Thursday, March 15, 2007

The past week

Wedding Day: 9 March 2007
Dressed and ready for pictures...



Elias and Becky: husband and wife!

The weekend was a bit of a whirlwind - but very fun. Various out of town family members flew or drove in on Thursday and most made it to the rehearsal dinner that night. Friday we met up in the Cornelia area for a quick lunch before church and reception decoration ensued. Family and a few of Becky's friends were invaluable help in this endeavor which Elizabeth headed up. I felt pretty worthless after the smallest of tasks --being pregnant can cause that I suppose. In the end everything came together and the service was a God-honoring blend of both cultures. The reception location was unexpectedly lovely for a town that size and the meal served by Elias' family was a traditional Guatemalan wedding meal. Having missed her nap in the midst of a very hectic day, Lydia was, at this point, almost a basket case. She drank two cups of punch ("wah-duh") and was not remotely interested in the dinner. She lasted long enough to eat a few bites of cake and then I had to put on her p.j.'s and prepare for the drive home. She was asleep within minutes of hitting the road.
Saturday the family members who were still in town gathered at our house for the day. Lydia remembered Carl and Rita from their visit at Christmas and she had everyone's names learned and intelligible before they left. She learned the word "precocious" (co-cious) from Uncle Carl and the phrase "I'm a genius" from Aunt Sue.

Trisha, Sue, Rita and Carl stayed at our house while here for the wedding

In other news, I've been trying to prepare myself for potty-training Lydia. I bought a cushy seat for the toilet as well as a little child potty. (A few previous endeavors by Grandma Kathy to sit her on the toilet had resulted in immediate tears and great distress, so I was a little fearful of whether she would take to sitting on it - even with the child seat.) After the wedding commotion died down I thought we'd ease into the training process. The cushy seat is great and Lydia's fear of sitting on the big potty went away when she saw and tried out the Elmo seat.



The past several days I've been talking up going potty like a big girl and have put her on the seat at various times. She loved it - and getting to read a book on the toilet is somehow perceived as particularly wonderful!
Tonight after dinner we put her on the little potty downstairs and to my (almost) disbelief - she went after just a minute of sitting there. We made a huge deal of it and I quickly brought her the treat I'd decided to use as a motivator - chocolate yogurt raisins. She gobbled them up immediately while I explained that anytime she went on the potty like a big girl I would give her a treat. I was sure she wasn't paying any attention to me as she stuffed the raisins in her mouth. Not more than an hour later after bathtime we were all sitting on our bed and she told me she had to go. (She does this by grabbing her diaper and saying "poop." While she has never been right about it being poop, she will do this occasionally when she is just wet.) So off we went to the potty again -this time upstairs on the Elmo seat. Her diaper was dry and I could not believe my ears when after a short time I heard some dripping into the toilet! Before I could even begin praising her, she looked at me and said "treat! treat!"
I would love to believe that she is truly "getting it" but I have a feeling there will be ups and downs and that it just can't be as easy as it was tonight.

Here is the proud girl in her new Dadoo (Dora) p.j.'s that she was delighted by at Wal-Mart today.

11 comments:

Kelley said...

The potty training story is just too cute. I hope it is clicking with her - it would be wonderful it was that easy. :-) Maybe you could have a potty trained child before #2 greets the world!

Julie said...

Lydia is getting to be such a big girl. It would be great to not have 2 in diapers.

Elizabeth said...

Congratulations Lydia! Auntie Liz is so proud of you! With all of the fascination she has had of the potty, you'd think she'd be an old pro in no time.

Ldani said...

It does not seem possible that Lydia is old enough for potty training! She definitely looks like a big girl (and a very cute one) sitting on the potty.

Renee said...

WOW! I hope it's that easy for you. Sounds like she's doing great with the concept.

Violingyrl said...

I love the pictures, they are so cute! Tell Lydia to keep up the good work on the potty :)

Rebecca said...

Cute!!! Emily didn't potty train completely until after she turned two though I did start trying before Claire was born. It didn't take long though and it sounds like you have already made great strides with Lydia! You're certainly having better luck than I did in the beginning and that is wonderful! :D I hope it continues on just as splendidly. Good job, Lydia! Keep it up!

Amanda said...

Aww, she is getting to be a big girl now. Also, she is adorable in her new Pajama's. =)

-Mandy

Kathy said...

Correction: Lydia never cried or anything when I tried putting her on the big potty. She just stayed there about 2 seconds and wanted to get down.

Anonymous said...

Jen, Quick write your book about potty training! :)
Such a great picture of Mom and daughter. That is a keeper.
Those pictures of her on the potty will be choice when she is 15! Be sure to show them to all her adolescent friends.
Rob

The Budget Mommy: said...

Ok miss johnson. It's time for you to update!