updates

It seems like so much has happened lately, and while I'm doing good at keeping pictures updated, I haven't told much of the story:

Potty Training:
Natalie's doing great! The first day was all accidents. The second day had two successful pees after multiple trips to the potty. The third day (yesterday) we had several successes, two of which were pee-on-commands! This morning she took advantage of last night's pull-up and hasn't peed since. Which reminds me, maybe we should take another trip soon. The only potty she's been successful on is the smallest one, technically a travel potty, that is kept in the living room. The other potties all have books by them and are seen as book reading time by Natalie. She loves wearing "pennies" and getting her sticker rewards!

Lindsey's Belly:
Lindsey's been doing MUCH better. The reflux is under control, the spit up is at a manageable level (we're down to 1-2 outfit changes a day from the 5-6 we were doing)! This we attribute to Zantac. Last night she had some pretty bad gas, but had been doing much better up until then. This we attribute to no more cow's milk proteins. Her poop has returned to a good orangey-breast milk colored poop. This we attribute to the one-boob-at-a-feeding and subsequent restoration of foremilk/hindmilk balance.

Lindsey otherwise:
Is such a treat! She smiles and talks to Josh and I frequently and even Natalie on occasion. Today was the first time I left the toy bar on her bouncer and, as you can see, she enjoyed it! She's getting quite plump and is fitting into her 0-3 months clothes finally. She slept 7 hours the other night, allowing me to get 6! It didn't stick, and I didn't expect it to - she's too young - but once I had the panicky wake up and saw that she was okay, it sure was nice.


Natalie otherwise:
Is such a chatter box! Loves to sing and clap. Just this morning she sang along to REM's "Furry Happy Monsters." She likes to pick out her own clothes and shoes. Loves school. Loves sports. Tells someone "Happy Birthday" on a daily basis. Still loves being a big sister to "Baby Winsey". Here she is in the outfit she picked out today. It's weather appropriate and cute and clearly she's celebrating her "un-birthday," as we all should on more occasions!

Play Date:
We hosted a play date for Parker and Maggie this morning, Natalie's two best school friends. Natalie isn't very good with sharing yet, but it was fun. Natalie and Parker played together with Thomas and Little People and Word World and Natalie and Maggie squeezed in the Little Tykes car together on several occasions. It was great getting to know Maggie's mom, Katie, better and hear Janet's latest drama. (that sounds bad, but with her husband traveling a lot, she often has some great stories!)

Me:
I'm good. I'm excited to be hosting Thanksgiving this year. Josh made a leaf for our table and it looks so pretty already, and I haven't even ironed the table cloth yet! The dairy free diet, while trying, is going well. I've found that it's better to try new things than order favorites altered. For example: Instead of my usual pizza with no cheese I picked the Hawaiian BBQ pizza. Normally would not be a favorite but at least I don't feel like something is missing. And it really is worth it to see how much better Lindsey is doing. I'm loving having two kids. It can be quite the challenge, but during the peaceful moments I feel so accomplished and happy.

Josh:
Is good too. He's using my maternity leave to take some classes that will help him with work. He's getting some work done on his Blazer, though not as much as he'd like, I'm sure. He's enjoying a new zombie video game as well (that I hate to admit does sound like fun).

Salem the Beagle Dog:
Same ole, same ole.

=)