Quilt #2 Finished

It's done.  Finally, finally done.  D's baby quilt is complete.  Never mind that she is two years and two months old.  I did have the first one done before they were born so had I only had one baby, I would have been in great shape.  I still consider one quilt in two years with twins pretty good. 

It is similar in layout to T's quilt and bright which I love.  The butterfly blocks turned out well. 

Now to start baby quilt #3.  I have some cute fabric for it.  Now I need to figure out a pattern for it.  Hmmm . . .

Museum of Discovery

Last Tuesday we met a friend and her two boys at the Museum of Discovery here in Little Rock.  It was our first time going.  I hadn't planned on getting the year the family pass because I figured having one to the zoo would be enough.  The past few weeks though I have come to the realization that I won't be able to push the stroller around the zoo so easily in the next few months as my belly gets bigger and bigger while I get more and more tired.  That and the zoo trips, being outdoors, are restricted to good weather.  We have been really lucky to have a nice, mild summer with plenty of cool mornings for zoo trips.  But I will now have some place to bring the girls when it is too hot (like this week) or too cold in the winter.

The museum is really nice and interactive.  The girls played with things that demonstrated science, not that they got it or were the right age for a lot of the things.  But it at least introduces them to things that they just don't get otherwise.  We also got to go to the story time (no stories involved--a science experiment instead).  It was great!  They learned about polymers, which went right over their heads.  But they got to play with a bunch of things made from polymers and stick a colored pencil through a Ziploc bag of water with out it leaking.  This is stuff they just don't get at home.

This weekend we went back, this time with my husband.  It is right around the corner from The River Market.  So after we picked up some fresh fruit and veggies, we headed on over.  The girls got to watch the shapes that sound waves can take as they adjusted a sound dial.

 

They both got to create designs in sand as the table spun around. 

 

 And of course, in the body room, they got an anatomy lesson from daddy.  He told them all about their spine (which we've practiced before because it's in the song 'This Old Man').

 

 

Catching scarves that have been sucked through tubes and spit out at different spots is so much fun!  It kept D busy for a long time, although Miss T lost interest before long and kept trying to climb the stairs instead.  The museum also has some small animals like mice, ferrets, snakes, frogs, insects which the girls liked looking at.

 

And then there is a playroom, where there is a lot to do and I can conveniently sit down and keep an eye of them.  I think the investment in the family pass will definitely be worth it this year.



 

 

 



Potty Training

I had read blog posts about potty training a toddler in 2 or 3 days and always imagined doing that when the girls were ready.  However, at the same time because they were cloth diapered and could easily feel when they got wet, we have been potty training since last fall.  That is when I started introducing the potty to them and trying to get them on it in time when they asked.  This spring I made going to the potty part of the bedtime routine, and D got pretty consistent going on the potty in the evening.

After our trip to California in June, I was planning on getting serious.  I thought I'd pick a few days in a row where we were not doing much and have them mostly trained by the end of it.  I completely underestimated how much energy it takes to potty train two just-turned-two years olds and overestimated how much energy I had in the first trimester of pregnancy.  I would get them on the potty first thing in the morning, spend the morning in the tile rooms waiting for the success/accident to happen and a few hours later have them in diapers or training pants because I just wanted to lay on the couch in the living room. 

So I decided the gradual approach was more for us.  We were already doing potty time in our night routine, so I added mornings to the mix.  After a week or so, they started hanging out in their big girl panties (with Dora the Explorer on them) for an hour or two in the mornings and if they hadn't peed on the potty, we would move to the tile rooms just in case.  There were accidents (there still are accidents).  T took longer to get the idea of going on the potty.  D had it down for the most part from nights and mornings but would still have accidents. 

Then about two weeks ago it all clicked together.  When home, if they aren't sleeping, they are usually in their big girl panties (except when they haven't pooped in awhile or in the evenings when I'm tired and don't want to clean up a mess).  They are much more consistent going pee than poo.  They are generally progressing with the occasional bad day.  I finally washed the diaper laundry after a little over a week even though they still have clean diapers because I didn't like the thought of the dirty diapers sitting that long.  They still wear diapers or training pants when we go out somewhere.  But most of the time they either ask to go potty while out or are dry when we come back. 

So there is definitely a lot of progress.  There are also times where they go all day on the potty like good girls and then pee on the bathroom floor a few feet away from the potty in the evening.  I just don't get it.  But it is a long process and they are only two and still learning lots of basic life skills.  We aren't anywhere near being fully potty trained where they can go by themselves without any accidents but so far potty training is definitely a success.