Kailee recently has been VERY interested in the potty. She has wanted to sit on it several times, for about 10 minutes at a time. While we are not yet "potty-training," we are happy to see Kailee's interested and allow her to sit on the potty sans diaper whenever she wants.
On Monday night, we had the surprise of our life! After many occasions of just sitting on the toilet, Kailee actually peed! Gavin and she had been tossing a ball back and forth when I heard the trinkle of liquid. Kailee stopped, looked at me in confusion, I got all excited, and then she continued to empty her bladder. Gavin and I were both sooooo excited while Kailee seemed a bit confused and clueless. Gavin was excited because on the first occasion, I told him that if Kailee peed in the potty, they could both get M&Ms. Gavin immediately ran to get the candy treat.
While she is no where near potty trained--in fact, she can't tell us when she needs to go--it was still a big day for our big girl!
Last week Gavin turned 5 and this week he graduated from Preschool! Mommy, Daddy, YaYa and Poppa attended the family program. Poor Gavin got scared in front of everyone--especially, to perform in front of us. My poor baby covered his face during most of the ceremony and had tears running down his face. We are sooooo proud that he stayed up there the entire time despite how scared and embarrassed he was. He was very upset afterwards and disappointed in himself. I felt so bad for my baby boy! We told him over and over again how proud we were and I made sure someone would comfort him if he got upset during the second performance--the one performed for the entire school and teachers.
Here is the video of his special moment and when he received his certificate:
My worries for the second performance were completely unnecessary! Gavin got over his stage fright and had fun performing for the school. The wonderful director of the school saw how great he was doing in the second performance so she filmed it in short clips for us! I was so touched that she went out of her way to do this for us! It was a great surprise that made me cry. Now we not only got to see him at his best, but we also have nice videos to show him!
Please do not mention the first performance to Gavin. We are trying to focus on the positive experience he had the second time around. Here are the great videos from his second performance:
Kailee began by sleeping mostly in the infant seat.
Or swing
Then we managed to get her to sleep in her crib (though for a long time she had to be swaddled up tight).
Recently she began sleeping on a crib mattress on her floor.
Though she often ended up on the actual floor.
On the way to work on Friday morning, I noticed a white toddler bed at a garage sale in my neighborhood. I pulled over, asked them to hold it, and voila, we have a big girl bed--for only $20! She loves it!
First nap on her new bed (30 minute catnap before Gavin's party; Daddy enjoyed that too)
I can't believe it but my baby boy is 5! His actual birthday was Tuesday and he chose to go to the restaurant "with the bear that used to be alive but isn't anymore." In other words, he wanted to go to La Hacienda Ranch which happens to have a stuffed bear at the entrance. He also requested an M&M Ice Cream cake--which daddy improvised by piling M&Ms on a regular ice cream cake. He was so worried about the cake that Gavin did not even ask for a single present on his birthday! I was shocked. It didn't occur to him to ask for one all week either... We just gave him some after his party. CRAZY kid!
Here are some pictures of Gavin on his actual birthday:
The first thing he said that morning was, "Mommy, I'm 5 and my Batman Pajamas still fit!"
Being sweet with his baby sister
M&M Ice Cream Cake
Riding the horse outside of Hacienda Ranch
Kailee's turn on the horse
On Saturday, we had his party at Main Event in Plano. He had a ton of fun bowling, eating his Star Wars cake, and playing games! And he LOVED every present he got!
Dressed as Captain Rex, telling me he's 5
Headed to go bowl
Running to get the bowling ball
Work friend, her daughter and Kailee
Me and one of my little bros
The Mark Family minus Ethan (one of Gavin's best friends)
Gavin gave up the paci on his own by the time he was 15 months old. I think my last picture of him with a paci in his mouth was at the age of 14 months. I realize this is not the norm but boy were we lucky!
Kailee LOVES her paci. Loves loves LOVES it. Her childcare center has been wonderful about not allowing her to have it except at the very end of the day for months. During Snowmageddon last week, I took it a step further and made it where she only got it in her crib. Her school was 100% on board with us this week, and her teachers even said they thought she could go without it at nap. I said, "Give it a try if you want. I have tried and failed, but I know kids test Mommy and Daddy more than anyone else." Today they gave it a try and she did it! She fell asleep and took a nap sans paci!!!! THIS IS HUGE! If she handles it well again tomorrow, I'm going to re-attempt it myself on Saturday at home. I'm so unbelievably proud of our little lady!
Oh and did I mention she also got her 15 and 18 month shots before naptime? What a big girl to deal with all of that and then go without the paci for nap! So proud!
