Cars, Colds, Potty Training, & anything else!

I've felt like saying something here for days (nothing in particular, just thought I'd blog) but time has got away from me, as usual. It doesn't help that I've been full of a miserable cold for the past 10 days. Peter had it first, then Abigail, and then Benjamin. It lasted about 2.5 weeks with each of them - the horrible hacking cough being worst of all (I think I mentioned about Benjamin having it last time). Anyway, so now it's my turn. Just hope it goes away soon - the wheezing sounds from my breathing are really annoying! LOL

This post will be unusual in that there are *only* 5 photos! Guess I haven't been using my camera very much lately.

Here's Benjamin with a couple of small cars (which actually, happen to be Peter's from when he was a child!!). Anyway, cars (and buses) are Benjamin's passion at the moment (not to mention chocolate & cheese - hmm - cars, choc, & cheese all start with C!). Anyway, he shouts "cars, cars" whenever he sees some and he just has to hold a couple all day long (even when he's having a feed to go to sleep)! In a similar way that some children would cuddle a favourite teddy, it's metal cars for Benjamin! :) He's learning colours from the cars too. He can correctly identify which car is red, blue, orange and white. But orange is his favourite. The other night he was about to go up the stairs to bed and he started shouting out "orange! orange!" and ran back to get a orange car! It's really fun to watch him learn so many new things each day - and at the same time it makes me realise that he really isn't a baby anymore. Where does the time go? He's already 19 months old.

Speaking of growing up, I think Abigail looks very grown up in this photo! :) She'll be 3 years old in less than a month - wow!

Thanks to Abigail, she's just about potty trained!! Yay - no worries that I'll be washing nappies for 3 children come April! LOL Anyway, about 2 weeks ago Abigail woke up one morning and insisted that she wanted to wear big girl pants. I wasn't feeling very energetic that morning (perhaps it wasn't much past 6am!) and I told her no, she needed to wear a nappy, else we'd end up with lots of puddles in the carpet (as happened the previous few occasions when she wanted to wear pants). Well, she was really determined that she didn't want a nappy, so I gave in. And I must say, that we had far more in the potty than we had in the floor on that first day, and things have only improved with time! We didn't have *any* accidents yesterday, and that even included going to church in the morning (tho she was in a "side-snapping pocket nappy" which pulls up & down like pants, just in case!). I have had 1 or 2 days were we seemed to get several accidents in a row and I wondered what went wrong - but it never lasted long, thankfully. So at last, she's got her reward of big girl pants with Dora the Explorer - and I also found her some with Lola (as in, Charlie & Lola) who she really likes. I'm really pleased with her progress and the fact that she was determined to do it herself (I was feeling too tired with pregnancy to want to do potty training) but she obviously knew better what needed to be done. :)

Here's Benjamin wearing some trousers I'd just made him. He loves the helicopters on them! I thought I should do a bit of sewing and use more of my PRR (Painting Red Rhinos) fabric that I'd bought off eBay back in May. And since Benjamin is outgrowing a lot of his trousers, it was a useful way to spend time - or so I think. :) Especially since it's not always easy to find trousers that fit nicely over cloth nappies. The fabric was meant to be a darker green, but for some reason the dye didn't seem to take very well on this occasion - though the pink fabrics I did for Abigail were lovely, as were the small nappies I dyed bright orange!

Riding a lorry in the back garden.

And here's Abigail wearing a skirt that I threw together in 20 minutes or so. It's probably not very straight or neat looking, but I just cut out a wee square of fabric and sewed up a skirt for her to play in. She's also wearing her "new" winter boots that she got the same day. The weather has been so damp & cold lately that one feels it's nearly winter.

Well, I'm now nearly 16 weeks pregnant! Again, I wonder where the time goes - seems the weeks pass so quickly. I'm still feeling lots better, though perhaps slightly more picky about foods than I would be if I weren't pregnant. But it's wonderful not being sick anymore. If only the cold would go away, I think I'd feel just perfect! :)

OK, should get myself to bed. Abigail often wakes up around 6:30 to 7 (somtimes a bit earlier) since she goes to bed before 8pm. I enjoy getting up early in that I get lots more done in the day and am pleased to see what I can accomplish before lunch. But getting to bed too late at night means I'm not all that excited about getting up before 7! :)