January 2018

We made it home from our trip to Albuquerque with an hour and a half to spare to celebrate New Years. As we unloaded the car, we listened to the news anchors talk about New Years. The girls were already passed out (and maybe Cameron), but as the clock struck midnight, we made lots of noise and toasted with some sparkling apple cider.

This month was pretty low-key...

We spent two days recuperating from our trip and Christmas, then the boys started school on the 3rd. And, Lily started another round of potty training...it sounds terrible, but the only way we could motivate her was by taking away her favorite stuffed bunny if she had an accident. If she was successful, she could earn it back. After reading some books about potty training, we started rewarding her for going pee or poop in the potty and for staying clean/dry. She could earn one fruit snack for each, and this seemed to really help her with staying dry. We're still working on poop, and potty training feels like a never-ending stage, but one day she will be potty trained! Jell-o Jigglers were also another huge motivator for her.

One day I got upset with her for peeing on the floor and she said :Well mommy, I wouldn't put pee on the floor in a diaper." She finally admits that she's a big girl (she's always gotten upset when we call her a big girl and says "no, I'm a wittle girl"). She is also a candy cane monster and consumed more candy canes post-Christmas than I knew was possible.

It was a big month for Lily because she also started as a Sunbeam in Primary. I was really worried about her transition, but she LOVES having her own little class, and does fairly well in Primary...though she loves to sneak behind the piano and help me play some of the songs.

I gave her her first hair cut...just a trim and when I said she looked beautiful, she tearfully responded "I don't want to look beautiful. I want to look like Lily." She has outgrown believing in the healing property of mom's kisses :(.

Kimball started piano lessons again since it took me forever to find him a new teacher. His teacher is super sweet and he just picks up whatever song he's working on. He loves carrying his siblings around on his back or shoulders and all I see is him falling and everyone getting maimed. It's especially crazy to see him carrying Cameron around.

The boys begged us to change their bunk beds into a queen size bed...side-by-side. We thought they would get sick of how much room it takes up (practically the whole bedroom), but they love it. They trade beds periodically and we can hear them talking long past lights-out. When I told Kimball that Cameron would just talk to him more, he told me it would be that much easier to cover Cameron's mouth.

Cameron is obsessed with planning whatever he's going to spend his allowance on. He's gone from Lego Ninjago to Nerf guns to Animal Jams and beyond. He lost another tooth and made sure to brush it thoroughly with whitening toothpaste to make it extra clean for the tooth fairy.

Becca turned 11 months old, and continues to keep us on our toes, but we love her!