March 14

I know you are all anxiously waiting to see if Audrey pooped today...well, she did...but not in the potty.

We got off to a good start. She told me this morning that she needed to poop, so we hurried to the bathroom. She tried for a few seconds on the potty, but when nothing happened, she quickly gave up. A little later, she looked like she was about ready to poop, so I brought her back to the bathroom. Again, she tried for a few seconds, then she was frustrated and gave up. I just don't think she is patient enough to sit there long enough for something to happen!

So, at lunch time, we noticed that she was getting ready to go in her panties. And rather than stop her, we left her alone and just let her go. I was starting to get nervous that she would never go, so I thought it would be better to just let her go this time. It was quite the mess to clean up...glad it happened while Daniel was home to help! I think it's just going to take some time to learn how to be patient enough to sit on the potty and wait for her poop.

She is peeing like a pro though. No pee accidents again today. Her pull up is usually a little wet in the morning when she wakes up, but she has been waking up dry from her naps every day. I feel comfortable leaving her alone and letting her tell me when she needs to go. So that is definitely exciting!

We also started a new letter of the week tonight: D! We made this beautiful piece of art to represent the book Duck on a Bike, one of Audrey's favorites. In fact, we've read the book so many times that nearly all of the pages are falling out.

March 13

Here's a picture of a happy little girl who had NO ACCIDENTS today! And we even spent most of the day out of the house! She wore her big girl panties all day--to church, out to lunch and then back to church again tonight. And she went in the potty at church and at lunch and then at church again tonight. Very exciting!!

Still no poop today though. I'm getting a little nervous. The last time she pooped was Friday night. It's not that unusual for her to go a couple of days without pooping, but I'm worried that she is holding it in so she doesn't have to go on the potty. I might just be paranoid though, so I'm trying not to worry about it until we know it's a problem. My hope for tomorrow is just that she poops somewhere--in the potty, in her pull up, in her panties, on the floor...I don't really care at this point! I'd much rather deal with cleaning up a mess than deal with her being constipated!

Moving on from all the poop talk...Audrey and Daddy had fun posing for some pictures tonight before bedtime. Audrey has been SO happy and hyper lately. I think going without diapers has been freeing for her...she just seems to love life right now!

Here, they are making serious faces:

I had to include one of her picking her nose, as it is pretty much her favorite pastime right now:

March 12

I don't have TOO much to say about potty training tonight. Audrey did it all by herself today. She was even starting to get the hang of taking her panties and pants off by herself. She told us when she needed to go, and then we went to the bathroom and she peed. She even went to Sams with Daniel tonight and went pee in their bathroom! No poop today though, so we still have some work to do there.

She did have one accident tonight. Daniel gave her a bath and put her in a pull up about an hour before bedtime. Then we had some friends over, and she was running around and showing off with them. She told me she needed to pee, but when we got to the bathroom, she had already gone a little in the pull up. I'm not sure if it was because she had a pull up on (I wasn't home when Daniel put her in it, but I kind of thought she should have worn panties right up until bedtime to help prevent accidents). Or it could have been because she was running around and having fun and not thinking about going to the bathroom. Who knows? I'm still quite pleased that we only had one accident for the day.

This morning I went to a big consignment sale. I had fairly good luck at the sale (unlike my friend Amy!). I got a pair of tennis shoes for Audrey and 6 outfits for the new baby, and I spent $13 (plus the $2 entry fee). Not the best garage sale deal ever, but still worth my time I think (Again, sorry Amy!!).

Audrey was very excited about the new tennis shoes. She wanted to wear them and run and jump and dance in them. And she happened to only be wearing her panties at the time. We got the video camera out to record her, and it was hilarious! Someday maybe I'll post the video. For now, here are a couple of pictures of her in her "outfit" (while she is watching the videos on the camera).

March 11

This is how Audrey has been running around the house lately. Wearing only a shirt, big girl panties, and one sock. For some reason, she has decided that she likes to have one sock on and one sock off. She's also been wearing three necklaces with this outfit, but she didn't want to pose for me with the necklaces tonight.

I don't feel like we have had to do much potty training today. Audrey seems to be "getting" the idea. I've tried to force her to go sit on the potty a few times, and that is just not working well. She doesn't want to sit if she doesn't have to go, which is understandable. Since she has been doing a really good job of telling us when she needs to go, we have been giving her some more freedom today and letting her dictate when she goes to the bathroom.

We've probably had about 8-9 successful potty trips and only 1 accident! The accident happened when I was making a grocery list and she was happily playing by herself. She was running in and out of the bathroom, closing the door and then coming back out to say hi to me. I heard her get quiet for a second, and then I heard, "Mommy, my panties!" When I went in to see what had happened, her panties were wet...in the back. Normally, when she has an accident, they are wet in the front. Then I looked in her potty, and there was some pee in it! So I think what happened is she sat down on the potty to go pee without taking her panties off! So I have to give her credit for trying to go to the bathroom by herself. We just need to work with her on getting her panties off first!

Poop is still going to be hard to figure out I think. Today, Daniel caught her just starting to go poop, and he rushed her to the bathroom to finish on the potty. But she wasn't too happy about going poop on the potty. She just doesn't poop that often, so we aren't getting much practice there. I'm sure she will eventually get the idea though.

I don't think she is necessarily "trained"...I am sure there are plenty more accidents awaiting us in the future. But she is getting the idea much quicker than I ever expected. Maybe tomorrow I will write a post that is NOT about potty training!

March 10

Day 3 is over, and it was a pretty good day!

Before we left for Sprouts Audrey peed and pooped in the potty. So we got off to a really good start!

I packed lots of extra panties and clothes to take with us to Sprouts, expecting the worst! We ALMOST made it through the whole morning without needing any of the extra clothes. But at 11:20, while I was helping to clean up, Audrey was playing by herself in the nursery. It was pretty impressive that she was willing to play all alone by herself in a room, so I let her stay and play. I should have stayed a little closer, because when I came back in, she had peed all over herself and wasn't too happy about it. But she did stay dry from 7:30-11:20, so that was pretty good. (It helped that she didn't have a lot to drink this morning!).

After Sprouts, we came home and I knew I should have taken Audrey straight to the potty. But she was playing, and I really wanted to open a package I got in the mail (Audrey's Easter dress--it's very pretty!). So I wasn't paying attention to her for a few minutes. And that is all it took for her to poop in her pants! That one was my fault, because if I had been watching, I think we could have made it to the bathroom.

I really wanted Audrey to go potty before her nap this afternoon, and we tried and tried, but she just wouldn't go. So I put her to bed in a pull up, fully expecting her to wake up wet. She slept for over 2 1/2 hours, and when she got up she was completely dry! She stayed dry from 11:30-4:30!

Today's stats-- Successful trips to the potty: 6 1/2 (she had one poop tonight that was half in her panties, half in the potty). Accidents: 2 1/2. Not too shabby!

Overall, it was a much less stressful day. It was nice to get out of the house, but at the same time, I feel like it is easier for Audrey to figure this all out when we stay home and stay in a routine. So that means another weekend at home for us--but at least Daddy will be home tomorrow and Saturday to help us out!!

March 9

No picture today, just a potty update! Sorry if this bores you to death, but it helps me to write all of this stuff down.

Day #2 was definitely more successful than yesterday. Trips to the potty: around 25 (I lost count!). Successful trips to the potty: 9. (Wow!!) Accidents: 3.

This morning she figured out how to make her pee go in the potty--it was very exciting for both of us! And once she figured it out, she was eager to go again and again. She would even tell me when the pee was ready to come out, and the she would "hurry, hurry, hurry" to go to the bathroom and put her pee in the potty. Nine times she was successful!! Her pull up was also dry when she woke up from her nap this afternoon, which surprised me (yesterday it was very full). Seriously, a very successful day...way more than I expected on Day 2.

Now, there are still a few problems to be solved, not to mention the possibility that we will wake up tomorrow and she will forget everything she learned today.

Problem #1: She doesn't pee very much at a time. Sometimes she went more than other times, but she is definitely not emptying her bladder when she goes. And therefore 10-15 minutes later (or less), she needs to go again.

Problem #2: When she sits on the potty and pee does not come out, she gets very upset. She was not willing to sit and try for more than a couple of seconds today. We ended up just hanging out in the bathroom a lot, so she would be close to the potty when she felt the need to go. But we can't spend ALL of our time in the bathroom.

Problem #3: She has not pooped since we started potty training. It's not that unusual for her to go a couple of days without pooping, but it makes me a little nervous. I'm not sure if she is going to be patient enough to sit on the potty long enough to push her poop out. (remember, I warned you about all the "p" words that I would be using this week!!).

Tonight, we went to church, and Audrey wore her special princess panties (aka...a pull up!). We were getting ready to leave (always a stressful process). I had her dressed with her coat and shoes on, ready to walk out the door, when she said, "Mommy, pee-pee now!" And that right there is the reason why I was so reluctant to potty train. Selfishly, I just don't want to deal with taking her to the bathroom when we are busy or out in public or on a schedule. But, despite my reluctance, I am potty training her and I'm not turning back now. So tonight, even though I was in a hurry, I took her to the potty (coat and all)...and she went pee on the potty, just like she said she would!

At church, her pull-up was a little wet when I picked her up from the nursery. But I did take her to the bathroom before we left church, and she peed in the potty there too. That was a good way to end our day.

Even though it has been a successful day, I have been way more stressed out today. By tonight, I was (am!!) exhausted and my patience was (is!!!) gone. But tomorrow is a brand new day. Hopefully, I will get a new dose of energy and patience and be ready to face it. I'm planning to have her wear her big girl panties to Sprouts for the morning...should be interesting!

March 8

We survived Day 1 of potty training! And look at all the stickers on Audrey's potty chart!! They represent each time that Audrey sat on the potty and tried to go. I decided that would be the best way to motivate her to get started.

The stickers really worked well for getting her to sit on the potty. She was really excited every time that she got to put one up. While she was sitting, we would look at all the stickers and count them and name the characters and make up songs about them. I was super impressed with how willing she was to sit on the potty (happily) for a large portion of the day today.

Now as far as going to the bathroom on the potty--that's a different story. We had one minor success--just a few drops of pee--but I consider that to be good enough for day 1. However, right after she put that little bit of pee in the potty, she walked out into the hall and peed all over the floor, which was a little frustrating since she had been so close. She did tell me every time she started to pee. "Pee come out now!" she would say. But every time it was just a little too late to make it to the bathroom!

As the day went on, I kept track of all our potty training "stats" (I'm a dork I know, but it makes it a little more fun for me!). Today's stats are as follows--Potty attempts: 27. Successful attempts: 1. Accidents: 5.

That's about what I expected from the first day or two. Now if these are still our stats on Friday, I think I will be getting frustrated. But Day 1 was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, which is helping me to have a positive attitude about Day 2 tomorrow!