Ongoing and Outgoing

I have a few posts stuck in the queue.  Rather than take on some of the more demanding overdue ones, I thought I'd write a bit about what's going on now.

We're counting down days until to our departure to the US on June first.  We'll be spending a month in the States.  Donnie is will be away at conferences for a ten-day chunk in the the middle. The girls and I will stay with my parents for two weeks and then with Meme and Grandpa for another two.  We're looking forward to time with family and friends in our native land.  We're so very excited to introduce Louisa to her great grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  Of course, there are lots of things to do in the next nine days, but at least we now have Loulou's passport in hand. 

One of our recent ongoing projects been potty training Maria.  We didn't embark on this earlier because a.) M didn't seem very interested and b.) I thought it would be good to wait until it was warm.  I imagined things going better with the trainee running around in a near-naked state.  But it has been a cool spring--we're still in long-sleeves over here.

At last, we decided that potty training is probably one of those things for which there's never an ideal time.  With our flight looming, and with the knowledge that an airplane is a bad place to change a dirty diaper (I'm not sure even Louisa will fit on the in-flight changing table), it seemed best to start the process.  On Saturday, I sat Maria down in front of the Elmo potty training Dvd.  Meanwhile Donnie went on a special shopping trip, returning with juice and special pink Disney princess pull-ups.   And so we began.

It has been going well, though I don't foresee doing away with pull-ups for some time.  It isn't very often that Maria tells us she wants to go on the potty, but she is usually okay with trying when we suggest it.  And she successfully completes the business much of the time.  She certainly seems attracted to doing more of the dressing and undressing herself.  Funnily enough, she's completely uninterested in the whole flushing the toilet ritual.  I was under the impression that was a big motivator. Not with Maria.  She's all about the princess pants.

Meanwhile, after weeks of having a baby who could not crawl but could wriggle and roll her way across a room, we have decided to call it.  It's crawling.  It's a belly-on-the-ground slither, flip-over-and-stretch-to-get-the-thing-you-want kind of crawling, but it's crawling, and it's dangerous to our Internet router.  Of course, now I look around the apartment with new eyes, seeing all the things that Loulou will soon be getting into.  It seems like everything is either a.) pointy b.) festooned with wires, or c.) so flimsy that she'll be able to pull it down.  There is baby-proofing and increased vigilance in the forecast.

Lastly, the girls have what is either a mild case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease or a serious case of mosquitoes (or other critters?) finding them delicious.  The doctor is unsure.  You'll see that Louisa has some spots on her cheeks in the following picture.   The picture actually looks milder than real life.  Maria has had big bites that she scratched.  They end up looking rather awful and huge on her pale skin.  The thought of little beasties repeatedly feasting on my girls makes me a little crazy.  We've put netting over Loulou's bed, and I've had bug-repelling essential oils wafting through the apartment.  It makes me miss insect screens--just a little.

Now for a dramatically lit picture of Loulou.  Sorry, none of Maria.  She's just that much quicker, and that much more bored with being in front of the camera.