Growing Up

Bridget seems to be growing up all at once!

This week she has initiated toilet training. Thank the lord!

She had her nappy changed in the middle of the day last Wednesday then said she wanted undies on. I said OK but explained (again) that she had to make sure she told me when she wanted to do a wee.

10 minutes later she did. So, playing along with the "game" I took her and was very surprised and pleased when she did a wee!! :) I gave her a sticker and praised her up and all that afternoon she went back and forth to the loo doing little wees. Rob made a chart for her ( see below) and when she got up to the prize square she was to get a little something. Lucky for me one of our local shopping centres has some new vending machines that swallow a $2 coin in return for a piece of cheap plastic crap (read: worldly treasure for a toddler). We are collecting Strawberry Shortcake bracelet charms now :) So cute. I am so proud of her.

Sorry the above photo is so blurry - for the life of me I cannot get a focused shot of the chart.

Bridget is also cementing friendships! Another sign she is growing up. She and her little friend Molly were enjoying cupcakes one day last week (see above photo) and were cracking each other up with the mess they were making of their faces. Molly's mother and I were in turn laughing at them. It made my heart sing to see Bridget laughing her head off and having such fun with a friend. I don't know if you can see in the photo - they are both wearing fairy wings. I can imagine them getting their ears pierced together in several years time.

She is in her big bed too and has been since about May this year. I was feeling all precious and nervous about the transition but when it came to the crunch it went fine. The bed was in her room for a good few months before she was ready to go into it, so it wasn't a new object for her. The guard rail must make her feel nice and secure because to this day - touch wood - she has not gotten out of bed either of a night or of a morning. Some evenings it has taken her an hour to settle. She lies in there howling and growling and fighting sleep but has never gotten out of bed!! I am not sure whether she is not game to or whether it has just never occurred to her that she can.... I don't care and I am not going to ask. Which brings me to the next milestone for Bridget.

The evening bedtime fuss is something that Rob and I can do without now that Elke has come along. We decided that Bridget could probably do without the day sleep. She has hardly had a nap at daycare for the past month and we just bring the routine forward to cater for that. She has hot lunches at daycare anyway, so a sandwich, yogurt/ fruit and some milk for dinner is enough and we pop her in bed around 7.30. Bliss. This week she went without a day sleep from Tuesday through to Friday. I picked her up from her grandparents on Friday afternoon and she looked knackered. As I expected she fell asleep in the car on the way home. I got her out and woke her up, plying her with sugary foods in an attempt to get her going again - a chocolate biscuit and her fave juice. Below is the result. Not exactly what I intended and not such a big girl that she can completely go without day sleeps, it seems.

Have a close look at what is going to waste in her hand!

And so onto my next little treasure. Elke is just gorgeous. I could eat her up! She is generally very easy going but she can really let you know she is pissed off! Her howl is much louder than Bridget's ever was. She is growing up too - reaching her first milestone this week by learning how to smile. Love it! I spend many minutes trying to get her to smile more for me. Below is a photo of her smiling - which is very hard to capture!

Rob and I are blessed.