We have had a wonderful extra-long weekend celebrating when the religious zealots who helped found our nation, dined with our land’s natives.  Ah, Thanksgiving!  Charlotte loved the Macy’s Parade and was very well behaved for a two-year-old shopping on Black Friday.

This weekend it became clear there is a new man in my daughter’s life.

Sure, Daddy is great and Elmo is fun.  But, my girl has been after a man of mystery.  You know the type.  He shows up once a  year, but leaves your head spinning a few months before, wondering if he’ll really be there this time.  Oh!  The wait is so worth it!

Anywhere we see a beard or red hat, we’re sure to hear “Sana Caas!!!”  We ask her, “Charlotte, who did you see at the Christmas parade?” “Sana Caas!!!  Sit on Sana Caas yap!”  Let me remind you I showed her a picture of her on Santa Claus’ lap ONCE!  This child has remembered and has not stopped talking about when she will sit on “Sana Caas yap.”

She and I braved the mall this weekend because, if I’m being honest, I love the hustle, bustle, and bargain shopping of the holiday season.  Charlotte saw Santa through the glass as we went down the elevator.  I saw the line.  Ugh!  But, it seems my girl has a way with the new man in her life.  Yep, we caught Santa on his way to the crapper.  He was kind enough to stop for a quick cell phone stroller shot with my girl.

She was thrilled with this Santa-sighting, but still wants to sit on his “yap.”  I guess we’ll have to wait in the line with everyone else.  She’ll realize we are just commoners who don’t really get one-on-one time with the season’s hottest celebrity.

When we ask her what she wants from Sana Caas?  She shouts, “A baby!” That’s when every set of eyes in the room move straight to my midsection.  It is no doubt all pooched out since I am no doubt eating pie or something.  That’s when, between mouthfuls, I explain that she wants a “baby doll” and that I am not pregnant.

Is it Christmas yet?

Lookie what Charlotte and I bought during our weekly pilgrimage to Target!

Boom!  That’s right, folks.  We’ve decided to give the neglected little potty I purchased on a previous pilgrimage 6 months ago another try.  Our pediatrician recommended that the parents of girls buy a potty at 18 months and start talking about it.

For the last 6 months that’s pretty much what she did.  She would sit on it and brush her teeth.  She would point to her Sesame Street buddies and talk to them.  She would beg for her potty occasionally after seeing one of us perched on the commode.   (This was no doubt after busting in uninvited.)  She dropped a deuce twice, dribbled a few drops a handful of times.  Good, but nothing consistent.

Now that she’s two, we’re going for it.  I don’t want to push it, but she seems a little more ready.

The signs we’ve seen:

• She seems increasingly uncomfortable with a messy diaper.  She reaches back there and tries to take it off if it’s soiled.  (Ew, that cannot happen.  Seriously.)
• She wants to sit on her potty more often.
• She was psyched about the Pull-Ups.  She would not let me put a diaper on her after buying them.  I tried to put on a diaper and she screamed, “No!  Pull-Up!”  She said, “Chalette big girl!”  I told her if she wore it, then she had to sit on the potty and at least try.  She was okay with that and we got a #1 out of it.  Score!

I was ready to roll-up the rug and go for it with the three-day method, as crazy as it sounds.  Greyson squashed that thought and the doctor agreed with him.  She said she understood that some parents had great success with the three-day method, but that it was a tad extreme.  She said that since Charlotte is a daycare kid, she will likely be potty trained pretty soon.  The doctor went on to explain how in daycares, toddlers are typically put on a tight potty schedule.  That, combined with positive peer pressure is a good way to get trained-up quick.  Charlotte is scheduled to move from the “Toddlers” to the “Twos” class very soon.  Potty training is a huge focus in that class.  (God help those teachers!  Remind me to get an excellent Christmas gift for them.)

So I think the plan for now is to put her in Pull-Ups with the rule that she must sit on the potty if she wears Pull-Ups.  (I hope the novelty doesn’t wear off any time soon.)  I like these guidelines from the Mayo Clinic.  I mean, who am I to argue with them?

I am typically a Pampers mom.  They did not have Pampers Easy-Ups in her size, so we went with the Huggies Pull-Ups.  Do any of you have brand preference here?  I am a terrible yuppie blog mom because I never cloth-diapered my child.  But, I’m willing to give it a shot if cloth training pants work better.  Any words of wisdom?

What method did you use?  Am I reading all of her signs correctly?  Am I doing this too soon?  What do you all think?

When I asked my husband and brother-in-law to move the couch and the love seat out of the house and into the garage I think they thought I had gone a little overboard.  Maybe I had, but it was totally worth it.  I wanted to open up space for Charlotte and her friends to run around and be 2-year-olds.  I got a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and other bloggers, but I really wanted to make this special and personal for Charlotte.

The fabulous Brooke from Brooke Wolfe Photography took these pictures for me.  Check her out here and here.

I wanted a line from the Sesame Street theme song on the front door.  I chose “On my way to where the air is sweet” to greet guests as they walked in the door.  Grover made sure they had a spot to drop their gifts.

Charlotte was ready to party!

The party was brought to you by the letter “C” and the number “2”.  I tried to include “C’s” and “2’s” everywhere.  We had pizza along with the veggie and fruit heads of Oscar and Cookie Monster, goldfish, juice, and cupcakes.

I found a lot of my supplies for the party at our local dollar store and Michael’s.  Take a look at the bottom of my china cabinet.  I covered our open fireplace, the lower part of our china cabinet, and bar with Sesame Street wrapping paper to block out little hands.

All around the room I had toddler friendly activities to keep the kids busy.  I think Big Bird’s “nest” was the most popular attraction.

Elmo’s station was coloring “C” and “2” coloring sheets I printed online.  Cookie Monster’s station was playing with cookie “doh”.  Every kid got an Abby Cadabby wand.

I used some of Charlotte’s blocks so the kids could build a “Flying Fairy School” and they tossed paper into “Oscar’s Trash Can”.

Elmo brought the house down when he danced through the door.  (Actually, he had to walk very carefully since he really couldn’t see anything.)  He did bust out “The Robot” once he got inside.  (It was my brother-in-law, Kevin in the costume.  Shhh!)  Kids either came to Elmo running, or ran away in fear.  I expect some parents will be sending their therapy bills our way.  My sister Julie had a friend who happened to have this costume that we could borrow.

If you couldn’t tell already by the Elmo suit, Kevin was the biggest kid at the party.  I love him!  He’s so awesome.  I love the picture of Greyson holding up Charlotte to Big Bird.  When she saw that plastic backdrop I got for like $6.00, she went crazy and had to kiss all of them.   That backdrop was by far her favorite thing.  She was all like, “I’ve been telling ya’ll to decorate like this for 2 years!”

We got a family shot in front of the backdrop.  Greyson and I also rocked our SS apparel.  If you’ll notice from Greyson’s shirt, Governor Romney did not fire Big Bird from our party.  Ha!  (Don’t hate, the party was just a few days before the election.)  Charlotte had a custom “2” Elmo shirt I found on Etsy.

Our party girl was wiped by the end.  She almost fell asleep in the nest with her wand.  This shot is proof of a good party.

Happy National Blog Posting Month! Better known as NaBloPoMo. Yep, I’m trying to write a post every day of November this year. Hmmm. We’ll see how it goes. I did about 25 of 30 days for NaBloPoMo ’11. I’m feeling even better for ’12.

Wish me luck. We have a big two days with Charlotte’s birthday tomorrow and party on Saturday. For today, just enjoy a glimpse of our Halloween.

Leave a comment with a link to shots of your costumed kiddos! There is nothing better than cute kids in costumes. Happy November!

(Sorry these didn’t post the first time.  Oh, and she was a cupcake.  Some people couldn’t tell.)

We’re kind of a big deal in the local toddler birthday party circuit lately.  (I hope you read that sentence in Ron Burgandy’s voice.)  It  seems like every weekend we’re at some preschool hot spot or in a suburban backyard sipping juice boxes.  That’s just how we roll.  Don’t hate.  Mama’s gotta get her cupcake fix.

We’re in full-tilt party planning mode as Charlotte’s 2nd birthday is Friday and her party is Saturday.  I’ll let you in on a secret.  I love it.  I stayed up well past midnight Saturday night cutting out “2’s” and “C’s” for her Sesame Street soiree.  Oh, how our weekend “partying” has changed!

I’ve noticed something about the last five parties for 2 and 3 year-olds that we have attended.  At every one of these shindigs, the Birthday Girl or Boy did not open their gifts in front of their guests.  These were parties both in homes and at local attractions.  Granted, there were a couple of parties we had to leave early.  They may have opened presents after we left, I dunno.  We hung around late at the party for the son of our very close friends.  Most people had gone when I asked if  he could open his gift from us because I knew the parents would get a kick out of the present we found for him.  Other than that, I didn’t even know if the child got their gift until the Thank You note.  (Which annoys me by-the-way.  I’m not a fan of the Thank You note.  I personally think it’s unnecessary and I feel silly when I get one.  I’m not giving you a gift to get a note about it.  I also procrastinate when writing them.  I know!  I know!  Call Miss Manners!  I’m an outrageous faux pas!)  

Anyway, I got to thinking about Charlotte’s 1st birthday party.  Did I commit a major kid party no-no last year when my then one-year-old opened her stack of presents in front of everyone?  Did I bore my guests to tears and come across as an attention seeking moron mom?

I personally like seeing the child open their gifts.  They get to tear paper to reveal some noisy, blinking nonsense.  It’s cute.  Who doesn’t like seeing a kid get a present?  I considered having Charlotte just open friend gifts at the party and save family presents for later.

What is the etiquette these days?  Is there a rule, or is it decided on a party-by-party basis?  What have you done in the past?  What have you experienced at other parties?  Should I have her open her gifts in front of the group, or wait until later?

I’m excited to hear your take on this.  Thanks!

(Oh, and I did write Thank You notes and I will again this year too.  Relax.)