DeLappenings: Chicklet's Slitherin' Potty Prize!

So...a few things to report on this hump day:

1. I'm exhausted.

2. We had a fantastic day.

3. I'm really exhausted.

4. We're not getting great sleep of late (more later).

5. I'm really really exhausted.

6. It was a bit cooler today, hallelujah!

7. Did I mention the exhaustion?

8. Chica fell on the playground and busted her lip.

9. Oh, deep, slumbering sleep, how I miss thee.

10. Seven days of school and a first trip to the nurse.

11. I want to go to bed.

In summary: we had a great day, but it was soooo busy, and I'm too tired to type about all of it.

Chica is fine but fell off a higher part of the playground equipment and subsequently made her first trip to the school nurse (who then called me just as an FYI and scared the bejezees out of me before sweetly cutting to the chase that all was fine, ha). Chica currently looks like she got some real housewives lip injections, but says all is good.

And finally, more on our newest sleep troubles in a later post because now I wanted to focus on...

CHICKLET!

I feel like lately, so many posts have been focused on Chica and all these dang milestones, so I'm thrilled for this one to focus on my beautiful, growing, changing, morphing, engaging secondborn.

Today, finally (for the love of all that is holy!), she actually went potty on the big girl potty.

*Pause for Mama's exhausted, grateful weeping.

She's been following in her big sister's infuriatingly slow-going potty training footsteps, and making me want to pull my hair out!

Net/net--she's been forced onto the potty for months and months (and months), but has stubbornly refused to actually do anything on it. Oye. And her age deadline (3.5; just like Chica), is upon us in a few weeks, and will involve the cold turkey removal of diapers.

But.

Today she finally, finally caved and went.

*Pause for more weeping.

So I'm hopeful it might have been the breakthrough we needed to get this training thing done.

And her reward (as promised and promised and promised, for months):

A giant, stuffed snake! (Her choice, ha.)

We saw some ages ago at our beloved nature sanctuary and I've been dangling it over her head ever since. So today, as soon as we grabbed Chica from school, we went for the slithering new friend.

I highly approve of her purple, sparkly selection, hehe.

But, of course, we couldn't just go to the sanctuary gift shop, and not enjoy the great outdoors. But that posed a problem for the snake, ha. So we had to fashion a snake scarf for safe-keeping (because, naturally, Chicklet couldn't wait until after hiking around to buy her potty prize).

I mean, could she be any cuter???

She was soooo proud and excited.

And to add more excitement to our little outing, the animatronic dinosaurs that come to our sanctuary in the colder months just arrived a few days ago. Woohoo!

Hilariously, they scared the daylights out of Little Man (And who can blame him? They love and roar!) So I had a plus one in my arms forest of out trek, ha.

Just look at that T-Rex behind us, ha.

It really was an unexpectedly awesome outing...all thanks to my Chicklet and her big breakthrough!

I'm so proud of my growing girl and so hope this will be the confidence boost she needs to power through to the panties stage (where I will be waiting, weeping for joy, ha).