UPDATES
To swim, or not to swim? Well, I got into the water last weekend---and my hopes of participating in the triathalon were immediately dashed. I confirmed that I can't swim even a little bit, and I really couldn't see how I would ever be able to do a river swim---and 35 laps of it at that! I left the pool extremely discouraged, and was sure that my "indecision" turned into a decision not to participate in the triathalon. Since that time, I have spoken to several wonderful women at my gym who are probably going to compete in the triathalon. They are extremely encouraging, and have convinced me to at least take some actual swim lessons. At the very worst, I can learn how to swim---and maybe I can even do a little more than that by the time the triathalon comes along! Another woman is in the same boat as I am, and she and I are going to look into lessons together, so that's where I stand right now!

On a higher note, Jack's potty training is going extremely well! He is asking to go to the potty about a gazillion times a day, and goes every time! Pretty much every poop he takes is on the potty, and his diapers are only slightly wet when he asks me to take them off---as if he starts to go in his diaper, then stops himself and asks to use the potty. Today when I picked him up at the gym, the ladies said he asked to use the potty, and went! I can only hope that this lasts! (The poop that ended up in his pack-n-play yesterday will be the subject of another post, perhaps, but overall, it is going very well!)

Nicole learned to tie her shoes yesterday! She is very proud of herself! But she is a little bummed about her ear piercing--it's putting a little damper on her life! When she had it done, one side was noticeably higher than the other side, and it has been bothering me for weeks! I finally decided that I was taking one side out and having it done again the right way this time! We had been talking about this from the beginning, and she REALLY doesn't want to have her ear pierced again, but I decided that she will thank me later in life. So we are waiting for the hole to close up before I take her back. And she is really in no hurry for the hole to close up!

We have all been pretty healthy these last few weeks. Final tally? Strep got Nicole three times, Kurt once, me once (maybe twice) and the strep rash (but not strep throat) got Jack twice. My hold-out, Max, ended up getting strep throat once! The stomach flu hit all of us once, except Nicole!! I have heard that many families are getting the stomach virus two and three times over....but I just know this won't happen to us! Right?

POTTY TRAINING, DAY 2
Such excitement! Exact repeat of Day #1!! I am so excited for him, and he is so excited for himself! He didn't ask to be put on the potty early in the day, but he did in the evening, and again filled it with pee, and kept asking to sit some more and "try again" until poop came out too! I can't believe he is potty training himself---I better get my act in gear so I can keep up!

IT'S POTTY TIME!
Once again our little Jack left the Dungan household in amazement tonight! It was a pretty hectic time in our kitchen --- we were all going in different directions and little attention was being paid to Jack, when he started yanking on his diaper and asked to sit on the potty that has been gathering dust in the corner because no one (well, because I) haven't had the time to start potty training. He also only just turned two, so I didn't think he would be ready yet---I only wanted to get the idea in his head at this stage! He has been exposed to the potty very little---has sat on it a few times at irregular intervals, but we weren't even sure he understood the mechanics of his body and the potty! So Kurt placated him and said "sure, you can take your diaper off and sit on the potty," and we were all kind of thinking that it was so cute that he wanted to sit there. A few seconds later, our jaws were all dropping as we saw some pee leaving his body and going right into the potty! We were jumping and screaming as he sat back down and said he needed to go some more. He sat there for a while pretending (we thought) he was pushing it out, and we saw some more pee come out---and when he got up and I went to empty it, I saw there was some POOP in the potty also!! Kurt, Nicole, Max and I were all screaming in excitement, and jumping around, and Jack was screaming "I did it! I did it!" He sat down again and again, each time leaving more poop in his little potty as the noise level around him rose to hysteria!

I am sure we have a long way to go before he is potty trained, but he took a pretty great first step on his own today!! Nicole was fully trained at least a few months before she was 3, and coaxed with stickers. Despite what everyone told us (that since Max and Nicole were so close in age, Max would just follow Nicole right into potty training at a young age!) Max took his own sweet time and was coaxed with increasingly extravagant gifts as the months (and our frustration) wore on. Come to think of it, maybe that smart little lad had us figured out early as he sat back and watched his rewards get steeper! :) Max really did struggle with it, but was finally fully trained a few months before he was 4. I can only hope that Jack "gets it" early, encouraged by our hugs, kisses and excitement---or at least "gets it" before big brother and sister tell him that he should hold out for the bigger prizes he will get if he just waits us out...

INDECISION
For almost two weeks now, I have been thinking constantly about something, and I need to make a decision! I keep going over the pros and cons in my head, and I have certainly passed the point where any new thought or idea is going to arise and weigh on this decision in either way. In other words, I need to decide right now whether I am going to do something a little outside the box, and train for, and participate in an all-female mini-triathalon in August. Right now I am probably in the best cardiovscular shape of my life, (although I have certainly looked better in my younger and pre-baby days!)---and I just turned 42 years old last month (OUCH!). If I don't do it now, when will I ever do it?? But here is the kicker for me: I have to swim. I never learned how to swim! I would have to swim 1/2 mile (35 laps!)---in the Schuylkill River (YUCK!)! So I have to get over my apprehension in the water, take some lessons, and do a lot of swimming in the next few months! The other legs of the triathlon are biking for 15 1/2 miles (although I haven't biked outside in a number of years, I feel like I can train for this) and running for 3.1 miles. I don't run at all, but I think that is also something I can learn to do over the next few months. But swimming? Yikes. There are a lot more pros and cons racing around in my head, but the swimming is the big one that will make or break this decision! If I don't decide soon, I will drive myself crazy!

SHE DID IT!
Princess Nicole and I paid a visit to Sweet -n- Sassy salon in Exton, where everything is pink, where little girls are treated like princesses, and where moms grimace as they sign the credit card bill! She had her hair cut, braided, and sprayed with sparkly stuff, and she was given the prettiest lollipop I have ever seen!

The setting and the mood must have struck her, because she decided that she wanted to get her ears "piersted." (Which pronunciation she used for the last few months until she actually had her ears pierced, at which time she suddenly pronounced the word properly! Clearly, this was a very grown-up day in her life!) As soon as she was ready, I was suddenly full of panic, and sure that she was much too young to have this done! But, I told her a few months ago that she could do it whenever she wanted so...I had to take a deep breath and let my little girl grow up a little tiny bit!They did both ears at the same time, so she couldn't back out halfway through! Some tears fell, and she has been very nervous about the "recovery" period (none really, but we have to make sure we clean them and twist them a few times a day!), but she is very happy she had it done, and she looks so cute! (I know you can't really see them in the picture, but this was the best I could get!) Now she can't wait to get started wearing long and glamorous earrings! (Oops, we should have had this discussion before the piercing sweetie, because there are going to be a lot of rules about the type of earrings you can wear, and when you can wear them, once you are actually permitted to remove these for the first time!)

Did I mention that I wasn't allowed to get my ears pierced until I was sixteen (sixteen!!) and I have always been certain that I wasn't going to make Nicole wait even remotely that long until she had hers done! I have never been sure where I would draw the line, but as she neared her 6th birthday a few months ago, I really thought she was ready, and told her so. She wanted no part of it then! Max is now saying (I think jokingly) that he is going to be one of those "boys who gets his ears pierced," and now I am sure exactly where I draw the line!!