i want to do it MY BIG BOY SELF!

We couldn't be any prouder of our big boy James. He has recently achieved so many amazingly independent accomplishments! First and foremost...he is potty trained (well, almost!). Brian and I decided to wait until the hottest week of the summer so that we had a good excuse to stay indoors with a naked toddler for nearly a week straight. For the past 6 months or so we have talked up the potty, but James had zero interest. He even refused to sit on the little potty chair that I bought almost 2 years ago. Then, day #1 of potty training came. We set up a little potty station fully equipped with books, movies, towels, toys, etc. It must have been a pretty inviting place because James proceeded to sit on his potty all day. He watched a few movies, caught up on some reading, and shocked us when he peed on the potty! The next day was even more surprising when he would be busy playing downstairs or in his room and suddenly announce, "I have to pee!" We sprinted like Olympic Gold Medalists to the potty chair to make sure he made it in time---and he did! Toward the end of the day (and almost 24 hours of no #2) I was beginning to think that he would be one of those boys who refuses to go poo on the potty. NOPE! He pooped like a champ at the end of day #2 and had a blast flushing it down the toilet. James even picks up the little bucket, carries it into the bathroom, dumps it out, rinses it in the sink (sort of, I help here with bleach and what-not), turns on the water, pumps out the soap, washes and dries his hands, and puts the little bucket back into the toilet all by his "BIG BOY SELF!" Which by the way is his new favorite thing to say! Although we still put on a diaper during bed time and nap, he has been super successful (a few accidents here and there). We even left the house sans diaper to go to Target. No accidents. The little guy always amazes us.
James at his 3rd birthday party sporting the cool new skates he got from Aunt Susie and Uncle Steve.

And of course we can't leave out little Henry. He has had some big accomplishments too!

• Sleeping "through the night" 7-5:30 (feed and back down until 7:00)
• Started eating solids: rice cereal, peaches, prunes, squash, carrots, green beans (he hated those!)
• Can roll now from tummy to back and back to tummy
• Laughs out loud (especially at James)
• Still one of the most laid back babies of all time
• BIG boy (at his 4 month appointment he was 83rd % for length!)
• Started seeing a chiropractor once a week for cranial sacral therapy to help with head flatness. I think I figured out why both of my kids have had this. I read online that women who are induced are more likely to have (boys especially) babies with flattened heads. It is a result of quick labor (which both of mine were--James 7 hours, Henry 3 hours) which causes head trauma. Hopefully we can fix Henry. We've been doing positional therapy and seeing the chiropractor. We did see a plastic surgeon too who would prescribe a helmet, but they thought he was mild and could benefit from repositioning. We go back to them in 2 weeks to get his head remeasured. We most likely won't do the helmet for him though...he sweats way too much for that.
• Starting to transition more and more from breast milk to formula. I don't want to pump when I go back to work so he will be a formula baby for the second half of his first year.