Glasses

Last week I took Liam to the eye doctor. We had noticed that he looked a little cross-eyed whenever he was tired, and when I took him to the pediatrician for his 3-year check up, she said he may need glasses. I was amazed at what the eye doctor was able to diagnose on an uncooperative toddler--but he said that Liam is farsighted and has slight amblyopia. So, Liam had to get glasses, which he has to wear all of the time, and he has to wear an eye patch for 3 hours a day. I was pretty upset at the diagnosis and the treatment, but we are going to do everything we can to get Liam's eyesight as strong as possible. The good news is that he should be able to restore his vision in his left eye (whereas if we'd left it untreated, eventually he would lose his vision in that eye). He may or may not need glasses in the future. We go back in April for a recheck.

I still think he's the cutest boy ever.

Belly Laughs

A few nights ago, Bailey was wearing some pajamas that are getting a little small for her. The shirt would ride up every time she'd raise her hands. Will called her over:


"Bailey, come here." She did. "Lift your arms." She did and as soon as her shirt was lifted, Daddy tickled her tummy. She burst out laughing and said, "Daddy, you TRICKED me!" Then she turned to Emily and said, "If he tells you to raise your arms, don't do it." LOL!!

To Infinity and Beyond

I have been trying to get Liam to poop on the potty for close to a year now. About a week ago, he saw a Sherriff Woody doll in Walmart that he really wanted to have. So I made him a deal that if he pooped on the potty, I would get him the doll.

Every day since we made that deal, he's pooped in a diaper, sometimes more than once per day. And every time he says, "You buy Woody [for] me, [if] I poop in potty." So he totally GOT it but he still wasn't going to use the potty.

WELL, yesterday I noticed him running off into Emily's room, holding his bottom. I said, "Liam, do you need to poop?" He yells, "NO!" I said, "Yes, you do! Let's poop on the potty!"

He came out and tried but didn't go. We repeated that same scenario about an hour after that. He tried hard, but wasn't able to go. So I said, "You tell me when you are ready to use the potty, okay?"

Shortly after that, he came to me and said, "I ready poop on potty now." So I said, "okay! Let's do it!" I sat with him for a while and then I said, "I'm going to get the laundry out of the dryer. So you let me know when you are done."

A few minutes later I find him playing on the floor. I said, "Did you go?" And he said, "I poop in there!" And sure enough, he POOPED IN THE POTTY!!!!!!

Well, we got cleaned and dressed and went right out to get Sherriff Woody. Hopefully we will be out of diapers soon! :)

Oh, and the funniest part of all--after I gave him the doll, he said, "To infinity and beyond, Mom." LOL!!

Pull ups and lost teeth!

Today I tried using pull-ups with Liam. He's still wearing diapers (boo) even though he'll keep the diaper dry all day long and I just keep putting it back on. But he isn't interested in underpants or pooping on the potty yet. Anyway, he had his 3-year check up this week and the doctor suggested that pull ups might help with the potty training process. The package has three designs--a Monsters Univeristy one, Cars, and Buzz Lightyear. Liam had to inspect all of them. He said, "Not Mike Uh-zow-key." So Monsters was out. Then he examines the Buzz one. "It has to have Woody on it." So, no Buzz. That left Cars. Lightning McQueen on the front and Mater on the back. Perfect, right? Wrong. "I no want Mater on my hiney. Put it on backwards! Want Mater in front!!!" Well, you can't put it on backwards or it won't work! So, sheesh! Talk about complicating things!!



On another note, Bailey lost her first TWO teeth today! It was kind of funny because I didn't even know she had a loose tooth, let alone expect her to lose two in one day! This morning, at about 6:15, Bailey came into my room as I was getting dressed. She said, "Guess what, Mommy! Exciting news! I have a lose tooth!" So I said, "Wow! That's so exciting! Your first wiggly tooth!"



Well, not even 30 minutes later, she was eating breakfast and she said, "My tooth came out!" That was it. No drama, no yelling or crying, just a calm statement. We took this picture:

Then, when she got off the bus this afternoon, she was carrying a little baggie. She said, "Guess what? My other tooth came out at school!" So she lost both bottom teeth in one day! I think the tooth fairy might bring her a bonus tonight!!

Lake Eola

Today we took the kids to Lake Eola park for a picnic lunch. We spent a little time on the playground (which I thought was disappointing, actually), walked around the lake, and rented a swan boat. The boats are paddleboats and there is a bench seat in the back for the kids. It was a super windy day so it was really tough to pedal the boat. Emily kept complaining about how slow we were going. Liam was having trouble sitting down and of course there was no seat belt in the boat, so that was a little tricky. Still, we had fun and this was definitely a new experience for us! Here are some pictures from our day:

Happy New Year!

I can hardly believe it is 2014! We have been very busy through the holiday season. We were lucky to have a nice long break from school (and work) and spent lots of time together. School starts up again on Tuesday! B is super excited to go back. E wants to stay home more. LOL.

Here is a picture of the kids toasting the new year (with Sprite):

Looking forward to a great 2014!