Madeline truly surprised me.... Potty trained by 2

Madeline just turned TWO and she potty trained herself. I had a feeling Madeline would potty train early but not this early. She had been telling me that she was pooping when she was farting, literally pooping or just when she was peeing. I was pretty impressed. Dominics BF Joeys sister potty trained herself (she is 3 now) and I was thinking to myself only if I would be so lucky when Madeline's ready and I was. It all started the night the Patriots made it to the SuperBowl. Dominic and daddy went over to Nanas and Bampas as mommy and grandma stayed home watching the game. Madeline was running a VERY low-grade fever. We thought it would be a good idea to hang back and just have fun.


We started off the night with pizza, arts and craft then started to get crazy. We wore our big girl underpants and she did really well. We had 7 pairs and she slightly wet the first 5 and then started to get the hang of it. Pooping came to a lot easier but only by a day or two. That week at school I informed them of how well she was doing. How she took interested and was also vocally telling kids in her class how easy it was. The following week Madeline has been excussing herself and going potty when she needs to and then going back to play. At school since she has been staying dry when she wakes up from the nap they thought it would be a good idea to try to have her nap in her underwear. Both days she woke up dry and went potty when she woke up. I have just started this at home on the weeks and it be a win-win.

So overall since the end of January Madeline has been doing FABULOUS and can even hold ing it. Even when we have put a pull-up on her she still feels as though its underpants and will pee and poo when she needs  too. 

January FLEW by....

The beginning of January was a whirlwind with birthday parties back to back for the kids and friends of the kids.  Dominics BF Owen has the same birthday and we had a blast.  It was a truck themed birthday. Owen had friends from school, his cousins, and his friend's siblings.  Owens Mom is a teacher at World Academy so when she brings all the children together, they listen so well. I am so amazed on how Madeline will sit and wait her turn.  Its so fun to watch.

In the middle of January, we took our annual trip to the doctors for their physicals.  The kids did awesomely and I just love how Madeline looks up to her big brother. Now please let me inform you that even though she is little, she can pretty much beat her brother up if she wanted to.  However, she does look up to him on so many levels.  

Dominic is huge... 90% for both height and weight.  Madeline is still a little peanut coming in at 25th for height and 40th for weight.  

This month was also filled with fun adventures of reading and playing with all our toys.

Mark and I have also thought that it would be fun to do 'date night' with the kids every other week.  Dominic was getting over a cold but Madeline and I had our date at 'My Gym' and she had a blast. The night started off with open play and then we broke out into different areas of the gym.  

On Janury 18th Dominic had his 1st school concert.  It was the cutest thing ever. He did so great. Sang every song and then we when it ended he showed me all his artwork he worked on.  

I love how much he just loves to sing BUT I will note that at home he puts on more of a show.

January Celebrations

January is always such a busy month for the Ambrose Clan.  We have started a tradition with Dominic for when he was out of the crib. He could open up his door and see a ballon and one birthday present.  Its been a fun tradition and I can tell he looks forward to it.  This year Dominic is really into Star Wars.

For school, mommy surprised Dominic and made 'Blue Star Wars" cupcakes. They were a hit!!

Dominic had his birthday on the 7th of January at BoBo's.  We were going to have it at the movies but at the last minute, he decided to change it.  Which I am happy because the kids had a blast.  Dominics class from last year had been split up so we had to send out invites to different classes but that's okay.  He had 15 kids including 2 cousins at his party.  When we got there is was non-stop BUT the kids favorite part was the HUGE blow-up slide. They would all go down together then just start screaming with excitement.  One of Dominic's friends Reagan just loves Madeline. So as she took part in all the fun with Dominic you would find her following Madeline.  Reagan is a Tom Boy but surprising really loves her babies.



    

One little side note with Madeline. Ever since she was 1. We asked her to take off her shirt when she ate pizza. So no matter where we are... she likes to go shirtless. 

I am so proud of Dominic and all the nice friends he has made.  All the kids next year will be going to different schools as they embark on Kindergarten so the moms are going to have one last Hora and have a pool party.

Fun AM pics....

January 20th, we celebrated Madeline's 2nd birthday.  The morning started off with Madeline continuously singing 'happy birthday' to herself.  Messy bed hair girl was in such a happy mood.

When we were getting ready for Madeline's birthday she was running around singing and just so happy.  We had a wide range of kiddos, 4 months to 15 years old.  We hung out and let the kids play and get to know each other.  After about an hour we played 'put the teacup on the saucer".  The first 5 minutes was a little hard but then the kids got the hang of it and LOVED it.  There were minnie mouse faces all over the windows and you could tell the kiddos were so proud of themselves.

Then we got our creative juices going and colored and stickered teacups.  This was one activity all the kids enjoyed. Madeline really loves to color and be crafty.  She and her friends shared and were very excited about being artists. The kids enjoyed coloring the teacups and even added stickers. Some even ended up on their faces.

Then after we played it was time to sing the happy birthday song to our now 2-year-old.

Madeline loved Mini Mouse so since we had a 'Mini Mouse Tea for 2" Birthday party.  One of Marks friends made her Mini Mouse Cupcakes. They were so cute.  After cupcakes, we opened presents. Well Madeline and her friends opened them together. Every present she unwrapped she wanted to open and play with.  That was a little bit of a battle to win but mommy & daddy did. I don't think Madeline had a favorite present.  She is like Dominic where even if she gets a lot of presents she literally plays with each one. I loved that she got everything from Minnie Mouse to arts and crafts to books.

Overall I think Madeline and Dominic had great birthdays. We thank all of our family and friends who were able to be there, send cards and call.  It means a lot.