Let the Potty Training Begin

Let's be honest EVERYONE has their opinion on when, how and how not, and how quickly you should potty train your child. (Key words there is "YOUR child")

My main take away from the countless articles I have read is to do it your way and do it how it works best for your little one and your family. I have done things I swore I would NEVER do, like put the potty in the family room, and also not done things I thought I would do.

Right before Everly's first Birthday we bought a potty seat. The main reason for buying while she was so young was because we wanted her to have a good experience with her potty seat, and ease into liking it. I have seen too many times when parents wait until their child is "ready" aka: about to head to preschool in a week so they must be potty trained this weekend, and its traumatizing for the child who is being forced to do something they don't want to do. Sometimes the Mom is pregnant again, and the last thing she wants to do is follow a toddler around reminding them when to pee and cleaning up messes when they have and accident. Almost everyday we would put Everly on the potty. Sometimes it was while I went potty, or right before her bath, or right when she woke up. We didn't make a big deal about it but just said "Everly wanna go potty" and put her on there and read a book. Once she was done, because most of the time she would pee, we gave her 1/4 of a Gerber Arrowhead cookie. We were so excited! She was really going on the potty. She still didn't understand, and it was all by chance, but she was doing it. The bad part was she started associating the potty with bath-time, and with getting a cookie. So sometimes she would say "potty" but really she wanted to go take a bath or just to have a cookie.

What did we learn from this (when it comes to Everly):

•   Having the potty chair in the same bathroom as the tub she bathes in, was not a good idea.
•   Giving her a cookie each time was not a great idea either.
•   Getting the potty chair early was a GREAT idea because she loves it, and since it makes a sound when she pees she knows she did it and gets very excited.
•   Only having her potty on the chair here and there was maybe confusing for her.

What did we decide to do? Well about 4 months later we decided to just stop. We removed the cookies from the drawer, closed the potty so it was just a stool she used to stand on to brush her teeth, and began looking for "ready" signs, so we could plan a weekend to REALLY potty train. 

                                             Common readiness signs include:

• Pulling at a wet or dirty diaper.  
• Hiding to pee or poop.
• Interest in others' use of the potty, or copying their behavior.
• Having a dry diaper for a longer-than-usual time.
• Awakening dry from a nap.
• Telling you that they're about to go, are going or have just gone in their diaper.

Around 18 months, Everly began pulling at her diaper, playing with its content (YUCK!), always hiding behind the elliptical to poop, mocking potty behaviors such as wiping, and telling me "poo poo" after she went. All of these where enough signs for us that she was ready to at least "try." I always was tired of cleaning up after a poop mess after the dirty diaper was pulled off. Her pediatricians recommendation was potty train or add more layers of clothes so she cant get to her diaper. We tried the layer until we came to a free weekend, where we knew one of us could remain home all weekend long. 

At 20 months and 1 week that weekend came along. We purchased some awesome training pants from Aribaby designs, which I highly recommend, and planned out our weekend. Saturday morning we decided she would remain naked from the waist down, with the exception of leg warmers and socks, because its super cold this weekend.  We put her potty chair in the family room, and agreed Ipad and TV time would be extremely less restrictive during this weekend. We also set the expectations low, and all we agreed on was that we stay tough and not give in until the weekend was over, be happy when she goes on the potty, and not get angry when she doesn't, and that we would rejoice in how clean our floors would be after a weekend of spot cleaning. 

Day one is over and things went as expected. As soon as Everly woke up we got her naked from her waist down. At first she was confused why she had no diaper on, but quickly warmed up to the idea. Then we watched her.....like a hawk! Everywhere Everly went Mommy or Daddy went too. We tried to get her to sit on the potty as often as possible. Whether she was watching TV, playing the Ipad, or reading a book, if she was sitting down it was on the potty. During nap we did put a diaper and pants on her just because we had already cleaned up so many messes and only had one successful potty trip. After nap, off with the diaper again. Saturday evening Mommy and Daddy went on a date night late, and Everly went to her Mimi's to play. During this time she had her PJ's and a diaper on. 

Sunday morning we woke up and stripped her down again. She started out not wanting anything to do with the potty, but eventually she sat right down and peed, then popped up and said "potty!" Brian and I were elated! We thought maybe she was getting it! No worries though in less than an hour she peed on the floor again. The difference on day 2 from day 1 was that now when she had an accident she would say "potty," and point to the puddle, then run to her seat. SHE WAS STARTING TO GET IT! 

Hoping the rest of today goes well, and that tomorrow there is more progress. Did I mention our child who normally poops 3 times a day has not gone since Friday.......

Having a 15 Month Old

WOW! Today Everly is 15 months old! I cant even believe that she is growing so quickly. She is such a joy to have in our lives and we thank God daily that he chose us to be her parents.

Today was also her 15 month Dr appointment and her Dr couldn't get over how "big" she is. Not necessarily in size, yet she is in the 90th percentile on both height and weight, but mostly on how smart she is. He said "Mom she is very precocious," and I couldn't agree more. She can say a few sentences, and has many words in her vocabulary. Everyday I hear her say a new word that I didnt know she knew. Just this week she started saying:

Breakfast

Walk

That's cool

Water

Sit

Since she can communicate what she wants she has also begun to throw tantrums when she doesnt get her way. Thankfully I got the "go-ahead" from Dr Harper to start using timeout. We will see how that goes tomorrow. 

Right after Everly turned 13 months old, we started putting her on the potty from time to time. Mostly right before nap and bed. The very first time we did this she peed! We were so excited! Ever since whenever she sits on the potty, you can see that she is really trying to make herself pee. She likes that when she sits on her potty she gets to read special "potty" books, and she also gets a treat (1/4 Arrow cookie) for trying. We are not necessarily potty training her just yet, but we are trying to create a positive association with her potty seat. Far too many times I see kids beginning the potty training process way late and then it becomes stressful for the parents and the child, which results in them having a negative association with the whole potty training process. 

We ended up ordering a potty seat on Amazon, and love the one we chose. It looks like a Princess thrown and when she pees it make royal sounds and her face lights up every time. She also enjoys dumping her pot after, and flushing the big toilet. 

Everly has lots of new tricks up her sleeve but the one that is causing the most stress recently is not the "positive potty experience" but the fact that she loves to climb. I dont mean just like climb on the couch, I mean climb on anything and everything that she can reach. Trees, toys, chairs, tables, her cousin Callen, Riley (our dog), bookshelves, tv stands, and her rocking horse to name a few. Let's just say this little girl is a little adventurous and I believe she could give her Daddy grey hair someday. Thankfully she is extremely loving, so although she raises my anxiety level at times, the love she gives helps it come back down. 

She is probably the sweetest little girl ever. She is always loving on her Grandparents, cousins, Aunts and Uncle's and of course Mommy and Daddy.

The last 15 months have been so amazing! We cant wait to see whats next for this spunky, precocious, wild child! 

Leaving Little Miss for Vacation

For the longest time we have been planning to go on an island 5 year anniversary trip. Little did we know when we originally planned it we would have to leave our little love for the first time ever on an overnight trip. 

I know, I know she is almost 15 months old and "it will be good for her and for us", but it didn't make it any easier to leave her behind. All week leading up to Saturday I was having a hard time being excited for the trip because my anxiety about leaving her was much greater than my excitement. I knew she would be fine because she was staying with family but I also knew since her conception, we had never been apart. 

I believe she knew something was going on because all week she was very cuddly and sweeter than normal (I know hard to believe). 

The night before our flight we met with my Dad and Ronny and had dinner in Kirklin at Bookers. Throughout dinner I kept holding Everly instead of her being in her highchair and Brian did as well. We were enjoying our last few snuggles until we left for the week. 

We made the "trade off" here so hopefully I wouldn't cry because it was in public. Let's just say everyone knew I was emotional about not being with her. After loading her up, and driving away, and only a few tears, I began to get excited for the trip. 

That night was so weird because we both caught ourselves trying to be a little quieter because we were so used to her being in bed by 8. I already missed her but knew she would have fun and so would we.

Where did the last 11.5 months go?

Holy Moly! It is crazy to even begin to think that we almost have a 1 year old! Everly is growing so fast and changing so much everyday. It is crazy to think that this time last year we had our bags packed, and at this point, we were still patiently awaiting her arrival (the patients left after her due date). Now fast forward to today and we are planning her first party! Invites have been sent out, Mommy and Daddy got their present for her today, and the planning is coming along super smoothly.

When we found out we were pregnant we both fantasized about what our child would be like. Little did we both know that the child God chose for us was way better than anything we could have thought up. She is the perfect mix between Brian and I. She is very social, outgoing, and extroverted like me, yet she looks like her Daddy, she has his smarts, and she appears to have his engineering mind, because she is always wanting to know how things work. She is very observant.

She is talking so much now. It is hard to actually make a list of all the words she can say because everyday it seems to change. She also has a language all of her own. She say many words in this language but we have no idea what they mean yet, but when she says them you can tell she knows what she is saying. Here is a list that I can think of off the top of my head:

Dada
Mom-ma
Mimi
Papaw
Callen (caca)
Dog
No
yeah
whats that
cool
wow
whoa
bottle (baba)
baby
clock
moo

As you can tell her vocabulary is growing very quickly. She started waving recently and it is probably the cutest thing ever. As soon as she hears the word bye or bye bye she starts waving and blowing kisses. Her other new thing is that she wants to play peek-a-boo all the time, so if something can go over her face she will put it there to try and play with anyone around. She is precious.

Here are the last few months growth photos. (Sorry for not getting them up sooner)

Recently we had her 1st Birthday photos taken and it was so much fun. She got to have cake for the first time and all I can say is her First Birthday party is going to be great because she would have bathed in that cake if we let her. She had her toes dug in, and both hands, and she kept trying to pick up the cake so she could get her face in it. The good news is although she was on a MAJOR sugar high we got some great photos. Here are a few of my favorite, but I don't want to show them all until after her party.