The Princess Diaries: February 2013

So since we decided to put Ashlan’s bed into a toddler bed, we decided to move her room to the bigger, middle room, and do it in a Rapunzel theme. I am so excited, lol. She probably likes Rapunzel more than any other princess (and so do I), so that was an easy choice, plus I like purple better, lol. So, I made purple flags with the Tangled sun/star on it and glued a gold ribbon to it and we’re going to line two of her walls with that. I also ordered a Rapunzel wall decal and a Tangled light switch cover. I am going to get started on lining the room with painters tape so I can start painting during Ashlan’s naps.

Another big change is that we started potty training! She will be 27 months old on March 3, so we figured she was ready, especially because she stays dry through naps a lot and also throughout the day a lot. I changed her diaper every two hours because it was cloth, and numerous times she wouldn’t have wet herself. So, we started on Fri, the 22^nd, and it wasn’t awful but wasn’t great either. We started with a big toilet and she could never make it there. So we went out and got a small potty chair that can also fit on the toilet once she’s done with the small potty, and also turns into a stool that she can use with the big potty. We got one that clapped and cheered when urine hit it and it scared her so bad the first time so we took it out, lol. She only had one accident on Saturday and one today (probably because I put stretchy pajama shorts on to try her out and she couldn’t make it- too soon, whoops!) when she got caught up playing, but we are very proud of her so far! Pantless works best because she still has a bit of trouble taking off her pants, but hopefully we can move into that soon. We are using two chocolate morsels are prizes for pees, and five for poops, and also have a sticker chart. I went to the Dollar Store and cleaned them out of puzzles, coloring books, markers, playdoh, painting books, stickers, etc. At first I was giving her one of those that she chose. I have so many leftover that I’ll probably end up using them for when she makes it during a shopping trip or something without peeing in her pullup. She will probably wear pullups for a bit during naps (even though she wakes up dry a lot, just in case!) and definitely during night time for awhile. I am anxious for our next trip to Disney in March (a few weeks from now), but I think we’ll just use pullups and hope she doesn’t revert. Of course, we’ll ask her to go a lot too, but at this point, I’m not sure if she can make it very long after she tells me she has to go. That will come over time. We’re just very proud of her for her progress so far. Today, she even wiped herself after a #1 and immediately said, "Eww, gross". Lol! I am thankful we live in FL right now because the weather was so gorgeous, that we could potty train her outside, and when she had an accident those first few times, we could just hose our patio down. It was perfect. Little by little we’ll move the little potty to the big bathroom but I want to make sure she can master pulling her pants up and down first and hold it a little longer, but considering she just started on Friday, I think she’s doing ok. : )

On an unrelated note, her favorite Christmas gift is probably her dinosaurs, oddly enough. She can name a Triceratops, T-Rex, and Stegosaurus. We are going to the zoo when they have their dinosaur exhibit, which starts in a few days. She will be beside herself. We’ve heard there are about 20 there, so way more than last year, so I can’t wait to see her reaction.

Here’s some pics from the last few days…

Playing with playdoh, her first time! Didn't try to eat it once, lol.

"Helping" Mommy by coloring foam triangles (these were extras from her Rapunzel room decor).

Rolling the playdoh into a ball.

Originally we started with the big potty. Big mistake, lol. She just couldn't make it there. The little one went MUCH better, lol.

We also originally started with big girl panties. Another big mistake, lol.

Going pantless went much better!

Naked baby running around the pool. It was only about 65 degrees so no one went in.

Playing with her bubble maker, which was a (bday or Christmas) gift from Audrey and Audrey's mom,

and she loves it!

She put a purse on this dinosaur's arm. Love her! LOL

Ignore my hair and clothes but this is part of the flags that I made for her new Rapunzel room.

Potty time. She will hate me for this pic one day. :)

This will be short because it’s all our pics from Disney and then just a little commentary. I'll do another blog later on the potty training that we started this weekend but it’s going very well so far!

Ashlan has been identifying musical instruments for a few months now. She can point out a piano, violin, clarinet, drums, trumpet, and guitar. It must be all those little Einsteins she watches, lol. That is probably her favorite show. One time a show came on and played a famous tune and she immediately shouted, "Tchaikovsky", which was the song’s composer, lol, and she was right.

Her new thing is saying, "Aw, how sweet. How sweet.”, like when she sees a baby or kitten, etc. She’ll even clasp her hands together. She also says, “I have an idea”, lol. Her allergies have been acting up with all this pollen (or maybe just a cold?), but she can get a tissue, wipe her own nose, and throw it away. That’s nice for me. : )

We were in the grocery store in January, and she was just about to touch something. All of a sudden, she looked me and said, "No ma'am, I don't think so". Lol! I am so guilty of saying this to her and apparently it sunk in because she didn’t touch it.

On to the pics...

Another big change this month was changing Ashlan's bed from a crib to a toddler bed. We put a foam noodle in so she wouldn't fall out. She did a few times, but she is excellent now at staying put.

Had to include this one...I tried to take her binky out and ask her to smile,

and this is what she did. Ah, toddlers. :)

Walking with Nana to the park in her tutu.

Running to the park.

All smiles.

Big slide.

So much fun. :)

Going down with Papa.

Check out her face, lol.

Then Papa ended up at the bottom.

Ashlan grabbed Nana's cane and then we put her shawl on her. We were dying.

Snuggle time.

Never leave a toddler alone with chocolate. :)

It was everywhere...in her hair, on her clothes, hands, face, etc.

We got season passes to Disney so we will be going a lot this year! These are from our first trip as passholders but we were there with Ashlan when she was 18 months old. It went WAY better this time and she really enjoyed herself and so did we! Going again in a few weeks, since we're planning on going once a month to get use out of our passes.