My Potty Princess

After potty training Micah last year, I thought I had at least a 2 years to think about potty training again. Micah wasn't even that hard to potty train but let's face it I am kind of a wimp and I fear change and the unknown more than anything. Laurel had different plans, though. She has practically been begging me to potty train her for months and while I really wanted to wait until she was 2 1/2 to actually do it, we got to a point where I felt like we couldn't put it off any longer. She was showing pretty much every sign of readiness and had even gotten to where she was taking off her diaper and saying she didn't want to wear diapers anymore. So, we decided to go for it. I don't want to leave out what a big help David was in the evenings and then all day Saturday. I might have lost my mind if I didn't have him coming in to relieve me. 

As I mentioned in my potty training post about Micah, I am a method person. I like to be given instructions and I like to follow them. The hardest thing about parenting to me is that kids don't come with a user manual. :) The 3 day method worked great for us with Micah so there was no doubt I would use it again this go around.

Following the method, I was ready to go on day 1 with jelly beans (because for some odd reason unknown to me, my children do not like m&ms), suckers, stickers, lots and lots of liquids, miralax (we just skipped the high fiber foods this time and went straight for the strong stuff) and of course lots of prayers, texts and encouraging phone calls (THANK YOU). Laurel is all about the affirmation so we did lots of facetiming to Mimi/Bubba/Kev/Audrey in Steamboat and Suzu in College Station as well as phone calls to David and Nat Nat throughout the day so they could tell her what a great job she was doing. She is also such a little people pleaser so I cannot complain about how the 3 days went at all. I think that I am starting to say "Tell Mommy if you need to go potty, ok?" in my sleep from overuse as well as "Is hello kitty dry/clean? Great job! Let's keep her clean/dry!" We started off with the princesses but for whatever reason, she wasn't too upset about getting the princesses or Minnie Mouse wet but we have yet to get hello kitty wet and since I bought about 30 pairs of panties preparing for the worst, we have more than enough for her to play favorites. 

It never ceases to amaze me how sitting at home for 3 days can be so exhausting but keeping that little booty in my sight constantly wore me out. Plus, this time around, I had Micah here and while I thought that was going to be an added challenge, he was such a great helper all week. He had a few moments of going stir crazy but overall, he was a great little encourager and loved the job of giving her the jelly bean (of course he got one each time he was a good encourager). 

Here are the stats:

Day 1: #1- 23, #2- 0, Accidents- 4

Day 2: #1- 12, #2- 1, Accidents- 1

Day 3: #1- 10, #2- 1, Accidents- 0

For our 3 days at home, we blew bubbles, we made lemonade, we read every potty and princess book in the house at least 10 times each, we drank juice boxes, we ate watermelon, we made and ate popsicles, we colored, we made pretend cookies in Laurel's kitchen, we made real (hot pink) sugar cookies and ate them, we sang songs, we folded laundry, we even ventured out on a stroller ride on day 3, we jumped up and down and clapped and cheered for potty success, we got a sucker and a sticker for our potty chart for #2 success and jelly beans for #1 and I tried to convince her to sit still for Little Mermaid but the girl just doesn't like to sit still. Overall, Laurel did and continues to do great. While it is only day 4, she is keeping hello kitty dry for naps, night and almost always all day. I am so proud of us both and Micah for surviving the 3 days! While the days seemed long, this week did serve as a reminder to me that we need to stay home more. I hate that it took being forced by "the method", but love the time just sitting and playing with the kids this week. I am so proud of my little potty princess!