Abby grew up over night...

literally. over night. It all happened faster than i'd planned, but it worked out perfectly.

The day after we got back from CA we were getting her ready for bed and she couldn't find her binki. (i know, right! who lets their 3 year old have a binki?!?! not me. never!! And I certainly would never let my 3 year old run to her crib, grab her binki, and run to her little sister's crib, climb in, and play/read books/hang out just to buy myself enough time to take a shower!!)

And so I told her that she was a big girl and she didn't need it anymore. WHAT WAS I SAYING!?!??! I don't know who possessed my body briefly, but i couldn't take it back!! And I told her that in the morning we would get her some panties and she'd be a big girl!

That night was kind of rough for her. she woke up really weepy a few times. i felt awful. But she made it.

And that next morning (quite serendipitously, i might add) she had her 3 year well-appt with her doctor. Knowing Abby like I do, I thought that hearing the words "you really ARE a big girl" from the Dr. would leave a lasting impression. And boy was I right. The doctor measured her height and weight and confirmed, several times during the visit, that Abby was a big girl now. She was so cute during the whole appointment, and LOVED hearing about how big she was. And she was so brave with her vaccine, too. I really was, in every way, so proud of her!

So, we left the dr.'s office and ran next-door to Target (which is, by the way, the best part of Kaiser Permanente...its being next to a Supertarget) and she got to pick out her big-girl undies. She came home, put them on, and just like that--she was a big girl!!! She's done great with potty-training. She'd been ready for months, as I've mentioned. So it wasn't that hard. She did struggle a bit with the concept that MOM needs to be involved in the process. She was, if possible, too independent the first few days...which led to a few accidents. But, it's been 14 days now without an accident, and she's so good at going all by herself (and then hollering for me to come wipe when she's done).

And she has LOVED, from the moment she got her Tinkerbell undies, to tell people "I'm a big girl now cause i went to the dr.'s office and they told me I'm big big big and I go peepee on the potty!!!!" (most of which is, by the way, unintelligible and OH so cute!! i should really get it on video!!)

She's done great without her binki, too...but the first few days, every once in a while, she'd say "mom, i don't want to be a big girl anymore" and I'd look, and sure enough she'd spotted one of Eliza's binkis (which usually was just Abby's binki that we'd "lost") and was missing her 3-year long relationship with it. can't really blame her.

To top off all of this insta growing-up, she got her very own toddler bed a few days ago. She's only been in a crib this long because I'm lazy and didn't want to search through all of craigslist for the perfect toddler bed! So, when I got an email from a local listserve for a toddler bed just minutes from my house, i jumped on it (the offer, not the bed)!

All three of the girls think this bed is the coolest thing in the world. They played on it for 3 hours straight when i brought it inside. Grace even slept on it the second night...and Abby was happy to sleep in Grace's bunk bed. They've kind of agreed that they'll rotate between the two beds for a while. They're cute. This big move of Abby's has brought with it Eliza's graduation from a pack 'n play to a crib. Big changes all around.

Valentine's Day

I've never really cared much about Valentine's Day. Reid and I don't usually give gifts, go out or do much to set that day apart. We're actually pretty lame. But Grace and Abby practically made us enjoy it this year. They were so excited that they got to make gifts for their friends, it was truly impossible not to get a little bit into the whole thing this year :)

I ran a few gift ideas by Grace, but when i told her about melting small crayons into a heart shaped tin, she yelled in delight, "does that mean that when they use it to draw on paper it will look like a rainbow???" She was sold on it immediately. And, as with most things, if Grace is on board, Abby is pleased-as-punch to follow.

And, since we didn't have time to do anything for Grace's teacher at Christmastime, we made her this little bouquet of chocolate-dipped strawberries....isn't it cute?? I was obviously pretty pleased with it...since i took the time to bust out the camera :) just don't look closely...there's strawberry juice dripping all over the ribbon

And since the girls got me so excited about the whole holiday, i decided that maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if i got reid a gift....a gift from his daughters...that I wouldn't let him take to his office 'cause i love it so much :) The girls stuck their fisted-hands in red paint and made these little hearts (thanks, Isa for the idea!!)