The Bribery is Working

She's doing it, folks. My amazingly smart daughter is finally coming to terms with her need (and my desire) for her to be potty trained.

She climbed on the potty herself last night, and then 2 more times on the potty chair. She's earning pretzels left and right. So fast that I've run out.

She did it again this morning and poor Daddy had no pretzels to give her. So a little cup of chocolate milk had to suffice.

Bribing your child

I am wholeheartedly for this...when it comes to potty training.

It has taken us, what, 6 months to find Lili's trigger on this potty training thing, but we did. CHOCOLATE COVERED PRETZELS.

They are her 'surprise' when she goes like a big girl. She went 8 times in the span of an hour yesterday just to get them.

Hey, it worked. And I'll keep doing it until she is totally potty trained if that is what it takes.

To have the kiddo out of diapers is my ultimate goal (whether she likes it or not). We played the waiting game with her, we let her fight us, we made her sit there and cry, we've even let her run around naked (which she loves by the way and now has really good control of her bladder). Now it is time to do this.

Are there better methods? Probably. But the stubborness of this kid is unmatched. I think we had to work ourselves up to be in the mindset to get this accomplished. I hope we have done just that.

I'll let you know.

Lili and the Move

She is fantastic. She is really enjoying the new house (which she calls "New House", by the way). She loves to run down the hall and to play on her truck and ride it from one end of the house to the other.

She had a rough couple of nights in the new bed, but she loves it. She still sleeps with the pillow on top of her even though she has sheets and blankets. Her headboard is against the window and she has lined up all her stuffed animals on top of it. Kind of like her night time sentries to protect against bad dreams.

She has the rail to keep her from falling out of bed, which she sleeps almost up against. I bet it reminds her of the crib. But she is loving it.

She has a star and moon light we turn on at bedtime, and a sound machine she likes to fall asleep to.

We do have to keep her out of the kitchen. She came walking down the hall with two broken eggs in her hands last weekend that she had snagged from the fridge. We decided that was enough of that.

We are just getting going really well with the potty training. I hope she takes to it like she did her big girl bed. Positive reinforcement and encouragement. Plus she just might have to wet herself without a diaper a couple of times. We'll see how it goes.

She is amazing folks. I've said it before and I'll say it many, many, many more times. She is the best kid ever, and I'm so thankful she is my daughter.

New things

For the move we decided (and we are still second guessing ourselves, too) that it is time that Lili graduated from the crib to a big girl bed. It is a lot of change in a really short span of time. Wish us luck. She is getting just terribly long and if we don't do something soon she will be bonking everything as she sleeps. Ok, she does that anyway. But it is a comfort to her and we've not had sleep issues with her in the crib. I guess I am worried the new bed will pose a big problem with the routine.

Above is the picture of Lili, Matt and Punky with Lili's new bed set. She found it today at Nana's house. It had been washed and set aside for when the bed gets delivered to the new house tomorrow. I think she really likes it. She said "Ooh big stars" according to Nana. I'm hoping this will help with the transition from crib to bed.

Family time in pictures

My water baby
Liliana wants YOU to take her swimming
She is actually eating watermelon.
Uncle Blake, Lili and Foxy
Auntie Tasia is SO happy to see Lili

Breakfast with Lili

What a weird last couple of days. Last night while waving 'bye bye' to Daddy as he left for softball, I managed (and I still don't know how it happened), to pull the mini blinds right off the window. Quite a shock. Lili was on my hip and just kept repeating "uh oh" over and over and waving.

I think I rigged it back into place ok, but I forgot to replace the towel over the curtain rod that keeps the early morning sun out of the kiddos room. So she was up at 7am. Bad for Matt, good for me. I got my hugs and kisses. She and I even got to eat breakfast together (Eggys and Toes) at the table. She and I ate eggs off the same plate and talked. It was so cute. She's quite messy, I must say, but she is so cute.

I got kisses, I got hugs, I got told all about everything she had on her mind (whether I understood it or not), and we just got some good quality time.

I love my girl SO much!!!

Perfect girl

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, I AM the cutest girl of all (or so says my Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Pops, Grandma, Papa, Aunts and Uncles...and everyone else that meets me)
Matt is seriously out numbered and he loves it.