Susie's Leaning Tower of Chocolate for 2015 September

Maggie made no-bake cookies last night, with a little help from me. This was her first time reading a recipe, using the stove, actually making something from scratch on her own. She did a good job. We are always trying to increase our kids' independence, so I hope it's the start of a new trend.

School is back in session and I am already wondering what I did with my time last year. I worked, this is true. I also had to run errands during the time Dalton was at school, because Sienna napped after we picked him up. But we now have the morning free to run errands and she naps around 2:30, leaving the early afternoon and late morning free to... Play toys. And stuff.

Today I had a doctor appointment after Maggie went off to school. I dropped the kinder kids off. Read a book to Sienna. Played on my phone while Sienna did Legos. Played piano. Read scriptures. Prepped dinner. Did dishes and tidied up the kitchen. Searched for toy animals with penguin binoculars. Ate lunch. Colored with Sienna. Cleaned up Sienna's room. Set up the kiddie pool in Sienna's room for her stuffed animals. Pretended to ride teacups on the kiddie pool. Dalton's been in school for two hours.

I need to get started on some bigger projects, and also work on Maggie's Halloween costume, but I keep forgetting to consult with her on it.

Last night I was thinking about having a little newborn and waking up in the night. It's amazing how I can sleep through John's alarm and getting ready (including our crazy noisy shower door) but a little newborn peep can wake me from another room.

20 minutes later, I went to wake Maggie for her evening potty break and as soon as I went into the hallway, I could tell that Sienna had made a dirty diaper in her sleep. With the door closed, and the recently-put-out candle in the air, I could still tell.

Dalton wonders how I can tell if he didn't brush his teeth, or scrub his hands well enough, or is wearing yesterday's dirty socks, or didn't finish the food he was supposed to eat in the other room.

These are the mom things.

John had to work most of today. I dragged the kids to Walmart in the morning and prepped food for our BBQ. Then we went swimming for a couple hours. Maggie and Dalton fought over which boogie board they got so I had to clip them down and we didn't bring either one. Some neighborhood friends were there, but they had fun with each other.

After swimming, Sienna napped and the kids played while I cooked, cleaned and made a tutu for Maggie's Halloween costume. When Sienna got up, I turned on Totoro for them, because Sienna hasn't really seen it. Then we went to our neighbor's house with way too much delicious food and has a great time.

I attempted to potty train Sienna a couple weeks ago. We did underwear for 5 days, she had three accidents (in the first two days) and peed in the toilet ZERO times. She held it as long as 7 hours, until I put a diaper on for nap or bedtime. Alrighty then.

Yesterday John promised her a My Little Pony if she peed in the potty. She seemed interested in that, so we gave it another go today. Success! She went twice in the toilet, and had no accidents (because, bladder of steel). After the first time, we immediately went to Target where she picked out a Rainbow Dash toy. (We may have been headed to Target anyway.) Here's hoping it keeps up!

Also, I'm amazed that she is still napping. In fact, she is very into her naps. She slept over 3 hours today, and went down like no big deal (after all her sleep prerequisites were met, of course). She also regularly announces that she's not going night-night (ie. I need a nap now!).

Some slight changes to her bedtime routine: She's in a bed now, or at least a mattress on the floor. She's accepted that she may need a different pillowcase or sheet if one is dirty. She sleeps with her Frozen blankie and a fat red car. And she likes to "kiss your back", by which she means "cheek."

When I heard Sienna wake up, I headed upstairs. She met me at the top of the stairs and said this in succession:

I wake up, mom!
It's a good morning day!
I go pee pee in the potty.
There's my room! (On the way to the potty.)

So potty training's going well. She's only had one accident since we started try two. It's definitely a Good Morning Day.

For my birthday, John planned a special date with each of the kids and a family date. Maggie picked bowling, Dalton mini golf, Sienna Minions movie, and our family date was to Sea World. Bonus: Sea World is buy a day, get the rest of the year free. We went down today. Dalton and I also got to participate in the dolphin encounter. Since I couldn't go on any of the rides. That was definitely the highlight of the visit. We got to pet the dolphin, do hand signals to interact, feed her some fish, dance with her and more. She was a silly thing, talking, nodding and interacting. We were laughing the whole time.

We also saw the orca show and the pet show. I enjoyed the pet show. There were high-wire kitties, sign changing pigs, sneaky dogs and more. The orca show was a little disappointing. The one ride I was able to go on was the bay gondola, which was very pleasant. We also really enjoyed the petting pools. You can pet sharks, rays, cleaner fish and more. We paid $5 for little fish to feed the bat rays which was John's favorite part. Maggie loved the cleaner fish, and actually remembered doing the fish spa at the aquarium in Bangkok.

Overall a very nice day and birthday celebration.

Oh, we also dressed as pirates and stopped at Krispy Kreme for four free dozen donuts. (Sienna wouldn't dress up). And since we were early, we stopped at a lookout along the freeway and made friends with dozens of ground squirrels.

What color Diana did Sienna's friends have?
What's a Diana?
That.
A pipe cleaner? Oh, antenna??
Silly Dalt.

Sienna has mysteriously started saying "poopie" for the word "clippie", as in hair clippie. It has led to some funny sentences, like telling her friend's mom that she has an "Anna poopie", or asking me to get the poopie out of her hair.

I thought of my mom at women's conference when we sang Come Ye Children of the Lord. I really like that hymn, but I always chuckle a little bit on the third verse.

Sienna got weighed for her flu shot this week, and then I found her paper from her 24 month appointment. Her appointment was actually at 25 months, so in the last 9 months, she went from 25 pounds to 27. The 24 month paper says she was 34 inches and she's now close to 38. I can't believe she's only gained 2 pounds. I guess she wasn't wearing a diaper this time around.

Sienna has started a little "preschool" co-op every Wednesday. My Wednesdays now look like this:

9:30 Sienna drop off
11:00 Dalton drop off
12:00 Sienna pick up
1:00 Maggie gets out
2:20 Dalton pick up

Plus every other week Maggie has Activity Days from 2:30-3:30.

Add in driving time, and there's very little else to do. It looks like I get an hour and a half alone with Dalton (minus driving time...) but I've been having to schedule my OB visits during that time every other week (and soon every week). It also looks like I get an hour to myself every Wednesday. Minus driving time. I have to remind myself that I'm doing this for Sienna and not for the two and a half hours alone time, because Not. Also, every few weeks preschool is at our house and that's just silly.