First Blood

A friend and I took the kiddos to Chick-fil-A for lunch today. The kids were playing in the little playground having a great time, when I decide to get an ice cream. I go to the counter and am ordering when my friend brings Livi to me sobbing. I picked her up and started comforting her and look down and she is bleeding! I probably would have freaked out, but the ladies behind the counter did that for me. They started grabbing napkins and filling up bags with ice. One lady was literally running to get some ice. I just kept saying "it's okay, it's okay, it's not deep," while praying, "please don't need stitches, please don't need stitches." I held Livi until she calmed down and then we decided it was time to go home, even though she was not happy about it. She, of course, wanted to go back and play. After we got home and I was able to clean the cut and really get a good look at it I felt much better, it wasn't nearly as bad as I was thinking. Blood coming out of your babies head can be very misleading! We're not sure what happened exactly, we're pretty sure she tripped while leaving the play area and the door hit her on the eyebrow. I feel horrible, not only did Livi have her first bleeding injury, I don't even know for sure what happened!

She requested a band aid

Water Time

The other day we went to Market Street and played in the fountains. I brought Livi's swimsuit but she wanted nothing to do with it so she just played in her clothes. At first she was very wary of the water and wouldn't get too close. Eventually though, she realized how much fun she could be having and was loving it. She tried to run away at one point and as she did so her pants did this: Me being the good mom that I am decided it was more important to take a picture than to pull up her pants.

Livi and her BFF Lizzy

Argentine BBQ

The other day my friend Cecilia, who is from Argentina, had us over for an Argentine BBQ. It was delicious and Livi never gets tired of her kids. She has a daughter named Lizzie and everyday Livi asks me, "where Zizzy!?" We had such a great time hanging out with everybody and I am DEVASTATED that they will be moving soon.

Livi with Lela and Eliani (Lizzy's cousins)

Livi looking like a grown up!

Not Fun

I have been sick since Tuesday and went to the Dr. today and was told I have laryngitis and pharyngitis. Basically, inflamed throat and vocal cords. I haven't had more than a whisper for a voice for 2 days. I can't even tell you how frustrating that is when trying to reason with a 2 year old. Thank heavens for good friends, especially when you don't have family around. My dear friend Cecilia found out I was sick today and ordered me to leave Livi with her and get some rest. Those several hours were priceless.

I have now started my antibiotic and a steroid, so here's hoping I have my voice back soon!

It's Official....

Totally unrelated to this story, but the other day I got Livi out of bed and went and lie back down thinking that she would just follow me in there and sit on the bed. I was in between sleep and consciousness and could hear her saying, "mommy come." Livi likes her breakfast pronto so I figured she wanted me to come and make her something. I got up a few minutes later and walked into the dining room and found Livi sitting at the table eating out of the cheerios box. This girl is no dummy, if she's hungry she is not waiting around for someone else to make her breakfast, she is perfectly capable of getting it herself.

Livi is potty trained! I really hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that. It's so funny how things work out. Sunday, I decided, was the day to try potty training again. I tried to get her to go in the potty all day, she did a few times, but we also had a few accidents when she told me she had to go pee as she was peeing. That day, after talking with my mom and dad, I decided to just back off completely (again) and let Livi do it when she was totally ready. My mom had 8 kids and she said she never actually potty trained any of us, she just waited until we wanted to go in the toilet and we kind of trained ourselves. Granted, some of us were a little older than others. So Sunday night after feeling totally inadequate as a parent, I decided (once again) that I would just let the potty training go and Livi would let me know when she was ready. Monday morning, first thing she wakes up and tells me "more pee!" So I take her into the bathroom and sure enough she goes. I scream and clap and give her her reward: 2 fruit snacks (she LOVES those things). Against my previous determination I put her undies on instead of a diaper to see what would happen. A little while later, she came to me with wet undies and I almost gave up, but decided what the heck. And I am pleased as peaches to announce that she hasn't had an accident since! She tells me every time she has to go to the bathroom and we have left the house and played at a friends house and at the park all without incident. She doesn't even expect a reward anymore. Whenever she goes she screams really loud, "YEAH!!!" and claps her hands. It's so adorable. I wish I had a video of it. She is even a little more gung ho than I anticipated. Yesterday she told me she had to go the bathroom at least every 5 minutes. I think it was because she got a new Dora toilet seat and she loves to sit on it and point at everyone, "map, boots, batpat" (backpack). Needless to say, I am so proud of her and fully realize that it has nothing to do with me. I think most kids would be permanently screwed up by my inconsistency. Everyday I'm learning more and more that the answer to many parenting dilemmas is simply: be patient.

Egg Hunt

Friday a friend from church put together an Easter egg hunt for all the chilluns'. Livi was a little lost on the "hunt for eggs" concept, but she had no problem with the eating the candy part. Her BFF Sam was also there so she had a blast playing with him. They are constantly hugging and occasionally kissing (when prompted by us parents). She was not happy when it was time to go home.

In other WONDERFUL news, Phil is finishing up with finals as we speak, so I get him (almost) to myself for three whole weeks! He still has a few projects he has to work on, but that shouldn't be too time consuming. One more year to go!

The young women from church had an activity involving pedicures so Livi couldn't resist getting her nails painted.

Happy Easter!

Set Back

Well....I think I spoke too soon. Livi's potty training has taken a serious step backwards (or two). Thursday she was sick with the flu and spent the whole day either sleeping or laying down, so I put her in a diaper because there was no way she was going to go to the potty. Friday and Saturday were just busy and so she was back in a diaper and then Sunday Phil and I both got sick with the flu and were worthless all day. Side note: Livi was a complete angel all day. We put on a Sesame Street movie for her and she just watched it over and over again and let us sleep. Then when it was time for her nap she came in and layed down and fell asleep with us. She was perfect. Anyway, Monday morning we were all feeling quite a bit better so I put the undies back on and tried to get her back in the groove and it was not successful. She didn't want much to do with the toilet and even peed on the floor after I had put her on the toilet for 15 minutes. She has even started requesting her diapers. Oh man. I honestly haven't had much patience for it the last few days either. So I think we are putting the potty on the back burner for a minute. Hopefully I haven't ruined my chances of having a diaper-free child forever.