Potty Training - The Real Deal

We have been working on a little bit of potty training the past couple of months. First we let Katie sit on the potty before bathtime. She would sit, read some books, and every once in a while actually use the potty. She was interested and asked each night before bath to sit and try....so we stuck with it. Eventually she started asking to use the potty at other times during the day and things progressed.

Katie's preschool teachers have also been working on potty training - its just part of the routine in her class. By the way - that is one of the things I love about Katie being in school.....the teachers help you through major milestones and often have terrific tips/tricks. Anyways, at first Katie told her teachers that she only went to the potty for her mommy. She eventually got more comfortable and started showing interest at school too. About a month ago one teacher suggested switching over to pull-ups instead of diapers. We did - both at school and at home (except for night time) which seemed like a natural next step.

The week before Thanksgiving - during the parent teacher conferences - Katie's teacher mentioned how much success Katie was having with potty training (dry pull-ups even through nap time). I asked if she thought Katie was ready for the real deal and her response was "Yes, definitely." Since I had vacation scheduled for all of Thanksgiving week I thought that would be the perfect time to make the big switch from pull-ups to big girl panties.

Overall the week went well! Don't get me wrong - it wasn't accident free. But there were 3 full days when we had no accidents (today included) which I considered a success. I still have to prompt Katie every 45 minutes or so with a "Let's go potty" or "Do you need to go potty?" If I don't she gets distracted and waits until the last possible minute to tell me she needs to go. Amazingly she didn't have any trouble during the car rides between Woolwine and Richmond.

I am a little nervous to see how Katie does at school tomorrow when I'm not there with her, but I'm hoping its not a problem. I'm packing an extra change of clothes just in case....

Thanksgiving in Woolwine

We spent Thanksgiving week in Woolwine this year and had a wonderful time. Katie loves her time at Nana and Papa's house. She gets to experience so many things - like feeding carrots to the horses, throwing rocks in the creek, playing in the leaves, going on long walks, and spoiling Maddie (the dog). Katie even got to play on the elementary school playground - the same one I played on as a child. That was especially fun for mommy!!

I'm struggling for words tonight, but wanted to post some hpictures. We hope you all had a GREAT Thanksgiving!

A couple videos...

School Update

Last week we had a parent/teacher conference with Katie's preschool teachers. Yes - believe it or not - they do PT conferences for 2 year olds. It amazing actually. Her teachers have a 2+ page checklist of items which they use to evaluate each child. The list includes categories for cognitive skills, social/emotional skills, gross/fine motor skills, etc.

I'm always nervous for these sorts of meetings. One of my greatest fears has been that Katie's physical health issues would spill over into developmental delays. As parents - Matt and I think Katie is doing great - on track in every possible way. But we are her parents, not exactly an unbiased source of assessment.

Fortunately the teachers had great things to say about Katie. She is meeting or exceeding all the items on the checklist - developmentally right on track (WOHOO!). Matt and I were so happy and pleased with the report that we wanted to share the good news.

Below is a video of our little girl studying her shapes at home.

What a Day

Yesterday was a VERY busy day in the Barnes household. I got up at 4:30 to get ready for my first 8K ever. My race started at 7 AM and I was finished by 8. Matt and Katie didn't come down to see me run because our day was just getting started.

I hurried back home, showered, dressed, and got Katie ready for her church friend Mia's 2nd birthday party at the Children's Museum. I have blogged about the Children's Museum before...let's just say she REALLY likes that place!

As soon as the birthday party games were over - we loaded Katie into the car and headed to Charlottesville. While we drove, Katie napped. When she woke up we bundled her up and headed into Scott Stadium for the Duke vs. UVA game - - Katie's first college football game. Matt and I debated for a week or more over whether or not she was ready for something like that. We worried if the crowd would overwhelm her, if she would get scared by the load noises, if she could sit still for that length of time....and on and on and on. Looking back now, I'm not sure what we were so concerned about. She was loved all the action....especially the music and Cav Man. We stayed through half-time to the start of the 3rd quarter and then left so that we would be home for Katie's bedtime routine.

Definitely something we want to try again. Next time though I want to take her to Blacksburg!!!

Our Nephew!

Our newphew, Fielder Mason Barnes, arrived on Thursday November 10th - his due date, the prompt little guy. He was 8 lbs. and 6 oz. of adorable boy.

Katie and I went by to see him on Thursday evening after I got out of work. She was very curious about her new cousin and surprisingly not too jealous when mommy was holding him.

Fielder with is proud parents. Congrats again Rob, Katherine, and big sister Claire! Looking forward to having some BLUE in this Barnes family of little ones!!!

Halloween - 2011

We had 3 separate Halloween celebrations this year. First, on Friday we went over to Rob and at's house so Katie and Claire could play for a bit. Our intention was for the girls to go to the Pumpkin Patch but it was raining and about 38 degrees outside - so the Pumpkin Patch was OUT. It didn't matter because Katie and Claire had a good time just playing together at the house.

On Saturday, our church had "Trunk or Treat." Its basically trick-or-treating out of the trunk of church memebers' cars. Again, the event was moved inside the church due to the bad weather. Can you believe how many little ones there are at our church?!?!

Finally on Monday night, Katie and I headed out to brave - once again - the bad weather. Our neighbor Noah is one of Katie's favorite playmates and he and Katie hit "the hood" together (he's the red Elmo). We only made it to about 7 or 8 houses before heading back home. For the rest of the night Katie handed out candy to other trick-or-treaters. Unfortunately, some older kids in scary masks got the better of her and from there on she was happy to let mommy pass out the goodies.