progress reports

so i know that school has started for most of the older-kid crowd. and though my lovelies are not yet beholden to institutional learning, i still can't shake the spinster teacher out of me. so while summer and afton are a bit far off from toiling over dotting their i's and crossing their t's, here's where they stand on the developmental milestones they have been working on:

summer, potty training: nearly complete

yes, it's been awhile since i've updated on her comings and goings (which i'm sure her sixteen year old self will just *love* that the entire world wide web knows about), but after we got back from our trip to utah, we started potty training anew. she has taken to it quite well with little effort on my part and stays dry 98% of the time (the 2% accounting for nights which we have yet to tackle). she still refuses to, uh, eliminate solid waste in the potty and instead requests a diaper every time she has to go. but hey, that works out just fine for me -- definitely not going to look a gift horse in the mouth here.

afton, walking: not quite

now, i understand that not walking at fourteen months is still well within reason, perhaps even average. but it is my personal belief that afton can walk, she just won't. (bryan and i, we breed 'em stubborn as mules). anyway, she can go up and down stairs faster than summer, she loves to stand, she loves to squat (and in fact, she really loves to stand-squat-stand-squat-stand), she is a master at cruising and climbing and a regular mario andretti maneuvering a walker. but i have never, ever, not once seen her take or even attempt an unassisted step. even still, she can't pretend to be unable to walk forever, and i feel we're getting closer everyday to outing her secret ninja walking skillz.