Diapers for Two

Well, I was gonna wait on this post for a few days in hopes that I could report a "first accident free day" in the process, but since a dear reader asked about it in a comment to our previous post, here ya go!

We took diapers away from Mikey last week (4 days ago, to be exact!) and he's doing great! In fact, last night he stayed dry all night! Now to be fair to all of those who argue that a kid is not potty trained until he is accident-free and pull-up free, we're not there yet... Mikey is in big boy underwear most of the time, but we have been using pull-ups when he's sleeping and during times in which we don't want a mess if he does have an accident (like when he goes to church!). And though we've had a couple days in which he only had one accident, he still does have accidents on a daily basis.

But, he's also staying dry longer and initiating trips to the potty on his own. He'll typically stay dry during his nap, too!

Honestly, though, after all the drama we went through trying on and off for over a year to potty train Eliana, and then with how long it took for her to get the hang of it even when we drew the line for her, I am quite pleased with how well potty-training is going this time around. In fact, in some strange way, it's actually been *fun* to watch Mikey basically potty train himself. I am thankful, though, to have had the experience of potty-training Eliana. I'll never lack sympathy for someone struggling to get a 3 1/2 year old out of diapers because of her... though if all my kids were like Mikey in this area, I might wonder what in the world was wrong with that parent.

So, with all that said, and according to our random definitions of such, we now only have two lil' ones in diapers. BUT, WE ARE NOT CHANGING OUR BLOG NAME OR LOCATION! (I made David promise that before I took the diapers away from Mikey!) "Diapers4three" well describes how we spend our mornings and a good chunk of our lives in general... and since I don't think that I'll be able to keep up this pattern of potty-training a child every six months, we do expect to have three in diapers next spring.

Happy Birthday, Danny!

*Okay -- for all you sticklers out there, I realize that I'm a day late. Sorry. I got busy yesterday, and I'm not so organized as to have pre-made this post ages ago! ;)*

Happy Birthday, Danny!

We can't believe that you're TWO YEARS OLD!! Amazing! It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that you were just the tiny babe...

We love you, Kid. We love your twinkly eyes and your creativity. You're definitely the one who gets into the most mischief, just because you think of what we wouldn't want you to do before we think to tell you not to do it! You're constantly thinking and doing something! But you also always have time to give hugs and cuddles... So, so sweet.

And we love, LOVE your goofy smile.

Yeup. That one.

We thank God for you, and we look forward to this next year with you and all that follows! You truly are a gift from God. We pray that God will be working in you and that you'll love Him with all your heart. We love you, Danny! Happy, happy birthday!

Turbulent Times

The speed at which the current financial crisis is unfolding makes it a bit tricky to keep up with. But I find this stuff fascinating, so I've been trying to stay up to speed as much as possible. If you're like me and find these matters of interest, I recommend the Marketplace podcast from American Public Radio.

Of all the programming on NPR, I'd have to say that Marketplace has grown to be my favorite, although I do also enjoy Car Talk from time to time. Marketplace does a great job at making business and economic news accessible, educational and even entertaining. I used to just hope that it would come on during my commute, but now that I have an iPod, I can listen whenever I feel like it.

The Economist is also a great source of information for those of you who have time to read.

On a related note, given the dramatic declines this year in the stock market, it seems to me that this may be a great time to start investing some money into a Roth IRA each month, particularly if you have a long-time horizon ahead of you. Whatever you do, don't panic and cash out your retirement portfolio. These charts should give you a clue why.