"If you have to go potty, STOP..."

Who besides Parker F. can finish the rest of the line for me? We have been up to this:

After hemming and hawing for quite a while and noticing that she was getting bigger and bigger and that her friends were all wearing underpants, I decided that it was probably time to bite the bullet. It didn't start out formally, I just decided not to put on a new diaper when she woke up in the morning. The first time she did it was absolutely thrilling for her. I don't think we've ever seen her smiling bigger. She started quoting her potty book and was running around saying, "I'm so proud of me!" and "Woosh, down goes the water!"

We haven't gone cold turkey, and I would say that for most hours of the day she still wears a diaper (especially since she still naps), but we've had a lot of successes when she is not wearing a diaper. My plan is to gradually increase the no diaper time without putting a lot of pressure on her. Sometimes when she's up and I ask to take her diaper off she says, "No, please." I'm fine with that. I want potty-training to be positive for her. I have a feeling that she isn't so great with big changes and this change is a doozy. I was going to go buy treats as rewards, but we tried with the stickers and she thinks it is fabulous for now. We can save the treats if we have to haul in some big guns later.

Miss Junie has some big news too:

See her gnawing at the biscuit? Two little toofies are erupting on the bottom. Such a big girl! She seems a little grumpy by the process but not too bad. She still feels very little interest in crawling. It feels like she's gotten lazier. If I put her on her tummy, she just screams now instead of rolling over. After pulling various and sundry items from her mouth, it's probably better that things stay as they are or else I might have to pull out that old vacuum cleaner more frequently.

Speaking of clean floors. Does anyone else feel like their kitchen is exploding with crumbs? I swear, I sweep a couple of times a day and each time, there is so much crud that comes up. Sometimes I'll get the broom to get just one messy spot where someone (Willa) spilled and then as I'm sweeping, crumbs seem to be appearing at every nook and cranny. It's like someone is shooting off a confetti cannon filled with food crumbs into the kitchen whenever I'm out of the room. Sheesh, not to mention the days when sweeping gets forgotten, then it's just disgusting in there.