Santa

Here comes Santa Claus! This statement used to evoke shear panic and terror in Katelyn. She's always been one of those kids who screamed and freaked out when you try to sit her on his lap. This year, FINALLY, she sat willingly on his lap, went right up to him on her own. We took her to Downtown Disney (good to know: you can take your own pictures for free with Santa!) and waited in line for about half an hour. She had been practicing what she was going to say to Santa and that morning when I told her Santa would ask if she's been a good girl, she confessed "well, I haven't been napping!" Katelyn's request to santa has been changing every day since Thanksgiving...everything from another dog to a guitar (no!) to a brother. The last few weeks it's stayed consistent...a goofy toy. Luckily, being in Downtown Disney, we had quite a selection! We walked through the stores and she selected a goofy stuffed animal she really liked. We told her to ask Santa for that toy. While we were waiting in line, "santa" secured the goofy toy. The funniest thing about the whole day, was right after she got off of his lap, she ran over to me, threw her hands in the air and whispered to me, "so, where's the toy???" Had to explain you have to wait until Christmas morning. And you know how waiting goes over with three year old, but she took it well!

Catching Up

Long time, no blog! I'm so sorry I've fallen so far behind. All that comes with preparing for Christmas has kept us very busy and I've become the queen of unfinished projects (knitting my first sweater, getting caught up on K's scrapbook, organizing music on my new IPOD, and BLOGGING!). We're trying to get everything wrapped up (literally) by Thursday, when we leave for Cleveland and it's been a challenge!

Since we're celebrating Christmas in Cleveland (please have snow this year!), we celebrated an early Christmas with my side of the family in Tampa. On this side, we each draw a name and become that person's "secret santa." My sisters and I usually end up spilling the beans before we exchange gifts, so there isn't much of a secret, but it's still fun. We had dinner together (with our traditional Christmas Crackers and paper hats), then opened our gifts. Katelyn opened her presents before dinner and went crazy for a cleaning cart my parents bought for her. This cart contains a working vaccum, mop, bucket, and broom. I wish they were real...my house would be spotless! She is still playing with it every single day (2 wks. later).

Bryan, Katelyn, and I will exchange gifts on Wednesday at our house, then pack up for Ohio. The great thing about Christmas in Cleveland is we actually several days of Christmas!

We hope you are doing well and I'll try to get blogging more often!

Disney

Bryan was awarded two free park hopper tickets to Disney World for raising so much money for the heartwalk last fall. We had to use the tickets quickly so we could still pass off Katelyn as "almost 3." We decided to go on Saturday, that way we could see the parks decorated for Christmas and we beat the Christmas tourist rush, plus the weather is just awesome. Bryan hasn't been to the Magic Kingdom since 2001, so it has been a while. Katelyn and I have been very fortunate and have been together several times, but I was looking forward to have another adult! We arrived around 10am and Main Street was packed!! Turns out, ABC was filming the Christmas Day Parade (will be shown on Christmas morning). Regis and Kelly host, but we didn't see them. In fact, we didn't see a thing and were directed a back way into the park. It was pretty crowded! Katelyn LOVES to walk through Mickey and Minnie's house, so we did that and Bryan took her on her very first roller coaster ride (Goofy's Barnyard Coaster...a kiddie coaster). They got the first row and she loved it! As soon as she got off, she said she wanted to do it again! They also rode the race cars together, Bryan let her steer (although he said she needed some help with the steering!). We grabbed some lunch (okay, that took a long time, crowds were nuts) and rode some more rides, then left for MGM. MGM has a Christmas light show like you've never seen. It's amazing...3 million lights and they dance to music, plus the pump out fake snow and it looks so real. It's pretty awesome! Again, it was really crowded, so once we saw the lights, we were ready to go home. Problem was our car was at Magic Kingdom. We saw the line for the bus to MK was VERY long, so we thought we were taking a shortcut by hoping on a bus to hote, then grab a MK bus from there. Great in theory, but the bus took forever to come to the hotel, then dropped us off at the front gate of MK, not the parking lot, so we had to take the ferry boat back to the parking lot. It took an hour and half to get back to our car...all of us starving and tired. Katelyn held it together quite well, I must say. It was an exhausting day, but so much fun to be together.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

On Friday evening, we decorated our Christmas Tree and home. This is the first year Katelyn had any interest or opinion on where things should go. Every tree we've seen so far has a star on top, but we have a Santa tree topper and she didn't understand why we don't have a star as well. She's been very good about staying off the tree (although she did tell me she wants to climb to the top. When I told her no and the tree would fall over, she said, "so, we'll just pick it up."). While we were decorating the tree, Bryan and I asked her what Christmas was about. To our suprise, she mumbled something about Jesus. We talked about baby Jesus being born on Christmas and tried to get her to understand that it's not just about the presents she gets. In school, she made "a donkey." It's a picture of Mary riding a donkey, but all she got out of it was there's a donkey. We talked a bit about Mary, but she is still struggling to understand. I have a nativity book I'll read to her and we'll keep talking.

Katelyn = Sporty Spice

The Spice Girls are making a comeback...they are back on tour and Mel B., "Scary Spice", was runner-up in Dancing with the Stars. I was thinking about the Spice Girls (fun music! and Bryan has a crush on Posh) and their whole "Girl Power" stance. Having a girl of my own, I really want her to embrace her inner girl power (although, I doubt she'll have any problems. Good luck to anyone getting in her way). If Katelyn were a spice girl, she'd be "Sporty Spice" (without the gold tooth!). Sporty was all about athletics, not getting sucked into the fashions, make up, boys, etc. She was strong and fit. Our little Katelyn seems to be heading down that road. She can run like the wind, and never seems to tire. Dad taught her how to swing a wiffle bat and she LOVED "playing baseball." We've talked about enrolling her in youth soccer next spring at our local YMCA. It's also an excellent outlet to all this excess energy! So, little Sporty will be busy come spring. I'd love to see her in a ballerina tu-tu and toe shoes, but that just isn't K. We didn't name her Grace for a reason!! We want her to be happy in anything she's doing.

So, what spice girl are you??

Pictures from Thanksgiving

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving. We didn't take many this year. The little girl with Katelyn is sweet Isabella, Andy's niece visiting from England. Katelyn loved having another little girl to play with, although at one point, K was frustrated and said to her, "Why don't you talk to me????" Little Isabella is only 18 months old!

Thanksgiving

We are back from our Thanksgiving break in Tampa, and slowly getting into the swing of things. The Salos (my brother-in-law's family) hosts Thanksgiving every year at their home. It's a perfect home to have a big dinner...lots of space and the dogs roam free in the back yard, plus lots of outdoor space to work off dinner! Katelyn was excited to have a playmate this year...18 month old Isabella, neice of Andy visiting from England. Poor Isabella might have felt a little smothered by K. They both ate so many crackers as appetizers, that they didn't have much room for dinner. Although, once the plates were cleared and cookies were layed out, K wasn't shy and ate 7 cookies!! Yikes. We enjoyed our afternoon with our family, and watched football, took a walk, just sat back and chit-chatted (and ATE!!). We left there around 5:30 and drove over to Uncle Dan's house to hang out and have dessert (but had no room left). Again, K was lucky to have playmates and raced around the backyard with Emily (4) and Evan (6), family visiting from Ohio.
Next morning, Black Friday, Bryan and I were up very early to shop. Mom and Dad agreed to watch K for the day so we could shop in peace (plus, buy her gifts). Our original plan was to leave around 6:30, but K had us up at 4:30 (the joys of sleeping away from home and eating 7 cookies the day before). I fell back asleep with her, but Bryan stayed up and we left at 5:30...still dark. Our first stop was Kohl's....always good deals and something there for everyone. Parking lot was very full, but inside wasn't bad at all. We had just missed the VERY early, aggressive crowd. We got some good deals and started crossing people off our list. Then we hit Walmart, a little more nuts but had better deals (good DVDs for $2.96). More to cross off our list, then we picked up Jen and Jeff and headed for Citrus Park Mall...our Black Friday Sister desitination for 3 years running. A great mall....very cute with every store you could want. We actually did more browsing than shopping once meeting up with all the sisters and some brothers-in-law in tow. We got some lunch at the Green Iguana (largest Tiki tent in tampa!) and hit Target, then home. In the meantime, mom and dad took K to her first movie, "A Bee Movie." They said she did well, was a little afaid of the dark at first, but enjoyed her popcorn. Dad was really looking forward to taking her to the movie theater. We were able to meet up with my grandfather for dinner at his favorite restaurant, Sam Seltzers. Dinner there was excellent and it was good to see my Grandpa out and relaxed. K held it together through most of the dinner, which was another plus. It was a long day, but a good one!
On Sat, Bryan took Rob to the UF/FL ST game in Gainesville, where they lucked out and had tickets to the suite. Both had an awesome time. Go Gators! I stayed back and had a Creative Memories get together at Michelle's place that afternoon, which was lots of fun....even when K accidently knocked over a glass of red wine (why!!) onto their carpet. Michelle and Andy were VERY forgiving!! I wanted to climb under a rock and stay there. So nice to meet her friends and be with other women (no sports blaring in the background, etc.). Again, Mom graciously offered to take K home while I packed up. Jen and I grabbed a quick dinner then went home.
Sunday we left pretty early and picked up Bacino, who spent her weekend with her son, Floyd (formerly "golden boy"). We've become good friends with the puppy's owners and they took her for the weekend. Bacino is still recovering for a very active weekend! We're also still recovering! Will post pics soon.

Happy Birthday, Jenny!

Sorry it's been a while since I've "blogged!" The days have just gotten away from me. We've been pretty busy. Last Friday, we met our family at Busch Gardens to celebrate Jenny's birthday (we all have annual passes). After hearing Bryan and I discussing travel plans earlier in the week, Katelyn overheard us mention Busch Gardens and she was so excited all week. Friday seemed so far away! Everyone she saw that week, the first thing she told them was she was going to Busch Gardens to ride a roller coaster. You can see the picture of the "roller coaster"...it's the dragon ride with one tiny hump. Guess it's like a mountain to her! It was a cool and crisp morning, much different from sweating our behinds off in July! The park was dead, no lines for anything! Perfect day! We had a nice lunch together, then hit the real coasters. If you are into them, you have to try out "Sheikra". It's a 90 degree drop, you literally feel like someone is pushing you off the edge of a building. Pretty intense, but a great ride! We all love Busch Gardens, better than Disney....much more to do, a prettier park, and MUCH more reasonably priced. I have to say K was a trooper and did so well for the day without a nap. She did pass out in the car on the way home. Jenny enjoyed her birthday and we were glad to be with her.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Back from Chicago, and what fun trip! Katelyn and I were able to tag along with Bryan while he was attending the Greenbuild Association Conference at McCormick Place all week. After a VERY early flight on Tuesday am (taking off at 6am, leaving here a little after 4am), we arrived to a much cooler city. Katelyn kept saying, "It's cold in Chicago!" We took the L train into the city and K was amazed. Luckily, the Hilton had a room ready for us at 9am, but it was TINY. We had requested 2 double beds, but they had sold out, so we had a full size bed and had a cot added to our room. The room was newly refurbished and the decor was very modern and new, but still the size was v. small. With the cot down, you couldn't walk around the bed. There were a lot of "Excuse me's" and climbing over beds to get to where you needed to go. It really didn't matter too much, as we were rarely in the room. Bryan was busy with the conference (Bill Clinton and Mayor Daley were speakers) and K and I just hit the pavement and walked, walked, walked and shopped. We were able to meet up with some friends of mine and meet their little ones. We also took advantage of a nanny service the hotel provides and left K with an in-room sitter for 4 hours (that was the minimum...at $25 an hour...you do the math) and went to some Greenbuild functions held around the city, including House of Blues and Fado Irish Pub. My friend Debbie and I took Katelyn to American Girl Place on Thursday and I was just overwhelmed. Of course as soon as we step inside, K says "I want that doll...I want this doll...I want...(insert name of overpriced item here). It was a cool store and if you're into the dolls, it would be very cool. I could only imagine a Barbie or Cabbage Patch doll store back in the day. Moms and daughters were dressed up, ready for tea with their dolls. Enter Debbie, K, and myself, in casual jeans and sneakers. The dolls are really cute and the accessories are adorable, but I just can't imagine spending $87 on a doll and $54 on a stroller for the doll, nor $30 to get the doll's hair done. One mom came in, scooped up several boxes for her 19 month old daughter. 19 months!! She doesn't know the difference! Katelyn needs a few years before we go back (and I need to hit the lottery)...we weren't quite ready! It is an amazing place, though and if you have a little girl interested in the dolls, she will LOVE it!

We hit Lincoln Park Zoo with Belch and Denis and their boys (Katelyn loved them, they became fast friends), then walked more around the city. We had to check out of our hotel on Fri. am, so we were homeless for the day. Not too easy when you have a cranky 3 yr. old who just needs a nap, but no place to take one. I thought she might sleep in the stroller if I walked her enough, but no luck. We took the L to my old apt....still looks the exact same. They are doing tons of construction and building fancy condos and starbucks now. I hope they keep most of the neighborhood the same.

It was a very fun visit, but glad to be home, back to the warm weather and a normal routine.

I am so mad at myself...I accidently deleted most of our pictures of my digital camera. We searched the recycle bin, etc. and they are gone. I'm just sick about it. I have a few left. This picture is of "The Bean" in Millenium Park downtown.

Happy Halloween!

Our little witch is tucked into bed, after a fun and tiring day. Her preschool held a halloween party, where all the parents brought in something for the kids to eat and drink for lunch and they trick-or-treated to all the classrooms. The only rule was no costumes that were scary or devilish, so the witch costume stayed home and she sported her Cleveland Browns cheerleader outfit (more comfortable anyway for the whole day). After a fun morning, our first nap without the pacifier was attempted. Lots of crying and screaming for her beloved "paci" but she finally fell asleep. This evening, crying only lasted 10 minutes. Knock on wood, but this is going smoother than I thought. We carved the pumpkin together this afternoon (long story on our pumpkin, but we never made it to a pumpkin patch due to Tropical Storm Neal who has been smashing us since last Thurs., so we had to resort to Publix). K asked "What's inside a pumpkin?" So I took off the top and showed her, then told her to put her hands inside. One tiny touch and she yanked her hands out, "I don't like that!!" She wanted nothing to do with the pumpkin, but did tell me she wanted all diamond shapes, so I carved a diamond eyes, nose, etc. After a quick dinner, she and Bryan headed out to trick or treat in the dark and they were gone for over an hour. Her pumpkin was overflowing with chocolates and after a quick check of the candy, she opted for a tootsie pop to eat before bed. Three licks and she was done....ready for bed. We're ready for bed as well!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Katelyn!

Barely time to recover from our long (but very fun) day at Disney, and Katelyn's 3rd birthday party started at 11am. She wanted a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party and lots of yellow (currently an obession). Last year, we barely knew a soul here and had a quiet party at home. This year, we invited kids and parents from Katelyn's class, new neighbors and friends and suddenly 45 people were over for the party. The kids had a blast, running from the living room where we set up a teepee and one of those cozy coupe cars to Katelyn's toy room. Most of the kids got along very well...no fighting over toys, etc. We grilled hot dogs for lunch (keeping with the MM Clubhouse theme...hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog for those forced to watch the show), plus some chicken salad for the adults, followed by a very yellow cake for dessert. Katelyn blew out all but one candle on her own and we opened her piles of gifts. She had so many and I had intended to open them later, but everyone kept asking to see K open their gifts. It got a bit overwhelming for her, so after 2 presents, she left the room to play with her friends and then came back to sit and color with DJ's mom. We opened the gifts for her and put them in a pile for her to look at later. So many wonderful new toys and adorable outfits. The party was a success and we had so much fun...so did K! It's been 2 days since the bash and she's been so into her new toys and new tricycle that she hasn't watched a minute of tv...not even mickey.

Tonight, the pacifier fairy is coming to take K's pacifiers to the babies who need them and will be leaving K a special toy. This is going to be a tough transition for all of us, but it's time.

EPCOT...Every Person Comes Out Tired!

Fall is an awesome time in Orlando....the humidity FINALLY breaks, school is back in session, and EPCOT hosts its annual International Food and Wine Festival! My sister Ali and brother-in-law Rob introduced us to this last year and we've become huge fans. On Saturday (Katelyn's official 3rd birthday, although we kept it on the down-low so we wouldn't have to pay an admission fee for her), Bryan, one of my best friends Andrea (visiting from Chicago), and I headed over to Disney. Luckily, Bryan's cousin (a Disney employee) was able to meet us at the gate and let us in for free. A BIG thank you to Jeff! After a short walk around and a ride on "Nemo and Friends," we decided to take advantage of our park hopper passes and take Katelyn on the long-awaited monorail ride over to Animal Kingdom. K enjoyed the train ride, but then we realized the monorail doesn't go to Animal Kingdom...just to the the magic kingdom. Oops. We got off the monorail and decided to take another monorail through the Contemporary Resort (I thought it was an amazing hotel and always wanted to stay there. I was in awe of it back in the 80's and thought one day when I hit the lotto, I would stay there). Bryan and Andrea convinced me it was stuck in the 80s and wasn't that great, that I was pining for something that doesn't exist, so we took the train through the hotel and they were right. I'll save my pennies for the Grand Floridian hotel. Once that train ride was over, we had to take a bus to Animal Kingdom. Two and half hours after leaving EPCOT we arrived at Animal Kingdom...the transportation took forever!!! It started to rain and we wondered through AK. Our plan was to ride the safari, Everest (roller coaster), and the train, then head back to EPCOT. The safari was a 70 minute wait (not going to happen with Katelyn an hour passed her nap time) and the train ride was the lamest ride we've ever been on. It takes you absolutely nowhere and you see the back side of an industrial area. We were walking over to Everest, and the rain really started falling and Katelyn was losing it in her stroller. We just turned around and got back on the bus. Animal Kingdom did not impress us at all....if you're ever at Disney, I'd skip it.

Back at EPCOT, the weather got a little better and we rode some more rides....a highlight was the Test Track where you ride in a car going through a series of tests (brakes, speed, weather changes, etc.) and Journey through Imagination with good old Figment. Enough rides, and time for food and wine! Everything is sold in an appetizer size and is priced $2-$4. I had the most delicious cheese, fruit, and bread plate from Ireland (a perfect snack at 4pm and K ate most of the cheese) and we had to wash it down with guiness. South Africa was represented and served "Durban Spiced Chicken Skewer" and a bobotie...still not sure what that was. We enjoyed a sausage in Germany, cabbage roll and perogie in Poland, and potato soup and maple custard from Canada. It was delicious! We'll be back next year! And yes, EPCOT does stand for Every Person Comes Out Tired (my grandma was right!).

About to Turn Three!

Lucky girl! Katelyn won this firetruck at a raffle at Bryan's company picnic this weekend. This is her in the hoola-hoop contest (she's wearing her witch costume) and she cheated...just held the hoola hoop and wiggled around inside. :-)

Katelyn turns 3 on Saturday. One on hand, I love how much she talks and things that come out of her mouth. She gets so excited about simple things and loves to shout out "oh goody!" and "I just can't believe it!" and it can be so sweet. When we drive, she tells me she wishes for green lights and sings along with songs. She's become an ABBA fan and knows which U2 cd I put in the stereo, and just can't get enough of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend." I love her sweet prayer at night "Dear God, Thank you for making the world. Amen." And when I add to her prayers and list people for special blessings, she turns to me and says, "That's so nice, mommy." Oh, this is such a sweet age. This time last year I was worried. Worried she wasn't speaking nearly enough and worried about her ever-present digestive issues and lack of weight gain. I wondered when she would be able to have a conversation with me and when some of this food would actually stick to her ribs. I worried we would never find friends like we had in Gainesville. Now, fast forward a year later and Katelyn doesn't stop talking, her stomach issues have been resolved, and we've met some wonderful people down here. It's a great time in our lives. And 3 is a fun age....

Mostly.

Except lately Katelyn has started telling lies. Obvious lies. Big lies. When we told her no more bounce house at Bryan's company picnic, she ran over to the bounce house and told the woman guarding it, "my mommy said yes," and started yanking off her shoes as fast as she could. I grabbed her before she could climb in and Bryan put her in time out. About 15 min. later, she ran off again. I found her climbing a slide and asked her what she was doing over there. "Daddy said I could slide." Daddy never told her she could go over there. She also started spitting in our faces and on food. That lasted about a day. Suddenly, she refused to sit on the potty again and we were back to square one. Melt downs in the bathroom, kicking and screaming when asked to sit on the potty. Luckily, today she was right back on track. We are learning 3 has it's own set of challenges and we have to be on our game all the time. I keep thinking this is such a tough age, but then I remember the newborn stage was no picnic...hating the bottle, not nursing well, sleepless nights, c-section recovery...that was not easy. Crawling was not easy...getting into every thing, not wanting to be contained, everything in the mouth. Walking was tough...not being able to deal with steps, but not wanting to stay away from them, reaching and grabbing and breaking things, starting to hate the stroller....I know this too shall pass and I know despite it's challenges (some days I'm in tears, not knowing if I'm doing the right thing), I know EVERY stage is an absolute blessing and is full of wonderful memories. It all goes by so fast. I know I'll be laughing about her first lies one day and the crazy outfits she insists on wearing. 3 years ago, I prayed for a safe delivery, and a healthy baby. God answered my prayers then, and continues to.

Whoa...this post was way longer than intended!!

Playgroup Birthday Party

Happy 3rd Birthday to all the Oct./Nov. 2004 babies born in the same hospital in Gainesville, Florida. Our playgroup, most of us together since our babies were only 2 weeks old, celebrated their 3rd birthday in the gymnastics room of the YMCA. This has become an annual event and as the years go by, they have more and more fun. Katelyn always has a great time and it was so good to see our friends. They exchanged gifts...each had one friend to buy for...and Katelyn was thrilled to receive Mickey Mouse Clubhouse toys, dress-up shoes and magic wand/tiara. Her real birthday (Oct. 27) is right around the corner and she cannot wait to have yellow cake with yellow "prosting" (can't say "frosting") and a Mickey Mouse party. Tomorrow Katelyn has her pictures taken. Can you believe I had to exchange the 4T dress I bought for her pictures for a 24 month size dress??? This child still needs to gain some weight :-) Maybe after her yellow cake!

Fire Truck Field Trip a Bust

October is Fire Safety Month, so Katelyn's school arranged for a fire truck and fire fighters to visit the kids. We were excited and joined the other kids for a presentation before being allowed on the truck. The fire fighters showed the kids how they have to wear lots of gear, including an oxygen mask, and crawled down on the floor to get up close to them (as they would in a fire). Well, most of the kids freaked out and screamed in fear, including Katelyn. She was particularly hysterical. It took the room a while to calm down, but once the fire fighter took off the mask, Katelyn ran up to him and gave him a high five (this picture is her next to him after crying). After the emotional presentation, we were ready to get on the fire truck, but they were called away on an emergency. We waited for an hour, they never returned, so we left. We'll have to get on the fire truck another time :-)

Success!!

This is Katelyn giving her "thumbs up" pose (Uncle Robby taught her how to do this so she always says, "Thumbs up...Robbie says!"

Just a quick update on the potty training....Katelyn has been successfully using the potty, both at home and out and about, for 6 days now. She's even keeping her pull-up dry at nap time. A friend of mine passed on a very helpful hint. I cover the automatic flusher sensor with a piece of masking tape and it prevents it from flushing. Katelyn feels much more secure and has no more issues using the public restroom. We are sooooo happy with her success and are so proud (and we think it's about time!!).

Adventures in Potty Training

Yes, Katelyn is almost 3 and not yet potty trained....but it's not for lack of trying. About 6-7 months ago, she was almost fully trained and it really wasn't too difficult. I took her to Sea World in undies and she did great....until she encountered an automatic flusher. Not only was it very loud and splashy, it was also malfunctioning that day and was flushing continuously, along with all the other toilets. It was loud, messy, and she was terrified. She wouldn't sit on a toilet again for months. Back to square one. But we'd done it once, we could do it again, right??? Well, the fear of public toilets remained and she got very good at holding it for long lengths of time...which led to an awful UTI with a 104.2 fever and much pain. Her pediatrican told me to lay off the potty training and keep her in pull-ups for a while. Okay. Back again to square one. In the meantime, K is showing NO INTEREST in going on the potty and keeps telling me it will hurt if she pees on the potty. So now we have two big obstacles to overcome....automatic flushers and memories of a painful UTI. BUT...she is turning 3 in 3 weeks and as my mom says, "this is getting ridiculous!" So, that's it. No more pull-ups during the day and she is changing her own wet undies if she has an accident. We went out to dinner tonight and she had to pee so badly. She still has meltdowns in the public bathrooms, but today I literally forced her to sit on it, just to try. No luck, but we'll get there again. I'm more determined than ever to have her potty trained by her 3rd birthday. She's getting much better at learning when she needs to go. I'm afraid of another UTI, but she can't be in pull-ups forever (although, she'd like that). So, wish us luck as we continue our journey to being potty-trained!