Another of our trip highlights was hiking in Carlsbad Caverns. The cave is quite impressive from the huge open rooms, number of bat residents, and unusual rock formations. We were able to hike two trails in the cave. We hiked into the cave through the natural entrance which is a hike descending 800 feet and then the second hike was a loop around the ‘Big Room’. In total we went three miles carrying both girls.

We weren’t sure how the girls would respond to being in the cave. They were bundled up because the cool temp would feel really cold to a kid with very little body fat and who is not exerting any energy hiking. The adults were a little over dressed and kept peeling off layers as we walked. Despite the constant cool temperature, hiking and carrying the girls built up quite bit of body heat. Emily commented on how dark it was and the funny smell. She thought the sun had gone down. Like usual for the trip, Julia greeted the park rangers who crossed our path with waving arms and kicking feet.

While we were on the second hike each of the girls dozed off and took a great nap. Not hard to imagine them doing it – it was dark, they were warm and bundled next to their parents, and it was naptime. Overall they were happy to be out and about and didn’t mind the dark cool cave. Thankfully, the hike ended at an elevator. We admired the visitors that visited the cave before the elevator was installed and were glad that we had the modern convenience.

The other day I raced though dinner so that I could go out and get our yard mowed before dark. I am notorious for mowing yards as the sun is going down and you can hardly tell where the cut line is. I successfully got the grass cut and a few other yard items taken care of before it got dark. As I worked around the yard, I kept finding Emily in windows and doorways keeping tabs on me. Nowadays, whenever she sees a mower, she points it out and talks about watching Mommy or Daddy using the mower. So the grubby Mommy came in the house and headed straight for the shower to clean up. I caught my reflection in the mirror – work shorts, t-shirt, old shoes, dirt stained socks, carelessly swept ponytail, plenty of sweat, and earrings. Earrings? I guess I wanted to keep a fashion sense to my yard attire.

Just a few more words on Emily’s potty training. I couldn’t be more pleased with Emily’s progress. We tried to go full action potty training and after day three and a lot of crying everytime she sat on the potty, we took a break. I just didn’t want her to hate the potty and she definately wasn’t enjoying the process.

Our new approach was to remind her that when she needed to go she needed to tell Mommy or Daddy. And then when it looked like she was trying to communicate something we would ask if she needed to go potty. This approach only produced 1-2 successful trips to the potty each day.

Then the day before yesterday we made four successful trips and no diaper changes after her nap. Yesterday followed with three successes. I guess one trick to potty training is figuring out what is the best reward motivator. Emily asked to watch Diego as her reward yesterday. I told her that she could watch one Diego episode as a reward, but couldn’t watch another Diego as a reward until she ‘poopied in the potty’. After that successful trip to the potty she always asked to watch Diego and I would repeat the rewards system. She surprised me today, while she was on the potty I went to fetch a fresh dry diaper and she poopied in the potty. She was very calm about it like she did it every day. I was so proud of her! We postponed her nap and she watched her Diego episode to celebrate.

When I was reading about the training process, I found several references to the fact that I would be learning about how Emily learns and deals with situations. So what I have learned about Emily so far is: she likes to be in control, she likes a little privacy at times when doing things for herself (espcially the first time), she learns quick, and her wanting to do something is the best motivator for her.

Just a few brief words, and no pictures, about potty training for Emily. After putting it off as long as I could, we are starting Emily down the road of growing up. She has been showing signs of being ready for a while and with the arrival of her sister, the holidays, and her birthday it just didn’t seem like the time. Emily has her big girl potty now, we have talked about it, I have read suggestions, and tonight we had our first success. We celebrated with a cookie and a phone call to Daddy in which she announced that she ‘pee-pee in potty’. For her that is a pretty big sentence and it was the most clear her words are. I think she was excited.

I’m aware that tonight’s success is just the beginning of a new level of control and independence for Emily. I also know that she isn’t going to master this for a while, but I’m so pleased that we had such a great success tonight. I’m really proud of our big girl!

One of Daddy’s favorite snacks is potato chips and french onion dip. Over the weekend, Mommy made a fresh batch of dip, so while she was out I decided to share one of life’s great pleasures with Emily. Emily loves to dip her food in all kinds of sauces, so I expected her to enjoy our little treat. And she did!

I gave Emily her own bowl with some french onion dip in it. She would put a chip into the bowl, take it out, and then lick the dip off the chip, and then repeat this many times for each potato chip. Eventually, snack time came to an end, so I asked Emily if she was done with the bowl, which still had some dip in it. She said “No.” Then without chips, she scooped the dip out of the bowl with her hands, and proceeded to shove it into her mouth, licking her fingers clean in the process. When she was done, the bowl was spotless.

She is definitely my daughter.

Today was our morning movie day for the girls. While it seemed to take us forever to get out of the house, we managed to make it to the movie theater on time. We had to bundle up extra because it was literally freezing outside. Emily was willing to wear her hat (thanks Granddaddy for giving her a love of hats!) and scarf, but unwilling to wear her gloves. Wearing them outside has not been interesting, while she loves to wear the gloves around the house to play.

Julia slept through most of the movie with the exception of waking up for a bottle. I noticed that if you go to an active movie that a baby’s cry isn’t going to be heard over the music and dialog of the movie. It worked out really well.

Emily was simply wonderful today. We tried popcorn last month and Emily was really disinterested in it. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning and decided that I would get a popcorn and a drink. I figured that Emily would try a few and then end up becoming disinterested like last month. I was wrong. She tried it and helped me eat half of the bag. Then she took the bag from me, sat it on her lap, and munched most of the movie. Emily sat for the whole movie either on her booster seat or on my lap and watched the movie. She was such a big girl! The whole event was quite relaxing for me. Imagine that – going out into public with two little ones and being relaxed! It has been a good day!