Wordless Wednesday

My sister was looking into hair options for herself and then decided to see how Princess would look with longer hair. It's scary how old she looks here.

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

It's hard to believe it's Wednesday already. Time for another (Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

The Face of Independence


The Face of A Drama Queen


Sweet Pea is insisting that she feed herself these days which is just another sad reminder that she is growing up. And if she is anything like her sister, she will be a drama queen. Princess has never before painted her legs with yoghurt but after watching me photograph her little sister covered in yoghurt I think she did it just to be included in the picture taking.

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Potty Training Princess

I’m so embarrassed that Princess isn’t potty trained yet. I started “training” her over two years ago. When she was just 8 months old I started putting her on the toilet so that she wouldn’t be scared of it. We’d sit there and read books soon after breastfeeding. She would eventually pee and we’d make a big celebration out of it. At only one year old we could go entire days in the same diaper. Granted, I was putting on the toilet but we were getting there. There were even times at 14 months where she would lead me to the bathroom when she had to do #2.

So what happened you ask? Well at 14 months we went on a 24 hour road trip (never again!) for a vacation (if you can call chasing after a toddler all day, a vacation). Then when we got back I started my winter semester and took 5 courses so I would get them out of the way before baby #2 came in May. Princess was too distracted at the babysitters to sit still on the toilet so we let it slide. Then when her sister came along I didn’t have time to concentrate on it. Then I went back to school and potty training was still on the back burner.

When I finished my last semester I was sure I would be able to potty train her quickly. I’ve let her wear pretty big girl underwear but she has a lot of accidents. I’ve bought cloth diapers so that she can feel when she goes pee but not make a mess. But I think they’re doing too good of a job. She isn’t bothered by sitting in a wet diaper. I could keep putting her on the toilet every hour but I’m not sure that is actually teaching her to control it and recognize the urge herself. Not to mention that is a huge battle to get her to sit on the toilet. According to her, once you’ve done it once already that day you don’t have to go on the toilet anymore.

So my current plan of attack is to let her wear underwear and ask her to go to the bathroom every hour. I hope that helps her make the connection. If that fails I might just have to read some books on potty training.

Can you suggest any potty training methods or books?

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

A Princess even in her sleep. She fell asleep in her Snow White dress during her quiet reading time before bed. I couldn't resist getting a picture.





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Wordless Wednesday

 

Can you believe that she dressed herself?

The purple things on her hands are a pair of princess slippers. I think these paired with the size 6 month hat shows off her unique and budding fashion sense.

Free Princess DVD from Fisher Price

Fisher Price is giving away a Free DVD about Princesses. It's only a 12 minute DVD but you don't even have to pay for shipping and handling. It looks like these Princesses will be better role models than traditional Disney characters who need to be rescued by charming princes. Their website says that the Princess Sirina and her friends will use their unique strengths to work together.

Click here to request your Free DVD. Sadly, this offer is only offer to residents of the US and be prepared to wait 12-14 weeks! So I wouldn't tell your daughters about this yet otherwise they will be asking where their DVD is for the next 3 months. By the time you actually get it, you'll probably have forgotten you ordered it and it'll be a surprise for everyone.

Dress-Up Princess Toy

Do you remember the paper dolls that came with paper clothes? They were inexpensive and fun to play with but flimsy and easily torn. With a baby in the house that will eat any paper she comes across I didn’t think that one of these would last long in our household. Luckily, my husband came home one day with a surprise gift for his little princess. Princess Eliseis a sturdy wooden doll who is magnetic. She comes with multiple outfits that Princess loves to play with. There are dresses, skirts, tops hats and gloves to attach. Her favourite is the pink outfit the doll came wearing. As a toddler, Princess finds it far easier and quicker to change the outfits on this doll than a regular doll. Thanks to this toy, Princess has learned the importance of matching and outfit coordination. Although, one day I’ll have to explain to her that outfits are allowed to be different colours.

It’s fun for adults to assemble the outfits too. Even my husband wanted in on the action and was showing Princess the different outfit choices. I was pleasantly surprised by the cost too. I figured that such a high quality toy would be rather expensive in comparison to the regular manufactured plastic toys. It turned out be less than $15 and can be found for as low as $10 on Amazon.

This was my first time using Melissa & Doug Products and I like the line so much I’ve bought other toys. I love the wooden construction and the fact that it is a family business. You can order this toy and other toys from the Melissa & Doug Website but I found that the prices were consistently lower online at Amazon.

The Beginning of a Princess

My daughter transformed into a princess on her 2nd birthday. Her aunt bought her a princess set that came with a dress, jewellery, high heels and a wand. The second she put it on she was hooked. She instinctively knew she was a princess, although up until that point we had never seen any books or movies that showed princesses. She loved the pretty dress and could walk surprisingly well in the too-big high heels. I guess all the training in my shoes helped. She had a blast and wore it the rest of the night. Since it was her birthday she was allowed to stay up way past her bed time and indulged in a lot of sugar. We ended the night with a melt-down when I tried to take it off her to put her to sleep. The next morning she couldn’t wait to put the dress on again.

Since then we’ve added several new dresses and princess-related books. I often find Princess in a dress throughout the day. She loves to dance in them and often refuses to dance unless she has her dress on. Although some parents are concerned about raising a spoiled little princess, I think we can allow her this fun role-playing activity without raising a little monster. In fact, we use it to our advantage. It’s very effective to tell her that “Princesses don’t make messes” or “Let’s clean like Cinderella.” Also, although she may be a princess, as her mom, I’m the queen. And we all know that the king and queen are in charge.

I’m sure she will outgrow this at some stage, but in the meantime I’m enjoying raising my little princess.