TT and other updates

The first day of toilet training was tough. J was so used to being in diapers; he didn't know how to tell us when he wanted to go to the bathroom, and by the time he did, it was too late. He went through, I think, six pairs of underwear that day. (Oh, and needless to say, they are of course, Thomas the Tank Engine underwear.)

Today's the third day since we started toilet training. And he's been doing GREAT, much better than I had expected actually. Since that first day, he's not wet his underwear at all! He now knows how to tell us when he needs to go so that we can make the run to the bathroom in time. We're so proud of him. We still have a ways to go before J's fully potty trained of course, but already, this has been such an answer to prayer. Praise God!

Other updates: we're thoroughly enjoying watching the kids' personalities grow and develop each day. E wants to do everything J does. So she plays with his cars, trains and planes. Give her a doll and she won't know what to do with it. She's also started mimicking J in the bathroom, so she stands up on the stool against the toilet and lifts her shirt up! Quite hilarious. When J starts dancing around, she tries to do exactly as he does, be it shaking his bum, waving his hands or spinning around. She's not very good with balance though so she does tumble down quite a bit! She loves squeezing herself into the boxes that we use to store toys. As you can see, she barely fits in the small box! And so she topples over often.

J grows increasingly articulate too. Yesterday when we asked if he'd like to have water play, he thought for a moment, then pronounced, "No, water play is so boring. I want to play racing cars." Another time, he also told me, "Next time, I want to take care of dolphins." SeaWorld clearly left an impression! We've already planned our next trip there.

Warm weather today, so the kids enjoyed playing out in the backyard (one of the benefits of living in a house, so we're trying to make full use of this before summer ends and it gets too cold). E LOVES this. When she saw K getting the pool ready, she hustled out of the kitchen, climbed down three steps, and toddled over grass and wood chips all by herself, without any shoes on! Just so that she could hurry and get in the water. She would have climbed in fully clothed if I hadn't gotten to her in time.

K's been diligently working in the garden. There are always leaves to clear! We now have a lovely rose in its full glory. We also have a rather mysterious bush growing pretty much in the middle of the backyard. We think it might be a blueberry bush. So now K's trying to revive it and we'll see if it'll bear any fruit.