Oliver started swimming lessons this week! His first lesson was on Monday. Although he loves swimming, he was pretty nervous about his first class (as he is with any new situation) and even cried a little bit during the lesson. :-( But he ended up feeling more comfortable and did everything the instructor asked him to, and he even ended up having a good time. :-) After his lesson, he was SO excited and proud of himself!
This afternoon he had his second lesson. He was still a little nervous beforehand, but not nearly as much as the first day. On the way to the pool, he asked me to pray that he wouldn't cry in the pool again (aww!), and he didn't! He did great, and looked like he was having fun the entire time. And when his instructor brought him back to me after the lesson, she said that he's doing so well that he's ready to move up to the next level! He was definitely excited to hear that. :-) Yay, Oliver!
Buttercup never ceases to amaze me (mostly in a good way! :-) She's been interested in going to potty for several months now, and we would take her to the potty when she asked to go. I tried potty-training her one day about 4 months ago, and then tried again one day last month. She was showing the same signs of readiness that Oliver showed when he was potty-trained (at 2 1/2 years), but the problem was that she was always afraid to wear underwear. It wasn't until last month that she told me why -- she said she didn't like the way it felt. Kind of makes sense (although I'd think that a diaper would be much more uncomfortable).
I was kinda sorta starting to feel a little stressed about it, because we have a baby coming in about 9 weeks, and I was hoping that she would either be potty-trained by the time he was born, or that she would not want to be potty-trained until she was closer to 3. In other words, I didn't want to have to worry about potty-training her while also taking care of a newborn!!
Well, God took care of all of that for me, even without me verbally or mentally expressing that exact prayer! He knew what I needed, and He answered my prayer! :-)
Out of the blue, Buttercup decided last Wednesday morning that she wanted to wear underwear. She put it on, didn't complain about it, and she kept it dry all morning and most of the afternoon! She had 3 accidents the first day, 1 accident the second day, 2 accidents the third day, and she hasn't had any since. When I was potty-training Oliver, I would just bring him to the potty when I thought he needed to go, and he would go. Buttercup is different, because she doesn't want to go when I tell her to! So after the third day, I stopped badgering her about going to potty, and she started telling me when she needed to go!! She's doing great and has kept herself clean and dry, including trips to the store, the park, playgrounds, and church. We are so proud of her!!
One other proud moment -- a couple of weeks ago, she figured out how to pedal the $5 bike I bought her at a garage sale, and last night she figured out how to steer it! She rode it in circles around the driveway for a long time!!
Such a big girl!
I've tried a few peanut butter cookie recipes, but this one is my favorite so far! It's from the back of the Jif jar. (And, believe it or not, I actually followed the recipe, except I added M&Ms and miniature peanut butter cups!)
Irresistible Jif Peanut Butter Cookies
3/4 cup Jif creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1. Preheat oven to 375 and set out cooling racks for cooling cookies.
2. Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended.
3. Combine all-purpose flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to the creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 375 for 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet. Remove cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
These are the "cookies" that my helpers made! The top picture is Buttercup's pan, and the one below is Oliver's:
And last, but not least, here's a cute picture of Buttercup washing up after she finished with her ingredients. It reminds me of a similar picture of Oliver (scroll down to the 5th picture to see it) when he was about the same age! :-)
The kids love to help me cook, which is great! I love having them help in the kitchen, and it's a great learning experience for when they're older. :-)
Sometimes, though, I don't always have a lot of extra time to let them help measure, sift, and pour, so I'll just give them each a bowl and some dry ingredients and let them go to town. They always enjoy that, but yesterday Oliver seemed a little bored. So I got some empty spice shakers from their play kitchen and let them fill up the shakers with flour and spices, shake out the ingredients, fill them up again, etc. They both had a lot of fun and I was able to get my banana bread batter together in no time because they were so busy!
Here's a tasty, kid-friendly recipe that your entire family will love! But first, here are my cute helpers mixing up their own interesting concoctions:
Peanut Butter Granola Bars
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
dash of apple pie spice or ground cloves
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
3 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup peanut butter
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together, then make a well in the center. In a smaller bowl, combine honey, egg, vanilla, oil, and peanut butter. Stir until smooth, then add to dry ingredients. Mix well. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until cooked through. Cool for 5-10 minutes, then cut into bars. **Don't wait too long to cut them, otherwise the bars will be too hard to cut! Enjoy!
It's been a while since I last posted about Buttercup, so here's what she's been up to:
She loves to play outside, especially in the back yard. Her favorite outside game is to go bye bye with Big Baby. Before we go outside, she collects her purse, car keys, cell phone, diaper bag, and Big Baby. Once we're outside, she puts on her shoes, and then picks up her favorite rock and fossil and carefully puts them in her purse. Then she goes down the steps, gets in the Cozy Coupe and hollers, "Bye!" multiple times to everyone outside with her. Sometimes I get the special job of babysitting Big Baby on the patio while she drives the Cozy Coupe around the yard. Lately she's also been singing the "Imperial March" (a favorite of Oliver's) to herself while she drives. Very cute.
Speaking of Oliver, he is still her #1 favorite person in the entire world. Now that they share a bedroom, they are closer than ever. There have been 2 occasions when he wasn't in his bed when I put her to bed, and both times she was beside herself because she missed her "Obivah." [By the way, she can pronounce "Oliver" correctly, I just think she chooses to say "Obivah" because she knows it annoys him!] After he started preschool last September, it took her at least a month to finally get used to the fact that he was gone 2 mornings each week.
She still loves blueberries. They're her #1 favorite fruit, although she also likes pears (fresh and canned), peaches, blackberries, watermelon, bananas, strawberries (whole, not sliced!), cantaloupe, plums . . . wait, maybe it would have been easier to list the fruit she doesn't like. Which would be: persimmons.
She loves to dress herself. Polka dot shirts and leggings are her favorites. I usually let her dress herself on weekdays and Saturdays, and it's always fun to see which outfits she chooses. She almost always matches colors or patterns, like in the outfit below:
She loves to play in the Childwatch at the YMCA while I exercise. I started taking her there after dropping Oliver off at preschool, mainly because she would be so mad at me for taking him away that I didn't know what else to do with her! Now she looks forward to going after we drop Oliver off. I think she thinks of it as her school. She's such a social little girl, too, so she loves the interaction with other kids. And as a bonus, she can see into the infant room, so she can watch the babies while she plays with the other toddlers. :-)
She used to be very independent, but about 6 months ago she started becoming more clingy. She used to run into her Sunday school class, but now she cries and clings every time we drop her off. :-( Fortunately, she doesn't cry for very long, but I do wish she would outgrow this phase quickly! (Strangely enough, she doesn't cry at all at the YMCA!)
She has such a bubbly personality (when she's well-rested and well-fed!) She also has an absolutely beautiful smile. It just lights up her face and it's so contagious that you can't help but smile along with her. :-)
She is also still our feisty little firecracker. She has no qualms about letting everyone know when she doesn't like something or if someone gets in her way! I have no doubt that her strong personality will only help her be an awesome, successful adult . . . if she ever gets out of the Terrible Twos. ;-)
She is such a fun little girl, and I am so thankful that God chose us to be her parents! She makes every day an adventure and I just love watching her grow! 
