My Girls Are Growing Up

We switched Little Lindsey to a toddler bed so that we could get the crib ready for Cooper to come. When we switched Gracie to a toddler bed she quit taking naps and I remember having to put her back in her bed several times before she'd fall asleep at night. I was worried we'd go through the same thing with Lindsey but tonight is her third time sleeping in it and she didn't get out of bed once and now she is sleeping soundly! The other two nights she only got out of bed once and then stayed there and slept. The first time taking a nap, Tim stayed in the room by her bed until she fell asleep, but the last two days she's stayed in bed, fallen asleep on her own, and taken her typical nap. What a blessing!!! Last night was sad though because two times when I went in the girls' room to check on them Lindsey was asleep on the floor and cold with no blankets. It breaks my heart! I remember Gracie ending up on the floor in the middle of the night when she switched to a toddler bed too. It would always make me sad for her too! Hopefully it doesn't keep happening with Lindsey for too long.

On Sunday Lindsey went to nursery for the first time! I made sure to give her and Gracie a hug and kiss goodbye so that they would know I was leaving rather than sneaking out and having them suddenly realize I was gone and be even more scared. Gracie has always been great with nursery. She loves it and used to cry when we would come to get her, not when we would drop her off, because she wanted to stay and play with "her kids". I watched at the door for a bit after leaving Lindsey to see what would happen. She must not have realized I was hugging her goodbye because she looked up in a panic and spun around in a circle looking for me wide-eyed. I'm sure she would have started crying but she spotted Gracie and then went back to playing. I checked on her before Sunday School too and she was still playing just fine. When Tim picked the girls up they said she did great! I guess we just discovered one good thing about the kids being so close in age! Lindsey probably would have been a mess without Gracie there so it's good that they will be in nursery together this year. If our ward wasn't so small they probably would be in two different nurseries so we're lucky it worked out this way. It was weird to go to Sunday School without a kid with us. We won't be getting used to that though because Cooper should be here in 3 weeks or so!

And FINALLY...Success with potty-training! Gracie has been having accidents still each day but today for the first time she went in to use the potty without one of us having to tell her to go use it! The girls and I were in their room and she suddenly grabbed her pants and said, "I need to go potty!" and went running into the bathroom. At first I thought she'd already had an accident because she usually pees her pants and then says, "I need to go potty." So I thought I'd be cleaning up yet another mess. I brought her some books to read and then closed the door except for a crack to give her some privacy when I heard her grunt and then say, "My did it!!!" I went in to check on her and she had pooped in the potty - not in her pants! I was so happy!!! I praised her and praised her! She was so cute because she wanted to keep the poop in the potty to show Tim when he got home. I told her we had to flush it because it stunk but when Tim got home from work she still proudly told him what she had done and had him come look at the empty toilet.

Then we were all watching Sleeping Beauty and without a word she got up and ran into the bathroom and peed! It was a miracle! Neither of us asked her to go and she realized what she needed to do. She did this a couple more times throughout the evening and I could not be happier! I know she'll still have accidents and bad days but this was the first sign that she will do it on her own! HAPPY DAY!!! I hate to admit it, but we've been getting pretty angry at her for the accidents (especially the one that happened when she was standing right by the potty and just didn't make any effort to use it and peed all over the bathroom floor) but I think that is what might have finally clicked for her. She didn't like the negative response, where before, peeing her pants just meant she got to put on new underwear. Thanks to those who suggested just switching to underwear and not using pullups too because it wouldn't have worked without that either. So after a month of putting her on the potty, struggling to get her to stay on there without crying and wanting off instantly, cleaning up puddles on the floor and poopy underwear, there is a flicker of hope! I must say that potty training has been my least favorite stage thus far and it is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I know there's still work ahead with nighttime and when we go places but I'm a bit more energized now. I'm scared to have her go to church or the store or anywhere out of the house without a pullup on so I don't know when we'll try that but hopefully it keeps progressing.

I'm so proud of my girls and I love them so much! I feel like they've had to grow up faster than we would have normally had them do things but we've been blessed through everything so far and are excited that there is another one on the way!