By jove, I think she's got it!

Going potty on the toilet, that is. I figured that in and of itself deserved a mention on this oh-so-neglected blog of mine. I was beginning to think that my precious daughter would be in diapers until kindergarten - even though people swear that never happens! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a tad. But, if you remember...I mentioned oh, almost a year ago, that Mallory had peed in the potty a few random times both at home and at daycare. We definitely haven't been working on training this whole time. In fact, as recent as last Thursday morning (ten-ish days ago) she flat out told me that "I wear diapers, no wear panties." Try arguing with that. However, that night, she told me she wanted to wear panties. So on they went. I'll spare you the nitty gritty, but she has done really well! The first few days I had to make sure she was on the potty at least every 45 minutes. I even found some of those oh-so-fashionable Gerber plastic undie covers to try to contain the accidents. By late this last week, she's started telling me when she has to go potty, holding it a bit longer (depends on what she's had to drink), and even managed to hold it for two miles (after she said she had to go) until we got home! Yippee!!

That's pretty much the excitement around here. I did enroll her in a little dance class that was supposed to start last Thursday. It's a community education type program and they actually have a class for two and three year olds. It meets just one night a week for half an hour, but at the end there will be a recital. May 14th for any of you that may want to mark your calendars. However, since we had a nice snowstorm last week, we didn't have class. I'm a little concerned how this will affect the recital. Just kidding. I can't wait to get some cute pictures in her little leotard and tutu (yep, I made her one!)

Since I don't have much other news, I'll fill the rest of this post with some random pictures. I know that's all you come for anyway, right?

My niece, Miriam (she's in the center below) turned one the end of last month. Well, actually, January, I guess that's technically two months ago, now. We spent the weekend visiting, managed to not catch the tummy flu that made the rounds, and brought our ice cream freezer to make homemade ice cream. Joshua and Mallory were in charge of that.

Superbowl Sunday found us trying out the local ice-skating rink. Fortunately, it was pretty quiet, probably due to the big game. They had these cute little walker things for little kids to push. I still spent most of the time half bent over to help Mallory push and to make sure she didn't fall over and crack the back of her head on the ice. She had a blast - laughed everytime she fell down. We haven't gotten back yet, we really should.

My multi-tasking whiz kid.

Believe it or not, there was actually a weekend around here that was nice enough to play outside for a significant length of time. We played at Grandma Deb's house with Tera and Billie. Mallory was practicing for when she's older and in charge of the winter sidewalks.

We tried to get a group picture. Yeah, that worked well. (That's Grandpa Larry's dog Jake that joined us.)

More sledding.

Still more.

Did I ever mention that Mallory is in a big girl bed now? She transitioned pretty well. We did end up getting a baby gate (toddler gate?) for the bedroom door after she drug her quilt all the way UP THE STAIRS and stood outside our bedroom door whimpering. Gave me a fright. Up went the baby gate. Actually, since then, she hasn't tried to get out of her room. *shrug*

And, as promised way too many weeks ago, cow pictures. Isn't it nice they're all showing their good sides?