No rest for mommy anymore!

I'm entering uncharted territory here with Anna getting awfully close to walking AND climbing up our stairs completely unaided...at only 9 months. Jack was much more content to sit and watch things going on around him, but not this girl...she has to be in it!! He didn't walk (consistently at least) until about 15 months...I think she'll be closer to 10 or maybe 11 months.

I think I had my eye off of Anna for maybe 30 seconds the other day while I was putting some dishes away in the kitchen and nearly had a heart attack when I saw her halfway up our flight of stairs (and still going). She was quite proud of herself too, beaming up proudly at me as I quickly scooped her off the stairs and back down to our living room. Unfortunately our stairwell is not set up to attach a babygate to the bottom of the stairs, so I'm gonna have to get creative. Jack never showed much interest in the stairs, so I never really closed them off for him...just keep a wary eye out when he was playing by himself. I can't do that with her!

I was remarking to my mom the other day about how my children are so different already and Anna isn't even a year yet. She's hit a lot of the physical milestones a lot sooner than he did, although I'm sure some of it is just being the little sister wanting to do what big brother is doing. She's a lot more assertive at a younger age as well...there is no fear with her in crawling up in Jack's lap and tugging a toy out of his hand. I'm sure that skill will continue to serve her well with an older brother!!

I love the quirkiness of each of my kids. and mean that in the best way possible. Those quirks make them unique and so endearing to me, I just couldn't imagine them any differently (and likewise for all moms)! Jack has developed a fantastic speaking ability and sense of humor, and Anna has this little bobble she does side-to-side with her head that makes it impossible not to smile at her....I've got to get some video and post it. She's my bobble-head girl :)

No rest for me anymore...well, very occasionally!

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On a totally unrelated note...so sad. We haven't watched the show in a while now.

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jmeath/2009/08/20/jon-and-kate-separate/

PTC: The rest in a nutshell

I had planned to talk about each day in the first week of potty training Jack, but it's been a little too long now to remember the details, so I figured I would hit the highlights:

Wednesday: Bob took Jack to the potty and told him to let him know when he was done. Jack proceeded to do his business while entertaining himself with our kitchen timer. Bob poked his head around the corner and asked, "Whatcha doin' Jack?" Jack replied: "Just checking my email dad." Oh man, that was the highlight of our day!!!!

Thursday: The first time I did not have to change a poopy diaper or pull-up since Jack was born. Whohoo!! We ran to the dollar store so Jack could pick out a toy (he had 10 stickers on his reward chart at this point...I think it worked really well as a motivator for him). He loved his pink car, which he then proceeded to lose the next day. Oh well...good thing it was only a buck.

Friday: Ummm, I think more of the same...a few small accidents, but overall Jack was making progress!!!

The other highlight was taking him to Wal-Mart last week to buy a Hot Wheels monster truck to reward him further for doing so well. The truck has Donkey Kong on it, the beloved Nintendo character of us 80's kids...except that Jack insists on calling him Konkey Dong. Gonna have to work on this one...

Fast forward to today (about 3 weeks after I started potty training): he's now back in big boy underwear! The last two days he's pretty much gone accident free, so I'm going to brave the underwear with him again this week, only this time I think he's much more ready! We'll see...

Next up, Anna is getting ready to walk...at 9 months??