Mia hit two major milestones over the past 2 weeks. First and most exciting, she turned two! Second and most relieving, she is potty trained! I guess "trained" sounds so final and complete, so maybe "training" is more accurate. At any rate, she is definitely our big girl now and we are so proud of her.
We celebrated her birthday with a few different events. First, we took the kids to Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies. The kids definitely prefer to love the butterflies from afar. Any flying friend that attempted to land on us caused a few screams, but they enjoyed running around the greenhouse and posing by the big butterfly. It was a beautiful exhibit and it gives me hope that spring is coming! We can't wait to play outside at the Gardens.
We also took the kids up to the "Great Wolf Lodge" in Traverse City for one night. For those who don't see the TV commercials that come on every 2 minutes, Great Wolf is a gigantic indoor water park and hotel. We all had a so much fun! It's really entertaining for all ages (now I sound like those commercials), Mia and Carter both had a lot of age appropriate options and so did Dave and I. Plus our room had a kid "wolf den" area which the kids loved almost as much as the actual water park. They have a story time before bed where all the kids gather to see large furry characters read books, and lots of games and shops all over the hotel.
Dave's family also came over for some pizza and cake to help us celebrate. Mia received a ton of cool presents, she loves her new apron and kitchen items, plus her adorable new outfits for summer. She also got some neat bath toys and paints.
Another of Dave's fantastic cakes. He made the fondant from scratch!
We also celebrated with Grandpa and Grandma J. Grandma made a delicious upside-down pineapple and banana cake for both Dave and Mia and they brought a cool bouncy alligator toy for Mia. Both kids really enjoy jumping around on "Yippee the Alligator."
Mia also went to the Dr. for her 2 year check-up and she did very well. Only one shot with minimal crying and she excels in language and fine motor skills. She weighs in at 24 lbs. 5 oz. (21st %), is 33.5 inches tall (42nd %), and her BMI is 15.3 (20th %).
Last but not least, potty training. Last weekend we tackled the dreaded potty training. We subscribe to the philosophy outlined by Lois Kleint in her "Potty Train in Three Days" book. For anyone out there contemplating this stressful feat, I highly urge you to get this book. It works. No pull ups, no back and forth on diapers, just underwear and accidents (sounds awesome, doesn't it?). Be prepared for lots of laundry and the feeling that you have a new puppy in your house, but after a few days, you really see the switch go off in their head. Mia is on day 9 and I'm actually confident enough to write about how well she's doing. She gets it! She is going on 48 hours without an accident! That includes naps and nighttime! She actually tells us when she has to go too. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I can actually devote myself to something other than worrying about when the next accident will be. It took her about 5 days to really get it and I know she'll still have some accidents, but I couldn't have asked for anything better.
A supply of 'Dora' underwear = $20, potty seats on every toilet = $60, NEVER buying diapers again, you guessed it, priceless.
I also have to give a gigantic thanks to Grandma and Grandpa B. for enduring and helping with days 1 and 2 of potty training. They happened to be in town for a long weekend and came by to see the kids. We were knee deep in carpet cleaning and they helped us stay sane. Thank you!!! Mia also thanks you for the gift for her college fund and the cute doll clothes! Sorry, no pictures, I was not in the frame of mind to snap pictures that weekend.
It's crazy what can change in a week or two. We are so proud of our big girl and love how grown up she is getting!
