Two Kids in Diapers!

This may not be cause for celebration in most households, but I am overjoyed to report that Bridget is now fully potty-trained, and we now have just two kids in diapers! Bridget has been daytime and naptime potty-trained for almost a year, but she was still wearing a diaper at night until 3 nights ago.

Well, she finally had three nights in a row with a dry diaper, which was our rule for losing the diaper entirely. She did it!! Her reward? We all went out to ice cream together, and she picked her own flavor - Strawberry Shortcake.

Sisterly Love

Tessa and Annie - 15 months

Before their check-up this morning, Matt held Tessa in one arm, and Annie in the other, and tried to guess what their weight difference would be. For the past couple of weeks, I've been convinced that Tessa is at least a pound heavier, but Matt's very calculated guess of 8 ounces proved to be right on the money!

Tessa: 23 pounds, 14 ounces (70th percentile!)

Annie: 23 pounds, 6 ounces (60th percentile!)

We have some chunky babies this time around! For comparison, Megan and Bridget each weighed 21 pounds exactly at 15 months.

These little girls are doing new things every day right now. They're now pointing to objects in books, understanding simple commands, throwing their diapers in the diaper pail (we run a tight ship around here and put them to work early!), still climbing every ladder, staircase or step stool in sight, and mastering play structures at every park we go to. They haven't mastered much in the vocab department beyond "Mama" and "Dada," so we also don't speak their language, so who knows what they're saying to each other? ;)

They're also showing their different personalities more and more. Annie is proving to be very alpha in their relationship. She takes things from Tessa, and Tessa usually just lets her. Annie is very curious, relentless when she wants something (won't stop "asking" for it), and pretty stubborn. She hates to be told "no." Meanwhile, Tessa is happiest when she's being held and cuddled. While Annie tries to play with Megan and Bridget, Tessa is content to lounge in a lap, surveying the action from a distance. They both love to flip through books, and are just now loving the girls' baby dolls. They give them kisses and hold them while patting them on the back. Best of all, they're really playing with each other quite a bit. Just tonight, they were holding hands while running around the house after dinner.

These are all pictures from the last week:

Annie

Tessa

Disneyland 2010

We made it back from our trip to Southern California over a week ago, so this is officially old news. Prepare for a lot of pictures!!

And, let me preface this by saying: Long road trips are officially right up there with potty training in that cozy little inner circle of parenthood hell. And, dealing with the potty while on a long road trip...well, I'll leave that to your imagination. Whatever you imagine it was like, it was probably worse :)

Sure, they look adorable here, all packed up and ready to go:

And Annie paused from chewing on her toes to smile here:

Those were taken before the 8-hour trip to Orange County to see Mop and Pop. The remainder of the trip was spent with the big girls debating (read: arguing) what movie to watch next; passing (or refusing to pass) books back and forth in front of Tessa's head; squealing about the cow smell intermittently; asking, "Are we there yet?" (I didn't think kids really said this that much on car trips. I was wrong about that. They say it every 10 minutes while they're awake, starting not five minutes out of your driveway); and, oh yeah, needing to pee about every 20 minutes. Or not really needing to pee, as Bridget demonstrated on more than one occasion, which led to Daddy telling everyone a little story called "The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf."

While the girls took turns getting unbuckled to use the potty while we were driving (I know - bad, bad parents!!), the babies took turns dropping their sippy cups, or dropping whatever toy they were playing with. As it turns out, keeping a 14-month old entertained for that long is not that easy! I'm not sure who had it easier - Matt driving almost non-stop for eight hours, or me, crawling back and forth from the front seat to the zoo in the back to manage the potty, shuffle movies and dole out snacks.

Thankfully, we stopped at a Denny's in Coalinga to eat, let the girls run laps in the parking lot, and change into pajamas. They were all asleep soon after, and we rolled into Mop and Pop's driveway at 1am with four sleeping kids to transfer in.

Once the journey there was over with, the fun began!! We had a full week of activities planned by Mop, and we started the next morning with a trip to their local Mission Viejo beach club. And, when I say "beach," I mean sand on a man-made lake. This is Orange County ;) And, it was perfect for the kids, with a sandy beach, grassy picnic area and even a little playground.

Megan, Bridget and Annie got a lift in from the parking lot in this little wagon (poor Tessa was getting a ride on me and missed the fun):

And, as soon as we settled down next to the playground, Annie wasted no time conquering this chain ladder that is most definitely not intended for babies. She climbed it several times and found a slide to go down all by herself!

Our little fish Megan loved the water!!

And the babies enjoyed this version of the beach, too. They'll get a shock later this summer with the cold water in Lake Tahoe!

Next up? Disneyland!! Our girls are spoiled, big time! They are lucky enough to have grandparents who live 15 minutes away from the park, and going to Disneyland is something we always work into our visits. Megan has now been at least six times, and she's only four years old. That's close to the number of times I've been in my entire life :) It's so nice to not have to rush around in the park. We hit up different rides every time we go, and never feel like we have to stay all day. And, this trip was much more enjoyable than last year's visit. Last year, the babies were only 10 weeks old - 'nuff said!

Stechers in Disneyland - 2009

For this trip, we took all four girls on the first day, and began in California Land, where we lined up the kids,

and Mop led the way:

We were tipped off to the need for swimsuits in the Bug's Life area, and we were glad we brought them. The girls had a blast! There were several water features with sprinklers and fountains that they had fun with, but they also took a little break for Ring Around the Rosie, a favorite at the moment:

A drenched Tessa:

Megan, Bridget and Annie:

These are happy screams from Tessa - trust me!

A wet, giddy Annie:

I love how the babies are looking at each other in this picture:

Mop and Annie were attached to each other that day, literally, since Mop was saddled with Annie in the Bjorn. But, Annie was very happy there. They have quite a cute little bond. Annie preferred her to me on more than one occasion during this trip!

Mop and Annie strolling,

cuddling,

and sleeping:

These two go way back. Last year, they had a good time together at Disneyland, too ;)

And, all of us got to pose with the big man, er, mouse, himself (minus Matt taking the picture):

What trip to Disneyland would be complete without a spin on It's a Small World? Megan and Bridget love this one!! I had to capture their reactions as we headed in on our little boat.

Pop and Uncle Kyle joined us after work, and were immediately put to use pushing and carrying kids:

The girls insisted that they ride Dumbo with Uncle Kyle,

and then conceded to another ride with Daddy.

Day Two at Disneyland found Matt and I with just Megan and Bridget. We left the babies back at the house with Mop. I know my perspective is crazily skewed, but it was such an enjoyable experience to just have two kids there that day! We were each able to ride with a kid on Autopia, and we were all able to go on the carousel and the teacups. The girls really wanted to go on Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise that day, too. Odd choices for the preschool set :)It was a lot of fun, quality time with the "big girls."

You'd think two days at Disneyland would be hard to beat. As it turns out, our girls are either very easy to please, or "Buckets of Fun" is even cooler than Disneyland. We spent the last day in Orange County relaxing around the house a little, and then headed to the rec center up the street to play in the water feature next to the pool. Megan and Joey have dubbed this "Buckets of Fun" because there are buckets of water constantly filling, overturning and splashing an unsuspecting child below. This was the highlight of Megan's trip, and the cause for at least one meltdown when we didn't go earlier in the week. Here she is, barely stopping for a picture, and sporting her goggles (very necessary that they be heart-shaped!).

If Megan is our little fish, Tessa is her little protege. Funny that a 14-month-old would so enjoy getting buckets of water literally dumped on her head over and over again, but she loved it. This was the happiest we saw her all week, without a doubt! She's on the right, with the wet hair. Annie carefully avoided wetting her do.

Meanwhile, Bridget surveyed these "fun" buckets from a distance after giving it a spin. After one dousing, she was out, and in her towel. I can't say I blame her.

The next day we headed home. Our daily routine here leaves a lot to be desired when compared to Disneyland and Buckets of Fun. The girls are already planning the rides they'll go on next time. Get ready for another invasion. Mop and Pop!