Clearing Out the Cobwebs

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since I last posted, and I wanted to add some updates about Dorothy that I've been meaning to chronicle.

(1) On August 29th, she started putting two words together. She pointed at my purse and said "purse", and then when I acknowledged it, she said "Mommy's purse". Then she pointed at one of her own zipper bags and said "Dorothy's purse". Shortly afterwards, I was folding laundry and each time I pulled an item out of the basket, she told me what it was: "Mommy's shirt" or "Daddy's shorts" or "Mommy's sock". Ever since then, her verbal expression has continued to grow. She now constantly says things like "close the door", "Baby's sleeping", or "Dorothy sit potty".

(2) Which brings me to my next update. Yesterday I sat Dorothy on the potty for the first time. Nothing happened, but she asked to sit there so I obliged. I was cleaning her up after a messy diaper and I started telling her "One day you will go poopy on the potty like a big girl, and then it won't be so messy anymore". Well after I said that, she started saying "Potty! Sit potty! Sit potty poopy!" until I took her there. Then I encouraged her to push the poopy out and she repeated me clearly: "push it out" and I could tell from the way she was flexing her torso that she was actually trying to do that. Like I said, nothing happened, but she enjoyed the experience. I sat there holding onto her so that she didn't fall in - she's still so petite! And I have to say, it was SO cute to see her sitting there doing this big-girl activity while still so small. Her friend James (who just turned 2 on Monday) is already potty trained, and several of her other 2-year-old friends are practicing their potty usage, so she's definitely interested.

(3) Dorothy is REALLY interested in her "baby" - one of the soft dolls she got last year on her birthday. She plays with her baby and imitates real-life baby care. For example, she says "baby's crying" and makes a fake crying sound, and then hugs the baby tightly and says "shh". She feeds the baby with a little baby bottle and says "feed her, feed her". She lays the baby down and covers her with a blanket and says "baby's sleeping". Or she puts the baby on her changing table and says "change baby dee-pah" (diaper) and tries to wrap one of her diapers around the baby. I would like to get her a baby with some accessories for Christmas - like a bed, some pretend diapers, etc.

(4) Dorothy started "preschool" on September 9th. This is one morning per week for 2 1/2 hours at my friend Debbie's house with 4 other 2-year-olds (or almost-2-year-olds). Debbie leads them in structured playtime and teaches them lessons (for example, they've been learning about colors and shapes so far). They've also gotten to play with "goop" (homemade putty-type-stuff), paint with finger paints, color with crayons and magic markers, and have lots of books read to them. They even bring home a craft project every week! The idea of structured playtime is new for all of them, so they are a little unfocused most of the time, but it will be interesting to observe them as they start to get used to it. I pray that they will all grow to enjoy "school" and that it will give them more excitement for school in the years ahead!

(5) Grandma and PaPa O'Brien visited from Aug 29th to Sept 7th, and got to inaugurate the guest room at our new house. Dorothy learned to say "Mama" for Grandma, and "PaPa" for PaPa, and is still talking about them both. Also, Grandma and PaPa McMillen visited from September 29th to October 1st, and Dorothy REALLY enjoyed playing with them during their brief visit! We all wished they could have stayed longer, but thankfully we'll be seeing them again in just a couple of weeks when we travel to New York for a wedding (Rob's cousin Samantha is getting married.)