Potty Training

Two words that every parent dreads to hear: potty training.  Two words that every parent longs to hear: potty trained.  Unfortunately, there is quite a process in getting our toddlers from training to trained.  I suppose it's first steps first - potty talk and pull ups!

Josh and I have been introducing Emma to, what we call, potty talk for a few weeks now.  "Mama is going tee tee!"  "Yay!  Daddy went to the potty!"  And I finally got over the fact that my baby is growing up and bought her a toddler toilet and pull ups.  We are going slow by choice.  We definitely don't want to overwhelm her.  My cousin, Leah, recommended putting her in pull ups daily to get her use to things and occasionally sitting her on her potty for familiarity.  Currently, we are playing things very light hearted.

Thankfully, Emma loooves her princess potty.  She loves making it sing (by push of button) and talking to "Reya" (Cinderella) on the lid.  Long term, I hope she will love to use it, but for now, I am satisfied with her acknowledging it.

The potty she loves, but the pull ups she adores.  I'll say, "It's time to change your pull up!" and she'll yell, "Dor! Dor!" (Dora) every time.  I think we were both ecstatic to see Elmo go - probably me more than her.  I'm just glad she's showing so much enthusiasm for her pull ups.  Even if it is only Dora she's excited about!

What's next?  I read about potty training in three days.  What?!  Yeah, having the kid go around naked all weekend with toddler toilets all over the house in case of the obvious accident. I'm not dissing the system.  The success rate for that process is super high.  Kids love to be naked which motivates them and draws their interest.  Sneaky, but I'm not sure it's for me.  I love a good mess and all, but I'm definitely thinking pee and poo all over my house is probably where I draw the line.