It’s been a little slow around here while we get ready for Baby #2 to arrive. We’re busy trying to get the guest bedroom converted into Lauren’s new “Big Girl” bedroom. How many princesses can you put in one room? I think we’re on our way to finding out, although we’re trying to do our best to make the room decor last a little longer than her Disney princess obsession. And because moving furniture in one bedroom wasn’t enough fun, we’re also going to try and move ALL of the furniture on our upper level over the course of two days as we have the carpet replaced next week. Should be interesting. Anybody want to help move a piano? I don’t think Steph and Lauren are going to be much help.
Lauren seems to have passed another milestone over the last few weeks. Regardless of whether you are a friend, family or a complete stranger, she’ll be more than happy to drop her pants to show off her new princess underwear she is now wearing full time. There was a lot of talk in the house about #2 over the past 3 weeks and it wasn’t in reference to the new baby. After a few lucky breaks for Mommy & Daddy, she appears to be on her way to earning the title “potty trained” (knock-on-wood).
In the meantime, as you can see in the video, Lauren and Koda have slowly started becoming good buddies. Lauren is finding new ways to play with him every day and Koda is slowly realizing that she does more than just drop food on the floor. I’ve also started taking Lauren skating on Saturdays because, well let’s face it, we only have 4 more years until the next winter Olympics. After the first trip, I left thinking perhaps we’re still a little young. However after our third time out, she really seems to be getting the hang of it and seems to really enjoy it. Especially when she knows there is a hot chocolate waiting for her at the end.
This past month has been pretty quiet and uneventful so we’ve been tucked in at home staying warm! The weather was really nice over the weekend, but Lauren has a terrible cold/cough so unfortunately we weren’t outside enjoying it. Grandma Mary has been down a couple times and Lauren always loves her visits- and hates to say goodbye!
Lauren is becoming more independent every day and we can see her little mind working to process all the new things she learns. She loves to read out loud to herself and can sing along to a few songs. We still have frequent communication breakdowns as she just can’t get the words out that she needs to say. And where she used to say “yeah!” to everything we asked her, Lauren now runs around repeating “no, no, no, no!”. Our patience and parenting skills are definitely being challenged several times a day!
The poem I wrote to her on her Valentine for daycare follows:
Your smile is contagious; you’re smart and funny, too.
You may throw a lot of tantrums, but we always love you!
Every once and awhile Lauren will get in a mood that causes Steph and I to stop everything we’re doing and just sit and watch. Tonight was one of those nights and luckily the video camera was handy. Maybe it was the pizza, or more likely the cookies after dinner. Whatever the cause, it provided some great entertainment and turned her into quite the dancer.
Lauren is officially on the move. With the help of a Saturday morning Starbucks delivery from Manda, Lauren proved she’s just like the rest of the girls and loves her coffee. She has been crawling around quite a bit since which has gotten us started on child proofing the house.
