Happy 2nd Birthday, Imogen!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday our dear Imogen!

Happy Birthday to you!

Our 'baby' turned 2 today. I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad, but I'm leaning towards happy. I love all the wonderfully coordinated and independent things she does now! It's so fun and interesting to see her personality develop right before our eyes.

To celebrate her birthday, I took the day off work and we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. It was not Imogen's first time there, but it was her first time there where she could really look at and name the animals. She loved it! I think her favorite animal of all was the tiger. They only had one tiger in the forest today (although, I think they have 4 total) but he was playing in the water and entertaining us a lot. She also really liked the fishies, ducks, and birds. Go figure -- all things we see a lot when we're NOT at the zoo! Here are a few pictures from the day:

The newest baby elephant

Imogen marching along around the elephant exhibit

Walking with daddy

The entertaining tiger

Pointing to the fishie

A little overexposed, but oh well! It's mommy & me!

Our classic family shot by the big polar bear

Pretty girl!

Watching the polar bears v.e.r.y. closely

We were all tired by the end of the trip! But we had a great time!

Happy 2nd birthday to our beautiful little girl -- we love you!

Kennywood 2010

We took Imogen to Kennywood Amusement Park last Saturday and, even though it was windy and cool, we managed to get her on a few rides in Kiddyland. She definitely enjoyed them regardless of the fact that she had no clue what to expect every time we handed her over to an employee to get her buckled in.

On the swings, which I think she enjoyed the most:

On a helicoptor ride, in which she had no interest in touching the wheel, but rather hung onto the safety bar for dear life:

On the Whip. This one she was really unsure of, but warmed right up after being whipped around the turns once or twice:

We finished up the day with a ride on the big Carousel. She loved it so much, she went around twice! Here she is with her daddy and pop pop (as she is now calling him).

We're going back for a day next month, so here's hoping the weather is nicer and she can ride even more!

Big Girl Panties!

It's been awhile since I've posted and there is so much to catch up on, but the most exciting thing to share about Imogen is that she hasn't worn a diaper during the day in TWO months! She loves to pee pee in the potty and is a regular pro at this point. We do continue to wear a diaper at night, though, since I'm not sure she's ready for that just yet.

Several people have asked me how I taught her so early, but I have no tricks up my sleeve. I didn't read any books about it, I just followed my and Imogen's cues. Starting around 16 months old, I would put Imogen on the potty once a day before bedtime. She didn't do anything up there for a month or two. Eventually, one time she peed and I cheered and she caught on! We left it at that once-a-day trip for quite awhile and she knew it was coming and always went.

In February, I decided to try an all day bout with no diapers during a long weekend and it was mildly successful. The problem was that it was so cold at the time that Imogen had to wear layers which made it hard to get to the potty immediately if she had to go. We decided to scrap the big girl panties after the weekend and wait for another month.

In March, I decided to try again. It was warmer and Imogen could wear a dress around the house. I was home on a Friday armed with 6 pairs of cloth trainers I had just purchased. We put on her first pair in the morning and off we went. She peed in almost every pair that day, but we also had some success with her going in the potty. On Saturday, she did even better with fewer accidents. And by Sunday, she didn't have any accidents! She caught on so quickly! What did you give her as a reward, you ask? toilet paper! She loves the paper and so after she pees, we would give her a few sheets and she would throw it into the potty. It worked for us!

Her wonderful progress was kept going during the day on Monday and we haven't looked back at diapers, but rather clean up any messes and keep moving forward. Now, it is rare to have an accident and if/when she does, it's typically at home when she is too busy playing to tell us she has to go. It took about a week for her to start telling us she had to potty. And, up to today, we continue to ask her if she has to go every hour or so if she doesn't say something. We do trust her, but she isn't even two yet, so we know her success is continued with our help.

We have THIS travel potty chair which has been wonderful for potty on-the-go! Highly recommend! It's enabled us to take her anywhere and not be worried about where she is going to go to the bathroom.

I think potty learning has been my favorite milestone since walking. Our "diaper" bag is lighter, her bum is smaller, and we all enjoy the fewer loads of laundry.