Howdy Y'all

Howdy from TX!  Emma and I had a great plane ride to see my bestie in TX.  Emma was a hit with the TSA agents and going through the airport by myself with a 2 yr old couldn't have gone better.  Emma was very excited to get buckled in and take off.  We brought a backpack full of snacks, lunch, stickers, tape, markers and paper.  Of course she was more interested in lifting and lowering the tray table and playing with the seat buckle than anything else.  She took a small cat nap and if the plane hadn't dipped, and caused the cabin pressure to change,  I think she would have slept longer.  I'm battling a sinus infection and I couldn't hear much for 20 minutes after the dip and had stabbing pains in my ears.  I tried my best to stay calm but Emma knew something was up and she kept hugging and patting me as I tried to regulate my ears.  

Emma is a little nervous today and I had to lay down with her at nap and bedtime.  She is doing a lot of lip picking and chapstick applying. She snores and is doing so as I type this.  She is making herself at home here with Haylies toys and Haylie...I think Emma would love to have an older sibling.  

The Cincinnati Children's Museum

We finally made it to The Cincinnati Children's Museum after hearing so many great things about it.  We had a playdate with Emma's little buddy Sophia, who is about 5 months younger than Emma and both girls played really hard.  Emma had to be tricked away from the giant water table or else we probably would have been stuck there all day.  Emma really liked the water table, the sandbox, loading coal into a wheelbarrow, hammering pegs at "The workshop"  and serving food at the Diner.  She served me a taco and a peanut butter sandwich at the Diner and she liked pushing around the grocery cart at "The Grocery".  Depsite digging right into the activities with no pause, she displayed her nervous behaviors all the way until lunch.  The museum is in the lower level, which is not as well lit as the lunch area on the main floor, so we should have probably brought her glasses.  A few months ago we had a playdate at the Dayton museum and she had the same reaction...both museums are on the lower level with no natural light and I think this messes with her sight.  Emma was not as into the museum a few months ago, but now she seems to be the perfect age as long as we can get her to stop blowing her finger and picking her lips while we are there.

 

Today I took Emma to the toy store because her potty training has gone so well.  She picked out a doll that has glasses just like her.  I promised her that I would buy her babies a crib when she did a #2, but Toysrus didn't have any nice ones in stock today, so I had to order one on Amazon.  Emma won't let it go that her baby gets a crib...she has a steel cage from the moment you say anything, so be prepared to have on hand what you promise.  In hindsight, I probably should have bought one last week when I first promised, but I never thought she would this soon.  She was also promised to make cupcakes by her Gramma Cheryl, so I have also been hearing about the cupcakes for days...she gets to make them on Tuesday.  The good thing about the chocolate chip and sticker rewards is that she doesn't always ask for them not that we have been at this for about 2 weeks.  The one step she never forgets is washing her hands...I accidentally gave her a sticker before washing her hands today and she said, "no, no no...wash hands first".

It can't be this easy?!

Emma is taking care of all business on the potty!  We are using pullups at night and in public places, but she is not afraid of public restrooms.  She tells us when she needs to go.  After only a week I am not ready to chance undies in public yet.  We were on a trampoline at Run Jump and Play on Wednesday and she asked to get out for the potty.  I was stunned to say the least and Emma was very proud to show our friends she was going. 

Only 22% of toddlers are trained by 29 months old and Emma is exactly 28 months old today...pinch me!

Most of the day I leave the light on in the bathroom, Emma goes in as needed and just yells for me at the end.  She can do it all by herself but I dont want her dumping the potty at the end.  If i forget to leave the light on, she yells, "light please!"  I love her pleases and thank yous...they are so girly and genuine sounding.

I DID IT!

For the last week, Emma has been very interested in the potty and has gone about once a day.  Yesterday, she woke up wanting to go potty like the kids in daycare and went 3 times...today, she has gone 4 times so far.  She is very proud of herself and yells, "I DID IT".  We are giving high fives, hugs, a sticker on her potty chart and 2 chocolate chips as a reward for using the potty.  We believe seeing the other kids in daycare sparked this sudden desire, so we also tell her she went potty just like Mary and Josh.  A few times a day, I tell Emma that her baby said she needs to go potty, so Emma will grab her baby, put her on the potty, then give the baby praises, just like we do with Emma.  We aso do this with the mom, dad, baby and grandma in her dollhouse...Emma even makes peeing noises for each of them.  All of this seems to really be helping grasp the concept.  The Baby also has a sticker chart just like Emma!  As of today, Emma is also becoming very skilled at being able to get herself to the potty without much help removing clothing etc, so we are quickly moving into a very good direction.  There is a bribe that has been offered up if she goes a #2...ice cream! 

 

Even though she is asking to go, I have her in Pullup diapers.  She had an accident on the rug last week which made her melt down and wouldn't touch the potty for a few days.  Everyone says using pullups is a no-no, but it's what is making her comfortable for right now.  We are just happy she has used the potty this many times and not become scared like before.  We have the cloth training undies with plastic covers, but the problem is, if she has an accident, good luck getting the cover off without dumping pee all over the floor.  I think I am going to put a Pullup on top of the undies instead of the plastic cover, but giving it a few more days before we take the next step back into undies.  I'm not in any hurry and considering we fly to TX at the end of this month, I fear that may make her take a few steps back in the potty training.  Emma has definitely shown us in many areas of deelopment, it's her way or not at all, so she is guiding this potty training ship for now.