Singamajig (with a brief potty update)

No, Kate did not get one of Christmas 2010's hottest toys, the Fisher-Price Sing-A-Majig (seems like this year's Furby, but they sing and harmonize if you get several together. Whatever.) But when Kate put the lid to her new teapot in her mouth (while sitting in a laundry basket and wearing a rubber bib, no less) I couldn't help but see some resemblance with the little musical critters... 

This time might be as good as any to document Kate's favorite songs now, at (almost) two years old:

• Itsy-Bitsy Spider (which she requests by making the hand motions)
• I'm Picking Up a Baby Bumblebee (AKA "a-bee". And might I say that the way Kate says "ooh, sticky!" is the cutest thing ever? "ooh, kicky!")
• Ring Around the Rosey ("Ashes? Ashes?")
• The Alphabet Song
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

She has always enjoyed music. I remember singing "She'll be coming 'round the mountain" to her when she was just a couple months old, and making up new, personalized verses as I went. ("She'll be wearing a pink bow when she comes...") She was nuts about "Old MacDonald" for a long time, but that seems to have passed in favor of songs with hand motions.

She starts in the two-year-old room at day care today, and I know she'll be coming home with even more fun songs and crafts and things she's learned (including enhanced potty skills!)

To update on the potty training, we didn't make much progress during our "intensive" week of training, having her wear training pants and taking her to the potty frequently, so we're back to diapers most of the time (and disposable pull-ups sometimes). She may just not be ready, but we have had progress in that she knows how to do the whole drill--pulling down her pants, wiping, flushing, washing hands, etc.--and likes to do it, but just doesn't "go" when she's on the potty. I'm not sure exactly what's up with that, other than that must hard to go in a way you are not used to going. Like when adults have to go in the woods, without a toilet, it feels wierd. As foreign as it would be for us to just pee wherever we're sitting, it must feel strange for her not to go in a diaper. They work on it a lot in the two-year-old room, though, and Kate always follows the lead of bigger kids around her, so I bet we'll see a burst of progress in the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted.