The End Of A Blog!!

When I started this blog, I wanted to create a way to let friends and family know everything that was happening with L'ie Bear.  Even though they lived far away, they got their frequent doses of Da Bear and could still feel a part of her life.

This blog has documented so many stories, milestones, and even a few failures, but most importantly, it has shown the many ways our family has changed over the past two and a half years.  And I hope everyone has enjoyed reading the blog as much as I have enjoyed writing the blog posts.

A few days old!

2.5 years old!

I especially like to go back and read some of the early blog posts, which captured such sweet baby moments, while L'ie happily climbs and flips on and off the couch next to me.  Such a change!!

My main hope is that this blog will become a neat keepsake for L'ie Bear as she gets older.  SO, it is only appropriate that a blog focused entirely on the Bear should come to an end as we prepare for and experience something that is sure to change her life forever...the birth of a little brother or sister!

Baby #2

We can't wait to meet him or her in April 2014!

Don't worry, this does not mean the end of blog posts.  But, it is only fair that we incorporate the entire Fisher Family in the blog, as we move from a family of three to a family of four.  So you can continue to watch the milestones, developments and adventures at   http://afisherfamilyblog.blogspot.com/ 

We are very excited to welcome another member to the Fisher Family and I am looking forward to all of the blog posts in our future.

Proud Big Sister

Potty Training Update!

 

It has been nearly two months since we began our journey into potty training.  I decided to try the naked, from the waist down, approach for three days and never left the house.  L'ie picked up on the concept pretty quickly and by the end of the week, we were down to very minimal accidents...if she was naked from the waist down.

For some reason, as soon as we placed underwear on the Bear, she forgot everything she learned about peeing/pooping in the potty.  Also, she was terrified of going to the potty on a grown-up toilet, because she felt as if she was going to fall in.

My work schedule started picking back up, so I decided to not push the potty training issue.  While we were at home, L'ie Bear remained naked from the waist down and used her potty with great success.  Whenever she went to sleep or we left the house, she wore pull-ups.

Then, a few weeks ago, I had more time to focus on the underwear and big toilet issues.  We began putting underwear on her, while at home, and made sure she was frequently pulling them down to sit on the potty.  There were still some accidents, but it was clear that she was beginning to understand the concept.  Amazingly, she never has accidents when it comes to pooping, and as for peeing, now she only has accidents when she is too late getting to the potty.  She gets distracted while playing and realizes too late that she has to pee.  We normally discover the accident when we are helping her sit on the potty.

Of course, that only applied when we were at home.  Whenever we left the house, she would always have accidents.  There must be something distracting about running errands, and Chad and I need to work on getting her to the bathroom more frequently.  Sometimes, we get caught up in what we are doing and forget to take her as often as her little bladder needs.  But, over the past few days, she has not had any accidents while out of the house (knock on wood)!!!

All in all, this was not as easy as most of the "3 day" potty training websites will lead you to believe.  But, I have been pleasantly surprised with how well L'ie Bear has done, and feel confident that we will soon be accident free, both at home and while out running errands.  Until then, we will rely on our large supply of princess underwear and carpet cleaner!

A Bear at 30 Months Old!

At 30 months, L'ie Bear now weighs 26 pounds (according to the Elephant scale at the National Zoo) and is 36 inches tall.

And she has also changed so much, personality wise, over the past few months.  In an effort to document her development and all of these memories, I am listing all of the changes below.

New Words & Phrases:

Down Pease (Down Please)
Tank You (Thank You)
Mama Sit Pease
Turn off
Baboon (Balloon)
Booble Bat (Bubble Bath)
EinTine (Little Einsteins...one of her favorite shows)
Meeka (Mickey Mouse)
Min (Minnie Mouse)
Black Car (She loves Chad's black BMW)
ReeLee Stay (Every night she shuts Wrigley in our bedroom on the way to her own room)
Coo Coo Coo Coo Clock
Mama or Dada eat (We always have to remind her to eat as well)
Mee-maw
Pa pa (Grandpa & Grumpa)
Aunt B (Aunt Sarah or as I call her, Aunt Scareby)
Un-kl Ry (Uncle Ryan)
Gra (Grammy)
Red
Green

L'ie at the car wash

Blue
Rello (Yellow)
Pink
White
Rellow Bus (L'ie is obsessed with school buses right now)
Night Night (bedtime)
Juice
Gulk (Milk)
Mermaid
Cake
Cootie (Cookie)
Cheese (Which usually means mac n' cheese)
Car Wash (After a Curious George book about a car wash, L'ie is obsessed)
Robot
Airplane
Baby Horse (She just went on her first pony ride)


L'ie Bear also enjoys making animal sounds for:

Bears
Lions
Tigers
Elephants
Ducks
Cats
Dogs
Pigs
Monkeys

L'ie Bear's favorite shows and movies right now:

Little Einsteins!!!  (By far her favorite)
Mickey Mouse
Doc McStuffins
Sophia The First
Curious George
Thomas The Train Shows
Mulan
Bug's Life
Brave
Tangled
Toy Story 1 & 2

L'ie Bear's favorite books right now:

Any Curious George books
Wheels On The Bus
Pete The Cat
Guess How Much I Love You
Any Thomas The Train books
Good Morning/Good Night
Olivia books
101 Dalmations

L'ie Bear's favorite foods right now.  She is a very picky eater, but she does like:

Licking peanut butter

Mac n' Cheese
French Fries
Pita Chips
Apple Sauce
Grapes
Bananas
Yogurt
Pancakes
Scrambled Eggs
Bacon
Soft Pretzels
Bread
Peanut Butter (She just licks the peanut butter off the bread)
Potato Chips
Pop Tarts
Banana or Blueberry Muffins
Dried Cereals (Cheerios, Fruit Loops, Krave)
Sweet Frog Yogurt (We just discovered this)
And anything sweet!!

Some More Firsts for L'ie Bear

Eating a whole apple

Riding in my old Jeep Wrangler (Cajun Pearl)

She LOVED it!!

Seeing Grandpa's airplane and climbing inside!

Her first lollypop

                     

Playing on the big girl equipment at the park

                       

She really enjoys the rocking horse

But not as much as a real horse.  Her first pony ride!!!

So happy and such a natural!

L'ie Bear's daily schedule right now:

8:30 am - Wake up  (Unless I have court in the morning.  Then she wakes up at 7 am)
9:00 am - Breakfast.
9:30 - 12:00 - Morning playtime*.
12:00 - 1:00 pm - Lunchtime
1:30/2:00 pm - She goes down for a nap.
3:30/4:00 pm - She wakes up from a nap.
4:30 pm - Afternoon snack
4:30 - 6:30 pm - Afternoon playtime
6:30 pm - Dinner
7:15 pm - The Start of her bedtime routine.  (We read 3 or 4 books, and L'ie usually sits on the floor with Chad while I read.  Then we turn on her white noise and nightlight turtle, that projects stars on the ceiling.  L'ie tries to catch the moon and stars, and then we put her down to sleep so she can catch the Dream Train.)

L'ie, on the couch, with Clark Bear

* When L'ie Bear is signed up for classes at the local Parks and Recreation Department, we normally spend her morning playtime in class.

L'ie still loves the following things:

Choo Choos

Swinging!!

Beauty & The Beast
Cinderella
Her dress up clothes
Dancing
Swinging while holding hands
Sucking her thumb
Shoes
HATS
Playing on a playground
And most importantly....CLARK BEAR!!

L'ie with her princess dress and new red shoes!!

So much fun with hats!

Waiting for the train with Daddy.

Another Goodbye

On August 10, 2013, we said goodbye, yet again, to Grumpa's mother, Donaldean Fisher.  Chad, L'ie Bear, Ryan and I headed up to beautiful Nuremberg, Pennsylvania that morning.  When we arrived, we stepped out into a picturesque cemetery that overlooked the small town and were surrounded by family members who had also come to say good-bye.

Grumpa and Grammy were there, along with Uncle Brad and Aunt Kathy, Ray, Jason, his wife Amy and their daughters Macy and Roxy, Eric, Brian and his girlfriend Amber, Melissa and her husband Mark and their daughter Anika.  

L'ie Bear was scared of the other kids, at first.  But she would eventually become friendly...right before we had to leave.  She also was more interested in walking around the hills in the cemetery, instead of standing still during the memorial.  I tried to keep her from walking too far or being too loud.  But the only way we were able to convince her to join the group was when Macy and Roxy handed her some rose petals to place on the grave sight.  The girls really enjoyed the flowers.  

L'ie Bear, Grumpa and Grammy before the memorial.

The memorial sight.

Such a beautiful place!

The great-granddaughters placing rose petals.

More rose petals & Great-Granddaughters

Running up and down the hills.

Walking back up the hill with Daddy.

After the memorial, everyone headed to a nearby restaurant for a reception.  It was really nice to spend some time with everyone and look at old family photos.  L'ie Bear especially loved seeing her daddy as a little boy and looking at all of the photos of her Uncle Ryan, Grumpa and Grammy.  But the highlight of the reception occurred when Aunt Kathy and Roxy began searching for Mickey Mouse in the restaurant.  L'ie eagerly tagged along and helped search the bathroom, with no success.  She was still talking about the mysterious Micky Mouse on the ride home and I will definitely be keeping that trick up my sleeve for the future!

The reception sight after the memorial

The Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren

L'ie and her new friend Roxy!

After the reception, Chad, Ryan, L'ie Bear and I got back in the car and headed home.  It might have been a long day, but it was a great place and way to say goodbye to Grumpa's mother, Chad's Grandmother and L'ie Bear's Great-Grandmother.  

I will always remember how excited she was to meet L'ie, when she was 2 months old.  I placed the Bear in her arms and it was love at first sight.  L'ie could not stop looking up at her and even made some little cooing noises.  And L'ie was just as happy to see her when we went up to visit nearly a year later.  I am very happy that they were able to meet each other and I hope that L'ie Bear will always know what a funny, sweet and wonderful woman her Great-Grandmother was!!

L'ie Bear and her Great-Grandmother.  (Unfortunately, I never got a photo the first time they met,
when L'ie was 2 months old)

L'ie, her Great-Grandmother, Daddy, and Oreo.

One of my favorites...4 Generations of Fishers!!!

Operation Potty Time Has Begun!!

When it came to L'ie Bear's next milestone, I was really excited and thoroughly prepared for potty training.  We had L'ie Bear's little potty, which she has been "playing" with for the past few months.  I had reward stickers and plenty of activities to keep her occupied while doing the deed.  I stocked up on plenty of carpet cleaner and wipes, and we even had a fun little timer.  It would light up in different colors and make a lot of noise to alert us when it was time to sit on the potty.  Finally, I had previously read through a bunch of potty training books and decided that I would put the following 4 step action plan.

The timer!

Step 1.  L'ie Bear would remain naked from the waist down for the next few days.  The only time she would wear pull ups was during her naps and bedtime.  So I picked up some princess pull ups as a special surprise.

Step 2.  I would place L'ie on the potty every 25 minutes, whether she needed to go or not.  She would remain on the potty and I had plenty of toys and books to help keep her entertained.  Plus, the potty was in front of the tv, so I could use that as a last resort.

Step 3.  L'ie would get a small decal sticker every time she successfully sat on the potty, and she would get a large princess sticker every time she either peed or pooped in the potty.  These decals would decorate our dining room wall, since that was the only remaining wall not covered with photos.

Step 4.  I would expect accidents the first day, but L'ie Bear would be a pro at using the potty by day 3!  (HA HA HA)

Clearly, this was going to be really easy!!  And this is how it went...

DAY 1:  (With the timer)

L'ie peed on the tile in the bathroom in the morning.  (About 10 minutes after she got off the potty)

L'ie peed on the carpet near the potty right before nap time.  (About 4 minutes after she got off the potty)

L'ie peed in her high chair during dinner (She went in the chair immediately after being on the potty)

No hits on the potty that day, but L'ie got plenty of little stickers and then we switched to little decal stickers for the wall.

L'ie Bear's stickers

TOTAL ACCIDENTS: 3
TOTAL SUCCESSES: 0

DAY 2:  By Day 2, I realized potty training was not as easy as the books made it out to be and changed my game plan.  L'ie would still remain naked from the waist down (except for nap and bed times), but we would forget the timer and I would take my cues from the Bear.  When she looked like she needed to pee or poop, I would place her on the potty.  This actually worked much better, but required that I keep my eyes on L'ie every single moment of the day.  And that is extremely exhausting.  We also changed the reward system to getting stickers whenever she actually used the potty!

Pumping the Bear full of fluids.

Here is how she did:

L'ie peed on the tile in the foyer as I ran to the mailbox.

L'ie peed on the tile in the foyer as I headed out of the room.

Once we cleaned up the foyer, I showed L'ie how mommy would pee in the potty and flush the toilet, which really seemed to work.  A little while later, L'ie walked over and used the potty to pee, all by herself.  That is when we began our routine of wiping, dumping the contents of her potty into the grown up potty, flushing the toilet, washing our hands, picking out a big sticker and getting a few pieces of chocolate.  (I was not above bribing my child with chocolate...and it worked).

After her nap, L'ie tried to hide in the kitchen and looked like she needed to poop.  I picked her up just as she started to poop and placed her on the toilet.  She finished the deed on the potty.

A little while later, L'ie started to pee on the carpet next to the potty.  I picked her up, placed her on the potty and she finished on the potty.

L'ie ended up with 3 large princess stickers and a few m&ms.

Putting her 1st Large Princess sticker on the wall!  YEAH L'ie Bear!!

Picking out another Large Princess sticker.

TOTAL ACCIDENTS: 2
TOTAL SUCCESSES: 3

DAY 3:  (No timer)

L'ie peed in her big girl underwear after she woke up in the morning.  In hindsight, I would not have introduced the big girl underwear that early in the training process.  But she was so excited and wanted to wear it, and I gave in to her.

L'ie spent the rest of the morning naked from the bottom down, walked over and peed in the potty, all by herself, before lunch.

At lunch (our first outing in 2.5 days for Mexican), I tried to take L'ie to the bathroom as often as possible.  She kept saying she had to pee, but refused to go once I placed her on the toilet.  She was more interested in flushing the toilet and washing her hands.  At the end of lunch, she peed all over herself, the highchair and floor of the restaurant.  Once again, a big girl underwear failure.

Out on our first outing to the Mexican restaurant.

But, shortly before her nap, L'ie walked over and peed in the potty all by herself.

The Bear used the potty to pee one more time that evening.

L'ie ended up with 2 more large princess stickers and a few m&ms.

TOTAL ACCIDENTS: 2
TOTAL SUCCESSES: 3

DAY 4:  (No timer)

First thing that morning, when I walked out of the room, L'ie used her potty all by herself.  She even brought the bowl in to the bathroom, so she could flush it.

Immediately after that pee, I put L'ie in her big girl underwear to quickly head out to the store.  She refused to put any pants on, so I decided to scrap the trip.  And I am glad, because within minutes, she had pooped in her underwear.  As advertised, peeing in the potty is going to be much easier than pooping.  But we will keep on moving along as planned.

That afternoon, L'ie started to pee right next to her potty.  She exclaimed "uh oh" and ran to the potty to finish.  I will consider that one a success as well.

Unfortunately, right before bed, she began peeing while sitting on our couch.  Ewww!!  I immediately picked her up and ran her over to the potty, where she finished doing the deed.  Even though it was really gross to think about pee on our couch, Chad and I were really good about remaining calm and praising her for finishing in the potty.

L'ie ended up with 1 more large princess sticker and since we only had 6 large princess stickers, she moved on to the castle stickers and fairy godmother stickers.

L'ie in front of her sticker wall!

TOTAL ACCIDENTS: 1.5 (the .5 is for peeing on the couch)
TOTAL SUCCESSES: 2.5 (the .5 is for peeing on the couch)

DAY 5:  (No Timer)

L'ie began the day on a high note.  I was taking her to daycare for the morning and decided to put her in pull ups.  As soon as I got a pair on, she looked at me and said "pee pee".  So we came downstairs and I placed her on the potty.  She sat for a few minutes, but did end up peeing.

I have no idea how many accidents she had at daycare, because they just kept her pull ups on.

After her nap, we went back to a diaper/underwear free mode.  And she peed in the potty all by herself!  YEAH!!  She then spent most of the afternoon running over to the potty and trying to pee.

And she finished the day with another pee in the potty right before bedtime!  I am so proud of my sweet L'ie Bear.

TOTAL ACCIDENTS:  0 (I am not counting any accidents at daycare)
TOTAL SUCCESSES: 3

DAY 6:  (No Timer)

Since it was Saturday, Chad was home with us and we had to change up the routine a little bit.  L'ie Bear sat on the potty and peed first thing in the morning.

Chad had a surprise outing for us, so we put the Bear in pull ups and headed out for most of the morning.  I tried to get her to use the bathrooms while we were out, but she still was scared of falling in and refused to go.

Chad surprised us with a trip to a local park where we were
able to ride a train & carousel.

After her nap, L'ie sat on the potty and she did end up peeing.

Later that afternoon, we headed out to watch Chad play hockey and I decided to try some of her big girl underwear again.  And once again, L'ie refused to pee on the big toilet.

But we ended the day on a high note.  The Bear did use the potty right before bed.

L'ie Bear's sticker wall after Day 7!

TOTAL ACCIDENTS: 2
TOTAL SUCCESSES: 3

IN CONCLUSION:

We are 6 days into potty training and it is not as easy as the books promised.  That being said, we have made some significant progress and I am sure we are well on our way to a diaper free Bear!!  It is going to take some time and a lot of work, but I know that she is ready.  The major hurdles ahead of us will mostly be:

1.  Using the potty instead of peeing in her big girl underwear.  (Today, I started putting her big girl underwear on the inside of her pull ups.  That way she can still feel when she has accidents, but it doesn't get over the rest of her clothes.  So far this has worked really well.  She does not like the feeling of being wet and we can keep track of when she has any accidents while we are out.)

2.  Getting over her fear of falling into the grown up potty.

3.  Potty training during naps and at night.

Fireworks and Fun!

This year, we were scheduled to head to Sunset Island, on July 5th, for our annual beach trip with the Levys, Shafers, Nelsons and John Albers.  Luckily, L'ie Bear and I were able to head to the Eastern Shore on July 2nd and Chad followed the morning of July 4th.

The Bear and I spent a few days cooking for both a Fourth of July cookout and for our beach trip.  Then on Thursday, the 4th, we all headed over to Sarah and Kevin's house for a BBQ.  They had plenty of delicious food, water balloons, bubbles and even a kiddie pool for the Bear.  It would be an understatement to say that everyone got wet that afternoon!

After spending the day in their backyard, we all went to take in a Shorebirds game.  Chad and I met at that stadium 15 years ago, had our wedding reception at that stadium nearly 8 years ago, and have not been back since.  It was time to take L'ie and get some photos!!

The Bear enjoyed riding the carousel (she went on it about 8 times), we shared some dippin dots (flash frozen ice cream), and topped off the night with a great fireworks show.  We were not sure how L'ie would do with the loud fireworks, but she really enjoyed them...thank goodness.

Learning how to properly splash in the pool

Getting wet!

With Aunt B (Sarah)

Another ride with Kevin

Hanging out in the seats for a bit

Grumpa makes a good back rest!

Eating some chocolate Dippin Dots

Family shot in front of the concession stand where Chad and I met 15 years ago

Fireworks!!

 

So much fun.

The following day, Chad, L'ie Bear and I headed to Sunset Island, in Ocean City, for a long weekend with our friends.  The set up is perfect.  It is a gated community, with a private bayside beach and multiple pools.  There were even activities for the older kids, so Elizabeth Shafer could get a break from the young kids and all of the adults.

We stayed until Monday morning and spent quite a bit of time down at the beach.  The Bear especially loved playing in the sand and sitting at the edge of the water.  On Sunday, the Levys rented two paddle boards and everyone enjoyed giving it a try.  Some of us were much better than others, but it was still fun (despite all of the falling).  We even put L'ie Bear on the board and let her have a go.  Of course, the board was in a few inches of water, but she still had fun.

This year, Chad and I brought the "You Got Summered" t-shirts for the group.   They featured a picture of all four of the kids.  Grandpa did the drawing and he captured their personalities perfectly.

Plus, I really like to listen as L'ie points out the different kids on the shirt.  There is E (Elizabeth), Rella (Ella), Atchu (Matthew) and You (L'ie Bear). I guess we kept calling the L'ie Bear drawing "you", when we pointed it out to her, so now she thinks the person is "you", instead of L'ie.  Pretty funny!

The adults

The kids

L'ie at the beach

She loved being in the water

Playing with Chad and John

Playing with the sand

 

E and Chad on the paddle boards

On the paddle board with Chad

Matthew also went for a ride

Snack time!!

Watching a movie on our last morning

 It was a great vacation.  Every year as we all plan out this trip, Chad and I always agree to just do a long weekend.  And every year, once we are actually at the beach, Chad and I always agree that we should have opted to stay a week!  The kids are at the point where they can interact with each other, but it usually takes L'ie Bear a few days to be comfortable around everyone.  And now that we have kids on this trip, the packing/unpacking takes a lot longer.

But it is worth it.  This annual beach trip is always a great break for Chad and I.  We are able to spend time with friends and enjoy good drinks, food, stories and laughs.  Hopefully this is an annual tradition that I will continue to blog about in future posts.