Rose is 9 months old!

Lots of pics to post from the past few weeks. But first, here is Rosie, who is now 9 months old and getting closer and closer to being one!

She's crawling EVERYWHERE. No walking or even pulling herself up, but I'm sure that's coming. She doesn't really talk though she does say mama, dada, sometimes I think she says ball and recently she says something close to "Huzzah!" whenever we say it. It's very cute. She also started giving kisses, but only if I pucker up for her haha.

Rest the pictures are from the past few weeks:

 Looking outside for her doggy

 Trying out her new carseat. I think she likes it :)

 She crawled under the table and started clapping and giggle. Silly girl. 

 She loves bugging Theo. Theo doesn't seem to mind.. he gave her kisses.

Last week it was really nice outside so I took the kids to a park that I heard about. It was really nice! I even packed a picnic lunch and we ate there.

 Relaxing on a bench

 Trying out the balance beam 

 Rose in the swing

 Ikey wanted to give her a push

Lunch time!

Last Sunday we went to the Renaissance Fair.

 Uh oh, you're in trouble now!

 Rosie just watching everyone

 Smiling for the camera

 Horsie rides, yay!

 Matt playing an axe throwing game. You had to wear the silly hat to play the game

 Isaac and I went down this really big slide. He loved it!

 Playing a froggy game with daddy

My treat at the Renn Fair.... chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick! YUM!

 He's so cute :)

 I got her hair to stay in a bow on the side :) Didn't last long though haha

The rest of the pictures are taken around the house during the past week.

 Awe <3 p="p">

 Hmm...where is she going?

 To her new favorite spot.. behind daddy's chair

 This is as close to pulling herself up as she gets

What the heck do you think you're doing, Rose?? 

 While brother's away at daycare, she loves to play with his cars

 Eating a sock. Silly

 Happy child

 He builds towers, she knocks them down

 Isaac wanted to knock this one down with his bus

Sitting in his toy bin

 Had to put up the baby gate around the TV because Rose kept playing with the stereo. 

 Rare pic of me and Rose

 Hanging out outside

Yes, he's sitting on the foot rest to her high chair. Nutty child!

She has a bad cold right now and there is where 

she spent 2hours this morning...napping on mommy

After her nap, she was full of smiles again!

That's all there is for now! Hope you enjoyed the pics :)

Potty Training Adventures

I said over and over that once the new hardwood floors were installed that it would be time to try and potty train Isaac. I read up on different methods and the one that I liked best was "Potty train in 3 days". Since there was a 3day weekend coming up (Labor day), I figured this would be the perfect opportunity. There were many variations of this method so I did a mix of them to fit with what I thought was best.

We started on Sunday and in the morning, we changed his diaper after breakfast but never put a new one on, instead we put on underwear (we went out a few days before and he picked out Cars and Mickey Mouse ones). I printed out a chart with 9 squares (3x3) and each time he peed he would get to put a sticker on the chart. After every 3 boxes he would get a chocolate and after a full chart was completed he would get a new toy (I got about 10 new Matchbox cars).

Below is how his success and accidents went on the first day:
Day 1
8:42 - accident
9:45 - success!
9:50 - accident
10:00 - success
10:30 - success
11:40 - accident
12:07 - success (with a bit of pee on the underwear before hand)
Nap - used diaper, had pee when woke up
3:20 - accident
4:20 - accident, though not a lot
4:40 - accident
5:05 - success!
5:20 - peed a little in underwear but finished in potty - success!
5:50- success though very little pee
7:30 - success
8:05 - half accident half success. He was standing by the potty, crossing his leg. I asked if he needed to go potty and he started peeing, so sat him down real quick and he finished in the potty.

All in all, it wasn't a horrible first day. I read that the second day is usually much better because things start to click. Well.. not for us.
Day 2
5 accidents back to back then dribbles in the potty
9:51 - success!
10:05 - accident
10:30 - accident
I lost track of accidents but had a total of 6 successes (I know this from the sticker chart that we used). He started doing better after we stopped using underwear and just let him run around naked.

Day three was just me, him and Rose (Matt had to return to work). After the tiring day of day 2, we weren't really sure if he was really ready to be potty trained but I wanted to give it just one more day:
Day 3
Took diaper off after breakfast and let be naked.
9:30 success - no prompting or asking, just sat and peed
9:40 success - no prompting or asking, just sat and peed
10:15 success - asked if he needed to go, he said no, but then went and sat down anyways and peed right away
10:50- success
11:15 - POOPED in the potty!
11:30 - success
1234- success
Diaper with nap - pooped at 1, changed with new diaper, then woke up around 2:45 and still dry
4:25 - success
4:50 - success
5:15 - success - told me he needed to pee before hand
6:50 - success
8:30 - success

Not one single accident on the third day! I was shocked and very happy with his progress. Almost every time he went, was on his own, or after I asked him to sit and at least try to go.

At daycare, he has to wear a diaper until he has dry diapers for a few weeks (she doesn't want to risk him peeing on the carpet; I don't blame her). Since last Friday he has kept a dry diaper all day long while there. He still doesn't say when he needs to go, but if you put him on the potty every 2ish hrs, his diaper is usually dry and he'll pee in the potty.

Thursday he was home with me and he asked for underwear during his nap, so I obliged (while putting down another pad on his bed). He woke up dry! He is also dry every morning too (but we still use diapers when he sleeps, at least for a little while more). 

We went to PA this past weekend and we used diapers then too, just in case. He kept dry during the whole 5 hr drive there and even throughout the weekend. We used a total of 4 diapers in three days. Pretty amazing if you ask me!

Now, I still don't consider him fully potty trained. He does really well if naked (no underwear, pants or diaper), but if he has something on, and he really needs to go, he will pee a little before telling me he has to pee. However, if we keep taking him every 2hrs or so, he is usually ok. We are also working on pulling up and down his pants.

I am very proud of my BIG boy!

(sorry no pictures this post!)

Rose is 8 months old and Isaac is 2.5yrs old!

The last few weeks of August means that Rose turned 8 months old and Isaac turned exactly 2yrs 6months (2.5yrs).

Only 4 months till Rose is 1 and 6 months until Isaac is 3! 

I have two very good reasons why my blogs entries are getting further and further a part... Isaac and Rose. HAHA! Rose is now crawling EVERYWHERE! There is no stopping this little girl. And Isaac is his normal, 2.5yr old self. We're actually in the middle of potty training, but I wont go into much detail about that just yet.

This will mostly be a big picture dump from the last few weeks of August.

 I love this onsie :)

 She wasn't crawling yet, but still managed to 

get herself over to the stereo and press buttons

 Taken at the doctors office (I thought she had an ear infection). 

At 8 months she weighs 19lbs 8.9oz and is 28.25inches

 We finally moved our living room back upstairs! 

YAY! Rose was trying to crawl on the hardwood 

floor but ended up scooting herself under the couch instead. 

 "Cute enough to eat" Ok people, not really. It's just a saying!

 Isaac "reading" to Rose, unprompted too!

 She loves apples!

 

Ikey loves apples too!

 

 Happy girl!

 

   

 Painting a flower pot for Miss Jessica, who was moving 

and this was a good-bye gift to her from Isaac. 

We also put on his handprints (which he smeared haha)

 And this is why we have outlet protectors! 

 Playing with blocks

 Trying to attack the camera

 "R" for Rose!

I was having fun with the block letters :)

 At Grandpa Black's, trying out a bike (he had issues pedaling)

 Crawling around and playing with toys in Grandpa Black's 

garage (which was cleaned before we did this)

 Ikey having fun in the kiddie pool

 Eating dinner with Marissa, Caleb, and Jimmy

 Isaac with his Great Grandma Amsler and Grandma Deb

 

Rosie with Great Grandma Amsler

 Isaac got a couple of gifts in the mail :) Blue's Clues 

stuffed dog and a Handy Dandy Notebook!

 Wearing Blue's Clues socks

They also got a ton of new books

 Playing with her doggy. I believe I have pictures similar to this with Isaac :)

 Having ice-cream at Menchies! (well, frozen yogurt, but we call it ice-cream)

 In big-boy underwear!!! (We were testing them out after we bought them)

Love her!

And here are even a few videos :)

 She loves apples!

She LOVES this ball!

That's it for now. Enjoy!