another early riser, and other things

Somebody was up before the sun, and before his big sister this morning. Baby Moses decided it was time to wake up and make his presence known long before the 6 o'clock hour. Somewhere in the early 5's I awoke to the wonderful feeling of this new babe tossing and turning inside me. For weeks I have wondered when, oh when, was I going to feel this little one move?! A few weeks ago I felt a flutter that I thought may have been him, but after days and weeks went by with nothing else I figured I must have been mistaken.

Oh, little baby, I love you so much already! What a wonderful feeling it was to lay there awake feeling you twirl around and poke little jabs for at least 10 mins. My excitement for your arrival is growing by the day, and knowing you are moving around makes my heart sing. In a few short weeks we will see you again on ultrasound - probably right around your big sister's birthday. We can't wait to see you. Are you a him, or are you a her? Ahh, what fun!

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In other news, given a 3 week break between the end of Anna's summer activities and the beginning of our well-scheduled fall, we thought it might be a good time to give the big girl potty a try in our house. Anna has been showing signs of readiness for some time, even having gone #2 on the big potty at Grandma Mary's house a few weeks ago.

Yesterday, after days of discussion and preparation with Anna, we made a pink sticker chart, stocked up on Dora and Mickey Mouse stickers and M&Ms and made the transition to pull-up diapers.

So far, this has been going quite well! Anna has at least 4 stickers on her chart - one for each time she has been successful on the potty, and a belly filled with a few M&M's - another treat that seems to be more effective than the stickers! :) There have still been a few incidents in her pull-up, and naptime and nighttime will likely come somewhere further down the road...but for her awake times she has gone more times in the potty than she has in her pull-up. Way to go Anna!

We'll see what happens, but so far so good. Should things take a turn for the worse, we'll simply pack up our supplies and try again after baby Moses arrives. For now Anna is reveling in her successes and enjoying showing off her sticker chart and working for some M&Ms!