Potty training

We will 'officially' start potty training J this w/e, but she's already off and running with it.  She's shown signs for awhile now that she was interested- asks to go on the potty, talks about it, wants a clean diaper, etc.   We were going to wait until the fall, but we really didn't want to miss our opportunity.

This week though, she's already off and running. We bought her a few pairs of special under-ware (Minnie Mouse) that she absolutely loves and I think this was the real catalyst.  So far this week, she's woken up each morning, we've taken gone to change her diaper and she's asked for her under ware.  When we put them on, we remind her that if she has to go, she goes on the potty, and she's taken it from there.  While in the house, she runs around in just her under ware and 'knock on wood', hasn't had an accident yet.  Even while watching her beloved "Oliva" she stops and goes into the bathroom.

Going #2 hasn't been quite as successful and she still isn't as eager.  J waits until a diaper goes on before she'll go.  We'll have to see how she does when the diapers disappear all together after this weekend!

*** Update***
After our Potty-training Boot Camp this weekend, we are successfully trained!  It was a bit intense (OK, maybe only for Mommy b/c I can't stand staying cooped up in one place all day!) but Day 1 we stayed in all day and only had 1 accident.  Day 2, we went out for an hour to have lunch with Vicki and Steve with no accidents. Day 3 we went out with some friends and did some errands and only had an accident that morning when the bathroom at home was occupied.  

From that point, we have been all clear and it's really been Jocelyn leading the way.  She tells us if she has to go and although we have her use the potty before leaving the house, she's been able to hold it in between parks/errands/ect.    The real motivator continues to be the under ware that she loves to wear (Minnie has that type of draw!).

We had to make one modification on Sunday after realizing that the M&M's we were giving her as prizes were a bit too much for her. She's highly sensitive to sugar and spent a full 2.5hrs screaming in her crib during nap time b/c she was so hyped up from them.  We are now using stickers and ice cream (a home-made ice pop) for the day end celebration.

Princesses come to town

 Everyone needs a Great-Aunt Claire who spoils you rotten.  She gave the girls "princess suitcases" filled with all the glitter their little hearts could desire.  Shoes, crown, wand, earrings, and rings- these girls rocked it.

Following the princess parade around the backyard, the girls had a very regal dinner in the kitchen, where all their princess manners were on display.

Pasta is a very royal meal isn't? 

                                  Notice the one earring..we got a bit gangster as the night wore on.

NYC 1/2 Marathon

 Chris accomplished one of his goals by participating in and finishing the NYC 1/2 Marathon!  He did fantastically and finished with a great time of 2:02.  Christian also ran it, although there were in different corals to begin with so they weren't able to run together.  

One of the coolest things was the finish line was right in front of our building! We were able to stand on our balcony and watch as everyone crossed- super cool!

Crossing the finish!! A hard won journey! 

We hung this sign off our balcony to cheer Chris on as he crossed. 

Christian crossing

Uncle Christian got a sign too! 

Disney!

 Yaya and Pop (Chris's parents) took the whole family down to Disney for a week for our Christmas present this year (very appreciated!).   We went from Sunday through Friday and stayed at Port Orleans, a Disney property.  Chris and I were a bit nervous since this was our first real vacation with Jocelyn, but I really don't think she could have had a better time.    She woke up excited in the morning, and went to sleep over joyed at night.   Once we figured out that hitting the parks early in the morning was the way to go, we did even better.  We would get up early, hit the park at opening, coming back to the resort for lunch/nap, sit by the pool for a bit and then head to where ever dinner was that night.

Jocelyn was a rock-star and did fantastic even without napping some days, and going to bed as late as 10pm some nights.  We tried to hit the fireworks at Epcot one night, but as soon as they started both J and Caleb gave us the "look" that told us they were not down with all the loud booming, so we took off.

The rock-stars themselves.  Ready for action! 

Could not be happier to see her fav't buddy, Pooh. 

That smile rarely left her face 

Getting ready for the carousel, Jocelyn's pick for best ride. 

Let's go Aunt Stephie, there are a lot of furry friends for me to meet! 

Checking on Eeyore's tail to make sure it was still attached.  

Family shot at Epcot (Mommy's fav't spot) 

Animal Kingdom- Checking out where the wild things roam 

Having a Tete-a-tete with her buddy Mickey.  Multiple times she asked if she could see Mickey's room in the castle.  Still refers to all castles as his. 

Play time at the pool!  

What a great smile! 

Mommy's fav't ride- Dumbo! 

Yaya, Pop and their 2 kiddos 

Donlan Crew 2012 

Book Signing

Jocelyn moved one step closer to becoming a super-star ice skater today by meeting Kristi Yamaguchi, former Olympic Ice Skater.  Although we missed the actual reading of Kristi's book "It's a Big World, Little Pig", we did get a chance to meet her and received an autographed copy of the book.    Since 2 weeks ago, my mom declared Jocelyn a "natural" ice skater, we thought rubbing elbows with a champion would do her some good.  As you can see by J's expression, she was speechless.

Gigi's Birthday

We celebrated Gigi's 84th birthday!  Gigi was a real party girl and even shared her balloons with the kids (they were pretty excited about that!) 

The girls 'helping' Gigi with her candles.