Potty Learning..finally getting there!

E has been working hard at learning how to use the potty!

We worked out a deal that whenever she uses the potty successfully, she gets a gummi bear. Since #2 is trickier for her, she gets 2 bears for a #2, and 1 bear for #1.

Soooo, this week she’s had several successful outings and dry nights with no accidents! Whoohoo, Essie! We’re really excited for her.

This afternoon, she said, “Oh, I have a potty feeling!!” and ran to the bathroom, with me following behind her describing the process out loud like a commentator: “Essie felt the potty feeling, stopped her playing, and ran to the bathroom! She’s working really hard at it! Look, she put her pees and poop in the potty!” She’s very, very proud of herself.

So, when she was done, I held out two gummi bears. She looks at me with deep seriousness and informs me, “Mommy, I get two bears for pooping, and one for peeing. I need another one.”

Can’t pull the wool over her eyes, hehe.

Bittersweet…and so precious.

Tonight was my “baby” brother’s wedding rehearsal.

I use the term baby quite loosely-we’re so close in age, we both share strong firstborn traits. He probably understands me much like a twin because we have so many shared perspectives and experience. Through the years, I’ve been mystified by him, fought with him, called him many horrible names I regret, laughed with him, cried with him, and ultimately grew to respect him and value his friendship greatly.

His bride couldn’t be more special or any more perfect for him. They are *so* very precious, and so good for each other, I want to cheer every time I think about it. Great relationships do happen, and there are people who have the stuff it takes to work hard to grow them…D and J are two of “that kind” of people. <3

So, as I watched my beautiful sis-in-love to be walk barefoot down the grassy aisle to the hauntingly beatiful and emotional exquisite “Holy, Holy, Holy” by Sufjan Stevens, and as I watched my beaming, smart, sensitive brother wait to meet her under the wooden archway….

…my throat caught. It was one of those moments that is so, so beautiful, you realize it is simply not made of the same stuff of this world. It was one of those glimpses into a love so sweet and powerful, that the fleshly world seems to break it’s hold a bit, and your soul goes somewhere else entirely. Flesh and bone seems to tremble under the weight of such intense love.

I feel that way whenever I witness a birth, either into the world or out of it. There is something so sacred in those moments, I can’t help but weep over the sheer beauty of true, selfless love.

I sit at my parents’ computer late tonight, wiping snot and tears. I feel sorry for myself because two beautiful, trustworthy friends are moving into another phase of life across the States. I feel so proud of my sibling, and so excited for him that he’s been lucky enough to find a soulmate so special. I smile at how far my own husband and I have come since our wedding. I wonder how the heck I’m going to get through the song I’m singing tomorrow without crying like a baby.

Time for bed. Mazel Tov, J and D!