the park and the potty

The weather has been beautiful lately! I know that sooner or later we are going to be hit with the reality of winter weather again (even in the spring), but for now, we're loving the 60s and 70s! We have been spending lots of time outside, and it has been great...it is such a nice change of scenery!

The other evening we were outside until after 7pm without jackets. Wonderful. Brooke even ate dinner at her little picnic table!

Hailey enjoyed watching Brooke play from the comfort of her shaded bouncy seat.

We had been looking on craigslist for a slide or jungle gym of some kind for the backyard. Last weekend I found this little play structure, and was so lucky to actually get it! These types of things sell so quickly on craigslist. The guy was so nice that he even delivered it to our house when we realized it wouldn't fit in my car. Brooke is really enjoying it!

When she first saw it outside she said "Oh, look at my new park!" She has been calling it her 'park' ever since. There is a little steering wheel on the top deck, and she says that she's "driving her park". So funny.
I'm sure the slide will get boring eventually, but for now it is great fun! We're hoping to put a sandbox in the bottom area.

Potty Training. Strong-Willed Child. Need I say more??

We started trying to potty train Brooke a few weeks ago. She did fairly well and we had one success in the little potty, but now she is just NOT going for it. When I tell her we're going to try and work on it, she says "No, thank you. I want to wear a diaper." Argh. Maybe I waited too long to start trying? I really think that last fall she was ready, but then Hailey was born and there was utter chaos. I mean, I know that she'll get it eventually, but I think that it is going to be on her terms. The feisty little redhead strikes again! Another reason that I've been putting off the trying is that she's had some chronic diarrhea (sorry for the graphic info!), and we are doing some tests to try and figure out why. Until we do, I think that diapers may be the best for that situation.

I'll keep you posted, but if anyone out there has ideas about potty training a strong-willed child, please let me know. My dad recently said that Brooke's picture was probably on the cover of Dobson's book about strong-willed children. Ha. I wouldn't be surprised.