Toilet Training in Less Than A Week

It's funny that potty training is such a big deal to the mama, but nobody else cares. I can't even remember much about my siblings getting potty trained, but I'm sure it was a big event for my mom. Well, Squeak was interested, therefore I was interested, so I tried this potty training method a few weeks ago. It worked! It took more than a day (five days, actually), but what a thrill to see my little munchkin go to the potty all by herself. I heard rave reviews about the method from Beasta and Shelly. I can now say I highly recommend the method too! "Potty trained" means the child goes to the potty, pulls down panties, sits down, used the potty, empties the potty in the toilet, flushes, puts the potty back, and puts clothes back on without assistance. There's no arguing about staying on the potty for hours, and no dealing with six months in pull-ups. (I will confess that Squeak LOVES running around "desnuda" after using the potty so we're still working on modesty afterwards). But, hey, I'm only washing cloth diapers for one kid now! Whoopeee!

Fifteen Pounds at Two Months

This little outfit was Squeak's, given to her by my brothers when she was born. It is almost too small for Pip now. So sad!

We are so excited (and Pip is so excited) that he's our SECOND HypnoBirthing Baby!
(This is also Squeak's onesie)

Is that fair hair on our boy? Yes, and curls too! You can see Squeak's hand trying to grab the pacifier to put it in Pip's mouth. She is so helpful and cute with him! She also likes to wipe his mouth with the spit-up rag, just like Mama does.

Another belated post: I can't believe our boy has gotten so big so fast. He was fifteen pounds a month ago (that's 97th percentile). He was also 24 inches (90th percentile). He's bigger now, I think around 18 pounds, but I haven't gotten to a doctor's scale. I'm thinking of putting him on a diet so he won't outgrow his infant car seat this month. (Just kidding) We all love his giggles and smiles and D and I are so happy to have our two awesome kids.

$40,000 Easter Egg Hunt

It's a little late for an Easter post, but I'm a little late for everything these days. D's school held an Easter egg hunt for families, which Squeak was thrilled about. I loved watching her grab an egg, shake it, open it, ooh and ahh, and then (after my prompting) put it in her bag. She didn't even get a dozen eggs, but she was so thrilled about the surprise in each egg.

You can see that there were hundreds of eggs. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw ADULTS running around collecting eggs to add to their kids' baskets. For shame!!

If you really want to feel like a winner, have a day like this...

My, how time flies!

The past month has been a blur. I'm not sure why, I mean, it's almost like I just had a baby or something. D had some time off school, and that was very nice. We got some little projects done like taking down the Christmas tree and organizing the office (now it needs to be organized again). It was really nice to be able to tag team with the kids. We noticed that Squeak thinks of me as "Mama" and "Dada"--we're trying to teach her that there are two of us. Pip suddenly started sleeping longer at night (like 6-7 hours straight, which doesn't impress you unless you know that before, it was maybe 3 hours--no wonder I'm such a zombie!). D started sleeping in our room again (it was too hard to study and pass exams with Pip waking up several times a night). Pip has turned into a charming, giggling social creature. I love it!! He wasn't the easiest during the first few weeks, but he has really come around. I love his smiles and Squeak, of course, can't get enough of him. I am continuing on my journey back to normalcy. I'm happy to report that I am now able to manage two kids in cloth diapers (I had to gradually ease back into it and boy, is it a lot of laundry!!). I'm also caught up on budgeting and bills. I'm back to making my own yogurt and bread. I'm running several times a week. I should probably sign up for a race to really get myself motivated. 10K, anyone?

Squeak loves her lentes (or as my dad would say, gogles--pronounced with Spanish accent)

I finally let D take down the Christmas tree. He really enjoyed chopping it up with a machete. Our garbage can has never smelled so good!

Look, it's me breastfeeding!

Squeak was pretty excited about her new outfit from Auntie Beasta

Tummy time for everyone!

Alisa Day

It was the summer of the San Francisco Five. My friend Alisa needed a ride home to San Francisco, and our friend Ann offered to drive her. Alisa met Johan, a recent transplant from Peru, and invited her. Ann invited her Bosnian refugee colleague, Irma. I also got invited. So the five of us took a little vacation to San Francisco. Alisa showed us around town--we had a blast. Then one morning, she told all of us, "Today is Alisa Day," and I thought, "Cool, we're going to do all of Alisa's favorite things today." Then she said, "I want each of you to tell me what you'd like to do today, and I'll do my best to make your wish come true." I can't remember everyone else's requests, but mine was to go to the Oakland Temple, and Alisa made it happen. She made all of us feel special and important that day.

It was during my Birthday 5K (this year I ran by myself) that I decided that I needed to make the day Alisa Day. Things are always so clear when I'm outside running. I wanted those around me to feel special and important. The people I live with couldn't care less if the house is a mess or the clothes are washed or I've run my errands. For them, it's all about quality time. They want to spend time with me. So I took Squeak to see the geese and pigeons. Then we went to the park. We colored together. What is Pip's favorite thing? He just loves to be held. So I held him as much as possible all day. He was such a happy boy! And D, if he can't have my time (like when he has to study all day), he loves good food. So I made him food (I hope it was good). I wrote a bunch of thank-you notes I've meant to write. I didn't take a nap and didn't even feel like I needed one. I didn't worry about washing the clothes or cleaning the house or going shopping. And I had a great day! And at the end of the day, I thought, "I need to do this more often."

Way to go, Piggy!

Pip's birthweight (7 lb. 9 oz.) was pretty average, but his weight gain since birth has been exceptional--four pounds in four weeks, putting him in the 95th percentile. Way to go, mother's milk!! We're kind of hoping it tapers off...I don't really want a 60-pound one-year-old!

So sleepy during the day...

The first thing I noticed after he was born were these two cowlicks--one on his right side and the whirlpool in the middle of his forehead

We also noticed that he got his dad's hairline. I hope all of our kids get their dad's eyelashes too.

There he is, snuggled up in his manly butterfly blanket in his manly pink bassinet

Squeak LOVES the new baby. I just have to make sure she doesn't hug too hard.

Our Mothers

Medical school is not a convenient time to have a baby. Black January is the least convenient time during medical school to have a new baby. Black January is January of the second year. This was Black January for D. He had around ten really hard exams which means he needed to spend lots of time studying and he also had to be rested in order to do well on his exams. Kind of difficult with a new baby.

We have survived Black January thanks to our mothers. They each came to help us for a week. They cleaned our house, did dishes, bought us food, changed diapers, held the crying baby, did laundry, helped me get organized, kept me company, and best of all, helped Squeak feel like she's an important person (she has thankfully had a remarkable adjustment to becoming the big sister). We are so grateful that they helped us in our time of need, even though it wasn't easy or convenient for them.

Our latest family photo--we're still sleep-deprived, but this time Pip isn't crying! We're smiling because D is still passing all his classes--hooray that Black January is over!

President Hinckley

Like everyone else, when I heard the news of President Hinckley's passing on Sunday night, I was very sad. When I told D, he said, "Can you imagine how happy he must be to see his wife?" And I think President Hinckley would want us all to have this optimistic attitude instead of being sad about not having him with us anymore. Still, he is truly a beloved prophet to me. I love his energy, work ethic, and most of all, optimism. He is such an inspiration to me for all he has done, even when he didn't feel well physically (for health reasons) or emotionally (after his wife passed away)--he didn't let anything slow him down. He is also a humble man. I remember attending his grandson's (Elder Pierce) mission homecoming with my family (he served in my parents' mission), and President Hinckley was there. After Elder Pierce's wonderful talk about the church and the gospel, the person conducting asked President Hinckley to say a few words. Instead of stealing the show, he stood up and said something like, "We came here today to listen to Elder Pierce. Wasn't that a great talk?" and then sat down. What a dear man. He has been a great influence on me during my young adult years. I hope to honor him in the way I live my life.

Back in the Saddle

If you've had a baby, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say I welcome the postpartum return to normalcy--being able to get myself up, showered and fed by 10 am, fitting back into those pre-pregnancy clothes, not having to use lanolin at least five times a day, not leaking breastmilk all over my bed, my clothes, and my baby, sleeping through the night, not having to consume 500% of the "normal" daily value of fiber, losing the flabby belly, etc. Well, not that I'm "back to normal" yet, but today I went on my first postpartum run, and it felt AWESOME!!! I honestly felt like going running a few weeks ago (thanks to a healthy pregnancy and a great birth), but I was still having trouble dragging myself out of bed, plus D was leaving really early in the morning (he's taken something like 9 exams since Pip was born) and couldn't stay around to watch the kids. A week ago I asked him if he'd hang out at home a bit later today so I could go running (yes, I'm so spontaneous now that I have two kids!), and he said yes, and he even encouraged me to get out of bed this morning because I wasn't moving very fast. So I got up, I pumped, I pulled on my running clothes, and I went! SO NICE!! I'm working on getting a double jogger so I can take the kids. Last year I did a half-marathon for my birthday in February. This year I'm shooting for a 5K. Oh, the ambition!