Center of attention

And since Norah can't stand not being the center of attention....here's a "movie" of our little comedian.

Check this out!!

Something clicked tonight. We think she's got it!

Just because

we haven't seen a picture of our little rascal in a while.

The ongoing saga

Norah stayed dry last night. We were all very excited. I said to Norah,"Why don't we try big girl panties today? You can pick them out." Norah replied politely "No thanks." She's good with pullups and diapers. Hum. Have you ever heard of a kid who wasn't excited about big girl panties?! Gee, I even got sparkly Dora panties, Elmo panties, and the Little Mermaid panties. I'm stunned.
On the bright side, Norah has been using the potty today, getting m&ms, and breathing her sweet chocolate breath on me.

Green Thumb

Looks like Lolo has a green thumb (and it's not from me or Jim). She's got 6 beans on her plant already. And just this morning she was telling me that it might need to go into a bigger pot because it is still too cold to put her beans outside. Jim's mamaw & papaw would be so proud.

When Norah Grows Up

Norah announces to us last night...."When I grow up, I want to be a big sister."
Jim said good luck to that one.

Let the bribing begin...

After much agonizing and handwringing, I broke down and bought some m&ms. Yep. We've resorted to bribing Norah to use the potty.
So here's how the bribing worked...Norah would pee a little in the potty. Get an m&m. Not 5 minutes later, she'd run in there and squeeze out a few more drops for another m&m. Not exactly the result I had hoped for. (And in case you're wondering...Lolo gets an m&m when Norah does).
I'm not sure it's a good idea but she's 3 and a half....and I'm feeling a little desperate to get her trained. Seems like she is physically ready. But mentally....
I think Norah is conflicted. She ran around after dinner naked for a while and then came back with a diaper. She was ready to go back into a diaper by the end of the day. The problem is....she really LIKES being a baby. Tonight, as I'm tucking her into bed, I ask..."Do you think you'll want to try the potty tomorrow?" She replies "Maybe. But Mommy. I like being a baby."
Sigh.

Picnic at the park

We went out this afternoon with a bunch of our neighbors to play in the park and have a picnic dinner. As you can imagine, the girls were quite tired tonight. And, once again, as has become our unfortunate routine...Lolo dozes off...and without a playmate....Norah discovers she has to get out of bed to use the potty.

Shame on me

Keep forgetting to bring the camera for this week's photo ops. It took us over an hour to plant 4 small pots of pansies. But we finally got them all in and watered. Norah accidently watered Lolo. Then Norah got watered, too, in hopes of growing...I guess.

Her is potty trained.

I noticed via Facebook that "baby Emily" is no longer a baby. She's potty trained! Oh boy! I decided to use this factoid to turn up the pressure on Norah. "Hey Norah. Baby Emily isn't a baby anymore. She's potty trained and can wear panties." Lolo (my sweet accomplice) chimes in "Wow, she's only 2!" Norah's not so impressed by "her."

Earth Day

So yesterday was Earth Day....big deal at Lolo's school. We were talking about her day. I asked "What did you learn on Earth Day? Anything new about the Earth?" Lolo looked at me surprised and replied very matter of factly, "Mom, I already know everything about the earth. Don't you?"
Uh. Duh. I don't. Probably because I didn't know about Earth Day in preschool. Oh wait. I didn't even go to preschool.

Hmmm

How is it that a kid can't remember to use the potty during the day, but somehow after getting tucked in (and her playmate/sister falls asleep)....she really needs to go use the potty?

Classic stall tactic

We're in trouble.
Norah just figured out a classic stall tactic. Since getting "tucked in", she's discovered that she can get out of bed to "use the potty." When I helped her get out of her jammies on this last round, I must have sighed quite heavily. Norah, ever so perceptive, says so innocently "Why you don't want me to use the potty?" Of course, Norah's in-and-out-of-bed deal tonight was also prompted by the fact that Lolo fell asleep quite readily and Norah didn't have her usual bedtime playmate.
Frankly, I'm a little surprised that Lolo never tried this approach to staying up.

Lilo and Stitch

Is it just me or do our girls remind you of Lilo & Stitch too?
Lolo seems like the perfect Lilo. And Norah is a rascal with a grin just like Stitch.

Coasting

Here's my baby doll. Still can't pedal, but she's figured out how to coast and steer. She's so proud....look for the grin on her sweet face. Shortly after the video was made, she had a crash, skinned her palms....and that was the end of biking for the day, as far as Norah was concerned. The girls are downstairs having ice cream and fruit with their dad right now.

Lolo's second no training wheel day

Jim put a handle on Lolo's bike to save his back.

Another beautiful day

Another gorgeous spring day. Jim is outside right now with the girls on their bikes. Norah is tentatively trying to figure out how to pedal her big girl bike. Her legs are long enough. Now the question is how long will it take Norah to figure out how to really pedal?

First day with no training wheels

Check this out. Lolo's first day with no training wheels. Jim got a LOT of running in today. And of course, Lolo has her own cheering section with Norah.

Happy Easter

An exhausting day....we were up bright and early....and the girls discovered that the Easter bunny made it to our house this year and left baskets. Shocker of all shockers...the bunny left chocolate in their basket. And mom allowed the girls to have a bit of chocolate for breakfast. (Is that perhaps the biggest shocker of all?!)

Then off to church, back home to change, and then we headed over to Olivia, Nicolas & Gabi's house for lunch and an egg hunt. The egg hunt was very exciting. You can see Lolo dashing in the yard in one of the above photos. Such a big change from a few years ago. I can't get over how quickly kids change. One year and it goes from barely being able to find the eggs laying out in the open grass to dashing and finding eggs in hidden spots.

The girls are so tired. Jim's in the process of reading and putting them to bed right now. I'm guessing they will be out by 6:30 tonight.

Easter bunny

Yesterday, the girls went with Eileen and Julia (and their mom) to an aquarium. They came home excitedly talking about how they saw a pink easter bunny scuba diving in the aquarium leaving eggs for the fish.
Norah's talking, talking, talking.....
Lolo (very seriously) whispers to me "Mom, I know that wasn't the real easter bunny. It was just someone dressed up."
"How do you know?" I ask.
Lolo replies (in her "duh mom" tone) "The real Easter bunny is white."

Project of the Day....

Every year we do this project, it doesn't seem to get any cleaner....however, I must admit that the results this year were spectacular. The girls did an amazing job on their Easter eggs.

Back in business

Cleaned my office. Found the card reader. We're back in blogging business. Found these cute sugar cookie easter houses at Target....the girls were thrilled with the project and very proud of their creation. Lolo wanted to make sure I got a picture from every angle of the house. We've got a busy weekend planned (busy even for us). Jim is off. We're taking the girls to a show at the children's theatre on saturday morning. The girls have easter eggs to dye. Then we're having our neighbors over for dinner. And then on sunday, it's off to church, then to another neighbor's house to search for easter eggs, and then everyone will come to our house for dinner.

Have you ever seen such a face?!

Things only a parent would say....

Norah : "Mom, I pooped! Do you want to come see it? It's huge!"
Me : "I'd love to come see your poop!"

Jim's hopeful that this is a sign that potty training is just around the corner. I'm not so convinced. I've spent a lot of time in the bathroom with that girl to no avail.

Update

So Vicki was nudging me to provide an update on the girls - since I've been so terribly bad about it. I've got a bunch of pictures....and, yep, you guessed it. I can't find my card reader. Will search tomorrow. But here's the run down....
Lolo is still sweet as can be. Ever helpful and 100% girl. She's on a real "fairy" kick right now. She's decided that she would like to be a "water talent" fairy that is half fairy and half mermaid. (We've been getting stories from the library about fairies....it's all new to me.) Norah has been very insistent for days that she does not want to be a fairy. She'd like to be a frog.
In a nice turn of events, we're having another fairy conversation tonight. Norah announces that she'd like to be a "laundry fairy" and not a frog....because she knows how to fold clothes! YAHOO!!!! I'm in love with that idea!
Now if only I can convince Lolo or Jim to be the "tidy up" fairy. I'm going to be in really good shape around here.

A compromise

We're not networked for printers. Just gave up. But on the bright side, Dell did help me get my webcam up and running. Feel free to skype us.

Still not working

Well, I'm trying to figure out how to work around this Vista 64 downgrade. Incredibly frustrating. Spent a good part of the afternoon on the phone with microsoft who still couldn't help me. So much for experts.
In other news....we had a BIG scare this evening. I gave the girls a 5 minute warning before we were going to go upstairs to take baths. Lolo and I were sitting in the dining room...chatting and reading the paper. Norah rushed up the stairs because she was ready to take a bath. The next thing we know....Norah comes tumbling head over heels from the top of the stairs. I've never seen anyone fall so fast. My heart stopped. I think Lolo's did too. Luckily (?) Norah started screaming right away when she hit the bottom. My poor baby doll. She's got another knot on her head and bruises on her back. And of course, Lolo runs to help with ice bunnies and woobies....and then asks "Mom, why didn't you run and catch her before she fell all the way down?!"
I wish I could have.