Success!

Well, Owen has successfully pee-peed in the potty the last 2 mornings! It's very exciting! I've taken him in the first thing when I wake him up and he did it both times! He's also very excited about it and hopefully it'll encourage him to continue to potty train himself. :)

I also noticed that Ella is cutting her other bottom tooth today (the bottom left one)! It's still under the gum, but I can see it and feel it there now so it'll be here any day.

Ella's Tooth

(Click to see full sized picture)

Potty Training??

I'm not sure if I'm really ready for this yet or not... but it seems as though Owen is, so I don't guess I have a choice. :) Owen has decided that he likes sitting on the potty. He hasn't actually done anything in it yet, but he loves sitting on it. He tells me all the time "Owee pee-pee in the potty" so I'll take him in there and let him sit on it for a while. He likes to get little bits of toilet paper and put them in his potty while he's sitting on it. We try to make him wait until he goes pee pee to get the toilet paper, but I usually give him a square or 2 to keep him happy. :) Half of me is so excited about the prospect of having a kiddo out of diapers, but the other half of me is not quite ready to commit to the whole potty training business just yet. So far, it's all his idea and I'm gonna keep it that way for a while. If he does it on his own, good for him, but I'm not gonna push the issue for a long time. He's still my little baby! He can't grow up too fast! :)

Uncle Kyle

I thought I'd post a little family news and ask for some prayers for Matt's uncle Kyle. He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome a week and a half ago. I had never heard of this rare disorder until last week but it's a very sudden and serious disorder. You can read more about it here: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/gbs/gbs.htm. From what we understand, he experienced some tingling in his hands 2 weeks ago today (on a Sunday night) but didnt worry too much about it and went on to work Monday morning. He ended up coming home early from work because he wasnt feeling well. When Aunt DeAnn got home from work, he was on the couch and as she was talking to him, she realized that one of his eyes was almost closed and he didnt realize it, so she told him to get up because they were going to the ER. At first, they thought he might have had a stroke, but he continued to get worse and by Thursday morning, he was completely paralyzed and on a respirator. From what we've been told, they've tried to take him off the respirator twice without success so he's still on it now. Most people recover well from this disorder, but it's a long difficult road, so please pray for him, his family and our extended family.

She's got a tooth!

Oh my! I just can't believe she's big enough for teeth! She cut her first tooth on Thursday (May 17th). It's her bottom right one and it's already getting big. It wont be long and she'll have a pearly white smile. My baby's growing up! She's been a bit of a stinker for me lately. She only wants me 99% of the time and still wont take a bottle. We had a couple of experimental days this week where I didnt nurse her during the middle part of the day and we managed to get her to take a few ounces of milk out of a sippy cup. We just had to mix in some bananas first. :) If it gets her to drink it, I'm more than happy to put some bananas in her milk! We gotta keep trying and hopefully it'll get easier and require less coaxing. I look forward to a little more freedom. We're having a lake day for work in a couple of weeks, so she's gonna spend the day away from me then and also the following week when I go out for the day with Janis and Stephanie from work. I'm kinda nervous about it and I know I'll be worried sick about her all day both days, but she'll survive! I think she'll spend at least one of those days with Grami (who will be finished with school!!!) so it should be a fun adventure for both of them! ;)

Big Boy!

Owen is growing up so fast, it's just crazy! He's already going to be 2 in just a week! He does the funniest things and he's such a little boy. He's not our little baby anymore at all! His vocabulary has just exploded lately. He can repeat almost anything we say and is saying a lot more on his own. I have a list of our favorite things he says at the end of this blog. He also knows a lot of signs that we are starting to figure out more and more. The one he does all the time is "open" which he does while he's saying "ope me, ope me". It's hard to explain the sign, but it kinda looks like he's immitating a chicken. :) We'll try to catch it on video and post it for all to see. :) Another one he's been doing is bicycle. He has some flashcards that we play with and one has a picture of a bicycle wheel on it and he says "beep beep" and does the sign for bike. It's so cute. I know there's more to post about him, but I want to get this posted before I get sidetracked again! :)

Here are our new favorite phrases:
"hap birday to you" :) You have to hear this one!
"cock dooo dooo" - cocka-doodle-doo
"back ard" - back yard
"card" - he has a card game on his computer and has a deck of cards he likes to play with
"big door"
"big bump"
"big truck"
"cereo" - cereal (which he eats with milk & a spoon all by himself now!)
"hurt"
"oh no!" - he says this SO cute and exaggerated :)