Potty Training Bootcamp

Well, we attempted it. We had a little success with Caroline using the potty earlier in the week (she had some stomach issues for a couple of days so that derailed it a little), so I decided we would go full force with it this weekend. Camp out in the bathroom (we only left the house for a total of 2 1/2 hours ALLLLLLL weekend long), stock it full of fun stuff (movies, books, toys, my iPhone), and see how it goes. Here's the rundown:
Day 1--peed in the potty 3 times, peed on the floor 1 time, and pooped in her pants 2 times. Not too bad. She cried when she peed on herself, but the poopy pants didn't faze her.
Day 2--peed on the floor 2 times and pooped in her pants 1 time....and that was only after being up for 1 1/2 hours! I wanted to quit but didn't want to lose whatever we had gained yesterday, so I pushed through. She went through a grand total of 9 pairs of training pants. She does not like it when she has an accident; she cries and calls out for me. She also slipped after an accident and knocked her forehead pretty good on the floor--ewww! But she did tell me right after she pooped for the 2nd time (the 1st time I discovered it after it fell on the floor while she was dancing....ahhh, the life of a mommy!).
I'm doing the whole positive reinforcement thing--a sticker chart and a piece of candy if she goes potty. She really likes the rewards. Just not quite enough to prevent any accidents yet. I have a feeling it will be awhile before she makes it to daycare in undies. Wish me luck!!

Sitting on the potty chair


Eating her candy


Putting her sticker on her chart


What's cuter than a baby wearing only undies??


My laundry pile tonight

A Day of Firsts

Today was my and John's anniversary. 7 years...doesn't feel like that long! Since he was out of town for work, Caroline and I celebrated with her first trip to the movies. We went to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie. I figured it would be a good one to start with since it's only an hour long. We went to the 10:30 am show, so there was only a handful of people in the theater. She did great all through the previews and short movie after the previews. She started to get a little fidgety when the real movie started. She munched on about half a bag of yogurt melts and sat pretty nicely on her little booster...until about halfway through the movie. She was tired of sitting and wanted down! I let her walk around right in front of our seats, and she ended up making it to the end. It actually went pretty well! But I think it will be awhile before we try it again! Here is a pic from the previews:


After the movie, we headed to Babies R Us to pick up a couple of things. I got Caroline a new booster seat so she can sit with us at the big table instead of her high chair. She seemed to like it and only threw her fork and milk at dinner tonight. Much better than a bowl of spaghetti like last night! Here's the big girl:



We've done lots of talking, watching (Elmo potty video), and reading (Once Upon a Potty) about going potty this weekend. I planned on "officially" starting to train her this weekend, but her training pants didn't make it here on Friday (I had to order size 18 months because you can't find them in any store, and the 2T ones seems gigantic). I kept asking her if she wanted to sit on the potty--sometimes she did and sometimes she almost had a break down telling me "no" (drama queen!). Today, after her nap, she seemed excited to go sit on it so we hurried into the bathroom. She sat for a little while and then she peed in the potty! Woo hoo! I praised her, sang a little song, and gave her a Reeses Pieces. She did it again just before her bath tonight! Very exciting times in the life of a mommy!


PS--Since I wrote this post last night, she has used the potty 2 more times! (And almost 1 more--she peed on the floor as soon as I took her diaper off!!)

19 Months!!!

I guess since Caroline's crossed over the 18 month mark, she's officially a "real" toddler. She's on the downhill slide towards 2, and I really can't believe it. I say this every month, but this is such a fun age! Well, except for the running from me in parking lots, occasional tantrum, major stubborness (don't know where she gets that from!), and throwing her plate on the ground after almost every meal. :-) She is growing by leaps and bounds and looks more a like a little girl everyday. Here are some fun facts about Caroline:

*She is starting to put 2 and occasionally 3 words together.

*She still loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and The Fresh Beat Band (but it bothers me that they replaced one of the characters!). She also loves Toy Story 3! She will point out Mickey, Minnie, Buzz, or Woody when she sees them at a store.

*She labels everything, and if she doesn't know what it is, I hear, "what that?".

*Some of her favorite words: Mouse (for Mickey or Minnie), Eeh Beat (for the Fresh Beat Band), cookie, and nilk (milk).

*She will answer "no" but not "yes". She will repeat part of the question back to you to answer yes though (ex--Do you want cookie? Cookie!)

*She is a little parrot and repeats thing constantly (especially when I say "seriously?"). :-)

*We've been doing time out. She sits and says she's sorry and gives me a hug, but she still doesn't really get it. I know this because she usually does what she was in time out for again (like throwing her plate--grrrr!!!).

*Cute story--when we were at dinner for Father's Day, she threw her cup down. I picked it up, looked her in the eyes, and said, "we don't throw our cups down". She looked at me and signed and said "sorry". So sweet! But she still throws them down...oh well.

*She loved the ocean last time we were at the beach! After a wave came, she would say, "more, more".

*Another cute story--we went swimming at our friend's community pool that has a big twisty water slide. Caroline decided she wanted to go down. When we were almost at the top of the steps, she stopped and said, "no". She wouldn't slide and wouldn't go back down. We stood there for awhile, and she finally decided to try it. She laughed the whole way down and asked for "more" as soon as we were at the bottom. We rode 3 more times, and I think she would have gone down by herself if I would have let her!

*She will try to sing along with some songs we sing together and will do the motions (sometimes) for Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle, If You're Happy and You Know It, and Itsy Bitsy Spider.

*We went back to the ENT today for another check up. We found out that one of her tubes had fallen out last month, so they were going to keep an eye on the hole to see if it started to close up. We found out today that it had started to, so they put another tube in while we were in the office. I was glad that she didn't have to be put to sleep again even though it was really hard to hold her and listen to her cry and call out "Mommy, Mommy". Her tonsils were also a little big, but they said that might be from her strep throat she had last month.

*She is spicy and funny and sweet and a ton of fun!!

Special Visitors

My mom, sister (Rosanne, aka Roro), and niece (Erin) came for a visit last week. They ended up coming a day early and cutting their visit a day shorter than planned because my other niece (Meagan) was being induced on Wednesday (yes, folks, I am a [gulp] great aunt). While they were here we shopped til we dropped, spent the day at the beach, had a cook out, and watched some fireworks. We were really sad to see them go but are really looking forward to a trip to MS in August to see everyone again and to meet baby Thomas!

Enjoying some corn from Grandaddy's garden-- yum!!


Tickle time!


Thanks for my new toys, Andy!


Cute 4th of July outfit


Ready for the fireworks!