Kids update

Thomas was stomping around the house in a size 3T T-shirt that has a
picture of a dinosaur wearing boxing gloves. He looks like a little
man in his boy clothes. He's wearing 24-months sized pants and some
tops too, but the 3T fits with the sleeves rolled up. He's so handsome
and sweet. Just exactly like his daddy. He ate his first strawberry
today. He liked it, but he made the same kind of goofy faces that he
made when he ate his first tomato.

Joanna has a stubborn streak to her. I don't know where that came from...
She is absolutely precious though. Last night, she grabbed my fork
from dinner and took it with her little red chair to the kitchen sink
and washed it off (water only) and laid it on the counter top. Does
she watch every move I make or what? It is so neat to see her do
things herself. This morning she went to "school" aka "Miss Kristie's
Castle" and I mentioned to her to tell Miss Kristie when she needs to
pee and poo in the potty. She said, "I need to go pee in the potty,
now." So I went ahead and took her. She did it! I'm so proud. She went
poo a little in the potty tonight as well. I gave her the "two
chocolates" except they were little chocolate chips instead of big
Hershey kisses. I mean, it was like 9 o'clock! She didn't say anything
about them not being big (didn't even hint at complaining), they were
still "two chocolates."

Poo on Saturday

Joanna went poo in the potty today. Twice. Without help. All by herself! Nobody even asked her to go. She is just growing up! Hooray.

This morning, Joanna woke up early and went potty and then went back to sleep. Thomas woke up at 7:15 and I got up and we went to the grocery store. I was out of coffee filters and I just had to get that checked  off my things to do list right away! We had a neat time. I don't recall taking only Thomas to the store with me. I enjoyed that time with him this morning. He said "bye bye" and waved to the cashiers. That was really neat. 

Thursday night, Thomas signed "more" and "finished" at dinner. He was mimicking us, but he was doing it alright! 

We arrived home and were greeted by Joanna. She had only been up a few minutes. She was cuddling with Daddy. She had already got out of bed by herself, gone potty and also poo-poo too! All by herself! She told Jason about going potty, but he didn't know she'd done number two. So anyway, I came in and she helped me bring in a couple small bags. After we got the bags in, I saw the poo and I was so happy for her! We got really excited and gave each other "five" and dumped the potty chair contents into the toilet and Joanna flushed it down and we said bye bye to the poo poo. Yay! We washed our hands and Joanna got two pieces of chocolate (Hershey kisses). Later just before nap time, she went in the bathroom unannounced and went poo poo again. I told her she could have her two chocolates after nap and she went along with the idea. 

She was really geared up today before nap, I mean, going potty is exciting! So, it was hard for her to get settled down. I did let her watch Nemo to fall asleep. I usually just read to her and we cuddle, but that really wasn't working today. Within a few minutes of simply staying still to watch Nemo she was out.

Once she was asleep, I put the two chocolates in her little pocketbook with her small bubbles as a surprise. She liked that and carried her purse for a while and wanted to take it with us when we left for the balloon festival. She ate one chocolate at home and one in the car. 

Joanna and the potty adventure

Joanna went poo in the potty today. Twice. Without help. All by herself! Nobody even asked her to go. She is just growing up! Hooray.

Potato Casserole

Here is a yummy potato casserole.

2 pounds frozen hash brown potatoes
1 pint sour cream (light works fine)

10 3/4 ounces can cream of celery soup
10 3/4 ounces can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt, adjust to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, adjust to taste
1/2 cup butter, melted and divided
3 cups cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups corn flake crumbs

Servings: 12

Container: 9" x 13" baking dish, lightly greased
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour


Preheat oven to 350º F.
In a large bowl, mix frozen hash browns, sour cream, soups, onion, seasonings, and cheddar cheese. Add 1/4 of melted butter to potato mixture. Spread into prepared baking dish.
Combine corn flake crumbs and 1/4 cup of melted butter and spread over top of casserole.
Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Serve hot.

Not a Brown Hot Dog

Recently, Joanna has stopped adding her just-one-snake-not-two-snakes request when she wants a hotdog. Now asks for a hotdog and adds, "not a brown one" and I have NO IDEA what she is talking about. Aren't all hotdogs brown? Well, there are those red ones, but she has never had one that I know of. So, here's to a new mystery to figure out!

She also has started asking for other ways to prepare things. Again with the hotdog, she's started asking me not to make it too hot. Sometimes, it ends up being a tad too hot so she has to wait until it cools. I'm still getting used to only needing to microwave something for 15 seconds.

This morning, she looked at the hotdog (yes, a hotdog for breakfast) and asked "Is that a brown hot dog?" I asked, "Why don't you taste it and tell me if it is brown." (I mean, obviously it looks brown, so there must be something else to this.) I promise a post if I figure it out.

This girl loves hotdogs!

September 2010

A night out on the town...

Four Steps

Tuesday, Thomas took four steps to Jason! He didn't make it all the way, but it was an awesome attempt. He was holding the round end table and Jason was sitting in the dining chair when Thomas set off to go to Daddy.