Allie's Potty Party

I will start by saying that I learned a few things about Allie's personality during her potty party day that made me confident I would have done it differently had I thought of it. Different in that I would have done her party first. What did I learn? This girl thinks about what is coming and plans ahead. She had thought about her potty party, and was very specific about a few things - namely what she was going to wear. Without hesitation she informed me that she wanted to wear her "polka-dotty princess dress" - she had definitely thought this through. Based on her knowledge of her brother's party, she had high expectations for her day. She woke up way early (and hour and a half earlier than the day before, and an hour before the official "wake-up" time). Lucas and I couldn't figure out why she had a meltdown when we told her she had to go back to bed. Later, I realized that she was expecting a morning like her brother's - we would wake them up excited, get them dressed right away in their room, reveal the party decorations, and send the other away with daddy. Instead, 2 sleepy, grumpy parents told her she had to go back to bed. She was crushed. This was when I learned how quickly her heart breaks when her expectations are dashed to pieces....it was not the first heartbreak of the day. Eventually, the guys were gone (not fast enough for her...more tears), and we got to start the party!

Opening her doll. She was much more excited than her brother. She named her Baby.

Baby is a big girl!

Allie required a lot more activities to keep her engaged in the day - which was ok because a princess theme lent itself to a lot of activities: Painting toenails, coloring princess pictures,

Ballroom dancing,

Princess dress-up,

and all these in addition to the potty books, potty movies, and time spent sitting on the potty (with Baby and with Allie in the afternoon). Being a princess is exhausting :)

At our lunch party celebrating Baby being a "big girl." Allie kept asking me to take ANOTHER picture of her with her eyes closed.

Allie's naptime went MUCH longer than Ryan. He was up by 1, but I had to wake her up at 2:30 to make sure she got enough practice time before the guys got home. She did NOT wake up well, and this affected the success of the afternoon.

Big Girl underwear!!

Showing off her new favorite accessory

note: you might have noticed that she is suddenly wearing a different outfit. She didn't like trying to go potty in her dress, and we had several wardrobe changes before she found something she felt "went" with her cool new underwear.

Putting princesses in her potty chart castle.

There were a couple big hurdles (that I had not anticipated) to overcome. 1) She knew that Daddy & Ryan were coming home with a present, and she would be wearing her big girl underwear to show them. Once she had her underwear, all she could think about was the present (which she had already picked out, and told Daddy - like I said, I planner). 2) She loved all her different underwear, and told me at one point that she liked having accidents because she could pick out a new pair. 3) Once I got her to the potty, it was almost impossible to get her to sit there long enough to do anything. Until I brought out the video camera (with a fully charged battery). She loved making videos and then watching them. Videos like this:

But we had success - she went more times in the potty than her underwear, AND she pooped in the potty (I can already hear her horrified scream when she goes back and reads this as a teenager)!!

They're home! Ryan couldn't wait to give his sister her gift :)

Cinderella!!

(She has decided Cinderella is her favorite princess. I think it might have to do with the fact that Cinderella is blond like Allie, and Allie looks like her when she has her hair up. It has nothing to do with the movies because she has never seen any of them!)

After Allie's big kid party, they got to have a special "No More Diapers" activity where they "threw away" all of their diapers (we'll actually give them away...so let me know if you need size 4 Up and Up diapers!). They sang the "Goodbye Diapers" song from their favorite potty movie (click here to see it, but be warned you will be singing it the rest of the day, and quite possibly in your dreams!)

One of the biggest things that was really hammered into my head was that even though Allie has a strong will/personality, and she often marches to the beat of her own drum, she has a very sensitive spirit. It's a difficult combination because it is easy to forget - when she is wearing crazy clothing combinations, directing her brother/playmates, or doing her own thing and enjoying it - how sensitive she is. But when her heart is broken, it is broken. There is no in the middle. At the end of the day, I really just prayed that God would give me wisdom as I parent her - to build her up when she needs it, encourage the confidence she already possesses, and help her pick herself up and get over the disappointments that frequent the life of a sensitive and particular planner.