CHORE CHARTS

We made chore charts over the weekend and put them into use today.

The gist: Each kid has a sheet that needs to have daily check marks for each task in order to earn their "warm fuzzy" (a pom pom) and allowance ($1) at the end of each week. The warm fuzzy will go into a jar that, once filled, can be cashed in for something extra fun (e.g. a new toy or family adventure). They don't understand much about money yet other than the basic concept: it can be used to buy things. They can spend their dollar on candy, or save it up to buy a little toy. Whatever they want. This will teach them about earning and saving and spending (right?) Ages 3 and 4 do not seem too young to us to get this started, since they already tell us to go buy something (usually a food item) if we're out of it, so they obviously understand what money is used for. Now they need to learn how much money is needed for certain items, and how hard it is to earn it!

Their chore charts are currently very basic (get dressed, brush your teeth, choose your breakfast, put away your shoes and backpack after school, feed/water the cats, clean up your toys, put your dirty clothes into the laundry basket, take a bath, put your pajamas on, and take your vitamin) with items pictured rather than written, and separated into morning and evening activities (with not much to do in the mornings, since we let them sleep until the last possible minute to get to school on time). The kids do help with other, actual chores (cleaning the table after meals, transferring laundry, etc.), and those things might migrate to their chore charts once they've gotten the hang of the charts and I can take some of the basics off (obviously we don't want to reward them for getting dressed and brushing their teeth forever - those are not chores, those are things everyone has to do in life). We'll leave the bigger things (ironing, mowing the lawn, etc.) off until the kids are old enough not only to complete them, but old enough to want bigger allowances. And at that point, we'll probably seriously consider keeping a grab bag of larger household tasks they can choose from in order to earn a few extra bucks. Only time will tell. This is a good start though. And the kids were very excited to use the dry erase marker to make their very own check marks under Monday this morning!

Oh, and above the chore charts are their REWARDS and CONSEQUENCES. These apply solely to their school reports. For example, if James gets a good report every day for the week, he can pick something special to go do (eat frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf, see a movie in the theater, or play at the bounce house place, for example). If, however, he gets sad faces instead of happy faces on his report (which happened 4 out of 5 days last week, after an ENTIRE SUMMER of only happy faces - for which he earned a new toy), then he has consequences (no playing games on our phones at restaurants, no renting a movie from RedBox for the weekend, no TV on Saturday morning while mommy is running, etc.) Cora doesn't get a daily report card like James does, but her teacher doesn't hesitate to text me if there's an issue (hence the reason she knows to keep a bar of soap for sassing...), so we'll know if she's had a good week or bad week. And for her, accidents will play into this too. We are still having accident problems with Cora, and we're learning now that they tend to occur at three times: 1) when she's sleeping (which doesn't count against her, obviously), 2) when she's focused on something and doesn't want to take a break to visit the potty (like seat work/coloring or recess), and 3) when she's angry with us about something (usually getting in trouble/time-out trigger this, she literally pees her pants in anger). We are doing our best to be patient and to simply remind her more often to go to the bathroom and just "try" to pee, and offer her gummy bear rewards for keeping her undies dry, but it's really getting old. She's been potty trained for almost a year and a half now, and these random accidents that started back in December (and tend to occur for 1-2 weeks at a time) are really frustrating. We've had her checked by the pediatrician multiple times to be sure there is no medical issue, and we know part of it is influence from school (even now that she's up in the 3-year-old class, there are kids who aren't fully potty trained, and she wants the attention they get), but we feel like she's needing more encouragement from us. Punishment won't work (she doesn't care about losing out on TV, RedBox, or phone time anyway, not that any form of consequences other than the soap has EVER worked for her - another reason we're pushing the soap), so we're going to play up the rewards and see if that helps. Cross your fingers for us!

POTTY WOES

Perhaps only Grambot and us remember Cora's week+ fiasco of potty accidents at the beginning of January, but when she went back to normal afterward, we let it go as regression. Then this week it's been happening again... our very well potty trained girl started having accidents 3-5 times per day (including a few naps) and overnight every night. We would have written it off as regression again, but being the hypochondriac parents that we are, combined with the urging of her daycare teacher (which certainly put us on high alert), we decided to visit the doc to rule out any big issues. Luckily, she was indeed given the all-clear (urine was clean, constipation not an issue, everything looked normal down there, no pain or infection or other indication of an underlying issue) and was otherwise healthy as well. 

So what's the accident culprit? A few suggestions by the doc that made sense to us included 1) chocolate as a diuretic (she had a LOT of chocolate over the holidays and beyond, due to Santa filling her Christmas stocking with candy), 2) soapy bath water causing irritation (she took MANY baths while home with Grambot over vacation because she loves the new bath toys she got for Christmas, and probably sat in her washed off soap/shampoo - we don't ever add bubble bath, and also often climbed in while Grambot was showering, so she probably had adult soap/shampoo in the bath water as well), and 3) once she wet herself the first or second time and felt any chapping, it caused her to not want to go (thus holding it longer than usual and only letting it out in trickles when she couldn't contain herself). Other than the chocolate issue (the candy is long gone), these culprits could easily have made a recurrence over the past week. We know for sure that she sat in a colored bath over the weekend (for a LONG time), so that could easily have been the start of our problem. Especially since James has also complained of some irritation, poor guy.

So, the lesson to ourselves (and perhaps others out there who have kids with sensitive skin)? Our kids will now only sit in the bath BEFORE any hair washing or body scrubbing or teeth brushing occurs, and they will be immediately rinsed off and removed from the tub afterward. And whenever possible (which is most of the time), we'll just skip baths all together and shower them instead.

PRIORITIES...

Cora had a BAD week of accidents the entire time my mom was here (no fun for ANY of us, literally 5+ accidents per day while awake, yet still dry for naps and overnight). This is 7 months post potty training, and following a month where she had maybe 3 accidents total, even with all the travel and car rides and messed up schedules. We were flummoxed! We cut out all citrus immediately but didn't know what else could be triggering it. Regression? Infection? Another food? She's been healthy though and hasn't had any new foods, so we think it was just a bad week, and nothing more. She's been almost back on track since the weekend (only one accident each on Saturday, Sunday, and today, even doing great at school), so we're pushing the gummy bear rewards again in hopes we get our potty star back this week!

 The girl has priorities: washing her hands is far more important than getting her pants pulled all the way back up after a potty visit....

WHICH BABY...

...is on the potty with the Lego man lamp?

ROADSIDE POTTY BREAK

Homeward bound. It was a little chilly at our first potty stop, 1.5 hours into the trip and immediately following Cora's first nap of the day (she ended up sleeping another 2 hours after lunch too). Then she fell asleep in the car when we were about 30 minutes from home and happily stayed asleep during the bed transfer. Sweet girl was worn out from her exciting week in Florida!

PUT YOUR FEET UP

She's like a man - she needs to put her feet up and bring along some entertainment when she's planning to be in there a while...

REGRESSION FRUSTRATION

Cora has had such a bad week... Normally, she has 0-1 accidents overnight per week, 0-1 at school, and 0-2 with us at home in the evenings/weekends (because she gets busy playing, usually outside, and we forget that she's only 2-years-old and we sometimes have to remind her to use the potty, since Miss Independent generally just takes herself). So far this week (since Sunday), she hasn't had a dry night (some nights she's had TWO accidents - good thing we still have her sheets stacked!), she's had multiple accidents (on the same day, even) at school, and she's been defiant about accidents at home. So what gives? Is she regressing? We thought that might happen when school started back in August and the little kids (AKA the ones still in diapers) moved up to the K2 class, but she was fine then. She's been getting good reports and notes such as "Cora is my potty superstar!" from her teacher (so we're not the only ones worried about what's up with her this week). It's been frustrating, for sure, and we'd love to hear ideas if anyone would like to share their thoughts!

She really is our little morning buddy. Almost always awake before James, eating her breakfast and dancing around the kitchen. In these particular photos, she's 1) dressed at 6:30am because she'd wet her bed (and jammies) for the second time overnight, and 2) in her undies for the same reason. While she seems unconcerned by this week's issue, we'd prefer to have our pajama-clad morning buddy back ASAP...

POTTY LESSONS

Now that both our kids are potty trained, we've sold our cloth diaper stash and given away the few disposables we had laying around. And I must say, it feels GOOD to be done with diapers already - only a 3 year and 3 month stretch of diaper changing duty isn't too bad with two kids! Yes, I know we kinda lucked out with them being so close in age - just another perk!

So since we're experts now (I kid, I kid), here are the lessons we learned along the way, in the hopes that some of them may work for someone else down the road:

1) Go all-in. Don't confuse the kid by going back and forth between undies and diapers. Not even for naptime or car rides or overnight. Sure, it sucks to have to change the sheets a few timess a week, it can be stressful to drive anywhere further than 15 minutes away, it's a pain to have to pull the car over at a moment's notice, it can be frustrating to deal with fear of public restrooms, restaurant meals get interrupted frequently, etc. But in the end, trusting your kid and showing them that you mean what you say when you call them a "big kid" makes a huge difference. Remember, this is a really big milestone for them. They need to know that their parents have confidence in them so that they can have confidence in themselves.

(As for the overnight accidents, James was completely accident free by 3-years-old, so only 9 months of overnight accidents for him, and his happened about 3-4 nights/week. Cora, who started potty training 4 months younger than James, has been accident free overnight for the most part for about a month. Sure, the occasional accident still happens for both of them, but it's rare. Neither kid ever had much issue with naptime accidents - though they did occur. And car accidents have been equally as nonexistent for them both - we're just really careful to take them potty before loading up, then stopping as often as necessary, even if it means 2 stops between our house and daycare...)

2) Be patient. This is something we struggled with a LOT (and still do occasionally, since accidents do sometimes still occur, and when they do, Cora usually has a BAD day - it's like all or nothing with her), but it is worth it to constantly remind yourself to breathe and let the frustration go. Getting upset about an accident doesn't teach them anything - it only prolongs the training process because it knocks their confidence down. We had the most success when we simply reminded the kids that they needed to keep their undies dry, then asked them where the pee-pee is suppose to go. 9 times out of 10 they enthusiastically yelled "In the potty!", quickly forgetting that they had done wrong. Two- and three-year-olds are fully capable of holding a grudge, so don't give them reason to.

3) Make it fun. Every kid is SO different, but I guarantee you there is a way to make potty training fun for them. Whether it's rewards of treats or stickers, promises of playdates or adventures, getting to stay up late or eat dinner in front of the TV, even the kids who can't be bribed (ahem, Cora) will eventually understand that peeing in the potty benefits them too (not just mama and daddy).

And that's it. Three simple things to remember. Good luck trainers and trainees!

HEADING HOME

When road tripping, you do things like stop for lunch at IHOP. And eat breakfast foods instead. Like smiley face pancakes.

Jay asked Cora where the soccer ball was and she went and circled it!

Starting Saturday evening James continually asked us "Did you see the spider wave at me? With two hands?" And for a day and a half we just smiled and said sure whenever he asked us that (because we had no idea what he was talking about). Turns out, he's not as crazy as he sounds. As we were packing the car and piling everything onto a blanket staging area, which was quickly overtaken by "grandaddy long-legs", he pointed at one big spider and said "See? His two hands are waving at me!" And sure enough, it DID look like the spider had his front legs raised and waving! Bub Bubs is so cute! (That's him demonstrating the spider wave in the above photo)

Road trips also cause you to pull over at random spots on the side of the road for toddler potty breaks. And when inclement weather threatens, you improvise with suitable potty locations. Especially when you're in the little Jetta instead of the minivan.

2 WEEKS TRAINED

She's almost there. It's been 2 weeks now. She went 3 days in a row at school last week without a single accident (though Friday was BAD, and we have no idea why). She hasn't had a (waking) accident at home in over a week. She wakes up dry most mornings, and partly because if she needs to pee at night, she actually wakes herself up and calls for us to take her. Amazing. Truly amazing.

So since she's been waking at night to pee, we asked her if she wanted to sleep on the floor so that she could get up and go by herself at night. She said yes. And since James has been BAD about keeping her up at naptime and bedtime lately (and gotten kicked out of naptime 3 times last week for disturbing other kids, especially his sister!), we asked her if she wanted to sleep in her own room. She said yes. So we set her up.

Well, after 40 minutes of talking to me and purposely falling out of bed and kicking her feet and throwing her blanket and pillow around and asking for James, I finally asked her if she wanted to go back to James' room and sleep in her crib. She said yes. So I guess she's just not ready yet to sleep solo. Oh well, at least we gave it a shot. I suppose we'll just have to get up and take her potty at midnight for a while. Luckily she still sleeps through the night MOST nights!

PT WEEK ONE WRAP-UP (AND THEN SOME)

Baby Doll is doing SO WELL with potty training!

She is learning her body signals and is doing a great job of telling us when she needs to go (she generally yells "I pee-pee!" or "I pooping!", depending on whether she needs to pee or poop, though she sometimes says "I pooping!" for needing to pee, or for gas, which can be frustrating when she's holding in a BM and thus needs to visit the potty 2000 times for toots before she lets out the poop). Her daycare teacher is also learning her signals, so things are going pretty well there (though not as great as they are at home). She isn't afraid of public potty's, and she loves the little potty that we keep in the car. We're finding that when she's with us, as long as we're paying close attention, she can go accident-free for hours (and she doesn't even need the constant reminders of the Bootcamp method, which is REALLY nice, because it's so annoying, to everyone, to hear "keep your undies dry, check your undies, tell mommy if you need to pee" all the time). But if we're out in public with lots of distractions, or she's with someone (like the YMCA daycare girls, or the aftercare teacher at school) who isn't clued into her signals yet, then accidents happen. It's ok though. She's only on Day 10 today, so we're expecting to deal with lots of accidents still for another week or so, then they'll probably taper off. She has made so much progress in the past 10 days, it's really amazing to us. We should have known that once she made her mind up about how she wanted to do things, all we had to do was follow her lead and we'd be good.

Wednesday:

dry overnight

peed in the potty first thing

3 pee accidents at daycare

dry nap

0 accidents at the gym (and peed twice in the public potty there!)

1 poop accident at home

peed in the potty before bath and bed

Thursday:

dry overnight (woke up to pee around 10:30pm and went to the potty!)

peed in the potty first thing

1 pee accident at daycare

dry nap

2 poop accidents at the gym (and one was YUCKY!)

peed twice in the little potty we keep in the car (before and after the gym)

0 accidents at home

peed in the potty before bath and bed

Friday:

dry overnight

peed in the potty first thing

3 accidents at daycare (2 pee, 1 poop)

wet nap

0 accidents at the pediatrician's office (and peed 4 times in the public potty there!)

peed in the car potty

3 accidents at the beach party

0 accidents at home

peed in the potty before bed

Saturday:

wet overnight (James was too, so maybe we gave too many fluids at the beach party...)

peed in the potty first thing

pooped on the potty (and earned herself a fancy new pair of red shoes!)

 peed in the little potty (with no help or notification for me, just went all by herself and dumped her own pee-pee, then yelled "I dump it!" when I walked over to see what she was up to) while riding bikes outside

peed in the car potty while checking out the tanks

peed in the public potty at the restaurant

peed in the car potty before heading home

peed in the potty before bed

0 accidents, of any kind!

Sunday:

wet overnight again, but not much

peed in the potty first thing

peed AND POOPED in the little potty all day, staying dry in the car (for ALL 4 hours of our trip) and getting out of the pool to use the potty rather than get her swim "diaper" dirty!

1 tiny pee accident as we stopped for dinner (she was trying to hold it after we woke her up)

peed in the public potty at the restaurant

stayed dry all the way home

peed in the potty before bed

Dancing around in her fancy new shoes

Using her car potty before heading into the waterpark (hence the swimsuit on her head)

PROGRESS! PROGRESS!

Cora had only TWO pee accidents today and two poop accidents. Three of those accidents occurred at daycare (one was right as I was picking her up, since the aftercare teacher didn't know she was in undies!), but she stayed dry at naptime. She did SO WELL today! She woke up dry, went straight to the potty to pee, and stayed dry throughout the morning and the entire drive to daycare. When Jay dropped her off, she went straight to the potty there. After school, I took the kids to the gym with me. Cora peed TWICE on a public potty there before I went to workout, then again when I was done running 45 minutes later. She had me pull over on the side of the road so she could go on the way home (but didn't produce anything except gas). Once home, she peed in the potty again. Had her second poop accident (she alerted me, but it was too late), then stayed dry throughout dinner. Peed on the potty before and after bath, and didn't have anything left at bedtime. She's now sleeping soundly, and we sure hope she stays that way tonight, dry or not. Last night was LONG. She was up basically from 10:00pm-2:00am. She kept asking to go potty, and around midnight she actually peed in the potty. Jay and I traded out, and she kept lifting her head and crying for me every 5-10 minutes for HOURS, so I couldn't leave the room. James was no fun to share a bed with. At one point when I dozed off between Cora checks, he crawled on top of my legs, perpendicular to me. I was actually glad when Cora woke me that time so I could scoot him off my still-sore shins and calves. Anyway, fingers crossed we all get better sleep tonight. Baby Doll needs it just as badly as we do!

Stopped on the side of the road for a potty break. James was totally jealous and wanted to get out to pee too. Don't mind the trash bags and random items in the car, we're overdue for a trip to Goodwill. And yes, that's a sucker in her mouth. I gave it to her at daycare for staying dry there and using the public potty like a big girl. Pleased as punch.

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!)

PT BOOTCAMP DAY 2: FOUR PONIES

It's been a 3 pony kinda day. And that's a good thing.

Cora started her day off spectacularly, waking up dry (after sleeping in until 7:20am!), then peeing in the potty (after about 20 minutes of all 4 of us sitting in the bathroom, talking and singing and reading books and relaxing her and encouraging her). We had a yummy breakfast (french toast), then Jay and James went off to feed the dogs while I stayed home with Cora. She enjoyed a nice, long solo bath.

After bath, she had 4 accidents (3 small ones, 1 big one) before lunch (including the start of a poop accident, which never reoccurred later in the day, and which we're still waiting on...), with one little deposit right before sitting down to eat (though she sat there forever to get it, probably almost 30 minutes).

After lunch she had another small accident, then made a big pee-pee on the potty right before naptime!! She went down for nap early (11:45am), holding all 3 of her thus-earned ponies. So proud of her!

Sweet baby slept for her full 2 hours, just like this:

Unfortunately, she woke from nap wet. She willingly sat on the potty numerous times, was plenty gassy (still holding in that BM), and had an accident, then had another big success. It was at this point that James and I had escaped the house for some pool-time fun, and Jay noticed her dancing around like she needed to pee. So he took her to the potty of course. He left the room and she did her thing, all by herself. When I returned from our pool date with pizza, he reported that her new thing is to yell "I pee-pee! I pee-pee!" excitedly while reaching up to be held, in order to tell us that she needs to pee and should be rushed to the potty. Works for me. I didn't see that in action though. After dinner, I took her potty a few times, but nothing came of it (I don't think, though once she did tell me she peed, and I'm inclined to believe her, because if she hasn't and I ask her about it, she'll say "No, I don't WANT TO!"). By 8:30pm we'd tried long enough and just put her to bed. We'll see what happens tonight. We're not foolish enough to think that she's just going to STTN without accidents every night, so we're prepared. Her sheets are triple stacked with waterproof pads. Hope we all get some good rest though. I know we're all tired. Potty training is draining on everyone!

CORA'S PT BOOTCAMP: DAY 1

That's right, for the second year in a row we're spending our 3-day Memorial Day weekend at home, potty training. And this year it's Cora's turn. Big girl is 23.5-months, almost 4 months younger than we trained James, but she shows all the same signs of potty training readiness, and then some. Since she's been unofficially training at daycare (using the potty there 1-2 times/day for MONTHS now), and training herself as desired at home (with James' help and support occasionally), we decided to take the plunge and try to get her out of diapers (and pull-ups!) for good this weekend. So this morning we set up for PT Bootcamp (the same 3-day method we used with James: cold-turkey into undies, no pants, lots of reminders, few forced trips without accident triggers, rushing to the bathroom in mid-accident, and LOTS of love and support) and threw her a little Potty Party (complete with balloons and donuts), promptly throwing away all her diapers. (Not really, of course. They all just went upstairs, since the cloth diapers will be sold and the pull-ups will be donated to daycare.) 

I'll give a rundown of the day just as I did for James, but in summary (for those who don't care about the details), she had a good day. There were 3-4 successes and 7 tiny accidents. One big celebration (her rewards/prizes include gummy bears for semi-hits and mini My Little Ponies for real successes, and once she either starts telling us she needs to go or had a BM on the potty, she'll earn a new pair of shoes or a BIG My Little Pony), and no drama in between (she never fought us about sitting on the potty, and often sat for far longer than we even wanted her too). Half the day (the morning, until 2:30pm, after naptime) was accident-free (and we were wondering just how long she was going to hold it all in!), and the second half of the day was accident-laden. 

Anyway, here are the details:

9:30am - We "gave away" all her diapers to new babies, said "bye-bye" to them, told her the plan for the day, had a mini celebration in the bathroom, and changed her into undies.

1:00-2:15pm - She napped, and stayed dry the entire time. She hadn't had a single accident before nap, yet hadn't asked to sit on the potty either. We put her up there 3 times (once after an hour without pee-pee, once before lunch, and once right before nap), but she never made a deposit.

2:20pm - We took her to the potty right after nap and all sat there talking to her and reading books. Within a couple minutes, she made a big deposit, and we ALL made a very big deal about it. She was SO pleased with herself. And we couldn't believe our luck!

2:30pm - I took the kids outside to get the mail and Cora had an accident as we were climbing the steps.

3:20 pm - Tiny trickle accident on the floor.

3:30pm - Small enough accident that just her undies were wet, running between her room and James' room.

3:33pm - She made a TINY little poop on the potty after being taken in mid-accident.

3:45pm - She was goofing off standing behind the shower curtain, after sitting on the potty for 15 minutes (waiting for that poop...), and wet her undies

4:50pm - A yucky poop accident (which happened SO FAST, right in front of me - sad).

5:20pm - She made a little trickle while standing in the hallway and immediately yelled "Uh oh! Pee pee!"

6:00pm - Wet her undies while sitting at the dinner table, then finished in the potty.

6:40pm - Standing in front of the kitchen window and trickled on the floor just enough to realize what she'd done and yelled "Uh oh!" (though this was a frustrating accident since we had JUST been in the bathroom playing with her balloons and I'd JUST asked her if she needed to go).

7:45pm - Last trip to the potty for the night. She SAID she went pee-pee, but it's so hard to tell with girls (we prefer not to get all up in her business).

7:50pm - In bed, and asleep by 8:05pm. We shall see how the night goes...

Saying "bye-bye" to Gramma and trying to sneak away in her car

Waving "bye-bye" to the diapers!

Pushing James around on the lawnmower

Reading LOTS of books together (their favorite pastime)

Her first "potty prize", a mini My Little Pony

Refreshing her memory on where that poop is suppose to go...

Pretty sure she had an awesome day. The smile rarely left her face!

Little monkey, caught in the act!

What? I'm just hanging out in the bathroom like you suggested Mama...

Negotiating potty training options with Daddy

"Baby Feet"

Playing with her Potty Party balloons

POTTY TRAINEE AND HER TRAINER

POTTY LAUGHS

Remember how I said back when we were potty training James that I had heard lots of funny potty stories, but honestly didn't find anything amusing about the experience myself? Well, perhaps that was because we were so gung-ho and focused and bootcampish about it. Because with Cora, it's funny.

Take Saturday night, for instance, at James' birthday party. Jay and I fully succumb to the concept that "It Takes a Village" to raise kids (or at least to keep track of them in public and crowded situations...), and since we don't have any family nearby, that Village often becomes our friends. Anyway, apparently at some point during the party, Cora realized that she needed to pee. So she tried to go potty by herself (Because that's how she does it - no help from us, at ALL. Not allowed. Unless she wants to sit on the big potty, then she lets us get her up there.) Problem was, she was wearing a one-piece outfit with leg snaps. She obviously couldn't get it off by herself. Al noticed her trying to do something in the bathroom (situating the potty seat up on the toilet), but being the uninitiated dad of a son (though soon to have a daughter too!), he stood there unsure what to do. When Dawn saw what was happening, she of course told Al to help Cora. Instead, Al said "We need to get somebody." Sorry to call you out Al, but that totally cracked us up! Dawn too, obviously. Meanwhile, as this discussion was occuring, Cora couldn't hold it any longer and ended up peeing in her pull-up. Poor Sissy. At least she tried!

She IS still having potty success (yay!), though it's sporadic. She uses the potty successfully at daycare about twice a day, which is pretty consistent (at snack time, and after nap), so she's only using 1-2 pull-ups per day there. At home, it really just depends. Some nights she's all about it, other nights she couldn't care less. Weekends are a total grab bag. We were actually quite shocked (and pleasantly surprised!) on Friday night when she told her Daddy that she needed to potty, let him help her up onto the big potty, and proceeded to POOP in the potty. That's right, I said poop. GO CORA!

Of course, being that she likes this whole potty business (at least some of the time), that means that she also DOESN'T like having wet or poopy diapers (most of the time - not that she ever did, really). She came crying to me Monday night about poo-poo because she'd gone in her pull-up and hadn't meant to. Again, poor Sissy. She'll probably be just as happy as us once she gets the hang of going potty in the toilet full time.

In the meantime, we're just celebrating her successes (high-fives and dancing and praise and M&M's, of course) and not worrying about the need for diapers and trainers and pull-ups in between. And we're reading lots of potty books with her. Including this new one from her Auntie Robyn and Uncle Stephen (which was tucked into a box of birthday gifts for James), all the way from Hawaii (the kids are actually growing a really cool collection of Hawaiian children's books thanks to their buddies in paradise!):

Who knows how this potty training adventure is going to end (or when), but we're actually kinda enjoying this time around, so we'll just let things roll as they may. Keep your fingers crossed for us that Cora finishes training herself sometime soon though, because otherwise we JUST MIGHT have to invest in more cloth trainers (we HATE spending money on disposable pull-ups!)

TRAINING HERSELF?

Leave it to Cora to potty train herself. Not that we're complaining. Not one bit. She's awesome. And we're totally proud of her. It all started Sunday night...

Sunday:

After bath, I let Cora run around naked, just for fun. When she went running into the bathroom, I quickly ran after her because I was worried that I hadn't shut the lid to the toilet (and she has a bad reputation for playing with the toilet water lately). Instead, I found her sitting on her little pink potty (a gift from her Auntie and Uncle for Christmas). She looked up at me and said "I pee-pee", and sure enough, when she stood up and I checked, there was plenty of pee-pee in that potty. So I dumped it in the toilet, she flushed it down, we washed her hands, and she received an M&M for her efforts. Big smiles. Happy dance. Bragging to Daddy. Game ON!

Monday:

We were all home due to the holiday. Cora spent the day partially in diapers, partially in cloth trainers, and partially naked. She sat on the potty multiple times (her choice - sometimes we offered, sometimes she just followed James when he went, and sometimes she just went in on her own), but didn't do anything. After bath, she had an accident. But instead of playing in it (as she's done in the past), I caught her with a wad of baby wipes in her hand trying to clean it up. So she definitely knows that her mess doesn't belong on the floor.

Tuesday:

We sent Cora to daycare with pull-ups instead of diapers this week, at the request of her new teacher, who has been taking her to the potty a few times a day with the older kids for the past 2 weeks (since she moved up to the new class). Her new classroom doesn't even a have a changing table, so pull-ups are easier for them to use. And since we're unwilling to purchase enough cloth trainers for use all day, every day, Cora is using sposies. She is SO good about pulling her own pants and "undies" down, and back up when she's done. We're seriously shocked by this, considering that James STILL has to be told to pull up his pants after going potty. And he usually whines for us to help him. Not our Little Miss Independent. She tells us "I do it!" And she does. She peed in the potty at school today.

Wednesday:

When I picked her up from school, her teacher told me that not once, but TWICE she peed successfully in the potty. AND she stayed dry over naptime. Fantastic!

Thursday:

Another double win for Cora (at daycare)!

Friday:

And again, two successful pee deposits in the potty, another dry naptime, and only one wet diaper all day long. Tonight we bought her undies on the way home from school, since it sure seems like she's ready for them. She was SO excited! She picked them out (Hello Kitty and Days of the Week undies) and held the packages tightly as we did the rest of our shopping. And as soon as we got home and I handed them over, she put every single pair on. On one leg. Seriously, could she BE wearing any more undies? (Friends, anyone?)

Saturday:

Well, either daycare is exaggerating, or Cora is taking a potty break this weekend. Baby Doll wore undies all day (except naptime) and had many accidents (we didn't bother keeping count). She sat on the potty plenty of times, she just didn't produce anything for us there. Even with the promise of M&Ms. Hmm... wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Sunday:

Cora was pleased as punch to put her undies on again this morning (she slept in her usual double-stuffed cloth diaper). There were accidents. There was a messy breakfast and an early bath. There were a couple of poopy undies. There was more unproductive toilet sitting. There was lots of potty book reading. And after naptime, there was a change to pull-ups for the rest of the day. We figure, we'll see how this next week goes, let her wear her undies at home in the evenings (or just run around half-naked), and try again next weekend. We're just taking it by her cues at this point. She's still so little, and we weren't even planning to start training her for a couple more months anyway.

But seriously though, how adorable is she in her little Hello Kitty undies? The weather was gorgeous today, so we had the windows open. That long patch of hair she has up top (the same hairstyle James had at around a year old, except without the Mississippi Mudflap) shows up nicely in the wind...

MOVE-UP MILESTONES

At the beginning of January, when classes resumed at daycare, Cora's teacher sent me home with a list of milestones that she wanted Cora to reach before moving her up into the 2-year-old class. As I read through the list, I told Ms. Lois that Cora could already do all those things, except for the last one. So now that she's officially moved up (and it's going well - she had a very good first week!), I thought I'd write out those milestones, for documentation purposes:

1. Runs

She started walking at 12-months and was running after her big bro by 15-months

2. Throws a ball overhand without falling

She's been doing this long enough that we don't remember when it started (and we didn't know it was a milestone, so we didn't bother recording the date)

3. Builds a tower of 5-6 blocks

She does better with Legos and Geokid blocks, but she can build with wooden blocks too

4. Completes a 6+ piece puzzle

Puzzles are one of Cora's favorite activities, and she's really good about finding the right pieces for each of the 4 puzzles we keep in our windowsills and placing them in the correct spots

5. Looks at pictures in books and turns pages

She's become more interested in books since she turned 18-months, reading to herself as well as bringing them to us to read with her, and she's able to not only turn the pages, but to point out and name many things on each and every page

6. Points to 5 or more body parts

OK, let's count the body parts she can point out: head, hair, ears, eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, teeth, lips, cheeks, hands, fingers, feet, toes, knees, shoulders, belly, belly button, butt (and she also knows vagina and penis - yes, I just typed that...), and she can name them all too

7. Uses spoon with little spilling

She started using a spoon around 13-months and had it pretty well figured out by 15-months

8. Speaks 20 words

Please, we have SO lost count - she probably has at least 100 commonly used words now

9. Uses toilet when taken by an adult

This is the one she hasn't mastered yet, but she does go willingly and sit on the toilet, and so far she's peed in the potty once, so we think potty training might not be too hard with her. But only time will tell. It's bound to help now that she's in a class with lots of potty trained toddlers though - peers who lead by example carry heavy influence, even at this young age (monkey see, monkey do)!

(In case you're wondering what she's up to in these photos, James recently taught her how to be a "gate" and use the magic password, which is "please". She doesn't fully grasp the concept though, and just stops randomly around the house to put her arms out. Not that she can reach both sides of a door frame at the same time anyway. Silly little baby. She's so dang entertaining!)

POTTY TALK

Disclaimer: For those of you who are embarrassed or otherwise uncomfortable with potty talk (and by potty talk, I mean further details on potty training and use of anatomically correct terms), please read no further. This is a post where I record some of the things James has been saying lately, for our own later recollection (and amusement).

First off, James has a pretty standard bathroom routine these days. We sit him up there, he does his business (often times singing or humming to himself as he goes), then he says "All done!" or "I did it!" Sometimes he even tells us "all done" while he's still peeing. Usually, he kicks his undies (and/or shorts) off while he's sitting there, yelling "Off!", because apparently it's easier to pee on the potty without your bottoms on?... Once he is taken down off the potty (or gets down by himself - he is becoming quite the acrobat), he will seriously lean with his head practically in the toilet to check out his deposit. And then he points to it, saying "Pee pee IN the potty!" We're working very hard to get him to keep his hands out of the toilet... Next he'll say "I flush!" And if he forgets? Oh boy, we had better not flush the potty for him. Instant tantrum. He MUST flush it himself! So the reminders are still a constant thing in our house ("Tell Mama when you need to pee pee", "Push all the pee pee's out", "Don't play with yourself, just go potty", "Flush the potty", etc.) Lastly, he always requests "Wash your hands?" after I pop an M&M in his mouth. (Someday we'll get him to say "Wash MY hands?" instead...) What's really funny, is that most times these days, once he is all finished, he will then say "Mama's turn" or "Daddy's turn" - he feels very strongly that potty trips are a family affair...

While he hasn't had a poop accident in nearly 3 weeks (AWESOME!), he still pees himself now and then. He had been doing SO great (he went all weekend, 2 weekends ago, without a single accident, and only had a couple of naptime accidents at daycare last week), until we took the trip to Jackson last Thursday. We had put him in a cloth trainer, since it was our first car ride longer than 15 minutes, and we didn't want a wet carseat. Well, apparently that trainer felt cushy enough (and diaper-like enough) that he peed in it. And he did it again on the way home too. Throughout the rest of the weekend, he had 3 more accidents in the car (in his undies, even though we took him to the potty RIGHT before we got in the car). He peed on the edge of his bed (where the waterproof mattress pad doesn't cover) while playing on Saturday, even though he could see me clearly down the hall. Then he dribbled on the couch at bedtime while snuggling with Jay (SO not cool). So, what is this? Defiance? Or is he reverting? Is he just not fully emptying his bladder? (Hence our new slogan "Push ALL the pee pee's out James!") We are debating revisiting PT Bootcamp this weekend. We are considering sending him to time-out when he has accidents we KNOW he could avoid. We have started using harsher words and tones with him when he has accidents, one of which we picked up from his daycare teacher ("Nasty!"), since yucky doesn't seem to be cutting it anymore. We show him his wet undies and tell him they are gross, and that Mama and Daddy are NOT happy when he gets his undies wet. Anyone out there in blogland have other suggestions?...

And finally, this is the part that might embarrass you. And will probably embarrass James someday. But he's only 2 now. One thing we've noticed over the past couple of weeks is James' escalating interest in himself. We have never stifled his curiosity in the tub or anything, so we think the new "easy access" that he has without being in diapers is a major contributing factor. That, and the fact that he is TWO and is becoming more and more interested in ALL his body parts. We're scientists, and we don't like cutesy, silly names for ANYTHING (let alone genitals), so we use anatomically correct terminology with James, and always have (even when he was itty bitty and not even talking yet). Well, the other night while laying on the couch at bedtime, James started doing some exploring. We quickly told him that his behavior was not appropriate while sitting with us (or Sissy, or anyone else for that matter), and that he needed to go to his room if he wouldn't stop playing. He didn't like that, and kept doing it, even though we kept stopping him and reminding him that he needed to go do that in private. And you know what he told us? With a very stern look on his face? "MY penis!" It was all we could do not to bust out laughing. I mean, seriously though, how in the world is he old enough that we are having these discussions already? Please tell me this is a VERY short phase!