You probably can't tell from this photo, or any of the other recent ones, but there has been a change in Melanie's attire. Haven't mentioned it as I wasn't sure how to approach the subject - and certainly couldn't really present it with a photo [well, I was certainly wrong about that -ed.] - but Melanie is well on her way to being potty trained!

We started "boot camp" at the end of March and for the first weekend we rolled up the carpets, and Melanie wore no pants. Of course it was beautiful outside, and cousin Marcee was visiting, so we ended up spending a lot of time in the front yard. It was quite fun to explain to everyone who walked by that we were potty training and that's why our daughter was running around the street half naked.

Now she gets to wear "Dora", "Elmo", "Zoe", or her favorite, "Thomas" pants (Underwear. We're so Anglophilic!). And we don't pee pee/poo poo on Dora/Elmo/Zoe/Thomas!

Melanie has a sticker book (Laura's idea) and everytime she "goes" successfully she gets a sticker to put in the book. One for pee pee, and two for poo poo. She also gets "chocolate" - an M&M - as a reward, but we aren't very consistent with that. In fact we try to avoid giving her chocolate too often as Melanie hopped up on sugar is only a good thing in comparison to Melanie coming down off a sugar high.

We're really excited that she's taken to this new routine so well. Sure, she'll use it as a stalling tactic to avoid going to bed, and it's crazy to have to wisk her away to a bathroom at the zoo or a restaurant. But all things considered, it's another milestone in her (and our) lives, and we couldn't be more proud of our big girl.