This and that

Grace asked me the other day: "Mom, can you take a picture of me on the potty and put it on the 'puter'? So, here you go, Grace.

And here is my 2 cents on potty training: DON'T DO IT!
Grace was potty trained in one day, and it had nothing to do with me. One day, she was completely opposed, and literally, the next day she decided it was time. And since that day, she has only had ONE accident. She knew exactly what to do, when to do it, but she had to decide that she wanted to. So, if you are getting close to potty training your child, just don't do it!!! It takes the pressure off you, explain what has to happen and talk about it, but just let them do it when they are ready. I say this now, but, ask anyone, I was a little nervous that we would go to Kindergarten in diapers. I think we avoided months of frustration and cleaning up messes by just leaving the diapers on until she was ready to take them off. Trust me, I didn't do this willingly, but looking back I think it was the best thing!

In other news, we have had fun over the last week with our cousins in from DC. You can tell from this picture that bath time was a hit. Grace had a great time with Ellie, Karina and Caleb and asks if they can come over and play almost once a day! Too bad they live 12 hours away!
Harper and her little friend Ford had a playdate this week. (Ford's first, I might add). Above, Harper is giving him a little advice on life, probably about pooping, eating and how to sleep through the night. Ford is taking it all in.
And lately, Harps has been a little brown-noser. For good reason, she has been an absolute terror for approximately 80% of the day (waking and sleeping). I am not sure what has gotten into her, I keep thinking she is teething, but she doesn't have any other signs.... Anywhoo, the other night she cried for 3, count them, 3 hours...because there was nothing I could do to get her to stop. This crying has gone on for about 2 weeks. Her ears look OK, so it's not that, but I almost can not take it any longer! As I type, she is screaming through her nap. Needless to say, for that 20% of the day where she is happy, she tries to act super cute, says 'da-da' a lot and tries to win our affection once again. (She's pretty good at it!) Not sure what happened to my easy going, sweet and calm baby. Any ideas???