Still at 100%!

Lauren went back to VJ's today and used the potty today with zero accidents! I'm so proud of her and, more importantly, she's proud of herself! I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

I discovered today how truly difficult she is to shop for. Not for clothes, because she frankly couldn't care less about what I put her in. It's toys and other related things that are hard. She just doesn't like anything enough that I can look at it and say THAT'S IT! We bought a bike for her birthday (and she's not even that keen on that, yet) and another family member offered to put some money towards it that basically covered the whole thing. We decided that we needed to get her at least a little something else, something just from us. So, we tooled around two different, gorgeous toy stores looking for just the right thing.

And kept looking and kept looking...

She doesn't really love dolls. She doesn't love stuffed animals. She doesn't love cars. She loves books and puzzles, but she has a ton and I knew she might be getting some for her birthday. ... She just doesn't love anything, at least not to the extent of something she MUST HAVE. I'm glad, of course, that she's not whining every day for some plastic something that's the next big thing, but she could at least throw me a bone!

Finally, on the very top shelf, I found IT. I don't know what to call it, exactly, but it's a big bouncy ball with a handle that she can sit on and bounce. Actually, thanks to the powers of the Internet, I found a photo. I think she'll love it: she loves bouncing, and she loves pretending that she's Tigger. Also, she is a little behind in her gross motor skills related to jumping, so I think this will help. Perfect all around!

Now to see what she actually thinks...

With Flying Colors!

We had a very busy family day today which culminated in Lauren's 3-year checkup. She was cute, engaging, and most importantly, very healthy! She weighed 32.6 pounds and was measured at 36 inches, though I'd argue that she's closer to 37. Her height and weight are both great, according to the doctor.

Other than that, everything checked out just great. Ears, eyes, nose, heart, lungs, reflexes all fine. Teeth great. Meeting all her milestones and exceeding some others. Really, she couldn't be better and we couldn't be happier! And to top it off, she didn't need any shots!

Pottytraining day 3 continued today and it was just fabulous. We were out and about all day, so we had her in Pull-ups and just kept dragging her to the public restrooms. She never went in the Pull-up, always on the toilet, and seemed to be controlling it well. I'm just thrilled! Tomorrow she goes back to daycare and they'll continue the potty-training with her there. Crossing my fingers!

Potty-training

We've been trying potty-training off and on for more than a year. We've had the potty around for her to see and get used to and have occasionally tried a weekend where we've made a big push. Lauren just hasn't been into it, though, and you don't want to force things with her. The second you start pushing her to potty is the second she quits on you, so we've taken some time on this.

I had been intending to try again this weekend for a while, since it's the beginning of Spring Break. It just seemed to be a good time, especially since she's about to turn three. And then yesterday, at Little Gym, we saw her disappear into the bathroom. I ran through the gym and into the bathroom to find her, pants down with diaper still on, sitting on the potty! I figured that she probably saw the other kids using it and wanted to try. So, we've been trying these last two days and it's going well. She's had two accidents each day, early on, but seems to be getting the hang of it. She even went on her own this afternoon! I could have done the dance of joy! I'm not totally sure it will stick this time, but this is progress, and I'm just thrilled.

Cool Man

I'm not a huge reality TV watcher, but I do watch Project Runway every week and have been watching Shear Genius On Demand. Sometimes I watch when she's downstairs playing, but I never thought she was paying attention. Until today.

I was downstairs watching Shear Genius and Lauren was up with her dad, taking a shower. He brought her down to say hello and she looked up the TV. "Designers!" she says. She then pointed up at the TV and said, "That's a cool man!"

The man in question is covered in tattoos, so I think her dad would disagree with her assessment. I, though, thought it was hysterical! I love when she comes out with stuff like that.

The Honeymoon is Over

This morning, as Lauren was getting settled in at daycare, I was chatting with VJ. She told me that Chloe and Lauren aren't really friends right now, that they've been fighting more and more. What started out as petty little fights over toys has escalated to not even wanting to be near each other. Apparently yesterday Lauren even told Chloe, "You're not my friend!"

Girl relationships are so fickle.

Some New Things

As Lauren approaches her third birthday, we're really starting to see some new behaviors. It's always fun when she comes up with something new, but you always wonder just where that came from.

She's still loving snuggling with Mom and Dad: she asks to do that every morning and every night. Sometimes I think she's using it as a delay tactic, but most of the time it seems genuine. She's also still sleeping in her "sleeping bag." It's been a great tool to getting her to sleep since she's so excited about being in it. It's a little too small for her, truth be told, but she seems to enjoy sleeping all scrunched up.

-She loves saying little phrases and laughing and laughing about them. "Missit!" and "Dylan!" are her favorites. She also loves if you say them as well and giggles like a little loon while you do. Bonus points are given if you say them into her "microphone" that she got from Gymboree.

-Lauren is all about helping in the kitchen right now. She will drag in one of the dining chairs in to the counter and help you with whatever she can. She washes vegetables, repeatedly washes her hands, helps pour chopped-up foods into the pot, measures, and generally just makes things messier and take 4 times longer. It's wonderful, though, to have that time with her and that she has such a desire to help.

-She's continuing to play with language, which is always fun to hear. She still hasn't worked out the whole he/she thing, though occasionally she does get it right. She's working on putting together full sentences that describe what she's seeing and they're quite accurate. For example, in her Richard Scarry book there's a picture of Huckle putting his pants on his arm. She said, "She's putting hers pants on hers hand!" You really had to see her working through this to understand, but it was just wonderful to hear.

-I'm proud to report that she has learned left and right and can apply them. She learned it quickly through stamp time at Little Gym, where they put stamps on the kids' hands and feet while telling them whether it's right or left. She picked it up immediately, which was really neat to see!

-I'm also really seeing the effects of her Gymboree and Little Gym sessions. She's starting to be braver in running, jumping and climbing, and is becoming more and more coordinated. She attempted a rock wall on the playground recently and loves climbing on all the various ladders and bridges. I just love watching her interact with the world!

Farmer Lauren

Lauren received a farmer style hat at the birthday party on Saturday and decided that she must wear it in the car on the way to VJ's yesterday. I asked her what she has on her farm. "Vegetables." I then asked her if she had any animals. "Cows. And chicks. And giraffes. They make a sound like this. They make a sound like elephants." She then made a really good stab at making an elephant sound.

Given that I've never actually heard a giraffe making a sound, I can't argue with her.

It's Been A While...

I've had my head buried in work lately, so haven't updated for a week. Of course, she's still been very sweet and funny this whole time, so I have a couple of updates!

-Tonight, I swear the child turned into a whirling dervish. We were coming home from Gymboree, ready to have dinner and get her to bed. When we got home, she wanted to stay outside and pick flowers. Jeremy came out and stayed with her while I went inside to start dinner. After a few minutes, I heard an approaching wail. Jeremy came into the house, carrying a red-faced, crying girl. He wanted her to come in for dinner and she was quite unhappy about that. She cried and cried and then cried some more. She even tried pushing Jeremy back towards the door so he'd let her out.

After a couple of minutes, it was clear that she wasn't calmig down and was in fact acting nastier and nastier. So, Jeremy went to put her in timeout so she could settle down. He had her sit down in her normal spot and started the two minute timer. Immediately, she started crying, "I don't want a timeout! I don't want a timeout!" She did this for literally 1 minute and 40 seconds of her time in timeout, only settling right before it was time to get up. Once she got up, she asked to be left alone for a couple minutes, which we did. She then asked for a snuggle, which we obliged, and finally her dinner. She was off to bed a little later than normal tonight, but was much calmer by the time she got there.

-She went to her first real kid's birthday party on Saturday. It was her little friend Evander, who was turning three. The party was held at an "equestrian center" which was essentially a farm set up for parties. There was a little party room in the hayloft, a petting area with all sorts of animals, little tractors for them to ride, and pony rides.

Lauren got kind of a bad start when there was someone dressed up as a rabbit in the party room. She wasn't crying or anything, but definitely was keeping an eye on him. After that, she wasn't too keen to participate in much. She really didn't want to eat, though she did perk up when there were cupcakes. Of course. She waited patiently in line for a pony ride, but then didn't want to ride when it came time. She wanted to ride the tractors, but only a little. She didn't want to pet the animals and in fact seemed scared of the baby ducks and the little chicks. She wasn't upset; she just didn't want to.

Of course, true to form, she did surprise us in the end. She didn't want to pet all the little, cute animals, but when she got the chance to go pet the miniature donkey, she went right in and happily petted and talked to him. She's a funny kid sometimes!

My Little Bunny

For some reason, Lauren has been obsessed lately with sleeping in her Pack N Play. Not sure what precipitated it, but she just wants to be in her "sleeping bag", and putting her to bed has never been easier.

This morning when I went in to get her, she was standing in the Pack N Play wearing the bunny ears we got at Target yesterday. "Hi Mommy! I a bunny wabbit," was how she greeted me. It was one of those snapshot moments I feel like I'll always remember.

She's a Determined One!

Lauren and I were in Target this afternoon and of course had to check out the $1 section. There were lots of cute things, and we walked away with a colorful pinwheel, a headband with bunny ears, and a little coloring/sticker book of Tigger and Pooh. Arms full of things, she went out to the car.

On the way home, she was looking through the Tigger and Pooh book and kept asking me to read it. As I always do in the car, I told her to wait until we got home, since I was driving. She said, "I throw it to you!... 1...2...3" and it landed next to my elbow. What a funny girl.

So Who Am I Talking To Today?

The really fun thing Lauren is up to lately is getting into is imaginary play. Her kitchen and cooking tools are great for her right now because she really loves "cooking" us all sorts of food like cookies, milkshakes, and sandwiches. She also loves to play-clean, which of course I love!

The funniest thing right now is how much she loves pretending to be different characters. I frankly never know whom I've talking to. Little Bear? Ruby? Max? Tigger? It seems to depend on her moods a bit, but also on what she's seen most recently. Tigger seems to be a favorite in the morning, which is great because I can get her to bounce out to the car rather easily. In the evenings, she's most often Ruby, with Jeremy as Max and me as Mrs. Huffington. It's funny to see her actually take on some of the traits of the different characters; she really seems to get their personalities.

This is definitely one of my favorite things about her todderhood. I'm enjoying see her use her imagination and experiencing the world around her in different ways.

In One Month...

Lauren will be three. I can't believe it! She's grown so much in the last year that it seems as if five years have gone by and yet, none at all. When she turned two, she just had a few words and was really figuring out how to use her body. Now, she talks all the time and uses more complex speech every day. Being in Gymboree and now Little Gym have been a huge help for her learning all the different things her body can do. She runs, jumps, and climbs with full confidence now, not that I love that all the time.

There's a lot about her that hasn't changed, though. She's still a smart, inquisitive little girl that greets each new day with excitement. Well, once she has some juice, that is! She independent and yet vastly loving; stubborn and yet happy to please. She's a wonderful girl and I can't wait to see what all she accomplishes next!

So She Really IS Listening!

Lauren has learned all sorts of neat little things at VJ's, including the Pledge of Allegiance, the five senses, and how to call 911. You have to imagine them with a little bit of a two-year-old filter, of course, but it's surprising how well she does them.

Another of the cute things is that she can answer questions about George Washington:

"Who was the first president of the United States?"
"George Washington."
"When was he born?"
"February."
"What does he wear on his head?"
"White wigs."

Well, that's what she's supposed to say, anyway. Yesterday, she was telling me that it was "white legs" and there was just no convincing her otherwise!

When Jeremy came home, I tried to get Lauren to say all of the above so that he could hear the "white legs" part. In typical Lauren fashion, though, she refused to recite on demand, so I was just telling him about it. When I got to the "white legs" part, Lauren suddenly interrupts and says, "That's right! White legs!" So the little stinker was listening after all!

Still don't know why she is so confused about the presidents, but I'm sure it'll work itself out.

What Language Is That, Exactly?

Friday night, Jeremy was in charge of feeding Lauren and getting her to bed. After she finished dinner, she wanted to snuggle on the couch. So, Jeremy settled in on the couch with her. She even wanted to snuggle their pillows so that they were touching. After a few minutes, she said, "Daddy, hock-soo. Hock-soo." Puzzled, Jeremy asked her what "hock-soo" meant.

She laid her head down on her pillow and made a snoring noise. Try it. It does kind of sound like "hock-soo!"