Bribes Work.

They really do. I'll explain what happened this morning in the Grossman household.

I'll preface by saying, Alexia had at one time initiated potty training herself. I didn't feel quite ready to be inconvenienced by her bladder, I rather liked the option to wait to change her if I needed to. But I went with it, and it was impressive to watch her take the lead. She even would tell me when she had to go while in the pool. I mean, let's be honest here, isn't the pool the perfect place to avoid having to go to the restroom? Anyway, her potty training streak ended pretty quickly, and her lack of desire led me to have to clean up three poopy undies. One at the pool, one at Chevy's and the last one/straw was at home. I was able to excuse the public accidents, but the one at home was my indication I wasn't ready to commit to training her yet. 

I also want to explain that Alexia doesn't articulate the difference between #1 and #2. Everything is "poo-poo".

So, back to this morning's event.

I put Naiya down for her morning nap, and Alexia and I cuddled up on the couch for our morning activity of watching a "cooking show" (as Alexia refers to it), a.k.a. Barefoot Contessa. I DVR it, so we can blow through all the obnoxious commercials. Every time the Barefoot Contessa herself pops up onto the screen, Alexia gives her a big wave and smile and says, "Hi Ina!" (although it sounds more like "I-Nigh"). 

Today would be different in that Alexia chose to be diaperless this morning. 

I had to get up to go to the bathroom and she followed me saying her usual, "Doing Mama?" So I told her, I was going potty. Of course she felt the need to go too. So she brought her little stool to the toilet and went. This wasn't entirely unusual, so I praised her, and then we got back to watching Ina. 

She said she had to go again, so I told her to go by herself, and she did. When she returned this time, I specified that she had jsut gone "pottty", but if she went "poo-poo" on the toilet, I would give her a piece of chocolate. 

What does she do?

Bolts to the bathroom. I hear her peeing like a racehorse. And she calls to me and says, "I went poo-poo Mama!" But she says this any time she's on the toilet. Sometimes I won't even see pee even, just a mound of toilet paper in the toilet. So as I was walking to the bathroom I was explaining again the difference between poo-poo and potty, and that she could only get chocolate if she pooped. 

Low and behold. The girl had gone poop. She had this big ol' grin on her face and I was beside myself. Her reward? I felt like chocolate chips were a common treat I give her anytime I bake, so I went big. I let her grab herself a mini Reeses peanut butter cup. She did a little dance, and all was good. 

Back to watching Ina, Alexia bolts to the bathroom again. Shouting she had gone poop again. Laughing at her valiant effort of trying to get another Reeses, I was silenced by more poop in the toilet and a big grin on her face. Another Reeses, of course.

Ina is still in progress, and yet a third time Alexia races to the bathroom. I kid you not, that child squeezed a third terd out. 

And there you have it. Three Reeses within an hour. I should have stuck with the chocolate chips. 

But I am convinced, bribing really does work when it comes to potty training. 

Pioneer Woman.

I've found a new blog.

The Pioneer Woman

Well, it's a blog I've known about, heard about, but I recently honed in on her Homemade Donut recipe (I was inspired by you, Di!) and have been hooked for the past couple of days.

I think the first time I checked out her blog, the homepage seemed really busy and it made my head spin. I quickly get stimulation-overload. But after I took some time to poke around her blog, it seems as if she is a jack of all (or at least many) trades, so of course her blog is loaded.

My current mission: to make these babies. My sister-in-law has agreed to bake them with me. This way, I can laugh with her instead of cry by myself if it's a total failure. I have a tendency to make things (as Ryan calls it) a total boondoggle.

My future mission: to take on her photography challenges.

I'm also fascinated by her cowgirl life. I secretly wish I was born in the South. Or married to a cowboy. Although, it's not too much of a secret. I've confessed this to Ryan already. But something tells me my girls won't be wrangling cows. Nor will we don a bull skull on our living room mantle. A girl can dream though.

Watch out Mia Hamm.

I haven't even started training practices yet. It's all natural talent folks. Not even potty trained yet, and busting out the moves.

Griffin Visit Summer 2010

Once again, my aunt and uncle made it a priority to come and visit us. Leaving the comfort of the dry climate of California, for hot and humid east coast July weather. Little did they know when they purchased plane tickets well in advance, that we would be living in a 2-bedroom condo. So Ryan and I, plus both girls all slept together in the master bedroom. Naiya in her "room" (our walk-in closet) and Alexia in a crib right beside our bed. It was confirmed again, that Alexia is a high maintenance sleeper. She has to cry it out for a couple of minutes before relenting to sleep, which made it a bit stressful when her crying would wake Naiya up, and then both would be crying. Anyway, Grandma & Grandpa Griff were gracious with all of the crying (mostly from Alexia), and it was a trip where all the memories created made it worth putting up with the few hairy moments of lack of sleep and routine. 

Most of our time revolved around eating, a rundown of places we went to: Ledo's pizza, Kilwin's Ice Cream (twice), Chick & Ruth's diner, picnic of Potbelly's subs at the downtown park, we grilled out on a boat with friends and took the boat all the way downtown to get ice cream.

Alexia is really into the driver's seat, pushing buttons and doing what she sees her daddy doing:

Naiya with her Grandpa Griff:

Swimming to cool off:

Climbing up the ladder by herself:

Our friends, the Petersons, joined us. It was so fun for them to meet my aunt and uncle, whom I've talked about being a huge role in my life. And Anne Marie was able to check off her bucket list of seeing two major bridges in our area, from the water's view. Here's Anne Marie, and Michael takes his turn driving:

More shots of our time just hanging out at the house:

Aunt Debbi brought a box full of toys, that came out in intervals to surprise the girls. Until Alexia snooped around their room and found the jackpot, and all the remaining gifts were brought out by her. One of the faves was a rocket balloon set. The balloon, after being pumped up and released, would zoom wildly around making a loud buzzing sound. However, a freak balloon experience that involved Alexia being chased out our bedroom door, down the hallway and thus being pinned to the livingroom wall by a balloon, ended the rocket balloon enjoyment. Both girls now hysterically cry and run away from the balloons if Ryan starts pumping them up. But here's Alexia helping pump one up:

And getting ready to watch the balloon go:

And then a "bankie" break:

Avid baseball fans, my aunt and uncle treated us to amazing seats to watch the O's. Although, they lost terribly, it was fun to be in Camden Yards and appreciate its beauty. And of course, ballpark dogs are always amazing. We had them try Boardwalk Fries, which is essentially regular fries with vinegar and Old Bay (seafood seasoning) sprinkled on. 

Their trip concluded with a good 'ol Maryland blue crab feast at Cantler's. Here's Ryan giving a lesson on eating crabs:

Watching. Learning.

Ready to rock.

"The best fried shrimp I've ever had."

The happy couple that truly knows how to have fun with one another:

The best part of the trip was watching Alexia be at an age where she interacts with G&G Griff. She attached very quickly to my aunt, and got to do lots of girly things like paint nails, put on makeup, brush hair, and I would often find her having no problem barging into their room to just be with my aunt and uncle. She referred to them as "Papa" and "Ma" (the same thing she calls her other set of grandparents). And after they left, she asked "Papa, go?" and "Ma, go?" Ugh, the heartache. But we love and miss you already G&G!

Lake Tahoe Girls' Getaway

We were finally able to pull off a weekend away from hubbies, kids and responsibilities this July. Our destination: Lake Tahoe, California. I flew out to meet up with seven of my high school girlfriends, and we spent the weekend in North Shore Lake Tahoe.

I love flying into my old hometown and cruising around the familiar streets. So much nostalgia. I got a personal car tour of my old high school that is barely recognizable with all of the remodeling that has been done since I graduated. My taxi for the weekend was Kristina and her entourage (complete with Mason greeting me at the airport by slipping on his Spider Man mask). Mason literally wore this get-up 99% of the time I was there. He even needed to be pursuaded that Spider Man didn't wear his suit to bed. Nevermind the fact that the suit was probably 100% polyester.

And his sister Millie was asleep in the car, but it was sleep that was necessary to sustain the girl who bounced off the walls every minute those eyelids were open. She was such a bundle of energy and had no fear in any bone of her little body. (Don't let this docile picture of her fool you!):

Millie and I even have our own personal song we made up. Something that was preceeded by her accidentally calling me "Mommy" and involved the lyrics of "dark and asian". (That is Millie's real Mommy behind her. Not so dark. Not so asian.) 

It was such a blessing to be able to spend extra time with these strawberry-blonde babes, and get to know their fun personalities. There's just something about looking at these babies for almost the first time, and seeing my childhood friend in their faces. It's like instant love! 

Since I flew out a day early, I was able to squeeze in time with Mel and her girls, and even snuck in a quick trip to her new home (with a pool!). 

And a surprise appearance by one of my surrogate moms was also in the cards for me at our coffee playdate on Friday morning:

And I officially apologized for eating her out of house and home while growing up. Upon entering their home, my first stop would always be to their pantry. There were stories exchanged - along the lines of me eating a whole box of cereal by myself once - but I choose to not believe or remember that. Here was our Friday morning reunion at Nicole's:

Mid-day Friday, Kristina and I jumped in Nicole's car and drove three hours to Tahoe. A fun road trip, with more time for girl talk and catching up. With no interruptions I might add. Food for my soul! 

Our accomodations were out of this world! We got hooked up with a luxury cabin by our friend Erin's connections, amazing!

The kitchen, complete with two dishwashers, a built-in coffee/espresso machine, gas stove, granite countertops and all the way up the entire wall. This area that is open to a sitting room (below), is where we spent most of our time:

We were mostly parked right here on these couches, coffee in hand:

A more formal dining room (table to the left) with a wet bar, which went unused for the weekend:

Master bedroom was reserved for the lone preggo, Jen:

Although we did use the Master Bath to get ready in:

Entryway:

*Please take special note of the bench that was used as a blockade to the front door, because we couldn't figure out how to lock the door. Bunch of girls, I know.

View from the top deck:

Yes, if you look really hard in between the trees, you can see there was still snow on the mountains in the middle of July:

We threw a simple baby shower for Jen. Gifts, cookies, and then lunch on the water at Sunnyside:

View from the table of beautiful Lake Tahoe:

It was so fun catching up personally, having uninterrupted convos, talking about life, seeing how much we've grown in our understanding of the meaning of life, reminiscing about high school, laughing, getting drinks, eating lunch on the water, getting dressed up, going in the hot tub, having morning coffee with friends, and just plain making memories. There's just something about being with friends that have known you for almost two decades! No need to explain the reasoning behind why I think I'm allergic to whole strawberries, and not cut up ones. Haha!

And after we said our goodbyes and thank you's, I still had one more oldie, but goodie friend to see. Tallie couldn't make the girl's reunion, because she was in Hawaii, but I was able to see her and her precious baby girl, Tatum:

Aw, love all my SRVHS girls and miss them already. 

And I'll end with this lyrical gangsta video:

Potty Training

At two years and one month, Alexia has officially started potty training herself. I find it quite amusing as I was dead set on avoiding potty training until she was closer to three years old. I hoped it would be less effort on my part by then. I like changing her at my convenience, and didn't want to ruin the carpets of our rented condo in the training process.

Alexia has taken the lead on potty training herself in the last couple of weeks. She refuses to wear a diaper and has now learned how to take off her own diaper after I've forcefully put one on her. So I've been letting her run around without one for most of the day. And when she has to go, she will say, "poopy", and then runs into the bathroom and uses a stepstool to get up onto the toilet and goes all by herself.

Our high fives and hootin' and hollerin' has been enough of a reward. Flushing the toilet also seems to be rewarding for Alexia as well. It has now been three days in a row where she has gone "poopy" in the toilet. Amazing.

I have to keep up with her progress, and find it humorous that she's waiting on me to get big-girl underwear and a portable potty.

Breaky Date. Take 2.

Ryan and Alexia went on their second Daddy/Daughter date downtown. He read a book on raising daughters and was inspired to "date" each of his girls to give them one-on-one attention and hopefully provide security in their little hearts. 

If you recall, the last breakfast date they went on, ended shortly because Naiya decided to eat a yellowjacket and it stung her in the mouth. So we all ended up at the ER, but left with a happy baby that had her first dose of Benadryl and a swollen upper lip. (And a taste of the yummy hospital ice. I love that stuff!)

But this time around, their date ended with a new bottle of bubbles from Grandma:

Birthday Toys

Grandma and Grandpa Griff sent Alexia a doll that I was surprised to watch her take care of. 

She even fed her milk and rocked her singing "Rock-a-bye baby".

And Grandma and Papa Grossman gave the girls their very own industrial size bubble machine. They loved it!