Open House at Regina Preschool!

We made it to the Regina Catholic Preschool's Open House today!

Peter was excited to get to his school -

it was hard to stop him for this snapshot in front of the school!

We all had a nice time meeting Peter's teachers, Nick and Connie. Peter even gave Connie a hug upon meeting her! Of course, the cookies and punch were a huge hit with Peter (and us parents). He spent most of the time just playing with all the toys and other kids in his Bear room. We got to meet other parents in his class and knew a few from our church already! I was tickled pink when we spotted his name on his box. He really liked it that he has a Buzz Lightyear sticker next to his name! How perfect!

We can't wait for him to get started in September!!!

Historic moment in Olympic sport of napping

Can it be?!?!?!
All three of my children are napping!!!
The house is so quiet - I almost don't know what to do!

I guess I'll blog!

Peter takes the gold as he naps on the couch:



Silver medalist, Natalie, takes her nap as usual starting at 3pm. I dare not open the door to snap her picture as it could wake her up!
Trust me, she's behind these doors:

And taking the bronze, Elaine entered the Olympic sport of napping after a long, good feeding to please anyone, even this baby:

This coverage of the Olympic sport of napping has been proudly presented by their mother,

who is enjoying the peace and quiet.

Elaine's 6-week birthday

Amazing! It's already been 6 weeks since Elaine was born!

She has gone through many changes and has grown quite a bit. At her 1-month appointment last Thursday, she weight 10 lbs and measured 22 inches, having gained 2 lbs and 2 inches in 1 month! So, safe to say, the "milk maids" are delivering enough milk. :)

In the past week or so, she's become more alert and finally interested in toys around her.

Notice she also has a persistent curl of hair on her left temple. I love it.

She also seems to enjoy daytime naps more in her comfy swing than in her crib

(who wouldn't, right?)

But following tradition, she's become less interested in sleeping during the days and initially at night. Also, there's a bit more crying but nothing I hadn't expected at this age. It's a little rough, but "this too will pass".

At least Elaine makes it hard to be upset when she also started to smile to our goofy sounds,

like this cute snapshot:

Too bad I only had my cell phone camera on hand, but I'm sure there will be more ahead!

WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO! Potty Training Success!

If you told me a week ago that I'd be blogging about Peter using the potty, I would have never believed it. Yet, here I am, about to blog about one of the happiest moments in kid-raising history:

Peter is using the potty!!!!

Peter's potty diary:

It all started on Friday, June 25th when we decided to switch him cold turkey to underwear. We heard about that method but had been hesitant to do it. However, when Peter showed us that he could change his own diaper by himself, we knew it was time. Sam made the push and I agreed to do it. And it has paid off so far!

First day was obviously not perfect. Peter was just starting to learn and had many accidents. However, he would tell us immediately he needed to change his underwear. It helped that Sam and I could see when he went (hard to tell when they have a diaper on) and that we were eager to prevent accidents to save our carpets and couches. A big step was when Peter, wearing underwear, and I went to KMart (the closest store to us, btw) for him to pick out a new set of underwear. He chose Mickey Mouse - over Spiderman, Cars, and Diego. I also bought some Hanes (to match his Daddy - sorry for that 411).

By the end of day 1, Peter really liked wearing his "big boy underwear" and gave a good fuss when we tried to put one on for the night! I failed to mention that we tried to get him used to the idea of underwear by putting one on over his diaper Thursday night. Peter gave a huge fuss and didn't want the underwear on AT ALL! Strange how he did a 180 on us only 24 hours later!

Day 2 Saturday June 26th: we set the potty chairs in the kitchen so that 1) we could watch them and 2) clean up would be easier. After a showing or two of "Go Poty Go" video from the library and some lemonade...

Peter had his first success of the weekend!

Even Natalie hopped on board...

and had some success herself...

after which she exclaims "Yay! Now, I get a special treat!"

We've been rewarding with mini M&M's, which Peter calls them "Hemmy nemmys".

Saturday's success started a string of successes.

By Day 3,Sunday, June 27th, Peter had only 1 accident through Monday the 28th!

Monday's tally:

All week long, Peter has been working on doing #2 consistently in the potty but has been doing great with all his #1's. We even were surprised that over this past week, his diaper (that we still have him wear overnight) has been dry all but one morning!!!

Yesterday, we had made a successful trip to the grocery store without accidents! However, as soon as we got home, Peter went to the potty and "relaxed".

I guess our next step would be for him to conquer going to a public bathroom.

A glimpse into Peter's future

Sam told me of some interesting parts of conversations between him and Peter this morning, illustrating Peter's picking on the definition of terms:

Part 1:

Peter: "I'm going to let Sydney eat [Natalie's] Puppy" Nata has a toy Puppy she cherishes

Sam: "Don't give Sydney anything to eat!"

Peter: "Except food?"

Part 2:

Sam: "Peter, please don't push me when I'm holding Elaine."

Peter: "Can I pull you?"

This tells us either Peter is going to grow up to be that kind of boy or he's gearing up to become a lawyer! As his mother, I'm hoping for the latter!

Mac and cheese...cake

Sort of a pun on words there.

:)

Over the weekend, our Mac Mini arrved. There was great excitement when FedEx delivered the package. However, Peter and Natalie were a slightly disappointed with the "apple" delivery as it turned out not to be food.

The big reveal:

Sam has been working hard to get it integrated into our tv theater system. Despite a couple road bumps, he is so dedicated and persistent. Reminds me of the time when we tried working on our physics problems together back in college! I, unfortunately, was not as persistent and just wanted to skip to the next problem. It's nice to know some good things never change!

I took on the family challenge to make a cheesecake. The kids (and Daddy) asked me to make one so I set out to please them even though I had never made one before. Oh, the things a Mommy will do for her family! I settled on a recipe in my "Friends of Pharmacy" cookbook (for those who might also have this book) called Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cheesecake bars. Instead of bars, I made a circular cake with my spring form pan. It turned out prety well for my first time. I might suggest baking a little longer than the recipe says (if you make a circular one) as the center wasn't as firm as it should be. Nevertheless, I was proud of the fruits of my labor!

And, it was pretty good!

Things I hear from Peter and Natalie - Part 2

The kids have been saying pretty funny and cute things lately. Again, wanting to document and share them, here they are!

Natalie sayings:

"[I wanna go downstairs] for a little while" she adds "for a little while" to a lot of her sentences.

"Mommy, what's you're doin?" while calling on the phone

"Him put him put hand in him mouth" (while really referring to Elaine) just an example of her ubiquitous use of "him" regardless of gender.

"Hey everybody!" her way to get our attention

"I looooooooooove [pizza, stickers, Kai Lan, cake]" she loooooooves everything

"That's too bad!" showing real concern when things go bad

"Let me twry"

Natalie making soup (that's very hot) with strawberries, berries and grapes.

I was trying to get video of her saying the ABCs ("Super Why" Alpha Pig's version), but Natalie had her own version - HIJKLMNO...Pig!

Peter sayings:

"You make the best dinner, Mommy!" what a way to melt my heart!

"Not bad...not bad at all" when trying new foods

"When I was a baby, I got bathtized too"

"Baby wants to drink milk from your nipples" yes, he's learned about the anatomy of breastfeeding

"No....TRIcycle" always correcting me when I call his trike a bicycle.

"I thought you were having [a boy/two babies]" he has said both phrases. I'm just glad the latter wasn't true!

"Is he down to good?" in response to me saying someone was up to no good...ah, the innocence!

Finally, just some lunch time fun, Natalie was doing a little "peri-pocus ocus crocus" on her quesadilla. She obviously doesn't appreciate Peter's interruptions