Small Steps, Big Boy Undies and "Prubacy"

My baby girl is walking/running all over the place! I can't believe how big she is getting.

We have hit a milestone of sorts at the DeBoer house. We graduated Joel into the next level of carseat and Gracie is inheriting his old one. That means she will finally be facing forward! We even took a "maiden voyage" around the block once Curt got home from work. Joel is giddy with excitement because his new carseat has a cupholder in it. And according to Joel, cupholders "totally rock!"

Joel is also making strides with potty training. I'm just letting him go at his own pace. Some days he asks for big boy undies and he'll use the potty all day with no problems...sometimes he wants a diaper...and we've had a few accidents. I'm just happy we're moving forward. The countdown to THREE is getting shorter and shorter. As of his birthday, we are going full-on undies, so I'll have to let you know how it goes!

I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought I'd put up some fun pics of the kids.

Big boy undies. Hey! Hey!

This is Joel sitting on his "time out chair." I've noticed that lately, in an act of sibling solidarity, Gracie will go sit next to Joel and wait for him to finish serving his time. I'll pull her away and bring her by her toys, but she'll head straight back to her brother and wait patiently until time out is over.

BATH TIME!

We see here a picture of sharing...gone terribly wrong!
Another common sight at the DeBoer house. We refer to this move as the "strangle hug."

This is an actual picture of Joel talking to Nonie & Pop Pop on the phone. I love that he has the phone cradled in his neck while he reads his comic book! I don't know what my parents were saying at this point in the conversation, but Joel's response was, "Are you KIDDING me?!?!"

Here is Gracie hanging out with Grandma DeBoer at her big birthday bash.

Cuddling with Daddy...

We had some friends over last weekend. This is Brady, Joel & Layla all snuggled in Joel's CARS couch watching a DVD on our portable DVD player. They thought it was great!

This is the face I get when I ask Joel to "smile nicely for the camera."

Here is Joel holding his newest friend, Mya Kate Engbers. Congrats to Ben, Laurie & Reagen!

This is actually the first picture JOEL has ever taken. Gracie & I were leaning down to try and fit into the frame (he is still working on his aim!). Still, not bad for a first photo!

JOEL-ISMS:

Joel and Grace are constantly following me EVERYWHERE around the house. I bring clothes back to my bedroom....there they are. I'm cooking in the kitchen...they are standing next to me. I'm sitting down in the living room...they are climbing on my lap. I had to draw the line the other day when they both followed me into the bathroom. I closed the door and told them they would have to wait. I could hear Gracie screaming outside the door as she tried to get in. Then I heard Joel tell her, "Don't worry, Gracie. Mom just needs a little PRUBACY." (Joel and I have been talking about PRIVACY during potty training. I'm glad to see he gets the concept.)

Joel had an absolute meltdown in the McDonald's playland this week. He was halfway up the climby thing when he decided that he couldn't go any further...and, of course, he couldn't come back down either. I've put in my time climbing in, up, down and around that knee-breaking "FUN" land, and I knew he could do it by himself. After my calm approach, my encouraging mom approach and my bribery approach all failed (in front of the other thirty mothers who were there watching the spectacle), I grabbed my loving son out of that playland and quickly made my way to the car. He knew that I was NOT happy. As I was driving away in silence, he asks me with a giggle, "Mom, WHY was I crying in that playland?" Ahhhh!!!! The next morning, I asked him if we were going to have a good day or whether we were going to have a repeat of the McDonalds incident. He said, "Mom...some days our hearts are happy, and some days they're not. Let's try to be happy today, okay?" Okay, Joel.