Potty Training Update: Part Three

It's been 3 days without an accident in her diaper (except for overnight), so we decided it was time for big girl underwear or "Bunders" as we like to call them :-) We actually looked for training pants, but because her bum is so little we just couldn't find any that would fit. Hopefully she continues her steak of not going anywhere but her potty chair - we're keeping our fingers crossed!

Cousin Alyshia stayed with us last night and helped us with the Bunder shopping today. We also went to the park, splash pad and hot dog stand for lunch - what a busy day :-)

Potty Training Update: Part Two

Another big day! So, we left for the fair at about 9:30 or 10:00 this morning and we just put a diaper on Madeline, thinking it was going to be a pretty long day. We must have been distracted by all the animals, good food & carnival rides because we didn't realize we hadn't checked her diaper until about 1:30 in the afternoon. We knew we had waited too long and scrambled to find a changing area. When we took her diaper off she was completely dry!!!! Mommy immediately took her to the bathroom and she went - yeah!!!

After the horse show, demo derby and a pony ride we were getting ready to go. We checked her diaper - dry again! Back to the bathroom and she went again!!!

Still a dry diaper when we got home. She went on her potty chair, so that definitely meant she got to watch an episode of her favorite show - Little Einsteins :-) Here's a great picture of her and Grandpa singing and saying "Blast-Off!" That afternoon she realized that if she went on the potty that meant she got to watch her favorite show, so after every episode was over, she would run to her potty chair, go a little bit and then yell "Einsteins, Einsteins!" We have one smart little cookie on our hands!
We've been so good about her watching very little TV so we really didn't want this to become a habit. We decided to change the reward for going on the potty... Bunny Crackers for a potty and Einstiens for the other. She may get more Bunny Crackers than she ever has before, but at least she won't be plopping her bum in front of the TV all the time :-)
After dinner it was off to the bath tub... An entire day without going in her diaper once!
We're not going to get our hopes up, but we think she may have got it!

Scott County Fair

Today we headed to the fair! We got there pretty early to beat the crowds and the heat! Right when we got there we went straight for the animal barns. Madeline got to pet Bunnies, Pigs, & Goats. We also saw Ducks, Geese, Chickens, Horses, Sheep and Goats being milked! Cousins Kevin, Jason, Jeffrey & Emily always bring their cows to the fair for 4-H. This year they even brought twin baby calves - Madeline thought they were great!
After we looked at their other projects she played on the jungle gym with Emily. And watched a real puppet show! Next we ate a bunch of fair food and then headed over to the carnival
(OK, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but everyone was fine).
She rode the blue whale, Some race cars with Mommy & the Crazy Bus with Dad. The horse show and demolition derby follwed. She slept through the horse show, but the demo derby was way too loud for sleeping :-) On the way out she played one more carnival game And got a big pink ball. She also took a ride on a pony! We can't believe we packed so many things into one day!!!
We're so glad Grandma and Grandpa Frantz were here to share it with us :-)

Potty Training Update: Part One

We've been putting Madeline on the potty chair off and on for just about a year. In fact it was July 24th last year when she went on her potty chair for the first time:

Madeline Makes Three: First Time on the Potty

Everyone said we'd know when she was really ready, so we decided not to push it until she gave us some sort of "sign". Around her 2nd birthday she started talking about it so we decided that it was time to really start trying. Since Mommy has been lucky enough to be able to stay at home with Madeline this summer we thought we would give the naked potty training a try. This was going pretty well while we were at home - just a few accidents. We encourage her by letting her watch an episode of Little Einsteins if she goes on the potty - nothing like a little motivation :-) This had been going pretty well, but as soon as we put a diaper on her she would just go in it.

But today we had a first!!!! When we were done playing at the park and getting ready to go into the water at the splash pad, mommy noticed that her diaper was dry. We went to the public potty and she actually went! This was a really big deal because she had always been too scared to go on the public potty's before.

Hopefully this means the start to her finally "getting it"!

Splash Pad with Grandma & Grandpa

It was a nice day so we took Grandma and Grandpa to the park and the Splash Pad today. Madeline showed them how she can go down the slides. And Climb the Big Rock. It was nice to cool off in the water. Madeline made sure Grandma wasn't too hot putting water on her feet! We went out for lunch and then headed back to the apartment. Later that night Grandma and Grandpa watched Madeline while mommy and daddy went out for a while. Tomorrow we get to go to the Fair!

Grandma & Grandpa Frantz come to Vist!

Grandma and Grandpa Frantz drove into town today - yeah! They got here in time for dinner - we grilled out on the patio. After dinner we went to the park and then came home to get ready for bed. After Madeline got her PJ's on, her and Grandpa sat out on the deck and watched the cars go by. We can't wait for the rest of the weekend!

Just Being Goofy

We hadn't taken a picture in a while so here you go... She's so Goofy :-)

More Gifts!

We thought the birthday surprises were over but today Madeline got a package from Great-Aunt Lisa, Great-Uncle Bob, cousin Ashley and cousin Jenny. They sent 2 beautiful little outfits. They're both very pretty and Madeline wanted to try the dress on right away - How cute! Thanks Bob, Lisa, Ashley and Jenny!

Hyland Park Reserve

Today we took the advice of our Realtor and brought Madeline to the Hyland Park Reserve. They had the biggest set of playground Equipment that we've seen yet! There were lots of older kids on the big equipment so Madeline made her way to the Toddler equipment first. Then she climbed up the steps to find the rope ladder jungle gym - daddy went with her :-) Next she ventured to the big equipment and she went down the big red slide with daddy! Then she and Mommy found and even bigger silver slide - Wow, that was great! After trying to decide what to do next, she settled on the tire swing :-) A few more climbs to the top and then we were tuckered out! We walked over to the lake to look at the fish and then we decided it was time to head home for a nap. We'll have to come back here again :-)

New Kitchen...

As we alluded to in an earlier post, Madeline's last birthday gift finally arrived yesterday - a new kitchen set! Mom and dad spent most of last night putting it together and today Madeline gets to try it out for the first time! First she washed her hands. Then she cooked something in the microwave. Then she fried up some eggs - Mmmmmmmmmm Good :-) Thanks everyone for contributing to Madeline's very first kitchen - she loves it :-)

2 Year Check-Up

Today we headed down to New Prague to see Madeline's Pediatrician - Dr. Mark Berg. Just the routine 2 year check-up. Here are the stats:

Height: 34 inches (50th %)
Weight: 21 lbs (<3rd>
Head Circumference: 19 inches (70th %)

Still pretty light, but the doctor had absolutely no concerns - we have a very healthy little girl :-)

Before the appointment we spent some time practicing our letters with sidewalk chalk at Grandma Judy's :-)

Playdate Fun

Since Madeline and Mommy get to hang out together at home this summer, we've joined a group of stay-at-home moms and their children that set up all kinds of new and exciting things to do! Today we met at a little coffee shop for breakfast and then made our way to the park :-) Once again the steps seemed to be Madeline's favorite. This time she ventured out and tried some new, BIGGER steps - she made it all the way to the top (with some help from mom!)