Happy Independence Day!

Sassy-pants will of course be celebrating with us, though I'm not sure if that will include fireworks and if it does, she'll definitely be asleep before they're started.


I took some portraits for fun the other day, though they didn't go quite as well as I had planned in my head. Stasa preferred running back and forth on my backdrop instead of sitting and giving me smiles. This was the typical face she was giving me:



Then I got lucky and captured this sweetness:



Then a split second later, she was done.

Introducing the potty

Almost all of our friends started introducing the potty to their kids and Stasa was starting to show the signs of being interested in her diaper and the potty so we jumped on the bandwagon and bought her a potty, too. We got her the First Years 4-in-1 potty since it was a no-frills, gender neutral and easy to clean potty.





So far she understands what it is and runs to it if we ask "do you need to go potty?" but she hasn't peed in it yet. She did go #2 in it for the first time the other night, but it wasn't because she alerted us and went. I noticed her poop signs and asked her to go to the potty. And cleaning poop out of the potty that doesn't flush? Pretty gross, but much easier than changing a poopy diaper.


We try to get her to sit on her potty at least once a day, but she's still more interested in putting toilet paper in it than actually using it for its intended purpose. I did take advice from a colleague and put a small stack of books next to her potty to keep her entertained while she sits and that seems to work for about 10-15 minutes, which is plenty of time for her to do her business. I did try running water while she was sitting, but that was a bust because she preferred playing with the water instead of sitting on her potty.


We're going to keep at it, but not force it. For now at least she is getting used to having the potty around.


Update: She peed in the potty first thing Thursday morning!!!

Caged

For some reason Stas really wanted to play in her crib Tuesday afternoon. So I threw her in with her blankets, lovey and bears and she had a blast.





And look at this crazy face she kept giving me:



After about 30 minutes she decided she was done being caged and was ready to come out.



Upon being released she ran over to the glider to practice her daredevil skills. I'm pretty impressed that she's able to climb in and out of the chair without falling and she's even able to climb up on the rocking ottoman, too.







Annnnnnd my new favorite picture of our baby:



After dinner she had a bath since she's been spending time at the pool with Gigi at daycare.





And then she got to play the guitar for a little while with daddy before bedtime. She's actually pretty good at strumming and loves being daddy's capo.

Hairbow

Stasa's hair is finally long enough for the cutest pigtails and side ponytails. Her hair is just starting to get in her eyes, so I pin it back with a clip or put it in a ponytail. Last Friday I added a bow since YiaYia and Grandpops were coming over for dinner.


The little "cheese" monster:



and her tiny little ponytail:



We let her run around for a bit to get rid of some of her endless energy before dinner. She loves that the pear tree has really low branches within her reach.





And she also loves running into all of our neighbor's yards. It's a "fun" game her for now, since she knows we'll chase after her.

Today on the Stasa channel...

We're always at the pool

Or at least we should always be at the pool. We're trying to get Stasa interested in the big kid pool and it's partially working. She can stand in the 2 feet section and loves climbing up the ladder and then having us "throw" her in the water, but she HATES going farther than that. I got her some water wings and a small inner tube, but she had a huge meltdown when I put them on her, so we'll have to try again later. 


For now, she still loves playing in the baby pool and especially loves when other kids are there, too.






She's always playing the beggar at the pool since the baby pool is right next to the snack bar, so I've been bringing snacks with us to keep her from bothering the other moms. 


Here she mid-bite:



And finally a pic of both of us, well at least one of us is looking at the camera:

Summer just keeps getting better

You know you've had a full day when you fall asleep IN your dinner.





And it's not summer unless you're walking around, mostly naked with watermelon dripping down your belly.