Potty Blog: Day 2

[mrs_pulley]

Day 2! I know it was brief yesterday, but I'm encouraged that there were no accidents. I'm still wondering if we made the right choice letting her sleep in a diaper. I could see doing it after a little success, but jumping into the deep end on the first day of swim lessons doesn't sound wise. Comments on that issue would be greatly appreciated! Just yesterday I was not a fan of going straight to underwear without several days of dry diapers and here I am about to attempt a full day in underwear! Let's do it, Kitty!

7am- Emma woke up slightly wet in her diaper and in a great mood. I'm actually encouraged that she's not soaked. She stopped pooping at night a long time ago, but I would have felt even more unsure if she was very wet the day after going diaperless. We're going to lounge in bed as is our morning routine for a little bit this morning before I switch her over. My stomach is bothering me a little. Did I mention I'm pregnant? Oh yes, I can't make life easy on myself. I'm firmly into the beginning of the third trimester and just a couple months out of a high risk situation that started Christmas Day (I'll take the time to suggest you all avoid the ER on this day as it seems the hospital scrapes the bottom of the barrel to staff it...but that's another story!) I'd love to get her trained before the baby comes in July. I know people suggest that regression can occur, but I'd rather deal with a brief regression than actually going through the process once there's a newborn shattering my ability to function. So anyway, she seems pretty happy and I'm sitting here thinking about the day plan.

7:30- Switched over to undies so the pressure is on. She went potty first and I tried to really talk up "hello kitty" and how we don't go potty on her. The things you never think you'll say...

8:00-first potty break. she goes and doesn't even get too upset that I interrupted her fruit breakfast and Little Einsteins. However, as the morning fog begins to lift, I realize that I'd rather not stay at home today. We have a zoo membership I'd like to get some more use out of and there are impatient flowers that have been sitting in the back of our van for the past three days. I meant to plant them before the party but those took a backseat to pretty much everything and I don't dare check on them. I'm afraid its today or bust but I can take care of that at nap time. The real problem is how do I get out of the house? I didn't buy a portable seat. Just one that drops over the toilet. A fantastic invention, by the way. My criteria for a fantastic invention? One that keeps me from cleaning up waste material in a pot that is trying to sing to me.

8:30- Emma seems pretty ok with our ridiculously frequent potty trips. She went with me the first time I asked and even threw in an enthusiastic "OK, mom!" as she got up. I would have been more enthused if she had actually gone potty, but I am going to stay positive as long as Hello Kitty isn't masked by a pile of poo!

9am- Why hasn't my buzzer gone off yet? Maybe reset it late, that's bound to happen. I keep asking Emma if she needs to go potty because she keeps doing that heavy breathing that may or may not be a grunt thing. Her allergies are really getting to her, though. She's starting to lose her voice a little. Looks like she inherited my genes...poor girl! And still I'm asking her! She must think I've stripped a gear but she doesn't seemed turned off by the incessant potty talk. Since being inside doesn't seem to be helping her, I think we will try the zoo. I realized that I know where the bathroom is and I can set my cellphone for the half hour mark. Its a small zoo so we won't be there for a while. But tracking the day does take up some time and I like to be a pretty involved parent so I'll post this blog and leave it be for now and then update after she's asleep and I've got those impatients in the ground. Wish me luck!

...9:05- she just peed standing next to me. ahh and there's the timer...

1:15: Let the impatients die! That zoo trip was exhausting! Today is a great day but I'm just a little too round to be hoofing it up and down hills and chasing after my future Olympic sprinter. We had no accidents at the zoo! I took her potty twice and she was great! She did like how the bathrooms echoed and spent the whole time chanting "No!" emphatically. Wish she would have picked a different word. The morning accident literally happened seconds before the timer went off. I should have trusted my internal clock but oh well. Lesson learned. She only went a little and then waited until we got to the potty before finishing. I think that's a good thing. She also seemed to be a little ashamed when she wet herself which my mom promises is a positive step and won't scar her for life. My biggest question is how do you clean them up? I don't mean that stupidly, its just that Emma has very sensitive skin and if I were to dunk her in the tub every time that she is bound to have an accident, it would tear her up. As it is, her pediatrician made a comment about how she needs special skin care and that she's getting eczema etc. Its the first time I've been given unsolicited advice from one of her doctors so I'm trying not to take it personally and just really lotion that kid up. At first she freaked out over all the lotion going on but when I told her it was a rub, she just flopped over and melted. So now I am regularly giving my child full body massages. At night she requests I rub her problem spots. That's actually when she first told me she didn't want diapers anymore. Through toddler speak, she told me she wanted her low back rubbed, right around the top of her diaper. As I obliged her and thought of the monster I'm creating, she said "no more diapers!" So far, she's held up her end of the bargain very well. My biggest obstacle are the meltdowns she has when she's tired. She did not want to go potty before nap time, and I again decided to put her in a diaper for a nap, though I seriously considered underwear. A nap isn't for as long and I've been sending her potty all day. Maybe I'll post about that specific issue because I need a push before I risk extra laundry. Well Miss Emma is down, so I'm going to rest and see if I can muster up the energy to stick those poor plants in the ground before they turn brown.

4:30pm- We're back in business! Emma is up and in her Hello Kitties. She did have a slightly wet diaper after her nap and I have to wonder if she didn't go once she woke up. How do I deal with that? Maybe I should dig up her baby monitor so I can hear her better. For some reason I feel like I've heard her less often lately anyhow.

5:00- I smell a smell. I know I do...or am so in potty training mode that I'm making things up? Emma just asked me to take her Hello Kitty doll potty. I'm going to consider that a good thing! Never thought I'd wipe the bottom of an innanimate object but what the heck!

5:30- I have no idea how many times Emma has asked to go potty in the past half hour. Its been over ten and my back is starting to hurt from hauling her up and down. And she hates to have any pants or underwear on while she goes so I have to further bend over to take them off and put them back on. At least she isn't putting up a fight. I just have to wonder how much of this is her trying to get attention or whether she really needs to go!

5:40- And all was revealed! She went potty! If she had done what she did in the potty in her underwear...well that would have been the end of this adventure let me tell you. I am so amazingly proud of her! No time for snark, I can't believe she was so self aware and able to pull it off! I also feel good that I didn't start to discourage her from going when she wasn't ready. I am so shocked by how well this is going. I get so nervous everytime I say that, like the potty gods will frown on me but I promised myself that I'd stay positive and so I will! I think I'll call it a day with writing but I'll be sure to update on the evening after my diabetes test tomorrow morning! Let's see if my mom can keep Emma's 26 hour record going!