Know what else?

How in the WORLD did I forget to add the other biggie deal from a little over a week ago?

The little girls turned three! On January 31 to be exact. We had our regular church stuff Sunday morning (although the singing of the birthday song isn't regular) and had a relaxed afternoon. Even though the new three-year-olds didn't sleep a wink at naptime for all the excitement of anticipating their party. After Jim and the girls got back from confirmation class, we had some friends over to help celebrate with cake and ice cream. I'll work on a longer post soon (I really will!) because I still need to download some photos from a friend's camera.

Suffice it to say that the little girls are definitely not babies anymore. They're "tottlers" as Bethany says. I guess they're really more like preschoolers. Wowie, where did the time go?

Recently heard

"I'm broken"--said by Bethany as she was watching her reflection 'break' a little as she moved her head back and forth between two sections of our medicine cabinet/mirror.

"What's that noise?"--asked by Abigail, specifically when she pointed at the words and wanted to know what the next part of the song was in Hush Little Alien (a cute book with words to the tune Hush Little Baby).

(I'm aware I haven't posted photos yet of our recent family walk. No time. Plain and simple. Sorry!)

Toddler Speak

There are days that the little girls' vocabulary and comments surprise me, like tonight when Bethany, talking about a small milk spill, said "is not my fault". Or when Abigail asks "what you talkin bout?" as she is concentrating hard on a conversation two or more people are having.

Bethany, especially, seems to grasp more 'complex' sentence structure and makes me laugh regularly with her observations. Abigail seems to search for the right words more often and she might have two or three 'false' starts to a sentence before the right words click into place.

A few of the more charming words in use right now include
munch box (Abigail)
lobbypops (Bethany)
paydough (both)
sad-dle (cereal...both)
do-oy (door...both)
cah-ee (car...both)

Abigail recently tried to express to Jim that there was a goose named Abigail in a movie she was watching (Aristocats, if you're really curious). It came out "My name Abigail....goose". She tried and almost got it. :)

Bethany occasionally will add an extra 'l' if a previous word has an 'l' in it. Or, she'll pronounce a b as a p or vice versa. Such as: a blue blate (plate) or 'blease'. Sometimes her lobbypops become lobblyplops.

Both girls also like singing a great deal. Abigail is the girlio who will sing familiar songs and will do pretty well at getting most of the words. She'll even surprise us by randomly singing a song that she hasn't heard that much. Like when she was singing parts of the third verse of Jesus Loves Me.

Bethany's singing varies between words she knows and complete jumbles of nonsense words to a tune she knows. She also gets this great 'vibrato' at times (which I think I've mentioned before). I've gotten some video of the singing, but I'm not sure about putting a fairly long video on the blog. I'll look into it.

All in all, cute girls, cute words. What more can you ask for with toddler speak?

Not-togetherness, togetherness

Yesterday was a twinteresting day for our twin sister sets. (trying to be clever, here...bear with me)

Not-together:

Bethany had been sick with an on again, off again fever that came back Monday night. She was semi-okay Tuesday but was still slightly feverish at 4:30 in the morning Wednesday morning. Which meant I wasn't going to send her to day care, even if she had shed her fever by the time she woke up. The decision then became: do we send Abigail alone? Without her buddy? Without her sister?

Jim decided that, yes, having at least one busy little toddler gone would be beneficial for him. We thought we could sneak Abigail out because Bethany was still sleeping fairly hard, but Abigail chose to wail loudly for her baby doll and woke her up. Jim quickly spirited Abigail away to get her dressed and ready while I distracted Bethany. We fully expected Bethany to be upset at not going to Little Bears, and once she caught wind that Abigail was leaving and she wasn't, we got the full-on tears and "I wan go Little Bears!" I shook her out of her crying by getting her dressed. This made her think she was heading to Little Bears too and I did not try to disabuse her of the notion. I just never said "yes, you're going." (*guilty grin*) Jim got back from taking Abigail as Bethany was looking for her shoes, and we had another round of tears when Jim gently told her she wasn't going.

I did not think this boded well for Jim's intention of having a productive morning, but happily I was wrong. After the initial sadness and tears, Bethany settled into a morning alone. Apparently Abigail was perfectly happy as well. So much for my fear that they'd miss each other too much and be sad all morning. Yay! Gotta love when those unfounded fears are proven wrong!

Together:

Moriah and Susannah had their first X-C running meet yesterday. As sixth graders at a K-8 school, they are allowed to run with middle school kids (in the 7th grade races). Both were apprehensive and both were hopeful they wouldn't finish last. Moriah was also a little nervous about trying out her new shoes, which she has mixed feelings about because of how 'ugly' they look. She hadn't had a chance to really run in them yet and try to break them in. They seemed to do okay for overall, but her feet still hurt after the race.

Here is why I call this part of the post togetherness:


They stayed pretty close to each other the entire race. This photo is taken toward the very end of the 1.8 mile race, on a long hill that you could just tell sapped the runners as they made their way past. The girls were absolutely exhausted by the end, but they were very pleased to have finished in front of several other girls.

Oh, and Samuel chose to ride the bus all the way back to Girdwood only to turn back around and drive into town with me to cheer his sisters on. What a sweetie. (but don't ask the girls if they concur...his version of cheering was a little too enthusiastic for those tired runners!)

Zoo for two (and two)

I totally forgot to blog about the little girls' first visit to the Alaska Zoo. Their granddaddy and daddy took them in, along with their big sisters. (Mom had to stay in Girdwood and deliver lunches for Art Camp.) The zoo isn't huge, but there are many Alaskan animals to see including musk ox, moose, caribou (which smelled bad, according to Jim), snow leopards, sea otters, lynx, bears (polar, black and grizzly; the glacier bear was no longer there *sniffle*) and a few other animals.

One notable absence was the Maggie the elephant, who was moved to California a couple of years ago. Turns out elephants aren't indigenous to Alaska and don't do that well in our snowy climate. (*snort*) There is actually a story behind why the Alaska Zoo had an elephant in the first place (Annabelle, who was also an artist), so it wasn't that weird.

Here are all four girls, posing with what looks like their

bear counterparts (two big, two small).

The little girls enjoyed much of the zoo, especially the foxes. They watched the wolves and porcupines and Abigail liked the snowy owl. What Abigail didn't like was the petting zoo. Just look at her semi-worried, semi-scared face in the photo below:


The weather was a little rainy, but nothing to truly dampen anyone's spirits. Although apparently the little girls were scared of the squirrels that chattered at them as they ate their picnic lunch. Other highlights include several potty breaks (this was their first long trip to Anchorage and they did great with NO accidents!) and a long visit to the gift shop, where all four girls found treasures to purchase to remember their zoo trip.

There weren't a ton of photos taken, so I don't have a lot to share. Well, there were a ton of photos taken, but they were of animals. Lots of animals. But not my animals.

You'll have to make do with these two. In the zoo. Whew.

Artistic

The babes had fun finger painting the other day. In typical Abigail vs. Bethany fashion, I noted that the little girls had different approaches in smearing the paint around their papers.

Abigail used her fingers and was very precise in
making her swirls and squiggles.

Bethany used her entire hand and went all in, making large blobs and smooshes (and please note her other hand is quite blue).

Watching them paint reminded me of their very first birthday cakes. Abigail had to be convinced to eat her cake, and even then she only poked at the icing at first. Bethany went for it and grabbed her cake and mashed it joyfully into her mouth.

You'd think that with Bethany being such a full-body eater and painter, she'd also be an all-out crazy girl. But no, she's more timid with being twirled around or new things. Abigail tends to be the one who runs pell mell around and jumps off of things and LOVES to be spun around. So be warned (or whatever the right word is): the X-Games-propensity level of the little girls is relatively inverse to how they eat and paint.

This and that

I have video of Moriah and Susannah playing at their piano recital on Friday night. Both are over 90 seconds, I think, and I am not sure if I can upload videos that long here...gotta do some research before attempting that. Anyway...both girls did really well and played beautifully. I'll have to ask them what they played (I just can't remember right now) and edit it in later. Moriah played blank and Susannah played blank.

Three more days of school for the kids, four for me. Then we hit the ground running on our room switcharoo. Move Samuel out of his room and all the way downstairs (as much stuff as we can), paint his (old) room a lovely soft yellow, move babies upstairs into their new room, paint the babies' (old) room some as-yet-to-be-determined-shade-of-blue and move Samuel into his new room. All of this before our best friends come on the night of the 28th. It'll be a busy week!

Oh! Samuel is now employed. Well, almost. As of the 28th he will be, when he turns 14. He'll be working at The o> Shop (remember, the word 'Ice Cream' is represented by an ice cream cone) and will be strengthening his wrist muscles and developing basic barista skills (or would he be a baristo?). The girls are already wondering if there's a family discount (no) and Jim is angling to get Samuel to make him lattes at home (maybe).

Moriah has her second game tomorrow night. She's not sure she'll be pitching because she said she didn't do well at practice today. Too many coaches giving too many tips, I think, and she's now a little confused. We'll see.

Random baby cuteness:
Abigail was naked from the waist down at naptime today. I kept hearing playful sounds after laying them down for nap so I went to check on them. She pulled her blanket aside a little and there was her bare bum. Thankfully she consented to put the diaper back on. Could have been messy otherwise (we experienced that with Samuel...he'd probably like it if you asked him about it someday. really!). But she did keep her pants off. She's the kid who likes less clothes. Maybe she'll be a streaker someday.

Bethany LOVES to swing. LOVES it. The other day while at Little Bears, the little kids had gone to the ball field to play and then walked over to the playground. The entire walk over Bethany was beside herself, almost chanting the same words over and over. Blue swing. Blue swing. Blue swing. (I'm guessing it really sounded more like bwoo fwing. bwoo fwing. bwoo fwing.) Her caregiver wasn't quite sure what she was all riled up about because she wasn't sure if she understood Bethany correctly...until they got to the toddler area and Bethany raced over to the blue swing, making sure to have the first turn.

Today we went out and played in our tiny little yard (where the snow is all melted!). The babes had a blast blowing bubbles. And are fairly good at it. Bethany got the hang of blowing long enough to get several bubbles to come out of the wand. Abigail was more of a spitter, but did get some bubbles to appear. Bethany is showing more and more that she may be a leftie, holding the wand in her left hand, dipping it alllllll the way into the bottle (gotta get those fingertips soapy too!) and then trailing bubble solution over her right arm as she blew the bubbles. Lots of solution. All over her arm. A slimy, soapy mess. Perfect on a warm (almost) summer day. :)

whoda thunk?

When we got a call after my 20 week ultrasound that it appeared both babies had club feet, we were a little shell shocked and began our search for information immediately. We figured out that we wanted to pursue the Ponseti method for non-surgical correction of their feet and we got as many ducks in a row as possible before the babes were born.

In the moments after the babies were born, we didn't even think to ask about their feet and were happy to learn that Abigail did not have club feet after all. Bethany definitely did and so we embarked on the Ponseti journey that has given her 'normal' feet. She is currently wearing her brace 12 hours a day, while she sleeps, and will continue to wear it until she is four.

I sort of wished at one point that both babies had club feet so that they could share in the experience, especially once they got a little older and might start fighting about wearing a brace every day. Bethany's had moments of resisting putting on her 'sleepy shoes' but for the most part she's very compliant. I figure there might come a time that Bethany will look at Abigail and say "why not her? why me?" But, who woulda thought that it might well be the reverse....

We just got a new pair of shoes for Bethany's bar and they are huge, compared to the ones she was wearing. When I pulled them out of the box, Abigail wanted to put them on. (Hmmm...really?) Her feet are a good two to three sizes bigger than Bethany's, and the new shoes were just right for Abigail's feet. I strapped her into them and she happily marched around in them for quite a while. She even asked for the bar to put between them. (silly) Bethany put on her smaller shoes and happily walked around with her sister.

I didn't think too much about it until bedtime, when Abigail wanted to wear her own 'sleepy shoes'. (what?) She thought they were hers. (oops.) Wearers keepers? Didn't occur to me in the least that she would assume that. I assumed she'd know they belonged to Bethany. (oops.) She was a very unhappy bedtime girl who just didn't understand that she didn't need sleepy shoes and that they really belonged to her sister. The compromise? Allowing her to wear a pair of canvas mary janes we got at Kohl's last week as her 'sleepy shoes'. And yes, she's been wearing them ever since.

Whoda thunk the non-brace girl would want to wear a brace. huh.

Odds and ends

I keep thinking I should post about the little girls' latest antics (no, not more tantrums, thankfully) and other odds and ends. As I was about to start the post, our Jim's attention-starved dog jumped into my lap. Guess I should type fast so I can get to petting the poor pooch.

Both babes have shown a small streak of talent when it comes to song and dance. Whenever they wear a skirt/dress of any kind, it prompts them to act out a song they learned on a Wiggles DVD. It's very cute to see them go down onto one knee as they sing "Shalom" (stand on 'sha', drop to the knee on 'lom') and then alternate to the other knee.

The Alphabet Song, Baa Baa Black Sheep and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are still favorites. And on their way to being mastered. Abigail seems to be the one who enjoys singing other songs and will break out in song fairly often. On Friday, she was singing 'Three Blind Mice', as far as I could tell. But after the first two lines (and she even put her hand up above her eyes for 'see how they run'), the song included something about a sneeze because she ended it with "achoo!" Hmmm...gotta ask at Little Bears (day care) what version they teach. Bethany has latched onto We Will Rock You as her favorite bedtime lullaby, as mentioned in a previous post. Her bum bum chh is very cute.

Both are really trying to say all kinds of new words, especially Bethany. They typically repeat phrases after you and usually come pretty close to the correct pronunciation. I learned just how accurate Bethany can be when she repeated my "shut up" I directed at Hurley the other night*. oops. I meant "be quiet, Hurley". Bethany likes to ask "what's this" so she can practice new (and old) words, and I imagine "why" is just around the corner.

I know they have a lot of colors mastered now. While at Target yesterday, I distracted Abigail from a small fit by asking her to name the colors of polka dots on a box I saw. She correctly pointed to about six different colors when I asked "where's the pink dot", "where's the green dot", etc. Bethany has a high success rate, too, and both girls are now occasionally using colors to describe what they want. Like today, both girls used either blue or red to communicate which swing they wanted to use.

Going outside is a huge deal anymore, too. Swinging and sliding and playing in the dirt (not at our house, yet). Ahhh, simple joys. We were at the park today and they never stopped moving. Well, Abigail did for a little while after she did a face plant off one of the 'baby' swings. It's one of those chair-like ones that have no buckles and that have always made me a little nervous. Now I can say 'and rightly so'. Straight down onto her face, scratches on her nose, upper lip and chin, lots of blood and quite a divot in her lower lip where it met one of her teeth. Her two older sister were galvanized into action when they saw her fall and ran to get paper towels and ice. I was impressed with their care and speed.

Abigail continues on her quest for independence whenever possible, making me a little nuts now and then. She loves her books, enjoys 'cooking' in their little playhouse, and has to have a crib full of stuffed animals. She also loves to hug (when it's on her terms of course)...she'll wrap her arms around your neck, wind her hands into your hair, nestle into your shoulder and just snuggle. *contented sigh*

Bethany seems to be our comedian, knowing how to make us chuckle and reveling in the laughter. She also loves books and snuggling and has flashes of independence insistence like her sister. She's more tentative about new things but loves to exclaim "I did it!" after accomplishments, even if it's getting her pants on. Her wild curls make for some goofy hair most days.

That's a tiny glimpse into our youngest two. I'll try to get some photos uploaded in the next couple of days. Then you can see how cute they really are. Not that I'm biased or anything.

(Took too long typing this--he gave up on me. No petting for the pooch tonight.)

*in my weak defense, he was barking at nothing, creating annoying background noise while I was filming the little girls singing.

Mt. Redoubt, you have nothing on a toddler tantrum

I just witnessed/experienced/lived through Abigail's first full-blown tantrum. Wow. I'm exhausted. She's asleep, thankfully.

The setting for the blow-up was benign enough: leaving Little Bears after a morning of fun and sunshine. Getting the little girls into their car seats has been a semi-challenge the last month or so, with them wanting to do as much for themselves as possible and resisting most attempts by someone else to get them into their seats.

Such was the case today, when Abigail was being annoying obstinate determined and wouldn't get in. I gave her a "you do it or Mommy will do it" option and she 'chose' to 'allow' Mommy to do it. Right. What followed was a little wrestling, some screaming, a lot of snot and not a little crying so hard she almost threw up. Yeah, that was fun.

The ride home was equally joyous...screams and cries and the occasional gag. A lot of "I do it" as she lamented her poor 'choice' of 'allowing' Mommy to put her into her seat. Dear little Bethany took it all in stride and chatted to me over her sister's noise.

Once we got home, I thought I'd try the old "you can help Mommy get you out..." trick. Used a soft, soothing voice and everything. Ha. She wasn't taking the bait. Not even close to placating the unhinged child. So, I crossed back over into 'mean Mommy' mode and released her buckles against her will. Which set off an entirely new set of wailings. "Me help". Uh, too late sweetie. Another bad 'choice'.

I had to carry her into the house football-style (she looked like Diddle diddle dumpling my son John--only a flailing one--because she had thrown off one shoe and the accompanying sock) and she screamed the whole way in. I hoped no one would be alarmed enough to call the authorities, she was that loud and that distraught.

Suffice it to say that the next several minutes were full of floppy limbs, ear-splitting noises and a general feeling of chaos*. An offer of reading a book went no where. An attempt at giving a cuddle was decisively spurned. The calm sister bringing the freaked out sister her blanket brought on a whole new round of "me do it" rather than a gracious "tink you".

I'm telling you, this would have been the perfect thing to film when considering effective ways to convince teenagers to practice abstinence.

I finally put Abigail in her crib out of consideration for Bethany's ears and for her own safety. She calmed down the teeniest bit while in there and then I found it. The perfect distraction item. I have no idea how it came to be on their dresser, but there it was. A little red feather. After a few rounds of "should I tickle your knee/cheek/hand/toes/etc" Abigail was sufficiently calm to take into my lap for a true cuddle while reading a book (holding and twirling the feather, of course).

By the time the book was done, she was herself again. She even shared the feather with Bethany. She happily sang the ABC song, Baa Baa Black Sheep and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with her sister. I laid her down, tucked her in, exchanged "Iloveyounightnight"s with the babes and all was and has been quiet since.

Phew.

*this was not the contented kind of chaos like we usually find at our house

selective memory?

As I delay my bedtime tonight, I find myself wondering if any of our older three kids screamed when they were 2 and frustrated or angry. I can't remember having little screaming children. Is that because they never really screamed or is that because I have chosen to block it out?

In any case, I hope to have an equally fuzzy recollection of our youngest two and their screaming habits. It'd be nice to say, one day, "I can't remember if they screamed or not." To be honest, though, I've heard enough ear-tingling screams in the last few weeks to know that I'll remember.

I just hope I don't remember how long it lasted. ;o)

...and your name is?

Abigail used to call her sis 'Bobidee', which was pretty darn cute, but somewhere along the line Bethany became 'Abidale'. Bethany always answered to Abigail's name for her. But Bethany was also very aware of her own name and could say it well.

Made me wonder if Abigail couldn't separate herself from her twin because she'd still call Bethany 'Abidale' even after countless promptings from me to call her sister the correct name (no, sweetie, you're Abigail...that's Bethany).

Then I wondered if maybe Abigail was preparing for the royal life. Sort of like the royal 'we' but using her first name as the 'we' equivalent. The little girls do rule the roost much of the time.

But the last couple of days Abigail has been very purposefully calling her sister 'Bet-then-knee'. Sometimes with prompting but mostly on her own. She grins when she says it, like she knows she's finally getting it right. And she over-emphasizes the 'th' by sticking her tongue between her teeth, which makes it even sweeter that she's trying so hard to say her sis' name right.

And (some of you probably knew this could be coming) there is that small part of me that will miss the funny side of the fact that Abigail called her sister by her own name. It was endearing and special and utterly silly Abigail in action.

Twos ... terrible?

So last night Bethany was a pistol at bedtime and wouldn't let either one of us help with her diaper or pajamas and was all over the place. Tonight was Abigail's turn to deny me any success with bedtime prep for her.

My initial reaction is "well, at least they didn't do it at the same time." My secondary reaction is "wow, their 'I do it' stage has truly arrived." Now comes the fun of figuring out how to let them have success at developing independent skills while maintaining the parental authority that makes us the last word even when they're throwing a fit.

In regards to Abigail at bedtime at least, that might just mean making sure she has two-piece pjs rather than the one-piece zip-up kind like she's wearing tonight. She kept trying to lay it out, upside down, and then she tried putting her feet into the arms. All the while having NONE of Mommy easing the way so that she would be successful.

And one last Bethany note...she keeps saying "I bump down stairs" throughout the day. I guess she'll remember her tumble for a bit longer.

Snow!!

It's Spring, you say? Really?

About two feet of snow fell between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, deepening the already deep snow in our yard. Samuel was inspired to create a little snow cave for his littlest sisters and after dinner the kids all went out to play. (I should add here that the babes heard the word 'outside' and wanted nothing to do with their dinners...just wanted to go play outside.)

The babies LOVED it and couldn't get enough, even as they stumbled and tried to keep their footing. The older kids decided that jumping from our upper yard to the deep snow below was the thing to do--trying to see how much of their bodies would still be visible once they landed and sank into the snow. Samuel also tried to break a new trail down another part of our yard, rolling and pushing his way through the snow. He eventually ended up on his back, head buried and facing downhill, legs barely visible. He loved every minute of it.

I was outside as the photographer, not dressed for playing. Of course, I got wet anyway--at one point my right leg sank all the way up to my hip. Took a little effort to get me out. None of the kids really wanted to come in, but wet and cold clothing and bedtime for little girls meant an end to the fun. Abigail, especially, was quite put out about coming in. I took a lovely photo of her angry, tear-stained, snotty-nosed face but I won't cause her future embarrassment by posting it here. Just know that she REALLY wanted to stay out and play.

Here are some highlight photos:

Samuel and the babes in the snow cave


Susannah and Moriah waist-deep in snow


Samuel mid-jump (not a great shot unfortunately)


Moriah taking off


Susannah jumping high

baby cuteness

I discovered a few days ago that the little girls know "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed". Complete with finger shaking and grumpy eyebrows during the refrain. They had to have learned it at Little Bears because it's not something we've done with them. Makes me giggle just thinking about it.

Both little girls are into counting right now. Abigail is better at saying the numbers while pointing at objects...doing a one-to-one count. Bethany has a much faster finger than her numbers come out, so things don't get counted. Bethany is also the one who can count to ten; Abigail is almost there.

Often I will hold one of their hands, index finger extended, and help them point to individual items as we count aloud together. Tonight I came upon them looking at a counting book together. They were taking turns 'helping' each other point to the ladybugs and saying the numbers, just like I do with them. One would finish and then the other would say 'my turn'. Random cuteness at its best.

Peas and tink you

Manners are important, right? Right. We started working with please and thank you via sign language forever ago and "peas" became one of the little girls' early words, when we prompted them to use it. So both girls are beginning to understand what the word really conveys and will use it with gentle prompting. Here are a couple of examples:

Abigail still struggles to verbalize what she wants and will start to get frustrated if we can't figure out what she's 'saying'. I'll often say "use your words" and she'll reply "peas" as she tries to make her request again, swiping her hand across her chest as the way she signs it. (Such a polite request, sweetie, but I still have no idea what you're asking for.)

Bethany will ask for something without including please, until I give her a semi-stink-eye and then she'll say "peas". (Bwaa haa haa! such power in a glance!)

In addition to these wonderful demonstrations of manners, they are both now saying "tink you" when someone helps them or gets them something. UNprompted. LOVE it. Gives me the false sense that we're raising two of the most polite little girls that ever were. (ha)

I'll be sure to enjoy it while it lasts.

Another cute little girl story

Can you bear another one? This time it is about Bethany, who has become quite the 'verbal gerbil' as our early intervention PT once said.

After the little girls woke up this morning, I heard the typical chatting through the monitor. Then Bethany started singing. Nothing I've ever heard before, but a definite tune of her own. Complete with her version of a vibrato that was a little reminiscent of George of the Jungle's holler. I called the older kids into our room to hear it, but only Susannah was there in time to chuckle along with me. Susannah rightly asked "are you going to blog about this?"

Um, yes darling, I am.

Glimpse into naptime

I put the little girls down for a nap as soon as we got home from Little Bears (or Biddle Bears as Bethany says). They didn't settle down immediately and I could still hear chatting after about 20 minutes. That often means one or both needs a diaper change so I went to check on them. I saw that Abigail was asleep and that Bethany hadn't noticed I was in the doorway so I quickly pulled the door almost closed.

What I could see through that small crack was charming. Bethany was sitting up with her blanket over her knees, her blue doggy tucked under one arm, and a book upside down on her lap. She was paging through the book, pointing to words and singing the Alphabet song over and over. Then she discovered a loose nail and spent a few moments trying to pull it off. After the nail was dispatched, she chatted with her doggy, picked up her little baby doll and had the baby chat with her doggy. Finally, she put her book aside, lay down, and pulled her blanket up and over so she could go to sleep.

I felt blessed to get a small glimpse into Bethany's little world. I'm still smiling.

Give me a P!

For Potty, that is!

Abigail went potty on one of the little Baby Bjorn potties just now! Yay! Bethany has gone three different times (with quite a 'dry' spell since) but we hadn't gotten anywhere with Abigail beyond trying many many times. We're not trying too hard yet with this potty training thing, but we usually ask them daily if they want to try. I'll set the stage for a typical 'try':

The little girls like to settle onto their potties, magazines, catalogs or books spread across their laps, and sit. And sit. And trade reading material. And sit some more. They often play musical potties, switching from one little potty to another to the "Pooh" potty a friend gave us to sometimes even the big potty with one of those inserts. They'll sidle over to another potty seat, pink rings indented on their bums, backing up until they find the right place to sit back down.

More often than not absolutely nothing happens beyond the sitting and pink bums. But then something like today happens. And I have to tell you it was a little comical how surprised Abigail looked when she started to go. Her eyes got big and she looked a little panicked. She finished and then stood up right away, somewhat distressed. When I got all excited (and sang a silly made-up potty song) she finally smiled. This was pretty much an accidental success and who knows if she'll be a repeat toilet user anytime soon...but this is a start!

Blanket?

Abigail says giggit.
Bethany says bibbit.

Cute.

(I edited this...thought Bethany said babbit but tonight it sounded more like bibbit.)