Stella and Maggie's potty party

It's been almost exactly two years since we potty-trained (mostly) Will, and here we are again.  Maggie and Stella have been showing interest in using the potty for weeks now so Patrick took the day after Thanksgiving off so that we could strike while the iron was hot.  Like Will's party, we talked about using the potty for days and days leading up to Friday, we decorated the bathroom they would be using - complete with TWO potty seats - and we forced as much liquid into them as we could for three days.

 

Day 1 was largely successful - no real accidents.  The girls were made to use the potty every 30 minutes for the entire day, and whenever else they felt they needed to go.  Nothing under their dresses to catch accidents so we covered a little of the playroom floor and limited where they could sit (ie, no couch).

Day 2 was the same but after lunch they were off the clock and only going when they felt they needed to.  There was an accident or two, but nothing too messy.  Both girls finally went poop, and almost all of it was in their potties.

The morning of day 3 was self-directed until after nap time when the girls were greeted with their first "big girl" underwear.  Their smiles were contagious, even after their first accidents in undies.  They go back to school tomorrow morning in undies for the first time so we'll see how well they hold up....

As an aside, the girls took the whole "big girl" thing a little too far Sunday night when they decided to have "a slumber party daddy" in Maggie's bed.  They were both so sure of themselves that it was a good idea that it was almost tempting to let them do it.

Will's 5th Birthday party

Will spent much of the past year telling us that he wanted a Star Wars birthday party, so Patrick did all he could to fuel that excitement.  Like all other birthdays, Patti outdid herself and Will had more fun than ever.  Bill (Obi Wan), Bonnie (older Leia), Patrick (Luke), Patti (Leia), Stella and Maggie (Ewoks) and Will (young Anakin and Darth Vader) were all in costume, as were many of Will's friends.  Will even managed a costume change somewhere along the way when he wanted to become a "bad guy for a little while."

Patti had all the Star Wars fixings:  blue milk, seven Leia dip, Han Solo carbonite jello, a Death Star pinata (a soccer ball pinata that she repainted), a Death Star cake, homemade foam lightsabers, Yoda cookies, Ewok cookies (Teddygrahams), and more.  Will had SO much fun, we had fun visiting with other parents, Bonnie and Bill were smashing in their costumes, and we celebrated the first of many birthdays in the new home.

After two hours of the kids attacking one another, they suddenly all ganged up on Bill.  Thankfully, he's good with a sword and he fended them all off.

Halloween 2013

Because we went all out over Will's birthday theme (see the next post), we kind of had our Halloween costumes made up already.  Will was a great Darth Vader and Maggie and Stella were too cute Ewoks.

Our neighborhood had their annual Halloween party and parade the weekend before Halloween so we all dressed up (Patti was Leia, Patrick was Luke) and made the rounds.  It was a great way to meet the neighbors and a pretty neat thing for the kids to see so many other kids dressed up and having fun.
















Being the first year in our new home, we weren't sure of when to leave, where to go, or how much traffic our house would get but everything turned out great.  We left at dusk, made one big loop down the nearest streets, and the kids ended up with a modest amount of candy that they are still enjoying in late November.