It's Not My-ine, So It Must Be Ur-ine

Ava was on a dry stretch today. She hadn't peed since the time that Doni picked her up from the sitter's at 4pm to the time we got back from our Ava Date. It wasn't for want of fluid intake either. She put the hurt on our pop at the movies. If there was ever a time to sit her on the potty, the time was now.

We've tried several different rewards in an attempt to get her potty-trained. First it was M&M's, then gummy bears, then gummy worms. After watching her enjoyment at opening presents for her birthday Doni came up with the great idea of wrapping small dollar-store type trinkets and letting her open one each time she went in the potty. Even this hadn't been enough of a motivation to get her to use the potty consistently.

Her bladder had to be full, so we bribed her with a promise that we could watch whatever she wanted if she tried to potty. She sat down without a fight while Doni and I took care of a few things.

Two minutes later.... SUCCESS! She yelled, "I did it!" and pumped both fists in the air. Not one to disappoint, she truly did go potty... and A LOT. I've never been excited over urine. I was trying to award her with praise by dancing and singing a "Ava went potty" song when she said, "STOP STOP STOP.... PRESENT". First things first I guess.

Up, Up, and Away

Tonight we took Ellie over to our neighbors and went out on an Ava Date. It's like going back to the days when it was just Doni, Ava, and I. Ava's been handling having to share our attention amazingly well, but we thought we'd spend a little time just on her.

We took her out to see the movie Up (or as she refers to it, "Balloon Movie"). We got some concessions and she looked ridiculous with both arms wrapped around the large tub of popcorn as we walked to out theater. On top of that, she was overly concerned about the kernels that were falling on the floor, despite the fact that she would spill more every time she looked at the one or two she had just dropped.

Ava really gets into movies. One of the previews was for a movie called Shorts. At the end of the preview the main character answers a phone (that is implanted in his head). Ava thought this was hilarious and said, "Hahaha, He said, 'Heh-row".

Another preview she liked was for the remake of the movie Fame. At the end of this one the preview trails off with a song saying "remember... remember...". Ava continued the mantra well past the end of the trailer.

It was a pretty good movie with a lot of jokes that were primarily for adults without being adult-content. As the movie wrapped up the music began to crescendo and the picture zoomed out. As she is prone to do at times like this, she yelled out, "IT'S OVER!" She must have repeated this literally 20 times over the next two minutes. That's my daughter... the credits-spotting queen.

Spotted In The Wild

Ava and Ellie made an appearance on a blog post of friends of ours. They have twins. See pictures at Our Life (look for the three babies about halfway down).

Two Buns, Hold The Sesame Seeds

We did some traveling this weekend to visit family. On the way we stopped at a truck stop/McDonald's for some dinner. We're still working on potty training so I took Ava into the bathroom with me. When I took her in I checked her diaper and realized that she was still dry. Perfect! I had to go pretty bad so I went first. However, by the time I went to sit her on the toilet her diaper was already wet.

Here's the dilemma. Since her diaper WAS dry, I didn't bring a clean diaper into the bathroom with me. She (unsuccessfully) tried to go to the bathroom and then I pulled up her shorts, planning to get a diaper from Doni (who was waiting at McDonald's). We left the bathroom to go find her. Ava doesn't like to go commando, so she immediately ran up to Doni, said, "I need a diaper", and pulled her shorts down in the middle of McDonald's! We're still working on her social graces.

One Month and Counting

Ellie is now 5 weeks old and I realized that I had forgotten to update everyone on her weight and such. Last Tuesday we had her 4 week check up and I was anxious to see how much weight she gained. I was very excited when the scale read 8 lbs 5oz. The doctor said she should be gaining an ounce a day and she gained 13 oz in 15 days so he was happy with that. I was really happy because this is the longest I have ever breast fed and I am always worried she is not getting enough. When she is done eating and is crying she is telling me that she is hungry but her big sister hardly ever cried when she was tired, she just fell asleep. I am amazed at how different these girls are. Ava was the easiest baby by far and Ellie is pretty easy too she just wants held more. Ava never wanted held and I always wanted to hold her but now that I have a baby that wants held I am happy to oblige.

Ava is doing great at the new role of big sister. She loves to be by Ellie and holding her hand when ever she can. Her new favorite this is getting to hold Ellie. She will sit with Ellie on her lap for as long as we let her. Even when Ellie is crying Ava always has a smile and tries to calm her baby sister down. I just hope this love lasts.

Pictures Anyone?

We've purchased digital copies of all of the pictures copyright free, so if anyone would like to order pictures let me know. Either email me or leave a comment and I'll tell you how you can order them for cheap (like $0.20 for a 4x6).