POTTY WARRIOR

Day 3 of Cora's PT Bootcamp was filled with lots of accidents (8), but some very important successes. We had hoped for a better end to the weekend, but as we learned last time, the 3-day bootcamp is really just the start of a few weeks of intensive training. We expect Cora to do lots of learning at daycare this week, both at school (her teacher is on board with our undies-only approach) and at the YMCA daycare in the afternoons. Our evenings will still be spent following the constant vigilance rule. Eventually, we'll be able to ease up on her a bit, and we'll find time to get the house back in order (the Potty Warrior and her accomplice ran rampant all weekend long, with two parents whose attention was focused on one task and one task alone).

As far as the details, the day started at midnight with an accident in her crib. Jay got her changed and re-situated  and she was back asleep in no time. This morning she woke up dry, sat on the potty for 15 minutes, and made a big pee-pee, followed by a big celebration. She only had one accident this morning. With 4 potty attempts throughout the morning, NONE produced a deposit. Nap was dry, but short (only about an hour), and she wouldn't go potty afterward either. All in all, a pretty uneventful morning.

Nap was quickly followed by 2 small accidents, both standing in front of the bookshelf. We were STILL waiting on her to have a BM, so we knew these accidents were due to her trying to hold in her poo. When she finally started to poop, she freaked out and it got stuck (because even though she was drinking plenty of fluids, she was way behind on her normal BM schedule by this point and likely backed up a bit). It was SO SAD to see her in such distress (and discomfort). She was literally scared to go. After a few minutes I "Mom'ed up" and helped her get it out. She felt better, but we knew there was lots more to go...

I decided to give the kids a break from routine and stuck them in the bathtub, without water, in their undies, with popsicles. They were SO happy. James jumped out for a potty break, and as soon as he climbed back in to finish his popsicle, Cora asked to get out and go. And she did! A great big pee! Now that's progress right there - asking to go potty and then delivering! 

After popsicles there was another poop incident, but this time she got it out all by herself while sitting on the potty. She earned a new pair of shoes for that one! More progress!

The rest of the afternoon was pretty mellow, though there was another pee accident, another little poop accident, and then yet another pee accident, for which she caught herself and stopped herself, then ran herself to the potty yelling "Hurry hurry!" Even MORE progress!

We opted for a VERY early dinner and an early bedtime tonight. James peed on the potty twice in the time it took Cora to sit there and NOT go before bed. But oh well. We tucked them in and she was asleep by 7:40pm. I plan to go to bed very early tonight, since we'll likely be up for at least one accident at some point. Then it's back to work tomorrow. And we can't wait...

(Stay tuned for daycare potty updates as the week goes along. And please keep your fingers crossed that Cora "gets it" by the end of the week!)