Could it be true??

Yesterday we clapped and sang and danced. We even went out for supper to celebrate. What is the big news? Avery stayed dry all day at Lynette's AND all evening at home! Last week she stayed dry all day at Lynette's for the first time (but then not in the evening). She came home from daycare with a certificate and a big smile. I helped her proudly hang her certificate on the fridge.

We had high hopes to potty train Sis over the summer, but those hopes were quickly squashed when she refused to sit on the potty most of the time. Then I had high hopes that returning to daycare would be the big motivator that we needed. Once again this proves that children are always more willing to do things for their beloved daycare folks than for us.

We're very proud of her. She's not even 2 1/2 yet. I have to keep reminding myself of that because she already acts more like a 3-year old!

Cold Turkey

Avery's potty training was rapidly heading downhill last weekend. She was refusing to sit on the potty. We told her that only babies wear diapers, and she would have to wear one. Her response was, "Okay, Mommy!" and she ran to her room to grab one. I talked to Lynette (our beloved daycare lady) about this on Monday and she suggested that we go "cold turkey" - no more diapers except at nighttime. I explained to Avery that we wouldn't be wearing any more diapers. On Monday evening when she had an accident, we walked into the house to change and she said, "no diapers, no diapers." She knows that we mean business! Avery has been wearing her padded cotton training underwear and we keep extra pants on hand. We also got a waterproof pad for her carseat. She is only having 1-2 accidents a day. Last night at Kohl's she said she needed to go potty. We ran (literally) to the bathroom and she went! I'm so proud of our big girl!

Potty Training: Round 3

I'm so excited to say that we've started potty training (again!). And even more excited to share that Avery IS using the potty! She only had 3 accidents all day yesterday. She hasn't been as excited to sit on her potty at home, so we've had to break out some fun little trinkets and toys that have been buried for awhile and then shower her with stickers after the fact. And IT'S WORKING! I'm almost afraid to say it out loud, as if things might start to change. But I have a feeling that as this little girl figures out how to use the potty, she won't ever go back!

Making Progress

What we thought would be a one-week potty training trial is turning into the "real deal." We've made some progress. Avery has not had a (for lack of a better term here) #2 accident all week. She's been telling us and making it to the potty, including when we were all the way across town visiting Toys R Us! She kept telling me she had to go #2, but when I would try to sit her on the adult toilet in the bathroom she would cry. This happened twice, so we hurried out of the store and drove the 20-30 minute drive across town. She made it home to do her business on the potty! #1 is taking a little longer to figure out...

Potty Training: Day One

The good news is that Avery did pee on the potty once yesterday. The bad news is that she peed on the couch too. Lynette gave Avery a lot of water to drink yesterday to help this potty training process along and I think it kicked in last night. We're using underwear rather than pull-ups because in our experience, pull-ups just don't work. So that means cleaning up some accidents. And yesterday evening, there were a lot of accidents! Luckily, other than the couch, all of the others were on the vinyl floor. But Avery wasn't telling us she was having accidents, we were just discovering big puddles. We'd clean it up and discover another one about 20 minutes later. We discovered that she peed on/in Greg's lunch box while standing on it to try to reach her Halloween candy! Greg wasn't so thrilled. After each accident, we'd take her to the potty and she'd sit while we got clean clothes and undies. Then she started to get a little silly. She'd strip off her underwear and come tearing out to the living room naked. She'd start laughing when she saw me and then go tearing back into the bathroom and sit back down on the potty chair. I just ignored it.
Turns out our "easy to clean" microfiber couch isn't always so easy to clean. It smells terrible. And it turns out that upholstery cleaning companies can't clean microfiber because the heat of their equipment is too hot for the fabric. But a very helpful upholstery guy gave me some great tips on a baking soda/peroxide combo that should help. And Greg is headed to Target to buy some "plastic" training pants after work today!

Big Girl Panties!

Big news at our house today...Avery is wearing big girl panties! We are officially potty training as of today. She liked her pink Elmo undies until we put them on her! They must feel a little different than a diaper. We didn't make it on the potty this morning. She sat several times but no luck. Maybe Lynette will have better luck. She seems to be an old pro at this. More to come...

Big News

Big news at our house. Or Lynette's house, I guess I should say. Avery went #2 on the potty!! Yippee!! Woohoo!! She went on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. Well, actually Lynette caught her in the act and then moved her to the potty. But that still counts, right?