Day 365 - December 30

We finished up 2012 with a bang... potty learning with the big kid.

I know some people might think that almost three and a half seems late for potty learning, but we made a decision to not push it after she freaked out when we tried to put her in a underwear a few months ago. We've spent a lot of time just getting her used to the idea, but once the baby came, we were in no rush to start trying since Michaela didn't handle the transition to big sister very well in the early days.

So that brought us to this week.

Jason's been home a lot over the past week or so thanks to having a holiday schedule at work. So I wanted to take advantage of the extra set of hands to help out. (That sort of means I saddled him with the work while I did things like feed the baby.)

We started on Friday and by yesterday afternoon, we'd had two days with no accidents and she was trucking right along. I'm sure we'll have our moments over the next few days and weeks, but she figured it out quickly and I'm very happy to be ending 2012 with only one kid in diapers full-time (Michaela will still be in one overnight for a while).

So if I got nothing else out of 2012, at least I got that! (And a baby... but whatever. Ha.)

Today's picture is of our second sticker chart. The kid is very motivated by stickers and pretend phone calls from Rachel Coleman - the lady from Signing Time (and Potty Time, in this case). Whatever it takes!

Day 364 - December 29

Holy cow. There are only two days left in the year after today. This project started almost two full years ago, on a whim. I actually got my inspiration from another friend who had started her own 365 project, never thinking it would be something I'd be able to stick with, and now here I am 2 years and two (almost) full 365 projects later. So the question is, do I keep going again in 2013? Part of me wants to stop because it can sometimes be tough to keep up with (there have been a lot of late posts since Cate came along!), but I also like that I have this way to keep track of our daily life. I haven't printed 2011 out yet, but I will be printing both 2011 and 2012 in blog books to keep for posterity. I kind of like the idea of continuing to do that, especially since I'm so bad at keeping up with our other blog (that's probably because of this one, though).

Decisions, decisions. Anyone care to weigh in?

Meanwhile, as a way of ending 2012 on a high note (and being an overachiever in terms of her sister), Cate has decided that she'd like to start sitting up on her own. I officially marked it on her calendar for yesterday, but she got even better today, managing to sit herself back up from the folded-up "taco" position. She can't catch herself if she leans too far back or to the side, but she can pretty much stay up on her own for long periods of time now.

I looked back at Michaela's calendar, and she wasn't doing this until she was about two weeks older than Cate is now, but I could've sworn it was later. I think Cate is just determined to grow up on me way too fast. It's so funny how you can't wait for the milestones with the first baby, but when you know it's your last, you want time to stop and to keep that cuddly newborn around forever.

Cuddly newborn she is not.... she's my sitting-up infant and I'm not ready for her to get any bigger!!

Day 363 - December 28

Sometimes I have to take a picture just to tell a story.

And tonight is one of those times.

A few days before Christmas, Jason mentioned wanting a Red Sox Tervis tumbler. He had been at the Exchange and looked at the Tervises there, but they didn't have any non-Coast Guard ones.

I, uh, I mean Michaela and Cate, had already bought some golf balls for him for Christmas, but I figured Michaela and Cate might want to give him a cup instead. So I spent a small fortune to ship a Red Sox tumbler here just days before Christmas.

It's worth it, though, to hear Michaela ask him every night, "Daddy, how's yer Sox?" She doesn't just ask him, she's laughs hysterically every single time.

At least she thinks she's funny!

Day 362 - December 27

We went back to Bellingrath tonight to get one last look at the lights for this Christmas season. We thought Michaela might want to go, but that kid was EXCITED about it. It even felt Christmas-y since it was just under 40 degrees and we were pretty bundled up. Our blood has thinned for sure!

Of all the decorations that are up for the Magic Christmas in Lights, there are two kinds that I could look at all night. The first kind is a grouping of trees made out of all kinds of blue and green lights scattered along the great lawn. I posted a picture of them on our other blog back in 2010, the first year we went to see the lights.

The other kind are these balls made out of the lights that they string in a HUGE tree right near the end of the path. They're just so neat and I would totally be stealing them if we had any trees in our yard. Love them!

Day 361 - December 26

Today's picture is about playing with my new toys!

One of the gifts Jason gave me for Christmas was a set of three different lenses to use on my iPhone! There's a zoom lens, a fisheye lens, and a two-in-one wide angle macro.

Apparently, they aren't kidding when they say the macro is a macro. You have to be about a half a centimeter from whatever you're taking a picture of, and it's SUPER close up.

This is the eye of one of our matryroshka Santa dolls. SUPER close up!

Day 360 - December 25

Merry Christmas!!

I'll keep it simple and just say that it's fun to see Christmas through the eyes of a three-year-old.

Day 359 - December 24

I have about 10 pictures that would be great for today. And, eventually, once the other blog shows that Michaela's had her 3rd birthday, I've had a baby, and the last 5 months have happened, I'll put them all up over there.

But in the interest of saving myself some editing time, and in keeping with the whole picture a day thing, I'll limit it to just one picture.

I have a handful of cute ones of Cate in front of the tree this afternoon. And of Michaela tonight (complete with very wrinkly dress). And of the gifts under the tree.

But I had to go with this one of Cate. This baby makes the most hilarious faces! Jason said she was saying, "You just got a bunch of pictures of me. Why are you still taking more???"