Zombies! Also, Elsa does go potty

 I need to remember to put my makeup out of reach. Twice last week Alice made herself up. The first time was brown eyeshadow red lipstick. Alice said she looked "bootiful" but when Nathan saw it he wanted to be a zombie too. So he did. I'm still kicking myself for not getting a picture. He was a little chagrined when he realized how hard it is to wash lipstick off.

 Random Petey pic! I forgot to add it to the last post. He fell asleep on my bedroom floor, snuggling my scarf and assorted laundry.

 Then the second round a few days later. Since the red lipstick was put away, they found some fuschia. Fuschia zombies on the loose! An increasingly rare moment of sisterly accord.

Sometimes, if the cupboard is open, she'll spot a small bottle on the shelf and say, "There's the special drink that makes me go potty!"

In early January Alice started being really uncomfortable with diapers. She'd lay on the floor, unable to walk, because "I'm too poopy!" Every time she had a wet diaper. So, we figured, let's start with potty training before she gets used to it again. You'd think I wouldn't make the rookie mistake of starting potty training at the same time I'm trying to do other large and sundry projects. I've been to this rodeo before, but apparently I never learn. And here is where I owe a huge shoutout of thanks to Levi and his immense patience. My attention has been so fractured lately with trying to get things fixed, decluttered, organized, and what have you, that I was not having a lot of success with remembering to get Alice to the bathroom. So he took a weekend and set the timer, sat with Alice in the bathroom reading stories and letting her play on his phone, and plying her with a water bottle of flavored water (hence the special drink from the cupboard, a bottle of sugar-free flavoring). And by the end of that weekend she had figured out how to pee on the toilet without spending a lot of wasted time in the bathroom first. 

I bought some training pants made by Gerber, so they have the picture of the Gerber baby on the tag. At first she didn't want to wear them: "These are Petey's." But we told her the tag was a picture of her when she was a baby, so now she gets excited whenever she puts them on. We also bought a toilet seat that has a smaller training seat that folds down, but is held to the lid with a magnet when it's not being used. It's awesome, and it makes it her toilet. She thinks the brand name on the seat is her name, thus making the entire toilet hers. 

As long as we remember to take her regularly, she's pretty good at staying dry. But, she will not tell us before she needs to go, so if we forget, it's accident city. And she doesn't like taking a shower to clean up, so she won't tell us. She'll just take off her wet underwear off and leave it for me to find. It's not a fun surprise. We're taking a break to save my sanity and lessen the battle of wills. She knows once she finishes filling up her sticker chart she'll earn her Alice book, a photo book of pictures of her. She's really excited about it. I'm hoping it will click soon for her.

And yes, we have had more than one conversation about Elsa and the toilet. Even though you never see a bathroom in Elsa's ice castle, princesses do use the potty. Alice was not the only kid who had this misconception.