Big Day for Ryane

I dropped Ryane off this morning at day care in Training Pants. She insisted on putting on trainers rather than diapers, so Matthew and I let her have her way. She has been doing SO good in her potty-training lately. While she has just started to intermittenly tell us she has to go to the potty or just says potty and takes off for it herself, she generally does best if we keep asking/reminding her to use the potty. We can now trust her that if she says no, she doesn't have to go, she really doesn't. When she says yes, she goes! I want to think we are over 1/2 there to having her fully trained, but only time will tell.

So, I dropped Ryane off with Kathy with the disclaimer that she was wearing trainers. Ryane told Kathy she would tell her if she had to potty! :-) (She's so cute when she says say and no) Our provider is all for helping us out in the training process and I feel so blessed for it. She reported yesterday that Ryane used the potty all day until around 3 when she finally had an accident during snack time. We are looking forward to another great day from our Big Girl Ryane! So, please say a little prayer for Ryane today that she remembers to use the potty.

After writing this, I realize that Ryane is 19 months old today. Maybe she knew and that's why she was ready for trainers all day??? Genius kid! (just a touch biased)

Update: The day didn't go so well for Ryane - darn it! It was reported she'd pottied in 3 pairs of trainers before 11am. She doesn't usually pee that much, so it must have been an extra pee pee kind of day for her. Oh well, at least we tried. I knew better than to post anything about potty-training as it would jinx us!

Cook 'Em!

Before I really explain what the title means, let me first start saying we have an almost 19 month old in the house who is talking up a storm. She clearly amazes us everyday with that she says and comes up with. I remember doing her 18month milestones and putting her vocabulary at about 20 words. Well, I couldn't even begin to count the words she says and repeats often these days. It's all happened so fast. Now, for the "cook 'em" explaination... We've tried to be diligent on teaching Ryane basic manners. It was FOREVER before she would say "Peeze", now it comes often and she really expects to get what she wants when she says it. Then, came teaching her "thank you". It was awhile before she'd actually say it, it usually was a nod and a smile, but it eventually came. Now, we say "Say Thank you" and out comes "Cook 'Em" (welcome!). Now, we are having to reverse to make sure SHE is the one says 'Thank you', while the other is saying 'You're Welcome'. A couple nights ago she did something I asked so I said "Thank You" and clearly came "You're Welcome" back from her. Have I mentioned how my daughter is so great?! :)

Keeping Dry

A minor first and I'll take it!! The past couple of evenings after we got home from work and day care, we've switched Ryane over to training pants as she does so good at using the potty chair each morning and we are pretty sure she told her dad on Sunday she needed to go, but we didn't make it to the potty chair in time. Last night we had a couple of accidents in the trainers, but she told us when she went. Well, tonight, I asked her if she wanted to go and she said yes. Sure enough, she went right away and we kept the trainers dry!! Yeahhh! I hope the streak continues! If not, I think we are making progress. We took a nice embarrassing picture of Ryane to mark the occassion of keeping her trainers dry. She'll love us later for it I'm sure. :) Never mind the chocolate cookie face.

Pockets - what an invention!

Ryane was so in love and amused with her pockets this morning, that it warranted a picture. It all started when I was helping her get dressed. Our little angel is quite the independent girl lately! She insists on dressing herself, especially putting pants on, especially putting on her training pants. You can't even touch the trainers when she's putting them on without a good squeal from her. So, back to this morning... I was trying to cut out a few minutes and help her and explain that she needed her pockets in the front. Well, she got the pants on and thought she needed to parade around the house with her hands in her pockets thinking she was the stuff. She's so cute when she explores and learns new things!

New Big Girl Bed

We went and picked up Ryane's big girl bed on Saturday. It's a junior loft bed so we can put some toys underneath and she gets to have fun on her slide. After a quick assembly we showed it to Ryane and let her have fun. The bed definitely takes up lots of space in her room, but I think it's worth it for all the fun she can have. Anyone ready to come over for a sleepover?

I took a video of her maiden voyage down the slide. No child was harmed in the making of this video! :)The first trip down a bit fast.
Ryane setting in her bed with her new quilt Nana made her.

Smarty Pants!

This video is a longer than our usual 1 min. videos we share, but we are just so proud of Ryane. Day care told us awhile back that Ryane was really good at sorting and seperating colors and this toy proves it. Ryane usually does this ball sorter thing once an evening by herself. Ahh - it's so nice when she can play with something by herself as Matthew and I are usually her playmates. Don't get me wrong, we love playing and interacting with our daughter, but it's nice to catch a break once in awhile. Plus, making her learn it by herself makes her a stronger, smarter kid, right?!

What's the cutest thing you see at the zoo?

....the back of your kid's head over and over as they go from cage to cage in amazement!! This past weekend the weather was so nice and we needed to get out of the house. After having lunch, Matthew and I took Ryane to the Emporia zoo. Ryane had a good time seeing and screaching at the animals. It was pretty cute when we'd try to point out a camo'd animal to her and you can see her looking, looking, looking and then the cute face she gets when she founds it. Some of her favorites from this trip was the prairie dogs as they were pretty active and the big kitty (aka mountain lion). She didn't say much when looking at the lion, but that's all she talked about on the way home was "kitty, kitty, kitty this and that (of which I couldn't understand it all)"!

Anyhow, here are some pictures I took on the trip.
Looking at the ducks swimming. Of course it helps when you are on your tip toes!

Watching the prairie dogs.

Getting a better view with daddy's help. Photo disclaimer=Daddy's clothes are messy as he was just helping a friend put dry wall up. :)

Ummmm, can you get any closer, Ryane?

Go Jayhawks

Ready for the big game tonight....

Yes, the above is the face we get when we say "look at mommy for a picture!" Silly girl and the things she comes up with!

Big Girl Room

As some of you know, we recently remodeled our office/guest room into a big girl room for Ryane. We are leaving the nursery room pretty much the same for the new baby. This was the only room left in the house that I hadn't painted or done anything to since moving in 5 years ago. It was by far the largest room remodel as well. Well, Ryane officially moved into her new big girl room on Friday, March 21st. We thought the quicker we got her in there and into a big girl bed, the less she would think "hey, that baby took my crib and took over my room". I'm sure she'll have plenty other issues of the new kid coming in to turn her world upside down, we didn't need to add to it. So, we have her new big girl room 85% complete. We just have to buy and install the baseboards still. We go to pick up her big girl bed in a couple weeks (can't wait to show you it!) and hopefully get her quilt soon thereafter. I'm sure there will be more pictures when we get all that done and set up. :)

For now, here are the progress pictures taken from starting to clear out the room, some progress done, to the almost completed project.
View looking into her room from the doorway:

View standing next to the window looking back at her closet. We put in new closet doors as the old ones lived their life already and needed replaced.

Here are some of the decorating elements to her room. I made the fabric covered cornice board this past weekend with material that was left over from making her quilt.

18 Mo. Well-Child Checkup

We took Ryane in to see Dr. Schmid today for her 18 month well-child checkup appointment. She tipped the scales at 23lbs, which is in the 30th percentile for other girls her age. The Dr. made a comment that she's thinning down and keeps going down on % each appt. Time to fatten her up I guess??? Not sure if her belly can get rounder though. As for height, she was 31.5" tall, or 57th percentile. Since her last appt. 3 months ago, Ryane has grown 2 inches and put on 1 pound. That explains why all her pants are getting shorter, but the longer ones aren't small enough on her waist. Shorts weather is just around the corner, so this will all be a non-issue. Come on warm weather!!

Developmently wise, we were told Ryane is advanced for her age. The Dr. commented that she is speaking really well for her age. I brought up that I can still feel where her softspot is and Dr. Schmid said no worries as her development is fine and her head isn't really big - it's remained in the 75%. Overall, it was pretty unevently appt. and Ryane was ready to leave. She kept going to the door and saying "Go". Awhh - independent 18month old, we wouldn't know what to do without her!