Well that was complicated

I think I'm losing my technical edge. I used to be really good and FAST at figuring out technical things. Like my new BlackBerry. But I just spent 1/2 hour or more setting up a new email address on the phone and figuring out how to send myself a picture that I took today on the phone. Phew! Enjoy the fruits of my labor. We went to the annual Bellevue Arts Fair today and lo and behold... Brooke got to have her picture taken on a REAL police motorcycle! Her Uncle Clark, the motorcycle guy, would be proud. The picture I took was crummy (see above) but they took a very cute one and printed it for us, putting it in a folder that says "Junior Motor Officer." So cute.

Justin is out of town on a long trip so for two nights in a row now, after the kids have gone to sleep I've been amusing myself with all the horrible junk TV I record on TiVo. It's like junk food. At first, it feels like such an indulgence but after a while you're just watching it (eating it) because it's there and you're left strangely unfulfilled. I also discovered that you CAN make s'mores on the gas cooktop. Oh, this is bad to know. Very, very bad. It would have been much better if I'd lived the rest of my life thinking I had to wait until we had a campfire to eat s'mores with that authentic burned crust taste.

Brooke's 3 year checkup

Brooke had her 3-year checkup yesterday. She is doing just great, except one little thing that's bothering us, apparently the doctor detected a very slight heart murmur. She said it's 98% sure to be nothing, but she wants a pediatric cardiologist to listen to it to be sure. It's bugging me but I have to wait until later this week for the referral to go through before I can call and schedule the appointment.

Relevant stats:
34.8 lbs (75%)
39.75" (97%)

And this time instead of head circumference, they calculated her BMI, which was 15.1 (25th percentile for her height). She also had her blood pressure taken for the first time, which she thought was very cool because I frequently get mine taken (like whenever I'm at the drugstore and pass the little machine).

Other than the heart murmur, she got an A+ from the doctor. She was particularly impressed that Brooke is all potty trained. Go Brooke!

Sunnybank 2008

We spent the weekend with my dear friend Marie at her family's beach house on the Oregon Coast. The house is called Sunnybank, and was purchased by her great-grandparents for $300 many, many years ago and has been a wonderful retreat for successive generations ever since. I've been going to Sunnybank for about 14 years now, so it's become a very special place to me and it means a lot to me, now that I'm married with a family, to share it with my husband and kids.



Despite a long drive down (7 hours that should have been more like 5) and a horrendous drive home (8.5 hours of solid traffic!) we had a great time. The weather was fantastic on Sunday and great on Saturday afternoon too.

Brooke was so fired up about playing in the sand that she was ready to head down to the beach as soon as she got up. The time stamp on this picture is 7:25 am. Notice the pajamas and bead head.

Later...

Guess who had the time of his life? Leo!

Rare smile from Jack (must be the Twizzlers). The rest of the weekend he mostly cried.
I chalk it up to the 2 days of fever he experienced right before we left, which I think was teething.

What Jack looked like most of the time. Not a happy camper!

Brooke (with Fancy Nancy sunglasses) and Marie.

Then Jack wanted to try on the Fancy Nancy glasses.

Even my friends Laurie and Mike's darling little guy Ryan got in on the Fancy Nancy fun!

Yikes, sorry it's been so long!

I didn't realize it had been almost a week since I posted. Not much is new - just busy busy, enjoying the summer. A few notes:

• Brooke is almost completely potty trained. Woo hoo! She is 100% on #1, about 80% on #2, and the last two days she has also woken up dry. I am so thrilled. Less than two weeks! I guess there are perks to waiting until they are 3 to potty train. Our first big car trip is coming up so we'll see how that goes... I see a lot of stops in our future.
• I had another "first" experience at the gym yesterday - get this: in the shower (they are divided by frosted glass) I noticed that TWO WOMEN got into the shower together next to me. I was a little shocked! Were they good friends who needed to share shampoo or ??? It didn't appear that any funny business was going on, but I tried to hurry myself out of there quickly and was trying not to look. Yikes!
• We are going to the Oregon Coast to my friend Marie's beach house on Friday. Yippee! We are all excited. Brooke has soccer in the morning and we're going to leave right after that. We'll spend the day in Cannon Beach and then head south to Rockaway when Marie gets off work. We can't wait. Leo too!

Guess that's it for now! I have a post brewing in my head about Jack and his super dancing abilities, but I have to get the video uploaded to really show the cuteness of it all. Stay tuned.

Rockin' and rollin' on the potty training...

Woo hoo - I am happy to report that Brooke has not had a #1 accident for two whole days now! She has really mastered peeing on the potty. Before today, I'd been putting her in a pull-up when we left the house, but today I decided to get brave and let her use public toilets. First, she tried the adorable kid-sized real toilet at the kids club at my gym. (this was before they paged me to come get Jack, who had not stopped crying since I left... So my workout was only 12 minutes long. Sigh.) Then, she had a dental checkup this afternoon and used the facilities there. Tonight, we went to Applebee's for dinner and she used the facilities twice! What really tickles me about all this is the look of delight on her face. She is really taking pride in her accomplishment and it makes me very happy.

Now, #2 is another story. She had two accidents today, so clearly we have work to do. Not loving that but hopefully it won't take too much longer for this part of the routine to click for her.

Sorry if this is too much detail on the subject. It's really all that I've been up to since Sunday so I have nothing else to report! I will consider it a big accomplishment when we're done -- way up there on my list of parenting achievements.

Day 3 - I think we're on the right track

Brooke only had 2 accidents today and even did #2 (ok, only a tiny bit but it counts!) I am so proud of her. She is really getting the hang of it. She is wearing panties all day and has started telling me when she has to go potty. This is a huge step forward from Sunday (day 1) when we went for a walk and she peed in her pants and didn't even notice it! I am committed to see this through now. Day 1 & 2 I wanted to quit, but there is no going back now.

Potty training update

Well, I'm not sure how to grade our progress. Brooke is doing pretty well at peeing on the potty - which I am thrilled about. She is still wearing a pullup at night (I'll tackle that after the daytime is under control). She still poops whenever and wherever... and doesn't seem to notice it. Sigh. I have this incentive system in place - we have a big shopping bag full of goodies and she gets to pick one every time she uses the potty. It seems to be working well so far, but the best thing in the bag - a satin and velour Dora & Boots pillow - is reserved for pooping on the potty and I keep reminding her of how much she wants to earn it, but so far she hasn't been able to do it. She doesn't even seem to notice she's done it - much less get upset about it! This part is discouraging to me. I think I waited too long to push her on this. Everyone told me not to push, they'll do it when they're ready, etc. but now I'm not sure that's the best advice. She is way beyond capable but at this point (age 3) she has developed habits that are hard to change. I wish I'd done this before Jack was born because now it's really hard to focus on her 100% during this time, which is what she really needs to be successful.

Meanwhile can I just whine for a second about how hard it is? Man oh man! Sunday and Monday I did absolutely NOTHING except sit on the floor in the bathroom encouraging her, reading to her, and staring at her bare bottom. Not exactly productive or fun. We changed and washed a lot of wet underpants.

So today is day 3, wish us luck... thankfully the babysitter will be here today (I'll be around, working in the yard) so I get a break from the imprisonment in the powder room.

Any moms who have been through this, I'd love to hear words of encouragement!

Potty training: This is it!!

I've had it with having two in diapers. My three year old needs to learn to use the potty NOW. We've been trying off and on for over a year now - almost a year and a half. People keep telling me that age 3, +/- one month, is the magic age and I'm ready. So tonight, I went to Target and got a huge bag full of supplies: Two big jugs of cran-apple juice, two packs of Dora panties, and 7 fabulous prizes (all but one are Dora themed - what can I say, it's her currency!). After peeing through her diaper this afternoon in the car, Brooke has agreed that tomorrow is THE DAY. I'm going to put her on the potty as soon as she wakes up and then it's panties all day. I'm ready to do the laundry and clean the carpet. With the huge bag of incentives, I'm hopeful that she will hop on board the potty train. WISH US LUCK!!!

My baby girl is 3!

Brooke had a fantastic birthday today. We took three of her best buddies to Build-a-Bear and then out to lunch at Red Robin. The girls had a blast at Build-a-Bear, and since it was Brooke's first time, she was wide eyed and overstimulated. What more can you ask for on your birthday?

Note: Brooke hasn't quite figured out how to smile on command for the camera.
It was so cute - they all made a birthday wish for Brooke (they took this very seriously)
and then kissed a heart and put it in Brooke's elephant.

The girls gave their bears (and Elephant and Cheetah) a bath.

After being fully dressed and over-the-top, bling-bling accessorized, we were ready to go!
(Again with the straight face - honestly, Brooke did have a great time!)

I made panda cupcakes for the occasion (I was up until almost 1:00am last night baking - I have a sickness!)

The cupcakes got the thumbs-up from Brooke!

Sent the girls home with goody bags, of course.

What was in the goody bags.
And the cupcake balls that I couldn't wait to try. They also went home in the goody bags.

And tonight I rest. On to the next birthday. Up next: Daddy. Bring it on!