Lost in Potty Land.

I want to apologize for my long absence from the blogging world.  I've been lost deep in the recesses of Potty Training Land.  God, is that a scary place.  Does anyone have a map to help me find my way out??

I'm not sure what I expected.  My mom told me that I expected perfection too soon, but I would disagree with that.  I wasn't expecting perfection, by any means.  But I was not expecting to have good days, where Avery told me she needed to go potty and few accidents, followed by a terrible day, where she didn't use the potty once and had accidents all.day.long.  This is BY FAR the most frustrating thing I have ever done as a mother.  When Avery tells me that she has to pee and we run like idiots to the bathroom (I've almost tripped and broke a bone multiple times trying to make it to the bathroom) and then we get there, I sit her little rump on the potty and she screams like I'm trying to kill her.....that's when I want to stick her back in diapers and hope she'll figure it out by the time she starts school.  Then there's other times, where Avery tells me she has to pee and actually does it on the potty without having a single accident...I can see the pride and excitement on her face and I know she just gets it.  It's give and take.  It's not going to happen overnight...I KNOW that.  But when I see statistics that fully potty training your child (no more Pull Ups, no more night wetting) can take up to EIGHT MONTHS, I have a panic attack and want to go hide in a corner.  Eight months??  Gah.  Honest to goodness, I'm not sure the Good Lord gave me that much patience.

So, to relieve my nerves and to give me a break from talking about nothing but my child's bodily functions, later this week, I'll be doing a "DIY Diva in Training" post!  Remember this little beauty?

It's a red corner table that's in desperate need of a new drawer front and a fresh coat of paint.  I've been waffling over what to do with this little booger for awhile.  I have a picture in my head of what I want it to look like and I've been researching products and methods to make my vision a reality.  It's been a long process....thus, no updates on furniture redos.  But I have the method in mind and am going to tackle this project THIS WEEK!  So be looking for it! :)

Time to Talk Potty.

Welcome to the Gaddie household.  Step inside and hear me use the word "pee pee,"  "poo-poo" and "big girl panties" probably more than you ever wanted to hear them in your life.  That's right.  We have officially begun potty training.  It has literally happened overnight.

You may remember, maybe a month ago, I took Avery to Walmart to pick out her very own "big girl" potty. We brought home our very own Disney Princess potty that sat proudly in mommy and daddy's bathroom.  My intentions were to get the potty early, talk about it, get her accustomed to the fact that we had a potty that she was going to use and then start training after she turned two.  But, in true Avery style, SHE'S decided when we're going to do things, and to heck with my plans.  She woke up 4 mornings in a row in a completely dry diaper.  I thought that was suspicious, so I immediately called my mom to get her opinion.  She told me that I needed to start potty training.  Cue panic mode.  I have NO idea how to potty train a child.  Every other process we've gone through has been pretty self-explanatory:  Sleep training:  let her cry it out.  Wean off the bottle and paci:  take them away and don't give them back.  Wean off formula and give regular milk:  gradually introduce it until she's full time milk and no more formula.  Easy.  Potty training?  Not so much.  You basically can't do it just "willy-nilly."  It works best, from what I've heard and read, if you have a plan in  place.  To Pinterest I went!  I scoured blogs and potty training advice sites and then developed my own plan:

1.  Putting her straight into "big girl underwear."  Skipping Pull-Ups (except at nighttime....we'll just call them her "special nighttime panties" or something like that) because they're too much like diapers.  In regular underwear, she'll be able to recognize that she's wet or dirty, not like the feeling and hopefully correct it sooner.  We're doing Gerber potty training pants on first (more absorption ..less mess if she does have an accident), then pretty underwear on over it, so she feels special.

2.  Potty time before bed, as soon as she gets up and every 30 minutes during the day.

Fun tip:  Pull Ups, even though we're not using the product during daytime training, has a "Big Kid" iPhone app that you can download that has a ton of resources....a potty timer with Minnie Mouse that you can set to go off every 30 minutes, hour, whatever.  You can schedule a call to come from Minnie, Cinderella, Tow Mater, etc. to tell your toddler that it's time for a potty break (I WILL be trying that this weekend when I'm home with Avery).  Games they can play as a reward whenever they "go" in the potty.  Tons of ideas to make potty training more fun for your little.

3.  Rewards for pees and poops in the potty.  I thought about doing prizes from the Dollar Tree or something else for going "number 2," but realized that means more toys and knick knacks around my house, and that doesn't need to happen.  I decided on 1 M&M for pee, 2 for poops.

That's it.  We've literally hit the ground running.  When Avery and Marty got home yesterday, Avery and I immediately went to town to pick out her "big girl pannies."  I talked them up and told her that big girls like mommy and her cousin Kate, who she idolizes, wear them and now it was Avery's turn.  She was ecstatic when we picked them out.

Showing off her new big girl undies!

Excited about Princess "pannies!" 

I woke Avery up this morning, took her straight to the potty and it began!  I know that it's not going to be the easiest thing in the world.  She's going to have accidents (she peed a tiny bit in the floor this morning and immediately let me know so I could put her straight on the potty) and it's going to be a learning process that will take much longer than a few days, but it's worth it.  It means no more diapers, more money in my pocket and my little girl learning a major milestone.  With that, I have a tiny bit of hesitation.  Potty training means we've crossed into "big girl world."  It's amazing how quickly they grow up and are ready for the next milestone.  Sorry....sappy mommy moment.  *sigh*

"Mom.  Are you seriously taking my picture?"

"But I'm just wearing pannies!  Don't take my picture!!"

It's Potty Time!

We have entered the "potty training" zone in the Gaddie Household this week.  I'm not planning on pushing potty training for awhile, but I did want to go ahead and get Avery her very own potty so she could get used to it and we could be talking about it long before the official potty training began.  So Avery and I made a quick trip to Walmart this week to pick out her "big girl potty."  It was almost sad how ridiculously excited my child was about a toilet.  I let her choose between a Minnie Mouse and a Disney Princess potty (she picked Princesses....when did we cross into an alternate universe where my Minnie-loving daughter is suddenly obsessed with the Princesses???)  After adding it to our cart, she would randomly burst into giggles and announce to shoppers around us that we were carrying a potty around.  Yeah, that's real life.

I have a potty!!!!!!

Are you seeing my potty?!?

Seriously!!  It's RIGHT HERE!! 

Looks like my baby isn't much of a baby anymore.

Also, with potty training, I solemnly swear that you will never see a "Look!  Here's my kid sitting on the toilet" picture because:  1.  I don't think they're cute.  2.  I do want my child to eventually like me one day and know that I didn't take a picture of her on the toilet and share it with the entire world.  Just sayin'