Neighbor Boy

A lot of people in the world do not like their neighbors but for us in our little neighborhood we DO like our neighbors...a lot.  We could not of picked a better neighborhood full of kiddos of all ages and friendly adults. Just last year a family up the street moved in and guess what?  They have a daughter named Sienna, who has blonde hair, has the same clothes as our Sienna and who is Sienna's age!!  I cannot wait to watch S squared grow up together!

Ok back to the subject of this post.  Across the street there is a boy named Carter, he is in 2nd grade and pretty much knows everyone in the neighborhood and everyone in the neighborhood knows Carter.  A couple months ago we found out that his family is going to move to Chicago. :(  To the neighborhood this was sad news because we think of Carter as the glue who always can make people smile and stop and think about the little things.

Ever since Sienna was a baby Carter and his older sister Campbell would always bring Sienna presents on random occasions or if they had outgrown a toy they would give it to her.  On Christmas Day we got a knock on the door and they had bought her a present.  They are the sweetest kids, like truly the sweetest.  When Sienna was learning to talk she could only say a few words but Carter was one of them.  He gave her a book that he got at Dairy Queen.  Every time we pull the book out she says "Carta book". 

When we first moved in Carter was always knocking on our door asking if we needed any weeding done, car washed, sweeping or he was selling something that he found around the neighborhood.  We live next to a greenbelt and one time he took out some weeds/plants that were about as tall as him and set up shop in front of his house...selling these said weeds/plants for $5 each.  A steal!  You got to admire him for his drive to earn money.

Here are some Carterisms :):

LT do you know why I don't eat applesauce? Because it looks like snake poop

So what do you think of my camo? (wearing camo crocs)

You gotta watch out for those Prius cars, they are real quiet. Just trying to make the neighborhood a safer place.

Hey Amanda, you should really get to know the lady next door. She is really nice.  She lets me weed and gives me money or pays me with purple beans.  Sienna could take over since I am leaving.

You probably shouldn't let Sienna eat candy. It causes heart cancer

LT What is your real name? Loren
I gave myself a long name...it's Mustang. It's great because I love the cars AND the horses.
(same conversation) LT how old are you? 33
You don't really act like it

(Carter, myself, and Sienna walking up a path near our house) Make sure that you don't step off the trail and into the holes. I did once and got bit by a snake and oh! don't touch any of the branches.
(Same trail)  If you notice that the sun is starting to go down JUST a little bit get down the trail as fast as you can because it gets really dark.

(knock on our front door) Can I lay in your yard? (Wearing only shorts, crocs, goggles and carrying a sled).  The sun isn't in my yard anymore.

Man is our neighborhood going to be boring when he leaves!  We are sure going to miss them and especially all the intellectual conversations with Carter.  I was really hoping to see that kid grow up across the street.  I have a feeling that when Sienna is older and we make a trip to Chicago and go to a Cubs game we will run into Carter.  He will be the one wearing swim shorts, camo crocs and no shirt.  

So long neighbor boy, this neighborhood is going to miss you like crazy!!  Please come back and visit A LOT.

Here is our tribute to Carter...

He is a good sport letting the girls of the neighborhood dress him up

Then he really struck a pose

taking notes on how to become a Coug...good kid

Always so sweet to Sienna

Selling "ice packs" door to door on a hot day

Sienna loved it!

the were really just frozen oranges

he carried them in the Easter basket with ice on the bottom

playing catch with S while all the other kids are running around the neighborhood

entertaining the moms on mother's day

he thought we might like some of the cake he got his mom

creating games

what he did with the leftover cake

loving the sprinkler

after one drop of rain he ran inside and came out looking like this

He is also great at gymnastics

pool parties all day every day

 

Every Tuesday

Every Tuesday morning while eating breakfast Sienna hears the Garbage truck coming down our street.  Her face lights up and she puts her hand to her ear and says "garbig truck mommy!".  We have to immediately stop eating and run to the window so that we can see the truck picking up our trash.  She seriously loves it! 

NEMO

Hey you know that movie Finding Nemo?  Well we have been watching it everyday for the last month.  This kid is lucky that both her mom and dad like Disney movies. 

In the morning at breakfast: "Nemo mommy?"
In the middle of playing in the play room: "Nemo mommy?"
At dinner: "Nemo mommy?"
In the car: "Nemo mommy?"

You get the idea.  Can't wait until Finding Dori comes out and we can watch another fish movie.  I guess you could say that she is learning about sea life by watching this movie over and over again. Did you know that sea turtles can live to be 150 years old!??  Or maybe just LT and I are getting some under the sea knowledge.

Anyway...oh wait Sienna is asking me a question.

"Nemo Mommy?"

Our little fishy!

I have a 2 year old...

Sienna Hope Turner is now 2 years old!  We celebrated in style with a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme. 

Here are some things you are doing now that you are 2:

• You are potty trained and prefer to sit on the big girl potty and not your potty
• You speak in sentences
• When you say a word that ends with the letter "N" you add a "T" to it.  ex: run = runt & down=downt
• You love to be outside (like all the time) and go for walks
• You are kinda  bossy and always tell people to "'come here" so that they will play with you. :)
• Your favorite shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sesame Street and Winnie the Pooh
• You are still trying to learn your colors, everything is either pink or blue :)
• You can count to 4
• You went to the dentist for the first time and did great!
• You love stickers
• You know how to mean mug
• You are the BEST hugger
• Hankie (grandma and poppa O's dog) is pretty much your best friend.  Everyday you ask where he is and if you are going to see him.
• You are still super shy when you go places and it takes you at least 45 mins to warm up
• You still aren't the best sleeper but we have gotten used to that. :)
• You like to wear "pretty" dresses and you are the best at giving compliments to mom :)
• You are amazing with directions.  You can always point out the destination if we have been there more than once. 
• You are already showing signs of good coordination.  Catching footballs, basketballs and bouncy balls is pretty easy for you.
• Milk is still one of your all time favorite things.
• You love the Seahawks, Cougs and Mariners.  Anywhere you see a Seahawk anything you point it out to us.
• You are probably one of the most observant little kids.  You notice every stinking thing.
• You are constantly bringing the little things to life for your mommy and daddy.  We appreciate it so much!

We think you are pretty awesome and one of the sweetest little girls in the world! We love your sooo much.  You make the world a better place!

Here are your stats from the 2 year appointment:

Weight: 24lbs 25%
Length: 2 ft 4 in 50%

On your birthday Hankie was staying with us..best way to start your day!

I'm 2!

Birthday Party

Yum! Ice Cream cake

Some of the party goers

Everything Minnie!

Oh Heeeyooo!!!

Forgot to blog about this little number...

SEAHAWKS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  YES, yes they did!!!!

It was quite perfectly the best day.  We woke up to a blue skied, sunshiney day in February.  People all over town were geared up in their hawks attire, businesses were covered with hawks signs, and it felt like the game was here at Century Link the way traffic was filled with Seahawk fans!!!  We were very worried that we might not be able to go to a superbowl party because Sienna tends to nap from about 1 or 2 to 3 or 4.  But on this day we went and walked the Kirkland waterfront early in the morning and got the girl real tired and she fell asleep at 11AM.(I have a feeling she knew she needed to sleep early)  She woke up right at 1:30PM enough time for her to have a little lunch and wakeup before we headed over to the Houtrouws.  We arrived promptly at 3:10PM, right before kick off.  Things were just gelling today and that is just how our Seahawks played too!  From the first play of the game  (turnover by the Broncos which resulted in a 2 point safety)to the first play of the 2nd half (Harvin running the kickoff back for a touchdown!) all both in the first 12 seconds (shoutout to the 12th man!) the Seahawks purely dominated the Broncos.  In the end bringing home the Lombardi trophy with a winning score of 43-8.  It was a magical day and I will never forget the fun it was all season to watch our team become the best in the NFL. 

Seattle hosted a Seahawk Championship parade and I kid you not there were a million people in the heart of the city watching our team and cheering them on in the sunny 25 degree day!  It was a perfect ending to a magical season.  So proud to be from Seattle!  Go Hawks!

Here are some pictures leading up to the big game.  We always had to wear the same outfits for the playoff games and it worked!

 

Hawks v. Saints

 

Hawks v. 49ers - Infamous defensive tip from Sherman to secure the Hawks into the Super Bowl

 

Super Bowl Sunday

Celebration Station!

You mad bro?

Seattle Seahawks Championship Parade

Potty boot camp completed!

Well we made it! 3 days of boot camp potty training!  Yipeee!! 

Let's just start from the beginning...
Months and months before we started potty training Sienna, we bought the baby bjorn potty and kept it in the bathroom so Sienna could get used to it.  She would occasionally sit on it but never go potty on it.  We took her a couple weeks before boot camp to pick out some fancy undies (she chose Tinkerbell) to get her excited about wearing undies.  Then Sienna and I hit up the dollar store for some extra cool prizes for when she went poo poo in the potty.  We were ready for action!  At the beginning of this month every time she had a bath she had to try and go potty before she got in and she never went but did have the occasional toots. :)  Then seriously the week that we were going to start potty training her, it was bath night and LT and I were both distracted and all of a sudden I hear LT calling for me in the bathroom and wouldn't you know the girl went pee pee in the potty!  I knew that was a sign!  On Thursday night we really started talking to Sienna and explaining to her about how we are going to throw all the diapers away and that she was going to be going in the potty from now on.  She is a big girl, and she needs to wear big girl undies. :)

Day 1: I took off Friday (Valentine's Day.  Potty training is so romantic) and LT and I read this short online book on potty training (thanks Heather!!) the week of boot camp so that we were on the same page.  When Sienna woke we took off her diaper and put her directly in undies.  We went downstairs and showed her the potty the fancy sticker chart and explained the deal.  Within the first hour, we had gone thru 3 pairs of underwear but we were at least able to make it to the potty each time so that she could finish peeing in the potty.  We rewarded her, even though she peed in her undies, since she finished in the potty and that was a success.  After going thru 3 pairs of undies in the first hour we decided to go pantless the rest of the day and that seemed to work for her.  But seriously I felt like we were in the bathroom the entire day!  I highly recommend doing this with your significant other because you have to literally stay right by their side from when they wake up to when they fall asleep.  It is EXHAUSTING.  After the 3 accidents in the first hour she didn't have one the rest of the day and she even did a couple of poopies!!  Let me just say poopies are hard for them at first because they watch the poop actually come out and it weirds them out.  LOL, TMI?  Just telling it like it is.  Side note: When she napped and went to sleep for the night, we put her in what we call "Her night nights".  They aren't diapers anymore (they are) but to her they are "night nights".

Here is our routine if she went pee:

1. Tell her "let mommy know if you have to go potty, ok?"  Probably every 15 minutes the first day :)
2. She tells us she has to pee, looks like she has to pee, or hides we take her into the bathroom
3. Once she pees on the toilet we wipe, flush, wash our hands and give her a round of applause
4. She picks out a sticker and puts it on her chart
5. She gets one piece of candy (we had 2 bowls for her to choose from: Skittles (beastmode) and M&Ms)

Routine for poopie:

1. Same as 1-4 (extra applause)
2. She gets to pick one of those fancy dollar store toys!

This is how we ended day 1 with a Valentine's day treat!

Day 2:  We were feeling pretty confident by the end of day 1! She was telling us or giving us signs that she needed to go.  So day 2 didn't seem like it would be as hard as day 1 and it WASNT. Relief. We started the day off the same with taking off her "night night" and putting her in her undies.  We went down and had breakfast.  We didn't ever let her eat in her high chair until day 3 because we wanted to have full vision of her body to see if she was doing a pee pee dance, so we ate every meal at the coffee table.  After she was done eating I was apparently being so funny that she peed her pants!  I know I am hilarious! But we caught her mid stream and she actually held it until we rushed her to the potty where she finished.  We kept undies on her all day but no pants until the evening when we felt a little more comfortable that she wouldn't pee in them.  Again, throughout the day we constantly told her "remember to let mommy/daddy know if you need to go potty" and did the same routines as above and she did awesome!  That was her only accident of the day until I thought I was super confident that she wouldn't go while she was napping.  So I let her sleep in her undies and she peed the bed. :(  Other than that she went in on her own to the potty, told us she need to go, or if I had a feeling that she needed to go I would get her baby dolly and say "baby has to go potty, can you show her how?"  So Sienna would go and sit on the potty and show baby how to go.  This little trick worked wonders!

Day 3: Same as all the other days but less nagging and more of her letting us know when she had to go.  She only had one accident early in the morning and that was it!  I put her in her "night night" at naptime and she didn't even pee in it and she slept for 3 hours (unheard of).  Bladder control is finally kicking in! 

End of day 3. Fully clothed and doing somersaults!

You can tell that day 1 was the most active. :)

Overall, I think she is almost ready to head out into the real world.  Although we might just start by walking around the block and see how that goes before we head to Nordstroms for a shopping trip. :)  We lucked out that it was really wet and rainy this weekend so she never really asked to go outside.  I would highly recommend getting activities for them to do inside before the boot camp to keep them occupied.  We rented a ton of potty movies, Elmo movies, and books from the library so they were all new to her.  We got some new arts and crafts as well so she stayed entertained. 

So there ya have it.  The full shebang!  I hope she continues to get used to going in the potty and crossing our fingers for no more accidents!!  Good Job Sienna!!!!! 
 
P.S. Couple things I forgot to mention:

• we pumped the kid full of fluids and let her have popsicles in February. 
• gave her a good amount of fiber for meals. :) 
• I probably bought 30 pairs of undies!

Update on the clock

So the clock was working great and we were on a roll.  Then I opened my big mouth on Monday to one of my coworkers that the clock was totally working and "knock on wood" it would keep working...
Well remind me to never ever say anything when we got a good thing going on because the very next morning Sienna woke up screaming, calling for mommy/daddy, saying ouchy, wanting to watch Mickey, etc...and it hasn't stopped the rest of the week.  I swear this kid is determined.  No doubt she can scream a solid 3 hours without taking a break, I mean that is dedication!!  We are hoping that these past 3 days are a fluke and she will get right back on track to waiting for the clock to give her the green light!

Next up potty training!  Happy Valentine's, oops I mean potty training day!  Wish us luck on our 3 day boot camp this weekend.  Eeek!!