and run away. She seemed to always go in the same place in a corner behind a chair, so we moved the potty over there and just decided to let her lead the way. (That didn't work by the way.) I struggled to get the girls down for their nap and realized that I hadn't prayed about this. Meltdowns will do that - remind you what you are forgetting. Sure enough, God blessed me with a huge gift. After Josie woke up, she was like a different kid.

The girl has basically been potty trained since then. Crazy, right? After she woke up, I put her on the actual toilet. She screamed at me like I was hurting her in the worst way, but eventually I got her settled down enough for her to go, and the light bulb just must have clicked. Ever since, she has no problem going and even gets excited about it briefly while she's sitting there. She still could care less about it when I excitedly tell those around us, but hey that's fine with me as long as she's going.

So here is what I learned and what worked for us.

1. The first day, I had her running around with just a shirt on and every time she would go, I'd run back and forth between the accident spot and the toilet saying "No no no not over here, that's icky, let's go on the potty!" She seemed to kind of understand and would laugh at me with my theatrics. I tried using a sticker as a reward and while she was excited about getting one, she did not do anything different to get it. I did have her sit on it occasionally, but I didn't want to force it with the fear of making her feel like it was punishment.

2. After the first day, I tried to entice her by showing her the panties I had for her. Again, she liked them but wasn't willing to do anything different to get them. What really worked for us was using M&Ms. She would get one if she sat on the potty and two if she went. Seriously, it was crazy how motivating that was. When we just offered one if she went, she got discouraged quickly so offering it to her to just sit on the potty in general helped her to relax. She must have felt too tense right away with all of that pressure from me. Totally understandable. Getting her excited and more relaxed got the ball rolling in the right direction.

3. It takes time. She isn't even two yet, so expecting it to only take one or two days is very unrealistic. I was expecting it to take longer than it did, so when things turned around and she showed that she got it, I was surprised and excited. I was pretty relaxed about it most of the time (except right before my meltdown moment) so she didn't have to deal with my stress. Also, I never made it a huge deal when she had accidents. I knew it was going to happen and was prepared to clean it up and deal with each situation.

4. In the morning, it is crucial that I get up and get her on the potty as soon as I hear her. She doesn't always ask to go when she feels like she needs to, so she will go in her bed if I am not paying attention. Again, understandable and I consider those accidents my fault, not hers.

5. Always important to have extra panties and pants along wherever we go. For obvious reasons.

6. We started out using her little potty because she was terrified to sit on the actual toilet. It was nice since I could move it to each room that she was in, but I was worried about what we would do in public since it would be weird to just carry around a child toilet in public. Yes she did sit on it, but no it didn't necessarily help her go. Strangely enough, she does a lot better on the "big" toilet and we just had to get over that fear of being up off the ground. Like I mentioned earlier, distractions can be helpful. I'll give her water or sing silly songs if she's screaming and she seems to forget why she was mad.

7. If using an actual toilet, there are some nice tricks to use to help the kiddo not be scared. You could have a stool or bench for their little fit to rest on, the kid can sit backwards while straddling the tank. Josie prefers to sit on the back of the seat with her legs straight out. Sometimes, she'll have a leg on each side, spread more to help her keep her balance. That's not her favorite, but she doesn't freak out. *Edit: now that its been over a week, she sits close to the front and leans over just enough to keep her balance. She needed some time to figure out how to balance so the previous suggestions worked well until she figured this out*

8. I stress to her every single time to use her hands on the seat to help her stay put. I also have her "dab dab" herself with toilet paper to get her used to that. She loves to help and always says "bye bye" as she flushes. Afterwards, she gets a high five and a hug if she's in the right mood. All of these things together have helped her think of it as fun instead of miserable. She still screams when I make her sit on it if she's doing something that she thinks is more fun, but she has quickly figured out that if she just gets it over with, she gets to go back and play sooner.

9. Don't over-educated about how to do it. I read numerous blogs and articles about it and talked to a lot of different moms that had experienced it first hand. I knew what I was doing in my head, but wasn't sure how to apply it to my child since each child is so different. When I was frustrated, I Googled it and realized that you can find whatever answer you are leaning towards - some say that you should stop and try again in a few months if the child doesn't get it right away while others say that you should never go back to diapers if you go at least a day without them. Some say that you stop diapers cold turkey while others say that you should ease into it by wearing them at night and during naps. Basically, do what sounds and feels right to you and trust your mama instinct. When Josie regressed a little, I started doubting myself. I literally gave myself a pep talk by saying "You know your daughter, you know how changes have gone in the past." I'm so thankful that I stuck with my gut. Even more so, I am so thankful that I prayed about it. It was a big deal to me at the time and I sometimes forget how much God cares about every little thing that happens on a daily basis.

That's all I've got for now. If you have questions about it or would like more details, let me know. I mostly wanted to write it down so that I could remember it when it's time for Audrey even though I am sure it will be very different. Every kid is so different, so take all of this with a grain of salt.

It's been over a week, and most days are pretty good. She consistently has accidents in the morning and I am guessing that I'll just have to have her try every half hour until she gets it all out of her system. She hasn't figured out that she should tell me when she has to go which doesn't help when she has to poop. Even though she figured that out first while we were actively potty training, she isn't consistently doing this on the toilet. I know she'll figure it out and am not surprised by the few accidents she does have. She has had a few accidents at night and I haven't figured out if there is something we can do different to avoid this other than avoid water right before bed. Overall, though, I am pleased with how she is doing and don't feel like we did it when she was too young.

Buttons, new looks, weekend updates, and more

I did it. I made a blog button (such a huge deal, I know). I was bound and determined to figure out how to do it, and it only took me a few hours. Does that show you how techy I am (not)? Regardless, it's on the side of my blog and you are welcome to grab it if you would like. 

I'd absolutely love to do a button trade, so if you are interested in that, let me know please! I also have my blog list on the right side, and would love to add more to it but don't always remember to update it. Let me know if you'd like to be on that too. :) I'm always up for helping out other bloggers (even though my little blog is just that - little).

And also - did you see my new blog look? If you are reading from a reader or through your email you'll have to go to my actual blog page ... I think it's worth it though. I like it. It's nothing fancy but it fits me and isn't as wintery/dark as the last one.

We had a great weekend. We finished up the training for foster care and had dinner with friends on Saturday night. Sunday was great. After church, my sister took Josie to the circus and my parents came up to hang out with Audrey. That left hubby and I to have some free time and we spent it doing the most romantic thing we could think of... shopping! We hit up a few places we had been meaning to go and got back to the house just in time to scarf down some Italian food before my sister and parents hit the road to drive back in blizzard-like conditions(isn't it mid April?). We spent the evening playing with play dough and making rice krispie bars. It was a great day, definitely one for the books.

After church but before we went on our "date," we did a 20 minute clean up where we both just ran around putting away the random things that were homeless and cleaning random floors, toilets, and rooms. I love those short little cleaning spurts when we both motivated at the same time. It felt so good to see the weird little things get done and the house just looked more put together afterwards. I was beaming all afternoon just from that 20 minute session. It's the little things, right?

They stayed for the whole first half (pretty good for a 22 month old) and apparently she hated cotton candy but loved the pickle on a stick. I'm not even a little surprised by this.

Audrey decided to redeem herself from the previous time we were with Grammy and Bappa where she screamed almost the whole weekend prior to her magical chiropractor visit. This time around, she cooed, smiled and giggled for them for most of the afternoon, officially wrapping them around her little finger.

Twas a good weekend.

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One year changes

I dug through the archives and found this picture of Josie from last year's Easter weekend. The changes in just one year are incredible. From baby to toddler in the blink of an eye!

Yep... best picture I could get of her in her Easter dress.

Impromptu photo shoot

 I often take AJ's monthly photos while Josie's napping since she tends to be a bit of a camera hog. I was braver than usual this month, and the results were pretty funny. Josie was not impressed when I wouldn't let her be in the picture, but the minute I said "ok, your turn!" she was happy to lay down "like a baby" and get her picture taken. It was so fun to get them in pictures together!

Sure, I got some good shots, but here's the reality. Josie doesn't want to smile and stay put while I figure out the settings on my camera or wait for the flash, her swinging arms land on Audrey's head at least once causing her to cry, the flash finally goes off while I'm moving to console the baby, and the wristlet for the camera photo bombs the picture.

Win.

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10 for the weekend

1. I've been feeling a bit more on my game lately. Just a little bit. I have a little more motivation, a little more pep in my step, a little more energy. It's been working in my favor. I have no idea where it came from, but it feels as though my pregnancy-haze-exhaustion has lifted and I feel myself again. It couldn't come at a better time, as the long winter months seem to be lasting forever and my mood had been going down hill.

2. I've finally seen some progress with our time outs that I've been doing when Josie misbehaves. It's so hard as a first time parent to figure out how to discipline a child. I've heard all these different approaches, opinions (some very strong), and methods. It seems that you have to be either on one side or the other, and my question is why can't there be a middle ground? Why do we as parents have to be against each other? Different ways work for different kids. Knowing this, I have had to experiment to see what is most effective for Josie. After months of doing time outs, I think this is the one. Today, while she was screaming and throwing a full on tantrum in her time out spot, I let go to see if she'd stay (something she hasn't had the chance to do before because she usually bolts). She did! She scooted over a foot or so to get away from me, and then just sat there crying. After a while, I asked her why she was in time out. She usually doesn't answer me so I end up explaining what she did, why it is wrong, and how to do the right thing. This time, she said right away "chair" meaning that she stood on the chair when she wasn't supposed to. She knew! She got it! So we talked a little more about it, and when I said "I love you" she immediately  jumped in my arms for a hug and kiss. I was so proud of her. I always try to end time outs with an affirmation that I still love her just not that behavior, and she understood. I'm so thankful that it's paid off because holding a screaming toddler in one spot for five minutes is no fun task. I've been trying to teach her what "obey" and "disobey" means because I know that understanding that concept will help so much with God's plan and understanding what sin is. She does seem to be getting it more and more.

3. We don't have much planned for this weekend other than a fun birthday party that was rescheduled due to the weather. The birthday boy just turned one and has never been in a pool (oh, did I mention it's a pool party?) and Josie hasn't been in one since last summer, so it should be interesting to see the reactions. I'm not too worried about her though, she's up for anything most of the time. 

4. I went to Walmart yesterday because Katie @ For Lauren and Lauren had mentioned that there were skinny jeggings for $10 each in a multitude of colors. I figured it was worth at least looking at. I'm not usually a fan of jeggings, but I like the off colored ones, like black, gray, green, etc. I just really don't like the denim colored imitators. Anyway, we got there, found them, and I found not one, not two, but three pairs that fit decent. Miracle, I tell you. As we were leaving the clothing department (that I have never ever given a second glance at in the past), we found the actual jeggings that she had been talking about. I guess I had bought real jeans (extra stretchy) and they were $11 instead of $10. I was willing to pay the extra dollar for them. What a win for me! I don't feel like I can wear regular shirts with jeggings, but I can with skinny jeans so my closet feels like it has tripled in size and options now that I have a few more skinny  jeans to wear with my boots. I love surprise shopping trips like this!

5. I brought AJ to the chiropractor on Wednesday. She has not been herself lately, although I'm not sure what I'm basing that on since she was a happy smiley (sleepy) baby for one month, and now has been a fussy, always-needs-to-be-held, not-so-smiley baby her second month of life. In particular, I noticed that when I laid her down on her back, no matter where it was, she screamed ridiculously loud and instantly. It didn't seem right to me and I know a few people that have brought their babies in to the chiropractor, so we tried it. There was an immediate difference. She was like a different baby and has been ever since. She smiles, laughs, "plays" independently while laying on the floor (which she's never done without fussing the whole time), sleeps even better (never been an issue but I love that it's even easier). I cannot even believe it. I am so thankful that we were able to get in right away and that the results were so obvious. 

6. AJ stands for Audrey Joy, in case you are wondering. I'm too lazy to type out Audrey every time and I kind of like that both my girls have a  tomboy nickname to go with their girly personalities. 

7. I haven't been to the gym since Monday which means I'm going to have to go come rain or shine (or night or day) both days this weekend. And then again on this coming Monday. Ugh. I do like to work out, it's just hard to find time and I haven't been able to pull myself out of bed in the early mornings. Well actually, AJ has been up ready to eat right when I would be leaving. No, no, don't think that's my excuse. I'm fully aware that I could just feed her twenty minutes earlier than I was planning on getting up and could still get out the door and back before hubby has to go to work, but that idea is quite daunting at 5:30 AM. Maybe someday I'll have that kind of will power. In the meantime, 8:30 PM is much more manageable. I get to leave the house after being cooped up all day with two energetic littles and can sleep in to the normal time in the morning. Thank you God that hubby does bed time. It makes it a lot easier to slip out the door and not feel like I am missing something because all I do when not going to the gym is catch up on emails, blogs, and tv. Not exactly productive. 

8. I made a large breakfast of waffles and deer sausage this morning since my parents were here. Then my sister came over with Caribou Coffee (my absolute favorite, today she got me a skinny turtle mocha). It was a fabulous breakfast, but now I'm thinking I'm done eating for the day... ask me again at noon how I'm feeling!

9. For Valentine's Day, hubby had his parents watch the girls and we headed to Texas Roadhouse for some steaks. He was feeling them something fierce and I wasn't about to object. The wait time was 75-90 minutes, which we fully expected, so we sat down and enjoyed the time with just the two of us to talk, laugh, and just enjoy each other without the kids for a few hours. I was completely shocked by how negative everyone was around us about the wait time. It was Valentine's Day, what did they expect? We ended up being quite entertained by our neighbors in the waiting area. People watching is so fascinating. We also ended up eating way too much food and bringing home enough for two full meals later. I'm still feeling full now, come to think of it. (So seriously, need to be done with large meals - that's two in three days.)

10. I have so many books I want to read and have no time to read them. I'm reading Anna Karenina right now and while I know I'll be glad I read it once I've finished, I am having a hard time getting through it. I love Russian culture and am fascinated with their customs and traditions, but it is still a hard read. I need to just do it though, because my list of books to read has grown exponentially since I started it and they won't read themselves! This entire paragraph screams nerd alert, doesn't it? I'm fine with that.




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Newest phrase

Hee go Mama!

x50. Her new favorite phrase. She gives me something, says "here you go mama" and then says it again and again and again. It's so cute.

A little snapshot of our life.


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Professional Pictures

Want to see the pictures my friend Penny took for our family? They are AWESOME. She posted them on her photography blog, so click here and check them out! Here's a sneak peak:

Can you handle that cuteness?!! Check out the link above to see the rest. It's worth your time, promise.



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Sisters

I had low expectations for Josie meeting Audrey. She's only (almost) 17 months old. Come on, how much can she really understand? We'd been prepping her as much as we could, talking about the "baby", pointing to my belly, practicing saying her name, but generally she seemed to ignore us as much as possible and showed very little signs that she understood. Sure, she liked patting my belly and other babies, but none of that really meant she understood.

She'd been staying with her grandma and grandpa while we were at the hospital, so they worked hard on getting her to say "Audrey". Also, her grandpa's tradition is to buy a small stuffed animal horse and bring it with to the hospital when he meets the baby. Of course, the horse had been within Jo's view at their house, so they'd been working on explaining how that horse was for her sister, Audrey. 

It turned out that Grandma and Josie were the first people to arrive to the hospital, so Jo ended up being the first one besides hubby and I to see her. How cool is that? She came running into the room saying "Baby? Baby! Baby? Baby." She said it with a question-like tone, excitement, a factual tone, and repeat over and over. Hubby picked her up and she looked really close for maybe two minutes before moving on. I couldn't have asked for more. 

Once Grandpa caught up and came in the room, the next big focus for Josie was getting that horse she'd been wanting to hold for so long. Grandpa gave it to her and told her to bring it to the baby. She listened and "shared" it with her, but mostly she was just so excited to hold it. She spent most of the rest of her time there sharing it with everyone and passing it around. It was pretty sweet. She still calls the horse "Audrey horse". I don't know if she understands that Audrey's name is just Audrey and not "Audrey horse".

She was pretty happy to have a little one-on-one with us too. Glad she missed us a little bit at least!

All of her life, Josie has been the main event with everyone around. Being the first grand kid on both sides, she knows how to get laughs and generally gets a ridiculous amount of attention. With the addition of her cousin four months ago, she's learned to share it and how to interact with a baby, so we were blessed to have that part learned. She didn't seem jealous at all and was happy to clown around with those interested around her. Generally, after that initial interest, she was not interested in anything Audrey related. I'd take that over jealousy any day.



There was one point in the day that she wanted to hold the baby. We got pictures and I'm so glad we did, because it was priceless. She was all about it, got a good look, and was done. She even pushed her away like "Okay, let's play with the next toy!" Too funny.

Initial thought  - "Yeah, holding this baby is the most fun!"

And we're done. 

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Auntie's the best

Just a little picture to show you this cute outfit we "threw together" today. Auntie for the win because she bought the shirt that has a puppy on it. Josie loves her some puppy.

We had these polka dot pants and I couldn't figure out what to put them with. Mixing patterns? LOVE IT. Only she could pull it off so well.

Happy Friday!

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Josie Grace - 15 months

Yesterday was Josie's 15 month birthday. The last three months have gone so fast and she has changed and grown up more than I can even keep up with. 

We had her doctor's appointment on Tuesday where she did the usual measurements and had her flu shot along with her 18 month shot. I was surprised that they wanted to give her that shot now, but they said it was ok to do it early and then we don't have to go back in until her 2 year appointment. Since I'll have a newborn around her 18 month birthday, I figured this would work great for our family.

At the appointment, Josie measured:
Weight - 21 lbs 10 1/2 oz ( less than 50%)
Height - 30 3/4 inches (50%)
Head Circumference - 18 1/2 inches (75%)

Last month, she was at 50% for weight and 75% for height. When I pointed out that she didn't grow very much in three months, the nurse said that is common for toddlers. I'm guessing that her insane amount of energy means she's burning a lot more calories so I'm not that surprised that she hasn't gained any weight. I was surprised that her height had leveled off though! She only grew 3/4 of an inch, and here I was thinking she must have grown at least 2 inches. She just seems so much bigger to me now.

The doc did say that she could be drinking more milk, but no matter how much I offer her she just drinks what she wants and hasn't really had anymore than before.  He also said that she's hitting all the milestones that she needs to be and was surprised to hear how many words she can say.

Currently, she's saying: hi, bye bye, night night (ni ni), mama, daddy, boppa (grandpa), owl, puppy (all.the.time.), more, up, down, Buckley  (sounds like Buh ee), baby (all.the.time.also), moon, chair, house, horsey (sounds like housey), boots, shoes, and a bunch more that I'm not remembering. She has just started stringing more than one word together at at time (like bye-bye baby, bye-bye mama). I don't count night night as two since she has always said them together.

She also has gotten pretty good at pointing out parts of her body. She can show you her ears, nose, belly, feet, toes, hands, and hair. I hadn't really been showing her these too often, so she surprised me with how many she knows!

Foods she likes: Just about everything. Thank you God that she has passed that picky eater stage. I was not loving that at all, but now she'll pretty much eat whatever we put in front of her. She also drinks whole milk and water (no juice unless it's a special occasion and obviously no carbonated drinks)

She loves to"help" me with chores like folding clothes, emptying the dishwasher, picking up dog poop outside (don't worry, she just watches closely... no hand to poop touching here!), cooking in the kitchen, putting away books. Of course, all of this help usually means I do the job twice, but hey - eventually she'll get what she's supposed to do and I'll love the help!

For clothes, she's wearing 12-18 month in everything and her shoe size is between a 4 and a 5. We have enough shoes for winter, but it was no easy thing to find! I'll be happy when she's a solid 5 or 6 so we can find shoes that fit without spending a ton of money or having to shop in obscure places. It's so ... funny? annoying? how some 18 month clothes are huge on her while others barely cover her belly or go to her shoes. You'd think the clothing designers could be consistent for toddler clothes but I guess not.

She still loves to dance, has learned to run (great for this pregnant mama), thinks its the best when I dance with her, loves her books more than ever, and now even will read to me or anybody else around her. That's way more fun for me than hearing my boring voice! All the babble talk is so cute and I love that every once in a while you'll hear a real word thrown in. She has no doubt that I understand everything she is saying.

We still haven't cut her hair since her last (and first) haircut way back last spring. It's grown a lot but it still falls in her face all of the time so we wear it up or pulled back almost everyday. I usually get one shot to get it done and if I don't like it and want to redo it she lets me know how she feels about that by squirming and screaming. Thankfully, I'm pretty good at getting it right the first time around! I almost always do her hair while she's eating breakfast. The tv is usually on and she has the food in front of her so there are enough distractions to keep her from twisting and turning away from me. Her hair is almost to her shoulders in the back and the front is right past her chin. Eventually I'll have to even that out but for now I don't think it looks too bad. I just don't want it short all over again which is what would happen if we cut the back.. I just love her pretty golden hair with the slight curl at the bottom!

Josephine doesn't really get that there is a baby coming, but she does love everything baby. When she sees a real baby she has to touch and is very gentle, mostly because she has been spending so much time with her cousin who is 3 months old. She does get jealous if I'm holding him but that is mostly just when she is tired or hungry. If she's not either of those then she is content to play nearby or play with someone else. We'll definitely have to figure that out in the next couple of months with her sister!

When music is on, she doesn't break out in dance automatically anymore, but I can tell she's listening closely (for the first 10 seconds). She does, however, love when I sing to her while getting her diaper changed or going to sleep. It surprised me a lot because she never has shown interest in this, but I love having her attention and having those precious moments with her.

My crazy busy girl does give me hugs and lets me kiss her all the time which I am so thankful for! When she started moving around, she wanted independence so it's awesome when she is so affectionate to us. She loves her daddy more than anything and their bedtime routine is a huge part of her day. Whenever he comes home, she gets a huge grin on her face and waits for him by the gate.

We tried her toddler bed and decided it's too early. We also tried potty training and also figured out that it's not something I want to do right now. I realized that I don't want to have to drop everything to get her on the potty when I have a newborn attached to me, so we'll try again once the baby is old enough to hang out alone for a couple of minutes. Jo does tell me when she is ready to go "poo poo" so she's almost understanding! Unfortunately she kind of gets stage fright. I'm content with just doing a little here and there until she's older.

Let's see... she's still taking two naps a day (usually 1 1/2 to 2  hours each), going to bed around 8 or 8:30, and eating three meals and one snack in the afternoon.

She's just such a happy toddler and shows us new things everyday. We can't wait to see her be a big sister in no time at all.




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Funny Girl

A few of the funny things that Josie is doing right now that I *really* don't want to forget:

1. Sometimes when she was fussing or crying in the past, I would fake laugh to show her that whining wasn't necessary or to distract her. She picked that up, and fake laughs at me all the time now. Most of the time, it makes me and everyone else around us laugh too, so we get the real laugh out of her shortly after. It really is hilarious. It sounds like she's half coughing half laughing.

2. Some of the words she's been saying come from nowhere. For example, we were at the cornfield with my mom and while she was picking corn, we were just playing in the dirt and grass. Josie looked up and said "trckta" and when I looked in the same direction, there was a tractor. How does she know what that is?? I checked with her other grandparents and they really haven't been teaching it to her either. She's good too, because she noticed one in a book a couple of days later. The other word that she threw out there yesterday was "water" when in the bath. I never say it, I always just say "bath" but she figured it out!

3. I've been working on getting her to communicate "more" if she wants more, and it is the funniest cutest thing. She focuses really hard and starts with the mmm sound so it sounds like "mmmmmmmoo?" I added the question mark because she always says it with a question since that is the way I say it to her when I am asking her to say it. She doesn't say it every time, but she has definitely figured out what it means! Next up, I would love it if she learned "please".

4. She's determined to walk down steps like a big girl but her tiny legs just can't stretch that far, so she now knows that if she just waits a second for me to come and help her, I'll hold her hand and she can basically fall down each step without actually falling over. She stands at the top and just grins at me with her hands up in anticipation. Then once we've reached the bottom, she looks at me like "yeah I did that!" and proudly walks ahead of me to wherever we are going. I'm thankful that she is learning to follow my direction and walk on her own, but she's not even 14 months yet! I don't need her to be such a big girl so soon...

5. She has two bottom teeth and two top teeth, and she's figured out how to use them to the max by nibbling on foods instead of gumming it up. I no longer have to break up her bread or crackers. Now I just hand it to her and she nibbles away. She also grins with a huge toothy smile at me afterwards because she knows its a "big girl" thing. She likes to "eat" apples and corn on the cob because she can nibble until her heart's content. The combo of her eating these huge foods and grinning with all her teeth showing really will melt a heart.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope you smiled at least once!

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Bragging about Jo...indulge me

Jo Jo Bean, as my family so affectionately calls her, has been rocking my socks the last couple of weeks. She is so silly, so smiley, and so cuddly. Remember when she wasn't like that at all? Now that she has more independence, she isn't fighting for it so much. It's fun to watch her play by herself, but then seek me out to play with me or just check in.


She lets me kiss her right on the face and sometimes leans in to "kiss" me back. She runs as fast as she can and jumps on me to get bear hugs and sometimes just sits on my lap to chill for a couple of seconds. Only seconds, mind you, but they are the best seconds of the day.


Her toothy grin looks even cuter now that her two top teeth or showing more and more. Her hair is almost long enough to tuck behind her ear. She's learning to run.


There is just so much going on with this girl. Little things that most people don't care about, but that fascinate me to no end. Her dad, too, is completely fascinated with everything she does.


It's fun to watch her interact with her new baby cousin, and this last weekend she was able to interact with her old second cousins (almost two and four years old). She still charms all of the adults and even when it's way past her bedtime, she manages to win over any crowd.


 It's a great thing, to be the mom of this girl, and I pray that I can do it the way God wants me to, that I don't hold her back with all of what God has planned for her. She's the best (moms have to think it, but I would anyways!)

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Birthday girl. One Years Old.

These pictures are all from her birthday party, but I'm also going to use them to just remember the little things about her. Let's begin (since there are A LOT).

Josie is about 21 lbs without her clothes on. We had gone to the doctor a couple of weeks earlier and she was 22.2, but she was also fully dressed so I'm not too concerned that she's lost weight. That puts her in 50% range for weight. Her height is 30 inches which is in the 75% range. Her head circumference was also in the 75% range. So our girl is tall and lean so far, just like her daddy. I wonder if she'll always be tall like I was until everyone catches up, or if she'll just be tall in general and most people won't catch up. 

I always wanted to be 5'8" (weird I know) so maybe my dreams will come true through this girl! Ha. I'm currently 5'6". 

We've gone all over the place with the foods she is eating. When she first started eating solid foods, she would eat anything we put in front of her, but things have changed! She doesn't eat hardly any veggies. Part of the problem is that they are all a lot harder to chew and she doesn't have the teeth to do it. Fruits are softer and sweet so she always prefers them. 

I am working on  not forcing her to eat things she doesn't like. I know she still won't eat it and we'll just get into "fights" about it, but I also want her to be getting the right nutrition. I sneak spinach into smoothies and other veggies into casseroles and meals like that, but she is always offered at least one veggie a meal... I have hope that it isn't long term! 

She loves most meats and will eat any bread and fruit. Generally she isn't picky; it's just the veggies that have her turning her nose up.

She's officially done with formula and is drinking whole milk like a champ. I had tried it a couple of weeks before her 1st birthday and she didn't like it at all so I backed off. Now she drinks it like it's candy and is a little sad when she gets water. We're still not doing juice or other types of beverages for nutritional reasons. I want her being hydrated without adding in the sugar and sweet tastes. I have seen so many kids that won't drink water or milk because it's "boring"... just trying to avoid that! I know she gets juice at Grandma's which I feel like is a special treat for her when she's there. I'm ok with that. 

She's been walking around for months now, but she's really mastered it lately and has sped up quite a bit. She's no longer stomping around and she speed walks eagerly when she's excited. I wouldn't say running quite yet, but the girl can move fast! She's keeping me on  my toes. 

I've noticed that she's lost all of her baby fat rolls and looks like a toddler now instead. I think it would be really hard for me to transition in my mind to toddler instead of baby, but it's not too bad since we're having another baby. 

Right after her first birthday, we did the inconceivable. We stopped using the pacifier. THIS IS BIG! I was more terrified than she was because I just imagined her being so angry about it, but honestly it wasn't that bad. One bad night of crying it out (works for us like a charm) and she was done. I'm only a bit worried about long car rides, but seriously she's just come so far with entertaining herself and finding new comforts (dolls, stuffed animals) that she should be fine.

Speaking of dolls, this girl has a new love for them! She got a couple for her birthday (thank you aunties) and carries them both around "rocking" them like Grandma taught her. It's great training for the baby coming! She also likes a stuffed pink puppy she's had since she was born and she usually sleeps with it at night. I'm fine with that. I figure having those comforts will help her transition to her toddler bed in a couple of months when the crib stays in her room for the new baby.  

Her hair has become big girl hair. I can braid it, stick most of it in a ponytail or pigtails, and it lays like a 3 or 4 year old's hair would lay. It's got the same texture as mine but the color is one of a kind. I love it, and it makes her blue eyes just pop.

Right around her first birthday she had her two upper front teeth break through (finally). We've been waiting and watching for these two for months and she is finally getting them! I can't wait to see how they change her smile and if it is easier for her to eat since they are in the front and not in the back where she chews with her gums.

Every day it seems like she is learning more and more. She has stopped wandering from random thing to thing and now sees what she wants and goes straight for it. It has helped me keep our house together a little bit and I don't have to worry about the problem areas that used to always be attacked by baby hands. 

She still loves books and reading and now brings them to me to read at least once every 5 minutes. I try to read them to her as much as I can, but I have also started to say things like "Mommy's eating honey, not right now" so she knows that I can't always  do exactly what she wants. I still do it a lot of the time, so I am not feeling like I am neglecting her at all. 

She has even started to say something that sounds like and probably means "read book!" I wish I could type out what it sounds like but it's just too random to really understand. I know what she means though!

Speaking of words, this is what she can say as of now:

Mama, Daddy, Boppa, wow, hi, Buckley, books, what's that (for everything, it's so funny)

She also repeats what we say all the time, but she hasn't said any of those words on her own so I'm not counting them.

She's wearing 12 month clothes and I've slipped in a couple of 18 month clothes to get use out of them before their season is up. They are generally too big though. 

I can already tell that some of them are just too short for her. She will be moving up in size only for length which means most of them will be too big everywhere else. 

Josie is not afraid of people. She rarely gets shy and loves waving at everyone. She makes everyone that meets her feel like they are best in the world, and I absolutely love it. The way to win her over is to give or read her a book. She couldn't be happier sitting on your lap reading a book. It's so cute.

It's so strange thinking of her being the big sister, yet I can totally see it when she interacts with other babies younger than her (I'm looking at you, cousin Deano). She is generally pretty gentle and curious, but I can already seeing her trying to share her toys and "help mom". She's just got such a sweet heart.

This girl is so fun to be with all day long. I never get sick of being around her and we just have a great time together! Helping her learn and watching her discover new things brings joy to my life that I've never experienced before! 

Can't wait to see what kind of beautiful woman she becomes. I know she's going to be something else.

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