Potty? Yes!

Last night, for the very first time, Ava pee peed on the potty! All by herself!

I was changing her diaper and she asked to go sit on the potty. I was in the zone, wanting to get her ready for bed, diaper changed, PJs on, so of course I said, 'You just went in your diaper honey, you don't need to go on the potty'. She insisted, 'Potty? Potty?' so I gave in. She was already half-naked, why not let her go sit her cute little bottom on the seat for a minute.

She ran over to her potty and sat down while I retrieved her favorite Elmo potty book, and then I joined her and began reading. Not five words in, I realized she was sitting on the back of her onesie, I thought, 'Eh, may as well move this just in case'. I reached down to pull out the dangling cotton and snaps only to feel it soaking wet... I looked in the potty and there sat a puddle of beautiful pee! Now for all you non-parents out there, it is amazing and shocking how normal words like pee pee and poo poo become in your everyday language, and even more surprising the level of excitement and pride that bursts forth when your child goes to the potty for the first time by themselves. In my highest and most shrill, excited voice I said, "Ava?! Did you go pee pee on the potty?!" to which she of course answered, "Yeah!" I clapped and cheered and she got soooo excited for herself. If mommy is getting this excited, I must have done something really great! We cleaned up, de-clothed and triumphantly flushed the specimen down the toilet (to which Ava always screams, "Rolling!" as the water whooshes down).

Ava continued to sit on the potty for about twenty minutes, insisting that she would poo poo in it (though I knew she wouldn't), and drool on herself the sticky sugary goodness that was her first potty treat--a yellow skittle. My my, I remember the pride I felt the first time she smiled at me, rolled over, crawled forward, stepped forward, mastered using her little fingers... this is right up there!

Now I've heard the stories of moms whose kids pee on the potty around this age but later refuse to have anything to do with it, or whose journey toward diaper independence is a long one. But, nevertheless, I am still so proud of my little girl and can't wait to see how she continues in this process!

Shutterfly Promo

This season Shutterfly is promoting their brand by offering 50 free Christmas cards to all bloggers! The budget-minded mom that I am, I jumped at this freebie. They have a huge selection of great, modern cards to choose from, perfect for our little family (and yours). Shutterfly also is a great destination for Christmas gifts including personalized wall calendars, photo ornaments, photo mugs and more.

Here is where you can find their Christmas card selection. Some of my favorite designs are the Merry Blossom, Family Wall Red and Noel Lace. I can't wait to design our family's card this Christmas! It's such a great way, especially now that we have Ava, to share our family with, well... family!

I hope you all enjoy picking out your cards this season and a few special gifts for friends and family. I don't know about you but even though it's barely Thanksgiving, I'm already feeling the holiday spirit brewing in our home!

20 Months

Unfortunately this month has been marked by illness. Welcome winter and winter bugs! Ava has had an ear infection, two colds, a virus, a stomach bug and a horrible vomit-inducing cough that won't let up. However, amidst the tissues, motrin and carpet cleaner, Ava has managed still to grow and do new things.

One of the benchmarks of Ava's month will be her new interest in the potty! Just this last week she has asked to sit on the potty a number of times and loves to place all her stuffed animals and dolls on it as well. They go pee pee, we clap for them and make a big to-do. Just a few weeks ago I would have said she was not even close to being ready but then one day, the light when on and the first phase of potty-training had begun. This is not a process I am going to push until she is very ready but consider this stage of education, practice and pretend an important one!

This month once again Ava has made a giant leap in her independence and conversational and emotional skills. Blair and I regularly sit and marvel at the little human that does circles around us, amazed at her ability to interact and her desire to learn. Her new sweet bend is toward asking us often, "Ya OK?" if ever we seem slightly surprised, scared, hurt or if she labels a loud noise or action as potentially causing us harm. It is so precious and exciting to watch her become increasingly aware of our emotions and respond to them!

In past months Ava started labeling things around the house as "mommy's" and "daddy's" (this by the way is a very telling way to see how you spend your time). For instance, the car, iced tea, anything with a power cord and all tools are "daddy's", whereas mommy's things include coffee, dishes, laundry baskets, lotion and the like! Anyway, so this was a new trend in the recent months but in the last couple of weeks Ava has started wanting to know who gave her different articles of clothing, blankets and other baby items. Every time we put on her pink sweatpants from Nana she squeals, "Nanny's!" though you can all rest assured that your names are mentioned daily, whether you gave her something or not. The other day she saw an old pillow I'd stuffed under her mattress to raise it up a bit and she said, "Papa's!" I replied, "Papa's? Did Papa give you that pillow?" Her reply: an enthusiastic, "Yeah! Thank you Papa!"

Ava's vocabulary list continues to lengthen, faster than I can remember to write them all down. With that, here is non-exhaustive record of Ava's words this month: Coat, grass, broccoli, juggle, cracker, Morgan, OK, "apple" bar, nose, eyes, ears, teeth, purse, bag, house, bacon, kix, towel, snap, barney, wheel, applesauce, pasta sauce, rice, bow, zipper, church, dipe dipe (diaper), mess, star, bug, spot, bright, buckle, laundry, all gone, blankie, rolling, hole, ipod, ice, case, monster, oatmeal, football, coffee, frosty and painting!

This month also marked Ava's 1st Halloween... that she actually took part in! We dressed her as the cute teddy bear you see above, went to Emily and Brian's apartment (Blair's sister and her fiance) as well as some of our neighbors homes. Ava had a cold but enjoyed the outing, loved her "hat" and couldn't have been cuter. She didn't quite understand the giving of candy as evidenced by her prompt returning of the treat to the giver with a "Thank you!", but still she had fun. And of course she is benefiting from the holiday with the occasional, "Teet? Teet? (Treat)" shared with mommy from the bowl of leftovers.