If you don’t already read my friend Erin’s blog, you totally should.  She came up with a fun idea for a link up and I’m all about it.  Why?  Because it has to do with sparkly stickers.  Let’s face it, I love sparkly stickers about as much as my two-year-old loves them.

Her idea?  Parents should get gold stars for being awesome, or simply for doing things that aren’t terrible.  Agreed.

• My little potty-trainer said she needed to drop a deuce.  Yes!  We’ve been working on that.  I hurried her to the commode.  I helped her pull down her pants and a turd fell out and rolled on to the bathroom floor.  I did not groan and grimace.  Nope.  I plastered a shit eating grin on my face and said, “Uh oh!  That’s okay!  You got really close to the potty!”  I helped her do her business and cleaned up.  My little one then reminded me “You no eat poo poo, Mama!  Is yucky!”  I had my shit eating grin on for nothing.

We’ve had a lot of changes in toddlerland lately.  It’s full-tilt potty training madness.  She’s doing pretty well.  If we’re consistent, she’s consistent with Number One.  Number Two, eh.  It’s taken a back seat.

In other news, the same child who has taken a pacifier all her life outside the womb and affectionately calls it her “num-num” has been paci-less for about four days.  I couldn’t find it the other night.  We went out to the car to look for it.  We searched the playroom and her room.  No luck.  I looked at my sleepy tot  in her pajamas, sighed and said, “Charlotte, your num-num went bye-bye.”  She pondered this a moment and replied, “My num-num went bye-bye.”  That was it.  She spotted a rogue binky under the furniture today, but forgot about it when suddenly Thomas the Tank Engine did something on television that was worthy of her attention.  Thank you preschool programming!

I think this is the last paci pic I snapped.

As if these weren’t enough big girl achievements, she’s out of baby jail!  That’s right!  Our girl is sleeping in a toddler bed now.  When we finally decided on this furniture we got her crib as a conversion bed.  We wrongly assumed this included safety rails.  Whoops.  We figured she only has about eight inches to fall and has not fallen out of bed yet.  Parents of the year.

Baby monitor shot.

The funny thing about all these changes is I constantly oscillate between feelings of overwhelming pride and weepy nostalgia.  

There are many moments in the day when  I’m so proud of my big girl!  I love seeing all her 2-year-old accomplishments.  This may be the mama bear talking, but Charlotte is a smart one.  She’s getting so independent.  She is brave and fun.  Everyday she says a new sentence, sings a new song, or tries something on her own.  It’s amazing!

There are other moments when I want to run after her screaming, “No!  Wait!  You’re still a baby!  Stop growing  up so fast!”  After praising her for successfully using the potty, I suddenly want to change her diaper and give her a pacifier.  Instead of tucking her in her big kid bed I want to swaddle her up and rock her to sleep.

The only thing I can do is think of all the exciting things to come in her childhood and take in every moment of this transition.  If there is anything I’ve learned since becoming a parent, it’s that it’s all fleeting.

Since I’ve been getting all Auld Lang Syney around here, I’ll update you on another little goal for 2013.

We’re ditching the diapers this year.  Yep, Santa Claus brought Charlotte some big girl panties.  I figured finding them in her stocking would bring some enthusiasm.  She’s been doing okay, but we’ haven’t been hard-core potty training yet.  She freakin’ loves her Pull-Ups.  I’m now convinced Pull-Ups are just more expensive, glorified diapers.   I think they had to be invented by the same marketing a-hole that started putting kid cereals on the lower shelves of the supermarket, right at preschoolers’ eye level to torture parents into buying high-fructose corn syrup nuggets disguised as breakfast.

Anyway, we started with panties after I washed them at Christmas.  The panties enthusiasm was so strong it backfired on me.  She wanted to change to a different design EVERY time, even if she kept them clean and dry.  It became a holiday panties fashion show.  In her mind, why keep them clean if you have to wear the same ones?  Why not wear Elmo panties now, pee in them, then wear princess panties later?

Panties for EVERYONE!  See…

These are clean. No, the dog is not wearing any.

Today marked the day we would start potty training for real at school.  Her teachers have potty trained hundreds of kids and know what they’re doing.  They put the kid in underwear and take them to the potty every 15-30 minutes on the dot.  Pull-Ups go back on for nap time.  I brought her in a Pull-Up to the class.  Charlotte proudly took her panties into the classroom and showed them to her friends.  This is a big deal in the Twos Class, lemme tell ya.  The kids oohed and aahed over her stack of 2T drawers.  Charlotte beamed as she rushed straight to the potty with her teacher, tugging her pants to replace the Pull-Up with her beloved panties.  I figure this is the only time it’s appropriate to show off her underwear for the whole class.

Only 2 accidents.  Not too shabby for the first day.  I’m really starting to appreciate my own underwear, and potty-training teachers.

The past two mornings I have headed to work at painfully early morning hours. Not nearly as early or painful as my former TV morning news hours, mind you, but early nonetheless. Sunday night I set out Charlotte’s clothes, shoes, socks, hair bow and jacket for Greyson. Last night I was wiped and just told him that this morning would be “Daddy’s choice” for Tuesday’s toddler wardrobe.

I called him mid-morning to check in.

Me: “So what did you dress her in?”
Him: “Her Abby Cadabby shirt and jeans.”
Me: “Oh! I bet she loved that! You’re a good Daddy!”
Him: “Yeah, it wasn’t that cold so I just put on her jean jacket instead of her parka.”

::record scratch::

Me: “You put her in a jean jacket?!? WITH her jeans?!? Greyson! You can’t do that!”
Him: “Uh, yeah you can Amy. I did it.”
Me: “You had our baby dressed at school in unidenim?!? You can’t have denim on denim! Please tell me you fixed her hair!”
Him: “Yeah, I fixed her hair, with a big DENIM bow! Ha!”

My male coworker, also a young father, was listening to this conversation with a shrug and confused face. He obviously sided with Greyson and saw no problem with the double dungaree outfit. The women in my office were on my side.

Female coworker: “Oh, my God! She’s rockin’ a “Canadian Tuxedo!”

I had to chuckle at this. I had never heard that term, but now plan to use it liberally.

Charlotte is a two-year-old, and as such, had no interest in keeping her jacket on once she got in the house. Her tantrum was no match for my picture taking. This was the outfit. You get the picture.

I consulted my very cool and very fashionable step-brother about this faux pas. He said only someone in high fashion or a celebrity could pull it off. If you Google Canadian Tuxedo, this is what pops up.

I think my toddler wore it better.

I bought an Elf on the Shelf, but I decided to hold off this year. After an extensive discussion on with other moms on Twitter, I decided she was a little too young to fully understand and appreciate the Elf. Plus, I knew she would try to touch it. That’s okay. We have a little elf in our house this year.

I can’t stop looking at this elfish little face. This picture of Charlotte perfectly captures the mischievous nature of my little girl. Oh, how I hope this stays alive in her! Even if it drives me crazy in later years.

Let’s hear it for little elves!

By-the-way…when did you start Elf on the Shelf? Did I do the right thing by waiting? I mean, she just turned 2.