Anna Grows

The weather was unusually nice over the weekend. Eighty degrees for a day in August in Washington is almost unheard of, so we took advantage of the sunny skies to head to the mountains to pick peaches. The original vision for the trip was taking a picnic lunch, which we would enjoy under the lovely peach groves as we gazed over the mountains while Anna ran through the wild flowers. The reality was much different. First, Joe was the victim of the flu over the weekend and was just starting to feel somewhat human again on Sunday. Theresa had found a day trip listed in the newspaper earlier in the summer of a nice fruit farm outside of Berryville, VA (appropriately named). As we loaded up our picnic lunch and took off, Anna began singing the ABC song in the car until she fell asleep. As we drove west, the sun was interrupted by clouds. By the time we drove over the mountain, it was raining. Determined to press on and pick our fruit, we finally located Maintosh Fruit & Berry Farm. The f

It has been a few weeks since the start of full-fledge potty training and I am happy to report that Anna is doing well. She is down to a diaper only at night. Of course we still revert to disposable "pull-ups" when we go out just in case. These are clutch when going somewhere, especially if you are visiting someone's home. Anna is very good at charming people when we visit; however, you can see fear in the eyes of our host when we mention Anna is being potty trained as they eye their rugs and nice furniture. I can't really blame them as I try to keep her in the kitchen and uncarpeted areas at home for the very same reason. Unfortunately, Anna still does not always tell us when she has to go so we are left to guess based on the timing of her food and drink consumption. Whenever she goes into the potty, we cheer and she gets a sticker. I've cheered for a lot of things before, but never using the bathroom. Parenting is truly a humbling experience.