What a Great Day

Today I'm thankful for...

1. The opportunity to help out in Lillian's preschool classroom this morning. My mom came over early and stayed with Sydney and Liam while I went to Lilly's school with her (thank you, Mom!). First I manned the math center and did geo-shapes with the kids, then during activity time I got to supervise the [very popular with the preschoolers] sand table! It was a lot of fun to see Lillian interact with her classmates and to watch little minds hard at work. After lunch I joined Lilly in the circle on the rug while her teacher read two stories about Martin Luther King, Jr, then we skipped out before nap time and ran some errands together. At home we did a gingerbread craft together with Grandma and Sydney to get ready for the gingerbread party she's having in class tomorrow. I'm so thankful for Lillian's teacher and all the fun things that she plans for the kids (and how she manages to keep 20 preschoolers occupied and disciplined for 6 1/2 hours a day...I don't know how she does it).

2. Baby Naked Time! To speed up bath time tonight, I challenged the girls to have a race to see who could get naked first. Lillian stripped in record time. Getting her diaper off slowed Sydney down a little bit, but she came in a close second. Before I knew it I had two stark-naked girls streaking through the house yelling, "naked baby! naked baby!" They like to wave their arms in the air and shake their bums back and forth when they say it. It was great. It was all I could do to contain myself from pinching their cute, naked bum cheeks. Then Sydney announced that she pee-ed on the floor. Oops! Naked time over!

3. Potty training. I'm trying really hard to be thankful for this one, because honestly, I think potty training is a pain. It's very time consuming. I'm thankful that Sydney has taken so well to using the big potty, even if it takes 15 minutes of me sitting in the bathroom with her before her "poops" come out. After she was in bed tonight she got up FIVE times to go tinkle. And yes, she went tinkle every.single.time- she wasn't just using it as an excuse to get out of bed. That's the problem when you're potty training- you can't say "just hold it!" or "I don't think you really have to go!" As the potty trainer you are obligated to put the potty trainee on the pot each and every time they say they have to go. It drives me nuts, but the process is worth the end product...no more stinky diapers piling up in the hallway waiting to go out to the trash and no more wipes! I must keep this positive image in my mind. Yes, I am thankful for potty training.

4. Liam. I'm so thankful for my little boy. He's a gem. And so patient. I just love him so much and want to hold him and cuddle him all day long.